Chapter Text
Harry woke to the sound of the morning of mourning doves cooing and his sheep calling. With a heavy sigh, he eased himself out of bed and cracked the stiff joints in his neck and back with a roll of his shoulders. He glanced out the window of his bedroom and frowned at the fresh dusting of snow. It was the first snow of the season and it was earlier than usual. He would need to get a move on to prepare the barn for winter.
He pulled on a pair of warm jeans along with his boots and a heavy jacket over his t-shirt before making his way outside to care for the animals. He smiled as he passed the horses in their paddock. “Good morning, you two!” He called out. “Breakfast time!”
The alpha grinned as the horses ran over to the gate where Harry usually fed them. Harry slipped into the barn and pulled out a bucket full of feed for the horses. He poured it into the trough and patted their necks as they ate.
He returned to the barn and worked on preparing the food for the other animals. He had eight cows, three goats, two horses, and a coup full of chickens that all needed tending to. He whistled as he worked, remembering an old country song his dad used to play when Harry was a kid.
“You guys be good while I’m away. I should be home by the end of the day,” he hummed before making his run back to the house.
Once he had his breakfast, he returned to the horses to saddle up his stallion.
“Come on, Jackson,” Harry hummed, pulling out a blanket, western saddle, and the harness and reins. He made quick work of saddling him up, having done this many times over the past year and a half.
He hoisted himself up and settled into the saddle. With a nudge of his heels and a click of his tongue, Jackson set off at a trot through the woods.
He had found Jackson and Libby wandering through the woods after one of the farmers in the area had released all of his animals before moving back to the States. Libby was a beautiful Appaloosa with a black body with white speckling. Jackson was a strong stallion with dark brown hair. He wasn’t quite sure what breed Jackson was, but if he had to guess he would say he was a Morgan.
As the two rode through the woods, Harry hummed softly, enjoying the early morning sunrise shining through the trees and turning the woods around them shades of pink and orange. He had grown to love mornings since he moved up to Canada from Chicago a year ago. He loved how quiet and peaceful it was in the wilderness. It was a welcome change of pace after being a police officer in Chicago for so long.
It took roughly four hours for Harry and Jackson to get to the outskirts of an abandoned town closest to the homestead. As they traveled through the streets, the only sound heard was the clip-clop of hooves on the pavement. Being in the ghost towns around here always freaked Harry out a bit. He didn’t like seeing what the world had come to while he had been hiding in the forest.
“Let’s make this quick,” he muttered to himself and pulled Jackson to a stop in front of the corner store. He really only needed a few supplies for gardening and some necessary equipment for canning. This time of year, he tended to eat more canned food than fresh and he needed more jars and lids.
He dismounted with ease and tied Jackson up to the bike rack. “Be right back.” He pulled off his gloves and slipped into the corner store. He quickly located the supplies he needed and managed to find another warm blanket as well.
On his way out the door, he notices a poster of an alpha and omega holding a baby advertising for some baby food brand. He stops for a moment and stares at it. For the most part, he had come to terms with the fact that he may never mate after the world went to shit. He was secluded in the mountains without an active civilization nearby and the chances of finding an unmated omega were slim.
Harry sighed and shook his head, hauling his duffle full of supplies out to Jackson to tie the supplies onto the saddle. He looked around at the town that had been forgotten and briefly wondered what his home in Chicago looked like now. He had left once things started getting really crazy and he had never looked back. He stopped thinking about what happened to the friends he had in Chicago, it was too painful to wonder if they were okay or if they had been killed off too.
He mounted his horse again and urged him forward with a gentle nudge of his boot. It was beginning to warm up since the sun had risen, which was a relief but it was still pretty chilly. He was looking forward to getting home so he could sit in front of the furnace and warm up.
Harry reached the edge of town when he heard a stick snap in the woods. He jerked the reins back to bring Jackson to a stop and his hand flew to the gun on his hip. With careful eyes, he scanned the edge of the tree line and narrowed them when he didn’t see anything. He sniffed the air but couldn’t make anything out. He paused, waiting a few more moments when he heard it again.
“Who’s there?” He called out, frowning and furrowing his brow. With no reply, he dismounted and slowly walked towards the trees. “Fucking show yourself!” He shouted. “I know someone is in there!”
He saw a small, frail looking omega slowly rise to his feet with his hands in the air. They were shaking and his bottom lip was trembling.
“Holy shit!” Harry breathed and hurried over to him. “Are you okay? Where’s your alpha?”
The boy licked his extremely dry lips and barely managed to shake his head. The omega looked thinner than he should have and he had dirt and cuts all over. “Don’t have one. ‘M alone.”
Harry frowned and holstered his gun. “We need to get you out of here. You look half-dead already,” he muttered and easily lifted the omega in his arms. He didn’t know what the hell he was doing. His brain screamed at him to leave the omega and hurry home in case this was a trap, but his alpha instincts wouldn’t let him.
“Where?” The boy coughed, his throat tender and hoarse from dehydration.
“We need to get you taken care of first, so I’ll bring you somewhere safe, but once you’re fit we can try to find a civilization nearby for you.”
The small, thin boy in his arms nodded, too tired to speak any more. He sighed and let his eyes slip shut, exhaustion settling in his bones.
Harry sat him down on the ground next to Jackson and reached into the saddlebags to pull out a water bottle and a bag of granola. “Sorry, this is all I have for now. You need to eat and drink something.”
The omega whimpered, finding it difficult to move.
“I can feed you if you need,” Harry offered. When he received a small nod, he opened up the water bottle and held it up to Louis’ lips, helping him drink a little at a time. He wished he brought something a little easier to chew than granola, but at least it was something that would hopefully fill the omega’s stomach until he could give him a real meal. He poured a little granola into his mouth and watched as he chewed it slowly.
Once Harry was confident that he had eaten enough to last him a few hours, he picked the omega back up and sat him on the saddle. He situated himself behind the omega and held onto him, holding him against his chest as he rode back towards his home.
It wasn’t more than five minutes before the omega had fallen asleep. His frail chest moved with deep and ragged breaths that worried Harry. He didn’t know enough about medicine to know if there was anything wrong with him aside from exposure to the elements.
The omega slept through the entire ride back to the cabin, absorbing Harry’s body heat through his jacket that kept him warm enough to sleep for four hours. When they emerged from the woods, Harry nudged the small boy in his arms awake.
“Sorry to wake you, but we’re here,” he said softly and pointed at the cabin.
The omega’s brows shot up in surprise. "You don't live in a tent?" He asked in confusion.
Harry shook his head. “Home sweet home. Let’s get you inside to fill your tummy and warm you up.” He stopped Jackson in front of the house and slid off before reaching up and helping the omega down.
When he carried the boy inside into the warmth of the cabin, the boy in his arms broke into tears, fat tears rolling down his pink cheeks as his frail body trembled.
“Hey, hey. What’s wrong?” Harry asked nervously, setting the boy down onto the couch.
“S-so warm in here. I thought I was dead.” The small boy sniffled and wiped at his cheeks.
“You’re okay now. You’re safe,” Harry murmured, crouching down in front of him. “I’m Harry. What’s your name?”
The omega rubbed his eyes and wrapped his arms around himself to self-soothe. “Louis. I’m Louis.”