Alistair

Pappa still hasn't come home so far.

It's been three days and I can see how it's bothering momma. Mark and Laura ask about him every single day and she's running out of excuses to give them.

In other news, we started earning at the cattle farm job. It's a tough labor with the cows, but nothing any one of us can't handle.

Actually, all things considered, the walk up to the farm is harder than the labor itself. My feet kill me at the end of each day when all we do is basically eat dinner and collapse inside the tent.

But I feel extremely fulfilled.

Especially now with pappa gone, I really need to earn. Goddess knows when I'll have another opportunity like this and each family pulls their own weight at the camp.

Yes, we're a shared collective but if one of us doesn't do what they're supposed to, the whole dynamic can crumble.

Which is why we pool our resources but each family is in charge of cooking their own food. Though now that we only have one kitchen the point is kinda moot, so they do it together.

But the bottom line is none of us can afford to stop pulling their weight and my family does need the money. Now more than ever.

"Oh my Goddess, the exhaustion is real!" - I breathe out before I begin to eat dinner.

We are all sitting at the large table outside of the house, getting ready to have dinner. I'm feeling really tired from the walk home, though I'm not alone.

"Tell me about it! It would be easier to sleep over there indeed." - Tristan agreed, pouring some water to drink.

"But the shower though... I never had a hot bath like that." - Christian interjected, smiling at the thought.

Because it's a large farm, there is an employee's locker room where we can change clothes and take a bath before we leave.

He's right, though. I love having a hot bath where we don't have to carry the water buckets ourselves. That's the best part of the job.

"Me neither. I never smelled better." - I agreed, giggling.

"I appreciate your service, son." - Momma spoke with a proud smile while she fed my siblings.

"Of course, momma. I'm happy to be earning." - I said, feeling content. Anything I can do to help my family is a good day for me.

"I hope my son didn't give you too much trouble, guys." - Momma said, looking at the men eating.

"Are you kidding me? He's a superstar! The foreman liked Ali so much he wanted to adopt him!" - Joe joked. I asked momma what to adopt means so I can understand why the adults are laughing at this.

Yeah, I don't wanna be adopted. But I like to be of service. I could never leave my family behind.

Mark suddenly sprints away from the table, startling everyone around. We look at the direction he's going and see pappa walking towards us.

The boy jumped into his father's welcoming arms, giddy and happy he's back. Pappa continued walking towards the camp, carrying Mark with him.

Laura also jumped onto his arms, ecstatically thrilled. Momma didn't change her features, staring at him with a serious expression.

"Good evening, everyone. I hope you saved me some dinner." - Pappa greeted us, wary of momma's reaction. But she acted as if it's business as usual. Like nothing even happened.

"Sure, honey. Let me fix you a plate." - Momma smiled at him. The adults present all look at each other uncomfortably, but no one says anything except for exchanging pleasantries with him.

Pappa drops his children carefully on the ground and takes a seat at the table. The kids resume eating and so do we.

"I've been earning too, pappa." - I told him in an excited tone.

"I'm glad, Ali. I knew you would step up." - He said with a mild smile. Momma handed him a plate of hot meal and he started eating.

"Is everything alright at the farm?" - Momma asked him, looking nonchalant.

"It was great. I just slept over there for a few days to make it easier. You know, there was a lot of work to be done over there." - He explained in an awkward tone.

Momma raised a suspicious eyebrow but her disposition didn't change.

"Sure, honey. Whatever you think it's best." - She smiled politely. I'm thinking momma is hiding a storm behind her smile that it'll be hell for him to pay.

But I'm staying out of it. Plus, I'm too tired to do anything other than brush my teeth and crash in my tent with the boys.

I didn't even kiss Tristan except for a peck goodnight.

Next morning, we're all eating breakfast early as usual, especially considering the long walk ahead of us.

"Are you going to the farm today, Billy?" - Momma asked him as she served my siblings.

"No, the job is over for now." - He replied, not particularly disappointed.

"Good. We're low on water and meat. You need to pick up the slack while the men are earning." - Her tone broke no argument. Still...

"You want me hunting and fetching water today?" - He raised his voice in surprise.

"No, honey. I want you hunting, fetching water and chopping some wood." - She informed him in a firm tone.

All of us are eating quietly and avoiding any sort of commentary. This is awkward enough as it is.

"That seems like a lot to get done in one day." - Pappa muttered, discouraged.

"I have faith in you, my darling. You'll make it work! And I want meat to last us some days too. Don't come back with just a rabbit or two." - She jabbed at him, telling him the same thing he told me last time I went hunting.

He gulped at this, but said nothing. Momma is pissed and if he complains she's just gonna keep adding up...

We left camp for our long walk towards the cattle farm. On the way over there, the men commented that pappa is 'at the dog house' with momma.

And she's not a woman to be trifled with.

Yeah... my thoughts exactly.

Several hours later, when we returned home, momma was looking pleased and pappa was knackered. Though his chores don't compare to ours, I don't think he stopped much today.

"Ali, I went to town today with Sarah and we bought you some new clothes. You need to present yourself better at your job." - She smiles at me.

She also bought new clothes for my siblings and herself. I'm guessing she's spending pappa's earnings. There were a lot of bags lying around the house.

"Thanks, momma. You didn't need to concern yourself with me." - I said, looking at the clothes she's showing me with a content smile.

"Of course I do. No son of mine is going to parade around town looking like a beggar." - She rebuked.

"Now, you need to try these on to see if it fits or I'll need to exchange them tomorrow." - She continued, handing me the shirts and pants.

"Do you mean now? Momma, I'm tired. I just wanna eat dinner and sleep." - I pleaded, looking exhausted.

"Then you better try them on fast so we can eat." - She insisted, eyes rolling.

I can see I'm not going to win this argument, so I take the clothes and do as told. I don't usually mind much about what I wear, but I do look good in some of these clothes.

I guess it's a good thing we're earning because everything in life has a price. I just had no idea how steep it could get for me. Though earning comes with its own challenges.

DAYS LATER.

We've finished our week working at the cattle farm and have earned some money. Pappa has literally worked his way out of 'the dog house' with momma and they are normal again.

But that also means he's on my case about chores, as usual. But I don't mind... much.

Joe bought some more supplies for the house building - everyone pitched in with the money, including Sarah - and we're back to working on it.

It's hard labor, as I've said before, but nothing we can't handle. Plus, now pappa is helping too. It's coming along well.

Today the men had to go into town to buy some necessities. We always need some products for the house and our personal hygiene, so they went along to purchase it.

After studying with Sarah, we broke for lunch. Then, we had some time off and decided to go to the river. Even though it's autumn, the weather is nice.

In fact, it's unusually hot today. Really warm, so we could use the freshen up. Plus, our families always need more water, so there we go carrying buckets.

It's not as fast or fun as going in wolf form but it is what it is. When we arrived at the river, we hurriedly got naked and jumped inside the cool water.

This was especially refreshing today as we're so hot from walking for almost an hour.

We splashed some water around, played among ourselves and goofed off. It's a great time.

"This is nice, but I miss the farm shower. I can't lie." - Chris spoke as he tried to float on the river.

"Me too." - I agreed, thinking about it.

"Me three." - Tristan spoke, breathing out a sigh.

"Maybe we can get your dad to build us one with the new house." - I suggested to Tristan, sounding excited at the prospect.

"We don't have a way of getting water from the river directly to the house. But I'm sure he can think of something at least similar." - He explained with a disappointed tone.

Joe is the builder, as you can tell. He has the most experience in construction. And is exceptionally skilled with tools, talent he tries to pass on to his son.

We're chilling for a minute inside the river when we picked up a strange scent. We look at each other worriedly as to what's happening since we are never disturbed here.

Suddenly, we hear the sound of footsteps approaching from the waterfall side of the river margin.

Two boys are coming down looking intrigued at us, all the while we immediately got spooked by their presence.

The three of us look at each other not knowing what to do. They've already seen us and we can't run away now, especially leaving the buckets behind not far from the river where we are.

The water covers half our bodies - since I'm the smallest it covers up to my chest - and we stay immobile, hoping they go away.

"Who are you?" - The taller boy asked, staring at us in curiosity, as soon as they came near.

"What is it to you? We're just taking a bath." - I replied in a snarky tone.

He looks at me even more intrigued. The other boy is gawking at Tristan's half naked body.

"I see that, thank you very much. But you didn't answer my question. Who are you?" - He insisted as the smaller boy didn't take his eyes off of Tristan. He is mesmerized by him.

"Who are you?" - I asked him instead, frowning in annoyance at him and his friend eye humping Tristan, who looked a bit uncomfortable - though not because of the boy's admiration.

The taller boy stared at me for a moment, then it hit him.

"Oh my Goddess! Rogues! Let's go, Lex! Now!" - He said in a scared tone, taking some distance from us.

Christian, Tristan and I tremble at his discovery. We don't know what he'll do or who else is with them. But for now there's nothing we can do except to leave as soon as possible.

"I didn't know rogues could be this hot!" - His friend commented with a naughty grin at Tristan, who blushed under his gaze.

Then, his friend did the unthinkable.

He took a step closer to the river and stretched out his hand for Tristan to shake.

"Nice to meet you, Alexander Houser III." - He smiled at him.

"Are you out of your mind, Lex? Do you want to get murdered?" - His friend was baffled by the attitude.

"We've never murdered anyone!" - I defended myself while the boy maintained his arm stretched, still waiting for him.

Tristan takes a few steps towards the boy known as Lex and shakes his hand, also revealing his naked self - causing the boy to get wide-eyed at his muscled physique, among other body parts.

"Nice to meet you, Alexander. I'm Tristan Maldonado." - He greeted, shaking his hand.

"And they're naked too." - The taller boy commented, turning his gaze away from Tristan, who blushed.

"We're bathing. We didn't know anyone else would come here." - I argued, peeved at the obnoxious brat.

"I'm not complaining." - Lex flirted, practically drooling at Tristan's anatomy. He took a few steps back and let the water partially cover him again, though not before giggling at the newfound attention.

"Let's go, Lex. Or are you going to make me explain to your parents how you got killed because you found the rogue attractive?" - His friend snapped at him, who still didn't take his eyes off of Tristan.

"I don't know if you're stupid or just plain idiot. I've told you before: we've never killed anyone and are not about to begin now." - I barked at him, livid.

"I wanna see you come out of the water and call me stupid to my face!" - He challenged me, defiantly.

This finally made Lex turn around and face his friend.

"Stop Ben, that's how your brother got killed." - He said in a serious tone, catching him completely off guard.

"My brother was overconfident." - Ben stated in a hurt tone, mad at his friend.

"Right, so you think that challenging a rogue to a fight is not doing exactly the same?" - He asked with an annoyed disposition.

"He's just an omega! It's not the same thing!" - Ben raised his tone and Lex was gobsmacked by his response.

All of us are watching them arguing and I'm mad at his last comment.

"Just an omega? I see... because we're inferior, right?" - Lex spoke, deeply hurt.

Even I feel bad for him.

Lex turned back around to us, looking at Tristan.

"It was nice to meet you, Tristan. I'd give you my number but you probably don't have a phone." - He spoke before turning his gaze to me.

"I apologize for my friend's comments. I believe you when you said you've never killed anyone." - He told me with an honest expression on his face.

"Thank you, Alexander. It was nice to meet you too. I'm Alistair Young and the quiet one is Christian Williams." - I replied, pointing at my friend, who waved at him.

He turned around and started walking away from us, quietly.

"I'm so sorry, Lex! I didn't mean it like that! You know that's not what I believe." - He tried to explain himself.

"You just challenged an omega to a fight because you knew you could win, right? It's fine, Ben. Good on you for picking on someone half your size. You really showed them!" - He snickered in a foul mood.

Lex walked away in a hurry. Ben kept on apologizing to him. It was uncomfortable to witness.

After they left, we got dressed in a hurry, filled our buckets and walked back home. This was scary on so many levels. Curiously, him trying to goat me into a fight was the least of them.

I'm not crazy to start a fight I'm gonna lose, unless I have no other choice. And that wasn't it.

Though when we told the story to our parents over dinner, they weren't amused by it. Especially momma.

"You can't be too careful, son. We don't know what he'd do to you, to us." - She warned me, fearfully.

"I know, momma." - I mumbled as I ate, distraught.

"That's a lot of danger for a waterfall." - Elodie snickered, eating beside her brother at the table.

"Yeah... Tell me about it!" - Chris agreed enthusiastically, breathing out a heavy sigh.

A|N: Ironically, I've written a trilogy of books (The Twins') with lots of scenes at waterfalls but never have been able to use this song. I tried once but it never panned out. Go figure.

Naturally, their lives will never be the same after that.

Next comes something really exciting!

This picture of Alistair, though... *swoons*