Omega Pride Ch. 11

After four years, this is the long awaited chapter of Omega Pride! I'm so sorry about the wait and everything that has happened. It's been rough these last few of years over here some rather personal and depressing nonsense, and I finally, FINALLY, can get back to writing in between school and work.

It's astounding to reread this story with my own fresh eyes and see how novice my hand was! Let's see if I have gotten any better! I also encourage those reading to start from the top to better catch up to speed.

I am also looking for new editors, one for my Quebec French and a couple for the rest. My last editors were awesome, so L.L and MythOFreak, if you both are still here and reading after all these years, thanks so much for your hard work and putting up with my timing, guys.

Lastly, I have a sister story to Omega Pride coming out soon, so check it out when it does.

Now, without further ado,

Enjoy!

~*~*~

Delphi stood in front the reflection in the mirror of her walk-in closet. The loose olive green turtleneck hung lower than her collarbone and snug against her body; her deep blue mid-rise bootcut jeans fit her as nicely as it ever had. She held her signature navy-blue knitted beanie in her hand, rubbing her thumb in circles over the well-worn texture. She mused over it quietly before turning, opening a drawer, and placing it in. She ran her hands through her hair a few times, letting the dark auburn waves flow down her back. With her black Keds slip-ons, she left for dinner.

After earlier events and all that had transpired from them, Delphi had found herself tired from the trip (to say the least about reforming with her wolf). It had been 30 minutes ago when she realize that she's been out cold for the last five hours. She was thankful that she hadn't been woken during that time; she sensed that with her new might, she and her wolf might have gotten far too aggressive to the unlucky soul who'd have done the deed. The thought caused an unexpected smile to spread on her face briefly before it faded into a solemn expression.

True be told, she wished Samira had dare do that. She hated the she-wolf and all that she has done to her. How could Samira ever expect Delphi to even respect her? Even though she couldn't forgive what her birth pack has done to her, she couldn't bring herself to hate them too. They all had shared both wonderful and miserable times together; they all cared and loved one another, and were all willing to die for her and her Mother.

Samira, on the other hand, was never there. Even if it was to protect her, she was only there to lay control and restrictions on her and her wolf. If she had known that Delphi and her mother were in danger, then why didn't she just stay and protect them both, or teach Delphi how to shield and control her power instead? And if that wouldn't work, why not take Delphi and her parents with her? Why didn't she think of any alternatives? What if she got caught earlier by the μιγάς and her wolf couldn't have saved them? What then?! There were still many blurry memories of their 'sessions', and with each newly surfacing memory and question, Delphi found herself growling with swelling anger to the point where she felt her wolf ready to breach her skin.

'Relax,' she told both her wolf and herself, 'We need to relax. Else, we do something we might later regret.' She felt her wolf pace back and forth within her, bright eyes full of anger.

'Why should we regret it? It is she who should regret even stepping foot here!'

Delphi shook her head, 'As much as we hate her, she still saved our life.'

'Á PEINE! (BARELY!)' Her wolf barked and growled as she paced, 'Elle nous a mis plus en danger que nous a tenus hors! (She's put us in more danger than kept us out!)'

'Lorsque nous avons devenu si ingrat? (When have we gotten so ungrateful?)' Delphi's brows furrowed and made her wolf halt, 'Je n'ai pas dit de ne pas la méprisent, mais de sortir de notre façon de lui faire du mal? Qui est-nous si nous faisons cela? Sommes-nous Delphinia Mirari Delaney, ou tout simplement un loup vengeresse sans maîtrise de soi?

(I never said not to despise her, but to go out of our way to harm her? Who are we if we do that? Are we Delphinia Mirari Delaney, or just a vengeful wolf with no self-control?)'

Her wolf stared intently at her, before she shut her eyes and slowly lay down, calming down a bit, 'Elle doit être puni. (She must be punished.)'

'Je sais. (I know),' Delphi's eyes relaxed too, 'et elle a le sera. Elle a tellement à expier ... (and she will be. She has so much to atone for...)'

Her wolf nodded in agreement and relented to the back of their mind before Delphi proceeded downstairs.

"...Or should I refer to you as "Keric" in this era? It seems unfit to refer to you by given name," Samira's voice, still muffled by the cloth covering her face, stopped Delphi from going past the Delta floor. Speak of the wolf herself...

Delphi could hear Keric let out a low, strained growl, "You are the last person to talk. I don't even know your birth name...Let alone what you look like under that mask."

Samira was silent only for an instant before she bit back coolly, "...My name not being given is due to the fact that not am I only more than 1000 years older than you, but also that I have never bothered to tell. My Guarder gave me my name. And unlike you, I didn't simply choose it to make an attempt to fit the times."

"Look Samira," Keric let out an unfulfilled sigh, "All I'm asking you to do is to please join my side at dinner. Nothing more—"

"I refuse. That will only flint the flames you wish to reignite and we both know that," Samira bit into him once again before her voice softened to a murmur, "The era is different. We cannot go back to the way things were those millennia ago. My scions and I are new wolves here and we are content with eating by ourselves, Eirí...Keric. I do not wish to upset the mood of this pack any further than the disasters I have brought upon them today."

"...Answer me why we can't start again, Samira. You can't simply tell me that you can't feel what I feel too. I know you do. Say what you wish, but you cannot deny that. You can't deny us that. As for the others here, I can assure you would be alright at my side, and your scions can stay here. I just wish to—" Keric started before he soundly stopped and smelt the peppery anger that radiated off her.

"I need not answer you for my past actions and why we shouldn't repeat ours. I will be staying with my scions. I have an early morning tomorrow with Delphinia's training and I nothing more to say to you, so I must bid thee good night, Keric," Samira told him harshly and shut the door in his face.

For a silent moment, Delphi could hear Keric let out an exasperated growl followed by an afflicting sigh before turning and heading downstairs, walking right pass Delphi without even noticing her, the mucky scent of frustration with a trace of hurt emitted off his skin. Hearing his heavy footsteps decrease in sound, Delphi looked back and forth from Samira's room to the stairs. After a moment she shook her head, not wanting to get involved. As bad as she felt for Keric, she sensed that the tension between them was out of her league, and she really didn't want to get involved with whatever they had going on.

Delphi could hear the chatter coming from dining room get louder as she got closer; Keric's late appearance seemed to disrupt nothing despite his scent. On her arrival however, it fell silent as all their eyes pinpointed onto her. But something was different from their normal absolute displeasure and contempt.

Rather, they came across as a little uneasy, indecisive, and even a little curious. But that did not cover up some of those that seemed to seethe quietly, such as Beatrix. Adeline had told them. In the future, the Mιyaς would launch an attack on Delaney. She probably also told them that they would be attacked because of Delphi, because she was important to the enemy, and they all had the last few hours to sit on that. Subtly looking up at Wyatt, she could see that even he was watching, waiting to see what she would do and say to them. Delphi looked back at them. Before, she would have tried to duck and cover from their crowding stares.

This time, she held her ground. She gave her own glare in return and didn't let up. It was silent...silent...until someone broke and averted their eyes first.

It wasn't Delphi and it was then that she spoke.

"I know you are all pissed off at me." She had a strong tone in her voice that made more than a few brows raise and disarm eyes around the hall.

She glanced at Adeline and Wyatt. Adeline had just closed her eyes in permission. Wyatt in turn folded his fingers, interest cast lightly in his eyes.

"I know that you're all upset that I, an Omega, have brought so much trouble with me in the short amount of time I've been here: a mere month and a few weeks. You are all upset that I was weaker than all of you, including the Omegas here. On top of that, I wasn't only easily allowed to join, but I was also spared—something that the former Alpha Delaney would have never done even on his most merciful days.

You're also pissed off with me for even mating Wyatt, and causing so much harm just by being his mate. But I know that you all are pissed off at me and hate me now than ever because monsters once thought to be myths and mere legends are coming because I am here and want me dead. Why they are doing so is because of my blood and where I came from, not because of me being the mate of Wyatt, not because of any of you, or the pack name. It's only because of me," Delphi announced. Though she barely could grasp control of listening to small thoughts at a time, she heard more than a few of their inner monologues, all ranging from mild interest, to loathing, to anger, and to fear.

"To be honest, I am still trying to get my mind around the truth, and believe me when I say I am in the same boat of anger as all of you because of who has gotten me into this predicament. But know and remember this: I may not be Madam Alpha, I may have caused some things I wish I could take back and desperately want to, and you all may hate and continue to hate me for being a catalyst, for bringing so much havoc, and for being me, but I will not let anything happen to this pack, my pack. Our pack. I'm no longer that weak Omega you looked down upon. And if any of you want to challenge me to see to that fact, then I accept. But also know this: I'm not going anywhere, whether any of you like it or not."

The room was filled with almost eerie muteness. Individual murmurs could be heard from their thoughts. Delphi scanned over them, her eyes daring them to challenge her word and her. With each glance she met, they slowly averted their eyes, but averted them nonetheless. After a moment, Delphi stood straight, and walked assertively to take her seat next to Wyatt. His mouth corners were twitching again as he grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips, kissing it.

'That was really good, beloved,' he projected to her as the room slowly started up on dinner conversations again, though, not as many voices were heard this time. Projections no doubt.

'Thanks. Think that got through to them?' Delphi started eating her prepared plate.

'Time will tell, but I believe so,' Wyatt's mouth still contracted, not quite the same as when he normally chews on food, '...Nervous when you talked to them?'

'Like all hell,' Delphi admitted, and this time she knew she heard Wyatt let out a tiny airy chuckle, completely unnoticed by everyone else in the room. Delphi glanced up at him, giving him a small grin, 'Ah, so the Delaney Alpha does know how to laugh.'

He glanced down at her; his voice entirely unthreatening, 'I have no idea what you are talking about.'

'Uh-huh. Whatever you say Wyatt,' Delphi let it slide with a small smile. For now. However, after a moment it faded a bit, 'Though...what I said about accepting their challenge is still a bluff.'

'...You don't believe you could win if they did?' Wyatt asked with a little concern.

'Maybe. Maybe not. I know I wouldn't be able to back from a challenge now,' Delphi let out a small sigh, 'in a fair fight, however, realistically, I would stand only so much of a chance. I need to properly train first, hopefully before someone does decide to challenge me.'

'You won't have to wait for long. The new wolf will start training you tomorrow morning at 5,' Wyatt caressed her knuckles as he projected.

'I know, I heard it from her,' Delphi's projection came out bitter at the thought of Samira, but she only nodded and ran her thumb against his palm before picking up her fork and started eating the elk steak. She glanced over at everyone else. Sure, a few stares met her sight, but they averted first.

However...

Delphi's sight landed on Beatrix. The she-wolf was absolutely fuming, the hand holding her fork lightly quavered in restrained control. She wasn't looking at Delphi at all, but Delphi knew what thoughts lay on her mind as Beatrix ate through her food steadily and quietly, but as quickly as possible without attracting too much attention. It was no surprise that she was one of the first to finish and excuse herself; her movements seemed to have a subtle quickness and ire in them. Delphi's eyes narrowed as she walked away. Both she and her wolf knew that she was going to be trouble in the near-future.

~*~*~

"I am happy to see you're still an early riser, Delphi," Samira greeted her at an early 5:15 in the morning.

"That shouldn't surprise you at all. Besides I'm fifteen minutes late," Delphi told her rather flatly as she headed for the ring, she and her wolf's feelings of obvious anger in her scent toward the Egyptian wolf.

A whiff of sorrow trailed off of Samira and into the air, and though it hit her eyes, she did not reply to Delphi's remark. Luka, who leaned against the facility walls, sighed slightly at Delphi's tone, but otherwise kept his mouth shut. Fu Zhen sat on the edge of the ring, her expression seemed to be blank towards Delphi's statement. Neither Luka nor Fu Zhen had their weapons returned to them, and Delphi doubted Samira had her Sais returned to her under that cloak either.

"Hey," Delphi's ears perked at the sound of a door opening and turned around; a small smile appeared on her face as she faced the voice.

"Kamilla, Katalin," Delphi has a little disbelief in her voice, "What are you two doing here?"

"Well the one who we've been teaching was unceremoniously taken away from us," Kamilla scratched the back of her head as they neared her.

"Madam Alpha hadn't assigned us to different tasks, and she hadn't told us to quit either," Katalin added, and gave her a small, nearly invisible smile. That's the first time she had ever done so.

'As well,' Kamilla projected to Delphi, 'I don't know anything a damn thing about these wolves. Quite frankly, if someone else is replacing us, as your former trainers we ought to be here and make sure that none of these wolves do any funny business...What?'

Delphi stared at Kamilla rather astonished, 'I just...never thought you'd say something like that.'

Kamilla's eyes narrowed as she folded her arms and looked away, 'I'm not heartless.'

'No, it's not like that,' Delphi shook her head, giving them both a grateful looks, '...Thanks.'

"Whatever," Kamilla said aloud with a quiet growl and a bit of blush on her cheek. Katalin merely nodded her head faintly at her, the smile gone from her lips, but stayed in her eyes. Who would have thought that these two really cared?

"I understand your distrust of me, young wolves," Samira got their attention, "But now is not the time to think about it amongst yourselves."

Kamilla's brows knitted while Katalin's brows rose. Delphi looked over at her, seeing Samira slowly starting to take off her cloak. So it would seem she could pry into thoughts too...

"There are two reasons that you two are here. The first reason is the fact that you two taught Delphi everything she currently knows about fighting," Samira looked at them both.

"Is that why Madam Alpha hadn't told us we no longer need to train her?" Katalin's question was almost devoid of emotion, "You had asked her to let us continue our assistance."

Samira nodded, "I had asked Auðrhildr... No, forgive me. Adeline if it was—"

A growl rumbled from both Kamilla and Katalin's chests. "What gives you the right address the Madam Alpha by name?" Kamilla asked her lowly. Before Katalin could open even her mouth, Samira gave them both a cold glare, striking them with shivers down their spines.

"I may be new to the Pack of Delan, and I do understand and respect that you swear fierce loyalty to your Alphas, but I have known Adeline long before your parents' grandparents were born. I have every right to address her by name, and I have not lived as long as I have for a pair of pups to lay question to what I do or say concerning another wolf on such a trivial subject. I have always expected the Pack of Delan to be well disciplined and to never talk out of turn unless the situation demanded it, especially the Omegas. Do not tarnish that name. Do I make myself clear?"

In that instant, Katalin and Kamilla both swallowed and averted their eyes. Delphi's eyes narrowed in confusion as she glanced back and forth from them to Samira. Delphi didn't understand it. Why was it that they even dare question anything, especially with how strong Samira was—

Oh. That was it.

As Delphi looked back at Samira, she was finally calm and stable enough to realize why. Before, Samira's power was blatant, but now Delphi didn't sense any exuding off of her. At all.

With Wyatt, Keric, Adeline, or any wolf she'd come across, she and her wolf could always tell how powerful they were by how much of an air they gave off. But with Fu Zhen, Luka, and especially Samira, it was like a void: a feeling was there and it was mostly in their eyes. But it wasn't power and it was very similar to a human's air. So this is what she meant by when she taught her mother to shield her powers and who she was?

"I do not mean to pry, Delphinia," Samira returned to the soft tone she seemed to naturally do with her, "But as much as I wish to teach you to shield your powers and air, I cannot. We do not have the luxury of a thousand years for me to teach you how to fight and use your powers to the best of your abilities. I have no choice but to teach you everything as quickly and proficiently as possible." Samira looked over at Kamilla and Katalin, "This is the second reason as to why I requested these two pups stay. As they were your teachers, they will remain present until you can surpass them in a battle."

"What do you mean?" Delphi asked seriously, albeit irritant at her use of her full name, "One-on-one, or at the same time, or...?"

"Not just at the same time," Samira told her, "But also in less than 20 seconds."

"What?!" The entire statement caught even apathetic Katalin off guard as the trio looked at Samira as if she just grown two heads and called herself Cerberus.

Delphi looked at her with slightly knitted brows, "How would I be able to do that? With more time maybe, but in less than—"