Chapter Text
Leonard leaped over a log covered in vines and moss, easily clearing the obstacle. He ran at nearly full tilt on his four furry legs over the grassy rises and falls of the land. He ran between the many trees, chasing his mate. He’d given Mick a head start, as he always did. Len was the faster of the two, while Mick was bigger, bulkier.
Regardless of size, Len, the Alpha, would always be the more dominant of the two wolves; the leader, the one that set the pace and made the rules. Even when he was the one pursuing his Beta mate in a playful game of chase in the dense forest surrounding Central City Park.
Len chose how closely he followed Mick. If he got close enough, Mick would speed up, or twist in another direction. If he fell back, Mick would slow down, or swing around back toward him. It was a running rhythm formed from being mates for many years. They both knew each other so well; they didn’t need to speak to predict how the chase would go. Not that they could speak, in their wolf forms, of course.
Len relied on his sense of smell and his knowledge of his mate much more than his eyes, during the chase game. His sense of smell was much keener in wolf form, and out in the forest there were less man-made scents to distract and confuse it. But also, Mick’s fur was mostly black. He easily hid in the shadows at night, like it was now. Len’s own fur, a mix of grey, white, and blue-black, stood out much more easily. At least until it snowed.
Len missed the snow. But it was far off. It was early summer in Central City, where they called home. Len wouldn’t have moved for the world. He loved it there. But he wouldn’t have minded if winters lasted another month or two, either. At least the nights were still cool, at the moment. Before long it would be too hot and muggy to do these runs at this speed, even at night.
Len would blame distraction, later, for what happened. Distraction born of boredom. He loved chasing Mick. But they’d done it countless times, and they both knew the area like the back of their hands…or paws, as the case may be at the moment. So Len hadn’t been paying much attention to their game. He ran, and he expected Mick to run away in turn. That was the basic dynamic of the chase game, after all.
So Len was entirely unprepared for Mick to stop suddenly and stand there dead still in the middle of the chase. Len ran right into his mate’s black furry butt. Len reared back and righted himself. He growled and snapped at Mick. Mick just whined, not even looking at Len.
Len followed Mick’s gaze and finally saw what’d brought his mate up short. A wolf. Another wolf was there, just a short distance away, and watching them. He was obviously a werewolf. All werewolves had a preternatural look about them that distinguished them from normal wolves. He had reddish brown fur and striking green eyes. Len didn’t recognize him. He would have remembered if he’d seen a wolf that gorgeous before.
Len’s growling increased. Strangers weren’t strictly forbidden in their territory, but most wolves were wise enough to stay away unless invited. Len and Mick had a violent reputation. Some of it earned fairly, some of it exaggerated. But it kept most of their kind from approaching the area unannounced.
Len continued to growl, ignoring Mick’s whines. Len slowly stalked forward a few steps, his fangs bared and his muscles tense. He wouldn’t attack an unknown wolf unprovoked. But he was an Alpha. This was his territory. Mick was his mate. He had to show this stranger he was dominant and unafraid of them.
Then the wind shifted and Len caught the unknown wolf’s scent, as Mick must have before Len caught up. Len’s growl abruptly, instinctively stopped. Omega. Omega! Unclaimed Omega! The unknown wolf was an unclaimed Omega!
An Alpha would never attack an Omega, unless there was something wrong with them. Something wrong with the Alpha, that their instincts to protect and support an Omega were somehow absent. Or something wrong with the Omega, that their instincts to submit and please an Alpha were absent. Betas were the balance between the two, as Mick was demonstrating by remaining unmoving and whining softly at the situation.
If the Omega had been there with an Alpha, it would have been different. Len could have switched his dominant posturing toward the Alpha. That the Omega smelled unclaimed, meaning he had no Alpha mate, just upped Len’s protective instincts tenfold. What was an unclaimed Omega doing in the woods alone at night?! Woods that were known to be the territory of other wolves, no less!
Len briefly considered changing to his human form just so he could scold this Omega. But the transformation took a lot of energy. It was best to just shift forms once a night, unless it couldn’t be helped. And they were in the middle of the forest.
They’d stashed the bags with their clothes miles back. It would be no problem for Len and Mick to loop back there as wolves, change, and get dressed before morning. It would be a big problem if Len transformed to human, then didn’t have the strength left to change back to wolf, and was left naked in the middle of the forest.
So Len growled again. He was not at all happy with the situation. But it was a grumpy growl, not a threatening one. He knew both Mick and the Omega would be able to tell the difference.
Mick stopped whining and sat down on his haunches. He tilted his head in clear curiosity at the Omega.
The Omega opened his mouth, tongue lolling out, in a wolf’s version of a smile. He then bent down on his front paws, rump in the air, tail wagging; the classic ‘play with me!!’ bow.
Len and Mick just stared at him.
The Omega jumped up, ran away a few paces, then circled back around. Len and Mick made no move to follow.
The Omega whined, play bowed again, and ran away again.
Len and Mick looked at each other.
Omegas didn’t want to play with them! It was just…it was just too unbelievable to be true!
Len and Mick had a reputation. They’d had it for quite awhile. Some of it had been earned fairly. Some of it had been exaggerated. They were seen as big bad wolves that no wolf with a brain messed with. New wolves in town were always warned off of them by the other local wolves, told to stay away from their park and their forest.
Len and Mick allowed the reputation, they allowed the warnings. It kept them safe. It kept their territory free of challenges and threats. But it also kept them alone.
They were criminals, but they had a code. They were violent, ruthless when necessary. But they never killed without good reason. They never hurt the innocent. They’d never hurt an Omega unless they had absolutely no other choice.
The two of them had always longed for an Omega mate to join them as their third. That was the way wolves were happiest; as a balanced triad of Alpha, Beta, and Omega mates. For years, Len and Mick had searched for their Omega. But they’d never found one compatible with them. Eventually, as their reputation grew, no Omega would come near them.
It was unfair, and it hurt them. But they’d never force themselves onto a scared Omega, even just to try and get them to know them better. They resigned themselves to never finding their third, never getting an Omega, never feeling complete. They had each other, at least. They tried to be content with that. All Omegas they’d encountered had been scared of them for years.
Until now. Until this young Omega with striking scarlet fur and glittering green eyes. He’d just shown up in their forest and acted like he expected them to play with him. As if they weren’t scary at all.
The Omega was whining and bowing at them again, bouncing on his front paws impatiently.
Len didn’t know what to do. He exchanged another look with Mick. The obvious answer was to accept the Omega’s offer and chase him, play with him. Of course they wanted to. Len knew they did.
But both Len and Mick kept hesitating to do that. They were too used to Omegas being scared of them. What if they chased this one, and he became scared too? What if, once they were play chasing him, he panicked and forgot it was a game? What if they noticed too late and hurt him? They didn’t know him. They didn’t want to risk truly frightening him.
While Len considered, the Omega’s whines increased. Len noticed the moment those whines turned from playful pleading to include a note of actual sadness. Len’s ears twitched at the switch and his protective instincts kicked at him with a new realization.
The Omega had to be able to smell that Len and Mick didn’t have an Omega. For an Alpha and Beta pair, without an Omega, to outright refuse to play with an unclaimed Omega at all…it was a terrible insult to the Omega. At the least, they ought to chase him for a bit, test their compatibility that way. To do less would be like rejecting him with a slap in the face.
Len mentally cursed himself for forgetting his wolf manners so utterly. But it’d been so long since an Omega had approached them. He kept thinking it had to be some kind of mistake. But mistake or not, this wasn’t an offer they could refuse without hurting this Omega. That was the last thing Len wanted to do. He knew Mick felt the same.
So Len made the decision. Len play bowed back toward the Omega, accepting the offer. Mick did the same, following Len’s lead. The Omega yipped once in happiness, ran around in a little excited circle, and then was off at a sprint. Len chased him, Mick following. Len could only hope they were doing the right thing.
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It ended up being the best night they’d had in years. The Omega never showed a hint of fear, and he never slowed down. He was fast, very fast, and so so fun to chase! Len caught him, a few times.
The first time he just ran next to him for a moment before the Omega veered off and started the chase in another direction. By the third time, Len felt confident enough to playfully snap at the Omega’s haunches. His teeth just snapped in the air, of course. He’d never dream of actually play nipping the Omega’s body until they knew him better.
Len wanted to jump on the Omega, playfully wrestle him to the ground. Then Mick could catch up and the three of them could roll around together in the grass. He wanted to smell the Omega up close and rub his own scent into the scarlet wolf. He wanted to smell how their three scents would mingle together; see if they matched, if they were compatible that way.
But he forced himself not to. It was far too soon for that. He didn’t want to ruin it. He wouldn’t risk scaring the Omega. But Len wanted…Len wanted so much. He knew Mick well enough to know Mick did too.
Soon, far too soon, the signs of morning approaching started in the forest. It was time to head back, they needed to be changed and clothed before risking any early joggers in the park catching sight of them. Some humans knew about werewolves, some didn’t. But it was never wise showing themselves to an unknown human, regardless.
They parted ways then, an unspoken agreement going through them that it was time. Len and Mick went one way. The scarlet Omega went another. Len’s heart hurt to see the Omega go. He knew there was little chance he’d stashed his clothes anywhere near where Mick and Len had put theirs. Of course the Omega needed to leave the way he’d come. But Len wanted nothing more than to keep that Omega with them.
Len wanted to see what the Omega looked like as a human. Len wanted to bundle the Omega up against the morning chill in the jacket Len had stashed for himself. He wanted to wrap the Omega in his scent. He wanted to take the Omega home. He wanted Mick to cook for them, fill the Omega up with warm savory foods. Then he wanted that Omega in their bed, safe and snug between Len and Mick.
Len wanted that Omega for theirs. He knew Mick did too. They wanted too much. No Omega knew who they were and wanted to give them a chance. They didn’t even know the Omega’s name. Soon, he’d meet other local wolves and they’d warn him away from Len and Mick. They would probably never see him again.
Len howled into the night, putting all his loneliness and longing behind the sound. Mick joined him a second later, in perfect harmony.
From some distance away, the Omega answered with a howl of his own. It matched and synched perfectly, effortlessly, with Len and Mick’s.
Maybe…maybe Len would let himself hope again, just a little.