3
Dawn yawned sleepily as she poured herself a glass of milk, she was having a hard time sleeping and not even being surrounded by her four pups was helping.
“Dawn?” Callum mumbled sleepily as he shuffled into the room and Dawn turned to give him a soft smile.
“Hey Cal, having trouble sleeping?” She asked softly as she pulled another glass down so that she could pour the younger Omega some milk. Callum hummed tiredly as he took a seat at the table and began fidgeting with his hands.
“Can I talk to you about something?” He asked hopefully as he accepted the glass of milk from Dawn who simply nodded as she took a seat across from him.
“Of course Callum you can tell me anything” She said warmly and Callum nodded a little bit to himself.
“It’s been eating at me for a while, but I kinda miss Gabriel” He admitted softly and Dawn’s eyes widened in shock.
“Not the way he is now ‘cause right now he’s an absolute asshole!” He quickly rushed out before taking in a deep steadying breath.
“It’s just… when he first became president he was actually really nice or at least he was to me, he listened to me in a way that my mom never did and he treated me like a pup but not in the patronizing way my mom did but like how you do and-and it felt so nice” He explained anxiously as he met Dawn’s eyes who gave him a soft reassuring look as she gestured for him to continue.
“It wasn’t until he started drinking that things went downhill and he started to act like a monster. I should hate him for the things he’s done to me, to Julian, to Theo but… I just can’t and I don’t know why” He mumbled as a few tears slipped down his face.
“I know what you mean” Theo mumbled and Callum jumped a little bit as he and Dawn turned to face the bedroom and saw Theo standing in the doorway, he made his way over and sat next to Callum before giving him a small smile.
“I don’t have many memories of him ‘cause he gave me to Cyrus to raise when I was really little but when he made me part of his cabinet he was so excited to get to know me and he always talked about how he loved me and I believed him… I still believe him” He admitted softly and Callum wrapped a comforting arm around his shoulders while Dawn gave them a sad look.
“Emotions can be hard to understand, rationally you know that he’s done bad things and that he’s hurt you and those you care about but the heart doesn’t always listen to the mind” She said softly and the two pups let out tired sighs of agreement.
“If it wasn’t for the drinking” Theo muttered bitterly and Callum scrunched his face up slightly as he reached into his jacket pocket.
“I think I know why he started” He admitted softly and the two other Omegas gave him curious looks as he pulled out a small diary.
“I wrote down all of the things I noticed while working under Gabriel and I had planned to give to my mom to guarantee a place in Pogtopia but when it came down to it I just couldn’t do it” He explained offhandedly as he placed the diary down on the table.
“Gabriel has severe aches in his body but he was too prideful to get treatment so he drowned out the pain with alcohol” He revealed and Theo’s eyes widened in shock while Dawn tilted her head thoughtfully.
“He also seems to have some form of muscle atrophy and he uses protein shakes to gain strength but they were becoming less effective and he was growing weaker because of it” He remarked as he glanced down at his hands.
“I fear that if his symptoms get worse there might be fatal consequences” He admitted worriedly and Theo stiffened up fearfully. Dawn let out a soft sigh as she stood up and placed a gentle hand on their heads.
“Don’t worry about it you two, I’ll handle it” She said comfortingly and the two of them gave her worried looks.
“Really?” Theo asked anxiously and Dawn smiled softly as she nodded.
“Of course, now come let’s get you two back to bed” She said before she began ushering her pups back to the bedroom while her mind ran a mile a minute, she might just have to rethink a few of her plans.