Page 9 of Sanctuary
Ori's eyes widened. "Court me? Patton? What--" He broke off and stared at them, his mouth agape. "No, it wasn't like that! I wanted the feathers, I told him that before we went runnin'! That's why he got them for me--you know he's always had the sharpest nose in the pack!"
His parents glanced at each other and then his Paw shook his head and stepped forward to hug Ori. "But that’s exactly the kind of thing folks do when they’re courting, you know that. I knew we shouldn'ta let you two keep playing together, but it made you so happy. He made you so happy. And I never could stand your tears." He laid his cheek on top of Ori's head for a moment, then stepped back. "Your Maw was better at that, tougher. I shoulda listened to her." He glanced back at Ori's Maw and they stared at each other for a long moment while Ori looked back and forth, trying to decipher what silent communication was passing between them.
Finally, when Ori thought he'd lose his mind with the waiting, his Paw sighed and undid the buckle of his belt. "Understand, Ori, that this is my fault, for spoiling you and letting you have your way so much. I knew it was wrong, but I let myself do it anyway. And now you have to pay the price for it and I'm sorry for that, but you've caused that boy a pile of trouble and you need to pay for it."
Ori bolted to his feet and put the chair between himself and his Paw, his eyes fixed on that folded length of leather. "What do you mean? What are you talking about?" But he knew, deep in his gut, even though it had never happened to him in his lifetime. He'd seen the other omegas when they'd been beaten for misbehavior, coming to class limping and seeking out the softest places to sit. He knew what was coming. Already, his legs were shaking with nerves and he wondered in silent hysteria if he'd scream.
"Ori, it's time," his Paw said gently. And then his Maw, "Best done quicker than slower, get it over with and then it's behind you." She reached out as if she wanted to touch his cheek or maybe stroke his hair, but Ori jerked away from her.
"Don't touch me," he hissed, and then regretted it when he saw the hurt in her eyes. She was trying, for him, and then he thought about Patton and the beating he'd gotten back at the clearing, and the guilt chewed him so hard he didn't think anything could hurt more than that. "Fine," he said dully and stepped out from behind the chair. If Patton was getting beaten, it was only fair that Ori was too. He was shaking in earnest now, and his Maw's strangled sound of distress rang across his nerves like scratching a sunburn.
Moments later, Ori lay bent over the table, his pants around his knees and his now chilled flesh quivering in terrified anticipation. He heard the rush of air past the leather a fraction of a second before it struck, not really enough time to brace himself, and agony like sitting on coals roared through him. He yelped, then bit his knuckles and held back the sobs as best he could.
When it was over, his Paw helped him back to his room and put him to bed. His Maw came with a cloth, soaked in water and wrung out but blissfully cool on his aching flesh, and then he was left alone with his thoughts and his aches. To ponder his crimes, maybe. Except all he seemed able to ponder was the way his butt and the backs of his thighs shrieked at him every time he moved. Everything hurt, and he wanted so badly to be mad at them, but the memory of the sharp-bitter scent of his parents’ fear and distress troubled him even more than his bruised skin and aching heart.
And then he forgot himself and tried to roll over and the pain in his backside made him go back to just being mad again.
C H A P T E R S E V E N
T he next day, when Patton rolled his aching, bruised body out of bed, his Da sat him down in their tiny kitchen and took a seat across from him, wearing the most serious expression Patton had ever seen on his face. "You can't see Ori any more."
"Why not?" Patton asked mutinously. "He's my friend. We've been friends since we were pups."
His Da sighed and cast a glance in the direction of Patton's Ma, who was puttering away at the stove, then shook his head and turned back to Patton. "What you did last night was something that's reserved for alphas. You're a beta. Some day, you'll have a good job with the pack, something useful, but you won't be able to afford to keep an omega. You need to let him go, to find his own destiny. He'll mate an alpha and have a good life. Omegas are made for having babies, it’s what makes them the happiest. You don’t want him to be poor, do you?"
"No. But why can't I give Ori a present?" Patton asked in a mulish tone. "We're friends. He wanted the feathers for a shirt he was making. I wanted to make sure he had them."
"And that was very kind of you," his Ma said, sliding a plate in front of him with one of their rare eggs and a sausage on it, a slice of Ma's bread toasted and spread with a thin layer of jam hanging over the edge. "But it looked like a courting gift and the alphas don't like that."
"Why can't I court him, though? If I got a good job, I could support him." He'd do that, work harder than he ever had in his life, take whatever job in the pack he needed to in order to be sure that Ori was happy.
His Da ruffled his hair and Patton jerked his head away in irritation.
"Omegas are for alphas and betas are for betas. You'll understand when you're older. In the meantime, just keep your distance from Ori. Now, eat your breakfast and you can come help me till the garden."
Patton frowned at his plate, but even his stubborn frustration with the pack couldn't keep his stomach from yearning toward the treat in front of him. Still, he muttered, "Don't know why I have to be older," before he picked up his fork and began, careful around the split lip and bruises, to eat.
H is Da worked him hard that day and, by the end, Patton had to admit that he was grateful. It helped him keep his mind off Ori and that pained sound he'd made last night. It also helped him ignore the muttering of gossip as people made excuses to come by and goggle at him and the marks left over from last night’s beating.
He never saw Ori at all and when he asked, all he could get out of his Da was, “Ori’s got his own troubles. Don’t you go adding to them.” But then, before they left the garden, his Da reached into a sack that had been laying on the ground the whole time and wordlessly handed Patton a cheap black cowboy hat. He thumped Patton clumsily on the shoulder and they said no more about either the hat, or the events of the night before. Patton understood that he’d done wrong in tromping on alpha territory, but also that his Da knew that his urge to give something to Ori came from a good place, not a bad one, and the hat was meant to bridge some of the gap that had been growing between them that day.
That night, he went to bed exhausted and fell right to sleep, through the pain of overworked muscles and bruises and through the emotional aches left over from the aftermath of full moon.
Sometime near dawn, a tapping at his window woke him. The sky was that funny shade of gray that was still night, but you knew that it was soon going to start to turn pink. He turned to squint at the window and saw a familiar head framed in the gray block of the pre-dawn sky.
Ori.
Quick as blinking, he rolled out of the bed he shared with his older brother, careful not to wake him. He pushed the window open, taking care not to make too much noise, and hung out the opening to see his friend.
Ori's eyes looked swollen. His whole face did, really, like he'd been crying. It made Patton think of the time he and Ori had built a wonderful hideaway up in the trees at the far end of the enclave and some older pups had found it and destroyed it. They'd spent days on that thing, cobbling together a roof and four walls, a door, seats and cupboards and stones for a fire pit, only to have it all destroyed in a matter of minutes. Now, in a sudden burst of maturity, Patton realized that it was their lives that were being destroyed. And it was his fault.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I didn't know they'd freak out like that."
Ori sniffed. "I can't stay long. I snuck out my window. Maw says I'm grounded until--I dunno, I guess until I'm mated, they were so mad. Are you okay?" He reached out to brush a fingertip across Patton's swollen lip, then pulled his hand away as if he'd touched something hot.
"Yeah, it's no big deal," Patton said magnanimously. "How are you, though? I heard you yelp last night."
Ori grimaced. "Amelia bit me a little last night, and I got my butt tanned when I got home. They let met keep the pheasants though, so I wanted to say thank you for them."
