Omega of the Golden Moon

I was taking long strokes into the cold water, diving deeper down the lake where we had camped. The spot was just a short run, but since I couldn't shift, I had left early, before the sun was up, wanting some time alone. My hair was short, just above the jawline where I had cut it. Caleb did not say a word when he saw it; he just stared like he knew I couldn't stand looking like an innocent girl anymore. I wasn't, not after everything that had happened, my mate disappearing, almost driving me mad. Then.... my eyes were still closed seeing the face of Tyler, mourning him down here in the deep where nobody could hear me, feel the sorrow that still was making me cry over his passing, knowing that nobody else loved him, just me, even Victory seemed to have forgotten her daddy that was buried. My eyes opened inside the dark water, the golden orbs glowing in the cold murkiness. I heard the calling of an Alpha, making me look up at the surface. I knew that I had to leave. My grief had to wait, and my mate was up there—my pups waiting for me to return to them. I was an Omega. That was dangerous for me, the pack, my mate, and my pups. The last part made me shoot up from the bottom of the lake before breaking the surface and taking a deep breath, the water still dripping over my eyes. I saw the young man by the shoreline watching from afar, smiling when our eyes met. My smile made him happier, guarding me from the water and the sense of danger he was always watching out for. Caleb. "Hey, did you have a good swim, baby?" I smiled more, rubbing my cold, wet face into his chest, nodding, and unable to answer. He hadn't been back for more than a few weeks, but still, I thought I was dreaming of having my mate back. I stared at him when he was sleeping, afraid he would be gone when I woke up. "Yes..." I sniffled more, giving him a bright smile when I looked up. Feeling the strong arms around me, kissing my head, made me yawn and get tired. Running in my human form and swimming exhausted me, but my pups didn't care, and I couldn't leave them for too long. "Good, because I know you didn't sleep anything last night... again..." Caleb sounded worried when I frowned; so what? I had slept enough, like when I almost died from the Omega, breaking our bond and killing myself. No. I had enough sleep for ages, and now I wanted to stay awake and be with him. I let him go, feeling lousy again. My smile had died; so many problems needed to be fixed, and it was all my fault. I didn't want Caleb to carry it all, not when it was my doing as the head that left us exiled in the woods. " I like the woods...and it's not your fault..." Caleb made a trying smile, not letting go of my hand when I took a step back, wishing so badly that I could feel him. I did love him, and he was still my mate, but... Caleb lost his smile when I sat down. I wanted to be happy, and I was, but there was so much at stake, and he knew that. "Mila, please... let me worry about that..." Caleb tried to make me feel better, but I didn't; nothing in this mess made me feel anything but guilt. We had no land, and other packs could hunt us down. Caleb couldn't defend us against a whole pack, not with us mostly being pups and females. Since the males were still left inside the Golden Moon pack, and those who had chosen to follow Caleb knew that death was the only reward for walking inside the borders, I didn't blame them for staying, not even Delta Vivian. "You still have Mark..." I snorted, hearing Caleb's amused voice. He was one of the few warriors willing to follow an overthrown Alpha, which made him just as crazy as everyone else around! "He didn't follow me; he followed you..." Caleb was still standing, looking over the shoreline, his face suddenly in a frown. He really disliked the water even more after almost drowning, and I didn't blame him. "Yes, him and Beta Katrina." I was gritting my teeth, still hating her existence. A part of me wanted to kill her for having Caleb's son, and now she was still in my pack like I couldn't get rid of her no matter what! My punishment from the moon goddess, perhaps. "He is not my son." I looked up, surprised to see Caleb smirk, as if he thought I was childish because he didn't understand what I was going through. Did he think that was funny? "You weren't awoken when Beta Mark tried to kill me the second we got outside the border; he almost got me.... that hothead accused me of being this evil bastard for knocking up his mate and just dumping her in Alpha Victor's pack..." Caleb snorted, switching his eyes back to my worry; why hadn't he told me that? We had been camping for some time, and I was his mate! "I was a virgin when I met you, Mila, same as you, baby...." He smirked at my shock, and I dropped my jaw, not believing him standing tall before me, laughing and looking stupid at the great, attractive male. Was he telling me that the first time he had s*x was with me!? "Oh... that's strange...." I started to giggle, feeling so much better and despising Beta Katerina a little less. Yes, I know I wasn't supposed to feel that way, but it felt like a part of my burden was blown away by his calm words. Oh, thank the goddess, thank you! "Yeah, it's not that weird, right?" Caleb grinned and helped me up when I giggled more. I missed the tingles when we touched, but I didn't mind seeing his loving eyes on mine, the dark charcoal giving me nothing but love; I felt like the moon goddess had finally heard all my prayers for him to return to me, my everything. "Pretty weird since you are the Alpha..." I teased, seeing his playfulness die out on me. I regretted it because I knew that look; Caleb was worried, and so was I, since summer wouldn't last forever, and we still needed better shelter than some logs and a fire burning around the clock. "So... who is the father... of Beta Katrina's boy?" I was hugging him harder, wanting something else to think about. Other than that, I could feel the water was cooler today, just like every day before fall and winter would arrive. Caleb sighed, holding me closer; he didn't know or want to tell me when I was staring out over the lake, glad it was just us, no matter how short. I lifted my head to see my mate's strained face. Like me, he was worried about the future, including our staying out here, not even a cabin since it was inside the land of Alpha Marcus territory—our territory. "We need to get our land back." I nodded; we needed to return the Golden Moon, our legacy, home, safety, and our pup's privilege. Like him, I would die trying, breaking the hard stare over the water, smiling back at my blue, sincere eyes with his darkness that always showed me love, even when I didn't deserve it. "You always deserve my love, Luna, always..." I smiled at him calling me that, knowing that I wasn't; my connection to him and this pack was broken; the only ones I could feel were my pups, and Victory spent most of her time with Caleb during the day before sleeping next to me at night. "You are my Luna, and even if there is no mark on your neck, I won't give up until we have one..." his voice got huskier to my snort, and holding him harder, wanting that so much that my heart would break if it didn't happen soon enough. "Tonight... we will try again. " He snickered and kissed me when I nodded. Yes, when the pups were asleep, we could sneak out and have some time alone. I wanted that just as much as he did. "You are killing me here, Mila... now I have to wait all day to screw you..." he was snickering when I giggled, that he had too; my pups were still back at camp, and Hope was too young to be left on her own, she wasn't Victory, so she couldn't walk or run like my first baby, but she was just as perfect. "You are perfect, Mila..." I smiled at his grinning face, taking a step back and starting to shift into the big black wolf, not wanting me to walk back to the small camp, and to be honest, I was kind of tired... "That's because you don't sleep; that's why..." I snorted, hearing Caleb push his alpha voice on me. It sounded dangerous and firm like I would listen. "I can sleep in your arms tonight..." I smiled, feeling him push forward before grasping the long black fur and leaning forward. I smiled at the love we shared as we headed toward our pack.