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Coco’s mom was a beta, with a soft scent of cloth-sweetgrass. Coco adored her scent; it had always felt like safety to her. It had just been the two of them, a rather small pack all things considered, but it had worked for them. Coco had never wanted anyone else besides her mother.
Once, when she was younger, an Alpha had come into the shop. He had stunk of aggression-metal-anger. Her mother had made her hide in one of the back rooms,, even though she usually let Coco talk to the customers. Coco would have argued, but her mom had looked scared. She had never seen her mom look scared before. So she had hidden and watched as the Alpha had snapped and snarled at her mom, looming over her. Coco hadn’t dared move, every single instinct screaming at her to be-still-be-silent.
Eventually, he left. But not before he had screamed at her mother, leaving her quiet and shaky for the rest of the night. Her scent had been full of fear-unease even when she tried to convince Coco that she was fine. Coco had curled up in her arms that night and done her best to put her own scent all over her mom instead, trying to drown out the aggression-metal-anger scent of the Alpha. It hadn’t worked.
It had been worse the second time he had shown up. All these years later, Coco couldn’t quite remember why. All she remembered was shrinking back as he stalked closer to her, crowding her into a corner. It had been enough to cause her to let out a high whimper of help-me-please.
“Aw, little puppy crying for help? What do you think is going to happen?” He had teased. She didn’t think she’d ever forget the way he had spat the words. Coco froze, not knowing how to respond. She was young enough not to quite understand what he was implying. “We both know there’s nobody coming for you.” He had drawn out.
He hadn’t done anything in the end, content to just scare her. Coco had still ended up curling up in a ball in the corner and shaking. Her instincts begged her to go find someone to protect her. But her only protector had been just as scared as she was now. Coco had smelled it because her mom always told her that she had a very sensitive nose for her age.
Her mom hadn’t let her out of her sight for days after that. Not that Coco had been complaining. She hadn’t wanted to leave her arms for anything. It had taken several months for her to feel comfortable being alone again.
Luckily, Alphas didn’t come by very often. Most commonly it was Betas and the occasional rich Omega. Coco liked the Betas the best; most of them just minded their own business. The rich Omegas tended to be very particular about their selections. But really, any rich person did so it might not be just an omegathing.
Coco was well aware that designations didn’t make a person. There were probably lovely Alphas out there. Alphas that didn’t leave their stink behind everywhere, or crowd her into a corner and make her shake and whine. The local baker was an Alpha and he had never done anything to her. It didn’t stop the quiet panic, or the fact that she avoided him unless absolutely necessary.
Sometimes, she wished Qifrey had been an Alpha rather than an Omega, that his soft, faint scent of species-sap-herbs was sharp and heavy. If he had been, she’d never have given into her curiosity, even when it involved magic. But he hadn’t been. She had been stupid, and her mom had paid the price.
Life at the atelier was very different from life with her mom. There were far more people, for one thing. Three other pups ran around, leaving their scent everywhere as they went about their day. Three other people for her to have to learn how to live with and adapt to the way they did things. And that wasn’t even counting Qifrey. Who was a good teacher, if a bit strange. He wasn’t anything like the rich Omegas she had seen at their shop. He didn’t seem to care for soft fabrics at all.
She did her best to adapt, to fit in. Even though she missed her mother so much it ached. She missed her scent and the feeling of her arms wrapped around her. Her clothes no longer smelled like her. Coco hadn’t been able to stop crying for hours when she realized. It had been manageable. Coco had started to hesitantly believe that she might have a place at this atelier, learning how to be a witch. Even if she was years and years behind everyone else. She knew she could study hard, that maybe she could reach where they were if she just pushed herself hard enough.
Then Olruggio had arrived, or rather, had come back, because apparently he lived here all the time. She had nearly bolted when he opened the door to the atelier. He smelled like smoke-warmth-ink, and was so unmistakably an Alpha, and an angry one at that.
Somehow, Qifrey had managed to talk him down from calling the Knights down on her. A thought that still made her tremble with panic. Coco didn’t know what she would do if she lost her memories. Some days it felt like her love for magic was the only thing keeping her going.
Coco knew she had to be smart about this, because Olruggio apparently lived here. Which meant his was far more his home than it was hers. She was the intruder, the Outsider. Agott had made that clear from the moment she first arrived here. Even if Agott had warmed up to her, Coco was well aware that she would never truly fit in.
So she did her best to be friendly and polite, but also stayed out of his way as much as possible. She made sure that her scent, even though it was more puppy than anything else, didn’t end up on any of the couches that Olruggio slept on, or any of the places he frequented.
She originally planned on taking her cues from the others on how to act with him. But they were weird about it. They didn’t seem to care that he was an Alpha. Tetia jumped all over him without hesitation. Richeh would grumble at him the same way she did Qifrey, and Agott went to him for advice on her spells. All of them practically begged him to scent them and seemed to actually enjoy it when he eventually gave in. He was pulled into their puppy piles as if he belonged there, not like Coco.
Nobody ever scented Coco, not Olruggio, and not Qifrey. Which was good. She didn’t want anyone to scent her who wasn’t her mom. Certainly not an Alpha, even if the others always smelled so happy-safe-content after he scented them.
It was better this way, even if it ached sometimes, and she couldn't help but scratch at her scent glands. She wasn’t sleeping very much these days, caught in a vicious cycle of nightmares and insomnia. If she was back home, she would have crawled into her mother’s bed and let her scent lull her to sleep. But omega’s nests were sacred things, and she knew Qifrey would hate having some random pup in his nest.
It was getting harder and harder to hide, even though Coco was doing her best not to be a bother. Agott had definitely picked up on something being wrong. It was hard not to consider that they shared a workspace. Coco had fallen asleep one too many times at her desk because at least that wasn’t full of the scent of lonely-abandoned-puppy.
Last night was particularly bad. Coco had barely gotten an hour of sleep before a nightmare woke her, and she hadn’t been able to calm down enough to get any more sleep. Qifrey had thrown her a concerned look as they stumbled down the stairs.
“Are you alright, Coco?” He asked gently,
She plastered a smile on her face. “I’m okay! Don’t worry about it, Master.” She didn’t think she fooled him, but he let it go.
“I was thinking, we could visit Kalhn today.” Qifrey said as they wrapped up breakfast. Coco did her best to pay attention as she stirred her porridge around. It tasted like ash on her tongue, but most things did these days. “I have some things I need to buy, and I thought we could make a day of it.”
“Yes, please!” Teita shrieked, bouncing in place. “There are always the best sales this time of year.”
“And good food.” Richeh agreed. “I think it sounds like a great idea.”
“I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to take a look around,” Agott added. A surprise, Coco was sure they would have to drag her out of her workshop in order to get her to go.
All eyes were suddenly on her. Normally, she would be excited to go, but exhaustion pulled at her limbs. All she wanted to do was curl up in a ball and sleep the day away. But she couldn’t say that, not when all of them were so excited to go, and they would be so upset if she ruined their day.
“You don’t need to go, Coco,” Qifrey said kindly. “I’m sure Olruggio wouldn’t mind staying here today to keep an eye on you.”
And that was a far worse idea than just sucking it up and going. Being stuck in close quarters with an Alpha for that long sounded like her absolute worst nightmare.
“No, it’s alright! I can go,” Coco said, forcing cheer into her voice. “It sounds fun.” Qifrey eyed her for a moment before he seemed to make a decision.
“Right then, will one of you go make sure Olruggio is up?”
“Is he going to come, Master Qifrey?” Tetia asked,
“I would hope so. That man has been coped up in his workspace for far too long. It would do him good to see the sun. The rest of you, hurry and grab your things, and then we’ll be off. Coco, if I could speak to you for a second?”
Drat. She should have known he wouldn’t let it go that easily. She tried her best not to reveal her emotions on her face as the others scrambled up from the table to go get their things.
Qifrey leaned against the counter, staring at her with his one eye. It felt like he could see past all her disguises, all her lies. Coco didn’t like it.
“Are you feeling alright, Coco? There’s no shame in taking a day off if you need to.”
“I’m fine, Master Qifrey, don’t worry about me!” Coco said, trying to be chipper, even though she knew her scent would give her away. Sometimes, her mother would rub some herbs on her body in order to make herself appear happy even when she was frustrated about things. Coco wished that she knew what they were, but her mother always said that she didn’t need to worry about them yet. It was probably against the Pact.
“Are you sure?” Qifrey pressed, his scent broadcasting a very faint comfort-care-concern the way her mother’s always did whenever she got a scrape or a cut. She must have misinterpreted it, though. Sure, Qifrey was responsible for her. He was in charge of her training. But she knew she wasn’t pack,. Not the way the others were, with their puppy piles and constant scenting. She was an Outsider and always would be. Not a pack, not family.
Coco was just grateful for what she had. She wouldn’t be so selfish as to ask for more. Here was a chance that nobody else had ever gotten. No other Outsider got to become a witch. She had a chance to save her mom. Nothing else mattered, nothing. Not the constant loneliness, or the way she ached to be scented and held.
“- Coco?” She blinked, dragging her attention back to the warm kitchen. Qifrey was looking at her with concern.
“Sorry, guess I didn’t sleep well last night.” She lied. All she had to do was make it through today, and then she could curl up in her lonely bed, with just her scent for company. It was better this way.
Maybe if she kept telling herself that, she’d start to believe it.
Kalham was alight with noise and festivities. People moved from place to place, shouting out their wares, and laughter filled the streets. There was so much magic around. Witches of all shapes and sizes wandered to and from the various stalls, cloaks and hats of a hundred different colors. It was something that Coco would have died to see, once upon a time.
Tetia’s scent was brimming with joy-excitement-curiosity as she bounced from stall to stall. Richeh and Agott were more subdued, but Richeh was pulled towards the interesting food, and Agott got sidetracked by the many books.
Coco could almost convince herself that she was enjoying it. The festival brought back memories of going to similar places with her mom. They would oftentimes drag out whole bundles of cloth to sell. It was a lot of work, but fun. She got to meet so many people, and her mom sometimes let her be in charge of talking to customers.
Qifrey and Olruggio lingered a little bit away from them, chatting among themselves. But Coco could feel their eyes on them, always watching. It made it harder to pretend like it was just a normal day.
It didn’t help that the other girls were covered in a wash of protective-family-mine from both of their Masters. Coco’s scent was the only one that didn’t have anything but the light imprint of living together. She knew why that was, and she wasn’t complaining or anything. She wasn’t pack, Outsiders didn’t get scented. And she didn’t want to be scented anyway.
Her instincts didn’t agree. They kept whining about be-good-lonely-bad no matter how many times she tried to convince them that it was fine, that it was to be expected. It was better this way. Otherwise, she’d be replacing her mom, and she refused to do that.
Coco paused to admire some of the rolls of fabric one vendor was selling. They were in such beautiful colors. The dye alone for them would have cost more than her mother used to make in a year. She couldn’t help but run her fingers along the edge of one of them, feeling the softness.
Qifrey might like this in his nest. It was just the right amount of soft, and it would probably hold her scent very well in the fabric.
Coco shook her head, trying to pull herself away from such thoughts. Only pack was allowed to give nesting material. And that was for normal Omegas. Qifrey didn’t seem to have any nesting material in the shared living spaces, which meant it was only in his room.
“Hey kid, if you’re not going to buy something, scram.” The vendor called, gruff anger in his voice. Coco froze, surprised by it. She had gotten used to a level of respect that came with wearing a pointed hat that marked her as a Witch. But then, they were all witches here, and it made sense that she wasn’t given any more respect than anyone else.
“Sorry!” She said quickly, yanking her hand away as if it had been burned. “I was just looking, I promise.”
The vendor scowled at her, and she was quick to hurry away, not wanting to make him any more upset with her. Qifrey had told them all that they were supposed to be on their best behavior.
She scanned the crowd, looking for the familiar pointed caps of her fellow apprentices and her master. But no matter how hard she searched, she couldn’t find them. It seemed like between one moment and the next they had melted into the crowd, leaving her all alone.
Her instincts screamed at her, begging her to call-come-fine-me-lost but Coco fought it down. A pup-call only worked on pack after all. She’d just have to find them on her own. It couldn’t be that hard. There were only so many places that they could have gone.
Tetia loved looking at pretty things, Richeh loved food, and Agott favored books. She just had to search the stalls for those things, and she would find them in no time at all. A piece of cake, really!
An hour later, Coco had to admit that it was going to be a lot harder than she thought. There were just so many things going on, and so many people. She kept getting turned around. To the point where she was so lost she barely knew up from down.
It had started to rain. The water soaking through her clothes and making her shiver. Her eyes burned with tears, and all she wanted to do was curl up some place warm, with her pack all around her. Except that she had turned her only pack to stone because she couldn’t mind her own business.
Tears blurred her eyes, making it hard to see where she was going, and she ended up running straight into someone.
“I’m sorry!” Coco said quickly, scrambling back. The man turned to glare at her, cloak billowing around her. His scent was full of anger-annoyance-frustrated, unmistakably an Alpha. Coco jerked backwards, her instincts screaming at her to submit-run-hide-get-away.
“Oi, watch where you’re going brat” He snapped, his scent getting stronger as he signaled his displeasure.
Panic slammed through Coco, making her thoughts scatter as she tried to babble frantic apologies. “I’m so sorry sir I didn’t mean to, I promise!”
“If you want to be my apprentice, you’ll need to learn to apologize better than that.” He snapped, wiping his cloak as if to get rid of invisible dirt stains.
“What - no sir, I’m one of Master Qifrey’s apprentices.” Coco said, confusion briefly overtaking the panic. She had no idea why he would have assumed anything else.
“Oh, sure you are.” The witch rolled his eyes, “and that’s why you don’t smell like anything but an abandoned puppy.”
Coco froze in horror. The rain must have washed away the faint scent marking that anyone picked up from living in the same place as someone else. Neither Qifrey nor Olruggio scent marked her the same way they did the others. That kind of marking wouldn’t wear off for weeks and weeks.
She tried to back up, but the witch grabbed her by her wrist. Coco whined help-me-scared-hurt without meaning to. “Oh, don’t pretend to be scared now. I’m sure you are well aware that pretending to be a witch’s apprentice is a crime. I should turn you over to the knights.”
“No, no please, sir.” She babbled, panicking, making it hard to think straight. If the knights thought she was acting out of line, they would take her away. They would wipe her memories, and then she’d never be able to save her mom.
She tried to yank her wrist away from his grasp, but he held strong, his fingers tight enough to bruise. “If you just find Master Qifrey, he’ll set everything straight. He’ll vouch for me.” She begged, stumbling over her words.
The witch scoffed, dragging her along as he strode through the market. Coco whined, help-me-scared-hurt again, trying to get away. This was so much worse than it had been when she was a little kid. At least then she had known that her mom was coming back at some point. Nobody was coming to rescue her now.
A snarl rippled through the air before a familiar voice barked, “What the fuck do you think you’re doin’”
The Alpha turned, still holding her wrist in his vice grip. “Olruggio! I hadn’t realized that you were in town.”
“Get away from her” his voice was thick with an anger Coco hadn’t heard from him before. Even when he was deciding whether or not to sentence her to the Knights, he had not sounded this angry. His scent had not been so full of rage-protect-attack to the point where it was nearly all she could smell.
Coco understood logically that she should be afraid, that one angry Alpha was no better than another. But her instincts disagreed with her aggressively. They insisted that Olruggio was safe-home-pack. They wanted nothing more than to hide behind him.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize she was yours. She doesn’t smell like anyone you see?” The witch said, an easy smile on his face. “I assumed she was just one of the street brats, begging for someone to take her as a -”
Olruggio snarled again, cutting him off, his teeth flashing, revealing sharp fangs. The Alpha dropped her wrist like it had been burned. Coco bolted, scrambling to get closer to Olruggio.
As soon as she was within arm's reach, he pulled her close, letting her hide underneath his cloak. It was so warm. Coco hadn’t realized how cold she was.
“Ya touch one of mine again, and I won’t be responsible for what I do, understand?” He hissed, but for all his anger, his arm was gentle where it had wrapped around her shoulders.
The Alpha babbled an agreement before backing up fast. It was strange to watch someone who had been so terrifying back down so easily. Coco didn’t know how to feel about it.
As soon as he was gone, Olruggio scooped her up, as if younger child than she was, pressing her face into his neck. Where the scent of smoke-warmth-ink was strongest. Coco’s instincts relaxed, humming that this was her Alpha. One that was going to protect her against all the dangers of the world.
A low rumble ran through her trembling body, soothing her. It felt like her mother’s hugs, or the warmth of her blankets in the bitter cold of winter. Coco clung as tightly as she could to him. Her instincts were convinced that he wouldn’t let her go. The rest of her knew how much Olruggio had complained about appearances getting into everything often enough that he might decide that she was too big of a nuisance.
“Shush, it’s alright, I have ya,” Olruggio murmured in her ear, a hand coming up to stroke up and down her back. Coco couldn’t smell the other Alpha anymore. All she could smell was Olruggio.
After a couple of minutes, he started to shift as if to put her down. Coco’s instincts screamed in protest, and she clung tightly to him, shaking violently. Part of her insisted that she had to let go before Olruggio got sick of having to drag her around. The rest of her was convinced that if she let go he would disappear and never come back, the way her mom had.
“Shit, come on kid, I’ve gotta dry you off. Yer freezin’.” Olruggio said, “Come on, just let me get my rings on.”
Coco shook her head, but he was setting her down on a bench before stepping away. The lack of warmth made her start shaking again. She had messed up somehow, and now he was just going to leave her. She whined a high sorry-please-don’t-leave and Olruggio let out a muffled curse.
“No, no, yer okay, kid. I promise. Yer good, don’t go feral on me, okay? I need to get ya warm. I’m not leaving."
He finally found whatever he was rummaging around in his bag for, pulling out a familiar set of rings and tapping them together. Magic washed over her, drying her body and chasing away the lingering cold of the rain.
The warmth brought with it a level of clarity, Coco couldn’t help the blush that dusted her cheeks. Here she had been, clinging to Olruggio like a baby. She had passed the first test, she wasn’t a little kid anymore. She knew better.
“Sorry,” she whispered.
“What are ya apoglizin’ for?” Olruggio grumpled. “We’re the ones who lost ya. Qifrey’s been worryin’ himself sick.”
He reached forward, and she couldn’t help the way she froze, not understanding what was happening. His brow furrowed, a look of concern crossed his face. “Would it be okay for me to hold ya for a bit? Yer instincts need to calm down a little, and we need to find Qifrey before he does somethin’ stupid.”
Coco hesitated, but he was offering. And it would be rude to turn it down, right? Besides, every single one of her instincts screamed at her to get closer, to let him protect her from the scary world.
“Okay,” She said softly. Some of the tension slipped from Olruggio’s shoulders. He scooped her up in his arms again, rumbling softly to her. He started to walk again, and she couldn't help but rest her head on his shoulders, letting the rhythmic motion soothe her.
It felt like she practically blinked, and then there were voices all around them. Her tired brain could only make out a handful of words. Still, there was something about them that felt safe. Even more safe than Olruggio’s arms. She blinked heavily against his shoulder, wanting nothing more than to sleep and forget this day had ever happened.
Olruggio shifted, his arms loosening around her. Coco was suddenly wide awake. She clung harder to him, whimpering, out sorry-sorry-please-don’t-leave. Her brain fuzzy from sleep and the words escaping her.
“Come on kid, yer alright. I’m just passin’ you over to yer master.” Olruggio murmured softly, brushing his hand through her hair. “Not leavin’, nobody is leavin’.”
She tried to cling to him harder, but he didn’t let her, gently moving her over to someone else’s arm. Fresh tears started to trickle their way down her cheeks, and she did her best to muffle her sobs. She didn’t want to leave. She wanted to stay in Olruggio’s arms forever, where it was safe.
“Yer collar, it’s blocking her from scenting ya.”
“I don’t exactly have the hands to undo it at the moment, Olly.” A familiar voice said in her ear. Even her instinct fuzzed brain could recognize that voice. The rain was making it hard to smell anything, but if she strained, she caught a ghost of spices-sap-herbs.
Pack was here. But it wasn’t good enough. Coco wanted to smell him, wanted to be wrapped up in her Omega’s scent and know that she was wanted. She whined, a quiet pack-where?
Here-we’re-here Qifrey rumbled back at her. Oh, he was the one holding her, rocking her back and forth in his arms, a low purr beginning to sound from beneath her ear. Something warm was wrapped around her shoulders, full of Olruggio’s scent. Her instincts hummed in contentment, finally relaxing again as she curled into her master’s embrace. Nothing could hurt her with him here.
She didn’t remember falling asleep, but when she woke up she was back in the atelier, surrounded by blankets and cushions thrown on the floor in a makeshift nest. The whole place smelled like both Qifrey and Olruggio wrapped together, with faint whiffs of the other girl’s puppy scents. Olruggio’s arm was wrapped around her, pulling her close to his side. There was a weight on her legs, and when she risked a glance, she caught sight of a familiar head of blue hair. Richeh was using her legs as a pillow, snoring softly.
As she looked around, she saw the rest of the atelier sprawled out on the pillows. Qifrey was lying near the edge of the nest, curled around Tetia, Agott was sprawled on the other side of Olruggio, her toes just barely brushing Qifrey.
“Go back to sleep.” Olruggio murmured softly, gently rubbing circles into her back. “I have ya.”
Coco couldn’t even imagine being afraid at that moment, not when Olruggio and Qifrey were there to protect her, and the rest of her pack was all around her.
She gave a sleepy hum before burrowing into his side once again. Within moments, sleep claimed her. And for once, her dreams were full of softness and warmth.