Treasure in the Junkyard [Temptress x hecate]

[Temptress RN]

Living in the lands between was a lonely lifestyle for anyone. The competition for resources was fierce, there was no law to enforce any protections for those who couldn’t stand up for themselves, and bullies thought they knew how to run things only to have their power abruptly overturned by the next outcast to be tossed into the mix by one of the neighboring packs. If everyone in the lands between got together and formed a pack of their own, they would’ve been a force to be reckoned with, but as they were all outcasts themselves, they weren’t inclined to trust one another.

Alpha Krishna was no different from the others in that regard. He’d been bullied since his youth for being on the smaller side; then when his alpha nature finally made itself apparent, he was assigned all the tasks no one else wanted because he was the “new” one. And it continued even as he got older. Finally, he had decided it wasn’t worth it anymore and Krishna had decided to pull himself up by his own bootstraps. He left without word or announcement, and he’d never returned. Finding a cabin in the lands between had been easy, but establishing his claim on the land had been work. He’d fought off his fair share of challengers and out-survived others. Not many alphas found themselves in this no-mans-land of sorts, so he was unique in that respect. It gave him an edge, but he’d had to harden himself on the way. Krishna had learned skills most alphas back home wouldn’t dream of having, and small was no longer a word that could even remotely be used to describe him.

If he went home, though, he knew some would try. Therefore, he stayed. Life wasn’t perfect, but it was better than cleaning boots.

His alpha status did give him some advantages. Krishna was one of the few in the lands between who could safely navigate through the junkyard, collect supplies and get out without causing too much of a scene. Plenty of useful stuff was tossed into the area by all the surrounding packs and many within the lands between would love to make use of the cornucopia it offered. Unfortunately, with all the stuff that was thrown away, it tended to be dangerous. There were failed experiments there that tended to go off at the slightest jostle, metal shrapnel that seemed to leap on its own, and the creatures that made their home there didn’t tend to like disruption. On more than one occasion, other stragglers had requested his assistance in retrieving essentials from the place, and though he charged a hefty fee for it, Krishna was willing.

This trip, though, was for his own ends. Supplies had been flowing fairly well so he hadn’t needed to venture into the junkyard in quite some time, and now he wandered in merely out of boredom. Life had gotten dull. He hunted, cleaned his next meal before preparing it, he set the traps and he slept. Day in and day out, it was tiresome. The junkyard very often offered something to turn things around from dim and dull, and so that was where the alpha chose to spend his afternoon. Much had changed since he’d last wandered in, too. It looked like one of the packs had recently made a drop off of some old automobiles and Krishna found himself wondering if any of them would run. The trees were too thick in some places for driving a car to be feasible for transportation, but a working engine would be very valuable indeed for all the different things it could power if he could find enough to fuel it. He didn’t doubt that he could.

Nimble steps guided him over hills of debris, around objects that looked like little explosions waiting to happen, and through all sorts of collections of various metals. His eyes were on the cars he passed along the way, though, looking to see if any of them stood out as being in better condition than the others. Even some good scrap metal would make the trip worth it and he imagined these cars had a good deal of it. Krishna’s eyes were almost back to where he’d started his search when his nose twitched. Alpha senses were no joke, and in the junkyard, it was what kept him alive. His entire body turned to face the intruding scent before he let himself inhale deeply, examining it further and with greater curiosity.

The scent was… sweet?

Inhaling the air, Krishna found himself basking in flavors he hadn’t dreamed of in the longest time. Chocolate and strawberries highlighted the aroma, and although it smelled overall as though someone had burnt it on a stove, it was still the most alluring thing he could comprehend in the moment. Though his mind may not have connected the pieces right away, his inner beast identified it immediately. An omega was lingering in the junkyard. Seconds later, he realized it and he was immediately rejecting the thought. It didn’t make sense. Perhaps an omega had sat in one of these cars not long ago, but they couldn’t actually be in the junkyard - right? The scent was strong, though, intoxicating even, and Krishna had to follow it.

Denial flooded his senses, even as his eyes tried to tell him he was wrong about his thought that she couldn’t really be here. In the back of the car his feet continued carrying him towards was an omega. She looked unkempt, as though she hadn’t planned on being there, and she was bustling hurriedly about some blankets in the back seat as though she needed them more than water to drink or air to breathe. At his approach, that response didn’t change either. She was definitely more than too distracted in a place like the junkyard, but Krishna doubted she’d been here before. He would remember her scent. Caution guided his movements as he slowed his approach, wondering if this was some sort of trap to lure him to his doom, but he didn’t think anyone that clever would risk an omega in the process. They were meant to be valued, treasured, kept.

One more inhale told him that she wasn’t just any omega either. She bore the scent of another alpha, though she wasn’t claimed. And their seed had taken root. She was pregnant. A cringe quirked its way through his lip as fury overtook him that someone would do such a cruel thing to one so precious. Krishna himself had never once allowed himself to contemplate being able to be with an omega. It was an alpha’s every desire; they needed an omega mate to knot and to breed. Krishna was nowhere near close to that line, though, and his pack had been very particular about their approach. It was one of the reasons he’d never felt bad about leaving. He wasn’t losing anything. This, though, was entirely unexpected.

About two feet from the car now, Krishna called out, “Omega?” He had no name to call her, but it wasn’t an insult in the slightest. His name was a question as well, but more an announcement than anything else. “You’re far too precious to be out here in the middle of all this discarded junk. Can I help you get out?” He held his hands up, trying to appear non-threatening, though for an alpha speaking to an omega, the threat his presence offered was real. However, his presence also offered warmth, comfort and strength if she wished it. She would no doubt know that, too, despite other fears that may have layered their way in.

@hecate

 

[hecate]

Packless. Abandoned. Rejected. Forgotten. Words that never often accompanied an Omega who found themselves suddenly in the lands between. The territory that lay outside the lands of each pack was considered wild and untamed, dangerous even. For many who went out from the safety of the pack, either willingly or because of an imposed exile - few would ever be heard from again. Parents would warn their children of the consequences of bad behaviour with bed time stories of the dangers of being without a pack. Most would grow to have a rooted fear of that unknown. Perhaps thought none more so than Omegas. For them the idea of a harsh, bare existence outside a pack was akin to a death sentence. As the softer, gentler and more nurturing designation, Omegas thrived in their pack and within the social connection to their family, their friends, their mate and pups. Often called a foundation to a pack, because a pack without Omega's and just as unbalanced as an Omega without a pack.

Rhea had not yet lived the idyllic life that most Omega's did. She had no warm, tender upbringing. The unexpected third child to two betas who were as unprepared to be parents as they were to be mated to each other - let alone to raise an Omega with no understanding or guidance of their own. It perhaps was no surprise when their relationship broke down, her mother abandoning them all, never to be seen again and leaving only the barest of letters behind to explain herself. She had been the tender age of seven when her mother left and for her formative years her father seemed uninterested in his Omega daughter.

When she grew older many things about her Omega nature seemed elusive to her. What was instinct and what was simply teenage trials and tribulations? The hard blow then of loosing her father at age fourteen sent Rhea's world into a tail spin. While she had received little to no attention from her father she had received worse from the distant aunt and uncle she and her older siblings were placed with. They had taken them in out of obligation but it became quite clear they resented the responsibility of mouths to feed and having to raise the fragile children that had been left to their care. They had never had pups of their own and therefore no experience or patience to go through the process now.

Was it then any real surprise that when son of the pack Alpha turned his attention to Rhea, that she fell so hard and easily for his charms? All he needed was to smile her way and dote on her minimally to have her fully enraptured by him. He had told her sweet promises secretly, weaving false promises for her to dream of. Told her everything she had longed to hear, he did not need to state his intentions or court her for the pack to see to get what he wanted from her.

Experience was a brutal and cruel teacher. Rhea had submitted to him in secret. Letting him claim her just as she entered the edge of her heat when she was out unprotected because her guardians didn't care enough to provide her with the safeguards a young Omega deserved. Even at the time Rhea knew it was reckless, but her tender trusting heart had thought he loved her, that he was devoted to only her. How foolish she had been. Her aunt and uncle hadn't even noticed her absence for those days of her heat, and Rhea had been certain that any day after she had returned that Caleb would come for her, ask her uncle for permission to mate her properly. Then he would take her with him and make all the promises he had made her come true.

But he didn't come for her...

Her heart had been broken, but nothing had broken her more than a month later when she realized she did not have the flu, and that her daily puking was a symptom of something else entirely. Pregnant... and unmated. A dangerous scenario and it made her swallow her pride and her broken heart and go to Caleb.

Never had she thought that decision would land her in the lands between. Now an outcast. Alone.

Caleb and his father had seen to it quietly and personally. Expelling her from the pack and delivering her to the junkyard with other items to cover their intentions, maybe they would tell the pack and even her own family she had left, or been asked to join another pack to mate an Alpha there. They surely would never admit to dumping a pregnant, young Omega into the wilds.

It had been less than two days on her own and Rhea felt changed by her surroundings, her Omega instincts and her survival instincts rearing their heads. Ever since she had been left there she had barely slept, her panic and fear at her predicament barely allowing her to rest. There was too much to do. She had a pup growing inside of her that needed to be loved, cared for and protected... and she knew what odds were now stacked against her. A near feverish focus had taken control of her and the persistence she felt bubbled in her veins, eclipsing every other thought. An old yellow van was her chosen space to try and convert into a nest, searching for items to fill it with to make it adequate. But what was contained in the junkyard was old, dirty, forgotten things. Surely not what the Omega longed for... but simply was what she had access too.

So caught up in her endless task she had forgotten to check her surroundings. Forgotten to stay vigilante for Alphas and anyone who called the lands between their home. She had been too consumed with fretting over the oil stained blankets she had found and brought back to her makeshift shelter to notice his approach.

"Omega?" - the male voice at once created two different and competing reactions. One where she froze in fear, her panic spiking and the other deeper instinctual part of her designation that longed for the comfort of an Alpha. She was perched at the opening of the sliding door and could hear the Alpha behind her, the light breeze carried his scent to her. A delicious mix of pine, whiskey and mint. A scent she could easily and happily lose herself in in any other circumstance. Glancing over her shoulder with wide eyes she saw him, hands raised to appear harmless but he was one of the largest Alpha's she had ever seen.

Some reaction had her retreat into her nest, needing it's comfort as she considered the Alpha that had stumbled upon her. Rhea had only disappeared inside for a few seconds before the top of her head poked out, grey eyes regarding him at length once again.

"Alpha?" Rhea's voice was soft, vulnerable. So much question carried in her tone, it was hope and yearning all wrapped with her apprehension. She watched him cautiously, her brow furrowing slightly like the question he had asked her wasn't making sense to her haze of instincts. "Out? Do I have to leave?"

Was this his territory? Was she being told to go? Salty tears started to fill Rhea's eyes, her nest was far from perfect but it was hers if she had to leave and start over again... her hand went to her stomach, pressing protectively to the soft little swell under her shirt that none knew was there yet except for her. "Alpha, please help."

@Temptress RN