The Omega Sacrifice E-Book

N.J. Lysk

• Herausgeber: Palm Hearts
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

Fate arranged their union… Can love keep them together?

Ghian is the leader of his pack and must mate to produce an heir. But females hold no appeal to him and he cannot bring himself to take a life partner just to do his duty.

Aalyan belongs to a pack on the edge of starvation and when he presents omega, his fate is sealed; he must go away. It’s a sacrifice he’s ready to make if it means his people will thrive.

The man waiting for him across the river is nothing like the tyrant he’s been led to expect, but no matter how kind his captor, the role of omega is still a cage Aalyan cannot help but pace within.

When a kiss is demanded, it cannot be true, can it? Can the tenderness of skin waken that of the heart?
An arranged marriage mpreg romance.

Leseprobe

The Omega Sacrifice

N.J. LYSK

Cover by Andi Hara Designs

Copyright 2022 N.J. Lysk

All Rights Reserved.

Table of Contents

Copyright Page

The Omega Sacrifice

Blurb

Prologue

Aalyan

Ghian

Chapter one

Aalyan

Ghian

Aalyan

Chapter two

Ghian

Aalyan

Ghian

Aalyan

Chapter three

Ghian

Aalyan

Ghian

Chapter four

Aalyan

Ghian

Aalyan

Chapter five

Ghian

Aalyan

Ghian

Aalyan

Chapter six

Ghian

Aalyan

Chapter seven

Ghian

Aalyan

Chapter eight

Ghian

Aalyan

Chapter nine

Aalyan

Ghian

Aalyan

Chapter ten

Aalyan

Ghian

Aalyan

Ghian

Chapter eleven

Aalyan

Ghian

Aalyan

Ghian

Aalyan

Ghian

Chapter twelve

Aalyan

Ghian

Aalyan

Ghian

Chapter thirteen

Aalyan

Ghian

Chapter fourteen

Aalyan

Ghian

Chapter fifteen

Aalyan

Ghian

Aalyan

Chapter sixteen

Ghian

Aalyan

Ghian

Aalyan

Ghian

Chapter seventeen

Aalyan

Ghian

Aalyan

Ghian

Chapter eighteen

Aalyan

Ghian

Chapter nineteen

Aalyan

Ghian

Aalyan

Ghian

Epilogue

Other Books by N.J. Lysk

Dedication 

FOR TEE, MY PARTNER; I have learned so much about love with you that nothing I ever write will be without your mark.

With thanks to Molly M Moncrief, who gave me the prompt that started it all. This was meant for your 2021 birthday, but I hope it was worth the wait.

This story wouldn’t be half as good without Alna, Li Iacobacci, Eloise Prime, Tanya Chris, Natalie Petty, Tanya Wheeler and Gema Cela Rodríguez. Thank you for your comments, corrections and typo catching, you are the best cheerleaders!

Blurb

Fate arranged their union...

Can love keep them together?

Ghian is the leader of his pack and as such must mate and produce an heir. But females hold no appeal to him and he cannot bring himself to take a life partner just to do his duty.

Aalyan belongs to a pack on the edge of starvation. When he presents omega, his fate is sealed; he must go away. It’s a sacrifice he’s ready to make if it means his people will thrive.

The man waiting for him across the river is nothing like the tyrant he’s been led to expect, but no matter how kind his captor, the role of omega is still a cage Aalyan cannot help but pace within.

Ghian hopes that tenderness of skin can waken that of the heart.

But can Aalyan open his heart to a love he didn’t choose?

An arranged marriage mpreg romance.

Prologue

Aalyan

Aalyan kept his eyes on the ground as the elders talked around him, his hand absently rubbing the beautiful clothes he’d been given and letting their words wash over him.

He was the topic of discussion, but he wasn’t supposed to speak. It didn’t really matter; he didn’t have anything to say. His ears caught words, but his eyes also snagged on the pile of blue flowers with orange pistils in a calabash, a touch of colour in the low light. He still wasn’t sure any of it was real.

It wasn’t that he truly doubted them, it was just... He didn’t feel any different. It was his packmates—the alphas—who’d changed as far as he was concerned. Their scent commanding his attention in a way that had nothing to do with the healthy respect he’d had for their temperaments before that morning.

That morning. The sun still hadn’t set and they were already— He shook himself, wishing he could cover his ears. It wasn’t like it mattered what he heard, was it? It was all decided.

And he’d heard more than he wanted already.

The Moon was blessing them at last. With a male omega, bringer of prosperity and bountifulness.

There hadn’t been a known male omega in their pack in at least a hundred years. His presentation had been a shock to everyone, but now that they’d got him safely ensconced into the grotto where their most sacred ceremonies took place, they’d all relaxed.

His mother squeezed his hand once again where she sat by his side, her body tense with excitement. And pride. That’s what she’d told him once his Dad had confirmed what had happened, that she was proud of him.

He hadn’t known what to say then either. Proud? Because of something he hadn’t even known had happened, let alone intended? She hadn’t been half as delighted when he and his friends had brought down a huge wild boar on their own last spring.

Proud. Blessed. Sacred.

The words echoed in his head, sounds that could have as well been the raging of a storm for all the sense they made to him.

There had also been some hushed conversations about the fact that he’d thankfully presented at home on a normal day and not outside, or worse yet, during the Full Moon.

No one needed to tell Aalyan what would have happened if he’d been around some young alphas without adult supervision; he’d felt their heavy gazes following him around as he was led to the grotto to meet with their elders.

He wondered if that’s how their prey felt before they fell upon it to tear it to pieces.

***

“AALYAN?” THE ALPHA’S voice startled him into looking up. A frown marred his wrinkled features, their leader was already great grandfather to many cubs, but he was still clear-minded and strong.

“Yes, Alpha?” he said quickly, but the older leopard’s expression only soured further.

“Keep your eyes to yourself,” he was told rather testily, and the words stung like tree branches against bare skin—the shock as painful as the anger that had his inner leopard cowering.

He shuddered and looked down at once. His mother squeezed his back, a silent comfort all she could offer.

The Alpha sighed. “You will learn your new role, Aalyan, the Moon speaks in your heart, you only need to listen to be a good omega to your alpha.”

His heart jumped at the words, starting to race. It was just... Of course he’d known, he was an omega and that meant he had to be mated to an alpha.

A man.

Male omegas were a gift from the Moon, their supreme Alpha, and the goddess hadn’t seen fit to let any other females walk with her power. Male omegas were taken by male alphas, just like female omegas. And like them, they were also meant to be submissive towards alphas, but Aalyan had always thought it was something that came naturally, not a rule.

Of course, as a young beta boy, he’d hardly talked to any of the female omegas in his own pack, at least not about such matters.

Did the young alphas follow them around like they’d done to him? If his father and older brother hadn’t been there to growl at them... He swallowed, exhaling slowly and silently begging his stomach to settle.

“You are special,” the Alpha was telling him. “The Moon has chosen you, chosen us to use your gifts for the good of the pack.”

Aalyan risked a glance upwards, confused. His gifts? Were male omegas actually magical?

His curiosity was a serious mistake because the alpha’s next words hit him right in his open soul. “You cannot remain with us, of course.”

It was his mother’s shushing him softly as she gathered him close that alerted him to the pained noise that’d escaped his own mouth. They wanted him to leave his pack?!

“You needn’t worry, Mareé,” one of the older elders was saying to his mum when Aalyan’s ears began working again. “He will be honoured wherever he goes, every shifter knows what a blessing a male omega is.”

“Indeed,” the Alpha agreed. “And he will be a blessing to us as well. You are a true miracle in these hard times, young man.”

Aalyan knew he should respond, but it was all he could do to keep his face buried against his mother’s shoulder as he trembled, biting his tongue not to cry openly.

Maybe they expected an omega to behave like that because no one called him out on it.

***

AMONG THE LEOPARDS, there were alphas who could have taken him as a mate, so distantly related only the elders could have told them how far back their lines met... But prey had been getting more and more sparse every season, and even though the Moon had blessed their pack with his presentation, it apparently wasn’t out of the question to pass that blessing on to someone else in exchange for something of more value.

Like food. Plenty of it so no one would be struggling.

It wasn’t like Aalyan didn’t know how bad it was to go to bed with a growling stomach on days when they couldn’t bring back enough meat or even fruit. Or like he hadn’t given his younger brother part of his own food to keep from seeing Milthu suffering as he squirmed and sucked on dried bones.

Who could argue that he was worth less than food? Of course he was, he couldn’t keep them alive no matter how many hours he hunted—and now he could no longer do even that much.

He was worth a lot, though, he reminded himself silently. They were asking for a lot of food in exchange for him, what they needed to feed his whole pack for two months or complement their diets for even longer.

Aalyan wouldn’t be with them, but he’d know they were okay, that his Mum wasn’t trying to crush bones to extract some flavour into their stew, that his Dad wouldn’t go hunting in the middle of the night because the guilt didn’t let him rest. They would be okay and as long as he knew that, he could... He squeezed his eyes shut, inhaling deeply, his heart was pounding in his chest, but there was nowhere for it to go and Aalyan couldn’t do what it asked of him.

A gentle hand on his elbow startled him into opening his eyes again.

His mother didn’t speak when their eyes met, but she raised her own chin in silent encouragement and, after a moment, Aalyan followed suit, breathing in and out more slowly.

He could do this. For them.

Ghian

“Ghian?” his brother said.

He swallowed. A male omega. He’d given up on the idea of a mate years ago, when he’d finally told his family that he could not mate a woman. And now... Male omegas were blessings from the Moon, of course, but it seemed like this was a blessing for Ghian in particular. He could finally fulfil his duty to his pack and have children that one day would take over when he was gone. And he could be with someone, really be with them and not just sneak around like...

He shook his head. “And the leopards don’t want him?”

Telez’s mouth turned down. “The leopards are probably thanking the Gods for what they can get for him. You know they lost a lot in that fire the humans started. I don’t think... Well, they need other things a lot more than an omega.”

“What do they want?”

“Food,” his brother said, and Ghian felt the bitter twist of his mouth in his own stomach. Food. To think a pack could be doing so badly they’d need to bargain with one of their own to survive.

And here he was, with crops that gave them more than they needed in the north and fruit trees on the mountainside that not only fed them but attracted prey. Food was the one thing no Jaguar had had to think about in a long time.

It was no accident. Nine years ago, when he’d become their Alpha, Ghian had insisted they start planting cassava. Back then, the elders of his tribe hadn’t seen the need for the sturdy and highly nutritional root vegetable, but once Ghian had been strong enough to take over from his late Father, they’d relented. He couldn’t take all the credit, it had been his sister Erea who’d suggested it, but he was proud of having listened. In truth, he couldn’t say with any certainty that the cassava cultivation had saved them from anything, but now the Jaguars were thriving even while other packs were struggling to keep up with the rapidly diminishing animal and fish populations. When the humans didn’t eat them, they took them away for who knew what, sometimes they simply destroyed their habitats to the point where the animals couldn’t sustain large litters.

Maybe Erea’s prescience hadn’t saved them, but it’d certainly made them safer.

All he had to do was say yes. It was perhaps all Ghian could do, but he was still Alpha, and he asked, “How many?”

“There are about fifty of the Ysiatl,” his brother informed him neutrally.

“We can send them twenty sacks of cassava,” he decided, rapidly calculating. “Every New Moon for the next three months.”

Telez inhaled sharply. It was a lot of food, Ghian knew, more than half of their monthly production if everything went to plan.

“Are you sure?” his brother asked after a long moment.

Strangely, he was; his vacillation all gone. That’s how he knew it was his Goddess’ doing. The Moon was giving him a chance to get what he needed. What his pack needed. And he could not take such a gift without giving in turn. He didn’t know the Ysiatl’s exact circumstances, but he would send them plenty of food for them to eat well for at least three months—longer if they were smart about it. It didn’t feel like enough, even as it would mean his tribe would need to do more hunting and fishing to compensate for the loss of cassava for themselves.

But of course, he was only a man and he could never hope to match the Moon in her greatness.

“I am,” he told Telez. “Can you arrange it?”

***

ONCE UPON A TIME, GHIAN had been a child. The Alpha’s third child, at that. Everyone had looked after him, of course, just like they looked after every other cub.  

And then, at the tender age of eleven, he’d presented alpha himself.

He hadn’t even known who he was, but suddenly everyone else had known. Every kid he’d grown up playing with, every adult he’d tricked into giving him sweets or startled by jumping out from behind a bush while they were busy. Every single person he knew.

They had known and he hadn’t, so why shouldn’t he believe them? Being an alpha meant being like his father, the person he admired most in the world. It meant his father would train him and him alone and he wouldn’t have to wait for his turn to be heard until his older siblings got their say.

It had meant he was special.

He’d felt it too. His dad and he would trek to the top of Mount Lajika to talk to the god of the mountain, just sat there in silence and listened to the rock talk to them. The rock hadn’t been very communicative to Ghian at first, but he’d sat gladly after the hard climb and afterwards his father would smile at him—just with his eyes—and say, “You are doing a good job, son.”

Ghian had been so proud back then, right until he’d had a bad day—some sort of plant had brushed against his leg, irritating it and making it itch so he hadn’t been able to sit still—and received the same kind words.

“A good job? I was shit today!” He’d been twelve, full of energy and spite and very low on sympathy, even for himself.

His dad had looked at him for a long moment, not reprimanding him for his tone. “What do you think the job is, son?”

Ghian had frowned at him. “To— To listen to Apu.”

“Yes, and were you listening?”

“I tried.” He was sulking and he knew it, but even then he was struggling not to scratch his leg. He knew his dad was disappointed and that only made his own disappointment sting all the more.

His father was nodding. “But you couldn’t do it?”

He shook his head, biting his tongue, too close to tears for words.

“Because your body was distracting you,” his father suggested.

Ghian managed a nod, eyes still on the ground, shame hot in his stomach.

“Apu has a body, too, you know?”

“What?” Ghian had glanced up, too thrown to be upset.

His father’s hand had patted the rocky side of the mountain. “This is his body, the part of him we can touch. That’s how he can talk to us, with the wind going through his cracks and crevices, the little pieces of rock eroding away under our feet, and the water dripping from where it gets trapped inside.” He’d reached out to take Ghian’s small hand in his and turned the palm up, tapping it with his fingers. “This is you too, son, and you need to listen to your own body before you listen to anyone else’s, even a god’s.”

Ghian had frowned up at him. “So...”

“So if your body tells you that you are in pain and it cannot wait, you attend to it first.”

“But I’m an alpha, I’m—”

“You are a boy,” his father had cut in. “And even alphas need time to heal, Ghian. We are strong, the Moon blessed us so, but we are not gods.” He had waited for Ghian to nod before turning. “Come now, there’s a grotto this way where we can wash that off.”

Chapter one

Aalyan

It was taking everything in him not to beg. It would only embarrass his Mum, who was trying to put on a brave face. She hadn’t said a thing about being proud of him today. In fact, she’d barely spoken except to try to get him to eat.

The whole pack was celebrating with the cassava they had received from the Jaguars.

It was a little harder for Aalyan, who was the coin that had paid for the food.

Aalyan’s packmates had returned with their prize only a few hours ago and brought over a single man from the Awá to fetch him. No one seemed worried he’d make a run for it the moment they left Ysiatl territory. He didn’t know if they couldn’t hear how fast his heart was going or if they were just determined to pretend nothing was wrong.

The jaguar wasn't in a hurry either, sitting around and chatting with whoever approached him. His pack seemed more curious than hostile towards one of their long-term rivals for the scarce prey. At least that’s how everyone in his pack had always talked about the neighbouring tribe across the water.

Maybe they were just grateful for the food. Aalyan felt too nervous to eat much, but he could still feel their joy, not just the simple ecstasy of bodies getting what they needed but the parents’ relief at the knowledge they would not have to watch their children struggle.

At least for a bit.

He was relieved too, knowing he left them better off, but he just wished he could go ahead and leave them to it. He could handle the situation, the pain, the loss of his family and everyone he’d ever known, but he couldn’t handle their joy—he couldn’t handle knowing they could be happy while losing him. When he couldn’t.

He couldn’t be happy without them, at least not yet.

Maybe not ever. Not with the future he knew awaited him on the other side of the river.

When the Jaguar at last approached him to ask if he was ready, Aalyan dropped the blue flowers whose petals he’d been pulling out in his haste to get to his feet. He didn’t know if going would hurt any less, but at this point, he’d welcome a different type of pain.

Ghian

Ghian sent Telez to get the omega for him as soon as the cassava had been packed for the leopards who’d come to accept the deal. It was not done for an Alpha to leave his territory, not outside of an emergency or war, and he wanted to offer his future mate the kindest person he knew. Even if that person had been the one to suggest his... purchase. The word, even just on his mind, made him tense.

It wasn’t like he was lying to himself; it was the choice he’d made, but it didn’t mean he didn’t wish for something else.

Omegas were supposed to give themselves to an alpha freely. Freedom was what made shifters different from humans—so obsessed with taking and possessing more than they needed, not caring if they left someone else without just to satisfy their pointless avarice.

An omega gave himself to an alpha of his choice with the full knowledge that he’d be taken and treasured, protected and provided for. His future mate could know none of that about him. Even if he’d agreed to come; it was meaningless when they had never set eyes on each other.

Ghian didn’t want to be given respect he didn’t deserve, he wanted to be a leader worth following—strong but merciful, confident but open to listening to others and learning from them. Honourable.

There was nothing honourable about taking a young man—he had to be young, if he’d just presented—from his home, and pressuring him into... he huffed and swallowed.

“I will be taking a mate,” he announced to his pack. It earned him a few gasps and a lot of stares. “There is a male omega.” He pretended not to hear the muffled whispering at that—he’d been shocked himself; their pack hadn’t been blessed with a male omega in generations and there were none in any of the packs they knew of either.

“What’s his name?” it was Erea, of course, always ready to save him from his own awkwardness.

“Aalyan,” he told her, then raised his voice when his pack quieted down. “His name is Aalyan and I expect everyone to make him feel welcome.”

***

HE’D CLIMBED UP HIS favourite tree, an old sumaimeira, tall enough to watch over the area near the river. The Leopards lived on the other side of the water, though further inland. In the end, it made no difference because Ghian forgot to keep an eye out for his brother. It was his biggest weakness, the way his thoughts got away from him.

But as the elders told him, his thoughtfulness also made him a great leader, capable of planning ahead and ensuring his pack flourished. He wouldn’t wish it away, even if he nearly fell off the tree at the sound of his name.

“Ghian!” Erea was at the bottom.

Telez must have been back, and the knowledge of what that meant set his heart racing. He swung off a branch, caught another and then dropped a good six feet, landing right next to his sister, who jumped aside and glared. “Seriously, oh mighty Alpha?” she huffed. “Telez is here with your mate.”

The word was wrong, everything in him said it, even the parts that did not rely on language had a scent, an emotion... an empty space that could only be filled by a specific person. And yet, what sense would it make to correct her when he’d agreed to it already?

Aalyan

Even the jungle was strange here, the vegetation subtly different, the paths unknown to his well-trained hunter eyes. In human form, the jaguars didn’t look particularly different to anyone he’d ever met, their skin was the pale brown of young wood, and though their clothes were richer than Aalyan was used to, they were not any taller than the average leopard. From across the river, their sinuous dark forms had seemed larger, a warning against getting too close to their side.

Even now, they were keeping their distance from him and his guide, but he could still feel their attention upon him as they crossed the clearing. It could have just been the normal curiosity any stranger elicited, but it was hard for Aalyan to forget the way his own packmates had stared. He kept his eyes low, fighting the instinctive need to hide.

He wasn’t used to being around strangers. As a beta, he’d learned to hunt for his pack from early puberty and he’d spent most of his day with a couple other betas finding food. Trade—and they didn’t often have much to trade—was the purview of the elders or at least of adults, not younglings who were only good for their speed and strength. Some of the other boys had claimed they knew they’d be alphas and be given the privileges of the position—Aalyan had thought himself above such fantasies, right until they’d been shattered.

Now he was surrounded by shifters he’d never seen in his life, face upon face he could not place. Now that he was more vulnerable than ever before, he had no one he could truly trust.

The one who’d collected him, Telez, had been quite nice. He was a beta maybe a couple years older than Aalyan himself, but he seemed settled somehow, like he’d figured out where he belonged. But that didn’t mean anything, he’d come to get Aalyan for his alpha brother and he’d deliver him, any kindness he’d extended couldn’t be counted as anything more than good manners.

The Jaguar Alpha had offered his pack a generous portion of cassava for the next three months, and while everyone rejoiced about the feasts they’d have, his mother had drawn him aside to offer some insight. “A man like that will really value you,” she’d said, smiling all the wider as if to make up for Aalyan’s blank expression.

He'd nodded, but it wasn’t much of a relief to know the alpha who’d bought him wanted him so badly that he’d feed his pack for three months to get him. The only thing it truly told him was that the Jaguars had a lot of food. And even if the guy was really all that, it still didn’t change the fact that he was an alpha and he’d want from Aalyan what alphas wanted from omegas.

The words stayed firmly in his head; he was tired of hearing it was as the Moon intended. You couldn’t question the Goddess, of course, but how was he supposed to silence himself?

He didn’t mind the... that they’d got food for him. It was the only thing about this that made any sense to him, that his parents and siblings and cousins and friends wouldn’t have to lay around in the sun and try to sleep to pretend their stomachs weren’t rumbling because the stew had been more water than substance.

It wasn’t like he could have stayed anyway, not when he would soon... He caught the scent first, only a moment later realising it was coming from the side and turning towards it.

The alpha walking towards him didn’t need introductions, even without the beautiful lapis lazuli pendant around his neck, he emanated a breath-taking power and grace.

“My brother,” Telez said next to him, just as the man came close enough to meet Aalyan’s startled eyes. His own were deep and penetrating, the yellow colour startlingly light and his strong factions softened by incongruently long eyelashes and parted lips, plump and the colour of fresh clay. “Ghian. This is Aalyan.”

He didn’t look that much older than Aalyan at all. And yet, he was obviously the Alpha.

It was only then that Aalyan realised he’d been staring an alpha right in the eye for the last minute or so. He jerked his gaze down in a hurry, bowing his head. He’d always assumed submission came naturally to omegas, but if it was meant to, something hadn’t quite worked for him. The very small part of him that still hoped stood to attention at the misstep, but Aalyan kept his mouth firmly shut. He was acutely aware that the rest of the Jaguars could hear him, even if they were giving them space.

“It’s nice to meet you,” the alpha told him. His voice was deep, but not loud.

Aalyan risked a glance, then focused his eyes on the man’s chin—he was tall enough that it was no hardship—and nodded. “Thank you for... Thank you for helping my pack,” he said, because that much was true. He’d never had to think much about whether he was being truthful before, no one had ever cared enough about his opinion for it to matter. He wasn’t sure it mattered now; he didn’t think they’d send him back if he was rude.

And yet, when he caught the grimace on the alpha’s mouth, his heart jumped in alarm. Had that been the wrong thing to say? The Alpha’s next words shocked even his rushing mind into silence. “Did you actually agree to—?”

“We should go somewhere more private,” Telez cut in.

Aalyan turned to look at him, torn between gratitude and shock. He’d never seen a beta interrupt an alpha before, much less the pack’s leader. The Jaguars were proving themselves stranger and stranger by the minute.

The Awá leader just huffed. “Fine, come this way, Aalyan. Telez is going to get us some food, you must be hungry after your journey.”

He was hungry and, for the first time in longer than he could remember, it wasn’t a problem.

It should have been little consolation in the face of never seeing his family and friends again, of living in this strange land, fairly similar but subtly wrong. But he didn’t live in a world where he could afford the luxury of not caring about what his body needed.

Chapter two

Ghian

Aalyan followed him silently back towards his tree—for now, it was best to remain in the open where he’d not feel trapped. Ghian didn’t say anything to him either; he couldn’t think of a single thing that wouldn’t have made things even more awkward.

He’d been so worried about what he’d done that he hadn’t really pictured how this would go. He’d met Leopards before—among many other shifters—but it was quite different to lay eyes on someone already knowing you’d mate them.

It wasn’t like Ghian had never enjoyed a tumble with a friend, of course, even before... He shook himself, digging his nails into his palm to get back his focus. That was all done with, long gone. He’d missed it, of course, but who wouldn’t when all the sex they could have was more a favour between friends than true intimacy?

This would be different, claiming someone was beyond intimacy, it meant they became a part of you—to protect and nourish.

Ghian had no idea how it would feel. And he had no idea who the man following him through the forest was, other than a leopard.

Leopards weren’t that different, really. Still a cat, and still shifters. Once upon a time, one of his ancestors had taken a human mate after falling for her when he’d been hunting close to human territory. She’d been seduced by the mysterious stranger who spoke a tongue just close enough to her own for basic conversation, but she’d not taken it well when he’d taken her home to his people and revealed his secret nature.

Humans didn’t like strangers, and they most definitely didn’t like strangers who were stronger and faster than them.

Not that any shifters would even think of touching a human in anything but self-defence in their day and age—even the most traditional of human tribes seemed to have forgotten their responsibilities to the land that fed them. It was not fair to generalize, but it was hard for him to forget or forgive the cries of the trees as their fellows were cut down across the forest.

It was only when the omega stumbled that Ghian remembered he was there. He turned to see him holding onto a low branch, the arm he extended was corded with muscle. He was younger than Ghian but maybe not that young—leopards were a little smaller than them in general and Aalyan was no exception. But he was at least 5’9 and well-built for all he was slim. His green eyes had just a hint of yellow to them and dark heavy lashes that matched his eyebrows.

As he straightened, those eyes met Ghian’s, then flickered away.

“Come up,” Ghian asked and leapt until he could get one of the thicker branches to swing himself up his tree.

Aalyan

Heart racing, and digging his nails into the wood with a silent apology, Aalyan scrambled up after the Alpha. Ghian, he mentally corrected himself. He settled on a branch opposite, with plenty of space between them. It wasn’t like anyone had told him what he was supposed to do when he came, what his new alpha would expect. Other than... He pushed the thought away; maybe he was afraid but that didn’t mean he had to make it completely obvious.

“This... this is quite strange, isn’t it?” the alpha asked him, and his hesitation made Aalyan forget to keep his eyes respectfully down.

“Yes,” he agreed, which seemed safe enough. He didn’t think the alpha was talking about Aalyan himself, though he’d seen plenty of evidence of how strange he was to those who could perceive his presentation.

In the silence, he heard the alpha swallow, but he hardly knew what else he could add. “You’re— I know you can’t be happy about this,” the Jaguar told him.

“What?” He straightened, heart speeding up. From the moment he’d presented, all he’d heard was how lucky he was, even his own mother had said so. Aalyan hadn’t been able to believe it, not when he knew what he’d have to do as an omega, but for the man who’d paid sixty sacks of cassava for him to suggest...

“I’m sorry,” the alpha told him. As far as Aalyan could judge, he meant it. “I mean that I know this must be difficult for you.”

Aalyan blinked, scrambling for words. “It is strange,” he echoed, though the sympathy was even stranger. “But, I mean...” He shrugged. Back in his pack, the others’ incomprehension had seemed terrible, but if the alternative was pity, he’d take their congratulations any day. He couldn’t change what he was, or what he had to do, what was the point of dwelling on it?

“Did they ask you?”

“Ask me...?” Aalyan repeated. The Jaguars’ dialect was only slightly different to his own, but he could make little sense of what their leader was telling him.

“If you wanted to come here,” the alpha said slowly, like the words were hard to get out. “To be my mate.”

It was true that omegas did get a saying in who their mate was—females did, that was. He was different. He was different because he would... He exhaled slowly, there was no disguising his nerves, but he didn’t want to freak out, or worse yet, cry.

“They couldn’t ask me,” he bit out, surprising himself with the anger in his own voice.

He’d thought it was all settled, at least. It was bad enough he had to go through with it, without needing to discuss it.

“Why not?” The question was soft, but the words cut like claws through his guts.

“Because I couldn’t stay!” Aalyan spat. And if he couldn’t stay, what did it matter to him where he went? What was so different about one strange alpha or another when it really came down to it? They all wanted him for the same thing, didn’t they? The only thing he was good for now.

“They could still have asked,” the alpha insisted, and Aalyan gritted his teeth. No, they couldn’t have, they needed food and they couldn’t let Aalyan stay and get knocked up when he went into heat and add half a dozen mouths they wouldn’t be able to feed.

“If I would rather starve?” he asked bitterly, the words spilling out of him like vomit. Maybe it wasn’t fair, but neither was Aalyan’s life, and he didn’t like the way the Jaguar was implying he should blame his pack for it. They had seized the chance, of course, and they had called what had happened a blessing, but they hadn’t asked the Moon to do this to him.

And the Alpha was benefiting just as much as they were, wasn’t he?

“No,” the Jaguar said, firm but never raising his voice. The calmer he was, the more Aalyan wanted to scream. “If you wanted to do this, if you agreed to... to help your pack like this.”

Aalyan bit his lip, forcing himself to breathe slowly until he could be sure his voice was civil. It was too late to go back now, to ask if anyone else would take him—no alpha would want him after he’d been alone with this one, even if nothing had happened. “I don’t care, I would have said yes.”

And he would have too, he realised. There had been no point in asking him if he wanted to come except to pretend he had a choice. Just as there had been no point in offering him sympathy when they could offer him no relief—maybe they’d just wanted to give him the one thing he could keep; his dignity.

“Okay,” his future mate said softly. “That’s good then.”

Aalyan had nothing to say to that.

Ghian

Why had he even asked? Of course Aalyan was all too aware he hadn’t really had a choice.

He was grateful when Telez arrived with food—grabbing the rope and pulling up the basket provided a much-needed break in the conversation. The omega’s attention was immediately diverted by the food. How badly were they struggling? Maybe the food he’d sent wasn’t adequate, maybe he needed to make arrangements to teach the leopards how to plant their own.

But they wouldn’t take the help, not without a price tag. Once upon a time, they’d been allies, visited and feasted, sometimes even ran together during the Full Moon. But that had been before prey had become scarce and the river a line they all knew not to cross.

He silently held out the basket to Aalyan, who took it, but then again, he knew what the price was, didn’t he?

Aalyan bit into a piece of bread with relish, only to slow down almost at once. Ghian had never seen anyone chew their food that thoroughly and it took him a moment to understand he was trying to make it last. He barely bit his tongue back in time before he offered a reassurance that would have been the height of rudeness. Was that because he felt an instinctive need to make the omega feel safe? He knew he could be overprotective; it was a bit of a running joke that he was going to lose it if he ever had a child.

A child... He looked away from the omega sitting across from him and occupied himself with a piece of salted meat. He wanted children, very much so, but the idea of having them with this stranger was unsettling. He gulped down some of the water his brother had helpfully provided. He was being ridiculous, and he knew it. Here was this man, someone who’d probably had no idea he could have children inside his own body up until a week ago, and Ghian was worrying because they had just met? Aalyan had to be terrified.

And it was Ghian’s responsibility to make sure he knew he’d be taken care of, valued, treasured, respected. Aalyan was an Awá now, and soon, he’d be Ghian’s mate.

“Let’s say we both said yes,” he suggested, offering the water to Aalyan.

The omega blinked but accepted it. His eyes were a little wary, but he was looking at Ghian—he’d probably never learned to look down. Fuck that, why should he? Ghian needed to know what he was thinking and since he clearly wasn’t big on talking, his eyes were the best he had to go on.

“But this is still new and all, so... We can take a little time.”

“I thought we only had until I went into heat,” Aalyan pointed out, it was said calmly, but no sooner had the words left his lips, he tensed up.

And yet, he was absolutely right. They were creatures of instinct, and they owed everything to the Moon. If Ghian delayed this, if he was kind and let his need to protect Aalyan get the better of him, would he have really been doing him a favour? Or would he just have been letting things run their course until neither of them had a choice anymore?

“You’re right,” he conceded. “I just wanted to make sure you knew I...” He paused, swallowing. “I appreciate you being here.”

“You don’t want me,” Aalyan said suddenly, his pulse had sped up again and he’d lowered the hand holding the piece of fresh fruit he’d been devouring moments before.

“No!” Ghian said immediately. “Of course I want you.” At least his Jaguar wanted him and he hoped that was true enough. He felt like he’d been holding himself back since he’d laid eyes on Aalyan, the scent of him combined with the curve of his neck awaking a hunger he’d never given into before. It wasn’t like his animal self did not want female omegas; it’d always been Ghian’s human side that had resisted. And he was still resisting now. “I just met you, but you are...” He gestured. “Beautiful.” He decided. “Strong,” he added, but then he thought, would that sound like he meant strong for childbirth?

He dug his claws into the bark beneath him and the tree groaned in protest. He made himself breathe deeply and loosen his grip, brushing an apology against the damaged wood. With effort, he looked at the man putting his life in his hands in the eye and admitted, at last, “I don’t know what I’m doing, I did not expect to have a mate. I did not expect a male omega, and I couldn’t have mated a female. Not even for my pack.”

“Why not?” Aalyan asked.

Ghian tensed up. It was the only part of himself he hadn’t been able to give them, not even when his Jaguar was on their side and would have gladly mated a woman for the purpose.

“I don’t... I can’t love a woman, not as a mate should.” The words were dry in his mouth, but once they were out, he could breathe again.

The omega’s eyes were intense, as if they were looking deep into him, but then they flickered away and returned calmer. “So I’m your only choice.”

Ghian wanted to deny it, to apologize, to make it better.

But before he could think of anything to say, Aalyan nodded. “Good, then we’re even, you’re my only choice too.”

For the first time, he didn’t seem scared or angry, just certain. It wasn’t the kind of certainty Ghian wanted to inspire on the man he’d spend his life with, but the first rule of being Alpha was to put others’ needs before your own, so he said nothing.

***

HIS TRAINING HADN’T been easy, but he’d been able to see the wisdom he was being offered for the treasure it was. And his dad had been wise enough to entice Ghian into meditation and other practices an active child would not be particularly well-suited for by promising trips to explore their territory or visit other packs. He couldn’t remember ever being happier.

But childhood couldn’t last forever, and safety had lasted even less. As the next alpha of the pack, Ghian got to listen to all the harm humans were doing and the need to stop them before they destroyed the jungle for everyone.

It hadn’t felt like his old friends could understand. When he’d spent the morning contemplating the possibility of an attack, their jokes about who’d slipped during the hunt that day couldn’t quite land. And he wasn’t allowed to tell them; it was his responsibility to know and to decide, so they could feel safe.

No one had forbid him from spending time with other people his age, although girls had started to steer clear of them as not only him but other boys presented as alphas, but as he grew older, he’d grown apart from them all.

It was no wonder, really, that he’d wandered down a random path that day after his father had brought up the possibility of attacking humans before they got a chance to attack them. The wind did not always respond, but it was a good listener.

He hadn’t meant to cross over into another pack’s territory, but the other boundaries were a lot less clear than the river that separated them from the Ysiatl.

Aalyan

The food was the best thing Aalyan had ever tasted, and the portions were beyond generous. He wondered if they were having it on top of a tree because it was the kind of fare the pack could only offer to their leader, the kind of things most of its members shouldn’t see so they wouldn’t be tempted by what they couldn’t have.

As strange as the variety of the feast they’d been brought was the pulley system to bring it up, a seemingly pointless expense both in terms of materials and time. But the alpha hadn’t even looked at the mechanism, like this too was normal to him.

He watched the alpha eat, the way he forgot about a morsel for a while like the act of feeding was casual to him.

Aalyan had known that things were different for the Awá, of course, but tasting it was even more surreal. He got to have this and back home his people got to have some of it, enough cassava to get them by for a few months, and maybe if they used the time wisely, if they—