Hidden

“Pretty nice place, huh?” Buckie said happily from his seat beside me, pushing out waves of satisfaction and contentment as we drove lazily towards my doom.

It was an idyllic-looking town, filled with perfect suburban houses ringed with white picket fences and artfully cultivated rose bushes. The lawns were green and the streets were spotlessly clean.

My eyes focused on a small ball of fluff and i felt my mouth fall open. Was that a cat?

Fuck, it was. An actual cat. It looked healthy too, which meant it was someone’s pet. I tried to recall the last time I saw an animal that wasn’t food, but honestly, I couldn’t remember. I actually kinda liked cats too.

It was like I'd gone back in time - to a world that existed before everything turned to shit, before the people became fucking monsters and I became the lowest man in the totem pole.

I should have been relieved, but the futurist in me wasn't buying it. It felt too good to be true - like everything else, this little slice of alpha heaven was doomed to eventually crumble to dust.

Probably after they paired me with an alpha and I became a baby factory.

I realised Bucky was still watching me and waiting for a response. I shrugged and settled further into my seat. “It’s great, if you like the stepford wives look.”

My response was sharper than I’d intended. I wanted to appear cool and unaffected but the truth was I was pushing out enough stress hormones that even I could smell them.

What the hell were they going to do to me?

Steve gave me a fleeting, indiscernible look before turning back to the road. “You know, most people would kill to live in a place like this.”

“I guess I’m not like most people then.”

“No,” he agreed, pulling the car in front of a house that looked similar to all the others lining the street, except this one had a group of people standing in front of it. “I guess not.”

“Is this where you guys drop me off?” I asked, my voice weirdly small.

I counted ten people in total. Other than the inn and the bandits we’d encountered, it was the most people I’d seen in years. Despite the fact that these guys looked cleaner and less murdery than my last few encounters with people, I still felt utterly terrified.

What in the hell were they going to do to me?

Before I could flinch away Steve grabbed my jaw. The movement was surprisingly gentle, but firm enough that I couldn’t easily break free. I automatically bared my teeth in response, releasing a small warning growl. Steve unsurprisingly ignored the pathetic attempt at a warning, unconcerned that I could pose a threat.

“I’ll warn you only once Tony, these people aren’t like Buckie or me. If you hurt them, it’s permanent.”

“Good to know,” I said, unblinking in my response. I was pretty pleased with myself too, until he snarled back at me with a low, deep growl. I recoiled violently enough that I managed to pull free from his grasp, practically bouncing off Buckie’s chest in the process.

I could feel eyes on me from all directions. I thought I might be sick.

“He gets it Steve,” Bucky said gently. His hands came up to grasp my upper arms. “You’re not going to hurt anyone. Right doll?”

“Right,” I answered, hating myself when I dropped my gaze, but with both alphas close proximity and the scent of Steve’s anger I was physically incapable of keeping up the bravado act. I wanted out of the car.

As if he was reading my mind Buckie opened the car door and stepped gingerly outside. He held it open for me, and I was desperate enough to get away from Steve that I hurried after him. Which turned out to be a mistake when I came face to face with a small, beautiful woman with bright red hair and vibrant blue eyes.

“Hi Tony,” she greeted me, smiling serenely. “I’m Natasha.”

I couldn’t catch her scent, but she definitely wasn’t an omega. I offered her a slight nod, retreating until my back was against the car and I could keep everyone safely in my eyeline. I didn’t trust her - almost immediately I recognised that she was a threat.

“Sup,” I offered flatly.

She frowned, looking almost disappointed. I held her gaze for a few seconds before flashing a fake smile. Her eyebrows actually rose at that - I think I may have surprised her.

“And I’m Darcy,” a young woman - definitely an omega judging by her height and her flowery scent - said brightly, bouncing her way into my space and offering her wrist in a traditional omegan greeting. When I didn’t respond she dropped her wrist and took a few steps back. “Ooo-kay, well anyway, I'm super psyched you’re here.”

“Didn’t really have much of a choice,” I said, disliking the way my stomach twisted in fear when Steve frowned at me.

“Well you're here now, thank god. And you're not a zombie either. I know we don’t really know one another yet, but I can already tell you have an actual personality! I thought I was the only one left,” she surprised me by poking me in the stomach. “When was the last time you ate dude? Omegas aren’t supposed to be skin and bone! You need some serious meat on your bones. Come with me - we’ll leave these guys to talk about us - they like that.” I flinched when she grabbed my hand and I instinctively dug in my heels. She staggered to a halt and threw me a bewildered look over her shoulder. “What, you’d rather stay here with the alphas?

Nope, absolutely-fucking not.

“I didn’t think so. Come on!” She grabbed the arm of a random kid on our way out, who released a tiny squeak of alarm but didn’t resist as he was dragged beside me.

“Tony,” Steve said quietly, causing Darcy to actually pause. “Behave…”

He let the threat go unanswered, so I replied by flipping him the bird. Steve’s face went an interesting shade of red, but I didn’t get to enjoy it for long before I was being dragged inside the house.

Darcy didn’t let either of us go until we were in the hallway.

“Sorry about that, but you smelled like you were two seconds away from a full blown panic attack. Honestly, the second someone brings in a new omega everyone loses their shirt.”

I decided I wasn’t remotely capable of absorbing her words and turned to the kid instead. He was a little shorter than me, with soft brown eyes and hair. He looked like he was in his teens, though I couldn’t begin to guess his exact age. “And you are?”

“Oh, I’m-I’m Peter,” the kid said earnestly, offering me his hand. I looked at it for a long time, before eventually deigning to take hold. “It’s so good to meet you. I’ve been dying to talk to you since Buckie first radioed in. Is it true you know how to hotwire a car? Can you teach me?”

I felt a smile threatening to break free and furiously quashed it down - I would not drop my guard because they shoved two weirdly heathy-looking omegas at me. I allowed my eyes to roam over the kid, taking in his throat and looking for signs of a mating mark or abuse. I was both relieved and suspicious when I didn’t find anything. “Sure do, kiddo. You interested in mechanics?”

“I’m interested in pretty much anything that isn’t farming.”

Tony lost his battle with his smile. “You and I both, kiddo.”

“So, what do you wanna do first Tony?” Darcy piped up. “Are you hungry?”

I shrugged - I wasn’t hungry, considering the amount of protein bars I’d inhaled over the last few days, but turning down food was just plain stupid. If I got the chance to run, I’d take in a heartbeat, and that meant that I should eat anything offered to me. “I could eat.”

“Great, follow me!”

I jumped a mile when Peter slipped his hand into mine. It wasn’t like the kid was an infant or that we were best friends. You didn’t go around just holding strangers goddamn hands, even if you did have crazy big eyes and smelled like baby omega.

“You eh, wanna explain what you’re doing there kiddo?”

“Sorry - sorry Tony. It’s just that you were eh - you’re…”

I looked at him expectantly. He hadn’t released my hand.

“You’re trembling,” he said in a rush.

Was I? Weird, now that I was paying attention, he was right. My whole body was vibrating.

Darcy was waiting for us a little way ahead. She smiled gently. “Hey, we get it, believe me. But I promise, you’re going to be ok. The people here, they’re good. Kind.”

“No where’s good or kind anymore,” I said without thinking and immediately felt like I’d kicked a puppy when the kid looked up at me with his huge brown eyes.

They took me to a house awash with the scent of pregnant omega. I realised I was scrunching up my nose when the kid laughed at me.

“This is our space,” Darcy said, leading me into a large, clean kitchen. She opened the fridge and dumped an obscene amount of food onto the counter. “No alphas allowed.”

“And they actually stay out?”

“Always,” she said, looking serious. “I think if they tried to come in, Natasha would decapitate them.”

“Uh huh, and Natasha, she’s what, exactly?”

“Damned if I know. Hey, Petey, grab me the mayo would ya.”

The boy released my hand and obediently collected the condiment from the fridge. I tried not to gawk. Mayo, seriously?

I almost jumped a mile when another presence entered the room. She was tall, with long red hair and a young, attractive face. She shot me an equally startled look, scuttling backwards and placing her hand protectively over the prominent bump she was carrying.

“Oh, hey Scarlet,” Darcy greeted the other woman, gesturing between them with her butter knife. “This is Tony. Tony, Scarlet. We were about to grab a bite. You hungry?”

“Is he - is he safe?” She asked, eyeing me dubiously.

I almost looked over my shoulder. Did she seriously mean me? It was almost laughable. No one, ever, had looked at me and wondered if I was dangerous. Granted, I looked like a hobo and maybe smelled a little wild, but I seriously doubted I looked scary.

“Relax lady,” I said, deciding I didn’t like her too much, but accepting the fact she was pregnant and I was a stranger in her space. “Unless you're an alpha that can’t keep their hands to themselves, we’re good.”

She still looked dubious, but she nodded reluctantly, grabbed a coffee mug and bolted.

“Don’t mind her,” Pete said softly, pressing his weight against my shoulder. “She had it pretty tough before she got here.”

“Didn’t we all,” Darcy declared before dropping two identical plates down in front of me and Pete. “Eat up boys.”

Peter scrunched up his nose and picked up a corner of the sandwich before taking a dubious sniff. “What is this?”

“P&J!”

“With Mayo?”

“I ran out of the J,” she fell into the seat opposite and took a large bite. “Try it, it’s good.”

I highly doubted that, but I took a quick bite and decided I’d eaten much worse.

“So what do you wanna know?” Darcy asked after successfully inhaling her food.

I took another bite, chewing as he considered his answer.

“How about everything?”