Chapter Text
“Travelling feet, travelling feet,
Slippers for princesses don't fit me
But I dance to my own drum, bright and bold
And my travelling feet always get me home”
Irish eyes, by Rose Betts
A young shifter sat naked at the edge of a high stone wall, facing out with his feet dangling over the ledge. The sun was rising and he never missed it. The rosy hue made his fair skin shine a pretty pink. He had fine blond hair so pale it looked silver. There were times, especially at night, when it almost seemed to glow on its own. A terrible trait for a hunter, but incredibly beautiful in an Omega. It was because of his hair that his mother had used her dying breath to give him the name Akihito. It meant bright. And the name suited the slender boy, because he was bright, in every way that someone could be: spirited and smart, funny and generous.
Like most shifters, he could transform from his human form to his wolf in the blink of an eye, but he spent most of his time in his hybrid form. That way, he could walk upright and speak, but with his wolf ears and eyes, he could hear and see further. He could run faster. And his unusually long tail was enormously useful for balancing while clamboring about in trees, which was one of the boy’s favorite things to do.
He was absolutely adorable in his hybrid form, but he’d have growled at anyone that tried to tell him that. There was one perky, little ear sprouting straight up from the top of his fluffy head and one that stayed perpetually flopped forward. His gorgeous, silvery tail wagged exuberantly when he was happy, but his tail hadn’t wagged in a long, long time. The most it ever did these days was give a pitiful little twitch when someone told a joke.
Akihito’s sensitive little nose sniffed the air carefully, the upturned tip wiggling slightly back and forth. He couldn’t smell anything but the woods. Sweet and fresh. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. The scent of the pines was the best smell in the world.
Oh, how he longed to shift into his wolf form and to run unrestricted again. The forest was the only place he felt free to just be himself, unobserved and unmolested. No lustful gazes from Alphas nor reproachful glances from the older Omegas who often deemed his rambunctious behavior unseemly. Anywhere was better than here though. Akihito’s favorite place in the world was by himself.
But it was not to be.
The petite blond closed his eyes and dropped his head down to his chest, his lip jutting out in a pout. He wasn’t allowed to leave the compound anymore. It was a decree directly handed down by the Pack Leader. No Omega was to go outside the wall for any reason.
Omegas were being targeted by the wolves from the North. A terrible virus had ravaged all the clans, wiping out huge swathes of the shifter populations practically overnight, all the females, and many of the males. Rumor had it that every last one of the female Direwolves had perished too, and also their Omegas. And now their Alphas, enormous apex predators, were on the hunt, invading the other clans' territories, searching for young, unmated Omegas to carry off and forcibly breed.
Thus far, there had been no direct conflict, but war was in the air. Everyone was tense and on edge. There were rumors of entire villages being burned to the ground by the savages, every last Alpha slaughtered and every Omega and pup taken captive. The walls were being reinforced and double the sentries patrolled every night so they could sound the alarm at the first sign of a Direwolf in their territory.
That was all the Southern wolves could do—hide behind their walls and hope to be spared. There was no hope of winning any confrontation against Direwolves. Considered to be close to Gods, they were inhuman beasts—the original descendants of all the shifters before the bloodlines were diluted by interbreeding with humans. There were no humans in the North. The environment was much too harsh. The Direwolves had been isolated for years by both geography and choice. No one had seen them for decades. But the virus had forced them to come out of hiding now.
Rumors swirled about their gigantic sizes, ferocious fights, and gigantic appetites. Some said that their wolf forms were the size of horses, that their warriors stood seven feet tall and that they could run ten times faster and farther than the Southern wolves. There were stories of Direwolves jumping over the walls of other villages in a single bound. That they could crush a grown man’s skull in their massive fists. That they could fight for days without eating or sleeping. And that their senses were so keen they could track the scent of a single Omega over a fortnight old.
It couldn’t possibly all be true, but even if some of it was true, it was more than enough reason for everyone to be afraid.
Akihito’s pack was a much smaller, domesticated breed of shifters. It was made up of mostly beta farmers, and only a few Alpha hunter-warriors. What few Alphas they did have were much smaller and weaker than the Direwolves were purported to be. Their pack’s only hope was to hide behind the wall and make themselves as undesirable a target as possible. If the Direwolves were only interested in unmated Omegas, then the most obvious solution was to make sure there weren’t any to draw their interest. And the best way to do that, was to force every unmated Omega that had already had a heat cycle to select a mate.
And the deadline was tonight.
Akihito hated that he was an Omega. Hated it. Everyone else acted like he’d won the genetic lottery with his beauty and designation, but Akihito hated it. The pack leader had gone on and on just the other night about how it was an honor and a privilege, how he and other Omegas like him ‘ensured survival of the species’ and would carry the pack into the future. It was the responsibility of the Omegas to repopulate after the decimation of the virus. It was their duty.
The young Omega understood, but the burden felt far too heavy. They were expecting Omegas that were little more than pups to choose a mate, get pregnant and birth as many possible pups as they could until they got too old and died. And that didn’t count the incredibly high risk of dying in childbirth. And for what? To perpetuate a society that subjugated them.
It didn’t matter what an Omega might have wanted to do with their life, their biology sealed their fate. For all the clan elders talked about what an honor and privilege it was to be an Omega, the truth shone through their actions. Omegas were treated like glorified livestock. They were denied choices that Alphas and Betas took for granted. They were forced to birth a society that treated them like second class citizens from the day they were born to the day they died. And they were called selfish for wanting more out of life than the crushing existence of being reduced to a walking, bleeding womb.
All Akihito had ever wanted was to run free, to spend his days in the woods like he had when he was a child. Exploring was where his interests were—to see what no one else had seen, to discover all that was new and interesting. His heart laid just beyond the horizon.
The silver haired boy leaned forward, letting his weight rest in his thighs. All he had to do was jump and gravity would do the rest. The twelve foot wall was tall, but not so tall he couldn’t stick the landing. Akihito was nimble and light on his feet. He was fast and knew the woods around the village better than anyone. He could be gone in a flash. No one would notice for hours. But once he was mated, that was it. There would be no more chances to run. And though all the grooms had not yet been picked, the mass wedding was tomorrow.
He leaned forward just a little more, his biceps coiling with tension to push him out, away from the wall so he could land in the softer grass a few feet out. But as tempting as it was to give in to his urge to run, he couldn’t do it.
Until he was mated, he was at risk of being kidnapped by the Direwolves. However dreary his future was here, it surely was better than the dark future that awaited Fei Long.
Fei Long, another Omega, had been taken just a few days ago. They'd been picking corn in the fields, one last harvest before winter came. One moment he’d been there, and the next, gone. He hadn’t made a single sound. Not a hint of a struggle.
A massive search by the pack Alphas had found nothing, not even his scent. But they had picked up the scent of at least four Direwolves. Likely just a scouting party and not raiders, but that was what had triggered the lockdown, and the pack leader to move up the date of the mass wedding.
Akihito was surprised at how much Fei Long’s fate was weighing on him. The thought of what the Direwolves were probably doing to him at that very moment made his stomach clench and twist. Worrying about him kept Akihito up at night. And that was surprising because the truth was he hadn’t liked Fei Long very much.
All wolves were pretty much the same until they hit puberty. It was only then, after their first heat cycle, that they were revealed as Alphas, Betas, or Omegas. Fei Long was a year older than Akihito and went through puberty first. Fei Long had been thrilled to find out he was an Omega, while Akihito was horrified by it. Nobody understood that Akihito’s dreams had died that day.
Fei Long had already been rather vain and a bit stuck-up before finding out he was an Omega, but the beautiful raven-haired boy had become completely intolerable since. All the Alphas fawned over the young Omegas, each one competing for their favors and attention, wanting it to be their seed the Omegas would eventually carry in their fertile wombs, but they went absolutely crazy over Fei Long for some reason. Fei Long ate the attention up, behaving like a Queen holding court filled with Alpha admirers.
They’d been somewhat friendly before Akihito’s designation had been determined, but Fei Long had been rude and standoffish to the small blond ever since. The animosity was likely due to the fact that Akihito was the only other Omega in the pack that was quite possibly more beautiful than Fei Long. Fei Long’s pride and joy was his long ebony hair that he wore past his waist, but he also had green eyes that flashed like emeralds, pale skin and delicate features. He moved like a dancer. There wasn’t much Akihito could do about his inherent clumsy nature, but iIf he had chosen to grow his silver blond hair out, and accentuated his beautiful cornflower blue eyes, and rosy lips and cheeks, Akihito would easily have outshined Fei Long. But even though Akihito had no interest in doing so, or any intention of doing anything to draw more unwanted attention to himself, the snobbish Fei Long still saw him as a rival.
Poor Akihito was revolted by it, all of it. What little he knew about sex disgusted him. He hated the idea of being pregnant. He hated the idea of being only valued as a breeder. He didn't even like babies. They were cute but that was it. You couldn't even play with them. They weren’t any fun at all. All they did was cry!
As a child, Akihito had dreamed of growing up to be an Alpha or a Beta and having the freedom to do as he pleased, beholden to no one. He’d have left the pack to become an explorer, and maybe return for holidays, sometimes. But probably not, with his parents both taken by the virus, there wasn’t anybody he would much miss.
It was just plain rotten luck that he’d been born like this—a little bitty delicate Omega wolf. And the worst part of looking frail and delicate and helpless, was that all Alphas assumed he was. But Akihito was none of those things. He spent his entire childhood learning the skills he’d need to survive for the life of adventure he craved. And he’d have done it too, if only his biology hadn’t betrayed him.
No Omega could ever survive alone in the wilderness regardless of their skill. Even without the threat of the Direwolves, the scent of the pheromones they gave off during their heats would draw in every predator for miles. Akihito knew he couldn't run from his fate. No matter what he wanted, whether here or somewhere out there, he would be forced to carry litter after litter of pups until he dropped dead. He would never be free again.
Akihito had already undergone one heat, and it was more humiliating than anything he’d ever imagined. Not only the loss of control, but his body signalling to every Alpha in the pack that he was ready to mate? It was unbelievably humiliating. And the fact that he’d have to go through it again, every single month for the rest of his life except when he was pupped? Unthinkable.
His second one was already on him. He could feel the heat in his belly. He’d been wet all day between his thighs. Akihito was careful to conceal the signs, but with only a loincloth, it was pretty much impossible to hide. Soon the Alphas would smell it on him. And he had to pick one of the creeps for a mate by sundown tonight, or the pack leader would select one for him. It was an impossible lose-lose position to be in.
The pretty young wolf sighed. His thin shoulders slumped forward dejectedly and his pretty blue eyes filled with sadness as he stared out over the beautiful forest before him. So close, but never more far away.
Akhito screamed at the top of his lungs, and very nearly fell backwards off the wall when a rough finger jammed its way between his wet ass cheeks. Yelping in surprise and jumping to his feet, he covered his bottom with his small hands and whirled around. With wide, frightened eyes, he turned to face his molester. Yuri stood behind him, his strangely pale eyes fixed on Akihito as he held his glistening finger to his nose, inhaling deeply and licking at the slick hungrily.
Ewwwww. Akihito was repulsed. He almost gagged in disgust
Yuri leered at him, “You’re going into heat soon, aren’t you puppy?”
Akihito didn’t bother to deny it. He knew the other wolf could smell it. He glowered up at the large wolf, his chin jutting out stubbornly, “What’s it to you?”
“Pick me and I’ll make it worth your while.”
“Yeah right,” he huffed with his arms crossed defiantly.
Akihito wasn’t going to pick Yuri. He was a jerk and a bully. But then again, most of the Alphas were. Akihito hated them all, but Yuri had been a bully since they were kids together, and seemed to take special pleasure in humiliating Akihito now.
The larger wolf over Akihito, wrapping one big arm around his waist to trap him, while squeezing the fleshy globe of the Omega’s ass painfully hard with his other hand. He ran a hot rough tongue up Akihito’s cheek, tasting him. His scent was strong and always smelled a little like sulfur. Akihito fought to keep his breakfast down.
The Omega struggled uncomfortably, but said nothing and kept his eyes lowered in submission to the dominant wolf. His rough hands hurt Akihito’s sensitive skin. He wished for the thousandth time that Omegas were allowed to wear something more than a skimpy loincloth, but it was against the ‘social hierarchy’. Akihito didn’t believe it was about the hierarchy at all. It was about keeping them subjugated and humiliated and constantly reminded that they were ‘less than’. Betas were allowed shirts, pants and shoes to protect themselves as they went on long treks to procure food and supplies. As the leaders and protectors, Alphas were given full battle gear: Leather pants, boots, chest armor and shirts. Omegas were only allowed dresses and shawls when they helped in the fields, or during the winter. Otherwise, they were expected to present their bodies for the Alphas’ viewing pleasure at all times.
Yuri was fully clothed in his armor and it only made poor naked Akihito feel even smaller and more vulnerable. He hated the feeling, but he was afraid to insult one of the most powerful Alphas in the clan. He cried out when Yuri grabbed him between the legs and squeezed his genitals threateningly.
The Alpha had a scarred face and smelled vaguely like rotten fish. He snarled at Akihito’s lack of physical reaction to his inept groping. The pretty Omega’s penis remained limp and flaccid under Yuri’s hand, even despite his impending heat cycle.
“Are you impotent you little bitch? Well, that doesn’t matter much in an Omega. These things are just for show on your kind. I don’t care if your dick doesn’t work, so long as you’ve got that sweet, sweet hole.”
His finger ran up Akihito’s crack and hovered over his little pucker. Akihito panted in fear as he began to press his finger inside. Even though he was soaked with slick, he had never put anything in there and Yuri’s jagged nails hurt. He cried out and twisted out of his grasp, whirling away out of arm’s reach.
Yuri sucked on his dirty finger again, savoring the juices and Akihito could see the bulge in his pants. The blond stood firm, though he quaked with fear inside, praying that the harassment would end with threats and not action.
“Whether you pick me or not, I’ll be waiting for you and that sweet cunt. One of these days, pretty boy, I’m gonna get you alone and I’m going to get my dick in that tight ass, put my pup in your belly, and there’s nothing you can do about it,” he said in a sinister voice, then sauntered off, laughing.
Akihito glowered at his back. Asshole. He was so sick of him. He was so sick of all of them and all of this. If they had their way, he’d spend the rest of his life on his back, seen as nothing more than a hole to use, abuse, and impregnate. He wanted to go somewhere that he could be more than somebody’s bitch. Anywhere had to be better than here. With tears filling his pretty blue eyes and slipping down his cheeks, Akihito shifted fully into his wolf form. It was tiny, and this was probably the one and only time that would come in handy.
Wearing just his pathetic loincloth, the only thing on earth that belonged to him, Akihito decided to run away. With a leap, he bounded into the soft grass and before anyone noticed, the Omega slipped away, silver hair disappearing into the dark forest with a flash.