Bound to the Alpha

by D. J. Heart

  “I’ll call them in a little bit, okay?” he said, giving in. Then he had a thought. “How did you know Scott was in the hospital?”

  Derek hadn’t called his mom, hadn’t called anyone, and yet here his mother was. He narrowed his eyes at her.

  “Don’t look so suspicious, Derek. Dylan called me to let me know you were here.”

  Dylan was Derek’s cousin, and he worked as a nurse in the oncology ward. How he knew Scott had been admitted to the hospital was anyone’s guess.

  “Oh… right. I just wasn’t expecting you. Not that I’m not happy to see you.” Derek closed his eyes, breathing out a long sigh.

  “I know, Derek,” his mom said, coming up beside him and laying a hand on his arm. “I’m always going to want to make sure you’re all right.”

  He placed his hand over hers. “Thanks.”

  ***

  “Hello?”

  Derek looked up. His mother had left just ten minutes ago, protesting that she was happy to stay, but Derek wanted to be alone with his increasingly depressed thoughts. And he didn’t want to risk his mom seeing Scott freak out when he woke up.

  The person poking her head into the room, looking unsure but determined, was a female beta who smelled weirdly familiar even though Derek couldn’t remember seeing her before.

  “What?” he asked, not in the mood to be disturbed.

  “Hi, I’m Ellie... I’m friends with Scott? We heard he was in an accident and we just wanted to see—”

  “For fuck’s sake, Ellie. Is he okay? What did you do to him?” An alpha barged into the room, and this time Derek recognized the scent. This was the alpha who had gotten his stench all over Scott and caused all this trouble in the first place. He bared his teeth, shooting out of the chair and moving so that he was standing in front of the bed, shielding Scott from the interloper.

  “Fucking hell, what’s wrong with you? I know he’s mated to you, Neanderthal,” the alpha sneered, coming to a halt and rolling his eyes.

  “Derek, right?” the beta, Ellie, asked. Derek nodded his head that he’d heard her, but he didn’t take his gaze away from the young alpha.

  “Right… we’re friends with Scott. He came to visit us today? We just want to know if he’s going to be okay?”

  Derek didn’t know why Ellie had to phrase everything like a question, but he did know that he found it annoying. Almost as annoying as this alpha teenager thinking he could just walk into Scott’s hospital room like— “What is wrong with you?” the alpha exclaimed, looking at Derek like he was something he’d scraped off the bottom of his shoe.

  “This is my omega,” Derek said, voice low and threatening. The alpha blinked, a surprised look on his face.

  “And? What’s your point?” he asked, sounding sincerely confused. Derek narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out if the younger alpha was trying to play some sort of trick on him. The alpha stepped back, an incredulous smile twisting his lips. He turned to Ellie.

  “I’m going to go wait in the hallway. You see if you can get anything out of the caveman here,” the alpha turned, but not before shooting Derek a look of unrivaled contempt.

  Alone with the beta, Derek relaxed.

  “Is Scott going to be okay?” she asked, looking worried.

  Derek nodded, crossing his arms defensively.

  “He’s fine, he’s just sleeping,” he said, wanting her to leave as soon as possible.

  “He’s just sleeping? Why isn’t he waking up?” she looked around Derek’s body, eyeing Scott warily.

  “He’s sedated. Anything else?” He flexed his biceps, pushing out his chest as he delivered his best glare. The girl was unimpressed.

  “You know we’re in the twenty-first century, right? Alphas don’t steal omegas from each other anymore—especially not bonded ones—and Jackson has been Scott’s friend for years. They’ve never been into each other like that.”

  Derek blinked, not sure what to make of the girl’s little speech. Alphas might not do things like that anymore, but the instinct was there. You couldn’t just ignore that.

  “What happened? Dylan just said that he’d been in a car accident but that everything was okay?”

  Derek huffed out a breath. Dylan had a fucking big mouth. “If you knew he was okay, what are you doing here?”

  Ellie blinked, looking confused. What was it with these teenagers?

  “We had to check!” she said, as if Derek was stupid for implying otherwise.

  “Well, now you’ve seen him. He’s fine. Please leave,” he said, herding her to the door and opening it. The teenage alpha was leaning on the wall on the other side of the corridor, and Derek had to rein in the impulse to bare his teeth again.

  “Scott’s fine. Now leave.” He pushed Ellie out the door, closing it firmly behind her.

  He needed to get Scott out of the hospital before they had any more visitors.

  ***

  When Derek woke up, Scott was sitting on the edge of the bed, frowning as his legs dangled off the edge. Derek jumped, not remembering going to sleep, the sight of Scott sitting there unharmed making him feel a gush of relief.

  “I hate you,” Scott said, voice pitched low, his expression sincere. Derek’s first reaction was to lash out, to punish Scott for daring to say such a thing, but he held back. Doing things his way wasn’t working out very well for him, and he needed to keep calm and assess the situation before he acted rashly.

  Curling his hands into nervous fists, Scott sat still like he was waiting for something. For a reaction. Derek watched him, struck by how wrong the sight was. Scott was supposed to respect him, lovingly. Not sit there with defiant eyes and hunched shoulders like he expected to be hit for his honesty.

  Deflating, the initial tide of anger draining away, all Derek was left with was disappointed sadness.

  “I’m not letting you put me back in the box,” Scott continued, maintaining eye contact. “I’m serious.”

  Derek nodded, feeling tired. Feeling defeated. If he went back to the forums he’d been browsing while trying to figure out his problem, he was sure they’d all have told him to push Scott to the floor, take off his belt and whip him until he was hoarse from screaming.

  But Derek wasn’t going to do that. Wasn’t going to do anything. This was how Scott really felt about him—what lay beneath the behavior conditioned by the omega box—and now that he’d seen it, the veneer the box cultivated had lost its shine forever.

  Eyes landing on the collar cinched tight around Scott’s throat, Derek felt like it was mocking him.

  “How are you feeling?” he asked, ignoring the omega box issue for now. He wasn’t sure how he and Scott would go forward, how much ground he was willing to give or cling to, but right now he was too drained to deal with it.

  “Okay,” Scott said, his voice guarded. “I hit a tree.”

  Derek nodded. “You did. The doctor said you might have a concussion.”

  Scott nodded, looking around the room with a questioning tilt of his head.

  “I’ll go get the doctor, tell her you’re up. Just sit tight,” Derek said, not waiting for an answer, standing up and leaving the room. He could have called for a nurse and had her get the doctor, but he needed to get out of the room and away from Scott’s hatred.

  ***

  Scott jumped when the door opened, a woman wearing a white coat and a bright smile turning on the lights as she stepped inside. He blinked, momentarily blinded by the brightness.

  “Sorry about that,” the doctor said, dimming the lights a little. “Bright, huh?”

  Scott nodded, looking over her shoulder to see where Derek was. The alpha was nowhere in sight, the door closing with just him and the doctor alone in the room.

  “I’m Dr. Yancy. I was the one who looked you over when you came in. Do you remember what happened?” The doctor moved to stand on the right side of the bed, smiling down at him. Scott looked up at her and nodded.

  “I crashed my car,” he said, remembering th
e adrenaline that had flooded his veins as he drove away from Derek.

  “Yes, and then you had an incident in the ambulance. Would you like to tell me what happened?”

  Dr. Yancy had a kind face, and her expression was open and honest. Scott wasn’t sure what he should say.

  “I was confused,” he said after a few seconds, the answer ringing false. Dr. Yancy didn't push it, simply nodding her head in acceptance.

  “Well, I’d like to look you over again now before you go home. Would you like me to call your alpha into the room before I examine you?”

  “No, that’s fine,” Scott answered, looking at the door again. It was weird that Derek hadn’t come back with the doctor. “Where is he?”

  “I’m not sure,” Dr. Yancy said, pulling a slim penlight out of the pocket of her white coat. She clicked it on, smiling again. “I think he might have gone for coffee.”

  Scott blinked, wondering what was going on with Derek. He stared at his lap, dreading just what the alpha had in store for him when he went home. He hadn’t just misbehaved, he’d rebelled.

  “Are you ready?” Dr. Yancy asked, startling Scott out of his dark thoughts. He nodded, and for the next five minutes he was poked and prodded and asked to perform like a circus monkey until the doctor stepped back with a satisfied nod.

  “You don’t seem to have a concussion, but I would advise you to take it easy for the next few days.” Dr. Yancy paused, as though something had just occurred to her. “You just recently bonded with your alpha, is that right?”

  Scott nodded.

  “With stressful situations like this, you might find that you revert back to a more frequent heat schedule, like it was when you were newly bonded. It shouldn’t last more than a few days—if it happens—and it’s nothing to worry about.” She paused, smiling again. “Did you have any questions for me?”

  Scott shook his head, stuck on the fact that he might revert to needing Derek’s knot every few hours, the idea of having sex with Derek making him feel all tangled up. On the one hand, sex with Derek was amazing. But on the other hand… the thought of doing anything with Derek right now made him want to burn things.

  “I’ll just have a little talk with your alpha and get your paperwork all taken care of, and you should be out of here before midnight. Sound good?”

  Scott nodded, and before he knew it the doctor had left. He sat in the bright hospital room, alone, wondering what the hell was going to happen now.

  ***

  Derek and Scott took a taxi home, though Derek knew his mother would have happily come back to the hospital to give them a ride. The drive was tense, Scott shooting him uncertain little looks, nervous in a way that made Derek feel like the worst kind of asshole.

  Thinking of his mother reminded Derek that he still hadn’t called Scott’s parents. It was almost midnight, but he had promised his mother he would call them. Looking over to the other side of the cab—he and Scott were each leaning on their respective doors—Derek caught the omega’s eye before speaking.

  “Would you like to give your parents a call, let them know that you’re okay?” he asked, holding out his cell phone. Scott just looked at it like the slim device was going to bite him, taking it gingerly and dialing the number to his parents’ house. It rang for almost a minute before Scott’s mom picked up.

  “Hey Mom, it’s me,” Scott said, turning his body away from Derek, speaking in a low voice. Derek looked out of the window, giving him at least that semblance of privacy.

  “I had a little accident, but I’m fine,” Scott said, emphasis on fine. Derek couldn’t hear anything but Scott’s half of the conversation.

  “No, he didn’t do anything. I crashed into a tree. I’m fine though, the doctor said I don’t even have a concussion…”

  Derek let out a sigh, guilt welling up inside him when hearing Scott covering for him. How had he become the kind of alpha whose omega lied to cover for him? It didn’t fit with his sense of self at all.

  “I’m fine, Mom. We’re on our way home now. I’ll call you again tomorrow, okay?”

  Derek closed his eyes, listening to Scott end the conversation.

  “I love you too, Mom. Bye,” Scott said, hanging up the phone and handing it back to Derek.

  The rest of the drive was silent, neither Scott or Derek looking at each other.

  ***

  Scott walked behind Derek up the driveway, the silence foreboding. Derek patted his pockets for the key to the front door, coming up empty, but when he tried the door it was unlocked.

  Scott stepped into the house like he was going to his own funeral.

  This was it. Derek would tie him up and stuff him into the breathless box, letting him stew in the scent of alpha until his mind was a scrambled mess and everything Derek said sounded like a good idea. The thought that in the morning he might be sitting at the counter, thinking how Derek’s reaction to Jackson's scent on him was natural and really Scott’s fault… he couldn’t bear it.

  Derek turned around, opening his mouth to speak, but before he could Scott blurted out, “Please don’t put me in the box.”

  His words were rushed and pleading, with none of the confidence or determination he had managed to dredge up at the hospital. He sounded scared, and he hated that.

  Derek blinked, frowning as he searched for how to respond.

  “I think… I think you and I should take a break,” he said, the words slow and measured.

  Scott tried to understand what Derek meant and came up blank.

  “A break?”

  Derek nodded, breathing out slowly as he looked Scott up and down. “I think that… this isn’t working. It’s not what I… it’s nothing like what I wanted.”

  Scott didn’t understand. He and Derek might not get along and have very different ideas about their roles as a bonded alpha and omega pair, but they were bonded. They couldn’t separate. That was the whole point of a bond. They were literally addicted to each other. How could they possibly take a break from that?

  “What do—”

  Derek interrupted him. “I want you to be happy, Scott. I meant that. I just… I wanted you to be happy my way, and I’m beginning to realize… I think that might not be possible. We need to figure out a way for both of us to be happy. Things like today… we can’t have that. It’s not… that’s not what I want us to be.”

  Derek was rambling, eyes flitting all over the room, shoulders pulled up high and tense.

  “But how can we take a break? What do you mean by that?” he asked, Derek’s painful realization giving him hope.

  “We’ll just… I don’t know. We’ll figure it out in the morning,” Derek said, turning around and heading for the stairs. Scott looked at his retreating back, worried that Derek would wake up in the morning and decide that he was wrong and that they should just keep going the way they had been.

  “Will you take my collar off?” Scott called after him, voice coming out much louder than he’d intended. Derek stopped and turned around, and for a second he looked furious, but then that seemed to drain away and he slumped, nodding.

  “You want me to?” he asked, his voice tentatively hopeful.

  When Scott nodded his head, Derek’s expression looked sad. Scott almost wanted to take it back, but he wasn’t going to put Derek’s feelings ahead of his own. He didn’t want to wear a collar for Derek, and he wouldn’t unless the alpha forced him to.

  “I’ll go get the key.”

  ***

  Removing Scott’s collar was just as difficult as the salesperson in the store had promised it would be, but after ten minutes of trying, breath hot against Scott’s neck as he leaned in close to work the tricky locking mechanism, Scott was free. Derek pulled away, clenching the leather-clad steel tightly in his hand, while Scott let out a relieved breath.

  Derek looked at Scott’s slender neck, absent leather, and felt a palpable sense of loss. Scott, on the other hand, looked happy. Like a weight had been lifted.

  The
total rejection of Derek’s most visible symbol of authority stung.

  “You don’t have to collar me to be my alpha,” Scott said, his eyes searching as he stared up at Derek. Derek clenched his teeth, nodding tightly before turning away.

  Scott surprised him by darting forward, stealthily taking his hand and holding him back. Derek stopped in his tracks, turning his head to see what Scott wanted. The omega didn’t say anything, like he wasn’t sure himself what he wanted.

  “Are you going to bed?” Scott asked after a few seconds. He looked alert and awake, the opposite of how Derek felt, and you’d never know from looking at him that he’d been in a car accident.

  “Yeah, it’s been a long day. You?”

  Derek didn’t take it for granted that Scott would want to sleep with him, his stomach sinking when Scott bit his lip and looked thoughtful.

  “We haven’t…. we haven’t had sex tonight yet… I think we should stick close in case…” Scott took a deep breath, “…in case the bond kicks in and we need to. Is that okay?”

  Derek was taken aback. He’d somehow managed to forget about the sex part of the bond since it had all been going so smoothly lately. But Scott was right. If they didn’t have regular sex the bond would kick in and force the issue, sending Scott into heat and Derek into rut. The longer and harder they resisted, the more violent the mating would be.

  How Derek could have forgotten something so basic, something that had been such a problem for him and Scott, he had no idea.

  Taking a break would be impossible when the bond forced them to be together. His whole idea of giving Scott space and restarting things was just… stupid and the result of exhaustion and the sheer terror of the thought that what had happened today could happen again, unless something changed.

  “Oh, right,” Derek said, at a loss.

  “And the doctor said that I might go into heat more often, like I did in the beginning, because of the stress…” Scott looked down, hugging his waist. “But I haven’t felt anything unusual yet.”