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An alpha with a near shaven head and the darkest pair of eyes, stood next to a metal table with his back turned to the so-called Protégé Warrior in Training as he carefully sipped at an vintage wine which was only given to those of the most highest rank. He had been standing there in silence for the better part of five minutes, listening to the sounds of the trainee being brought in before the guards had left. It was always a testament to his training methods to listen to the prospective new Warriors before they were sent out to the vile lands in order to find their prize, as the sounds they made always gave away their truest intentions.
So far, there had been virtually no sounds from the Protégé, only his breathing that was slow and steadied, concentrated. Focused and aware that this was just another part of the tests that he had been going through his whole life. But still the alpha waited, listened for the merest change in breath, for the indicators that something more was there. An eagerness, a wish to defy, a keenness to move and claim what was his. Something other than the infinite patience that came from the steady breathing of the young wolf behind him. Maybe a hint of curiosity, an awareness of all possible escape routes and what items were available should this turn out to be a trap, a fake assault designed to bring out the rage.
Turning, after a few long moments more, Rain stared down the Protégé Warrior with the eye of one who had seen many who were held so high in the aspirations of those who took those under their wings but for nought. All those whom he had seen called Protégé’s or a Son of Burnoz were nothing more than the biggest, the strongest, the best at that moment in time and they were replaceable. Far too replaceable.
The young alpha that stood before him now, was certainly not what he was expecting.
Tall, broad shouldered with a sharp jawline and the usual physical alpha attributes that were most sought after by the Others. He wore traditional robes, nothing fancy or extra adornments. Just himself as he was but when Rain looked into the eyes of the other, he saw something there. The young alpha’s eyes were virtually black, staring straight back at his own with confidence but respect. This was a wolf who knew his standing, knew exactly how to behave, what to show, and what to be but behind all that there was more going on. It wasn’t just a plan of the methods out, or ways to counter attack anything that might be launched at him. This alpha knew this territory well, knew every last hiding spot, every weakness that could be exposed and was already thinking ahead into the future.
For the first time Rain felt a shiver down his spine, as if for the first time he was granted the chance to look upon something that he had no real true understanding of. He was reminded of the first time he looked upon the Mirror of Truth, of the dark eyes that bore into his soul just momentarily before he was granted the vision of his future life. Terror gripped at his heart for just a moment, an instinct to almost bend the knee and submit but it was gone as his alpha raised up. A smirk crossed Rain’s face, maybe, just maybe for once the whispered rumours were true.
If that were the case, then the possibilities were endless. But this pup still had to prove himself in the eyes of the elders, do his duty and come back with the spoils of the Vile Lands for his own possession and power.
“Name?” Rain asked, even though he already knew it.
The young alpha did not even pause before replying, “JB.”
Taking another sip of the fine wine, Rain asked, “Do you know why you have been summoned here?”
A calculated question that needed a correct answer, because many had failed at this point so many times. However JB did not even seem to pause to consider his answer, “To be tested to see if I’m fit to claim a Treasure from the Vile Lands.”
“A Treasure?” Rain asked, narrowing his eyes ever so slightly.
JB nodded.
“Explain yourself.”
This time there was a small beat of silence before JB spoke, “A prize is something to be won, a token, an offering. Something that is to be used and thrown away. A Treasure is worth more than that. It is something that you can never throw away, something that will forever be by your side, passed down through the genes to create healthy warriors to continue the great line of Burnoz.”
Rain did not blink as he took another sip of the wine, “You wish to claim an omega?”
Once again JB nodded his black eyes staring straight towards the opposite wall in defiance. Warriors could of course take whatever they wanted for a prize, as long as the thing was able to reproduce it did not matter but it was rare that any would actively seek out an omega. “Why?”
JB took the smallest breath to calm his nerves, “It is recorded that the best Warriors came from omegas claimed from the Vile Lands.”
“But omegas are nothing more than fragile little breeding machines that contract illness, disease and deformities far too quickly,” Rain snorted, thinking back to the whore pits where the omegas were kept to be used until they could no longer breed. “You do know what they do to our kind?”
“Yes,” JB spoke, “They weaken, they beguile, they play with emotions. They only exist to be servants at our feet until they day that they can breed and once they have achieved this then they are disposed of.”
“Why?”
“Because they become a threat to their own cubs, the first chance they get, they will kill the future warriors in bloody rage and blame it all on our alphas,” JB spoke, his tone devoid of emotion. “They’d murder us if they had the chance to do so before hand even though all they desire us for is to be bred like the whores that they are.”
Rain thought over the words of his next question carefully, “Then why do you want to claim one for your own needs.”
JB finally showed a sign of looking slightly uncomfortable but quickly regained his composure, “An Oracle told me that if I wanted to have strong sons of my own, then I would need an omega by my side.”
That drew a growl from Rain, “By your side?”
JB nodded, “A treasure, someone whom I could lay my claim to and never loose.”
“Those are traitorous words boy,” Rain said, stepping close, his teeth bared.
JB didn’t turn towards the enraged alpha, merely stared straight ahead as he spoke, “Burnoz himself had a Treasure, her name was Yenta and she bore the first Eight proudly by his side.”
This had Rain raising an eyebrow, his anger subsiding for a moment, “Who told you that?”
“No one,” JB replied, his voice steady, “I found out about her during the last Heat Cycle I took part in. There’s a portrait of her in those rooms, if you know where to look.”
Rain snorted, “You mean to tell me that you were looking at portraits of dead omegas rather than fucking those through their heat?”
JB nodded, “I’ve never touched an omega.”
“Why?”
“Because they are beneath me and none of them have the right to bare my seed and my sons,” JB said, his voice strong and a passion filled his eyes, “I want to take the most perfect omega, the one that will only be mine, that only I can fill with my seed, that only I can breed so that they can give me the purest of pups until the day that they are no longer able to do so.”
“And then what will you do?”
“Slit their throat and watch them bleed out,” JB replied, a long ornamental dagger appearing in his hands even though he barely appeared to move in the slightest. “Sit by them and watch as every last drop of blood leaves their body and the light leaves their eyes. Ensure that they are dead by burning them away into nothing more than ash and scattering them to the winds so that they’ll never reach the dizzying heights of the Slumbering Lands, forced to remain in the darkness whilst their sons grow stronger by drinking their mothers blood…”
Rain clapped his hand tightly onto JB’s shoulder, “That’s a true Warrior if I’ve ever heard one. Omegas are tricky and deadly beings, you must remember that, they can manipulate even the strongest of us.”
JB nodded, “I will never allow one to beguile me. I’ll cut their throat and watch them die before I let that happen…”
CRASH!
Jaebeom couldn’t have even said how it was possible that he managed to make it to the bathroom from the middle of the nest where he had been safely cuddled around his beautiful omega mate and surrounded by the rest of his large pack. All he was aware of was the fact that he was hauling up all of his meals for the last day that splattered noisily into the sink and a horrible hollow feeling in his chest as the terrible memories continued to play out in his mind.
A soft scent of vanilla cake cut through the sharp tanginess of vomit as Mark gently rubbed his hands over the alpha’s back. Jaebeom was half tempted to send the other away, to tell him to get away from his filth but knew that it would be like trying to convince a statue to pick itself up and move. Mark was well aware of the thoughts that were swirling around Jaebeom’s head and out of the two pack omegas, he was probably the one best to cope with the emotional outburst that was due.
“Yugyeom and Bambam have him contorted and Jackson’s barring the door,” Mark spoke softly, when there had been a sufficient enough lull in vomiting on behalf of the alpha for a conversation to occur. “Shed or basement?”
For a second, Jaebeom considered his options, hanging his head on the edge of the sink in shame as he felt his cheeks heat up due to the tears that were threatening to spill over his eyes. It had just been a dream, a memory of things from long ago which he should not have to face the harsh reality of any longer. He hadn’t acted out or hurt anyone, to his knowledge, and other than expelling the divine food that was a luxury to have, he hadn’t really hurt himself. He let out a long sigh, “Shed.”
Mark nodded and moved out of the bathroom for a few seconds, tapping quietly on the door to the nest to let Jackson know what was going on before grabbing a bag of essential items and moving back to the alpha in the bathroom. Jaebeom looked to be a solid mass of sadness, depression and overall weariness that made his movements sluggish and lazy. “Do you?” he started to ask.
Jaebeom shook his head, “No…not tonight.”
Nodding again, Mark took hold of the alpha’s arm and hauled him upright, guiding him out of the bathroom, down the stairs, out the back door and into the garden where the shed was. It was nothing fancy, just a wooden shed with a few things thrown inside that didn’t quite make it homely but gave the alpha the space when he needed it.
Jaebeom loved and hated the place at the same time but had to double blink in surprise when the younger omega wrapped himself around the alpha in a hug. “I know this is against the rules,” Mark said, “but count it as an indirect hug cause I know Channie wants to give you one now and tell you, again that the past doesn’t matter.”
“He wouldn’t say that if he knew what I had said about him,” Jaebeom whispered.
Mark did not reply for a long minute, “We’re all not who we once were, Jae, remember that. Channie may not have known you much before but he saw enough to understand and to be honest….” There came a long, wistful sigh from the omega, “Even if he did know you from before, I think he would have loved you…just like I did, even though you had no real knowledge of my existence until…”
A kiss stopped him from speaking further, Jaebeom shaking his head, “Still doesn’t change what I was, what I said, what I believed…what I could have done.” With that, the alpha stepped into the shed, closed the door and locked it knowing that the words Mark would say next would literally break him. It was impossible to change the past, Jaebeom knew that and he was coming to understand now that he was just as much a victim of the Others as all the rest but it still didn’t excuse his actions or what he had planned to originally do.
Slumping down onto a scattered selection of scavenged blankets, Jaebeom allowed himself to break down over a past that he couldn’t change because even though he had never gone through with his well thought out plans, the intention had always been there and Jaebeom still couldn’t quite live with the fact that he had wanted to simply breed his mate and then slaughter him in cold blood. All for something that he couldn’t’ even tell was real or not anymore.
~*~
“Where do you think you’re going?” Youngjae spoke from his position by the door, where he was settled with a cup of tea.
Chan almost cursed out loud at having been caught, but he should have known that the others would play this kind of calming trick on him. Whilst Youngjae couldn’t see that well, his hearing more than made up for it as well as his instinctive need to protect the pack at all costs. Chan still didn’t quite know where the other got this drive from, or how he maintained it but most of the time he was grateful to the beta for being able to keep a rational head when others around him could not.
Except for times like this of course, because Chan knew that he could never lie to his blind beta mate, no matter what he tried.
Letting out a long sigh, Chan shook his head, “I was going to go and see Jaebeom…but since you’re here…”
Youngjae nodded, putting his cup down and held out his hand, “You know the rules Chrissy.”
Chan shook his head, feeling tears already forming in his eyes, “I know that, but…he doesn’t need to do this to himself every time.”
Standing up, Youngjae took two steps towards the distressed omega and then wrapped him up in a tight hold. The damn of tears was broken almost instantly and Chan sobbed brokenly in an uncontrollable fashion, repeating the same phrases over and over again as if there was ever an answer to them. Youngjae understood Chan’s frustration at the whole situation, knew first hand how much it affected them all but at the same time he wished that there was a way to take it all away. Of course, such a thing wasn’t necessarily possible but it was nice to think that it was.
Somehow they had migrated to the small family den which held a bunch of bean bags and an gaming console and was just a place to come and chill out on an evening or whenever anyone felt like it. It wasn’t the place that Youngjae would have naturally guided Chan too but tonight it seemed to be helping the omega to calm down and that was all he could seriously ask of the other. Chan let out a long sigh as he nestled his head against the other, breathing in his calming scent of freshly washed linen and stared at the blank TV screen. “Do you think he’ll get better?” he asked out loud, not really sure if he wanted an answer to the question or not.
Youngjae turned his head down towards Chan with a soft smile, “He has already gotten better.”
“You know what I mean,” Chan replied, a little huffily but not with too much malice in his voice.
A fond smile crossed Youngjae’s face as he softly brushed through the omega’s thick hair, still marvelling at the fact that it was clean now every single day. “I think part of what he went through will always be with him, just like it’ll always be with us. Chan, we all went through hell in that place…more times that I think we could ever really account for and we just have to remember that the healing process takes a long time. Me, you, Yugyeom and Jackson lived a different life before…the rest grew up in that world and it’s not easy to just forget your childhood and move on. Especially when you’ve never experienced it before.”
“I know and I get it and I understand,” Chan whined, sitting upright, a pout clear on his face, “But the others don’t punish themselves like he does for things that happened in the past. For the ways that they were brought up.”
“It’s his choice of redemption, Chan,” Youngjae replied softly, “I think part of him still fears that one day, he’ll snap and do what he had planned to do…that’s why he sometimes needs to be away, to clear his head so that he knows that he’s not going to do something like that. It’s probably always going to be a fear of his, something that will affect him no matter what and we’ve just got to be there for him.”
Chan shook his head, “I know but if he cuts me off…”
“He’s not cutting you off,” Youngjae said, carefully petting the boys hair once again, “He’s taking steps to ensure your safe. Just like back at the start when he was realising everything and dealing with the fallout of that.”
A curious look came his way, “You’ve been talking to Kangin, haven’t you?”
Youngjae nodded, not denying it because it was the truth, “I think you’d do well to speak to him yourself, he’s a little gruff around the edges and not that well spoken but he can explain a lot of things to you that’ll help.”
Chan sighed through his nose and rested against Youngjae, “I don’t know if I can sit through talking about the Others…not after…”
“He wouldn’t explain anything you don’t want him too,” Youngjae replied, softly scenting the omega down, “But he may be able to tell you things that will give you both closure.”
There was a pause after that, Chan turning slightly sour in his scent as memories popped unwillingly into his head but he remained calm. Youngjae put it down to the fact that it was just the pair of them speaking right now and they had the time to just relax. There weren’t any guards lurking nearby, looking for exploits, there were no vicious games for them to be thrown into at a moments notice. No savaging for food or medical supplies, no secret dealings, no hidden plannings, no more hiding in places that had no places to hide. There were times when the paranoia was there, the need to be next to one another, to know where all the pack was to ensure that everything was locked up and they were secure and safe but that was lessening. The real world coming into focus, bringing forth it’s wonders for those who had been brought up in the hell that was The Others and reality slowly seeping back in from those who had been stolen from it.
Absently, Chan ran his hands over the scars on his stomach. He never spoke about them to the pack, and no one asked because they already knew and understood why. It wasn’t the most important reason that they had found a way out of those vile games for Chan, but it was one of the triggering ones.
Youngjae’s ears flicked at hearing someone approach, smiling as he recognised Jackson’s giant and softly petted Chan to alert him to the fact that someone was incoming, “Looks like your age old protector can’t leave you alone for very long still.”
“Shush, you,” Jackson replied, gently petting Youngjae before moving to awkwardly sit in between the pair so that he could hug them both equally at the same time. He didn’t need to but it was a Jackson thing to do. “I’ll always protect everyone I care about, Channie has just put up with it the longest.”
“More like stopped you from getting bitten by my younger brother more times than ever,” Chan sassed back but was glad for the familiar warmth that came from the alpha who turned his attention to the omega.
“True,” gently he nuzzled against Chan’s head, “Worried about Jae?”
“Right here,” Youngjae teased, earning himself a dig in the ribs.
Chan nodded in response, blowing out a sigh, “Don’t you start as well. I know why, I get it but it doesn’t make me feel any better. He doesn’t need to do this every time he remembers something bad from the past, we can’t change the past but…”
Jackson cut Chan off with a tap to his nose, “He needs it Chan. I know it’s hard, I know it’s scary and believe me, when he first started this I had the same fears too but he will not leave us, he will not do anything stupid. He can’t.”
An accusing stare came up from Chan which had Jackson smiling a little bit, “He swore to protect you till his dying breath, a blood oath that he can’t break in any form what so ever. He’ll never break it because the only way that he’ll die for you, is if something is attacking you…it’s why he stayed as close as he could during the games…so that he was your shield.”
Chan blinked, “He what?”
Jackson nodded, “You didn’t need to know then but he still holds to it now.”
Sitting back, Chan looked completely bewildered and as white as a sheet. Tears began falling from his eyes, but Jackson knew that they were out of pure love and adoration for the alpha who had literally risked everything for him, when he never had to. Jaebeom had had his plan, his whole life mapped out perfectly with all intentions of becoming the best ever Warrior for the Chaos Burnoz and now, all he ever wanted to be was the best alpha in the world to Chan, the omega who had brought him out of the darkness and into the light in ways that he never even dreamed were possible.
Wrapping Chan close, Jackson allowed the omega to absorb the words, allowing Youngjae to run his fingers over the scar on the hand of the alpha that had never been fully explained. An air of understanding came from the beta, who rested his head on the alpha’s shoulder as he wrapped an arm around both of them and sent out more waves of love to Jaebeom through the bound. He didn’t know if it helped heal the wounds of his heart but if it gave him a little comfort in the dark then he’d gladly send it on.
In his little shed, Jaebeom had to smile as he kept feeling the pulses of love from all seven of his pack mates and wished that he could gather all those little lights in his hands like fireflies to keep him company through the dark hours of the lonely night.