"We need to keep Sebestian away from the preparations today. The café and the apartment are the only places that are safe since the café is closed today. At least this stupid event doesn't come with huge banners and posters. But then we can't let anyone mention it in front of him. Tell Jenny and Simon so they don't ruin it. Especially Simon. Monika." Rose added while looking at her sister."I'll tell her and make sure he doesn't let it slip.""We'll just pretend it's a town historical event. Those are naturally boring for people and Sebestian shouldn't question it.""You know that you could just tell him, right?" Ash said. Making Rose look at him with a look of disbelief."This is the Mating Run. A ceremony to find a mate and spend the rest of our lives together. How does that say casual circumstance when dating?" Rose's voice was rising in tone and pitch. "I finally find someone that I like and seems to like me, and you want me to just say that I can't go on a date because I have to
"Let's go for a run." Sebestian suggested."What?""Let's go for a run. We shift and you run to someplace you really like and just let all your nervous energy out.""Right now?""No time like the present. Come on. It's going to be fun." Sebestian replied right before shifting.A second later, a massive black wolf stood in his place. Fur as black as night with golden eyes that were still as mesmerizing as his human counterpart. Rose was in awe at the majestic beast, and she felt her inner wolf push to be set free. The strong aura of the Alpha drawing her out. Rose's legs were growing week in the knees. She hadn't felt the strong aura since Adom and Jasmine's unpleasant visit. She started to wonder why she hadn't felt the aura as strongly since. Maybe she was getting used to it? But the scent did usually increase when she was out with Ash. A push from Sebestian brought her back to reality. She then took a deep breath and started to shift.* * * * *Two shadows ran through the forest, j
"Missed me?" the shadow asked Rose as it got closer."Who?""It's me Rose.""Seb... You're not Sebestian." Rose realized. She then shifted into her wolf form and jumped the imposter."Get off me you freak."Adom kicked her off and morphed into his wolf form. A brown and grey large wolf stood in an aggressive stance, baring his fangs as he snarled at Rose. Rose noticed that Adom's wolf had gained weight since their previous fight, and she wasn't sure if she would be able to match him for as long as she had in the past. While she was thinking, Adom had pounced, and she was now pinned to the grown under the angry Alpha. She didn't like the fear she felt creeping up on her. She struggled to get out and it made Adom smile, his snout getting closer to Rose's shoulder.Realizing that if he was bitten it was game over for her, Rose bit down on Adom's right paw which made him back up and allowed Rose to escape. She made a mad dash for an unknown destination. As she ran and ran, she tried her b
Rose woke up with puffy red eyes and a pain in her chest. As the memories of the previous night came back to her, she was struck by an additional pain in her head. She had drunk half a bottle of rum after Sebestian had left her and the hangover was not worth the little consolation drink had brought her. She knew that Sebestian had every right to be angry. She had lied and tried to fool him. The thought of it all made her depressed and she didn't want to get up. She fell in and out of consciousness, liking the feeling sleep brought her. It wasn't until midday that she was disturbed by Ash who came to see why she hadn't been to work.Ash saw that the apartment hadn't been disturbed since he had come back to change for his shift. He made his way to Rose's room and knocked. He wasn't sure what he would see since he knew that Rose and Sebestian left the festivities together and he really didn't want to walk in on them while they were... busy.No reply came from the other side, so he knocke
2 Year's Later: -There used to be a time when a werewolf who turned out to be Omega was looked down on and thought of to be lesser than practically anyone else in the community, luckily that wasn't the case anymore, sadly because they had found a way to suppress it.Sadly, for some, Rose on the other had was very pleased with the fact that he was able to suppress the Omega in her. When she presented, later than most, she had been devastated to realize what she was and had in panic thrown away her soaked sheets, scrubbed herself until her skin was raw and bleeding and begged her parents to get access so that could suppress that side of her. Her mother had been disappointed, had actually cried when she found out that her eldest daughter had presented as an Omega and his father had quickly pulled Rose away and then given her the information she needed. But of course, nothing works.It's been two years since Sebestian left with the promise that he will contract Rose. Which he never did.
Next to her, Ash wrapped his arm tightly around Jenny's waist and pulled her up tightly against himself, almost growling annoyed."It's nice to meet you'll again." Alpha walked straight over to Rose; his presence towered over the entire group as he reached his hand out for Rose to take."Hey Rose, how are you." Sebestian smiled, his soft caramel colored skin complementing his strong and sharp features he smiled at Rose. He was styled, some would say over the top, but if anyone could pull it off it was apparently him. He wore a dark maroon shirt that was buttoned down all the way to his waist and tight black trousers that went perfect with his black open suit jacket that hugged his body in all the right places. His hair was styled and spiked with streaks of gold that again matched the black and golden jewelry that he was wearing."Hello." Rose just replied with what she assumed was an almost dumb smile on her face as she accepted the offered hand and gave it a polite and almost comical
Rose had spent most of the morning letting her constant pent-up anger and frustration out on a punching bag, hitting it until her bound hands had felt raw and swollen before moving over to studying. Omegas were seen as weaker, but because of the choice she had made to suppress the Omega in her combined with her hard work, Rose was mostly respected among the other. Sure, there were people who joked and whispered behind her back, but no one confronted her and no one questioned her abilities in the work or feared placing their trust in her.Sitting with her legs crossed on the bed, Rose was refreshing his memory on less common meds when Ash entered her room, his presence being something Rose was still unable to ignore and she quickly looked up as her brother and best friend as he walked towards her.Ash was pulling a pair of fingerless gloves on when their eyes met, and he gave Rose a friendly smile while fastening them around his wrists "Yoo"."Yoo?" Rose asked, raising one eyebrow.Ash
Back at the house the group had started working, gathering information about many things in hopes that something would come up, which it hadn't for the entirety of that week. On the sixth day after their visit to the Alpha, sometime past mid-day, Rose had started feeling hot and bothered, her hands trebling so much she couldn't aim in training and Rose pulled away and headed for her room, knowing what was about to happen.Before the day was done, Rose's heat would have fully taken her over if she hadn't taken his heat meds. Laying curled up in the pile of soft materials that was her nest inside of her closet, Rose was visibly shaking as the pain was slowly building, making her struggle to breath evenly. The pain at this stage wasn't as bad as it would be at its peak in about 24 hours (where it would stay for another 24-36 hours) but Rose could already feel and hear her pulse in her ears and at the back of her head, a burning ache in the pit of her stomach and a cutting pain passing th
Cristina was stunned momentarily. Sebestian therapist before her complained that even after fifteen sessions he didn't manage to get through to the man, didn't make any progress at all. She wasn't arrogant enough to deem herself the right person to help. But perhaps she was lucky enough to stumble into his life at just the right moment. "You know that none of that is true", she was bold enough to proclaim. Sebestian' anger wasn't aimed at Rose. "I only saw you two together for... what, ten seconds before he left the room. And I could already see how much he loves and values you." She saw the fight rising from deep within Sebestian and catalogued that as a good sign. "He almost lost you. A part of him must be scared that she still might." She gave him a moment. "Rose knows how strong you are. Be patient with her while she tries to remember it again."Sebestian smiled wryly. His eyes softened, though. "I'm not a patient man.""What kind of a man are you, then?" Cristina threw back.Sebe
When she pulled her a hug he clung to her tightly. It made her feel a little less like the world was falling apart but she retracted from the comfort quickly. She was still shaken from the mild panic attack he'd have to postpone dealing with until later. Resolute to push through and put one foot in front of the other Rose headed out of the room with her sister following her. She was putting on a coat when something occurred to her. "Thank you, for everything. How did you know that I was having a...?" She didn't want to say it oud loud."You were shouting to your phone." Monika went on before she could panic. "You know the boys; they wouldn't wake up to a bomb going off when they're tired enough. They're fast asleep, I checked." After her reassurance she focused on searching through his coat's pockets, so she didn't see her frown. "What are you doing?"Rose's brows furrowed while she spun around wildly. Her head whirred and her hands were shaking along with her whole body. "My car keys
Rose had no idea what happened next. By some miracle she managed to get the boys to calm down, at least to an extent. Apparently, she also ordered takeaway none of them really wanted because suddenly there were cardboard containers all over the kitchen. She did have a far too vivid memory of the lead heavy silence that lingered as they ate, all of them much too aware of the empty seat at the table.It wasn't until later, as she stared at the kids while they watched cartoons huddled together, the full gravity of the situation fell mercilessly on Rose's shoulders. Everything she'd almost lost and could still lose... It weighed too much.Rose's stomach rolled violently. She dashed as fast as she could to the toilet connected to the bathroom, knowing that the boys wouldn't have to hear whatever noise she made there. As soon as she fell to her knees, she threw up loudly, feeling the world falling apart around her yet again.How was she supposed to keep fighting when every time she thought
Ray continued to avoid mentioning his daddy for a couple of more days. Did his best to not even think about his other parent because it hurt too much. But in the end the whole situation got too much on him.He'd had a lot of nightmares since his daddy's accident. They haunted him almost every night. Something about the one he had one particular dark night made it worse than others.In the horrible dream he and his papa were in a forest, where thick fog began to engulf them. Ray was terrified and did his best to keep up with the man walking in front of him. In the end he found himself standing paralyzed while the fog swallowed his papa."Daddy?" There was no response and fear squeezed his chest mercilessly. Tears filled his eyes. "Daddy? Daddy!" Only silence answered him.Ray woke up crying, with his entire body covered in cold sweat. His heart hammered while his wide eyes darted around, trying to convince his mind that he was safe. That he was home and his daddy was safe, too. He want
Holding Max... It felt so good that had hard time controlling his emotions, especially because the brain injury seemed to enhance all feelings. But listening to his son's excited babbling was also a bit much on his still recovering head."... got a new class hamster. And guess what, papa! He has a missing leg, too. I said that he's just like my papa, and Miss Pen gave me a big hug." Max sounded endearingly proud of him, himself and the little creature the child now had a special connection with.Carefully avoiding Max noticing, Sebestian cast a slightly panicked look at Rose. 'Miss Pen?' How many people were there in his son's life he had no idea of? 'His teacher, Aline', Rose mouthed back.Max went on, completely unaware of the adults' exchange. "... named him Skunk, because he's black and white. He likes cuddles, I can tell. But Miss Pen says that we can't cuddle him too much because he's so small and fragile."Sebestian listened to Max babbling as intently as he could, his new limi
Monika likely noticed what she'd done to her hands but didn't call him out on it at the moment. Instead, she moved to hug her, but he refused her with a shake of head. "I'm... I can't." Her voice was so hoarse that for a second, she wondered if she screamed out loud, after all. "If you touch me, I'll lose control and..." She trailed off. She couldn't lose control; too many people she loved needed her to stay strong right now.Monika nodded. Not necessarily happy but understanding. "As long as you know that you're not alone in this. We're all here for you, all of you. Got that?"Rose nodded, dangerously close to losing control over herself. After that... she didn't have very clear memories. She took a cab to the hospital, even on such a day sensible enough to know that she shouldn't drive. Her feet led him to the ICU. The sterile reek and suffocating silence that smacked her across the face at that ward just about tore her new numb bubble to shreds.There was no one around to update he
That night Ray woke up needing to use the bathroom. He yawned and left the comfort of his bed reluctantly, then began to tiptoe towards the toilet. Halfway there he froze at what he saw on the balcony.His mommy stood there with his grandma. Crying while she hugged her and whispered comforting words, appearing distraught herself. Even a child could see how heartbroken his mommy was.It terrified Ray more than he would've cared to admit. Things were supposed to be improving. His daddy was awake. There was supposed to be no need to be sad anymore. Did something go wrong again?Ray managed to retreat to his room unseen. He hid himself under a blanket entirely, trembling miserably. He couldn't sleep while his thoughts whirred.His therapist had helped convince Ray that he wouldn't be sent away, that he wouldn't lose his family. But the insecurities and fears lingered, ready to resurface at any given moment. He hadn't seen his papa in what, to a child, felt like a lifetime. He missed his p
Sebestian felt like he was held under water while he listened to Rose, eyes fixed on the opposite wall. "Ray is another child." It was all told with the kind of paternal love that'd already showed itself once.Rose tried to show a picture from her phone, but Sebestian was too ashamed and overwhelmed to look at it. The Alpha closed his eyes and tried very hard to breathe properly. "How long?" How much time had he lost? How many precious memories? What kind of a parent was he, to forget his own son? He wanted to scream from frustration when the words got tangled together and were nearly impossible to spew out coherently. "... long?"Rose frowned before finally figuring out what he meant and answering tentatively. "He's been our son always." The full weight of those words crashed down on them both simultaneously.Sebestian struggled to make sense of everything. It was like getting sucked into an alternative reality. Like waking up from long sleep, to find that someone else had been livin
The whole family was in an agreement that Rose shouldn't be left alone at the hospital for long. They knew how bad off she was, while trying anxiously to support others. And Sebestian... They didn't want to imagine Samantha without him, for even a second. Because it'd be a loss she wouldn't survive, at least as herself.Monika braced herself for great many things on her way from her workplace at the morgue to the ICU. Her chest clenched and she almost dropped the takeaway coffees she carried when she saw her sister sitting on a bench, wiping his eyes. Then she realized that the tears she fought back were those of joy.Rose's eyes shone from tears and happiness when they met hers. "He... He woke up, Monika. Sebestian woke up and talked to me."Monika decided that it was time to ditch the coffee. She tossed the mugs aside, not really caring where they ended up. Then she pulled her sister to a tight embrace. Which she returned with equal vigor. She could practically feel the relief radia