2 - Fourteen Days

Andy had been in there for a while and the more time passes, the more Millan can hear shouts through the adjacent door.

To his dismay, he can even make out some of the words they’re saying, mostly what the pack Head Alpha is saying since he shouts the loudest.

“No, Andy! How many times do I have to… before you finally… NO WAY … a rogue in OUR pack?… cannot trust him … don’t care to know him … have enough members to worry about.”

He hears more indistinct shouts before he hears pretty clearly: “His OWN pack didn’t even want him!”

Millan feels like someone squeezed his heart in their hands and isn’t letting it go.

He guesses Weston is not going to want to meet with him after all. He still sits there, on the edge of the couch, his precious bag between his feet and everyone in the room looking at him, some with pity, some with disdain, some with curiosity. 

Even the dictionary-reading beta looks at him with empathy in her eyes.

He wills his head to stay up high and his posture to stay confident.

He will not flee the room. He will not let that stupid lump in his throat get the better of him.

He will stay here until Andy returns.

He will take the rejection in stride and move on.

Like he’s been doing all his life.

Even though he repeats this like a mantra, Millan can’t dislodge that lump and can’t ignore the sting in his chest.

He’s been wandering for years from one place to another, never settling and he doesn’t think he can continue like this forever. He knows he will break eventually.

An omega is simply not made to take all this rejection without any kind of comfort or support, but what other choices does he have?

After more shouting and pleads from Andy, the latter finally returns to the living room, visibly deflated.

Millan stands up and tries to smile, although it doesn’t reach his eyes. He saves Andy the task of announcing what he already know.

“How long before I have to go then?” Millan swallows.

He’s aware of the hurt that’s showing through his eyes, but he can’t help it. He’s fearful of the answer.

“He’s locked me into Alpha Command. I’m so sorry, Millan.” Andy avoids the question, which only makes Millan worry even more.

“How long, Andy?” he presses.

“You have two weeks. One of our nurses will take care of your leg and then you have to go.” He says it with such desperation that Millan almost doesn’t hear him correctly.

“Two weeks? That’s great, Andy! Thanks!” Millan feels way better now.

He hadn’t expected Weston to welcome him into his pack with open arms anyway.

But two weeks and the right to see a nurse would be more than enough for him to get back on his feet quite literally and get some supplies before continuing his journey.

Andy is completely surprised by Millan's sudden excitement.

He’s amazed again by how strong the omega is, taking rejection like it’s no big deal when all the omegas he knows would have been completely devastated.

Hell, all the werewolves he knows, no matter the gender.

“I… umm. It is?” Andy says, hesitant.

“Yeah! I thought you would be escorting me to the next border today! At least I can get my leg checked at before going, it’s perfect.”

And Millan is very glad of this outcome. He’ll have time to heal while having a shelter and food for free.

He might even be able to read a book on that bench he saw outside. He’ll have to ask that beta for the dictionary she was reading, he thinks.

Andy schools his expression for Millan's sake, but his heart aches at the thought that Millan is so used to rejection that letting him stay for two weeks is like offering him the stars.

Andy feels like crap turning this beautiful omega with violet eyes, away.

He would have two weeks to make Weston see reason then.

He couldn’t let the omega continue to be rejected over and over again. Besides, he only has to get the two of them to meet and Weston will agree with Andy in a heartbeat.

The more he gets to know Millan, the more he thinks the two of them would actually get along well.

He can feel it.

Andy just has to figure out a way for them to meet during Millan's short stay.

*****

Millan thinks he couldn’t be in a better situation even if he dreamt of it.

Andy had lead him to the infirmary right after the talk with Weston and the nurses were currently fretting over him. A bit too much for his liking, but at least he knows they’ll get his leg fixed and he can go back to running like the wolf he is in no time.

He’s thinking of everything he’ll have the time to do in two weeks and is already fantasizing about how he can steal countless amounts of supplies while he’s at Headquarters.

Everybody’s so nice to him he almost considers straight up asking for food and other necessities, but he doesn’t think he wants to risk getting a ‘no’. Then people would be more suspicious of him and stealing would be harder.

The doctor, clearly an alpha, her posture and her scent give her away instantly, enters the room right when one of the nurses is taking Millan's vital signs. Millan believes it’s a bit overkill for a wounded leg, but he isn’t going to complain.

“Hi, Millan, my name is Nara and I'm going to take care of you today. How are you feeling?”

Millan feels like everybody here talks to him as they would a child who fell and broke his leg. It’s a little infuriating since he’s actually a grown man who has an infected cut.

He really hates when people underestimate him or baby him just because of his gender. He’s used to this however, so he smiles to the doctor nonetheless, hoping to convey he’s really not in that much pain.

Although his leg is, in fact, killing him.

“I’m great actually. Just a bad cut on my leg.” He shrugs to emphasize that it isn’t so bad and people in this pack should stop worrying.

“All right, well, let me have a look.” She says, approaching his bed, way too carefully for Millan's liking.

Do they think I'm some kind of wild wounded animal? For fuck’s sake, I'm an omega, not a baby deer, he thinks.

Millan gets his leg out of the covers and pulls his worn out pants out of the way for her to have a look.

He winces a bit when he has to peel his pants off of the dried up blood on the cut and the subtle whine he lets out doesn’t go unnoticed by the doctor- to Millan's dismay.

“Mmm, it’s pretty deep. If you came in earlier, you even would have needed stitches. I’m afraid you’re going to have a scar.” Nara frowns a bit at that.

Wolves normally heal extremely fast. It takes a lot for them to need human treatments like stitches. Although Millan's cut is deep, an omega with proper care would have healed completely in a couple hours max, probably less.

The fact that Millan didn’t heal at all screams abuse and neglect to Nara. If Millan were part of the pack, she would be filing a report and asking for an investigation.

But Millan isn’t pack and she didn’t voice her concerns not wanting to alarm the boy.

“Scars don’t bother me; it won’t be the first one.” Millan tries to reassure her, misunderstanding the frown on her face.

She smiles tightly, trying to ignore how he’s just admitted to having other scars and puts on gloves to inspect the wound further.

She feels around the laceration and Millan bites his tongue, willing himself to remain stoic and to avoid giving the doctor a reason to baby him even more.

“Yeah... as I thought, it’s infected. It’s slightly swollen and red.” Nara says, more to herself. She looks up to Millan with warm eyes. “Don’t worry though, I have a really good antibiotic ointment made especially for omega wolves. With a bit of rest you should be fine in a couple of days.”

Millan rolls his eyes at her tone. He’s never doubted his recovery. He’s not completely helpless, it is just a cut.

“I’m not worried,” he deadpans.

Nara refrains a laugh and shakes her head at the omega’s reaction. She has a lot of experience treating omegas and, when they’re in pain, they’re habitually more worried and need more comfort.

Millan though doesn’t seem to fit that trait. Of course, she’s also met a lot of omegas with an attitude, but they’re normally hiding their worry with sassy comments and they’ve normally not spent a whole lot of time being neglected in the wilderness.

Nara is intrigued by Millan's resilience, but can’t help the concern that’s growing in her alpha’s mind for him.

Neglect can be extremely harmful to an omega’s health.

The fact that Millan doesn’t heal as fast as he’s supposed to could be the tip of the iceberg.

“Can I ask you how long you’ve been on your own, Millan?” She tries to seem detached, focusing on fixing the boy’s leg, but she knows she’s doing a poor job of it.

“Hmm… like eight years almost... or no, nine! Yeah, nine.”

The alpha contains the gasp she almost let slip and schools her expression to remain calm.

She’s never heard of an omega living alone for that long.

The damage to Millan’s health could be enormous.

Nara tries not to show the panic that’s settled in her chest and continues to put ointment on his wound as calmly as possible.

“So, during that time, you’ve never had an alpha by your side?”

Millan seems almost proud when he answers, “Nope. Been on my own since I was fourteen.”

Nara has to restrain her wolf not to cuddle Millan close. She also has to restrain the doctor in her from asking every follow up question she can think of on his condition.

The last thing she wants is to overwhelm him or worry him.

She’s just putting the bandage on when the door opens slowly.

Both Millan and Nara look up to see Andy carefully peaking through the crack he’s made in the door.

“Hi, Nara, can I come in?” he asks softly.

“Of course, Andy, come in. I was just finishing up here.”

Millan has to stop himself from rolling his eyes at their bewildering kindness. It’s nauseating.

Andy turns his attention to Millan while walking further into the room.

“Hey, Millan, how are you feeling?” Andy says almost exactly the same way Nara had asked moments ago and Millan can’t help but sigh and roll his eyes at that, frustrated.

“I’m not a fucking baby deer, Andy! I’m fine!”

He regrets his outburst right as the words left his mouth. He tenses, knowing he shouldn’t talk to an alpha like that and if he pushes his luck, he’ll end up at the next border before his two weeks.

But he’s never been a very good omega anyway and Nara snorts, clearly amused by Millan's defiance.

Andy, after his initial surprise, joins Nara and laughs heartily.

So Millan relaxes. He might not get kicked out of the pack’s territory just yet. He also realizes the Blayne Pack is the nicest he's visited for a long while.

He doesn’t know what to make of that.

“Sorry. I’m fine, thanks for asking.” He tries again, for good measure.