Chapter Text
It was through the window that Jayce saw it all unfold.
The door opening, two men and the unmoving omega. Their jerky moves were obvious even from where Jayce was standing; it was quite obvious that the omega they were dragging was not conscious enough to move.
The worst, however, came when Jayce saw them open the cage. Any doubts he might have had, about whether or not the shop owners were related to the state the omega was in, vanished as he watched them shove the omega inside the cage; like he was a piece of furniture, not a human being.
By the time the owners of the shop went back into the room they had appeared from with the omega, Jayce had made a decision.
Not a thought was in his mind, as he walked inside the shop.
The heady scent of many omegas hit him. It was intoxicating , despite the uncomfortable feeling that settled in Jayce’s chest at the sight of so many cages. Never once had this type of thing failed to madden him.
His hazel eyes found the one he was looking for. The unconscious omega next to the counter of the shop. Even being barely close to him, it was evident that tremors had overtaken the omega’s frail body.
The inside of Jayce’s cheek was all bitten by the time he realized he had been staring for a long minute; not pondering the consequences of what his inevitable actions would be, but thinking about punching the owners of the shop until their faces weren’t recognizable.
“Are you looking for something, sir?”
Unclenching his jaw, Jayce turned to the shop owner that had reappeared. Alpha .
His lips forced a smile, legs automatically moving to the shop counter, where the owner was standing behind.
“Yes, I was. I think I might have found it, though.” He muttered, eyeing the still omega in the cage practically at his feet.
The obvious glance towards the caged omega helped the other Alpha realize that Jayce wanted him . A frown formed on his face.
“I’m afraid it isn’t for sale.”
It was Jayce’s turn to frown, when he turned to the owner of the shop.
“No?” He sounded confused. “How come?”
“It would be a waste of your money, good sir.” He chuckled bitterly, “it’s been here the longest. Almost a year, its… conditions have only worsened. We doubt it’ll make it to spring.”
It took a bit more inner strength from Jayce to avoid clenching his hands into fists and smashing the Alpha’s head against the shop counter. Even more inner strength to hold back his pheromones from acting up on the rage building up inside of him.
“It really isn’t for sale; not worth spending a penny on.”
His gaze fell to the caged omega.
The scent of omegas was still too strong. If Jayce were a younger Alpha, he surely would have had trouble thinking straight. Even now, being almost 30, he felt slightly lightheaded from it all.
Keep a grip on yourself .
Without paying attention to the shop owner, he knelt before the cage.
All that he wanted to do was get a closer look. Seize the physical state of the shivering omega, even if he was well aware of what he would end up doing, no matter what he saw now.
In fact, seeing the light bruises and wounds on the pale omega’s body, awkwardly curled up in an attempt to make himself smaller, only added up to Jayce’s reasons justifying what he was about to do.
“I want him.”
“Sir, it’s not worth it—”
“Well,” Jayce muttered, standing up straight, “is he worth more than this?”
Sliding three bills towards him, he glanced at the omega again; his tremors were too heavy to mean anything remotely good. Back to the other Alpha, Jayce saw him staring at the bills, almost wide-eyed.
A sigh came from the hazel-eyed Alpha. He reached into his wallet once more and handed two more bills to the man, before he finally reacted. He grabbed the bills and gave a huge smile to Jayce.
“On its head be it, then.”
—
It was nearly agonizing to walk back to his apartment empty-handed. Apparently, the shop worked differently than the ones Jayce frequented.
Alphas weren’t allowed to take home their newly acquired omegas by themselves. It was shameful for an Alpha to have to do such a thing; especially considering the state those omegas were in.
The shop owners told Jayce that he didn’t have to worry about being seen carrying a cage with such a pathetic omega inside. No, they would deliver him to his home the following day after the purchase.
Jayce had tried to fight them on it, antsy just by seeing the horrible state the omega he had just bought was. However, after seeing that the shop owners would not budge, something came to him.
He had the rest of the afternoon and the entire night to figure out his next move. Caitlyn was assured to be furious, so Jayce needed to prepare for that, too. Then, they would deliver the omega to him the next day.
He would know what to do then.
Nodding to himself as if to reassure his own mind about his decision, Jayce busied his teeth with the inside of his cheek again.
His keys fell twice before he finally opened the door to his apartment. He had a bit of a headache. In no time, he downed two pills, aware that his headache probably came from all the omega scents he had suddenly walked into.
Incapable of distinguishing any, he realized he had no idea just how many omegas were kept in that shop; selfishly, he didn’t want to know, either.
A glass of water in his hand. Jayce looked around.
Fuck , the apartment was a mess . Clothes all over, his notes and pens practically covering the whole table. Food and kitchenware everywhere in the room. God knows when he had swept the floor last time.
Despite knowing it would take a long while, cleaning sounded much better than calling Caitlyn and telling her about what he had just done. It was either tidying up his apartment or a threat against his life.
The answer was easy.
Jayce spent three hours making sure his apartment was decent enough for the omega that would be sent to his home in less than 24 hours . He had been living by himself for about 10 years, and not once had he cared much about the state of his place.
He was not a dirty person, but he did tend to be careless and forgetful when it came to housechores. Caitlyn was always calling him a procrastinator, and Jayce never denied it.
Today seemed to be the first time in years that he cleaned until everything was perfect . His definition of ‘perfect’ was along the lines of ‘nothing visible on the floor’ and general cleanliness.
That was good enough for him and, surely, it would be for the omega, too.
—
“ Jayce .”
“I—I know.”
“ We— I specifically told you not to do this .”
Slightly bleeding on his lower lip, because of his teeth sinking there, Jayce ran his free hand through his hair.
“I know—”
“ No, you don’t, Jayce. There is absolutely no space for any more omegas in any of our safe houses .”
“Cait—”
“ We can’t house anyone else. Not for… two months or more. I told you that .”
“Cait, they were abusing him—”
“ All of them are. That’s why we do this. And that’s why I told you not to take any other omega in, because we can’t help them unless we have a free spot. And we don’t. We are already beyond our capacity. We can’t take anyone else .”
Silence from both parts. Jayce’s leg was shaking. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, head low as he listened to his best friend’s angry voice.
“He needs our help,” he mumbled, almost as if he were ignoring everything Caitlyn had just said, “I saw the—the shop owners throw him into the cage. He was already unconscious! I couldn’t just stand by and do nothing…”
“ Jayce… ” a sigh came from her, “ I know —we all do— that this is hard. Especially as an unmated Alpha as yourself. Even with that, though, you should have known better than to do this .”
“I couldn’t stop myself.” He whispered helplessly.
“ I know, but we can’t help this omega now .” She stated firmly, even if there was a hint of understanding behind.
None of them said anything for the following seconds. Jayce knew Caitlyn was about to say something else, so he waited. And say something, she did.
“ You have to return him, Jayce .”
“What?”
“ You heard me. He has nowhere to go; not with our help, because we really are overcrowded right now. At least in the shop he’ll have a roof, food and water .”
“Caitlyn, for God’s sake, I can’t take him back.”
“ Just take him back to the store and —”
“He’s still there; they’re taking him here tomorrow.”
“ That’s even… better for you, then. Call them and tell them that —”
“Cait, you’re literally asking me to throw him back to that horrible place…”
“ Where else is he going to go ?”
Jayce was taken aback. He had never heard Caitlyn like that before. She always tried to find a solution for cases like these. She didn’t sound like herself. A shake of his head.
“I don’t know. I’ll figure it out.”
With that, he hung up, mad at Caitlyn.
Why was she saying all that? They were talking about a human being, not just something . She knew that better than anyone else, since she was the one who had started helping omegas out of awful situations.
Jayce put the phone down on his bed. Another hand through his hair. His jaw was clenched again and the inside of his cheek bloody, once more.
What if Caitlyn was right?
If none of the safe houses were available, where was he going to take the omega? He had already expected the omega to stay in his guest room for a night, until they placed him in a safe house for omegas, but… what if he didn’t have anywhere to go?
Because he most definitely did not .
Jayce didn’t know where any of the safe houses were. It was a way to ensure the omegas’ safety. If Jayce were to be asked about them, he wouldn’t lie if he said he didn’t know where any of the safe houses were.
It was more secure that way; for everyone involved.
Only Caitlyn and a few others knew. Not Jayce, though. He had chosen not to know in order to make sure it was all safer for the omegas under their care.
Fuck , he had messed up. What had he been thinking? Buying an omega. That was no joke. He was buying a human being. One that was treated as less, solely because of their second gender.
One that he now legally owned. Or would, once he signed the documents they would bring tomorrow, along with the omega.
What if Caitlyn was right, though?
She was, no doubt. Jayce didn’t own anything that wasn’t his apartment. Despite it being big enough for a small family, he lived by himself; always had, since he had moved out of his childhood home, where his mother still lived.
And, although it was a big apartment, it was not what an omega whose care was vital needed. It wasn’t what the omega he had bought needed.
No, he most certainly was in need of professionals such as doctors and psychologists who could assess what he needed help with.
Jayce was neither a medical professional nor any kind of psychologist. He was an engineer, a very good one. He had been off his work for some days now, getting the break he so desperately needed. Still, his notes and ideas were all over the desk in his bedroom.
He had moved them from the table in the living room to his own room, knowing that his bedroom was the last place the omega would be in; that meant he didn’t really have to clean it up.
Walking to the guest room, Jayce realized it was the emptiest and dullest room in his apartment. The small bathroom annexed to the guest room had all of Jayce’s belongings with which he didn’t know what to do.
He would have to clean that up after dinner.
—
Jayce didn’t clean up after dinner. In fact, he almost fell asleep while eating. His headache was still there and there was an overall exhaustion coursing through him, that rendered him incapable of doing anything that wasn’t sleeping.
The next morning came fast.
He slept through the entire night and woke up with no throbbing in his head. Thankful for that, he had a shower, dressed up and ate breakfast on a whim. It was when he was about to go to the sofa, to check his notes for the umpteenth time, that his eyes fell on the calendar he had on the fridge.
4th of December. His rut was not due until the start of February. Aside from that, there was nothing that important coming up. Only the prototype for his newest design, which he had to hand in by the end of the month.
He still had time.
Once on the sofa, he pulled out his phone. No notifications from the shop. It was still early, though. That was what he told himself for four hours, until the clock struck 1 pm.
Lunch was quick. He ingested barely anything, his stomach full of knots.
Doubts and fear were creeping into his mind, along with Caitlyn’s words. She was right. He had nowhere to house the omega. Usually, he would send the omegas he had rescued to Caitlyn. She knew what to do, then.
This time, though, he was by himself because he had messed up.
And, worst of all, he had been well-aware of it even while going through with it all.
The sight of the treatment the unconscious omega had received from the shop owners wasn’t new to Jayce. Omegas were often mistreated and abused too frequently. Mostly by Alphas, but betas weren’t innocent either.
Being an Alpha himself, Jayce knew that doing what he did with Caitlyn, Jinx and Ekko, amongst others, was risky. Not that much for himself, but rather for the omegas they helped.
Ekko and Jinx were betas, but Caitlyn and him were both Alphas, so they often were met with menacing or terrified scents from the omegas that had been rescued. That was an expected reaction, so they never took it personally.
Still, though, the two Alphas knew better than to be careless around those rescued and brought into safe houses. They needed to prove themselves worthy of their trust, and they did.
It took a long while for most of the omegas to start trusting anyone again; let alone Alphas, if it was the case that they had been abused by those.
And now Jayce was bringing an omega, a very injured one at that, to his very own home. Where his scent was the strongest. Where everything screamed Alpha .
It was not a good place for an omega to step foot in, Jayce realized.
The last omega he had brought home, one he had bought and rescued from a shop, had been about three months ago, right before his rut.
The omega had barely spoken to him. She had simply muttered her name, long forgotten by now, and had sat on the floor next to the sofa, beside Jayce, waiting to do as she was told.
Needless to say, Jayce had been more than upset at the sight.
Society viewed people judging from each person’s second gender. If you were socially lucky, you turned out to be an Alpha; even a beta was better than the third option, the worst one.
Alphas were strong. They were renowned names, most of the time. They could impregnate, but not get pregnant, regardless of their primary gender. They had ruts three times a year, during which their sex drive went wild and took over.
Betas were rather normal. Most of the people turned out to be betas. They didn’t have ruts or anything similar. They could impregnate and get pregnant, depending on their primary gender.
The third option was… omegas. The weak ones; the ones that needed to be taken care of; the needy ones. They could not impregnate, only get pregnant from Alphas.
And they had heats. Just like an Alpha had ruts, omegas had heats. And, just like an Alpha needed to fill someone with their seed and knot, omegas had the need to feel the release of an Alpha and their pulsing knot inside.
That was truly an embarrassment for omegas. To have to go through heat six times a year, every other month, and be horny and needy for an Alpha’s touch brought shame to all the omegas.
They turned into wanton sluts …
There was a knock on the door.
Jayce blinked confusingly. It took three seconds for him to realize that he had completely zoned out. He had two messages from the shop owners.
He ignored those after seeing that they were just to inform him about their departure and arrival. Rushing to the door, he couldn’t help but look around once more, as if there was anything suspicious that might—
“Good afternoon, sir.”
Jayce nodded to acknowledge him, still a bit out of it because of the way his mind had drifted off, back on the sofa. It happened often. He tended to start thinking and completely leave reality, lost wandering in his own brain.
“Before bringing the omega here, I have the documents you’ll have to sign in order to own it legally,” he said, “it’s just two documents: one for us and one for yourself.”
Jayce nodded once more, this time mindlessly. After taking the pen and documents from the Alpha in front of him, he signed it all after carefully reading it; he didn’t want to get in trouble, after all.
The shop owner checked that everything was in order. Then, he whistled towards the stairs that led to the street.
Some rustling was heard, an angry huff, and someone walking up the stairs.
That was all that Jayce heard, before the image of the other shop owner carrying a big cardboard box appeared in front of him.
His hands clenched into fists one more time, as he watched the man drop the box in front of him. Obviously, the omega was in there. Even knowing that, Jayce slowly realized he couldn’t smell anything .
The two scents of the Alphas in front of him, yes. The omega’s scent? Nothing .
“There’s a message for you under the box,” one of the owners suddenly muttered, “from the previous owner. For its next one, which is now you.”
“O—Oh.”
Jayce was clueless as to what to say now. Was he supposed to thank them? He really didn’t want to. There was nothing more he wanted right now, than to have them away from his home and bring inside the omega.
“Well,” he ended up croaking out; he cleared his throat, “thank you.”
“No need. We just hope it’ll last long enough for you to enjoy it.” The man laughed out loud, patting the other’s shoulder. “We sure did.”
“Hah.”
Jayce pressed his lips together, hiding his shaky hands inside his pockets. What were those two playing at? Thankfully, the hazel-eyed Alpha didn’t have to think much about it, because they bid their farewell seconds later, and were soon gone.
Closing his eyes for a few seconds, Jayce breathed in and out deeply. His pheromones should stay neutral. He shouldn’t scare off the omega he now owned and had under his care.
Especially not now that he didn’t have anywhere for him to go, but his apartment.
Jayce looked down at the box by his bare feet. No movement. No sounds. Not even a smell came from the cardboard box.
Without a doubt in his mind, he bent down and picked up the box like it was nothing. And, really, it was nothing. It was almost like the box had barely anything in it, let alone a human being.
As he brought it inside, closing the door with his foot, he felt something underneath the box.
“ There’s a message for you under the box. From the previous owner. For its next one, which is now you. ”
A frown on his face.
Jayce pulled off the note stuck to the box, right before he carefully put down the box on the floor, in a corner of the living room.
For the next owner who Viktor will belong to,
This is a simple warning not to take pity on him. He complains a lot, and he can be a real stubborn bitch, but with enough punishments, he’ll submit. He needs to be reminded of his place and position, because he likes to be bratty.
In bed, he’s loud and even annoying, but take no pity on him.
Last, but not least, even if it looks like he might be in pain, he truly isn’t. He’s a compulsive liar and needs to be tamed, because he gets really stupid and repetitive about his so-called pain. He’ll complain about his leg and back a lot, but pay no attention to it. It’s his way of seeking your attention, so don’t give it to him unless you want to play with him.
Aside from that, he obeys and does anything you want him to do.
Have fun with him,
Falco Norris
Jayce wanted to throw up by the time he was done reading the letter. What kind of letter was that? What kind of treatment was that, for the omega?
Viktor .
He knew his name now, but he also knew some other things. Gazing at the still box sitting next to him, he felt as though a brick was dropped to his chest. Jayce had never read any letter like this, where the omega’s purpose was very clear.
Of course, he had heard people talk about that. In the street, in bars, during casual talks… It was disheartening to hear such things; to read them, though?
Someone had sat down and thought it all through. This… Falco Norris had owned the omega —Viktor— and, by the looks of it, he had done whatever he had wanted with him.
It was a common treatment for omegas. Jayce simply couldn’t handle the idea of deliberately harming someone for your own pleasure; especially without their explicit consent.
Sighing, he rubbed his eyes. The letter ended up lying on top of the drawer next to him, as he knelt in front of the cardboard box.
The thought of being in such humiliating captivity made Jayce wince; as if it physically pained him to imagine being in the omega’s position.
“I’ll, uh, open the box, okay?” He muttered, aware that he shouldn’t suddenly open it; he would find the omega —Viktor, he reminded himself— terrified, probably. “Just open it.”
After half a minute of waiting for a response but not getting one, Jayce repeated his words at the same time he carefully moved one of the upper parts of the box.
Light poured lightly inside the box, in the exact same second that the scent hit Jayce like a freight train. It burst out of the box and wrapped around Jayce like a warm blanket. It spread all over the living room.
Jayce had to breathe through it, primal urges threatening to overtake his body and mind. At first, he was confused, until… He suddenly realized.
Fuck.
He’s in heat.