Chapter Text
The 1st time.
Pete wasn’t used to the whole ‘omega’ type thing he’d heard so much about. He didn’t prescribe to that way of thinking. The boxes people put themselves in.
He was a late bloomer. Only having presented just two days after the seal on the demon was broken. Fei had said the seal must’ve suppressed it. It was a shock to himself. Not that he was an omega but more so that he wasn’t a beta.
While others might be put off by someone like him being an omega—he didn’t care.
Though he had wondered why it took so long. It was only until recently that it might have been because of the demon residing inside of him. While demons didn’t have the casting system of alpha, beta, and omega… most people agreed that demons genuinely favored inhabitanting alphas.
More so because of their usual aggressive behavior.
What luck that Pete’s body was somehow able to handle the demon deep inside of him.
In any case, the only major thing that changed was that Niran seemed more ‘tsundere’ like when it came to Pete. Though Pete was confused on why.
Sure he now had a sweet scent that came off him—a scent Thua, Tao, and Jack really liked for some reason—but he was still the same guy. Or at least he hoped so.
Tong had to teach Pete somethings. Nothing really stuck. Except the need to wear scent patches and birth control. Safe sex… yea yeah. Pete remembered vaguely listening to the scribe speaking to him. But honestly everything went through one ear and out the other.
Going through a second puberty at the ripe age of 24 was a little embarrassing. Sue him that he didn’t pay attention.
It was fine. Everything was going to be normal so he didn’t understand why everyone was up in arms about it. The demon inside him was relatively under his control. His soul was still bound to Niran.
Everything was fine.
Except Niran was an alpha. And that… was an issue for some reason?
“You might start feeling weird around him,” Tong had said, a slight frown on his lips. “It’s normal. But he might be a little uncomfortable with you now as well… alphas act strange sometimes, especially around unmated omegas.”
Pete had raised an eyebrow. Why did him being unmated matter? Wasn’t he and Niran already bound together by soul? Didn’t that essentially make them mates? Or something like that.
He wasn’t sure. Anyway he tuned Tong out after a few more sentences.
That was about a week ago. Everything was mostly fine now. Thua, Tao, and Jack were more cuddly than normal. But it apparently meant the three had marked him as a pack omega. Tao was a beta while Jack and Thua were alphas.
They were so attached it had gotten to the point where Pete couldn’t stand or sit by himself for too long before one of them was attached to his hip. Shamelessly sniffing his scent gland or nuzzling into his neck.
It didn’t bother Pete. It only reminded him of how he used to act with his mom and dad when he was still a pup. Even as a beta he was still able to faintly smell his parents. He just assumed the boys genuinely enjoyed his scent and felt comforted by it.
At least this meant they weren’t hanging out by the casinos or bars anymore. Now they basically stayed at Pete’s home for a long period of time. Even occasionally sleeping over. Though Niran would always seem incredibly angry or uncomfortable whenever the boys overstayed their welcome.
So Pete would only allow them to stay every other week.
He assumed alphas were just overly territorial of their homes.
“It’s not even his house…” Jack had once pouted.
“Yea,” Thua chimed in. “I don’t even know why you didn’t get angry about him buying your house.”
“Yea, P’Pete!” Tao frowned.
Pete only gave them a smile. “It’s fine. I’ll buy it back from him once I have the money.” Though he could see the unimpressed look in the boys’ eyes.
“An unmated alpha and omega shouldn’t even be rooming together.” Tao huffed.
“Huh? What do you mean?”
The boys all stared at him. Blinking at him in unison. Pete wondered if they shared the same brain cell. Anyway this revelation caused Pete to have another sit down talk with Tong but this time Niran was there as well.
“It’s not that you two can’t live together.” Tong had said, pressing his hands together. “It’s just… better if you two didn’t share a room together. More… uh, privacy!”
Pete crossed his arms against his chest. “I don’t mind sharing.” He tilted his head. “We’ve been sharing for a while now—why does it matter now?”
“Well… you’re an omega now, Pete.”
“Okay.” Pete shrugged. He glanced over at Niran who was only staring straight ahead at Tong. “Niran would never hurt me. Or anything like that. It’s fine.”
“Ah—”
Nothing ended up happening after that. So Pete just assumed everything was fine. A couple of days passed and Pete entered their shared bedroom, shirtless and dripping wet after his shower. He lazily rubbed his hair, yawning to himself.
A loud cough caught his attention. He glanced over to see Niran glaring at him. The alpha was still in his regular clothes. Even still wearing his scent blocker on his neck. Pete wondered why Niran seemed so insistent about that. No one else in the ‘pack’ did it.
They wore it when outside simply because it was common courtesy but whenever they visited the house—everyone freely spread their scent around. It never bothered Pete. Made the house more lively and lived in.
He wanted to smell Niran in the house as well but was still a little nervous in asking for that.
“Mhm?” Pete hummed. He plopped down on his bed, pushing away his bedsheets to find his pajama shirt. “What’s wrong?”
Niran clenched his jaw. His nostrils briefly flared before he quickly looked away. “Maybe Tong was right…”
“Right about what?”
“Us sharing a room.”
“Aow, what’s with the sudden change in attitude?” Pete felt his lips pull into a frown. He stopped putting his shirt on, leaving himself shirtless.
“It’s not the end of…” Niran looked back at Pete but his voice trailed off. His gaze flickering down to Pete’s chest. Pete blinked, wondering what Niran could possibly be staring at. “The world.” Niran suddenly finished his sentence.
“Hm. But why change your mind? We’re getting along well.”
“It’s not about that.”
“Then what’s wrong?”
Niran groaned. He looked to be getting frustrated by the minute but Pete wasn’t sure why.
Pete leaned forward, glancing up at Niran. He watched the alpha pace around the room for a second before he stopped in his tracks. Unbeknownst to Pete—he had begun subconsciously releasing his pheromones to calm Niran down.
He was still a novice to controlling his pheromones. He still wasn’t able to even really detect them right now. Having to only go off based on what others told him. Everyone so far had said his pheromones had a sweet, tangy smell to it.
“Niran.” Pete said, catching the alpha’s attention. His gaze was soft, eyes looking up at Niran who was now standing in front of him. “Can’t you just stay with me? For now at least.”
“Uh—” Niran let out a strangled grunt.
“Please? I got used to you sleeping with me,” his words earned a sharp inhale from Niran. “I don’t want to be alone… at least not right now. Besides, you haven’t given me a real reason… So until you can, stay in here, okay?” Pete grinned.
The air was silent.
Niran blinked. Once, twice. His body frozen in place as he parted his lips to speak but nothing came out. Pete tilted his head slightly. He wondered if what he said was too much. A frown pulled on his lips as batted his eyelashes (unintentionally really).
“Fine—”
“—I’ll stay.”
The two stared at each other. Niran looked almost shocked at his own words. Eyes wide. It reminded Pete of a puppy. Pete giggled. Moments like these reminded Pete that Niran could be cute too sometimes.
“Good. Now go take a shower. I’m heading to bed.” Pete finally pulled his shirt on, drying off his hair fully as he got ready for bed. He turned his back to Niran—unable to see the alpha look as if he was about to pass out in any minute.
Pete was going to kill him.