by D J Heart
Sam
Sam folded his hands in his lap and tried to keep his nerves in check. He’d never been this close to an alpha before, and the experience was jarring.
It was a beautiful day outside, the summer breeze making the leaves in the old oak outside the window dance, but Sam paid it no mind. Every ounce of his attention was focused on the alpha sitting across the room; perched on the edge of the sofa like he was worried the fabric might contaminate his impeccable suit.
The alpha was taller than Sam by almost a foot, his jacket and pants doing nothing to hide the size of his biceps or the thickness of his thighs—and just looking at his chiseled face made Sam’s insides feel strange and tingly.
It almost made him forget that his world was ending.
Sam looked away and forced himself to take a mental step back and calm down. His life wasn’t ending—he wasn’t going to die or anything—but it was going to change in ways he couldn’t even imagine.
The alpha was there to marry him.
Sam’s stomach dropped lower and lower as he listened to his uncle and the slick city alpha negotiating the terms of his sale.
He just didn’t understand. Why had an alpha like this traveled to the middle of nowhere just to get him? Sure he was an omega and omegas were rare, but not that rare.
It didn’t make sense.
“Now, you need to understand,” Sam’s uncle said, leaning in towards the unimpressed alpha, his phoniest, most affable good-old country beta smile in place, “Sam already has a suitor, a proven provider who—”
“Let’s stop wasting time,” the alpha interrupted, glaring at Sam’s uncle with bored disdain. “Either you accept the dowry and we get this over with, or you don’t, in which case I leave and find someone else.”
Sam thought he was going to pass out.
Silence fell over the room as his uncle shifted uncomfortably. Sam had always said, or perhaps more accurately ranted, that use of the dowry system basically amounted to the selling of omegas—yet never had he heard of someone being this blatant about it.
“When you say, get this over with?” his uncle asked tentatively, “You mean?”
The alpha almost seemed to snarl before catching himself, breathing out slowly through his nose and putting his palms flat on his thighs. He visibly forced himself to relax, and Sam wondered what had him so on edge.
“I mean,” the alpha said through clenched teeth, “that we would sign the contract now, go down to City Hall before it closes, and then I would leave with Sam and you would leave with a cashier's check for two million dollars.”
Sam wondered when the fuck his worth had skyrocketed. Not that he wasn’t a priceless omega gem, but still, even Rory Bates hadn’t offered more than fifty thousand, and his family was rich.
“This is a little unconventional...” his uncle hedged, wringing his hands.
Sam was impressed. He would have thought his uncle would be jumping for joy at this point. Then again, Sam’s opinion that the dowry system was a thin veneer over an insidious omega slave trade aside, if his uncle were to be seen by the community as having actually, point blank, sold his omega nephew, he would not be looked upon kindly.
“I don’t see how,” the alpha gritted out, fist clenched, his face doing a scowl-y thing that Sam would have found comical if it wasn’t so terrifying.
“No, I guess it’s not, right?” his uncle said, seemingly talking to himself. “You have the documents with you?”
Sam watched as the alpha and his uncle went through a huge stack of papers, his uncle signing and initialing over and over until even Sam’s wrists were feeling tired in sympathy. The alpha had apparently signed everything in advance, and after about ten minutes—during which his uncle hadn’t read a single one of the documents he was signing—the alpha rose, handing one pile of paper to his uncle and placing the other in a shiny leather briefcase.
“We have an appointment with the judge in forty minutes.” The alpha seemed calmer now that all the formalities had been taken care of. “We’ll take my car.”
***
The rest of the day passed in a strange haze for Sam. After a quick trip to the courthouse where a narrow eyed Judge Moss signed the wedding certificate, Sam found himself manhandled into the back of the alpha’s car while his uncle walked away without so much as a goodbye.
Sam wasn’t close to his uncle, but it would have been nice if the man had pretended to be at least a little sorry to see him go.
The alpha’s car only had two doors, and the passenger side seat had to be moved forward before Sam could climb into the back. After he’d climbed inside, the alpha slammed the seat back into place.
It wasn’t lost on Sam that he was effectively trapped. There would be no opening the car door and jumping out at the next red light.
“I’ll have a courier pick up your stuff and ship it to us later,” the alpha said as he got behind the wheel. He didn't meet Sam’s eyes in the mirror as he put the briefcase on the seat next to him, turning the key in the ignition and hitting the accelerator so hard that Sam was pushed back into his seat with an exclamation of surprise.
The tires squealed, and Sam watched out the window as the alpha drove him away from everything and everyone he’d ever known.
Sam spent a few minutes in tense silence, watching the scenery pass him by, just waiting for his new alpha to say something.
Anything.
“So, what’s your name?” he asked finally, the silence unbearable. He was married to the guy, after all. It didn’t seem like an impertinent question.
“Hunter Stone,” the alpha answered, eyes firmly on the road. Sam was a little surprised to get an answer at all. The alpha had paid two million dollars for him, but he didn’t seem all that interested in looking at or talking to him.
Sam tried not to think about what use an alpha could have for an omega he wasn’t interested in.
“I’m Sam,” he said when the silence became unbearable. “But I guess you already knew that, huh?”
Hunter didn’t answer, but there was a quick jerk of his head that Sam interpreted as a yes.
“So you’re my alpha,” Sam continued, feeling a giddy sort of desperation creep over him. “Have you been looking for an omega for a long time, or did you just wake up this morning and decide, Hey, I think I’ll buy an omega today?”
“I didn’t buy you,” Hunter growled defensively, frowning as he glanced at Sam in the mirror. It was the first time Sam had seen the alpha look at him.
“I think there’s a check for two million dollars in my uncle’s possession that says otherwise,” Sam shot back.
You could argue whether or not the traditional courtships of omegas, particularly the custom of dowries, constituted selling, but there was really no masking what had occurred less than an hour ago as tradition. Hunter had bought him.
“Shut up,” Hunter growled, as if to end the argument. And really? Shut up? That was his big rebuttal? This was not, in Sam’s opinion, a promising start to their life together. A life in which Hunter would have total and complete power over him, and where a refusal to follow a command like shut up could result in punishments limited only by his alpha’s imagination. This led Sam’s brain on a merry path thinking on all the things his new alpha was technically allowed to do to him. Thoughts of beatings, rape, degradation and humiliation passed through his mind like a juiced up slideshow of horrors. Focusing on his breathing, Sam staved off the panic attack he could feel trying to sneak up on him.
“Are you okay?” Hunter’s question, which sounded a strange combination of reluctant and concerned, startled Sam right out of his inner freak out.
“What happens if I don’t shut up?” he asked, figuring it was always better to know
than to just wait for some unknown horror to befall him.
“What do you mean?” Hunter glanced at him in the mirror for the second time.
“You told me to shut up. What would happen if I didn’t?” Sam asked, almost too nervous to be flippant.
“I would be annoyed.”
Sam waited, studying the back of Hunter’s perfectly coiffed head, eyes drifting to his hands clenching the wheel, noticing for the first time that Hunter had at some point put on a pair of tight leather driving gloves.
“And then you would...?” Sam asked, needing to know.
“I would tell you to shut up again? What’s your point?” Hunter growled, sounding both confused and slightly agitated.
“I just wanted to know how you would punish me if you told me not to do something, but I did it anyway.” Sam explained, laying it all out there.
“Are you planning on doing things I tell you not to?” Hunter asked, sounding ominous. He clenched his hand on the wheel, as though Sam’s future disobedience had already happened and pissed him off royally.
“No, but what if I forgot that I wasn’t allowed to talk, or if I misunderstood, or if I had a good reason?” Sam stilled, waiting breathlessly for Hunter’s answer.
“You’re allowed to talk,” Hunter finally replied. Sam wasn’t satisfied in the least. Hunter had told him nothing about what would be expected of him in terms of obedience or in how he would be punished, but Sam had used up his reserve of courage and would just have to wait it out.
***
After driving in silence for about half an hour they stopped at a small airport that Sam knew for a fact had been shut down more than three years ago. Despite this, there was a small private Jet on the runway with an alpha and a beta standing by waiting.
Hunter opened the passenger side door and moved the seat so that Sam could climb out. He stepped back with an impatient expression, taking off his driving gloves and putting them in his pocket as he waited for Sam to get out of the car.
The alpha standing by the plane waved at Sam, looking happy, and Sam hesitantly waved back as he closed the car door behind him.
He looked at Hunter, but he just grabbed Sam’s wrist and pulled him toward the plane. Sam had to jog to keep up with Hunter’s long, powerful legs.
The young alpha was Sam’s age, and he was dressed in casual jeans and a nice button down shirt. Despite his youth, however, the alpha was just as tall and wide as Hunter.
“Sam,” Hunter said, nodding towards the young alpha who was smiling and looking at Sam like he was a bulging stocking on Christmas morning. “This is Jack. Jack, this is Sam.”
He nodded to each of them in turn. After a confused second, Sam reached out his hand for a handshake, but Jack ignored the proffered fist and pulled him into a hug.
Letting out an oomph, Sam found his face pressed into a rock hard pair of pecs. Jack’s scent was heady and musky, and Sam found himself nuzzling into the gap between the buttons holding the shirt closed, wanting to get at the alpha’s skin.
He pulled back with a horrified yelp, realizing that his husband was right there. He didn’t even want to think what kind of punishment would be meted out for perving on another alpha so shamelessly. Looking to his side, he hoped Hunter wasn’t too mad.
But Hunter wasn’t there. His new alpha was walking up the stairs into the plane, and before he could question what the fuck was happening, Jack was putting a hand on his lower back and pressing him to follow.
“Don’t worry about him,” the smiling young alpha said. Sam started climbing the stairs. “He’s not that good with people, but he was the only one with power of attorney for all of us so we didn’t really have a choice. You’ll meet everyone else when we get back home.”
Sam turned around and looked over his shoulder at the young alpha, with his happy face and sharp cheekbones, wondering what the fuck he was talking about.
“Everyone else?” he asked when Jack just looked at him expectantly. They weren’t moving, but Jack wasn’t pushing him to keep climbing. Standing three steps above the alpha, they were almost at the same height.
It was weird to be looking at an alpha rather than up at him.
“The pack,” Jack answered, grin dimming slightly when Sam’s face didn’t register any recognition.
“The pack?” Sam asked, trying to make sense of the situation.
So Hunter was a werewolf? He must be, who else had packs? And he and Jack were obviously in the same pack, and now Sam was going to meet them…
Was pack like family? Maybe Hunter and Jack were brothers, or half-brothers, or cousins or something? Sam examined Jack’s face, but he didn’t really see a family resemblance.
“Didn’t Hunter explain everything to you when he asked you to…” Jack trailed off, looking progressively more furious.
“He didn’t really explain anything,” Sam said, feeling self-conscious. “It was more like, I’ll give you two million for him—do we have a deal?”
Jack didn’t laugh at Sam’s attempt at humor. Sam didn’t blame him. It was neither funny, nor particularly respectful towards his new alpha. Shit! How much trouble could he get into?
“Okay, let’s get on board and I’ll explain,” Jack said, gesturing for Sam to resume climbing, following closely behind him. The beta, who Sam had forgotten about, boarded last and closed the door behind them before making his way into the cockpit.
“Let’s get seated and we’ll explain everything,” Jack said, pushing Sam in the other direction.
Sam wondered if it was normal for alphas to be this handsy.
The inside of the plane was ridiculously luxurious, with plush leather seats arranged around an oval table next to an honest to God bar. Further down the plane there was a leather sofa facing a huge flat screen TV.
Sam let himself be guided into one of the seats opposite Hunter, with Jack then taking a seat next to the older alpha so that they were both facing Sam.
The whole thing felt like Sam was about to be interviewed.
Without any warning the plane started moving down the runway, faster and faster, with neither Jack nor Hunter paying it any attention. Sam pressed back into his seat and wondered if he shouldn’t be wearing a seatbelt.
“Just to be clear, legally, everything is on order, right?” Jack asked, looking at Hunter with a supremely judgmental expression.
“Yes,” Hunter answered, looking pained and angry. Sam felt so lucky.
“So when we were planning how you should explain things and ask him, did you follow any of that?” Jack asked again, and for all that Hunter was older and would obviously be able to take Hunter in a fight, Hunter squirmed under the weight of Jack’s disapproval.
“No,” Hunter said angrily. “I didn’t need to. I told you his guardian would sign off without asking him.”
Jack turned away from Hunter and looked at Sam with an apologetic expression.
“Okay, I’m really, really sorry about this,” Jack said, “Hunter was supposed to explain our situation and then ask you if you wanted to be our omega, but…”
“Wait,” Sam interrupted. “Your omega? Like both of you?”
Sam was not going to panic. He was just misunderstanding the young alpha. An omega couldn’t have two alphas—it would be too much. A single alpha could wear out an omega if they didn’t take care. Sam didn’t even want to imagine what a toll two would take.
“Not Hunter and I,” Jack said, but not in the reassuring tone of voice that would make Sam feel better. This was a tone of voice that said, Wait a minute, I have something horrible to tell you.
Sam braced himself.
“Hunter and I are both werewolves,” Jack began, and yes, Sam had gathered that much. “Have you ever heard of an alpha pack?”
Sam shook his head. This did not sound promising.
“Werewolf packs are usually just a family, with one alpha and his or her mates. All the betas and omegas in the pack belong to the alpha and bear his or her children. The first cub is alm
ost always an alpha, and unless that cub dies, another alpha will not be born into the same pack. The alpha cub is the one who inherits the territory and all the pack’s assets. The younger cubs go off when they’re old enough to find an alpha of their own, and when they’ve all found new packs the remaining alpha is free to start building his own. Are you following?”
Sam nodded. He wasn’t sure how this was relevant, he was fascinated. Werewolf dynamics were not something most people were allowed to know about.
“I think so,” he said when Jack didn’t continue. “One alpha, many mates, only one alpha kid.”
Jack grinned, relieved. “Yes, that’s right, except sometimes a second alpha will be born into the pack. This usually happens if the first alpha goes away for an extended period of time or if the alpha has sex with someone outside the pack and gets them pregnant. Since the pack can only have one heir; that means that one of the alphas has to leave with nothing when they grow up. A pack-less alpha really only has four choices,” Jack held up a finger, “One, you could live without a pack—which isn’t really a choice because you would go crazy. Two,” Jack held up a second finger, “you could start your own pack, which is super hard because nobody would join a pack with no territory or assets, and by the time you built up your wealth to the point where you could start a pack you would go crazy, so again; not a very good option unless you’re good at getting rich fast.” Jack held up a third finger. “The third option is to submit to an alpha, including sexually, and join their pack. Not very fun. The final option, which is what most second alphas do, is to join an alpha pack. By forming a pack with other alphas you don’t go crazy and you don’t have to submit sexually, not even to the pack leader.”