Chapter Text
Severin had been cold on the airplane, but was colder as soon as he stepped into the airport. He remembered England’s cold as he hadn’t in years: it started in your bones, and grew outwards.
He picked up his luggage. He didn’t have much. Alphas were given a life of guns and tanks and explosives, and at the age of thirty-eight it was all snatched away, replaced by things much sweeter: their considerable army pensions, which would get them the best flats in London; their elite ex-military status, sure to attract any omega. They would have homes and sweet homemakers – little life partners that, once mated, would hold them close and tight when they woke up sweaty from their nightmares. Because that was how it would go, Severin was sure. Alphas didn’t just leave the war behind them.
Severin hadn’t seen many omegas in his life, only the rare ones found in village brothels, where they’d pay Severin to fuck them through their heats. The older army alphas had bonded omegas; his commander had had one. The commander would bring the omega around sometimes, and Severin would get to watch them together, envy how they spoke with their eyes, moved in unison. Then his commander was blown to pieces.
They’d asked Severin to replace him. He escaped by a hair’s breadth, or rather by three days: Three days after his commander died, he turned thirty-eight. He’d given twenty full years of service. He was free.
The airport was teeming with omegas. They moved differently than alphas moved, or maybe it seemed that way to Severin because he’d only ever known soldiers. They darted here and there, moved more freely. A petite woman with a big bush of hair passed Severin; he inhaled, and smelled a sweet, tangerine scent. A little too sweet. An omega walked with his alpha, the alpha’s arm draped around his shoulder. As an alpha himself, Severin couldn’t smell an alpha’s typical scent, but the omega he passed smelled definitely marked. Severin crinkled his nose.
Outside an airport café, sipping on a coffee, was a little omega. Just over five feet tall, nearly two feet shorter than Severin, but of average height for an omega. He had a button nose and rosy cheeks.
“Hey,” Severin said, without thinking. He didn’t feel self-conscious; he was in his uniform. It wasn’t unheard of for just-discharged alphas to find their mates in airports. Plenty of omegas waited around here to find themselves a soldier. There was a dearth of alphas in the world, after all; hordes of omegas were clawing for a partner, and who didn’t want to date a military alpha?
The omega squeaked, nearly dropping his coffee. He stammered, voice soft, “S-sorry, I’m – I’m – I’ve already met someone.”
Severin looked around, growl forming low in his throat. He hadn’t said anything about wanting a mate. He’d heard that, in the civilian world, every social interaction was dictated by your biology. Apparently it was true.
“I just wanted to talk,” Severin said defensively. For some reason the omega’s eyes got big and he dashed away, back into the coffee shop. Severin continued on.
He’d never smelled so many different scents before; betas smelled neutral, alphas never smelled at all. The omegas, though… It made his head rush, made it so he could focus on nothing else. Was the civilian world always like this? How did anyone ever get used to it?
Soldiers were known for being more disciplined than the few alphas who escaped the draft. Severin suspected this was a lie, though, just one more false advantage brought up anytime someone challenged the draft: It makes alphas more clear-headed. Bullshit. He’d never smelled so many omegas before, and it was already driving him crazy.
He wanted fresh air. He wanted warmth.
He wanted an omega.