Chapter Text
It took Tommy a long time to calm down after that.
The fear still lingered, pressing his heart against his ribs, but it didn’t sting as much as the way his eyes lashes stuck together or even how heavy he felt. He kept his face tucked against Techno’s shoulder as the werewolf hummed and rocked him back in forth. Occasionally, he would whisper something, but none of it made sense.
Right now everything hurt a lot. He sniffed, nose still stuffy despite the lack of tears.
Techno just rumbled, “You calmed down now, kid?”
“No,” Tommy mumbled, tears burning at his eyes again at the sound of Techno’s voice. “I’m not.”
“I think you are,” Techno said the words all fond. “You’re not crying anymore, runt.”
The word made his gut twist. “Runt?”
“A name for my pup. You’re a small thing, Theseus. Small but a fighter. That’ll serve you well.”
Tommy couldn’t help but press his face back into Techno’s neck. The tears that had begun to gather on his lashes wouldn’t seem to leave but at least he could pretend like he didn’t notice them when he pressed his face into the dark warmth of Techno’s neck.
He ignored how safe he felt at the moment. Because he wasn’t safe. And even as his mind relaxed, he couldn’t make his heart stop racing. Even if Techno was nice and had pretty hair because he was still a werewolf.
The thought pushed away part of the buzz in his mind. “Um. Techno?”
“Yes, pup?”
“If you’re not gonna eat me,” He said slowly, trying not to show how scared he was at the idea of being eaten. “Why’d you take me?”
Techno made another soothing rumble. “I told you, pup. You’re mine. I’m your alpha.”
But Tommy didn’t know what that
meant.
“And right now,” Techno pulled him away so he could meet Tommy’s eyes. “You’re just a little tiny thing. And you need to be taught. One day, Theseus, you’ll be a full-fledged wolf. You just got to let me teach you.”
That made even less sense to him because Tommy wasn’t a wolf. He was a big kid. He was a boy. But he wasn’t a wolf.
Techno continued anyway. “And when you’re older, I’ll punish you in a way your instincts will understand. But you and I are turned wolves, pup, and I want to teach you how to be a wolf before we get into that. For now, your punishments will be a lot lighter.”
“But I’m,” he sniffed, “I’m not a wolf.”
Techno laughed, low and deep from his throat. The sound made Tommy’s skin feel tight. “Yes, pup. You are. I made you one.”
“But-”
“Shh. I’ll explain more after your punishment.”
Tommy wanted to cry again, his eyes stinging and something hollow curling in his chest. “I don’t wanna be punished.”
“You bit me,” Techno said simply and slowly like it was the clearest thing in the world. “That means that you tried to challenge me as your alpha. I know you’re scared, but you are never to try to fight me. At least not until you’re ready to leave the pack which will
never
happen, Theseus.”
The words still made no sense to him but he knew what they were supposed to mean. He’d done bad. He’d
been
bad. And even though he wasn't sure how bad you even
could
be against a bloodthirsty werewolf, he knew what was coming.
Back at the workhouse, Tommy had gotten punished all the time.
He clenched his eyes shut. “How much are you going to make it hurt?”
Techno let out a displeased rumble. “I will never hurt you when you don’t understand why. No. Your punishment won’t be physical.”
Not physical?
That didn’t make any sense. Everyone knew that punishments were about hurting. They were like when the matron used to spank him or how to head of the workhouse would hit him around or kick him sometimes.
Dread swam inside his stomach at the idea of how bad a punishment must be if it wasn’t physical.
Techno shifted him in his arms, moving Tommy so that he wasn’t clinging to him but rather placed on the bed.
“You’re to stay in this room,” He said. “Until I say you can get out of it.”
Tommy watched with wide eyes as Techno walked out.
Stay in the room? That wouldn’t be hard. It was just a room. And sure, Tommy’s stomach felt weird without being able to see Techno but that was better right? Not being in the presence of the wolf? Surely the punishment couldn’t be this easy.
Staying in a room until he could leave. It wasn’t unheard of. But normally, it was “stay in the room until matron can come and speak to you” which usually meant he was in for a caning. Is that what this was going to be? But Techno said he wouldn’t hurt him.
The door clicked and Tommy blinked. It hadn’t been that long since Techno left. Maybe only half a minute.
The door clicked and opened and then the man from before, the one with the blonde hair and weird shiny eyes stepped in, “Hey Mate. Techno said I’m supposed to watch you for a second.”
Fear crawled up his spine, circling his entire body and making his eyes see blurry.
Every single bone in his body felt like it was on fire with his mind screaming at him to do anything to run but Tommy was frozen where he was on the bed. The man didn’t look threatening but he was- he was! He couldn’t explain how he knew it, but he just knew that this man was dangerous. He could kill him, or hurt him, or do anything to him and Tommy wouldn’t even have a chance.
The man came closer to him and Tommy let out a loud whimper.
Where was Techno- where was Techno? Techno was supposed to protect him, was going to protect him, this man was going to
hurt
him-
“Aw, mate,” the man said softly. “Your instincts have got you in quite the twist huh?”
And then he
reached for Tommy.
Something inside Tommy’s chest let out a screech so Tommy did too, flinging himself back from the man and tumbling off of the bed.
The man let out a yelp, “Mate-”
He might’ve said more, but Tommy couldn’t listen. Everything in him was telling him to run, to get away from the clear danger that was in the room. Scrambling, he tried to get to his feet, still screaming as loud as he could. The man had his hands up, like a surrender, but Tommy wasn’t falling for it for a second. He clawed at the wall, terrified to get to close to the door.
How was he supposed to get safe if the door was being blocked by that creature?
He couldn’t stop screaming and Tommy wondered why his lungs felt like they were burning. Everything felt like it was burning. He needed to get away.
“You need to calm down, mate,” The man said, coming
closer.
“Just breath-”
Tommy jerked away from the space next to bed, doing the only thing he could think of and ducking underneath the bed. His head hit the metal frame and it
hurt
but it wouldn’t hurt as badly as getting caught by that man.
Cowering, he tried to catch his breath, forcing his chest to expand up and down. That’s what Bad always said he had to do if he was ever scared and right now Tommy was terrified. More terrified than he had ever been.
He wanted Techno back, he just wanted to be protected and loved and cared about and all the nice things that Techno had promised him before leaving him with this monster. He wanted his Alpha, he wanted it to stop being scary, he wanted to be able to breathe, he wanted to be over already.
This was the worst punishment that Tommy had ever experienced.
The man’s face peered at the edge of the bed, “Mate-”
Tommy screamed again, all the breath in the world collapsing out of his lungs, and then-
His body burned for a split second. It was almost like the feeling he had had in his lungs just seconds earlier but this time it was worse like a sunburn or a fire or something. It lasted for a split second and then Tommy found he could breathe better.
The world looked weirder, and it was harder to use his feet, but he needed to run, and whatever happened let him stumble out of the underside of the bed with no problems. He stumbled over his own feet, running to the corner of the room and tucking himself into the corner. He could feel his face twitch up, revealing his teeth as the blond man stood up from the other side of the bed, staring at Tommy.
He growled.
The noise made Tommy blink hard. That wasn’t exactly a sound Tommy had ever made in his ten whole years. It wasn’t a human-sounding noise.
It was then, very suddenly, that Tommy realized he had shrunk. The reason he had tripped over his own feet was because he was suddenly running on four. His lips, curled up to reveal teeth, were fangs and a snout.
Tommy whimpered, shaking so badly that his entire body trembled.
What had happened to him?
Techno burst through the door, eyes immediately finding him, and- and Tommy ran to him. Techno smelled like home. Smelled like he would protect Tommy from anything and everything and make sure he was safe.
Tommy tripped over his- his paws- in his scramble to get to techno, stumbling to a stop at the man's feet. Then, like a bell was going off in his mind, he knelt down, pressing is head down and tucking his tail underneath his belly even as it- it wagged. This was his alpha! His alpha was here! His alpha was going to protect him, and hold him- and- and-
His alpha scoped him up, rumbling deep in his chest, soothing every muscle of Tommy’s new body, “Look at you, Theseus, already shifting before you’re even a week old!”
The praise itched at his brain and the buzzing in it only got worse as Techno’s hand came and cupped the back of his neck. He did good, he was good, he shifted. Did it matter he was a wolf now if he was in Techno’s arms? His alpha had him now, he was safe.
“I bet you were so confused,” Techno said voice filled with pride and something dark. “But you obeyed your instincts perfectly, pup. Running right to your alpha.”
Of course he did, his alpha would keep him safe. Would protect him. Would take care of him and make sure he was okay. Why
wouldn’t
he run to his alpha?
He peered up, pressing the underside of his throat to Techno’s chest as he looked up. Techno grinned down at him, red eyes gleaming and sharp grin pointed at him. “Good, pup.”