Planning
Not much was known about Omegas these days – their existence considered more of a fantasy than anything else nowadays. Only the stories carried by those who’d lived before the outbreak and the decrepit biology books that clung to abandoned shelves acted as the sole evidence of their existence.
History had never been kind towards Omegas – always forcing them to struggle against voting rights and prejudice, fighting against out-dated stereotypes and perverted eyes – and that little piece of history seemed to continue to repeat itself even after the world fell apart.
Not much was known about how the Cordyceps became the downfall of civilization, but one simple fact was that those infected were, for some inane reason, enraptured by an Omega’s scent; flocking towards even the slightest waft of an Omega, not unlike flies to left out fruit.
By now, it was unanimously assumed that all Omega’s were extinct. Many being killed or left to die by others due to the unsavoury fact that being near an Omega was more than likely to end up with you being killed by swarming infected.
Hence why Joel had thought Maria had either lost her sense of smell or was just pulling his leg when she was going on about having found an Omega. Particularly, an Omega in heat.
So yes, Joel hadn’t particularly believed Maria that an Omega was found on patrol. But Ellie’s name had popped up as one of the ones who’d found the straggler, and Joel took the opportunity to check on the girl who’d been stubbornly avoiding him like the plague.
Tears streaked down freckled cheeks, breathing laboured as if she were drowning, hands shaking and eyes ablaze despite their wetness. But there was no anger there, no hatred, only hurt and betrayal that haunted her features.
Joel’s breath hitched as he stumbled, ignoring the look Maria threw at him over her shoulder. Swallowing down the bile that crawled up his throat, Joel pushed the guilt aside as he dispelled the thoughts. This was his fault, and he knew it. There was no blame for Joel to give, for the blame would forever rest solely on his own shoulders. It’s been over a year now, and every attempt Joel has made towards reconciliation has been thrown out the window. Ellie didn’t want to hear it, didn’t want to listen or see him. To Ellie, Joel was her past; an irrelevant relic in the present. And Joel knew he would be unwelcomed in this visit, but he couldn’t help but need to check for himself that his baby girl was unharmed.
“You ok?”
Joel paused, looking up at Maria who’d led them straight to her own house. He frowned, not having noticed they’d detoured from the medical bay in his musings.
“Tommy didn’t want to risk exposing her to the Alpha’s at the infirmary,” Maria answered the silent question in his eyes.
Joel frowned, suddenly feeling uneasy as he remembered why he was here in the first place. The reality of a surviving Omega sounded so far-fetched, even to Joel’s ears, it should be impossible… But then again, so should Ellie’s immunity.
Maria opened the front door and slipped inside, not bothering to hold it open for Joel. And she thinks I’m the one with shitty manners—
Joel came to an abrupt halt as Maria disappeared behind the bend that led to their dining room, quickly switching to breathing through his mouth as he tried to ignore the cloying scent that hung in the air. It smelt… familiar but Joel tried not to dwell on it. He could feel the urge to mate crawl into the back of his mind, he tried his best to ignore it, not used to needing to restrain his instincts so heavily anymore.
Yeah, definitely an Omega, Joel mused as he walked forward, clamping down on his pheromones that tried to reach out and respond to the sweet scent of heat. He knew that gesture would likely cause offence, many Omega’s found it rude when an Alpha they were unfamiliar with tried to appeal to their Omega by forcing their scent upon them.
“Is this her?” Joel asked as he turned the corner, announcing his presence to the group. His eyes immediately latched onto yours and he felt himself freeze as the full force of your scent smacked him right in the face. Lemongrass and lavender filled the room, so heavy Joel could taste it. It was something innately homely, deceptively familiar and Joel felt himself flush in response to the Omega watching him warily. Meeting her eyes was like flicking on a switch and Joel had to wrangle down the unwelcomed growl that tried to escape his throat at you being surrounded by so many people, so many other alphas.
“Well that explains why Ellie had no reaction!” Tommy announced loudly, looking far too smug for Joel’s liking.
“What?” Ellie piped up, confused over what Tommy was trying to insinuate.
“Cause they’re compatible!” Tommy sing-songed obnoxiously.
Joel wished he had the headspace to punch his brother, but his shoulders stiffened further, hunching up towards his ears, as your scent doubled and a hint of citrus clung to it. Joel’s eyes inadvertently flicked downwards to the growing pool of slick staining your jeans and the wooden table. You let out a frustrated sound as you flopped back onto the table as Joel tried to ignore the stirring of his groin as his skin crawled with the need to touch, to taste, to mate.
Joel fought with himself to continue breathing through his mouth, trying to limit his intake of that tantalising scent of yours. Shit, shit, shit, shit! This was never on the cards for Joel, he had more than enough weaknesses nipping at his heels with his found family being an attachment that could kill Joel if used against him.
The last thing he needed was you.
Dina watched you carefully as you squeezed your eyes shut. It wasn’t long after that, that your sweet smell seemed to double ten-fold and every person in the room froze. Dina’s brows furrowed as she watched you whilst the others bickered over what to do with you.
You seemed unaware of Dina’s gaze, your features slowly smoothing out as you gazed up at the ceiling. If Dina’s didn’t know any better she would say you looked relaxed, but she could tell you were going into shock, your eyes glassy with panic and your breathing slowly starting to pick up.
She didn’t know much about anything when it came to Omegas and whether this was you perhaps entering your second ‘heat wave’, but your scent was starting to tinge bitter and your hands had begun trembling. The Beta reached her hand out to grasp your shoulder in reassurance, only for you to wretch yourself away with a frightful gasp the moment her fingers brushed your skin.
“Watch out!” Ellie shouted and went to reach out to try and catch you as you toppled over and off the table. The Alpha stepped forward to help you up only for you to shoot up and clamber your way across the wooden flooring until a wall stopped you from moving any further.
Your scent developed a bitter undertone, highlighting the fear etched into your face as the room suddenly seemed to be engulfed in the smell of burnt ginger. Your eyes darted wildly around the room, unfocused yet alert, hands shaking and chest heaving as you tried to push yourself further into the wall, as if willing yourself to fade through it.
“What’s wrong with her?” Dina asked as she worried her bottom lip, hesitant to move when you were so obviously distressed.
“How far into her heat is she?” Joel turned to Tommy expectantly.
“Apparently she told the girls this would be her second wave,” Tommy shrugged.
“What!?” Joel snapped back, brow furrowing in disbelief.
“What’s wrong with her…?” Ellie didn’t look at Joel, not wanting to, but her skin was crawling with the need to help the Omega who’s scent seemed to be reaching out to her for help.
“It’s unnatural for her second wave to be so strong…” Joel murmured, sparing Ellie a concerned glance. He sighed as he made his way to you, earning a low warning growl as you tried to wriggle further into the corner.
Joel watched you carefully as he very silently made his way over before extending his wrist to the Omega and letting off some calming pheromones. Joel tried to ignore the way your scents mingled together perfectly, and willed his Alpha to calm.
Your shoulders relaxed slightly and you leaned forward towards the scent gland on his wrist, Joel idly wondered if you were going to scent him. Your (e/c) eyes found Joel’s and before he knew it you had ripped into the skin of his wrist, blood quickly oozing from the new wound and dripping onto the wooden floor.
“Fuck!” Joel hissed in pain but fought off the urge to retract his arm, fingers twitching with the restraint. He watched as every muscle in your body coiled tightly, ready to flee at a moment’s notice as you watched him wearily, blood dripping down your chin. The brunette realised then, that this was a test to see how safe you were, earning a chuckle from the man.
“You gonna go ‘round testing every Alpha’s restraints?”
He watched as you relaxed again before reaching out and scooping you up. Joel turned around only to come face to face with a horribly amused face Tommy.
“Don’t say a word,” Joel growled as he glared at the Beta, if he hadn’t had the Omega in his arms he would’ve shoved Tommy’s face away too. The Beta just laughed before clapping Joel on the back good naturedly.
“Good for you Joel, can finally get some action, eh?” The comment made Joel grimace, uncomfortably aware of the tightness of his pants. Jesus, he hoped no one had noticed, the fact itself was embarrassing enough.
“I ain’t doing jack shit,” Joel curtly replied, struggling to sound unaffected by the closeness to your scent. “Once she’s finished this wave, she’ll go into a heat daze and you can find her, her own fucking house to ride the rest of it out.”
“Oh? So you’ll help her out with this wave?” Tommy gave Joel a cheeky look before dodging out of the way as the Alpha attempted to smack him whilst balancing you against his chest.
“Stop acting like children you two!” Maria huffed exasperatedly at the two.
Tommy gave Maria a somewhat guilty look in apology whilst Joel just continued to glower at his brother; Ellie and Dina standing to the side quietly.
Maria sighed, “So? What’s the plan?”
“We’ll move her to my place, since we’re… compatible. I’ll give her some of my clothes and she can stay in the garage until she’s done,” Joel replied stoically. Everyone else in the room just looked gobsmacked.
“What!?” Ellie exclaimed, finally looking Joel in the eye. “You can’t just throw her into your garage like she’s some damn animal!”
“Well I ain’t gonna touch her!”
“You’re fucking touching her now!” Ellie cried, gesturing wildly to the Omega in Joel’s arms.
“You know what I mean Ellie,” The Alpha male’s voice took on a sombre tone as he stared at Ellie imploringly. Ellie paled before the colour flared back up on her cheeks and she huffed grumpily, crossing her arms across her chest. “Besides you used to live in there, so it’s relatively well set up.”
“Will she need to be, uh, touched?” Dina asked quietly as she took a step towards the group, breaking the tense air around the father-daughter duo.
“Depends,” Tommy said before Joel could reply, “it’s unlikely, due to her injuries; but that doesn’t mean it won’t be intense… besides she’ll need to be monitored cause of her wound.”
“She’s not a kid,” Joel weakly refuted.
“She’s not, but she might as well be,” Maria stated. “Why don’t we migrate to Joel’s place and we can figure out something else there. This seems to be more of a ‘play-by-ear’ situation than anything else.”
There were murmurs and nods of agreement that echoed across the room before Maria spun on her heel and walked out of the door, leading the way to Joel’s abode.
Joel deposited your sleeping form onto a couch in the lounge room, before huffing and joining the others in the dining room opposite you. The sun was far too high in the sky for Joel’s liking, he was more than over the chaos of today.
The room was quiet, awkwardly so, causing Joel to let loose a heavy sigh.
“What did you mean that (Y/n)’s pheromones don’t affect me cause her and… Joel are compatible?” Ellie inquired, breaking the silence, but making it no less tense.
“Cause you and Joel are… uh close, your Alpha doesn’t see her as a potential mate…” Tommy trailed off awkwardly, shooting fleeting glances towards Joel, who huffed but remained quiet. Ellie decided not to comment on it further, Joel couldn’t tell whether she was annoyed by the answer or simply didn’t want to continue any conversation that involved him in it.
The room’s tense atmosphere was practically suffocating, but no one decided to attempt to break it until Maria had enough of everyone’s dawdling.
“Since I’m pretty sure that we all agree to take (y/n) under our wing…” Maria waited for any protests, and when receiving none she continued, “We’re going to have to make some arrangements.”
The room regarded Maria expectantly as she switched to her ‘business mode’. “Firstly, she’ll need a place to stay. We’ll also need to think of a position we can assign her tha-”
“You can’t send her back out there,” Dina interrupted, “She’ll just grab the attention of every fucking infected in the vicinity. Plus you said she’ll be in a heat daze for who-knows how long!”
“She’s survived this far,” Maria countered stonily. “Besides, it will be her choice whether or not to leave, but she certainly won’t be doing any patrol work if she’s in a heat daze. But she will need to pull her weight and being in a heat daze will also give us an idea of how the other Alphas will react when her scent is stronger.”
“That’s suicide!” Ellie exclaimed. “And if she does get jumped, we don’t know how she’ll react in that state; and, if it goes badly, the people may not want her here.”
“We also don’t know whether she’ll kill all of us the moment she’s stable enough to,” Maria snapped.
“She’s gotta point Ellie, we don’t know this woman,” Tommy commented, his earlier cheer having evaporated in the severity of the conversation before them. “But if we are to test this out, she’ll need to be watched. That’ll also help divert any unwanted attention from her, or at least prevent anything untoward from happening.”
“Why don’t we take turns?” Dins cut in, causing everyone to look her way.
Ellie nodded in agreement at the suggestion, “She can do odd jobs that will be near us or with us. That should also make her feel more safe since she’s with people she recognises.”
Joel hummed, “That’s not a bad idea, but we should all start to think of how to deal with this heat wave.”
“Well…” Dina started, “You said she’s unlikely to need to be touched… so we can all help provide and take care of her. That’ll help her trust us and also let us keep an eye on her.”
Joel looked pointedly unimpressed at the suggestion, whilst Maria looked pleasantly surprised.
“Well, that settles it,” Maria clapped her hands together. “Looks like we have a plan!”