Chapter Text
Nikolai forced another bite of Julie’s lumpy mashed potatoes down. His plate still had one chicken leg left. The first one he had was insipid. He felt himself begin to retch. It took everything in the beta to stop himself. How could someone make something so bland? The omega informed everyone that she wanted to make a healthy dinner tonight. She said that sodium would not be good for her weight loss journey. He did not know that this meant the omega would use no salt or pepper at all. Attempting to focus less on his food, he instead listened to the clinks and scrapes of silverware hitting china. The chandelier above him was strung with gold chains that shimmered, reflecting so much light that it was giving Nikolai a faint headache, despite its beauty. Five people sat around a square dining table that was large enough to hold twelve people, handcrafted and made from premium wood, dark brown, and had carved elaborate swirls around the edges. Turning his vision away from the craftsmanship and back to his food, he stared at the plate in front of him, dread filling his body. The sooner he finished his dinner, the sooner he would be able to come up with a reasonable excuse to leave his father’s house early.
“Nikolai, would you like some more? Your plate is practically empty,” Julie asked. She reached for a bowl filled with wet, limp broccoli that was not steaming anymore like it had been when it was first placed on the dining table.
Hell no.
“No thanks, I’m already full,” he said with a smile that did not reach his eyes. This was most likely the last time he would have to attend a court-mandated visitation to his father since he was turning eighteen in September. A few months ago, Bell-Astor University, a prestigious school in America, where very wealthy and intelligent students study, accepted him. Some students who weren’t as fortunate were able to get in on a full-ride scholarship if they could pass the strict screening process. This was the case for Nikolai, who had an impeccable academic record. His father claimed that he wanted to celebrate his formidable achievement, as well as his other son Corbin’s admittance to a university in their state of Illinois to play football. Corbin’s high school football team had won their state championship, and his father was ecstatic. So much so that without prior context, one would have thought that he was the one who won the championship.
This was the first time in a while he had seen his father. The last time he had a court-mandated visit was about a couple of months ago after he won the gold medal at his high school's science competition. For the competition, Nikolai built a fuel cell that converted the energy in water into electricity. The device was beneficial to the environment and created no pollution. The project had taken him about a month to complete. He could remember the nights he had come home exhausted from his part-time job at a local diner, only to have to continue working on the fuel cell to complete it on time. His father wanted him to bring over his science project so that his extended family could see it. He had only known about the project and his win through an Instagram post from his uncle Noah. Throughout his visit, his father blabbered about how he had inherited his intellect from him. He also chose that moment to announce that his alpha son Corbin had received acceptance into university. As soon as that happened, the attention that was on the fuel cell pivoted to Corbin. He stood there clutching his project to his chest. He glued his eyes to the floor.
“Did you guys really have to announce that now?” Nikolai questioned when he and Corbin were alone, a deep frown on his face.
“Why the hell does it matter?” Corbin retorted, rolling his eyes.
“It matters because I was in the middle of showing everyone my project,” he snapped.
“I’ll show you that no one gives a fuck about your little project,” Corbin quipped. He then snatched Nikolai’s project right out of his hands, threw it onto the hardwood floor, and stomped on it, smashing the fuel cell into several pieces. Nikolai’s hands shook, and he breathed through his nose as he marched right up to his father and told him exactly what Corbin had done. All the while he ranted, the older man focused on texting someone. His father looked up at Nikolai, then back at the phone in his hands, and shrugged.
“What’d you do this time to piss him off?” he asked, eyes not returning to Nikolai as he continued typing.
“I didn’t do anything,” he stressed. His throat tightened and tears welled in his eyes. After a minute passed, his father’s eyes met Nikolai’s again.
“You’re still standing here…” he said, shaking his head and looking back at his phone, tapping away.
“Aren’t you going to do something about it?” Nikolai sniffled. His father let out a deep sigh.
“Fine,” he muttered, putting away his phone. He yanked at Nikolai’s arm and pulled the beta back into the living room where Corbin was lounging in a recliner, feet propped up and clicking away at the TV remote.
“You two are gonna go upstairs and apologize to each other. Now.” His father commanded, swatting at Corbin's feet and swiping the TV remote from his hands.
“But I didn’t do anything to him,” Nikolai complained. The tears were streaming down his face now.
“You had to have done something, Nikolai,” his father shot back.
“Why would I apologize to him?” Corbin grumbled, still staring at the TV screen.
“Corbin,” his father hissed. The living room filled with the smell of burning iron. His father was projecting his scent. Corbin’s body stilled, and he looked as if he were struggling with himself. Nikolai began to cough. He ran upstairs to Corbin’s bedroom, escaping the cloud of aggression. Corbin rushed up the stairs after him. As soon as they were alone in the bedroom, Corbin wasted no time in slapping Nikolai across the face with a powerful blow that left his cheek stinging and red. The sound of the blow echoed throughout the whole house. There was a brief pause in the chatter from the adults downstairs, and then it continued. He could hear a crescendo in the sound of the TV that was once humming in the background. With haste, more tears streamed down his face, and his breath became ragged. His hands were still shaking, but for a different reason now. Fighting back against the much bigger and stronger boy would be futile. At the time, all he could do was brace himself for what would come next.
Being in the same room as the two brought back memories he had buried within the depths of his consciousness. Memories he always refused to acknowledge. The truth was, Nikolai had few memories of his father. Halfway into his mother’s pregnancy, Nikolai’s father found his fated mate, Julie. Julie was a small, yet curvy omega with long platinum blonde hair and striking pale blue eyes. Of course, she was also beautiful, like most omegas were. She was the exact opposite of his beta mother Emily, who had fluffy dark brown hair, olive skin, and stood at an average height. She was thin and was of Korean descent. The moment his father had locked eyes with Julie at the grocery store of all places, his inner alpha surfaced, and he marked the woman right then and there. Most of the people around them couldn’t believe that he had found his mate so late. His father was thirty-four years old at the time; most alphas had found their mates right away after coming of age at eighteen years old. Many people had doubts he would get a fated mate. He had been with his mother since his high school years and had waited so long to even propose to her. It wasn’t until after his mother had told the alpha that she was pregnant that he chose to propose to her. He called off their engagement right after finding Julie. His mother had finally explained all this to him when he was fourteen years old, after years of him asking her why his father never wanted to see him, why he always had poor excuses for missed visitation days, and why his visits to his father had become more sporadic the older he got. It was not until Nikolai’s studious practices began to reward him that his father found time for him.
“I just don’t want you to hate him, Nicky,” his mother had told him in a soft voice with tears in her eyes. “Some things just happen this way, and it was probably not a good idea for me to stick with an alpha for so long anyway,” his mother said, defeated.
Nikolai’s father had met his mother in their ninth-grade chemistry class. The alpha was failing his course. His high school basketball coach had required him to get tutoring, or else he wouldn’t be able to continue on the team. His chemistry teacher had set him up for mandatory tutoring sessions with his mother, Emily, who was at the top of their class. The alpha would sit through his lessons, seething. After weeks of gentle encouragement from Emily, he began to see improved results in his grades, impressing his coach and keeping his position on the team.
What began as an isolated event became a repetitive cycle. The alpha would struggle with something, sometimes not even schoolwork, and would go to Emily for help, to which she was more than happy to always give him. They would spend so much time together that people assumed they were dating, to which his father would make quick work of denying. Throughout their freshman year, the alpha would have various flings with different omegas here and there. It was still unclear to Nikolai what shifted his father’s perspective on dating his mother. All that he knew was that the summer had passed, and the next school year began with his father and mother walking into the school building hand in hand.
The story of how the two began was analogous to their journey and their end. If his father was the sun, his mother was the planets, asteroids, and comets trapped in an inevitable, revolving cycle. During their college years, his father suffered a devastating injury to his leg in a car accident that prevented the alpha from ever playing basketball again. It was unfortunate that before the injury, the annual two-round NBA draft had selected him. The event caused the alpha so much turmoil that he dropped out of school. His mother, who was a biology major intending to go to medical school and become a doctor, dropped out as well, worried about the state of her long-term partner. His mother served the alpha with diligence, ensuring he went to his scheduled physical therapy appointments. She put the alpha on a strict meal plan that consisted of nutritious meals that would help the alpha heal faster. The alpha only grumbled or wept in despair throughout all this. His mother did not falter. After a while, the alpha was walking again, but with an awkward gait. She encouraged the alpha to finish his business degree, and he did. Over the years, he worked himself up into a high-ranking management position in a large corporation in America. Soon after that, he found Julie.
A soft voice calling his name interrupted him from his thoughts.
“Nicky, are you okay?” His eyes met warm brown ones. It was his Uncle Noah, who had joined them for dinner.
“Yes, I’m okay,” he assured, giving him a small smile.
Noah was a tiny male omega with curly brown hair and brown eyes. Many freckles covered his face that made it seem as if someone had taken a brown pen and poked at his skin for hours. Noah was the only family member on his father’s side of the family that he and his mother were still close with. In fact, Noah and his mother had been friends long before she had started dating his brother. The omega had never gotten married, as he had a very unpleasant experience with an alpha in high school that he didn’t ever want to talk about. Nikolai glanced at the peach-colored scent blocker that rested over Noah’s scent glands. He knew that there was a hideous bond mark underneath the blocker. One that was placed on the omega’s neck before he had even presented. One that had done irreversible damage to his biology as an omega. If it weren’t for the scent blocker, Noah’s permanently soured scent of apples would fill the whole room.
“Are you done packing yet? I can come over and help you finish if you want,” the omega offered with a warm smile.
“I haven’t finished packing, and I would really appreciate the help,” Nikolai replied.
“You might want to have Corbin help you bring your bags to the airport, Nikolai. I don’t want you to get hurt again like the last time you lifted something heavy,” his father butted in.
“I’ll be okay with Noah alone,” Nikolai retorted, his face growing red. His father was referencing the time he had to go on a camping trip with him, Corbin, and his wife, Julie. Nikolai was struggling to lug his bags up a steep hill, lost his footing, and slipped, tumbling down the hill.
Corbin snorted from across the table.
“Don’t be ridiculous, dude, we both know you can’t carry anything over forty pounds,” Corbin mocked.
“It was only a one-time thing,” Nikolai argued, his face even redder.
“Come on, Nikolai, this is probably the last time you and Corbin will see each other until Christmas; you ought to take this as an opportunity to spend more time with him,” his father stated. Nikolai glanced at the alpha, then nodded, looking back down at his food, which seemed to still be plentiful, no matter how many bites he forced down.
“Okay.” Arguing would be pointless. The alpha had already made up his mind.
Jack Carlington was his father’s name. He was a white alpha with brown curly hair and brown eyes, like Noah, but his lacked the warmth found in the omega’s eyes. He also had the same hundreds of freckles that stretched across his skin without end. He was tall, and his son Corbin was the same height, with blonde hair and brown eyes. They were the epitome of an alpha. Strong, and handsome, as most alphas were. They both looked as if they had walked out of a catalogue.
His father had transferred none of his genes to Nikolai. In fact, he was often told he was a boy version of his mother. He stood at 5’6”, quite small for a male beta. He had the same olive skin as his mother, the same monolids, and the same soft, fluffy dark brown hair that often fell into his eyes. He wore round glasses that Corbin often picked on him for, calling him Harry Potter. He taped the bridge of the glasses, which he had broken long ago, but he and his mother could not afford to replace them. His vision was so bad that he still couldn’t get twenty-twenty vision, even with his high prescription glasses, so he wore them all the time. He was also very thin with no muscle definition, which he figured was due to him studying so much that he would often forgo eating and miss his meals. He had inherited his mother’s last name, Song, since his father had left her before he was even born.
“It’s a shame Corbin didn’t get in too,” his father said, shaking his head and looking up at the other alpha, who did not meet his gaze. Corbin was looking down at his food with furrowed eyebrows as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. His jaw was clenching and then unclenching. His father continued, looking back toward Nikolai. “It would have been good to have an alpha there to look after you and protect you.”
“I can handle myself,” Nikolai shot back. He received another snort from Corbin.
“I appreciate your bravery, son, but you’ve gotta be careful with the alphas there, alright? Don’t go pissing them off. Stay out of their way, okay?” His father warned, looking Nikolai straight in the eyes.
“Alright,” he replied, looking back down at his food.
“Hopefully you’ll find another beta to settle down with there,” Julie said, smiling sweetly.
“Actually, I just wanna focus on my studies,” Nikolai said, his face turning the shade of a tomato.
“You never know what might happen, Nicky,” she chirped, her smile growing even wider as she looked at his blushing cheeks.
“Nikolai,” he corrected her.
“You let Noah call you Nicky, though,” she whined with a frown, staring at him. Nikolai did not meet her eyes.
“Anyways, I always knew you would be smart just like your father,” his father butted in. “My son’s going to the best school in the world; he’s gonna be learning from some of the best professors, can you believe it, Noah?” he bragged. Nikolai let out a breath he was holding.
“He’s really something special, alright,” Noah said. “Congratulations, Nicky,” Noah said. His eyes were soft as he smiled at the beta.
“Thank you,” Nikolai said, smiling back.
After thirty more minutes of painful, long, and awkward dinner conversations, Julie urged both Corbin and Nikolai into the family’s spacious living room. Nikolai pleaded that he needed to go home and pack, but she urged him inside, ignoring his requests.
“You two need to spend some quality time together before Nikolai has to leave. You probably won’t see him again until Christmas, Corbin,” Julie said. She then left them to join the rest of the adults back in the dining room. Nikolai stood in the entryway. Not knowing what else to do, he stared at his feet. He heard a cold voice speak up without warning.
“Bell-Astor, huh?” Corbin asked. Nikolai continued staring at his feet, not responding. When he finally looked up, Corbin was staring at him with a strange expression on his face. He was leaning against the wall, looking down at the beta with his chin jutted in the air. Nikolai did not know what to make of it.
“I wonder what glitch in the system allowed someone as mediocre as you to get accepted into the most prestigious school in America,” said Corbin, staring down at Nikolai from above his nose. Nikolai narrowed his eyes at the alpha.
“It wasn’t a glitch in the system,” he shot back. “I got accepted into Bell-Astor because I am intelligent enough.” It was no secret that Corbin had tried to get into the famous university as well, but he was rejected. His father was not pleased with this at all, like he usually was with his son. Nikolai did not know what the hell the alpha had expected. He spent most of his time playing football, partying, or stuffing his hands down some omega's pants. Nikolai had maintained a 4.0 GPA since elementary school. He was always participating in volunteer activities at his school and had gotten marvelous letters of recommendation. People had always known that he would be the most likely person out of their whole class to get accepted into an Ivy League; it was only a matter of which one he would choose.
“You’re not intelligent... You’re nothing,” Corbin fumed. “You got lucky. It’s the only proper explanation for it. Some sleepy admission counselor accidentally pressed accepted when reviewing your application. Or the system glitched. Either way it goes, no one could ever want anything to do with someone like you. Bell-Astor rarely accepts betas, especially dirt-poor betas. The school is mostly filled with alphas and omegas, and you could never compete with an alpha,” Corbin said, as if it were the truest thing in the world. He let out a long breath, as if he had been waiting the whole night to say that.
“Well, I got accepted over you, so clearly I can,” Nikolai said, his head held high. He had nothing further to say to the alpha if he was going to continue to berate him. He turned to leave the living room and had only taken a couple of steps when, in an instant, Corbin had him pinned against a wall, a crushing grip around his neck, and was growling.
“You think you’re better than me?” he questioned, projecting his scent of vinegar in powerful waves, so much so that Nikolai could not breathe. Nikolai began to gag and cough; he had always hated the alpha’s scent, even more than he hated his father's. “Know your place, beta,” he spat, tightening his grip around Nikolai’s throat. Nikolai hated the way Corbin had said beta. He had said it as if a beta was the most disgusting thing in the world, as if Nikolai was nothing but the dirt beneath his shoes.
Nikolai's lungs strained for air, his chest heaved, and his breath came in ragged gasps. He felt as if he would pass out from the sheer anxiety that was filling his body. Tears filled his eyes and cascaded down his face, which grew paler with each passing second, as Corbin stared down at him with an intense, domineering gaze.
The commotion had brought the adults back into the room, and they rushed to separate the pair.
“Get off him, Corbin, what the hell is wrong with you? Let go!” Noah shouted, pulling at the alpha's arms with no success.
“What the hell has gotten into you two? Stop it!” Julie whined, pulling at the alpha's arms. Tears were streaming down her face, and her scent of strawberries turned sour at the sight of the violence. His father rushed toward the smaller alpha and pulled him off Nikolai, who was now doubled over and coughing, a brutal red handprint on his throat.
His father’s scent of iron permeated the air, overpowering his son’s. He looked between the two boys, eyebrows furrowed and jaw clenched.
“Just what the hell is going on here?” he questioned. His voice was quiet, but it was riddled with so much power that Nikolai’s anxiety deepened.
“He challenged me again,” Corbin accused. All the attention in the room shifted toward Nikolai, who was finally recovering from the attack, standing up more, but his back was still not completely straight. He rubbed his throat with care and winced in pain. Noah was right next to him, tears in his eyes as he held the beta close, looking at Corbin with a frown on his face. His father looked between the two boys again and let out a deep sigh.
“Nikolai… We’ve been over this… What did you think would happen?” his father reprimanded, shaking his head.
“This is not my fault,” he whispered, his throat tightening and more tears cascading down his face. “He thinks I’m not good enough to get into Bell-Astor because I’m a beta,” Nikolai accused.
“You tried to rub the shit in my face when you knew how bad I wanted to get in!” Corbin shouted. His voice boomed across the living room, and he was still growling, his scent of vinegar spiking even further
“Boys,” his father called out, voice raised. “You’re both scaring the omegas in the room. You need to stop it. Now,” he demanded, holding onto Julie, who was sniffling into the alpha's chest.
The will to defend himself had left Nikolai’s body. His hands were shaking from the exposure to all the distressing scents. He needed to leave.
“Will you take me home, please?” he asked Noah, looking into the omega's eyes.
Noah nodded, holding his hand and reaching for both of their jackets, pulling his car keys out of his pocket. He wrapped Nikolai’s jacket over his shoulders and pulled the beta toward the doorway.
“You guys can’t just leave. These two need to make up,” Julie whined, her scent souring even further. “They can’t just leave each other like this; they won’t see each other again until Christmas and—"
“He’s had enough, Julie. I’m taking him home now,” Noah asserted, looking at the family with a deep frown.
“Let them go, Julie,” his father said to the omega, who only whined and pleaded further to no avail.
They exited the large three-story house, and Noah guided the beta down his father's long bricked driveway to his car parked at the end. Gentle hands buckled his seat belt as he sat down in the passenger seat. On the way home, they traveled from Kenilworth down a route that stretched south of Lake Michigan. The houses he saw grew smaller and less grand as they got closer to Chicago. When they reached the west side of the city, they saw shabby houses with overgrown weeds and buildings littered with graffiti. The corner shops were lively, with people standing outside the old-fashioned gated doors, chattering in an animated fashion. His mother was still at work. He wished she were here right now. He reached for Noah’s hand and squeezed it. The omega squeezed his hand back, and he felt his emotions begin to steady.
“We’re almost there, Nicky,” he called out with a gentle voice.
When they made it to his apartment building, they emerged from the car and stepped onto the parking lot that had grass growing out of the cracks in the pavement. An assortment of fast-food wrappers, bubblegum, glass bottles, and soda cans littered the parking lot. He noticed a pair of thongs near the passenger side of the car that he did not want to ponder how they got there. He and his mother lived in a large red-brick apartment building on the west side of the city. The building had twelve floors and was quite dilapidated. Nikolai pulled his jacket closer to his body as the bitter wind blew against him and mentally prepared himself to walk up the long, winding staircase to his small two-bedroom unit on the eleventh floor. The light to the entrance of the building was flickering, and a group of rugged-looking alphas was sitting on the front steps of the building, smoking, drinking alcohol, and playing loud vulgar music, the bass causing the lingering anxiety riddled through Nikolai to peak. Nikolai stepped on the fragment of a glass bottle, and the sound of the glass shattering echoed in many directions, capturing the attention of the boisterous alphas toward him and Noah. Their gazes lingered on the tiny omega, who looked anywhere but at the alphas. Noah’s hands shook as he held on tight to Nikolai.
“Stay behind me, okay?” Nikolai whispered, to which Noah gave him a small nod in return. He pulled the omega behind him, holding his hand, and made his way toward the entryway.
“How y’all doing tonight?” one of the men asked, a lopsided grin on his face as he puffed at a joint. He didn’t look at Nikolai, but instead his eyes locked onto Noah, who was close behind him. His gaze moved up and down the omega’s body, taking its time to explore every detail. He smelled of marijuana, and it took everything in Nikolai not to scrunch his nose at the odor.
“Good,” Nikolai gave a short reply and made his way past them. He buzzed in the front door's code and pulled Noah in front of him to enter the building first, making sure to close the heavy lobby door behind them. There was a bright yellow wet floor sign situated in the middle of the lobby, and the air smelled of disinfectant. A maintenance man was making his way towards them from the janitor's closet, carrying several bottles of cleaning supplies. As they got closer, Nikolai realized it was Joe. Joe was a tall, older, friendly alpha with dark brown skin and graying black hair. He smiled at the beta and omega when he saw them.
“Hey Nikolai, Noah, what’s going on?” the alpha greeted.
“Hi Joe. How are you?” Nikolai greeted back, smiling.
“Ah, I’ve been better,” the alpha said, chuckling and waving his hand.
“I still can't get the vent on the fourth floor to-” One moment the alpha was walking towards them, engaged in lively conversation, and the next he slipped, falling to the floor on his bottom, letting out an awkward shout and dropping all the cleaning products in his arms.
“Damn it,” the alpha muttered, scrambling to pick up his supplies. Nikolai and Noah bent down to help him gather the supplies.
“Thanks, guys,” he said, smiling up at the two and getting back to his feet. “Anyways, like I was saying, I still can’t get the vent on the fourth floor to work; can you believe that shit?” he muttered, shaking his head. “The boss is gonna kill me. I don’t know what I’m gonna do without this job—" He stopped speaking, and his eyes narrowed as he focused on the entrance of the lobby, where the alphas lingered in front of the doors. “Fuck! Those bastards are out there again? I thought I told them to stop coming over here,” he fussed, rushing toward the front doors.
“Joe, be careful!” Nikolai shouted after him. The alpha slid toward the front doors, but did not lose his footing. He spun around and looked back at Nikolai and Noah, as if he had remembered something.
“Guys, be careful going up to the eighth floor; there’s a bad leak above the stairway,” the alpha called out, turning back to the glass doors of the lobby and shoving them wide open.
“Y’all need to get off this property; you don’t live here!” the alpha yelled, exiting the building. Nikolai sighed and grabbed Noah’s hand again, pulling him towards the stairwell. They walked past the elevator that had an ‘OUT OF ORDER’ sign posted on the door that had been there ever since Nikolai could remember and made their way up the winding stairway towards the eleventh floor. As they ascended, they heard the sounds of several couples arguing, babies crying, and the shrill laughter of teenagers. It all faded into white noise as Nikolai pushed forward up the stairs, making sure to pull Noah closer to him when they passed an alpha who stared at him for too long. When they reached the third floor, there was a tall, blonde alpha leaning against the rails, applying mascara. She wore a short black skirt with heeled thigh-high boots and a red crop top that left little to the imagination. She looked up from her small handheld mirror at Nikolai and gave him a sultry smile.
“Hey Nicky boy,” she greeted, her scent of roses growing sweeter.
“Dina,” Nikolai replied with a curt tone, giving her a small nod as he hurried past her with Noah. Dina was a year older than him and was one of the alphas that lived in his building who made it no secret that she liked Nikolai. Anytime the beta went to get the mail downstairs in the lobby, the alpha was always leaning against his mailbox, teasing him, and saying that she wouldn’t let him through unless he gave her a kiss.
“Say Nicky, if you see June around tell her I’m looking for her; that bitch still owes me fifty dollars,” she called after him, her eyes never leaving the beta.
“Will do, Dina,” Nikolai responded, continuing up the stairway with Noah.
They had only made it about halfway up when Nikolai noticed a small child sitting on the stairs right where the hall opened up to floor six. She held her chin in her hands with her elbows resting on her knees and was staring at her feet. It was Marisol, a nine-year-old whom Nikolai was familiar with. He often found the girl roaming around the apartment building at various times of the day.
“What are you still doing out here? It’s getting late, Marisol,” Nikolai said, crouching down to the girl's level. She had tanned skin and soft dark brown hair, split into two pigtails. She wore denim overalls that were too large for her, and her pink tennis shoes had various scuff marks on them. Nikolai had always seen her in those shoes since her family moved in about three years ago. When he’d first seen the shoes, they were quite big on her small feet, but now she had grown into them. She was clutching the same teddy bear that Nikolai had bought her two years ago, on her birthday, after she had told him her family couldn’t afford to get her something.
“I don’t want to go home,” she stated, eyes still on her feet.
“Why? Is your dad still there?” Nikolai asked. The child shrugged her shoulders.
“He came home a couple of hours ago, but I haven’t checked again,” she said, looking up at the beta, finally. “I’m waiting for Danny to come home from work,” she said. Daniel was her brother, who was two years younger than Nikolai. He had recently started working his first part-time job at a market nearby, and Nikolai knew the boy wouldn’t be back until later that night, as he often tried to scrape together as many hours as he could.
“Let’s go see if it’s just Mom at home, alright?” Noah offered, smiling down at the small child who nodded her head, grabbed the omega's hand, and led them down the hallway to unit 68. Nikolai knocked on the door of the unit.
“Oh, for the love of God, go away, Bobby!” a shrill voice cried.
“Mrs. Sanchez, it’s me, Nicky. Are you okay?” he called out. Some brief shuffling sounded from inside the apartment, and the door finally opened to reveal a small woman with tanned skin, who had the disposition of a small frightened animal. Her wide eyes darted from Nikolai to Noah, then down to her daughter Marisol, who went and hugged the woman's legs. She was an omega, and her scent of honeysuckle had a lingering sourness that seemed to be fading; her bottom lip swelled and burst, and her right eye bruised black.
“Mija, I thought I told you to hide in the laundry room until I came and got you,” the woman reproved, patting the child's head.
“I assume he’s left already?” Nikolai asked. The woman nodded and smiled up at him.
“Thanks for taking care of her, Nicky,” she said, wiping at her lip that was still bleeding. Nikolai felt his heart sink to his stomach. He opened his mouth, then closed it again, and then sighed.
“Just… Let me know if there’s anything else I can do to help,” he said, knowing the woman would decline, like she usually did. She embraced the beta, patting at his cheek, and gave a small nod and smile to Noah, who smiled back at her. The mother and the little girl gave them goodbyes and shut their front door. They could hear the turns of their locks, though the buzzing light fixtures above them muffled the sound. Nikolai and Noah turned back towards the staircase at the end of the hall and continued up the twisting stairway. They were now approaching the eighth floor. Nikolai could hear raucous laughter as he and Noah made it up to the eighth floor. The leak that Joe had warned them about was there, but there was also a group of older teenagers hanging out on the stairs. Two tall alphas had a small, young beta in their arms, and they were forcing the beta’s head back, pulling at his hair, and pointing his mouth in the direction of the leak.
“Come on, there we go, drink up little one,” one of the alphas cooed. The other laughed, watching the beta cry and plead for them to let him go. Nikolai recognized the two horrid alphas. If they’re here, then… His eyes shot to the stairway. Sure enough, Devon, a tall brown-skinned alpha with cold dark brown eyes and his hair cut into a bald fade, was sitting slouched against the steps, one omega in his lap and the other hanging off his shoulder, leaving heavy kisses on his neck. They were all laughing at the sight in front of them, and the beta was still pleading for them to let him go. The alpha sniffed the air with sudden intensity, and his eyes darted to Nikolai. He had a predatory look in his eyes, as if he had zeroed in on his next prey. Nikolai shivered.
“Hey Nicky Wicky, still ain’t got an alpha yet?” He teased, a smirk growing on his face. He looked the beta up and down, as if he were his next meal. His eyes landed on the bruise on his neck that Corbin had left.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk,” he said, smacking his teeth. “See now, if I were your alpha, I’d leave a different kind of mark on your neck, if you know what I mean,” the alpha teased in a seductive tone. Nikolai could feel Julie's dinner turning in his stomach.
“Gross,” he spat out, pulling Noah closer behind him. The alpha threw his head back, chuckling.
“When you gonna stop running from me, huh?” he questioned, running his tongue against his bottom lip, eyes never leaving Nikolai, who did not want to continue the conversation. He made his way toward a small gap in the stairway, pulling Noah with him, but Devon stretched his legs out in his way, feigning a yawn and stretching his arms out as well.
“Move,” Nikolai demanded. His voice was firm, but it was a facade. There was nothing he could do to protect himself against the taller and much stronger alpha.
“What do I get in return?” the alpha teased, smirking up at Nikolai from his seat.
“Move the hell out of his way!” Nikolai turned around and saw Joe hurrying toward the group with a bucket in his hand.
“And you two, let that boy go now! I know your mothers; I’ll report you to the leasing office!” Joe threatened, his voice growing louder as he went toward the alphas, who were quick to let go of the beta.
“Geez, Joe, chill out; we were just playing,” the alpha said, getting up from his seat.
“Go play somewhere else, not in my building,” Joe huffed. Devon rolled his eyes and brushed past Nikolai, heading down the steps.
“See ya around, Nicky,” he winked, continuing down the steps, his pack following after him.
“Jesus Christ, I can’t stand that fucking kid... you alright, son?” Joe asked, crouching down to the beta’s level, who was now sniffling. “I’ll take him back to his unit; you two please get home safe, alright?” Joe called out to them, guiding the beta down the stairs.
“Alright, Joe,” Nikolai replied, holding Noah close to him and proceeding up the stairway.
After a while, they’d finally reached the eleventh floor. The lights in the hallway flickered as they made their way down the hall to Unit 105, his apartment. Nikolai nudged Noah forward into the unit first, then walked in after him, shutting the door behind him and making sure to turn the lock on the doorknob and the deadbolt. He couldn’t use the door chain, as the lock for it had been broken when the previous tenant lived there. The building had never bothered to replace it. The apartment was small but cozy. The unit smelled of marshmallows, the scent of his mother, and his own scent of tonka bean. The front door opened to a small living room next to a kitchen that featured light brown cabinets and white countertops resembling granite but laminated with peel and stick. The floor had standard white tiles. Noah took off his jacket, hanging it on the coat rack near the door, and made his way to the kitchen, pulling ingredients out of the fridge and cabinets. Nikolai took off his jacket, hanging it on the coat rack as well. He walked towards the small hallway that led out of the kitchen and made his way past the first bedroom, his mother's, and towards his own. His bedroom was tiny and had a twin-sized bed on one wall, a small bookshelf on the other with his desk, and the window right above it. His closet was next to the door, which he made his way to. He pulled out a large t-shirt and some small comfortable shorts, making his way to the bathroom for a quick shower.
He emerged from the bathroom, water droplets dripping from his hair that he tried to soak up with a towel as he made his way back to the kitchen, which now smelled of buttery rolls. He sat on a stool at the island and watched Noah work.
“What are you making?” he asked.
“Chicken noodle soup,” he replied, turning to the beta. “I know you couldn’t eat any of that bullshit Julie made,” he added, a small smile on his face. Nikolai let out a soft chuckle, standing up and making his way into the kitchen to help Noah finish the food. They’d set a container of it inside the refrigerator for his mother when she got home from work and sat at the small table in the corner of the kitchen, munching away at their food.
“I don’t know how I’m gonna manage being away from you guys for four months,” Nikolai said, looking up at the omega from his bowl.
“We’ll come visit you for your birthday,” Noah replied, meeting the beta's eyes. “And your mother and I will call you every night, all right? You can do this, Nicky; you worked so hard for this,” Noah reassured, holding the beta's hand in his smaller one.
Although Nikolai felt joy at receiving an opportunity that few other betas received, the thought of separation from his mother and Noah burdened him. They were all he had. The beta was a recluse and didn’t make friends easily. He often worried that he was too boring for other people. How the hell was he supposed to connect with a bunch of rich kids, anyway?
The front door opening interrupted his thoughts. The scent of marshmallows wafted his way. Mom. The small beta hung her coat on the rack and looked their way.
“You guys are back early,” she noted, glancing at the clock on the stove. It was only 8:30 P.M. They usually would have been back by 10:00 P.M.
“We had to leave early, long story,” Nikolai gave a curt reply. “You should have called me when you made it; I would have walked you upstairs. Those alphas are hanging out at the front door again,” Nikolai chided, pulling his mother into a hug. She smiled at the other beta, hugging him back.
“I’m fine, Nicky; they left me alone. Did you guys make it in okay? No one gave you trouble, right?” she asked, walking toward the fridge.
“We were fine; there’s a Tupperware of soup inside for you. I’ll have to heat it up,” Noah said, getting up from his seat.
“It’s okay babe, I got it,” his mother smiled, looking up at the omega. “I’m so tired tonight guys. The hospital's been putting me through the wringer,” she mumbled, yawning. His mother worked as a CNA, doing long twelve-hour shifts. “Did you guys finish packing? You know we have to be at the airport at six in the morning,” she reminded, putting the container into the microwave and reaching for one of the rolls Noah made.
“I’m almost done; I just gotta pack my clothes up,” Nikolai informed.
“Well, we better get to it then and try to get what sleep we can before we have to—" She stopped speaking mid-sentence and was staring at the searing red handprint on Nikolai’s throat. His eyes followed hers, and he was quick to try to explain it away.
“Mom-” He couldn’t get another word out. His mother was in front of him in an instant, pulling his head to the side to inspect the injury.
“Who did this? Was it Corbin again? Fuck! I knew I shouldn’t have let you go over there; this is all my fault. I knew I shouldn’t have-”
“Mom, it’s okay, I’m okay,” Nikolai reassured her, grabbing at her hands that were holding his neck. He brought them to his chest. “It was a visit mandated by the court; you know we couldn’t have gotten out of it. Besides, I’ll be turning eighteen in September; we’ll be done with both of them then, and he won’t be able to do a thing about it,” Nikolai said, looking at his mother, who had tears welling in her eyes.
“I don’t know where I ever went wrong with the man,” she sniffled, looking down. “I mean I, I just never imagined he would treat his own son this way. I don’t care what he did to me, but… not my son-” She hiccuped. Her face scrunched up with raw emotion as she cried.
“We can’t control Jack’s actions, Emily,” Noah said, pulling the beta into a warm embrace.
“Mom…” Nikolai said, looking into her eyes and wiping at the tears that streamed down her face. “This isn’t your fault. I would never blame you for what he and his son do to me,” he pleaded, brushing her disheveled hair out of her face.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t have given you better, I-” Her voice choked up, and her body racked with heavy sobs. Nikolai joined their embrace, hands combing through the beta's soft hair as she wept. They stood like that for what felt like a while before she finally calmed down. Nikolai pulled her into a seat at the dining table.
“You need to eat; you’re probably starving; you’ve been at work all day,” he urged. They finished their dinner silently.
Afterward, Nikolai went into his bedroom to finish packing the last suitcase of his clothing, his new laptop that he had saved all summer for, and the jewelry box gifted to him by his great-grandmother, who still resided in Korea, adorned with Najeonchilgi craftsmanship. He ran his fingers over the delicate abalone shells and the iridescent mother-of-pearl inlays that rested on the small box. He was careful to wrap the box in many sheets of paper that would protect it during his travels.
Noah and his mother cleaned the kitchen, showered, and got ready for bed. The omega decided to make a nest on the air mattress they kept in the living room closet for whenever he came over to visit, which was quite often. He even had some of his own clothing in his mother's closet. The omega grabbed some of their clothes that still had their scent clinging to them. He also grabbed some of their blankets and pillows, and piled them onto the air mattress, assiduous in his work as he moved around the nest. They kept a small night light on in the living room whenever Noah came over, as he couldn’t sleep without it. They all snuggled into the bedding, Nikolai in the middle with Noah, and his mother on the sides of him. He looked down at the omega's neck. The scent blocker was still there.
“You know we don’t care if you take it off, Noah,” he commented, lifting at the edges of the blocker. The omega let him pull the blocker off completely. The bond mark was a grotesque thing. The scent glands were completely ripped and had healed in an awkward way, leaving a jagged texture to his flesh that was an ombre of mulberry and crimson. The glands had looked as though fangs had pierced them many times over. The aroma of soured apples overtook the room in swift pulses. Most people would have found the scent discomforting, but Nikolai found himself nuzzling against the omega's scent glands. He yawned and pulled both his mother and uncle closer to him, sleep overtaking him as he rested in the therapeutic ambiance of marshmallow, tonka bean, and soured apples.
…
Dark rain clouds hid the first rays of sunlight, leaving the sky in a cobalt hue. The wind was wild, and droplets from the sky pelted them as they made their way to Noah’s car, draped in raincoats, each lugging a suitcase behind them, their feet sloshing against the puddles on the ground. It was only five in the morning, and most of the residents of their building were deep asleep, but Nikolai, his mother, and Noah were wide awake, dressed, fed, and already making their way to the airport.
“Are you sure that’s everything?” Noah asked Nikolai. The beta grabbed the suitcase from him and lifted it into the trunk of the car with great difficulty; his breath was heavy as his muscles worked.
“Yeah, that’s it,” he replied, shutting the door of the trunk. They filed into the vehicle, and Noah was quick to turn the heat on. Nikolai closed his eyes, resting his head against his seat as he felt the warmth of the heat close in around him. The drive was silent, with the radio humming in the background. Leaving early had made the drive quicker. Then, something occurred to him. He pulled out his phone and scrolled through his contact list. He blocked and deleted his father’s phone number - he had no use for it now. His heart grew heavier the closer they got to the airport. He tried to remind himself that he would be an adult soon and couldn’t cling to his family forever. When they made it to the airport, it was busy and bustling, an unwelcome contrast to their commute. They waited for Nikolai’s flight. His head was resting on his mother’s shoulder, and he was squeezing Noah’s hand in his. After a while, a monotonous voice announced his flight over the airport's intercom, and the trio stood up, clinging to each other.
“Don’t forget to call us when you land and get settled, okay?” his mother said, brushing her hand against his cheek.
“Alright,” he said, holding on to Noah and his mother's hands.
“Oh!” Noah exclaimed, digging through his pocket. He pulled out three small charm bracelets, handing one to Nikolai and his mother. “I made this for you guys; I wanted you to have something from me to take with you,” he said, pulling the bracelet onto Nikolai’s wrist. The bracelet was gold and gleamed under the overhead lights of the airport, complementing the warmth of his olive skin. It had three letters on it: N, E, and N. It was also adorned with intricate gold carvings of flowers and hearts.
“God, you’re so adorable,” Nikolai cooed, his voice soft and filled with emotion as he pulled the omega into another embrace and kissed his mother on the cheek.
“We love you,” his mother said, looking up at the beta and wiping his eyes, which were now filled with tears.
“I love you guys too,” he whispered, his voice cracking.
His flight arrived, and he gave them both one last hug, knowing that he wouldn’t see them again for another month, the longest he had ever been separated from the two. Nikolai boarded his plane, and before he knew it, he was on his way to San Francisco, California.