Chapter Text
Chapter 1 – Stormy Weather
Lyall stood guard at the door of 221B Baker Street, his black paws braced in a wide stance as his body exuded an aggressive position. With a dead body lying on the floor and multiple strangers coming in and out of his territory to inspect the scene, the wolf was on edge to protect his pack mates. What if the killer comes back?! What did Sherlock call him, the Omega Ripper?
Turning his instincts and abilities on full blast, the Omega sniffed and listened to everything that was going on around him and then stretched his senses in a five mile radius. Birds, squirrels, rabbits, bugs, and any other superfluous creatures where ignored until he finally found what he was looking for. Mycroft! Greg! About a mile away, Lyall picked up the scent of his two Alphas coming and the puppy let out a dutiful, albeit excited, bark to let Sherlock know.
“Lyall, come examine the body. See if you can find any trace of who did this,” Sherlock called to him. The Omega turned his head, only for a second, to see the dark haired Shifter squatting next to the body, sniffing the bite mark on the corpse’s stomach. No, what if he comes back? I have to keep watch, I told Papa I would protect our pack and that’s what I’m gonna do!
The puppy shook his head fiercely and growled when an Officer he’d never seen before walked into the flat. “Whoa there,” was all the man said to the sharp puppy teeth and the high pitched growl. However, before Lyall could inspect the man’s scent to determine whether he was friend or foe, he saw Mycroft and Lestrade come into the doorway.
“You’re not scared of a little wolf are you, Drake?” Greg laughed, picking up Lyall with one hand under the wolf’s belly, holding him to his chest. Hey, he better be scared of me!
“N-No sir, those teeth they’re just, umm…they look sharp,“ The Officer named Drake stuttered, looking at the still growling puppy. Lyall was just making a point to look threatening now that one of his Alphas seemed to know this human who smelled like sandalwood.
Greg only laughed and pressed his nose to the orange spot on the Omega’s head, sniffing in greeting as he walked farther into the flat. No, no, I have to stay by the door. What if he sneaks back in and hurts one of us? “Such a good boy, Lyall, protecting our pack like that,” the white wolf cooed to him, “I’ll keep an ear out for anybody that doesn’t belong. You go help Sherlock before he bites Anderson, yeah?” Are you sure? Lyall looked from Greg’s face to Mycroft’s, which had a small tight smile across it.
“Go ahead, we will watch your back,” the older human said but Lyall, with his sensitive Omega nose, could tell there was a hint of salt water? But more chemically salty, though. Whatever it was, the puppy was sure he’d never smelled this odd odor coming from Mycroft before. Lyall gave a small whine, kicking his legs to try and get down so he could comfort his human and find the source of what was causing the distress, and then bite its neck until said threat apologized.
Getting the hint, Greg put down the squirming puppy only to have him prop his two black paws up on Mycroft’s leg. What’s wrong? It’s going to be okay, I won’t let this Ripper guy hurt you, Alpha, I promise. “Oh Lyall, you are quite insufferable today, aren’t you?” Mycroft sighed but the Omega could sense the change as the odd briny smell diminished slightly and a hint of fresh burning cedar took its place. The human squatted down and placed a quick kiss to the top of the wolf’s head, his mate glaring at a few of the Officers ogling at the strange actions of the ‘Ice Man.’ “You are too perceptive for your own good sometimes. Now, do as Gregory said and help Sherlock look for any clues. We shall stand guard,” Mycroft’s smile turned into a more genuine one and he gave a soft pat to Lyall’s wagging behind.
Lyall tried to give a quick lick to his human’s face but Mycroft was too quick and stood up before he could be assaulted. Alright fine, I’m going. “Finally, what took you so long?” Sherlock said, still not taking his eyes off the corpse. “Do you smell anything strange? Anything that doesn’t belong?” Lyall walked around the dead man, keeping a healthy distance not only so Sherlock didn’t yell at him for contaminating the scene but also because of the horrid rotting smell coming from the corpse sent shivers down his spine.
The man smelled of a strange chemical, which Sherlock had taught him was iodine, and old rubber. The scent of iodine, however, was not the man’s natural smell but concentrated around his belly where a large scar and bite mark were present. The sharp smells were digging into Lyall’s nose, making it hard to distinguish what was what or find any trace of the killer’s scent. Finally, just over the bite mark, the young Omega smelled another wolf’s scent. Leather? Yeah, leather and maybe cinnamon? It was weak but it was there, and Lyall knew if he tried hard enough he could hunt the enemy wolf down for his pack.
The puppy let out an angry growl, his body stilling as he inhaled the leather scent deeply, imprinting it into his mind. “Did you find something, little one?” Sherlock asked, looking up from the corpses fingernails. Lyall nodded his head, hovering his nose directly over the bite mark to indicate the location to his Alpha. The Omega pup lifted his chin slightly, boasting that he was the only one with the capabilities to find such a tiny hint of DNA.
“Yeah, yeah, shove over,” his Alpha said with a grunt. It was a well-kept secret, though Lyall was sure John knew but pretended ignorance, that the two wolves living at Baker Street made everything into a match of who had better wolf senses. Lyall always won of course, his Omega nose was far superior; however, Sherlock would just pin the puppy to the floor with his larger mass and take whatever it was they were trying to locate right out of his mouth. The black Alpha was much stronger and larger than Lyall but sometimes the little Omega was quick enough to scurry around him. Plus, Lyall loved having another wolf in the pack, even one that was a sore loser, so sometimes he would let Sherlock win so the Alpha would lick his head and then curl up around the pup for comfort.
This time however, the game wasn’t much fun due to the dead body lying in the middle of the room. Sherlock lowered his nose, grimacing at the strong iodine but examining the wound closely. “I don’t smell anything but chemicals. Do you have someone’s scent, Lyall? Can you track it?” Sherlock asked, standing up and motioning for the forensics team to come in and take samples. The Omega nodded his head once, getting frustrated that he couldn’t say more. If the there was one thing he hatedabout being a wolf all the time it was how difficult it was to communicate. Well, that and no opposable thumbs.
“Do you really think it’s him, Sherlock?” John asked, coming back into the living room with a dog treat in his hand. Ahhh, yes! Lyall yipped, not embarrassed anymore at enjoying the finer aspects of being a wolf. At first, his human mind would turn its nose up at the gesture, seeking to retain a bit of dignity that he was still a Shifter instead of completely wolf. Now though, the Omega leapt over an officer who was crouched down looking at spots on the floor and began jumping as high as he could against his John’s leg to reach the delicious smelling treat. “You know better, Lyall,” the Doctor chastised, looking down at the puppy with a raised eyebrow. Okay, no, I hate this part the most. I’m not a trained house pet, John.
Just give it, John, give it, please! Lyall gave a displeased growl when the treat went back into John’s pocket and he was picked up under his rear and ribs. I found the scent. You said I get a treat when I find something important. Lyall tried growling again but his nose was only pressed down by a large hand and then his human had the nerve to ignore him. Hey! “It’s been so long, what, twenty-two, twenty-three years since we saw Lecter?” Greg chimed in, his scent still the smell of bitter greens. It was a strange odor, which Lyall had never smelled coming from the other wolf in his pack. What does it mean? “He has to be about sixty now, yeah? Why would he start killing again, it just doesn’t make any sense.”
“He wants our attention that’s for sure,” John said, fighting off the puppy in his arms as Lyall attempted to bite a hole in the pocket with the treat. “You have a lot of admirers out there Sherlock, but none of them have ever left something like this in our flat before.” John pointed to the dead body with a hand that had been turned into a makeshift chew toy.
As Lyall made do with John’s salty hand instead of the treat, he noticed a faint brown trail skirting across the floor. That’s his, the Omega’s scent! I know it is! The Omega gave a loud bark, squirming in his human’s arms to be put down so he could follow the leather scented trail. “Lyall, calm down, I’m not giving you the treat if you keep acting up,” John chastised, rolling the young pup over as if he was holding a baby. Really, John? Lyall growled once more, then whimpered when he still couldn’t get to the ground.
“No, it’s not the treat. I think he has a lead on the scent,” Greg offered, able to understand the wolf’s body language better than John. His human tired, he really did, but sometimes John thought Lyall was nothing but a dog who only thought with his stomach. Well, those treats are pretty damn delicious. Oh shut up, pup. “Is it another wolf, Lyall?” Greg asked, the growl in his voice evident.
The Omega sniffed the air once more to double check and then nodded to his Alpha in confirmation. “It is a trap,” Sherlock said, walking over to the door and grabbing his coat and the lead hanging on the hook.
“What, how do you know?” John asked, still holding the puppy in his arms as he too walked over to grab his coat.
“It is either a copycat or the Ripper wants us to find him, John. The real Lecter would never leave behind something for us to find.”
“Perhaps he does not know of our Omega,” Mycroft joined the conversation, staring down at the tip of his umbrella as it twisted against the floor. “You said it yourself brother, all you could smell were chemicals. Lyall was the only one who could sense something and I’m sure forensics will not find anything either.” Lyall’s tail began to wag ferociously at his Alpha human’s pride and faith in him. Then tell John to give me that treat. Focus, pup, focus.
“Don’t let it go to your head, little one,” Sherlock said, narrowing his eyes at the frantic tail, but Lyall only smelled love from the Alpha as the lead was attached to his collar. “This could still be a trap,” the detective said nonchalantly but the words hit the Omega right in the heart. I can’t…I can’t…The puppy started to whimper, pinning his ears back and his tail flat against his hind as the memories of his first pack being taken during his first hunt filled his mind. I won’t be that stupid again, I can’t let my pack get caught…I can’t.
“You’re a right git sometimes, you know that Sherlock?” John said, pulling the whimpering Omega tighter to his chest for comfort. Lyall immediately stuck his nose into the coziness of his John’s armpit, taking deep breaths full of strong wet oak and love.
“What? What did I say?” Sherlock asked, a touch of worry in his voice masked by frustration.
“You just put the weight of leading us into a trap on our Omega’s head, Sherlock. Nice going,” Greg growled, actually growled, at the younger Shifter. “We’ll be fine, Lyall, all you have to do is follow the trail and then we’ll take care of the rest,” his Alpha assured him but the Omega was still not convinced, his mind too full of his mother’s whimpers and his father’s pained growls. Lyall dug his nose deeper into John’s jumper, trying to hide long enough so the brown scent, which possibly led to a trap, would disappear. I won’t do it. Please don’t make me, Sherlock, I can’t lose you guys too. Until finally, there were hands on his hind legs pulling him away from the slow thrumming heartbeat of John and into the burning bonfire scent of Sherlock.
“Hey now,” Sherlock smiled, an actual smile that he only saved for him, John, and Mrs. Hudson, but only when she nags at him. The detective held the puppy out at arm’s length, hands placed gently under his forelegs so they were face to face. “When have I ever let anything bad happen to us?” Sherlock asked, bringing a slight chuckle from John and Greg. Really, Sherlock? I’m a permanent wolf and you were turned into a Shifter by a psychopath. Sherlock growled slightly at his husband’s laughing but kept his eyes focused on his cub. Slowly, he bent his arms, bringing the wolf closer to his face until their noses touched.
In that moment, Lyall knew this was different than when his pack was captured by the slavers. His new pack was strong, fighters and healers who would stop at nothing to protect each other. Sherlock risked his life staying inside that room with us after the lockdown. We can trust him, Lyall, he’s our Alpha and if he says track down this scent we’re gonna do it. The Omega stared into the silver eyes for a moment and then gave a wet lick to Sherlock’s nose in acceptance. I hope you know what you’re doing. “Good boy,” Sherlock praised, making Lyall’s tail unconsciously wag at the electric like happiness he felt vibrating through the air.
The Omega was placed down on the floor, his ears pointing forward as he relocated the brown trial. He had no clue where it led but whatever was at the source, Lyall knew his pack would fight it together.