Chapter Thirteen
Wallace
A notification woke me before Roan did. It was only our second day in my new home, which wasn’t the original home they’d tried to give me.
As an alpha with a mate, they decided I’d needed a larger home, not quite an estate like Noel’s, nor staffed, but five bedrooms, each ready for a child to inhabit.
A reminder that he was destined to breed.
Many years ago, it’d been a library, a small one, but dwindling populations and digitization had rendered it unnecessary. So, they’d renovated it for a polycule at one point, rehabilitation housing at another, and as of the day prior, our home.
I yawned and sat up, rubbing at my eyes. I made a gesture of confirmation in the air once I checked to see if Roan and I were decent. “Hello?”
“Friend Wallace!” Fel beamed at me from a window, Robard in the background. “The implantation was successful! I am gravid!”
Between the beat of one of my hearts and the next, I snapped awake, eyes wide. “That’s great! Congrats! Just the one, right?”
“Just the one. One is far more than I ever could have asked for! And a mate—” Fel choked as a rather red arm wrapped around his waist.
“Mates.” Kris nuzzled against Fel, dominating the screen for a moment.
“Robard and I haven’t decided if we’ll accept your bite. There’s paperwork and discussion… I’ll be the first to form a proper triad, so we need to—” Fel moaned, his voice cut off as Kris made a show of sucking and licking at his neck on his unmarked side.
“But I want to.” Kris literally purred, and the call shut off, feed ending as I became very aware of Roan rising at my side with a sleepy blink.
“Good for them, I suppose? Keeps things from getting messy. I don’t need a beta, or a third.” Roan yawned and nudged his head into my shoulder, his tail burrowing under the sheets to tangle with mine.
It was no small miracle when I managed to pull myself away from Roan, avoiding a morning session of making him come again and again until he went limp and complacent.
He was a bit of a brat without at least one.
I could handle it, though. I always loved giving more than receiving.
I could switch when I had the notion, but I derived more pleasure from making my partners delirious with pleasure, and I could be selfish with it.
With a little bit of whining, Roan rose from bed and followed me to the shower and gave me a cold shoulder as we washed up and dressed in what was considered nice clothing.
Alphas wore loose tank-top-type draped cloth with flowy pants.
Omegas wore barely anything: cropped tops, kilts of a type, short pants with spacious insides.
Betas could wear anything they preferred; but longer kilts and had the option of wearing longer sleeves as they tended to run colder than their alpha and omega counterparts.
As we left the building, Roan followed me with pinched shoulders.
His omega designation and beautiful coloration still unsettled him.
But his beauty standard was so geared toward Terran desires that he couldn’t see beyond the magazines and glitz.
Simultaneously obsessed with the Progenitors but disgusted by their kin.
I couldn’t jar him from his lived reality, but still, as we walked, I leaned in and nuzzled his mark, inhaling deeply.
“Lift your head. Remember what Noel said?”
“Noel has said a lot of things and less than half of them don’t make my eye twitch.” Roan glanced at me with a sidelong stare.
“The greatest honor an omega can have is being chosen by an alpha.” I smiled when his face twisted and earned a glare from an omega walking by. “But the opposite is true. The greatest honor I could have is being chosen by you.”
The glaring omega passing by relaxed his posture and flicked his tail in apologetic greeting as he kept on his way.
“That is cheesy as fuck.” Roan stared me down, and I kissed the glare away.
No matter how much he was worth, beneath it all, he was just another hybreed who’d lived a life doing anything he could to get one step higher up the ranks.
But never equal to that of a human. And a world that worshiped Progenitors but held on to archaic blood purity of humanity, races, and more?
It was a dichotomy and hypocritical. All it made was mentally unwell lizard men carrying echoes of a fallen civilization and the prejudices of all that came before.
Horny lizard men.
“Extremely. But can I still be happy?” I twined my tail with his in that gentle little gesture that sent shivers up my spine, and he relaxed.
With a gentle sigh, he leaned into my side and made every fear I had melt away. “I settle for nothing but the best, and I strive to overachieve. If anyone would bear two eggs, it would be me and my exceptional mate.”
My chest puffed with pride, and we made our way to the medical center in earnest, finding Fel’s office by memory.
When we sidled in with a knock, Fel glanced up at us from Kris’s lap, Robard at his side with a hand resting on Fel’s thigh with a gentle appearance. Swishing tails curled from one to the other.
“Our first triad,” I said as we came by to pay proper respects to the new throuple.
“Not the first, but the first in a very long time.” Fel leaned his head to display a new bite mark, both his mates lifting their chins with pride, a gleam of magenta blood still streaking new binding bites.
Fel shifted in place and placed his feet across Robard’s lap, trying to equally dole out his affections and touch.
“So, you’re expecting an egg and mated! What did Zurok have to say?” I flicked my tail with joy, and Fel smiled.
“He was hesitant, but Noel kept shouting do it, do it, do it in the background. And well, Zurok relented!” Fel chuckled.
“The only reason we’re not at my home already is because we were waiting for you, Friend Wallace.
I wanted to show you the images, and I wish to make sure your mate has some supplemental nutrition. ”
As I tried to imagine Noel doing such a thing, Fel handed Roan a piece of paperlike material with a list of items on it, some of which I’d been told were rationed.
They’d well prepared for the oncoming wave of children to come, so things better for forming young were stocked and ready.
I took the list from Roan to read, brow furrowed.
“I’ll ensure he listens to you, my friend. ”
Fel preened at the title. “I don’t know if I’ll necessarily need more assistance with my young with two mates. Though, you will need much help.”
“If all three of you need some time together—” I shrugged. “I’m here.”
The idea was a new thought, it seemed, as Fel’s eyes widened.
Robard and Kris glanced at one another, tails flicking curiously.
Group-think running its course, they came to a conclusion slower than most. The concept of having children and needing to balance that part of their lives wasn’t a consideration, ever.
I’d grown up among families and people that could, so those things occurred to me, especially since I’d had a reawakening of those memories with Nexus and Noah running about.
“Well, you are friends with many of us, aren’t you, Wallace?” Fel blinked curiously.
“At this point, it might as well be my assignment to start setting up a daycare.” Wallace sighed. “Or at least managing the kitchen for one.”
Roan rubbed his chin, brow furrowed. “There’s a daycare basically being run at Noel’s. Perhaps we should borrow Nexus and Noah and make sure more omegas have the opportunity to be around children and learn.”
“That does seem like a good idea. I think that’s been Zurok’s intention in having omegas come to aid in Noel’s household. This would progress things.” Fel hummed. “And having our young socialize would be an ideal situation…”
“Let’s start setting it up, then.” I shrugged. I needed something to do. “Managing the scavengers’ meals has well prepared me for this.”
Kris and Robard snickered.
“I got plenty of uncle time with Nexus.” Kris saluted me.
“You were the one that helped him unscrew the vents to hunt the lyrets.” I glared at him, and Kris pursed his lips, trying to look innocent.
“Kris will need to learn proper parenting skills as well.” Fel glared at the male as Robard snickered. “Both of you.”
“I’m always around, and Noel enjoys children. Vil has no problems passing down his sage words of unwisdom.” I grinned.
Fel smiled, his opinion on Vil far higher than what it should have been. He was a great leader, the luckiest bastard I’d ever met, but he was far too rash and impulsive. Also, he was emotionally young. Like he never grew up.
I wasn’t certain he’d ever been allowed to be a child when he was one.
Much like Noel, but he handled it so differently.
Noel’s impulses had all been stricken, while Vil embraced them.
Either way, his playfulness was adored by the omegas—likely because his childlike enthusiasm triggered something in their overwhelming, misplaced parental urges.
“I suppose I could facilitate such an endeavor. Being wealthy only has so much power on the outside. Here, I’m effectively worthless.” Roan frowned, and I flinched before resting a hand on his lower back.
“All I can do is cook and wrangle brats. I’m sure you have something great you can do here. Aren’t you a whiz at logistics?” I rubbed his lower back as he sank in his own self-doubt.
“Their logistics system is flawless already. I’m useless unless it’s capitalism. Their current socialist system has functioned well for them, and introduction of my skills could actually upset the balance they’ve perfected.”
“What about setting up interstellar trade?”
“They don’t need for anything other than entertainment. I’m sure we could trade something for it.” Roan shrugged.
“Kishka is over the entertainment streams for our providence. Talk with him and see if you can think of a way to bring more media in.” Fel’s suggestion made Roan frown.
“I’m afraid our entertainment could bring ideas and unhealthy concepts.” Roan frowned. “I’m a product of a greedy society.”
Fel twisted his lips. “That’s a large conundrum. Why would you be happy here without the luxuries you’ve accumulated for yourself?”
“Because the only reason I was tolerated in Terran society was because I’d amassed the wealth I had.” Roan sighed heavily. “Otherwise, I was just another hybreed. Money only goes so far.”
I stroked over Roan’s head and leaned down to give him a kiss. “What if you worked to create entertainment? You told stories of the outside world? What if you worked to bring more alphas and betas in? We will need to travel, eventually.”
“There are those of us who would enjoy leaving.” Fel gave a half smile. “Not me, but Zurok wanted to reach out for more alphas and betas if they’re as kind and willing as the teams we have here.”
“I do have good-vested interests in the background check and tracking of hybreeds…” Roan frowned.
“And it would let me travel back and forth to tend my vestments and liquidate them… If I want to stay here… And I would need to set things up if omegas wanted to leave. I could use some of my estate to support that.”
I patted Roan’s back. “One step at a time. Don’t get ahead of yourself.”
“Why are you worried about doing anything at all, Roan? If you don’t want to do anything but live, do so.
You don’t have to have roles. Some of us don’t do anything at all but enjoy life.
We’ve reached a point in our society where not everybody needs to work.
Some of us go out a few times a rotation to assess prey populations to thin herds for food.
We determine the number that we both need to harvest and versus what we need for food.
We extrapolate. With children, things become complicated.
There’ll be more to do, but find the flow of life where you feel fulfilled.
Nobody is more important than the other. ” Fel sighed heavily.
But like most of us, Roan had no idea what to do if he didn’t have a job, a purpose, an indwelt assignment. And Roan’s specialty was people, manipulating them, corralling them. Roan always got his way.
“For fuck’s sake, how did I go from your archnemesis, sucking the heart from an hour’s postpartum omega and ruining your lives, to being mated to you with promises of acceptance and happiness?” Roan deflated, his tail going limp.
“Archnemesis? Vil just thought you were an ass. It’s been competition.
As soon as we all got our cuts adjusted, and you made good, all was forgiven.
And for the Noel thing? Doc had everything figured out.
Your move cemented Noel’s place with us.
I mean—things happen for a reason, right? Gorma or something?” Kris shrugged.
“It’s klarma? Isn’t it?” Robard beamed.
“Both of you are wrong. It’s kermit.” Roan rolled his eyes. “And I’ve earned enough bad kermit in my lifetime to not deserve any of this.”
“Sometimes, good things happen to bad people in just the right way to remind them to be good. Maybe kermit has chosen you to heal?” Fel smiled. “Unless this is religion. Then please take your kermit deity god thing elsewhere because religion causes…”
Fel’s tail gestured as if he were pointing to all the things around us.
“Colthraxians had religion. We didn’t worship a kermit, but we had gods, an embodiment of the perfect host and the all-seeing seeder.
The roles and sacrifices they made told us that the spirit of all living beings capable of hosting a Colthraxian desired it and were better for it.
Our inhabiting a body ensured its soul a paradise. ”
“Kermit isn’t religion, it’s just this saying that good things come to good people as a universal reward system for doing good.” Kris laughed Fel off. “It makes people feel like there’s a reward for not being a piece of shit.”
“And sometimes, being a unit of feces makes good things happen to you, too.” Fel huffed. “We only need to be better because even if you have everything, you still smell foul.”
“Couldn’t have said it better, myself.” I leaned into Roan’s side and sniffed dramatically. “You’ve aired out quite a bit.”
Despite the contrite expression on his face, his tail curled into mine. “Now, let’s see these images. I want to see what we have to look forward to with Roan.”
And it was actually kind of beautiful.