Chapter 4
You spent your time until midday reading one of the books from the shelf in your room. It was a rather random selection, ranging from non-fiction to Harry Potter. You’d opted for the latter, and now you were hooked. You’d never actually read the series, but now you understood the hype. You were startled by a knock on your door, having gotten used to the peace and quiet of your room. It was nice in here, you realised now. It felt a little homier now that your scent lingered in the air and it was no longer pristine - the bedsheets messed up and whatever small items you'd found already placed in the room re-arranged into how you liked them best. It was a little more lived in, making it easier to relax. It felt like a safe space too, or at least, as close as you could get to one in a building full of enhanced alphas. Whenever the others came to check in on you, they always announced their presence before opening the door, and you found that rather reassuring.
“Uh, yeah?” you answer, closing your book and sitting up a little.
“Hey,” it was Bruce. “We’re having lunch now if you want something to eat.”
“I… I’m not really hungry.”
Bruce shrugged. “The alphas get weird if we don’t eat enough. I suggest you come down, if only just for show. Get a piece of bread or something so they don’t nag.”
You considered the beta’s words. He was probably right. Then you could go down to the warehouse, and they probably wouldn’t come looking for you too soon either. You nodded and got up, following Bruce through the hallways into the dining room.
“Uh, hey,” you started, “What’s with the whole joint pack situation?”
“It’s mostly because it’s easier. Y’know, we all live together, and sometimes a bunch of us will be away at a time, so being a joint pack with all the same rules makes it much clearer say, if Tony needed to drop but Bucky and Steve weren’t here, he could go to Nat or Wanda. The relationships are mostly platonic between the packs. Nat and Steve had a bit of a thing a while back, but I think they’re mainly really good friends since she met Wanda.”
“Right,” you said, satisfied with the answer as you moved into the dining room.
You were restless throughout the entirety of the meal, squirming in your seat until it was a suitable time for you to leave. When the clock finally ticked over to one-thirty, you let yourself get up and you slipped into the kitchen. You found a bag and placed little bit of what you think the pack wouldn’t miss. You knew the strays would eat just about anything anyway.
As you closed the door of the fridge, you eyed the list of rules.
Rules for all:
- No swearing, cussing, or otherwise disrespecting each other
- Similarly, to no. 1, no ignoring each other
- No intentionally harming each other – physically or emotionally
- No use of powers on one another
- No lying or manipulating each other
- At any time if anyone safewords, those involved must stop their actions immediately. No debate, no discussion
Rules for alphas:
- Alphas are to always inform a beta/omega fully of what a session will include before it occurs
- An alpha is not to carry out punishment whilst angry, impatient, irritated or feeling any other emotion that may sway their ability to tell how much a beta/omega can take
- Alphas are subject to punishment if their rules are broken, just as a beta or omega would be.
Rules for betas:
- As applies to alphas
Rules for omegas:
- No leaving the Tower without an alpha or beta.
- Proper standards of nutrition, hydration, sleep and hygiene must constantly be upheld.
- Must alert an alpha if there is an injury that needs any kind of attention
- Must alert an alpha if heat comes on unexpectedly or needs to drop
- No meetings with other alphas unless approved by an alpha within the pack
- An omega is expected to carry out instructions without hesitation whilst in a public setting
- No use of recreational drugs, smoking, or excessive drinking.
Your eyes narrowed slightly. You could just pretend you hadn’t noticed it. Yeah, that would work. Bag in hand, you exited the kitchen in the opposite way you’d come in an attempt to avoid being seen by the pack. You got into the elevator and went down to the ground floor. Stepping out of the building, you felt like a rebel or something. It was great!
You quickly made your way towards the warehouse, ducking through alleys as shortcuts and avoiding the territories of the gangs you knew lurked around here. Despite the familiar feeling of anxiety creeping at the edges of your mind, you slipped comfortably back into that mode of thinking. It felt natural, like shedding a skin, maybe.
You made it to the abandoned structure in record time. As you entered, you saw a few pairs of eyes peeking out at you. When they recognised you, the strays trotted out of their hiding places to come greet you.
“Hi guys,” you said, “Hey Oscar buddy,” you greeted the elderly dog individually, rubbing him behind the ears. Part of you had expected to not see him here, though you had to admit you were relieved that you did. You pulled the food out of the bag, and suddenly they were all crowding around you. “Guys, come on. Gimme some space.”
The almost overwhelming graciousness coming from them was absolutely heart-warming, and in that moment, you knew they loved you more than any human ever could. They made you feel human again. They didn’t objectify you or judge you. They were simply there.
It took you a while to divide the food fairly, the skinnier dogs getting the fattier bits of meat and the larger ones getting stuff like rice that you’d found discarded in the back of the fridge. You looked at your watch. Gee, the hour had flown by. “I’ve gotta go, you lot. I’ll be back tomorrow, hopefully,” you promised them.
Natasha knocked on Y/n’s door. She’d barely eaten anything at lunch, and she’d been so quiet. Nat didn’t know the omega very well yet, but she’d easily recognised the omega’s restlessness, and she intended to find out what had caused it. She supposed what she really wanted to know was if there was anything that she could do to help Y/n transition between lives a little easier.
“Y/N?” Nat called out when she didn’t get a response. When she still got no response, she called out for J.A.R.V.I.S.
“Yes, Agent Romanoff?” the AI responded.
“Is Y/N in her room?”
“No.” Nat’s brows furrowed. Where else would she be? It’s not like the omega knew this place overly well yet, and from Nat’s experience, if someone like Y/N was in an unfamiliar place, they tended to stick to the places they knew well rather than risk getting lost without a way back.
“Where is she?”
“She’s not currently in the building.”
Natasha stiffened, mind racing. “When did she leave?”
“Just over an hour ago.”
That’s why she’d been so restless at lunch. “Get Steve, Bucky and Wanda to meet me in the living room.”
“What do you mean, she left?” Steve growled.
“I mean, she left,” Natasha growled back, matching Steve’s tone.
“Hey, guys. Cool it,” Bucky said. “She knows she can’t stay away for too long and-“
“Anything could happen out there though!” Steve yelled. “That’s why we have the rules!”
“I’m as angry as you are, but if we want to find her, we can’t be arguing amongst ourselves,” Bucky reasoned.
Looking back, you should have been more aware of where you were headed. The elevator had dropped you off, and you were headed back to your room. Until, at least, you walked right into a conversation… about you.
Four pairs of eyes turned to you as you entered the living room, and you could immediately tell you’d been found out. You looked between each of the alphas, suddenly feeling uncharacteristically nervous. Dread pooled in your stomach, regardless of how much you tried to diminish the emotion entirely. You fought the urge to bare your neck submissively as the alphas eyed you off. You stood stock-still, forcing yourself to meet their gazes.
“Where have you been, Y/N? J.A.R.V.I.S told us you weren’t in the building.” Steve’s voice was demanding, authoritative, and just on the cusp of being his alpha voice.
You feigned nonchalance. “Out,” you answered simply. You entered the room further, trying to get to the door on the other side, but suddenly, you couldn’t move. You were frozen. Looking down at your body, you saw tendrils of red wrapping around your arms, keeping them pinned to your sides, and around your legs and feet, securing you to the floor. What happened to not using our powers on each other?
Panic blinded you momentarily as you struggled. Being tied up you could deal with. Being blindfolded, gagged, handcuffed, whatever, you could deal with it. Because that was all stuff you’d been trained to deal with. You knew how to pick a lock on handcuffs with a bobby pin, how to tense your wrists as they’re being tied to give you working space later. But this, this magic, you hadn’t been trained to deal with, and that terrified you.
You bit back a fearful whine as your instincts threatened to overrule your logic. Instincts were good, yes, but not your omega instincts. Omega instincts only ever made you appear weak. So you stopped your struggle, you didn’t let yourself make a sound, and you focused on a spot on the wall.
Natasha’s eyes narrowed slightly as she watched you go from struggling and fearful to still and deadly calm in a second. It was clear you’d been taught – trained – to flip that switch. Which, in turn, made her wonder who’d trained you to do that. Because it certainly hadn’t been on the streets. She was no expert, but Natasha knew you only had two options when in a bad situation on the streets; run or fight. Freezing is what got people killed there. On a mission when you’re kidnapped, however, was a different story.
“I want a better answer than that, and you know it,” Steve warned, tone dipping even lower. Had you been standing on your own accord; you would have had to fight the urge to drop to your knees.
Natasha stepped forwards, body language marginally more relaxed than Steve’s, even if it was clearly forced. “Where were you?”
“The warehouse,” you said firmly, not taking your eyes off that spot on the wall. You knew that the moment you looked at either of them – especially Natasha – your omega side would have you keeling over and spilling your guts to them. God, you missed your how much easier things had been before you’d met your soulmates.
“Wanda,” he said the witch’s name quietly, and suddenly you were free, stumbling at the sudden lack of resistance.
You regained your balance in quickly and wrapped your arms around your midsection, digging your nails into your sides in a desperate attempt to remain grounded. You knew trying to exit the room would only result in Wanda using her powers again, so you simply stood there, facing away from the alphas towards the exit, arms wrapped around yourself securely.
“You ignored the rules.” Steve’s voice was harsh, and there was an uncomfortable twinge in your gut. You felt… guilty. You hadn’t felt guilty in a long time. Your shoulders rolled forwards slightly of their own accord as you curled into yourself just a little. “You could have gotten injured, or hurt, or an alpha could have-“ he was raising his voice at you and you shrunk away from him, body curling even further. You head was starting to feel strange. Foggy, almost. You couldn’t make sense of his words. It was like they were all slurred together.
“You’re such a bad omega,” the alpha threw a kick your way. It hit you square in the ribs,shooting stars across your eyes as you were momentarily blinded by the pain. You whined, the sound pitiful in itself. “Always breaking the rules. You’ll never be good enough.”
You shot a desperate glance at Madam B. Her gaze was cold, distant as she looked down at you. This class was meant to teach the alphas how to get what they want from omega targets, and you were the class guinea pig.
The flashback was short, but it had felt like you were back there. You squeezed your eyes tightly shut as the world began to spin. You were still faintly aware of Steve lecturing you. But you couldn’t have an alpha angry at you. Not right now.
You moved towards the exit, but you felt Wanda’s magic stop you again. You whined softly. You needed to be alone to ward this off. You didn’t want a repeat of yesterday. This one wasn’t as bad as yesterday’s though. You had to be able to hold this one off.
“Y/N.” You startled, not having realised Wanda was close enough to take your hands in hers. You pulled your hands out of the alpha’s quickly. The touch had been brief, but enough to keep you grounded, in the moment. You focused on what was around you, desperate not to be pulled back into the void of your past. “Y/N, who do you want to punish you?”
Punish you? Your brain stumbled over her words. “What?”
“There are rules that you broke, Y/N,” you turned to Bucky as he spoke. “Breaking rules results in punishment. We made that clear yesterday.”
Another memory threatened to drown you. A cold, metal hand on your arm, squeezing tightly as it dragged you along. You forced yourself back to the present, forced yourself to keep that mask over your features. You couldn’t let them see the turmoil you were inwardly going through. So you straightened your shoulders a little and pretended. Pretending you could do. Pretending was second nature by now, it just usually didn’t hurt this much.
“Y/N, who do you want to punish you?” Steve still sounded upset at you, making the guilt twist your gut just a little further.
“No,” you said simply, voice trembling just a little. “No.”
“You don’t have a choice here, Y/N. Now make a decision or we’ll make it for you.”
You thought for a moment. This guilt in your belly, you knew it wouldn’t go away without punishment. You knew it would only get worse. So as much as you hated the fact, Steve was right. So you thought through your options. Steve’s impatience immediately took him off the list. Bucky was… well, he was Yakov, and you knew that that would send you into a spiral you weren’t sure you could make it out of. Wanda… the witch already looked uncomfortable with the confrontation and you didn’t want to make her any more so. And that left… Natalia.
“Nat,” you said quietly, clenching your jaw. The woman nodded, her face blank.
“Come on,” she said quietly.
Before you knew it, you were in her bedroom. You felt sick to your stomach, and you weren’t sure whether it was the guilt or the anxiety as she closed the door behind you. Probably both.
“I’m going to let you lead this, Y/N. Only because it’s your first time as a part of this pack, okay?” You took a shuddering breath, steeling your expression. The alpha continued, “Remember, you can safeword at any time if it gets too much.” When you stayed mute, she filled in the silence, “Do you want me to spank you?” You shook your head quickly. That was a hard no for you. The idea of someone using their body against yours as corporal punishment sickened you. “Okay, okay,” Nat said soothingly as she noted your fear escape through the mask you guarded your expression so carefully with. “No spanking.”
Slowly, you reached for the belt you wore. You undid it and unthreaded it from the belt loops of your pants. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Natalia stiffen.
“Y/N, I’m not going to whip you.”
Her voice was harsh, enough to make you have to bit your tongue to supress a desperate whine as the knot of guilt tightened. This is what they’d do at the Red Room. They’d whip you with a belt. And god it hurt every time, but it always made you feel better, and at least it was expected. You knew how it worked.
“Please,” you hated the edge of begging in your voice, but that seemed to push Nat over the edge of indecision.
“Okay,” she said, her voice changing tone. She was slipping into her alpha mindset now. “Y/N, you broke the Tower rules, and I’m going to get you to count with each strike. Can you do that?” You nod, her tone mixed with the knowledge you were about to be punished forcing you into a submissive mindset. “Jeans down. You can leave your panties on.”
Relief washed over you as you heard her say the last part. You didn’t think you were quite ready to be that exposed to her. Not yet. You pushed your jeans down until they pooled around your ankles. Nat stalked behind you.
“Remember to count,” she reminded you, voice soft now. You nodded, eyes on the ground.
The first strike echoed through the room as a sharp crack, and then you felt the fiery pain across the backs of your thighs. You bit the inside of your cheek to muffle your cry of pain, and only just remembered to bite out a “one, ma’am”. The second strike was equally as painful, but you were grateful it wasn’t in the same spot. It was then that it occurred to you that the Red Room had made the alphas punish omegas who disobeyed the rules, so Nat had probably done it before. From what you’d heard, she’d been a little nicer than what she could have been, so she’d probably developed tactics to made it look worse than it was for the omega’s sake. She wasn’t the only alpha who’d done so. A girl in your class had done it whenever she had to punish you. She cracked the belt across your skin in such a way that it made more noise than it did damage. She was dead now. You’d been forced to kill her.
“Three, ma’am,” you said as the third strike landed. You were unaware of the tears wetting your cheeks.
Strike after strike after strike later, you were so sore, but the guilt was gone. You had a new slate.
“Ten, ma’am.”
“Pull your pants up, Y/N,” Nat’s voice was gentle, and you were glad for it. You pulled your pants up and she handed you your belt. In the dim light, you could see the glint of blood on the belt. Nat would hate that, you thought. You put your belt back on and started towards the door. The guilt was gone, but you could still feel an impending drop. It wasn’t a stress-drop, no, it was a drop that you needed simply because you hadn’t dropped of your own volition in too long. In fact, it had been years. Since you were… never? You couldn’t remember ever dropping of your own free will. But you could hold this off. Probably. But only if you were alone.
“Y/N,” Nat called. You halted immediately, too close to dropping, too much in that omega mindset to disregard her. “Don’t leave yet. We do aftercare here.”
So you just stood there, turned towards the door but not moving towards it. You desperately wanted to leave, but you couldn’t not listen to Nat.
“I want to go now,” you said impassively.
“I want you to stay for aftercare,” she disagreed, moving towards you to try and grasp your hand in hers. You moved away, turning your side to her and bringing your hands close to your chest as you wrung them.
“Please don’t make me stay,” your voice shook slightly, and Nat stilled at your wording.
“You don’t have to stay,” she relented, “But I’d like you to. I want to make sure you’re okay. Can you stay here for me?”
“Don’t. Don’t do that. Don’t- you’re taking advantage of my mindset right now to try and get me to do what you want. Just… don’t.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry. You can go, but please tell J.A.R.V.I.S if you need me.”
You nodded, avoiding eye contact but making your way to the door. “Can I go visit Bullet?” you ask timidly. “He lives just around the corner. Number 53 on fifth.”
“Y/N, you just got punished for leaving the Tower without permission,” Nat sighed.
“That’s why I’m asking now,” you replied, uncharacteristically timid.
Nat huffed as she thought. God, Steve was going to be pissed at her if she let Y/N go, but the omega was looking at the ground and shuffling her feet, and Nat could tell by her scent that she needed to drop. She probably wanted Bullet to drop her, Nat figured. The alpha found it fair that she didn’t want any of the pack’s alphas to drop her, they were all but strangers to her. That had to be the only reason she decided to agree without even consulting Steve. She knew he’d say no, and she wasn’t sure Y/N how would react when she didn’t have a choice but to drop. She’d probably end up in that weird stage between dropped and not dropped. Natasha had seen it happen to the omegas in the Red Room far too many times, and she wasn’t about to let Y/N learn what that was like. “Fine, but I’m coming with you.”
The two of you walked to Bullet’s apartment in silence, with you keeping a careful distance from Natalia. You entered the apartment block and found apartment no. 4. You pressed the bell, and Bullet answered the door not even ten seconds later.
His eyebrows furrowed at the sight of you – or rather, the scent of you. Even he could scent that your hormones were all out of whack and that you needed to drop.
“Hey, Y/N,” he said gently, keeping his voice steady, “Come in.” He then looked to Natasha, eyeing her up and down as if to decide whether she was a threat.
“Nat’s okay, Bullet,” you muttered, knowing you wouldn’t be allowed to stay if he didn’t let her in. Bullet nodded, trusting your judgement and stepping aside to let both of you in. Jake was in the kitchen, cooking something that smelt absolutely divine. Nightshade, sitting in the small living room, paused the tv.
“Hey, Phoenix, what’s up?” she then seemed to notice how close you were to a drop and tuned herself down a little. “You’re one of her pack?” she questioned Natasha, who nodded. Nightshade patted the couch beside her, egging Nat to move over to her, “Let’s leave Bullet and Nixie alone. I want to get to know her new pack.”
Knowing that Y/N would be in safe hands with Bullet, Natasha sat down beside the other alpha, watching as Bullet guided Y/N into his room. Just because she knew he wouldn’t hurt her didn’t mean she wasn’t a little anxious in her new surroundings with strangers.
The door closed softly behind you as you entered what seemed to be a spare bedroom.
“Do you need a drop, Y/N?” Bullet asked softly.
You nodded, finally letting your walls down now that it was just you and Bullet. Bullet was safe. You knew that.
“Can I touch you?” he asked gently.
You nodded, and he gently grabbed your wrist, leading you over to the bed. He motioned for you to lie down, and you did so as he grabbed a bunch of pillows and blankets and arranged them around you in a cocoon of sorts. Then he lay down beside you and let you cuddle into him as he praised you and told you what a good girl you were. Part of you wished it was one of your pack saying the soft words of approval as they stroked your hair, but you couldn’t trust them yet, and this was the next best thing.
“So how long have you known Y/N for?” Natasha asked, trying to distract herself from the worry of being in an unfamiliar place.
“Since she was seventeen,” Nightshade answered, standing and wandering over to the kitchen. “Do you want a drink?”
“I’m alright, thanks,” Natasha relaxed somewhat at the other alpha’s lack of hostility. She knew that some alphas could be protective of wherever they lived, and she supposed she was glad that… Nightshade wasn’t. Nightshade seemed like a strange name, like a pseudonym or something.
“Why do you call her Phoenix?” Natasha asked the alpha as she came back with a glass of water in hand.
“We all have these nicknames of sorts on the streets. A lot of us have pasts that we don’t particularly want others on the streets knowing, and a fair amount of us simply don’t want to be found, whether it’s by CPS if you’re a minor or whatever. So we just use nicknames instead. You’ll find that whenever Nixie meets up with her street friends other than Bullet, they’ll call her Phoenix, just like everyone calls me Nightshade.”
Natasha nodded. She understood the hiding and not wanting to be found. She had a list of aliases constantly in her metaphorical back pocket, just in case she needed to go back into deep cover or something for S.H.I.E.L.D.
“So were you and Y/N close on the streets?”
Nightshade thought about her words before answering, not wanting to give away more than what Y/N would be comfortable with Natasha knowing. Eventually, she said, “Bullet was the one to find her first. At the time, we hadn’t met Jake yet, so when he brought her back to our little hideout, it was just the three of us for a while. It was going into winter, and the nights were getting pretty cold, so you can only imagine our surprise when she showed us her little fire trick.”
Nat chuckled, holding up her still-healing burnt wrist. “Yep, I’ve witnessed that one first hand.”
“Oh shit,” Nightshade whistled through her teeth as she took in the handprint shaped burn. “What happened?”
“She tried to pickpocket me, actually,” Nat grinned.
“And you caught her? I gotta say, that in itself is impressive. She’s a brilliant pickpocket. The first day I took her out to practice, and it was like she’d been doing it her whole life.”
“What’s she like? I mean, really.”
Nightshade tilted her head, “What do you mean?”
“I mean, she’s always just so… guarded around me and the rest of our pack. I’m not even sure what she’s really like.”
Nightshade considered the question for a moment. “She’s guarded,” she began slowly. “Because if she wasn’t, she’d be dead by now. We all would be. Look, it’ll take time for her to learn to trust you but doing things like bringing her here when she needs to drop instead of forcing her to do it with your pack is already a start.”
“Any tips?”
Nightshade sighed. “Space, time. Just listen to her. Let her give her opinion on things. She can be-“ she chuckled, “Really opinionated at times, but the main thing is that she loves her freedom, and I don’t want to give away things she wouldn’t want you to know, but apart from me and Bullet and maybe your pack, I don’t think she’s had a good experience with alphas. I suppose just give her time to adjust into pack life. She hasn’t had to obey orders since we were kids.”
“Where’s she from anyway?”
Nightshade chuckled, shaking her head. “It took her months to tell me that one, Red. I ain’t gonna give it away to you when you barely know her. Her story is her own to tell.”
“Red?” Natasha said wryly. “How creative.”
“It’s kinda her thing,” the omega in the kitchen – Jake – cut in. “She gives everyone their nicknames. Gave Phoenix hers, and Bullet’s too. And a dozen others out there.”
“What’s yours?” Natasha asked with a grin. She hadn’t wanted to talk directly to the omega before for fear of irritating Nightshade, but if he started the conversation, she figured his alpha would have no qualms with it.
“I don’t do nicknames,” the omega said with a chuckle as he adjusted the heat on the stove. “Never have, never will.”
“It’s a shame,” Nightshade said with a grin, “I had some good ones up my sleeve.”
Nat was distracted as her phone buzz. She pulled it out of her pocket to see a text from Steve lighting her screen. Where are you and Y/N?
Remember that alpha who brought her to us yesterday? We’re at his house. She texted him back.
If Tony had pulled a stunt like that he’d be grounded for a fortnight.
But Y/N’s not Tony. Nat huffed out an irritated breath.
“What’s up?” Nightshade asked, sensing the other alpha’s irritation.
“My head alpha’s being… difficult.”
“Ah, the mighty Captain America. Met him this morning when he and Y/N were out on a run. He’s very…” she thought about her words carefully, not wanting to offend the other alpha. “Pushy,” she ended up deciding on.
Natasha chuckled. “To say the least. He’s usually better than this. He’s always weird when a new pack member comes along. He just needs some time to get his head out of his ass.”
“Is he a good alpha?” Nightshade asked, tone becoming serious. She wanted to know for Y/N’s sake.
“He’s fair, and he’s a good person-“
“That’s not what I asked,” Nightshade cut in, protectiveness of Y/N making her voice sharp.
“Yes,” Natasha said, trying her best to keep her own tone even despite her alpha side wanting to match the other alpha’s tenor. She’s just worried for Y/N, she reminded herself, She’s not having a go at Steve. “He’s a good alpha. He won’t hurt her.”
Nightshade eyed Natasha for any sign of deception. “If he does, I’ll kill him.” Her voice was dead serious, and in that moment, Natasha recognised the look in her eyes as one she’d seen before. The darkness that held guarantee to carry out the promise if need be. She wasn’t bluffing, Natasha knew that much.
“If he hurts her, I’ll hand you the gun.”
Natasha knew these words would assure the alpha more than anything, though she hated saying them. This conversation had taken a very sudden turn down a very dark path. The tensions in the room were high, at least, until Nightshade let out a sharp breath.
“Sorry,” she said, running a hand through her hair. “I shouldn’t have gotten so defensive.”
“You care about her,” Nat said as a way of comfort, “It’s good to know there’s someone in her corner.”
Nightshade nodded respectfully at her words. As if their conversation had summoned the omega, Y/N walked into the room. She looked considerably better. The tension in her muscles had dissipated, and she no longer walked with her shoulders curled forwards, as if she wanted to hide from the world. All good signs.
“Do you two want to stay for dinner? Jake always makes extra,” Nightshade offered.
You looked to Natalia. It was up to her, you figured, as much as you’d love to stay. The redhead tilted her head. Her immediate thought was no, of course, but Nightshade’s words rung fresh in her mind. Just listen to her. Let her give her opinion on things. The girl loves her freedom… “It’s up to you, Y/N.”
You nod slowly. “Can we?”
“Sure,” Nat smiled to reassure you that she really didn’t mind. “I’ll text Steve.”
Hey, Y/n and I are staying at her friend’s place for dinner.
When you get back, come to my room. I want to talk.
Anxiety swirled in Natasha’s stomach. She knew she’d been pushing it a little lately, but she’d kind of hoped Steve would forget about it. She put her phone away, trying to push the anxious thoughts to the back of her mind.
“Dinner’s ready,” Jake called from the kitchen. You looked over to see him trying to balance bowls and glasses and cutlery, and you had to step in. You used your powers to take whatever he had from him and made it all glide over to the table. You’d gotten a lot better at things like that since you were a kid. “Thanks, Phoenix.”
You took a seat across the table from Nightshade and Bullet. There were only four chairs, but it was no matter, because Jake simply sunk to the floor between his alphas. You felt a pinprick of jealousy. You wished you could do that with your alphas. You just couldn’t let yourself trust them. Not yet at least. You made an effort to look away as Nightshade ran her hand through her omega’s hair, and he began purring softly in response. Sometimes you felt like you’d never be able to be that sort of omega. Just giving up complete control like that terrified you.
Out of the corner of your eye, you felt Natalia’s gaze on you. You shifted under the weight of it. “So how are you guys settling into your new place?”
“It’s good here. Better than the old place,” Nightshade said, “Though really, we should be talking about your new place. What’s it like to live in a tower made of a billion dollars?”
You chuckled, stabbing a piece of meat with your fork. “It’s… uh- different.”
“I’ll bet.”
There was silence for a moment before Natalia asked, “So Y/N. You went out to a warehouse, right? What’s there that’s so important to you?” What’s important enough to break the rules and get a punishment, you mean? You thought bitterly.
You looked over to the redhead, trying to decipher why she wanted to know. “Why do you want to know?”
Natalia shrugged, “Just curious.” Her gaze darted around the table to see the other three sitting stiffly, as if they were waiting for you to snap or something. You said nothing, preferring to simply not respond than start an argument. Thankfully, Natalia let the matter drop, and from there, the conversation stuck to small talk. It was about eight when Natalia said, “We should probably head back.”
You nodded, standing, “I’ll visit you guys soon, yeah?”
“Absolutely,” Jake said.
“And if you ever need anything, we’re here,” Bullet added, giving you a meaningful look.
You nodded. “I know.”
With that, you and Natalia left their apartment. The walk back to the Tower was a quiet one, but the silence was comfortable, rather than awkward. You stepped out of the lift as it spat you out on your floor, and Natalia followed closely beside you. It was more bearable to have her close to you after you’d dropped. Her pheromones didn’t affect you nearly as much now.
The two of you entered the common room and you stiffened slightly at the sight of Steve. He had his arms crossed over his chest and a small scowl on his features. He looked downright mad. You were only just able to stop yourself from shrinking away from him, and instead simply acted like he wasn’t there.
“Natasha. With me.”
You let out a breath of relief. His anger wasn’t directed at you. It was directed at Nat. You caught only a hint of Nat’s anxiety in her scent before she quickly covered it and sauntered over to the other alpha, feigning nonchalance. It was moments like that that reminded you she’d received the same training that every other alpha Black Widow has, and that you ought to be warier of her than you were. You could feel yourself letting your guard down, and you knew that that was going to end in nothing but pain.
You quickly exited the room, trying to go unnoticed as you slipped into your room. God, it had been a long day.