Chapter Text
“This is bullshit!” Max grumbled, and Billy held back the desire to throttle his stepsister.
Though he might need to start calling her his adopted sister. While Neil and Susan had not bothered with adopting each other’s kid, believing that marriage fixed it, Chief Jim Hopper was different.
Hop was different in many ways.
Hawkins too was a weird town.
After too many E.R. visits and CPS visits back in San Diego, Neil decided to move everyone to a small town in the middle of nowhere, Indiana. Following Susan’s suggestion, instead of moving one week before school started, they made the drive there for the start of summer, so they could get used to the town and maybe make some friends before school started.
Bullshit.
As if it was not bad enough that they were being forced to leave sunny California for plain Indiana. Billy also missed his last beach summer.
To make things worse, Neil laid it on Billy on their first night. Of course, new neighbours meant scrutiny, and the noise got a noise complaint during the beatdown.
See and behold, the Chief of Police of Hawkins knocked on the door of their little house on Cherry Lane.
However, unlike most police officers, when Susan told him everything was okay, Hopper insisted on checking. He took one look at Billy’s black eye, bruised ribs, and the blood running down the blond’s nose, and arrested Neil.
A visit to the E.R., some calls to the SDPD, and Neil was charged with child and spousal abuse. CPS got involved, and this time did their job, taking away Neil’s parental rights.
Unfortunately, Susan also lost Max in the process. CPS claimed that her alcoholism plus the trauma from the abuse made her an unfit mother.
Hopper took them in, going as far as adoption. He promised Susan that if she did the work to get better and pulled her life together, they could discuss shared custody in the future.
Susan is in rehab at the moment, with a job as a waitress lined up at Benny’s when she gets out.
Now, adoption normally takes months. But Hopper was already a foster parent with two successful adoptions. Plus, the Chief of Police that saved the pups should be more than trusted with them.
That scared Billy.
Why? Because Neil is a piece of shit and no one liked him. Still, no one ever believed or helped Billy. After all, alphas needing a strict hand from their alpha sires is normal.
Even expected.
Now, Billy was going to live with a war hero, a veteran who served his country and can do no wrong in the eyes of the town. The last thing he needs is for Max to badmouth the elder alpha.
She just lost her mom. Billy can understand the hormonal mess Max is at the moment. A preteen girl who is an alpha, and Billy was once a young alpha, and while he secretly celebrated Neil’s incarceration, he can sympathize, as he also lost a mom because of Neil.
However, unlike their time with Neil, Billy does not know if he can keep all the attention and consequences on himself. And as much of a bother that Max is, Billy had grown fond of her and does not want her to go through what he did.
“Max—zip it,” Billy warned, grimacing when Max’s cider and cherry scent soured.
His terse tone softened when he noticed how tense she looked, sitting in the passenger seat of the Camaro. “I know this is more changes than we expected since moving from San Diego.”
“But—” Max scowled, her eyes not leaving the cabin Billy had parked before.
“But nothing.” The blond took off his sunglasses and threw them in the glove compartment. “Now stop scowling and get out, we have to meet our fellow adopted siblings.”
Omegas. Hopper’s other pups are omegas. Though could one even be considered a pup.
The girl was around Max’s age, with brown locks that caressed her shoulders. She was glaring at Billy and Max from behind a tall omega.
Omegas tended to be on the short side, but this guy, who was about Billy’s age, could not be considered anything but an omega, even with the couple of inches he had on Billy.
He was all softness and curves, wearing clothes that lit up his hazel eyes. His moles only made him more endearing, and his hair looked straight out of a fashion magazine.
Billy did not know how someone could combine adorableness, hotness, boy-next-door, and sex appeal into one person. But this omega managed it.
For all accounts, Billy should be crushing on his new adopted brother. However, all he felt was the same protectiveness and fondness he felt for Max.
Maybe it was because of how gentle he looked, one arm wrapped around the omega pup, who still clung to his side, fist around the soft, yellow sweater.
Or maybe it was because of how his hazel eyes glinted with fondness and love, as if he had already accepted them into the family.
“Hi!” the older omega beamed. “You must be Billy and Max. This is Ellie Jane, and I’m Steve. Welcome to the pack!”
Yeah. Hawkins is weird.
Hopper was at the station for his shift and would not be coming to the cabin until dinner, which left all four pups on their own.
Things were awkward, with Ellie Jane not leaving Steve’s side and glaring every time Billy and Max got close.
For his part, Steve tried to calm everyone’s nerves by covering the living room with his Omegan pheromones. The surprising thing is that it worked. Steve’s scent was very comforting, a warm mix of roasted coffee beans and mocha, with a touch of cinnamon.
Jane’s was very sweet for Billy’s taste. Vanilla and strawberry; she quite literally smelled like a Neapolitan ice cream. Max’s favorite, though.
Once everyone took a breather and calmed down, they began unpacking. Not that they had much to unpack; Billy and Max did not have many belongings.
Billy’s most important possessions were his car and gym equipment. Max had her skateboard.
The cabin clearly had some expansions made. The original building had a cozy living room right at the entrance, with an open kitchen. There’s also the main bedroom, Hopper’s, and an extra room.
“That used to be the guest room,” Steve explained as he gave the mini tour. “Now it is the pack den. If you need time alone, or to ground yourself with the pack’s scent, you go there. Even if you have nightmares and need cuddles, we do puppy piles. Right, El?”
Steve nudged the younger omega playfully, and the girl allowed a tentative smile and one shy nod.
“I also use it during my pre-heats, and Ellie Jane will as well, once she presents fully,” Steve continued to explain.
Billy chuckled as Max turned as red as her hair. “Pop prefers to spend his pre-ruts in his room, but if your preference is for the pack den, we can arrange things.”
“We’ll see,” Billy replied nonchalantly.
But inside he was a storm of emotions. Ruts as a kid were hell; he was never allowed out of his room, and when his scent impregnated outside—because God forbid Billy went to the kitchen to eat or drink—he would be punished for threatening Neil’s place as alpha.
It’s not like Neil remembered he had a son to feed.
After hitting his teens, Billy would rent a motel room and get an omega to spend it with. Another thing to be grateful for is that Max did not fully present under Neil’s roof. Because not even her being a woman would have protected her from a beating.
Now Steve is telling him that Billy can not only leave his room, but be in the pack den? That sounded like heaven.
The tour continued into the newer extension, though it could be considered an aberration. It clearly had been there for years, maybe a decade since the construction.
There were three bedrooms, each with its own bathroom. They were nothing grand, but cozy nonetheless. Billy would enjoy finally being able to decorate as he liked; maybe he would even put out some pictures of his mom.
Neil never allowed him to do that back in San Diego, nor in the house on Cherry Lane.
“Max, sweetie, sorry, but you will need to share with El this year,” Steve turned to the redhead, going all gentle and maternal with the alpha pup. “But next year I will be off to college, which will liberate a bedroom. Until then, you girls can treat it as a never-ending sleepover!”
Max and Ellie Jane exchanged a look of pure awkwardness, until Ellie took a deep breath to fortify herself before grabbing the redhead’s hand and dragging her to her room.
Steve beamed proudly as the door closed behind them. “That went great!”
Billy only hoped that it lasted. The alpha headed to the pretty plain room, a redesigned guest room, and began unpacking.
There was enough space so Billy could do his workouts, though his weights would need to be packed and unpacked constantly if he didn’t wish to stumble on them and get a concussion.
His cassettes and cassette player were next; he organized them alphabetically by band, and then each record chronographically. The same he did with his books, mostly Stephen King.
Nervously, he put up posters of Metallica and the Scorpions, plus some pictures of San Diego, the beach back home, and his mom.
Billy stepped back to look at his work, and pride filled his chest. It was not much, but it was his, and for the first time since his mom died, his room felt comfortable.
Like home.
“You like Stephen King too?” Steve’s excited exclamation startled Billy.
Reminded that he was not alone, he turned to the omega browsing his small music and literature collection.
Steve picked out ’Salem’s Lot. “This is my favorite, though his new novel was very interesting, if a bit disturbing.”
“You just described all of his works,” Billy snorted, making the omega chuckle sheepishly. “I still haven’t gotten to read Pet Sematary. But my favorite novel so far has been The Stand.”
“That’s a good choice too,” Steve hummed in agreement, putting the book back in place. “You can’t go wrong with Stephen King.”
“True,” Billy agreed with a nod, earning a warm smile.
“I have Pet Sematary in my room. Would you like to borrow it?” Steve offered.
“Hell yeah!” Billy smirked, all teeth.
Instead of being scared of the alpha’s fangs, Steve threw his head back and laughed. Then he went to his room to retrieve said book.
In the meantime, Billy started to unpack his clothes. It was mostly leather jackets, thin shirts, and jeans.
“That won’t do,” Steve frowned as he returned.
This time Billy heard him, so he was not startled by his presence, though his words were confusing.
The omega put the novel on the nightstand beside the bed and approached the wardrobe. He tsked when he touched the jeans and leather jackets, that tended to make the alpha look hot. “You will freeze in the winter’s low—” Steve bit his lip worriedly. “We will need to take you and Max shopping.”
“You don’t need to,” Billy protested—his clothes were perfectly fine.
Plus, having someone worrying over him left him feeling wrong-footed.
Steve turned to the blond, hands on his waist in the universal mother pose. “You cannot underestimate the winters of Indiana.”
Billy was left speechless as after that declaration, the omega marched him and the girls to the kitchen to prepare dinner.
This must be what siblings felt like.
Steve put Max and Ellie Jane (“please call me El”) on meatball duty. The ground meat had already been prepared by Steve earlier that day, so the girls only had to make them into balls.
Once that was done, Steve would pan-fry them with their tomato sauce, while keeping the boiling pot beside the pan. The omega’s pasta was stored, bundles of his al dente spaghetti.
Meanwhile, Billy was put to work chopping vegetables for the salad and squeezing the lemons for dressing.
“Hey, can you check on the garlic knots? You are the closest to the oven,” Steve called out, his eyes not leaving the frying pan.
Gosh, the omega was so responsible.
“What am I even looking for?” Billy asked, confused as hell.
The most Billy had done in the kitchen was a PBJ sandwich. Even chopping veggies was a novelty.
“They need to be golden,” Steve called over his shoulder as he transferred the cooked meatballs onto a plate for the raw ones the girls passed over.
Billy squinted into the glass door of the oven and frowned. “Then they need more time; they are still a bit pale.”
“Can you check again in ten minutes?”
“Roger!”
Ten minutes later, the salad was done and so were the garlic knots. Billy’s stomach growled at the heavenly scent of the kitchen.
The girls giggled, exchanging looks, and were sent off to set the table. Billy raised an eyebrow as they sauntered away.
“It’s as if they’ve been best friends for years. What happened in that room?”
Steve laughed, shaking his head. “El just needed a push to open up. Believe it or not, she was excited about getting a sister. She even asked Pops for bunk beds.”
“With all the glaring she was doing, I am surprised,” Billy snorted.
Steve’s smile dimmed, and Billy’s stomach twisted, knowing that whatever the omega would say, he would not like.
And he was right.
“You and Max are not the only ones who ended up with Pops because of a bad home situation.”
The good mood deflated from the kitchen, like a sad balloon on its last breath.
“Come,” Steve gestured for Billy to follow him into the pack den. “We need to change your bandages.”
Billy silently followed him and once more was surprised. The pack den, with most of the room a riot of colors, was being occupied by a nest right in the middle.
The nest looked very fluffy and super comfortable, with high nesting materials. Blankets of pale yellow, rose pink, baby blue, and orange. Clothes that clearly belonged to Hopper and smelled of alpha surrounded the blanket nest.
So that no one would get smothered while nesting, throw pillows were strategically positioned over the clothing pieces. The throw pillows had clearly been chosen by El, as they were all embroidered with the most girlish things that Billy could think about: butterflies, stars, suns, moons, hearts, rainbows, flowers, etc.
There was a desk with two chairs in one corner; clearly this was the chosen room for studying. Not that Billy blamed them—with all the pack scents mixing wonderfully together, this room was the most calming one. Perfect for focusing and doing homework.
Billy took his shirt off and sat on one of the chairs as Steve gestured him to do. The omega picked up a first aid kit and took the other chair.
Steve’s hands were gentle and steady as he changed the bandages around the ribs of the alpha. Not once did Billy see pity in those beautiful hazel eyes.
Good. Billy did not need pity. He survived Neil, and he wore his bruises as a badge of success.
They did not resume their conversation, as Hopper chose that same moment to return home.
Dinner passed without much conversation, with Hopper being tired from work and Billy too deep in thought, though Steve did entertain the girls with small talk. Billy did not mind the silence. Unlike with Neil, when dinner time felt oppressive, now the silence felt comfortable.
Hopper, once more, surprised Billy by thanking them for the food and picking up the table. He even washed the dishes.
Neil would have never done that.
As Billy went to sleep that night, he started to believe that maybe things would be different this time.