The loss of Benevolence leaves the rest of their village shattered and Chastity's father in charge of Vibra's safety.

"Have you seen River?" Asks Frost when Besra comes to the rope ladder. They'll be repairing for months, but he tries not to think about it.

He tosses the forager's bag up to the boy and he adjusts his gloves. "Has he been gone for long?"

"He wasn't here when mom and I woke up."

"I'll find him." He turns back to the forest and tries to scent the missing teen. Benevolence had hammered the layout into them to ensure they never got lost.

Besra wishes he could be so in tune with the forest, moving under heavy branches and through thick brush until the trees space themselves out to a thicket. In the center, where the grass grows highest, is a giant tree stump that's been hollowed out.

Slinking into the stump, he finds River curled in on himself. He smells like blood.

"I'm sorry," He tells the younger teen, stroking at his arm.

"Thank you."

"Are you hurt?"

Dark eyes look up at him and Besra finds a strange glint in them. Something he doesn't recognize and doesn't like.

"No," River says at last. "I just really miss my dad."

"I don't blame you. I wish I could trade with him."

"He wouldn't want that," The teen shifts onto his stomach and looks out from between twisted, gnarled roots. "He did it for you."

The statement feels like a punch to the gut but he swallows his response. "You think I took your dad away."

"I don't. But I know he loved you enough to die for you." A wavering smile is painstakingly crafted. "And he's my hero for that."

His chest hurts, words escape him and he doesn't bother trying to gather them.

There's nothing he can say to fix this.

"Come on," Says River as he wriggles out through the tiny window made by the roots.

Reluctantly, Besra leaves the hideout Benevolence gifted to his blood son. He'd helped Peregrine and Shrike build theirs as all omega do for courtship.

Besra hadn't been ready for something like that.

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Now he wishes he had.

Serene will probably gift him her own, but it will never be the same as creating something with Benevolence and the rest of their family.

He follows shoulder length hair through the thicket and into closely grown trees, sitting on a mossy rock beside River.

A herd of Royal Elk pick their way around trees with well practiced ease, antlers narrowly avoiding being caught on branches or vines.

"Bes..." Says the his companion, rounded face turning upwards to look at him.

"Yeah?" He whispers in effort not to disturb the herd.

"I..." River swallows, fidgeting with his loose fitting black shirt. "I..."

Besra raises his brows in askance, waiting patiently because he assumes this to be important.

"I'm really glad you're my friend," The teen says before returning to the beasts before them. "You give really nice hugs."

"Do you want one?"

"I'd like that."

xXx

A golden carriage with many large, white horses makes an appearance, whetting the curiosity of the village. It's not every day that someone from the Upper Church visits them.

In fact, Besra is convinced that it should be downright impossible. Vibra is just barely at the Saint's fingertips and altogether forgotten, small and populated exclusively with omega.

"What do you think they want?" Asks Serene as she leans over the railing of her aunt's balcony, straining and contorting to get as much a view as she can.

The man they're observing meanders over the drawbridge of their Church.

"Grin?" Says the leader of their guard from the next house over.

Peregrine looks up from his nosiness. "Yes?"

"The sigma are back."

Peregrine heaves a heavy sigh before abandoning his idle intent to change into battle gear, Shrike close behind him. "Stay here, Bes. We won't be long."

"What even are sigma?" Asks River.

"They used to be like us," Serene replies without looking up. "But they longed to be like alpha, so God turned them over to their depravity. And now they roam the wilderness for omega to devour."

"Any of us could become sigma?" Asks River.

"We could indeed," She agrees. "And this is why it's important to attend Services and recieve the blessings of our Apostle."

A strange trembling overtakes River's lithe frame. It makes Besra uneasy. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," He replies. "It's just such a terrible thought. Could they ever become omega again?"

"Only if they turn to God and partner with an alpha," Says Serene, pulling chestnut colored hair over her shoulder. "A terrible fate, indeed."

The old man strides from the Church below and looks around, gaze landing on River. The teen beside Besra quails, almost hiding behind him.

"That's the Saint," Says Serene. "Why has he come all the way out here?"

It doesn't seem to sit right with any of them as they watch him climb back into the gilded carriage.

"Maybe it's a meeting for the funds to rebuild," Says their guardian. "After all, it's quite expensive and there are some skills we need but don't have."

They return home and settle in. Peregrine and Shrike arrive when the moon has risen to her full height, whispering between them as they change clothes and slip into their shared hammock.

They've shared a bed as long as Besra can remember, a habit they'd developed while being held in their father's den.

Besra had been taken at a young enough age that he doesn't feel the need to cling to his brothers as intently as they cling to each other.

He doesn't remember a lot of Glade. There was a time when their mother made an escape attempt with them and it had been quickly and brutally snuffed by the alpha. Another time when he brought Peregrine a card game and taught him to play.

Peregrine, in turn, taught Shrike and Besra.

He hadn't even named them.

Benevolence did.

Bestowing them nicknames that they grew into instead of choosing new labels.

Besra wishes God chose to take him and spare the closest thing to a father he's ever had.