Emily woke screaming, a scream that was caught inside her throat, and she was covered in cold sweat. The nightmare coated her like a second layer of skin–her father's icy gaze, the council's verdict, the sensation of the entire world turning against her. "Emily." "Emily." "Emily,"
Arthur's voice called in the darkness warm and even. He was with her instantaneously, his hand soft on her shoulder. "You're safe. You're here with me."
She shook, trying to breathe. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."
"Don't apologize." Arthur drew her in close, and she allowed herself to rest in the heat of his. "How long have you had these nightmares?"
Emily opened her eyes. "Since I left Sparkling Star. Well, sometimes I wake up and I'm confused about where I am. I think I'm still there, still being judged."
Arthur's arms tightened around her. "You're not there anymore. You're here, and no one's judging you."
They sat like that in the dark, Arthur's steady heartbeat gradually slowing pace her frantic heartbeat. And when she finally fell back to sleep, it was without dreams. The following day, Arthur was determined to give her a proper tour of the land. Not like her old house, where she'd been kept hidden and separate.
"In the mornings, the kitchens are always packed," he said as he led them around the central compound. Sarah runs them-she's been with the pack for twenty years. Just so you know, she's scary until she warms up to you."
Emily's nerves twisted inside her stomach, but she trailed him into the house. The kitchen was warm and the air was redolent of fresh bread. A plump woman with gray hair raised her eyes from kneading dough.
"Arthur," she said, and then her gaze shifted to Emily. Her face was businesslike in basic neutral tones. "And that one must be Emily."
"Sarah, this is Emily. Emily, Sarah is the heart and soul of Woodland Territory. If you ever want anything, it's her you ask."
Sarah took a long look at Emily. Emily forced herself not to look away, though all she wanted was to disappear into the floor.
"Can you cook?" asked Sarah, bluntly.
"Bit," said Emily.
"The basics," he said.
Sarah nodded. "Then you can help. All right, so I'm making my move. We can always use more hands to do the breakfast thing."
It was cold, but I didn't turn down the offer either. Something uncoiled in Emily's chest. "I'd like that."
Arthur smiled, clutched her hand momentarily, and left her to it.
---
In the days that followed, Emily found a rhythm. She rose at his call in the kitchens, following Sarah's brisk rhythms and slowly garnering an occasional nod of approval here and there. In the afternoons, she did the laundry, patched clothes and cared for the herb gardens.
The pack was cautious, but not cruel. They regarded her with curiosity and caution, but no one spat insults or turned their backs. it was a strange-it was this neutral acceptance.
On the fourth day, a young omega called Sara came up to her as she was hanging laundry.
"Hi," the girl said with a shy smile. She was no more than sixteen, with large brown eyes and a messy braid of auburn hair. "I'm Sara. With an "a" at the end, not an "h" like the kitchen boss."
Emily blinked, then smiled despite herself. "Hi, Sara-with-an-a."
Sara grinned. "I wanted to speak with you for a long time, but I didn't know if you wanted company. You just always look so... intense."
"Do I?" asked Emily, taken aback.
"Yeah, like you're expecting something bad to jump out." Sara picked up a wet sheet and helped hang it. "But I thought maybe you just weren't used to people being nice."
It was such an accurate observation that Emily didn't know what to say. "I was an omega in another pack before I came here," Sara went on, easily filling the silence. "They treated me like dirt. Arthur found me half-starved on the border and brought me in. Gave me a home. So I get it-being scared that it might all disappear."
Emily's throat tightened. "Does it get easier?"
"Yeah," Sara said simply. "Eventually you realize they mean it. This is real. "
From that day on, Sara became Emily's shadow-chatting pack gossip, showing her all the best places in the forest, and making her laugh by impersonating some of the stricter pack members.
---
Emily spent many of her evenings watching Arthur lead his pack. He arbitrated with justice, he heard to peoples' problems with real interest, and he ruled taking into account the well being of everyone-not just the most physically able, or the most influential members of the pack.
It was nothing like her father's rule. Greer had reigned by fear and tradition, his only concerns had been the reputation of the pack and its strength. Arthur ruled with respect and kindness, and genuine care.
"You're staring," Arthur said one evening, as he noticed her looking at him from the other side of the communal hall.
Emily flushed. "I was just... observing."
He came over to her, his look gentle. "And what have you observed?"
"That your pack loves you," she said in a quiet voice. "Not because they fear you, but because you earned it."
Softening, Arthur's eyes softened. "Leadership is not about power, Emily. Service."
---
For the first time since that day, the pack assembled for a communal meal-a weekly tradition. Emily sat between Sara and Arthur, dread building in her chest as the hall buzzed with voices and laughter.
The din grew greater. More pack members trickled in, their voices meshing and ricocheting off the stone walls. Emily's chest tightened. She felt people watching her, the whispers barely audible over the shouting.
It's me they're talking about. They're judging me. They want me to show I'm cursed.
She was out of breath. The walls were closing in.
Emily rose abruptly from the floor, the chair scraping behind her. She didn't glance at anyone as she bolted from the hall, shoving through the doors and out into the night air, crisp and clear.
She fled into the woods and did not stop until the sounds of the pack receded into the distance. Pressing herself to a tree, she buried her face in her hands as she tried to slow down her pounding heart.
"Emily."
She looked up and saw Arthur making his way towards her, his face worried but not pitying.
"My apologies," she murmured. "I ruined dinner. I'm pathetic-"
"Stop." Arthur was now at her side and knelt down. "You're not pathetic. You had a panic attack. That's not weakness."
"Everyone was staring-"
"Because you're new, not because you're cursed." He flopped down beside her against the tree. "Emily, you were told your entire life that you didn't belong. You don't just get that out of your system in a week."
Tears burned her eyes. "What if I never fit in? What if I'm always this broken?"
"You're not broken. You're healing. And healing takes time."
"How can you be so patient with me?"
He turned his full face to her, the green of his eyes shining in the moonlight. "Because I see you, Emily. Not the curse your pack was so terrified of. Not the weakness - the illusion they brandished as their algo central. I see a woman who was rejected and tossed aside and ran 'headlong into danger' instead of backing down, who has more strength than she knows."
He cupped her cheek gently. "You belong here. Not because I rescued you, but because you choose to stay. That's what matters." Emily had stopped breathing. No one had ever talked to her that way-like she was worth something, like her decisions meant anything.
"I don't know how to do this," she said. "How do you trust that this is real."
Arthur said softly, "One inning at a time." "That's all we can do, all of us."
They sat side by side in the still woods, and for the "I don't know how to-"anger,he wanted to say but his friend finished speaking before he could "just Maybe for the very first time since coming here - just Maybe-"Emily murmured angrily,throwing her metaphorical punches at her invisible foe- build a life-
A life that was truly hers.
