“It’s fine, Millan, don’t worry about it. I was just coming in to see how you were. You had me a bit worried is all. But I see you’re in good hands.” Andy smiles.
“He is.” Nara adds, smiling to Millan in the same way.
Millan looks at them both warily.
“Yeah...” He says while narrowing his eyes.
He still can’t understand Andy’s intention.
Everybody’s way too kind in this pack, he pondered.
There must be something underneath that he’s not seeing. He supposes he’ll just have to watch his back and not let his guard down.
Nara and Andy share a brief look of concern when they see Millan gauging them distrustingly.
“So you’re all patched up, Millan. It would be better if you rest for a couple of days, don’t put pressure on it too much and I would like, only if you want that is, to do a general check up, just to make sure you’re healthy since I reckon you don’t have the opportunity to see doctors very often.”
Nara sends a silent prayer to whoever is listening that Millan will accept. Her wolf wouldn’t let her sleep knowing there is such a badly neglected omega in her vicinity and she wasn’t doing her best to help him out.
Millan still looks vigilant, but he nods and accepts to see her again for a general check up.
In truth, he knows that his wolf surely suffers from the lack of alpha care he’s been dealing with for years. It wouldn’t hurt knowing the extent of the damage.
The problem is, it isn’t an issue he can easily fix so he’s not sure what he’ll do with the information.
“Andy, can I speak to you in private?” Nara asks.
“Of course.”
Millan isn’t stupid, he knows they’ll be talking about him, but he honestly couldn’t care less. He’s pretty happy with how everything turned out for once and he’s not about to overthink it or to get his hopes up.
He won’t push his luck and take what he’s been given: two weeks vacation where he can allow himself not to be on high alert 24/7. He figures he should probably assess his next move for when time’s up so that he can really relax and energize afterwards.
He takes his backpack from the floor next to him and extricates his worn out, folded map. He’d stole it from a particularly dumb, easy-to-outrun, rogue alpha years ago.
The map detailed the borders of every pack territory in the Western Lands. He takes out a pen from his bag and marks Brook Territory with a red X.
After a while of wandering through the continent, he decided it would be easier if he kept track of the areas he’s been in and if they were friendly or not.
He’d implemented this method when he’d ran into the same pack alpha twice and the second time was even worse than the first.
He still had scars from that day.
He started marking in red the territories where he’d be in big trouble if he returned to and in green the ones that were fairly friendly and wouldn’t kill him if he passed through them again.
Or if he thought so at least.
Of course, since he’s a worthless, conning, defective omega, the map is mostly marked red and there’s less and less unexplored space to wander in anymore.
Millan has no idea what he would do once he’s encountered every pack in the continent.
He’ll have to get on an illegal boat going to the Eastern Lands- a long and harsh journey of forty days, one he’d go through very reluctantly and as a last resort.
Being a rogue omega, he’d be vulnerable, stuck on the same small living space as other rogue alphas.
Just thinking about it, looking at his red marked map on the bed, Millan shudders.
He’d have to think of another way to get across.
*****
“Oh and Amir? Did you have time to look at the new defensive layout yet?”
The omega turns back, hand on the doorknob, about to leave the Head Alpha’s study.
“Oh, yeah, I did! Really thorough job from Jace. I think he’s right about our Northern Border.”
“Good. Can you go ahead with the new strategy now?”
“I’ll assemble the team and get on it right away.”
“Perfect. Keep me updated. Oh, and thank you.”
“Of course.”
As soon as Amir is out the door, Weston drops down on his chair. Allowing himself to feel the exhaustion he’s hidden all day.
Truth is, he’s been feeling like absolute crap today and it scares him a little.
He habitually has more energy than anybody else, always pushing others to their limits. It’s rarely the other way around.
Ever since Andy has left his office earlier today, he’s felt unfocused and restless, anxious even. He sighs and gets up.
He decides he needs a walk, taking the time to talk to the wolves from his pack always has a way of energizing him.
And so he does just that, he passes through the rooms in the main house, stopping to check on everyone and play with pups along the way.
Once outside, he lets his body lead him- not thinking about it- he goes through the gardens, through an intense game of footie which he joins for a little while, he chats with one of the elders sat on a bench and congratulates a newly mated couple.
Before he knows it, he’s spent almost two hours just walking through Headquarters and interacting with his pack. It does cheer him up a bit, but that ball of anxiety in his stomach never leaves.
His amble eventually leads him to the infirmary situated just next to the gardens, less than a mile from the main house.
He goes in without thinking about it.
He starts thinking about it once he hears Andy’s voice reverberating on the corridor walls and then he remembers.
It seems like he’s going straight to the rogue omega Andy had boldly tried to convince him to accept as pack.
It was a crazy demand that Weston couldn’t possibly accept. Never, in the history of the Blayne Pack had they accepted a rogue wolf.
Once a wolf has been rejected from its pack, it can never be trusted again. Or so that’s what Weston has been taught.
But again, as Andy had pointed out, it is incredibly intriguing as to what would push a pack to banish an omega.
Weston has never heard of such a thing.
Omegas, not only are more vulnerable if left alone without a pack to protect them, but they’re usually very peaceful, non-violent creatures. They rarely harm any other living breathing thing.
So what could this omega in particular have done to get banished?
If he was honest with himself, Weston did want to meet him only to get some answers.
A beautiful omega, Andy had said. And for the alpha to compliment someone, it was an impressive accomplishment, which surprised him.
Andy had always been kind, polite even. But aside from his brothers, it is actually hard to please the guy and to pull out a compliment from him was like pulling teeth from a living, wild, rabid animal.
“He needs an alpha. Actually, he needs a pack. I haven’t checked his health thoroughly yet, but think about it. He probably hasn’t experienced simple things such as alpha/omega embrace for eight years.”
Weston stops walking and leans on the corner wall, hidden. He recognizes the voice and the scent as Nara’s, he also distinguishes Andy’s scent.
Despite himself, he feels for the omega and hearing the doctor’s worries about him makes his anxiety even worse and what she says next doesn’t help.
“He probably hasn’t been in omega space for years too! Maybe hasn’t even purred once since he’s been banished! I mean, most alphas believe purring is just a cute thing omegas do when they’re content, but it’s more than that, Andy. It’s a sign they’re recuperating. I mean, imagine Amir in the wild for eight years! No alpha contact! Nothing!”
Weston is impressed at how she’s strangely managing to whisper and yell at the same time.
Weston hears Andy responding.
“Fuck, I can’t even imagine my little brother Amir alone like that. It’s terrible. My parents would turn in their graves. We should go to Weston again, Nara. We need to change his mind.”
“I agree, we can’t let him on his own again.”
Weston sighs and leans his head on the wall as he hears both of them walk away.
His guilt has never been so bad, his anxiety takes over his whole body. His wolf is internally screaming at him that he’s a bad alpha and didn’t take proper care of the omega.
It’s complete nonsense to feel that way about an omega he’s never even seen.
And a rogue at that.
He tries to convince himself that as Alpha, he has to protect his pack first and that’s exactly what he did, but his wolf will have none of that. He’s always taught his pack to treat others with kindness.
He’d be a hypocrite not to give Millan his chance.
That’s why, once his feet have led him in front of the omega’s room, he gives in and simply knocks.
“Come in!” the voice is so direct and fearless, he thinks someone else is in the room with the omega.
Probably a nurse, he thinks.
He’s surprised to see the omega sitting in bed alone, hunched over and writing something down on what looks like a map.
“Hey, Andy, do you think you could get me a map of the Eastern Lands? Mine’s not very detailed.” The omega looks up and widens his eyes, realizing he wasn’t speaking to Andy.
Instantly, their eyes meet and Weston isn’t ready for how his wolf reacts.
Weston’s senses were filled with violet eyes, a beautiful face, and a melodic voice.
An uncontrollable shiver runs through his spine and Weston feels his anxiety exude from his body completely. The slightly sweet scent of the omega envelops him with warmth- something he’s never experienced before and he can see Millan responding the same way.
His lips are slightly parted on an unspoken ‘oh’ and they both can’t seem to tear their eyes away from each other.
Until Millan awkwardly coughs and says, “I- umm… Sorry. I thought you were Andy.”
“I’m Weston. I’m the Head Alpha of the Blayne Pack.”
“Oh, well. Nice to meet you ‘Weston, Head Alpha of the Blayne Pack’. I’m Millan, omega of no pack.” Millan states, unreadable.
Millan hopes Weston doesn’t realize that he is panicking.The rise and fall of his chest created by his unnaturally fast beating heart is sure to give him away.Being drawn to an alpha this way, this urge to please and submit is new and confounding.And it’s all the more bewildering when it’s an alpha he doesn’t even know.Never has he, whatever the consequences it resulted in, bent to an alpha’s will just to please. Even going as far as to purposefully displease alphas just for the sake of it.Hell, that’s the main reason Brook Pack ended up chasing him away.Still, it’s hard to behave in an omega manner when Alpha Commands have no effect on you whatsoever and everyone looks at you like you’re a defective freak.Despising omegas who submit so easily and avoiding any obedient actions is the only way to survive without a supportive pack.Also, it’s fun to poke an alpha’s nerves until they snap. Unfortunately, it’s also a good way to perpetuate rejection.Now looking into Weston’s gold
“Weston? Is that you? What time is it?”Jace’s voice cuts through the silent darkness of the hallway. He was followed by Andy, both of them holding bundles of papers for the Pack School.Weston approaches the two as they all walked towards the direction of the brother’s apartment.“Hey guys. I just want to speak to Amir.”“Amir’s asleep, man. Can’t it wait ‘til mornin’?”“It really can’t. I need his advice.”The two looked at each other before shrugging their shoulders.“Is everything alright, Weston?” Andy asked worriedly, mirroring Jace’s worried expression as well.Weston sighs, “Don’t worry, guys. I just really need to pick Amir’s brain. He’s the pack strategist, after all.”Jace and Andy nodded as they continued their walk in relative silence. When they reach the door, Andy opened it and entered followed by Jace, then Weston.He looked around the three-bedroom apartment and noticed Amir’s door slightly ajar. Jace placed the bundle of papers in his arms over the center table in th
Amidst numerous pills and creams, there lies the desired item.The problem is, it’s the only one of its kind there. Taking the whole jar would be too obvious. I need an empty container, he figured.“Container… container,” he mumbles while looking around the room.Not finding anything useful, he goes back to the cabinet. He decides to pour one of the bottle of painkillers into a smaller, concealed compartment of his own bag.Painkillers are always practical anyway. He proceeds to transfer as much of the ointment as he can in the now empty bottle without it being too conspicuous.Ointment back into place and cabinet locked, he tosses the key on the floor where Nara had rushed to help him earlier. Hopefully, she’ll think she dropped it.He contemplates keeping the key to further his stash later, but that would be a greater risk and he supposes he’ll have plenty of opportunities to steal medical supplies during his stay.Besides, the lock on the cabinet doesn’t look too hard to pick. He
The library is degenerately massive.From the foyer where he stands, impossibly high ladders lead to the highest books. Impressive wooden stairs, engraved with gold molding lead up two floors above his head.People are milling about in silence, reading in different lounging areas, looking through the indefinite options on the shelves.Millan even notices some of them in their wolf form, relaxing next to readers.Everything looks so peaceful and majestic.The omega’s tentative steps into the quiet space reverberate through the marble floor. Madelyn is observing him with a knowing grin.“It’s amazing, isn’t it?”Millan can’t stop gazing at the space, trying to scrutinize every little detail and memorize them.Even whispering feels too loud.“How? No pack Headquarters I’ve seen is like this. I mean- what- how?”Madelyn leads him to a nearby corner furnished with big vibrant poufs and smaller shelves where pups are reading small colorful books.Their words are muffled by the lower ceiling
When Weston suggested he move from the hospital room to a guest room in the main house, Millan imagined he would be placed into a less comfortable area in the basement.Years of experience free loading off of reluctant packs taught him not to expect the best treatment. But this must be the nicest place he’s ever been in.The heavy duvet and numerous pillows on the king sized bed make it hard not to throw himself on it dramatically as soon as he opens the door.Colourful paintings hung on the walls, windows decorated with greenery go as high as the ceiling, the hand carved wood everywhere makes the place feel cozy and elegant.In all honesty, Millan could stay in this room for the remainder of his stay and be totally content.But hunger and a rumbling stomach are getting hard to ignore.He vaguely remembers pancake and eggs being brought to him at the hospital in the morning, but he’d gotten side tracked with stealing and exploring.A frustrating habit of his. It’s with food in mind th
“What the hell, Amir?”“That was really harsh, brother.”“I know, I know. I’ll apologize to him, but I had to test him.”With his older brothers full on frowning and glaring at him, Amir feels a pang of guilt in his guts.“I had to! He looked off when he entered the kitchen at first. I thought he might have been dishonest and I had to test his sincerity.”“What do you mean ‘he looked off’?”Now both alpha and beta looked puzzled and worried.“I mean like, he knows Jace is following him but he acts like he doesn’t know.”“What? No way. He doesn’t know, I’ve been so careful. I even use scent neutralizers. There’s just no way.”Amir looks at him regrettably.“Well, Jace, I know you’re really good at your job, the best even. But I guess Millan's pretty good too. He wasn’t unfazed at all when you entered the kitchen. He even looked like he expected it. Then, when you introduced yourself to him, it’s like he already knew your name. And when we told him what you do for a living, he tried to
The alpha’s grip is so tight it will probably leave a bruise. The marble ground crushes his knees as Millan gets tossed in front of the pack leader. Another alpha drops his precious bag beside him. Millan grabs it hastily as he glances at the exit guarded by two bulky wolves.“Millan Caelan. It’s been brought to my attention that you keep stealing from humans and wolves all over our territory. I take great offence in this.”“It’s not my fault that you’re easily offended.”“You will not interrupt me when I speak!” Millan is amazed to see the feeble alpha command bring the omegas in the room to their knees.“Sure, sorry, go right ahead,” he gestures for the Alpha to continue.The leader frowns. Millan gets a thrill every time he shows off his capacity to ignore an alpha command and can’t help the satisfied smirk taking over his face.“Insubordination isn’t going to help your case.”“I mean my case is pretty clear already, isn’t it? You’re kicking me out, I get it.” It’s juvenile to
Weston lets the omega sink into the healing embrace.He can feel him falling asleep against his shoulder and can’t imagine how exhausted he must be. Once he hears Millan's breathing even out, he gently laid him on the bed, pulling the covers over his small frame and brushing his hair out of his face.His wolf’s relief is immense. Analyzing what just happened though, he frowns.Falling asleep after a simple alpha/omega embrace is kind of an intense reaction. He wants to go and get Nara so she can check on him, but he also never wants to leave Millan's side again.That’s when he hears a distinctive crack on the wooden floor by the door, outside of the room.“Amir, I know you’re out there. Come in.”Not hearing anything, Weston repeats himself but taints it with an Alpha Command.Sure enough, the blond appears in the doorway, sheepish.“Sorry, Weston. I was just, you know we have to talk about all this, right? It complicates things. How can you still think you’re going to send him away?