Chapter 1
“Report.”
“Their numbers are dropping quickly, Heda. They are young and arrogant. Some of them are stupid. Most do not know how to survive here on the ground.”
“They are undisciplined. They only fight among themselves.”
“They are trying to get to the Mountain. They are dangerous.”
“The boy with the black hair imagines himself their leader.”
Lexa looked up in curiosity at this particular scout and nodded for him to continue.
“But it is the golden haired one that they actually follow. She is one of the few who seems to have any sort of sense. She has managed to keep them fed.”
Lexa tapped her fingers on the wooden arm of her throne, contemplating her scouts who stood in front of her. It had been eleven days since the hunk of metal had come screaming down to earth, and then vomited out the mostly pale and young pups. They were loud and clumsy, crashing through the brush and trees, stumbling and falling. Her warriors had been more than a little amused when watching them attempt to navigate fallen logs and mossy, wet rocks.
But that humor had soon vanished when the game started to flee the area, making it harder for her warriors to feed the surrounding villages. And her disgust and worry had grown when her scouts returned with news that the pups were trying to make their way to the mountain.
Her people were caught in a stalemate of a war that had been born long before she. She had managed to join the Southern and Eastern clans, but the Ice Nation, Mountain Clan, and Coastal Clan were deeply entrenched in the frozen North, and had been less than amiable to her attempts at bringing them into her Coalition. The Desert and Plains Clans had simply decided to wait to see which way the pieces fell. They were waiting for Heda to prove her worth.
She bit her lower lip, her fingers drumming a little harder now on the arm of her throne. She felt Indra shift a little closer to her, and she was thankful for the steadfast loyalty of her General. Her Beta pheromones helped ease her tension, and she turned her attention to the scout who hadn’t reported yet.
“What do you think, Theos?”
The scout contemplated her words for a moment, knowing what she was asking. He was the Tracer of this part of Trikru territory, and his words could be the Skai pups salvation or death sentence. He rubbed one massive hand over his dark, bald head and dragged his hand down the side of his cheek, idly scratching at the stubble on his face.
“They do not smell right, Heda. They smell of metal and ice. They smell of shadows and darkness,” he hesitated briefly, not entirely sure how to describe the whisper of a scent that clung to them all, but differed with each pup. There was something almost tantalizing about some of them, and it called to him, and just when he thought he had traced the scent, it turned hard and bitter, burning his nostrils and making his tongue curl.
Lexa nodded. So be it then. She would need to deal with the pups, before turning her attention to the North. She had sent a parlay to the Mountain and Coastal Clans, and her messengers had reported back that they would be here in three days. It was a victory for the Trikru. The Mountain and Coastal Clans were fierce and proud, and didn’t want to bend their knee to either the Queen of Ice or Snow or the Trikru. She would make them an offer of peace to sit out the coming wars with the Ice Nation. Then maybe she could bring them into the fold.
“Anya, find Ryder, and take a pack of twenty warriors. Deal with the pups. There are only about seventy of them left. I want them gone by mid-morning tomorrow, and I want their hunk of metal torn down and salvaged. Have Scavenajas take the metal to Polis.”
She stood up and gestured for her scouts to leave, “return to your posts and report back to Indra every fourth hour. It is time to prepare for war.” She stepped off the dais, nodding to her scouts her turned and left, but one remained.
“Heda?”
She turned, slightly surprised that Theos hadn’t followed her orders. She heard Indra step up closer behind her, and she waved her off.
“Is there something else, Theos?” She eyed him carefully. She could see the slight unease crinkling at the corner of his eyes.
“Heda…I do not know.” He shook his head slightly, he had never smelled anything like the pups before, and he didn’t know what it meant.
“Heda, I think there is more to these pups. Their smell…” his voice trailed off and then he straightened and looked Lexa firmly in the eyes, “Heda, I ask that you summon one of the Elder Tracers from Polis. There is something else here. There is a scent, a whisper of something that I can smell on all of them. But it is as if it is muted, as if it is being hidden, and some of them….some of them, Heda.” His voice shook.
Lexa raised an eyebrow. This was different. She hadn’t expected that. Theos was one of her best Tracers, and if he could smell something else on them other than metal and ice, perhaps it was worth exploring. She couldn’t afford to dismiss that these pups might have the one thing her people desperately needed. And she couldn’t deny the disbelief and hope she’d heard coat his words. Whatever it was, he wasn’t prepared to say it out loud.
“Do you think…” she let her voice trail off, and she could feel Indra leaning in, almost holding her breath, waiting for Theos reply.
“I think…Sha, Heda, it could be. It could be,” and he couldn’t keep the edge of want from slicking across his voice. His chest rumbled, and he saw her eyes flare in response.
“Indra, go get Anya. Tell her to belay my last order. Bring the pack of warriors to my tent, and send our fastest rider to Polis. We need two Elder Tracers.”
“Oh and Indra? Say nothing to anyone of this, but change out the scout rotation. Betas only. Do not interact with them. Stay hidden until my command.”
Indra nodded and hurried off, her mind reeling with what this could mean. It could be the Trikru salvation, it could be their bargaining chip that would finally end the long drawn out wars with the Northern Clans.
Lexa walked over to her massive table, and idly splayed her fingers across the rolls of parchment littering the scarred surface. She took a deep breath, her back still to Theos.
“Tell me everything,” she whispered, “what do you smell?”
And so Theos told her of metal and ice, and death and shadows, and of a scent so beguiling that it stirred inside his belly. A scent that he did not quite recognize but reminded him of a deeper, richer honeyed scent that he hadn’t smelled in over seventeen years.
*************************************
“I saw them again, Clarke.”
Clarke stiffened slightly from where she crouched in front of the fire. She continued stirring the thin soup in the broken metal container, as if Octavia’s words hadn’t caused a small patter of panic in her chest.
They had had a few brushes with the grounders, losing some of their members to them, but then four days ago, they had seemed to pull back. There hadn’t been any sightings, no attacks. But now, this was the fourth sighting in less than twenty-four hours.
“How close?” she murmured, still trying to act casually, as she shifted slightly trying to ease the ache in her muscles. She wrinkled her nose when Octavia squatted down next to her, her shoulder brushing Clarke’s. The girl’s scent curled inside her nose, and ghosted across her tongue. She could almost taste the girl, and her scent lay thick and heavy on Clarke’s tongue, and she didn’t know what it meant. She curled her lips.
She almost reprimanded the girl for not bathing, but just as she opened her mouth, her mind flashed to last night, when she had seen Octavia at the river, doing just that. Bathing. She grit her teeth together.
Why did everyone smell wrong? It was as if coming to earth was making her sense of smell sharper, or maybe it was the taste. Everything tasted different: wild and harsh on her tongue. On the Ark, all scents had been interlaced with the constant smell of cold metal. Scents were dull and heavy, and everything tasted the same, everything and everyone smelled the same. But here…here on earth she found herself constantly shifting, constantly panting. Her mouth was always open as she let the scents of the world around her curl along her tongue.
She was irritable and hot, and her muscles ached and shook. She was worried it might be the water again. Nine of their own had died in the first two days from the water. She didn’t know if the water was dangerous to the grounders, or if it was just because the delinquents had no defense against the bacteria in the water. But now they boiled all of the water.
“What do you think they want?” Octavia was looking way from Clarke, her eyes scanning the trees, knowing they were out there. She turned to look at Clarke, but her head snapped back when Clarke’s scent hit her, and she unintentionally growled.
“What the fuck, O?” Clarke stared at her in confusion, worry gnawing at her, as Octavia bared her teeth and leaned in slightly towards her. She reached out and shoved Octavia away and stood quickly to her feet. She stomped away towards the tree line, her mind racing in time with the flurry of her heart.
This was bad. Whatever it was, it was very bad. She hesitated and looked back at the camp, her eyes narrowing as she started carefully at everyone moving around. She watched carefully as an Alpha boy bumped into another Alpha boy, and a shoving match quickly ensued. But Bellamy broke it up, and sent them both to opposite sides of the camp.
She bit her lip when she saw the Betas drifting towards each other. Jazz and Bryn were both Betas and had never really interacted, but now they were sitting together laughing and pushing at each other. She glanced around the camp, her eyes landing on Omega Monty, who kept shifting awkwardly on the stump, fiddling with one of the wrist bands. Miller crouched a few feet away from him, alternating between staring at Monty and glaring at Alphas who came too close. She wasn’t sure if he was an Alpha or Beta.
“Hey.”
She jumped, cursing herself for not having heard Raven sneak up on her. They were on speaking terms after Finn. It had been a hard fought battle to be friends, but in the end, they had decided that much of the fault lay with Finn; and both realized that they valued each other more than Finn.
But as Clarke turned and noted Raven’s flushed face and wide eyes, she couldn’t help but step closer to her. She wasn’t expecting Raven to step closer to her, and brush her hip with her hand. She inhaled sharply, letting the soft notes of Raven’s scent coat her. She leaned in, brushing her nose against the other girl’s hair, relieved that she didn’t push her away.
“Clarke, what’s happening? Nothing feels right anymore.” Raven licked her lips. She had been feeling uncomfortable for two days now, her skin itchy, her heart racing unexpectedly, and the smells. Every time she turned, she could smell something thick and raw, and it coated her tongue and made her want to pant. And she found herself watching those that she had identified as Alphas a little more than she normally did. That had been unexpected. She hadn’t expected to feel heat tingle along her skin when she watched Bellamy lift the logs into place to fortify their fence. She hadn’t meant to press her thighs so closely together when the dark-eyed Cadence smiled at her.
She wondered if it was weird to sit so closely to Omega Monty, letting the brushing of their shoulders bring her a strange sort of comfort. And she found herself laughing with Fox and Harper, whom she didn’t know very well, but felt strangely inclined to spend time with them.
And she had definitely been surprised when Murphy had crept into her work tent this morning, and had stood just a few feet away from her, not looking at her, shuffling awkwardly, but moving closer to her with each shuffle. She didn’t like him, she even hated him a little; but when she turned and breathed him in, she couldn’t deny the flitting warmth that skipped across her skin. So she had scooted down the roughly made bench and gave him room. And after a few minutes he had swallowed hard and sat down. At least a foot was between them, and their shoulders didn’t brush, but she was strangely fine with him just sitting there.
But Clarke…she had been looking for Clarke for a while now, and the longer she looked, the more anxious she became. She had finally seen her headed to the tree line, and she followed her quickly, unsure why she felt such an overwhelming need to be close to the blonde.
Clarke swallowed hard, and her hands shook slightly. “I don’t know, Raven, but I don’t think it’s good.” She couldn’t help it, she leaned in, her body stiff and tight, but she relaxed immediately when she felt slim arms wrap around her. She sighed in relief and buried her nose in Raven’s neck. She relaxed at the warmth that seeped into her aching muscles. She inhaled deeply, letting Raven’s scent warm her tongue.
“Rain. You smell like rain, fresh and cool. You smell like wet grass just when the sun is rising.” She snuggled more deeply into Raven’s arms, content to simply stand there and never leave. The ache in her muscles dissipated slightly.
Raven chuckled. She couldn’t even begin to describe the utter relief that had shook her frame when Clarke had stepped into her. It had been an instinct as old as time that had made her wrap her arms around the other girl, that made her bury her nose in her hair. And she had relaxed and purred contentedly when she felt Clarke’s arms wrap around her and hold her close.
“Sand, you smell like that warm sandy beach we found a couple days ago. A little salty but warm. Sun and dried grass. I like it.” She chuckled when Clarke snuggled closer in her arms, and she let her eyes drift close for a moment.
“Come on, let’s sit.” She felt Clarke pull away, but still grab her hand and lead her over to the base of a thick, towering tree. The blonde took off her jacket and dropped it on the ground and then plunked down on it. She pulled impatiently at Raven’s hand, and the brunette laughed, but did the same, dropping her jacket next to Clarke.
The moment Raven sat down, Clarke wrapped her arms around Raven and pulled her in to her side. She hummed quietly, when Raven tangled their legs together, and laid her head on her shoulder. She ran her fingers lightly through long dark tresses.
“It can’t be all bad, Clarke. This feels good.”
Clarke bit her lip, wondering why it felt so good to have Raven in her arms, why she simply wanted Raven to snuggled her and hold her and never let her go. She glanced down at Raven, her eyes drifting over softly rounded breasts. She knew she was attracted to both men and women, and yet, despite all of Raven’s beauty, it didn’t stir her. Not in the way when she had seen the redheaded girl down at the river earlier, trying to figure out how to catch fish.
No this was different. This was comfort and peace. This was warmth and shelter. This felt like friendship and home. And then she realized why.
“Oh my God. You’re an Omega.”
Raven jerked up, her mouth dropping open a little, and then she laughed, “So are you! I thought you were an Alpha or at least a Beta.”
Clarke chuckled and tightened her arms around Raven, “I figured you for a Beta. Some of them I’ve been able to figure out, the Alphas mainly, but now I think I know who the Omegas are.”
Raven nodded, the top of her head rubbing against Clarke’s chin, “This explains why I didn’t want to kill Murphy this morning, or why I’ve been hanging out with Fox and Harper. Monty, I knew.” She stretched her legs out a little, shuffling closer to Clarke. She danced her fingertips over Clarke’s hand, taking comfort in the warm skin.
“I’ve heard of this before, Clarke. How when Omegas go into their first heat, they bond with other Omegas. I’ve heard it can be a lifelong bond. They seek them out for comfort, sometimes they do the same with Betas. Betas are supposed to be very protective of Omegas, and their pheromones are supposed to help temper Alphas’ pheromones.” She bit her lip, feeling the slight swell of anxiety.
“We’re going into heat aren’t we? Our first heats?”
Clarke could sense Raven’s anxiety, could smell it. She kissed the top of Raven’s head. “Aye, Raven, we are all going to go into our heats, which means the Alphas will also go into ruts as soon as they realize we are in heat.” She shifted, her mind whirring, and the worry clawed at her belly.
“How long do we have?”
“I don’t know. But so far it only looks like a few of the Omegas have started showing symptoms,” Clarke sighed a little and rubbed her nose in Raven’s soft hair. “I…I think you and I probably only have a couple of days left. Maybe three before the full heat hits. Others might have longer.”
“It’s bad isn’t it? They didn’t prepare us for this, Clarke. What are we going to do?!” Raven couldn’t help the edge of panic that coated her voice, couldn’t help how her muscles shuddered or how she burrowed deeper in Clarke’s arms.
“What happens if the Alphas turn on us?” She voiced the one fear that she knew Clarke couldn’t bring herself to say out loud. They had all heard the stories of what had happened all those years ago, before any of the delinquents had been born. How too many Omegas had gone into heat at once, how the Alphas had gone into rut. They hadn’t been prepared, and the violence that had rocked the Ark had been catastrophic. It was so bad that one station had fallen to earth in shower of fire. At least that is what the council told everyone. That it had been an accident as a result of the violence that had broken out. But Raven had heard rumors, heard that there had been an unprecedented number of Omegas on that station, Omegas who didn’t belong there when it plunged to earth.
After that, the Omegas were rounded up and the older ones had been sterilized. The next generations after, were put on harsh suppressants so they would never go into heat. They could still reproduce, but they weren’t nearly as fertile as their nature demanded, and they never had multiple pregnancies. There instincts were dulled, and they could be easily manipulated and controlled. Some Alphas and Betas were also put on suppressants, and when the suppressants failed…Omegas suddenly disappeared, floated for some unknown reason. Oh yes, she’d heard about the violence that had almost destroyed the Ark. She knew all too well how the council felt about Omegas. They were considered dangerous and needed to be controlled.
“Octavia is an Alpha,” murmured Clarke. She didn’t want to think about what would happen when the heats hit, how out of control the Alphas would be. And she wasn’t sure she could even blame them. No one had prepared them for heat or rut. They weren’t supposed to feel the extreme pain and pleasure of desire. But now…here on earth…she shivered.
CRACK
They both looked up startled at the sound of the breaking branch. Octavia smiled ruefully as she squatted down in front of them, a few feet away. She held her hand up over her face, and she tried not to let her eyes linger, but she could feel her skin flushing. She bit her lip hard, welcoming the brief pain. It helped her focus.
“You’re going into heat,” she stated bluntly, her voice slightly muffled behind her hand. She didn’t wait for them to nod but continued, “You aren’t the only ones. Monty is going into heat, and Miller won’t stop staring at him, but I’m pretty sure Miller is a Beta. Some of the Alphas are starting to fight. Bellamy is worried. He’s an Alpha.”
“And you?” Raven stared at her, gazing into the younger girl’s eyes, she was pretty sure she already knew. But the girl hadn’t officially presented yet, and she couldn’t help it when her gaze flicked down to the girl’s crotch. No bulge.
Octavia snorted when she saw where Raven’s gaze was. She glanced around cautiously, checking the camp, the trees. She slowly dropped her hand, and tilted her head back slightly. She breathed deeply the tantalizing scents hanging in the air around her. She opened her mouth, panting slightly, letting her tongue hang out to catch the rich honeyed scents. She shifted at when her skin prickled.
“Alpha,” she rumbled, as she dropped her head and snapped her mouth closed. She stared at them both, her gaze running over their features, noting the sweat that sheened their skin. She grumbled as she opened her mouth again, and she wanted nothing more than to lean forward and lick up the column of Raven’s neck. She wanted to bury her fingers in Clarke’s hair, and feel her lips skate across pale skin.
She put both hands flat on her the ground, preparing to lean forward just so she could smell Clarke again, but something else caught her attention. She cocked her head. She could have sworn she heard something, someone.
She spun lightly on the balls of her feet, still crouching. She pulled the knife from her belt that she had fashioned from broken pieces of the drop ship. Someone was out there, and they were close. She growled low, the hair on her arms standing up. She could smell it. Him. She could smell him, and he didn’t move. She knew where he was now, and as she stood up, she gestured with her free hand to Clarke and Raven.
“Get back into camp. Now!” She didn’t wait to see if they would obey. She could hear them scrambling to their feet, and they quickly retreated back to camp. She could feel her blood pumping wildly in her veins. It was a curious sensation, and she assumed it was adrenaline. Or maybe it was her Alpha instinct. She panted in the air, waiting for him to move, so she could taste his scent.
She stepped forward, deeper into the tree line. She heard him moving ahead of her. She followed until she couldn’t hear him anymore. She was a few hundred feet away from camp, she could barely hear the rest of the delinquents. She sniffed, trying to find his scent. She had smelled him on some of the bushes, and she knew he had done it deliberately.
She stopped and crouched down at the base of a tree. She rested her palm on the bark, enjoying the coolness against her hot skin. She dug her fingers in slightly, and grinned at the feel of the bark crumbling. She inhaled the earthy, bark smell. She knew without looking that her fingertips were stained a deep brown, and she knew she wouldn’t wash her hands for a few hours. She enjoyed the feel of the dirt staining her skin, the feel of leaves brushing against her skin.
She crouched there in the dappled, sunlit forest, her eyes searching the shadows that flitted behind trees and slid across giant moss covered rocks. She could hear the birds winging their way through the branches of the trees, and she could hear tiny animals skittering across rustling leaves. She smiled, as she dug her fingers harder into the bark, and she turned and pressed her face into it. She inhaled deeply, and she knew without looking up where he was.
“I won’t let you hurt them.” She said it quietly but firmly, and she waited patiently, not bothering to look up.
“I’m not here to hurt any of you.”
She felt the shiver skitter down her spine, and she panted slightly. His voice was gentle, soothing, and she knew he was a Beta. She could feel the warmth building in her chest, and she felt it gather in a ball in her chest and then flush down her arms.
“What do you want?” She murmured quietly. She still hadn’t looked up at him. She didn’t need to see his face. His scent was enough. Alluring and intoxicating.
“Peace.” He shifted in the branches, staring down at her. She was young, but strong. She was calling to him, and he was shocked by it. He glanced down when he felt the tightening in his pants. He slipped a hand between his legs and squeezed his cock. She was calling to him, and he couldn’t deny the heady scent of the Alpha. He shouldn’t be so affected by her, but he was.
He glanced around carefully, his eyes searching the trees, until he saw her crouching a couple hundred feet away. He studied her carefully, wondering if she could feel the pull. But Caris appeared undisturbed, carefully watching, occasionally searching the surrounding area. He knew she had seen them, but she didn’t appear drawn to the Alpha.
Octavia still crouched there, ignoring the ache in her knees, but she reveled in the thrumming in her blood. “Why are you showing yourself now? What’s changed?”
He smiled. She was smart. “War is coming.” He saw her stiffen, watched as her slim fingers dug harder into the bark of the tree. He felt the hair on his arms stand up when he heard her growl. He shifted, trying to ignore the growing pressure in his cock. He could see she was deliberating, trying to figure out if she could trust him. He waited patiently.
“We’re in trouble,” she admitted hoarsely, “Not only do we not know how to survive here on earth, but the Omegas are starting to go into heat, and the Alphas will soon go into rut.” She grunted, “None of us have ever gone into heat or rut.” She shifted slightly, leaning into the tree, as if she was gaining strength from it.
He dropped his hand, as if reaching for her, but his fingers grasped at nothing, he regretfully pulled his hand back. He eyed the branches around him, finally coming to a decision. He swiftly swung down two more branches, so he could see her better, smell her better. He smiled when she shifted, and he saw her start to rise to her feet, but then sink back down into a crouch. He could hear her pant. His scent was affecting her, and he smiled. It felt good. It felt right. He breathed her in deeply. She smelled like pine trees and sweet, sticky sap. It occurred to him that this was unusual, for a Beta to be so affected by an Alpha and vice versa. Perhaps there was a bit of Omega in him. His mother had been an Omega, and his father a Beta.
“What is happening?” He whispered carefully, his voice low and soothing. He wanted to touch her, wanted to comfort her, ease her distress. He wanted to bury his face in her neck, and he wanted to feel her arms wrap around him.
“They didn’t prepare us for this. Something bad happened on the Ark, up there,” she gestured towards the sky, “they floated a lot of Omegas. Some Alphas. After that, all Omegas and many Alphas and Betas were put on suppressants. We were basically neutered,” she snarled. “We could barely smell anything, could barely taste. We couldn’t identify each other,” she chuckled bitterly, “we could barely identify ourselves, figure out who we were, what we were supposed to be.” Her voice trailed off, as she thought about the days on the Ark, underneath the floorboards.
He waited for her to continue, but she seemed lost in thought. “Your suppressants are wearing off.” He didn’t bother to ask, he knew the answer already. “And now you have Omegas and Alphas going into heat and rut for the first time ever.” He rubbed his face. This was bad. Bad for them, but for him…for his people….his mind raced frantically. He felt the thread of excitement course through his muscles. This explained their scent, why Theos had so much trouble identifying them. But soon, in a matter of days, it wouldn’t be an issue.
And the Omegas would instinctively call to the Alphas. All of the Alphas. He glanced up, judging the time as he eyed the sun. He had to get back to Ton DC. He had to tell Heda. War might be coming from the North, but there was a battlefield primed and ready in their own territory, and they would need to move quickly.
“Meet me here tomorrow when the sun is just peeking over the treetops,” and with that he swung up the branches, quickly moving from tree to tree.
She sputtered, as she quickly rose to her feet, stumbling slightly at the tingling in her legs. “Wha-wait!” She called after him, but it was already too late. He was gone. She snarled and slapped her hand on the tree. She glanced up. She tucked her knife into her pants, and then jumped up catching the first branch. It took her a few minutes to maneuver, but she finally managed to reach the limb where he had crouched. She straddled the branch, leaning down and sniffing at the bark. Her lips curled into a smile as his scent flooded into her mouth.
“Now I know who you are,” she muttered.