Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

I. Canines 

Zach already wanted to go home and they hadn't even set a single foot on that damn island yet. It was a disaster, really. His parents, in their never ending dispute, ever the good actors when around their youngest child, decided to send them off to some monster adventure park, to get on with their big secret which wasn't a secret at all: the divorce. 

Shocker, really. And the thing was, his little brother – Gray – the genius – the perfect kid who always got perfect marks – still didn’t know. He was oblivious to their parents' constant fights, rambling on and on and on about all the different dinosaurs they'd get to see instead. 

And honestly? Zach didn't mind it all that much. He had heard stories of divorces from most of his friends. Stories of alphas who began hitting their omegas, stories of fading love between betas that someday turned to grey nothingness. It was how things went. It had always been like that. And in the end, it wasn't his choice to make. 

He had long since lost the hope of ever falling in love, instead jumping from one occasional flirt to the next, finding betas who treated him just well enough to not feel completely worthless. He would never be mated to an alpha, he had once promised himself – not after the stories he had heard. He would keep his dignity, thank you very much. 

His parents were both betas, but they were hot-headed and in their own way, they were dominant like alphas. So Zach, brought up by these never budging individuals, had learned to be just as stern as them. They had taught him not to stumble, not to give in. Intentionally or not, they had taught him to stand up for himself. He maybe wouldn’t find his luck in love, but he would be successful, no matter what any alpha thought he had to say about that. 

A faint smile fought its way onto his face as he thought back to the time when he had stood up against the alphas in middle school. He had come home beaten and bruised, with purple marks covering his skin more often than not but he had landed punches too. And he knew that the alpha boys and girls he fought against would later on lie about the origin of their bruises. Alphas, they would say and Zach would smile and it would hurt because they always hit him in the face but it would be worth it. 

Because as an Omega, he was slim and frail and weak. He was being put into his place more often than he could think of and he hated it. He hated being an omega with all his heart, hated being small and easily pushed to the side. So, at the age of fourteen, when he was running down the street with a broken arm and blood dripping from his mouth, unable to stop himself from laughing and coughing and then laughing some more, he decided that he wouldn’t live his life as an omega. He would be free. 

But life, as always, decided to punch him in the face. Repeatedly. 

Because, then, there was the thing about spirits. Animals you were bonded to, creatures that protected you.

And as the wold wanted it, once again, Zach was alone. Weak, with no one to protect him. 

Cruel as the world was, alphas had the most dominant and dangerous creatures following them while omegas usually attracted cute or majestic animals. 

Zach had neither, oh wonder. Like a few other outsiders in this world, he never bonded with any animal. He wouldn’t ever admit it to anyone, not to his parents or his friends, not even to Gray, but he had searched. Oh, how he had wanted, for once in his life, to be seen and loved for who he was. 

Yet again, he was all by himself. Not even his friends could help with that, looking at him with ugly pity in their eyes whenever the topic came up. 

So, Zach fought and made Alphas bleed by himself. He came home with more bruises everyday and kept listening to the murmurs of the broken omega that was all on his own. He kept listening to his parents' worried whispers. 

How will he be able to protect himself? 

Zach had cried a lot when he was younger and the door to his room was closed. Today, he still cried, sometimes. Rarer. Only when the door was locked and the sky was painted pitch black. 

He's always making trouble! He'll never find an alpha that wants him if he doesn't start to become more submissive. 

The world was a cruel place that had lost all of its love. His parents had shown him that much. And in this infinite darkness, between sobs and punches and fading hope, he had found his will of living in his brother's smile. Because no matter how annoying he was, Gray was everything he had ever truly loved. Everything that had ever truly loved him. 

And so, when his parents were fast asleep, his dad on the couch and his mother in their once shared bedroom, he would sneak into Gray’s room. With a mischievous smile, he would settle beside him on the bed and watch The Land Before Time with him, because Gray loved it, had always been fascinated by dinosaurs and no matter how disinterested Zach might be in that regard, it made his brother smile and that made it important. 

Now he was eighteen and still fought against alphas in the back of his school.

Gray was a beta, they learned a few weeks back. Zach had never been so relieved in his whole life. He had remembered the moment when his brother had called him, anxious and on the verge of crying. 

“Zach... I think, uh... I think I just presented.”, he had whispered. 

Zach had held his breath, unable to say a single word. 

“I'm a beta.”

The taste of salt combined with the fresh breeze smelling of the sea hit him and a hand tugged at the hem of his shirt. 

He wasn't fifteen and Gray wasn't a naive kid anymore. 

“Zach! Zach, we're there! We've arrived!”

Or he still was, but he had at least learned to behave like a normal human being. 

“The dinosaurs! Zach!”, Gray yelled while jumping up and down, his arms flying wildly through the air. 

More or less a normal human being, then. Okay, he could work with that. Shaking his head and not stopping the sigh leaving his lips, he followed his overly excited brother through the mass of people onto the island. 

Within the first step, finally back on land, in this other world, far away from his parents and their never ending arguments, isolated from the rest of the world, nothing changed. He was still eighteen years old and sad.

Fuck.

With the second step, the world started to move again. People flooded the area and Zach buried his fingers in the soft material of Gray's shirt, just to be sure. He wouldn't want to lose him here. He would never find the boy again. Gray was basically a hobbit. 

When he looked down, a small, mocking smile on his face as he imagined his little brother next to a garden gnome, he blinked, looked, blinked again, looked again. 

Gray was gone. 

Oh no. 

He felt his heart spike up. Looking around hectically, he yelled for his brother. That wasn't good, not at all. His father would kill him and his mother would revive him only to kill him again. No, no, no. He needed to find Gray, fast. 

A hand gripped his and he looked at the person, ready to defend himself from any alpha trying to harass him. 

“Zach, why aren't you coming?” 

Oh, that was Gray. He was here. Haha. He would live, nice. 

“Look! I think that woman is looking for us?”, Gray said pointing at a black-haired woman with sunglasses on her stoic face. She was holding a banner with their names on it. So Claire wasn't there to greet them, what a surprise. 

The alpha had never been a family-person, not when he was young and liked to play and certainly not now. In the beginning Zach had thought it was because his aunt was mean and strict. When he was a teenager and started to hate everyone and everything, he thought it was because he was an omega. 

Now he thought that Claire just didn't give a shit about any of them. She was an alpha, she had money to make. 

So yeah, Zach wasn't surprised to be greeted by a young-haired beta named Zara. Claire would find some time in the evening for them, the woman said, and Gray seemed to actually believe her. He just hoped he wouldn’t be too disappointed when he found out that Claire wasn't going to actually show up. 

So, as the day went by and he was bored out of his mind, dragged along by his annoying little gnome of a brother, he sighed. It was hot, the sun burning down on them, and he felt dizzy. He would give anything to just lay down for a bit and sleep. 

When Zara took an “important call”, Zach saw his chance. 

“Run.”, he said, pushing his brother away from the line at the triceratops riding paddock where they were currently waiting. 

“What?”

“Run, let's go!”, he said, this time louder and shoving against his brother’s shoulders. With a last glance backwards, they were gone. 

Freedom was beautiful.

And surprisingly boring. 

Gray wanted to do this, Gray wanted to do that. It was horrible, really. 

He kept on yapping and Zach kept on staring at all the happy people around them. He couldn't stop himself from feeling jealous at the parents coming to the park with their kids, all the perfect families having a great time, while he was left alone with his annoying baby brother and no parents that loved him or each other. 

Hell, even his aunt had abandoned them even though they'd last seen each other more than half a decade ago. 

So Zach followed his baby brother around, only slightly anxious whenever he smelled the scent of an alpha who hadn't properly used their scent-blocker, and watched as Gray's eyes lit up with every new creature they came across. 

And then everything became boring again. Most of the time, people were crowding the area, making it impossible to even catch a glimpse of the dinosaurs. 

So it really wasn't him to blame when he turned to his phone again. 

He rolled his eyes after seeing Cindy's Instagram story – the third one of his classmates on a family trip. Honestly, Zach couldn’t even remember the teens from his school being that close to their parents! It's as if they were uploading the pictures just for the purpose of messing with him. Fuckers. 

When he heard his overly excited brother ramble and he pointed towards the water – they had sat down in a huge stadium – he decided that he should probably put his phone away for once. 

“Zach, the mosasaur! The mosasaur! Zach!”

He looked up at the exact moment the dinosaur hauled itself out of the water. Damn, that thing was huge! It opened its mouth, revealing a row of sharp canines that made shivers run down his spine. Fuck, that dinosaur was really cool. He felt a thrill in his chest, his heartbeat spiking. But it wasn't fear he was feeling (should be feeling considering the monstrous predator only feet before him!), but instead it was a weird sense of anticipation. The air tasted of salt, like a breath of the ocean. 

After the dinosaur (he had forgotten its name already, damn – something moss... mossman, that definitely wasn’t it... He would have to ask Gray later) ate a whole fucking shark (!!!) in one go, it vanished beneath the water's surface. Droplets splashed from it, drenching them in cold water, but for once, Zach couldn't care less. 

Seeing that dinosaur was definitely worth it. 

Then, the whole stadium sank to the level of the pool floor. 

He watched the creature with bright eyes as it swam. He had never been that fascinated by an animal before. Maybe, he decided in that moment, he should give this dinosaur park a chance after all. 

“That was really cool.”, he admitted, smiling from ear to ear, for once just like his brother. 

Okay, so despite all of his best efforts – and he had really tried – he had gone back to staring at his phone. What else was there to do when they were waiting in line for a ride with the hamster ball? Right, exactly, nothing! So staring at his phone it was, at least until Gray's hand tugging at his shirt brought him back to reality. 

“Zach!”, his little brother whisper-yelled. “The guy over there! Why is he looking at us?”

That certainly caught his attention. If anyone decided to look down on his baby brother, he wouldn’t let it slide. And indeed a man was staring at them. He was older than Zach and judging by his stature and the way he carried himself all high and mighty most likely an alpha. The smile on the guy's face looked arrogant, as if he could get anyone into bed with  a single smirk. His nose was crooked, and absently Zach thought that he had probably deserved the punch that put his nose in that shape. 

Zach rolled his eyes, sighing, ignoring the uneasy shiver running down his spine. A warn signal from his body, it seemed. 

Luckily, when the guy tried to walk towards him, the crowd wasn't budging, an angry mother even yelling at him about waiting for his turn on the ride. Perks of an overrun amusement park. At the interaction, Zach actually snorted, turning away from the now fuming guy and back to Gray. 

His baby brother was still staring at the man with a confused frown on his face. 

“It seems he wants to talk to us.”, Gray pondered aloud. “Should I go back ask him what he wants?”

Zach immediately grabbed his baby brother by the shoulder. Considering the twitching of Gray's body, a bit too harshly. So instead, Zach knelt down so he was eye to eye with his brother. 

“You don't go to any strangers. Not without me or Claire or anyone you know. Understood?”, Zach’s words came out the way they were meant, as a dead-serious warning. 

Gray nodded, clearly scared. 

“Look.”, Zach said then in a more calming tone, pointing towards the hamster ball to their left, “It's our turn.”

At his words, Gray's eyes brightened and his smile could compete to the sun. His heart skipped a beat. He just hoped his brother would never lose this unrelenting positivity. Everyone, but not him. 

So with an exasperated roll of his eyes, Zach got up and took Gray's hand into his own. 

They crawled into the glass ball, uncaring of the creep still stuck in the line. 

From the side then came the most uninterested “Enjoy the ride” Zach had ever heard. It almost made him laugh, really. 

He nodded towards the guy who was probably not much older than himself – maybe a beta? – could be an omega as well considering his lanky build, but there was no way an omega would work in a position with that much customer contact, Zach thought and buckled himself up. 

Then he let out a shaky breath and rested his palms on his thighs. They were alone. No one could hurt them here. In his head, he counted to twenty and backwards to make himself relax. 

Maybe he'd finally get to see something cool again. 

Maybe he'd not have to deal with any more psycho alphas from now on. 

And hopefully, he'd get to travel back home soon, move out from his parents' house and start somewhere nice as a mechanic like he’d dreamed about for the last couple of years. Yes, that sounded good. 

As they watched and ignored (Gray watched, Zach ignored) the video of some idiot who didn’t know how to explain dinosaurs, Zach looked out for the creatures they were actually here for to begin with. 

And then – finally – they were there, moving and breathing and living. Herbivores wandered around peacefully and they were in the middle of them all. It was a sight to behold, having these giants surrounding them. 

For the first time since seeing the water creature, Zach felt entranced. 

Zach patted Gray's shoulder, making the smaller avert his eyes from the stupid info video they were shown. He gasped when he looked up. 

“Zach, that's Gallimimimus! And Triceratops! And there's a Pachycephalosaurus!”

Zach didn't understand a single of the dinosaurs' names, but that didn't bother him. He was too entranced by the creatures surrounding them. They ran and ate and some even slept, half hidden beneath bushes. They looked content, maybe even happy if Zach was to tell. 

At that moment he thought that staying a few days longer might not be so bad after all. 

Because this was fucking cool. 

Not fucking cool at all! Repeat, not fucking cool at all! 

Getting hunted down by a huge dinosaur that was definitely a carnivore – small correction: a fucking angry motherfucking killing machine of a carnivore – was not cool at all! 

Dirty and wet, they stumbled through the forest. Gray was shivering, as dawn hit them and the sky slowly turned to black. 

It had killed the one dino, the ancor-something! Ugh, why was he so bad with names! 

“The poor Ankylosaurus.”, his brother cried beside him. Oh, so that was the dino's name. He would try to remember it, a small space in his chest carved out for the poor thing. 

Watching as the monstrosity of a dinosaur kill the huge herbivore just like that had Zach trembling. He could still hear the animal’s pained cries for help ring through his head. Not till he had landed in the water after jumping from that cliff did he feel his limbs relax, the water once again soothing him. 

Their heroic jump was what brought them here: Into an old station from Jurassic Park, with their skin muddy and their hearts still racing. 

Only when Gray pointed towards the old vehicles abandoned there and Zach could let himself fall into one of the seats, did he finally take a deep breath. 

He looked over to Gray who was examining the jeep interestedly. 

Still alive, good. 

With that knowledge, he closed his eyes for a moment and leaned back. Leaves were bustling, twigs breaking, Gray talking. Birds were singing. That had to be a good sign. 

He opened his eyes to the sight of his brother entering the vehicle beside him. 

“1992 Jeep Wrangler Sahara, Sand Beige.”, Gray mumbled. 

“We are going to drive that thing to safety, you hear me? I'm gonna bring us out of here.”, Zach said and tried his best at a reassuring smile. 

Considering Gray’s beaming face, he managed to convey the message.

Turning forward again, he clapped his hands together, rubbed them against his thighs, leaving his pants sweatier and dirtier than before, and lastly placed them on the steering wheel. Driving, he knew how to do that, no matter what his teacher had to say back at home. He was a pro. He always killed it in Need for Speed. 

He turned the key and his heartbeat spiked once again. 

There was a little buzzing sound followed by silence. 

“It's not working?”, Gray asked the obvious. 

“Nope.”, Zach answered the obvious. 

“Try it again?”

Zach rolled his eyes but did as he was told. Still, nothing. “It’s not...”, he turned the key another two times. “Ugh, it doesn’t work.”

There had to be something they could do, anything that could help them. He looked around for any useful devices. A silver object sparked his interest. 

“Hey, Gray!”, he began, a smile tugging at his lips. “You remember when we fixed up Grandpa’s old Malibu, right?”

Gray nodded, obviously not quite following. 

Zach's smiles widened. 

Something was coming their way. The grass was bustling and twigs were breaking. Something was approaching, fast. 

“Zach!”, Gray whisper-yelled, his eyes full of terror. He despised that look on his brother's face. He hated, hated, hated it. He had looked at him just the same when he told Zach about their parents' divorce. His face was full of ugly despair. 

“Zach, what do we do?”

No, he wouldn't let his brother get hurt even more. 

“Get in the jeep!”, he said. It was an order from his tongue. 

“But it's not working-“, Gray tried to argue, but Zach immediately cut him off. 

“Get in.”, he said once again. “You'll turn the key when I say so.”

When Gray remained standing next to him in the little space near the forest where they had found an even more battered jeep from which they got most of their utensils, unmoving, Zach lost his cool. 

“Move!”, he shoved his brother backwards, finally making him back away and run towards the jeep they were trying to fix. 

Zach all the while tried to look for the piece they were missing. It should be sitting somewhere in the front bumper. He stuck his hand in, his fingers grabbing for the little bolt the other car was still missing.

There it was! 

He unscrewed it. 

The steps were getting closer. The screw dropped into his hand. His heart was pounding. Then he held it between his fingers. Fuck, he was shaking so bad. But he had the last piece they needed. Fuck, yeah! 

Next step, running. And oh boy, run he did. He was at the other jeep within the blink of an eye. He didn't dare to return his brother’s gaze, too afraid to be unable to look anywhere else after. 

So he concentrated on the task at hand. He stuck his arm into the vehicle, not caring how dirty his skin got, and found the spot with the loose car battery. Screwing the little bolt took less than ten seconds but long enough to make whatever was coming towards them catch up. The leaves nearby were shaking. 

“Now, Gray!”, Zach yelled, closing the lid with a loud bang. 

Gray immediately obeyed, turning the key. The jeep was running. Goddamn, it was running! 

He rounded the vehicle and climbed into the driver seat, adjusting to the foreign feeling. The gas pedal was the right one, right? No, it was the one in the middle! Or was it –

“Zach, drive!”

Gray's petrified voice made his brain finally shut up and he stomped onto the gas pedal, not even registering which one it was in the end. 

But they were driving! Right towards the sound of the noises. Zach just had to run over whatever creature was coming. He just hoped it wasn't the huge monster from before or he would certainly not only be killing himself but also his baby brother by driving against the thing. 

He heard someone scream. Maybe it was his brother, maybe it was himself. Maybe it was them both. He didn’t care. All he cared about was getting them out of there, alive. 

Two people stumbled out of the tall grass. 

Not the monster from before, not even dinosaurs at all, but regular people. People, he knew. People, he didn’t want to run over. 

“Brakes! Zach, brakes!”

He kicked his foot onto the pedal. 

Zach barely registered the man before them grabbing the woman by the shoulders and pulling her to side where she fell to safety. He barely registered anything but his aching chest. He was going to have a panic attack very soon if things continued like this. 

The jeep finally came to a screeching halt, right before the stranger who slammed his hands on the vehicle's hood as if that would’ve stopped it. The man was breathing heavily, just like Zach. When their eyes met, Zach felt a sharp sting in his chest. He had almost killed this guy. 

Zach's mouth opened, but no words came out. Still, he couldn't avert his eyes. The man was fucking hot, which certainly didn’t help his situation. But what was even worse was the fact that he had almost killed the handsome stranger. How should he react to that? Should he apologize? Is that what you did after almost-killing someone when you thought they were a human-eating predator? 

“Claire, is that you?”, Gray's voice brought him back to the here and now. Zach watched his brother get out of the car and run towards the woman kneeling on the forest floor. 

“Oh god, Gray! I found you, I finally found you!”, Claire's voice sounded weak, on the verge of tears, as she hugged Gray tightly. 

With shaking limbs, Zach turned off the ignition and stumbled out of the jeep himself. He held onto its door for dear life, scared he would fall if he didn't. 

“Claire.” Zach didn’t imagine the word coming from his lips as a hoarse plea, but there was no other way to describe it. 

A moment later, he felt strong arms around him. Claire's scent, however long it had been, was still something vaguely familiar – elderberry and a crackling campfire. He relaxed in her arms, just like Gray. 

When they separated, Claire checked them both from head to toe for injuries. While his brother told her that they both were (luckily) unharmed, Zach's eyes drifted over to the man he had almost run over mere minutes ago. 

The stranger had his arms crossed over his chest, flexing his muscles beneath his stained shirt. He looked strong, his stern gaze emanated dominance. He was an alpha, there was no doubt about it. This fact, Zach was no fan of. 

“Who's that?”, Zach asked bluntly. His tone sounded harsh, but who could blame him? In their society, most alphas were arrogant, thinking of themselves as more important than betas or omegas. 

Claire looked up at Zach's words and away from Gray. She opened her mouth in a silent “o”, as if remembering something. 

“Let me introduce you!”, she finally rambled, gesturing vaguely towards the stranger. “That's Owen. A colleague of mine. He helped me look for you. Owen, these are my nephews. The little one here is Gray and –“

“You have to be Zach then.”, the stranger – Owen – finished Claire's sentence and Zach couldn't deny that his name coming from the man's lips sounded like a fine wine, not a word you would yell whenever a child misbehaved. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Your aunt has told me a lot about you two. ”

Owen only glanced down at Gray for about a second before returning his gaze to Zach. 

Zach couldn't stop the disbelieving laugh coming over his lips. “Yeah, what did she tell you besides our names? Would be surprised if she even managed our ages.”

At his words, Claire visibly flinched, clearly uncomfortable while Owen raised an eyebrow in obvious amusement. 

“Feistier than she'd promised.”

Since Zach didn’t know what to say to that, he merely rolled his eyes and continued as if nothing had happened. “Well, Claire hasn't told us anything about you. Who are you exactly? You certainly don't look like a scientist.”

Owen actually laughed at that, however shortly it was. “Well, let's say I work with the animals here.”

“The super tall ones that are on the loose? Sorry to inform you, but you're not doing your job right.”

“Zach!” – now that's how his name was supposed to sound. A reprimand, a threat, a warning. He felt a poisonous rush in his veins, a feeling of bitter pleasure. 

Claire looked like she wanted to say more but Gray tugged on her arm which shut her up. He hated when his brother had to be the one saving him. Zach was the older one. He should be the one doing the saving. 

Owen's laugh came as a surprise. It sounded warm and gentle. It made his shoulders relax a little. The poison in his blood now switched with melting morning dew, he felt lighter than before. A tiny bit warmer. 

“I think we should postpone the happy family reunion for now and instead focus on getting back to the park.”, Owen said with an urgency to his tone but not unkind. 

“Agreed, one hundred percent agreed!”, Gray rushed over to Zach's side. 

“We'll take the truck and drive straight back to the park. It’s not safe to go where we came from. We'll have to make a wide turn around the area to avoid the Indominus Rex. It sees it as its territory now.”, Owen turned towards Claire then. “It's safest if we go south now and then head right to Entrance B.”, Owen looked through the backseats as well as the glove compartment of the jeep while Claire got behind the steering wheel. 

“Passenger!”, Gray exclaimed excitedly, hopping onto the seat beside their aunt. 

Only when Claire started the vehicle and the others looked at him expectantly did Zach wave his hands before his chest dismissively. 

“You turn that thing around. I just need a moment away from that killer machine. Unless you want me to run someone over again.”, he sputtered. 

It would only take Claire a minute to have the cheep turned so it was really no biggie. That's why he didn't understand when Owen said something too quiet for Zach to hear and went after him while Claire slowly drove off backwards.

“You know, I'm not gonna get eaten in the two minutes you don't have your eyes on me.”, Zach tried, hiding his hands in his jeans' pockets. 

“I'd rather not test my luck.”, Owen said while looking around. Zach thought of saying something along the lines of the man not even having his eyes on him now, but he really liked it better this way. Being looked at by an alpha wasn't exactly comfortable, it didn’t matter whether Claire trusted him or not. 

“Where was the last place you saw the Indominus Rex?”, Owen still didn’t look at him despite asking him the question. It bugged Zach. 

“The what?”

“The monster dinosaur that tried killing you?”, Owen exclaimed, but it sounded more like a question than an answer. 

“Ah. Stupid name.”, Zach mumbled to which Owen light-heartedly agreed. “At the waterfall. We didn't see it while repairing the jeep. That was about an hour or so ago.”

Owen hummed. Whether it was subconsciously or not, the man grabbed the gun around his shoulders. His knuckles turned white with how hard he was holding onto the weapon. Like an anchor. 

Zach felt his heartbeat once again fastening. He didn't want Owen to use that thing. He didn’t want him to need to use it. He wanted to go home where stupid alphas said stupid things to him and he could act boyish and stupid in turn and break some noses and get his nose broken. He didn’t want this. 

“Hey, everything alright, kid?”, Owen spoke to him like he was some frightened animal and placed a hand on his shoulder carefully. 

Zach pulled his arm away, successfully ridding himself from Owen's hand. “Obviously.” Just to keep up the facade, he added: “Just stressed. For... well, obvious reasons.”

Owen didn’t push further for which Zach was grateful and so they stood in silence as Claire lastly had the cheep turned around and drove a few feet forward, waiting for them to enter. 

It took them approximately five steps until the peacefulness was once again disrupted. This time, however, not by someone's words but instead by footsteps. Loud ones. 

“Gray!”, it was an instinct to yell for his brother. 

Call it a wonder or the kid's great senses, but despite the jeep's rumbling engine both Claire and Gray turned towards them. Claire turned off the vehicle. 

The air was filled with thick anticipation. 

The steps stopped. Only quiet remained. Like a nearing storm, a breeze hit them. 

Then – 

Within the blink of an eye, the monster burst through the forest, separating Zach from his brother. 

The beast was looking at the jeep, his back towards Zach and Owen. 

Zach looked at the alpha beside him holding an arm before him as if that would shield Zach from the monstrosities’ teeth. If they ran now, they could make it back to the other, still destroyed jeep and seek shelter beneath it. 

There was no way they could run to Claire and Gray now. Not if both of them wanted to survive this. 

There was only one logical solution to it all. 

“Claire, drive! Bring Gray somewhere safe!”, Zach yelled, his throat hoarse and aching. His skin was burning. He was aflame. 

The predator turned around to take a good look at him. There was a moment of mutual understanding, Zach felt. They both knew that Zach was going to die and that the creature was going to be the cause of it. 

It was a silent conversation almost. 

Will you kill me? Zach asked between rustling leaves and the cold breeze. 

The dinosaur's eyes didn't convey empathy, just icy truth. It didn’t falter. 

Yes. it said, surety in its never changing gaze. I will. 

Zach had never been more terrified in his life. 

“Are you crazy?”, Claire yelled at the same time as Gray screamed “No!”

The dinosaur between them turned back towards the vehicle, ready to follow if it suddenly moved. 

Far away, between white scales and roots burrowed deep enough to reach the ocean, Gray looked at him. It wasn't the terror or the hopelessness that broke Zach. What made him lose his footing was the wish for them to be together, no matter the outcome of this. If Gray died, Zach wanted to be right by his side. 

He wanted to promise his brother to make it out alive, to come running his way and close his arms around him again soon. He couldn’t lie to him. Not about this. 

He opened his mouth but no words came out. 

“Go!”, it was Owen's voice that finally made the world move before the gigantic beast could. 

Claire started the jeep and drove off while Gray turned around and looked back at him. They vanished behind bushes and twigs and promises that were never made. 

Zach felt numb. 

The beast roared. Zach thought his eardrum might explode from the sheer force of it. 

For a second, nothing happened. It was a moment, barely long enough to inhale, until the dinosaur turned towards them again. 

When he felt a hand close around his wrist, Zach let himself be dragged backwards. His feet hitting the ground felt heavy, each step an unbearable weight. His heart was beating so loud it sounded like gunshots in his own ears. The only word repeating in his mind was GrayGrayGrayGrayGray. 

Zach didn’t dare look behind him. 

“The truck!”, Owen's voice was a wavering lifeline. Even the alpha sounded frightened. 

They just ran. Somewhere in the distance they heard a car honking. Zach had no time to turn around and see if the sound distracted the monster. 

They rounded the concrete wall and slid under the vehicle in one swift movement. 

A second later, Owen crawled on top of him. He pulled out a knife then and for a moment Zach’s heart fluttered in fear. Owen cut the hose to the oil pan above them, successfully soaking Zach's clothes with it. The older man's hands roamed over his shirt, smearing the liquid all over Zach. 

Zach opened his mouth to protest, but a hand on his lips stopped him. Owen's palm against his mouth felt calloused – definitely not a scientist’s – and tasted of oil and sweat.  

Zach laid flat against the floor, buried between dirt and the much bigger man. He was trapped. All he could do was look up at Owen. 

The dinosaur's steps approached. 

Zach's breath caught in his throat. 

Tears welled up in his eyes. On top of him, Owen let out a silent shushing sound. A thumb caressed his cheek, Owen's other hand was still firmly placed over his mouth, keeping any noises inside. 

The breeze hit the truck or the animal's claws did. No matter what it was in the end, it left as fast as it came. 

In the distance a car honked frantically. 

With an earthshattering roar, the monster left. The steps ebbed away until a mere echo of them remained. 

With an urgency, Zach grabbed Owen's arm and tugged. 

“Gray”, it was the first word that slipped from his lips when the man pulled away slightly. It was a plea – a cry for help. He would deny it later – there were no witnesses present after all – but right now he needed the man still on top of him. Speaking of, Owen wasn't moving, just staring at him still, as if he was some sort of alien for caring for his brother. 

“Can you move?”, he finally asked when the older man still didn’t budge despite Zach putting his hands against his chest and shoving at him lightly. 

That seemed to do the trick, however, because Owen blinked a few times, before rolling to the side.

Owen climbed out from beneath the vehicle, leaving Zach a moment of peaceful solitude. He took a deep breath before taking the offered hand from Owen and getting up himself. 

“It's still there, isn't it?”, Zach didn’t dare walk too far into the woods, instead staying close to the concrete wall like it would shield him from whatever else was out there. The claw marks on it were taller than Zach's entire frame. 

Owen looked around. “Most likely.” He readjusted the gun on his torso. “You managed to get the jeep to run. Can you do the same with this one?”

Zach took a look at the jeep. The hood was still open. The vehicle was missing its battery and more than one of the tires had a hole in them. “We took what we needed from this one. There's no way I'll get it going anytime soon.”

Owen nodded, thinking. “Claire and I saw a small cave on our way here, not too far to the south. It's getting dark. We should seek shelter in there for the night.”

Zach immediately complained. “But Gray-“

“Is safe with Claire.”, Owen interrupted him. “She'll keep him alive until you two can reunite.”

Zach wasn't convinced. Claire was a stranger these days and this wasn’t a small matter – it was Gray's life they were talking about. 

“She's capable.”, Owen seemed to be reading the doubts from his mind. “She's strong and unyielding, has her heart in the right place. Trust me, she will do anything in her power to keep the boy safe.”

“Yuck.”, Zach groaned. “Sounds like you have a thing for her.”

At his words, Owen laughed light-heartedly. “No. She's not quite my type.”, he scratched his neck, looking over at Zach.

“Whatever.” Zach shrugged. 

He could have thought so himself anyways, two alphas rarely mated. Too much testosterone. One alone was too much for Zach already. Which brought back the seriousness of his current situation. Not only was he stranded with a murderous, killing dinosaur somewhere around, separated from his baby brother, no, he was also alone with an alpha he had just met not even an hour ago. 

And to top it all, said stranger was very obviously much stronger than any alpha he’d had to fight off before. He'd felt it as Owen had laid on top of him: how defenceless Zach was. How helpless. 

He wouldn't get away with just a broken nose from him. 

He took a step away from Owen, bringing even more distance between them. The other just raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything about it. 

“Come on, let's get to the cave.”

The walk to their shelter was tense. Every time a twig broke or birds flew away, Zach flinched. He looked around the whole time, his eyes darting from one direction to the other, never staying still. 

Every now and then he looked over at Owen who was quiet and seemed surprisingly calm considering their “situation”. It made him wonder if he'd been in a life-or-death situation before. 

“Not your first trip in a forest with a ten feet tall killer dinosaur on the loose?”

Owen snorted at that but didn't stop looking around. “I've had my fair share. You're in good hands, don't worry.”

Zach let out an amused breath but even that felt exhausting. Like his lungs were quietly cackling inside of him. Burning him up from the inside. 

They reached the cave a few minutes later – it really was a tiny little thing – and Owen started to explore each and every corner still. 

“What are you doing?”, Zach asked as he watched the older man kneel down to inspect the dark nooks the cave had to offer. 

“Making sure we're not gonna get killed by something that's not the Indominus Rex.”, Owen muttered like it was the most logical thing in the world. To him, it probably was. 

“Okay, Mister Jungle-Expert.”

Owen looked at him with an unimpressed frown but didn't say a word. Zach shrugged and took a look around himself, his arms crossed over his chest. 

“Don't underestimate me, kid.”, Owen said under his breath. 

Zach heard him come closer behind him so he turned around. “Don't call me that. I'm not a child. I'm eighteen, man.”

With the adrenaline slowly leaving him and their lives not in any immediate danger, his brain was finally catching up with what was going on. 

Zach was an omega. 

Owen was stronger, bigger, dangerous. And he was walking towards him. 

Zach took a step back. 

Owen seemed to get the hint, because he stopped in his tracks. However, he didn't stop looking at him like he was some stupid puzzle to be solved. Zach didn't avert his eyes either. He wouldn't lose this strange game they were playing. He had long ago sworn it to himself – he wouldn’t lose to an alpha. 

A few seconds passed in silence until Owen's lips tugged upwards and he finally averted his gaze. “You win, I won't call you kid anymore. Would you prefer Pretty Eyes instead?”

“I'd prefer my name.”, Zach made a dismissive move with his hand, ignoring the cackling inside him getting stronger – louder. “If you even managed to remember.”

Behind him, Owen laughed. 

Night came fast.

It got a lot chillier than during the day. There was nothing of the sun's warmth left where they were hiding. 

Minutes passed with nothing happening. 

It made his skin itch in cruel anticipation. 

Occasionally he stiffened when the grass was rustling but Owen just looked up from where he was lying on a stone for a few seconds and closed his eyes again, sure that whatever was out there wouldn't find them. 

Ever so slowly, minutes turned into hours and Zach was getting restless. 

The cold was killing him. He was full-on shivering by this point, his arms hugging his body tight. It didn't help one bit. He was pacing again, he knew it – bad habit – but his baby brother was somewhere else, with Claire, who was pretty much a stranger these days. And now he was stuck here with –

“Hey, you should rest.”, Owen, the alpha he barely even knew, said. 

Zach had to supress a hysterical laugh. Never would he fall asleep next to a stranger, especially when said stranger was an alpha. He might not be as smart as Gray, but he was by no means an idiot. 

“I’m good.”, was all Zach muttered before he continued with his pacing. 

It seemed to annoy Owen, because all of a sudden he got up with a huff and walked towards Zach, only stopping inches away. 

Zach stood frozen, looking up at the man now directly in front of him. Night made it hard to see but he could make out the outlines of his lips being just slightly turned upwards. 

“You’re stubborn, aren’t you?”, it was no question, so Zach didn't answer. “It’s not that I don’t like that, because believe me I do.”

Zach couldn’t do anything about his reflexes, couldn’t stop himself from taking a careful step backwards at the alpha’s words. An incredulous laugh left his lips. An accident, really, because he couldn't keep his mouth shut. Because some things truly never changed. 

The man approached him still, only more cautiously now, like Zach was a scared animal and not an adult who was just fucking done with everything that was happening. 

“You should really get some sleep. You need to be well rested when we leave tomorrow. How else will you be able to make it back to your brother?”, Owen's words made sense. Damn, how Zach hated that the man was seemingly always right. He hated that he knew he should just listen.

Frustrated, he turned around. With an exasperated huff, he let himself fall against the cave wall farthest from the spot Owen had claimed for himself. 

Zach ignored the satisfied smirk on Owen's lips as he turned and walked back to his own sleeping area. 

“We can take shifts keeping watch if you want.”, the idea sounded good enough so Zach agreed. Owen didn’t need to know that he wasn't planning on sleeping at all. 

After a few minutes of somewhat peaceful silence Owen raised his voice once more. 

“How did you even manage to get one of those jeeps to work?”, Owen suddenly asked. When Zach peeked over his shoulder, he saw that the man had his eyes closed, arms folded behind his head and his legs stretched out as if this cave was the most comfortable place in the world. 

Zach turned to lay on his side, now fully facing the alpha. “It’s not that hard. Our grandpa showed us how to do it.”

“Good man.”, Owen murmured. 

“He was.”

Grandpa had passed away almost three years ago. On some days, it felt like it was yesterday when grandpa had closed his tired eyes in his bedroom and his hand slipped out of Zach's fingers. On some days, the wounds felt fresh, ripping a gaping hole into his heart all over again. On other days, he noticed himself forgetting small details about grandpa, like the colour of his eyes or if he preferred apples over pears or the other way around. It hurt either way. 

“Sorry to hear that, Zach.”, Owen had the decency to look at him while he said it. That didn't make his words any better. 

“You’re not.”, Zach sneered. “You didn’t know him and you don’t know me.”

Owen didn't say a word but the way he raised an eyebrow in confusion triggered Zach to continue nonetheless.

“I’m sick of people acting like they care.”

His teachers didn’t care about him, no matter how often they taught about equality. In the end they looked away as his weaker classmates got bullied and Zach entered the school building with more and more fresh bruises every day. 

His parents didn’t care, no matter how many times they told him to be himself. Behind his back, they wanted him to be like everyone else – soft-spoken and well-behaved. But most of all, obedient. 

His friends didn’t care, no matter how regularly they bandaged him up. They always told him to stop the fight. 

His aunt didn’t care, no matter whether she got them VIP tickets or expensive presents. They would always arrive nowhere near Gray's or his birthday anyway. 

“You might not believe it, but there’s people out there who do care. You just have to find them.”, Owen said. 

Zach laughed out loud. 

“And you’re one of them?”, he turned back to lie down and continue watching the cave walls above. 

There was anger bubbling beneath his skin. The kind of anger too great to tame and too small to set the world on fire with. What was one angry teenager supposed to do in a world of indifference anyway? 

He let out a breath, with it his wrath and his guilt and his sadness. For without his brother, he had no one. 

Because Gray cared. Gray would run into his room on a Saturday morning and beg him to watch Sea Monsters together on BBC and build a little cave of chairs and blankets, turn off all the lights and play Animal Crossing all night in the living room. He would hold his hand at grandpa's funeral or the other way around. He would sniffle whenever he saw Zach, broken and bleeding, begging him to be more careful. He would sneak into his bedroom whenever he had a nightmare or heard mum and dad yelling in the kitchen. 

Owen closed his eyes again. 

“I mean, I don’t want to act all high and mighty, but, you know, people say I have a heart of gold.” Zach could hear the smirk in the man's voice. 

To his own surprise, the words made Zach snort in amusement. He turned around then, his back facing Owen. “Sure. And people say I’m a sweetheart.”

“I can see why they would.”

Zach felt Owen's eyes on him. The sensation was heavy and his cheeks grew hot, the cackling inside him turning to small flames. He let out a long breath of fire and smoke. 

“Don't do that.”, he finally said, voice too loud in the quiet of the night. 

“Do what?”, Owen asked, an equally earth-shattering whisper. 

Zach drummed a finger against the stonewall endlessly. “Flirt with me. I’m not gonna hook-up with my aunt’s colleague in a cave in the middle of a life-or-death situation.”

Owen hummed but ultimately said nothing. 

It bugged Zach. “Easy as that?”

Owen looked at him still, Zach could feel it on his skin. “We'll see about that when we're no longer in a life-or-death situation.”

“Or in a cave.”, Owen added after a few seconds, just for good measure. 

Again, Zach snorted, disbelieving. “Sure.”

And with that, the conversation was over. 

Zach didn’t remember being so worn-out, but he felt his limbs become heavier with each passing second and it was getting harder and harder to stay conscious. 

Finally, he drifted into a restless slumber. 

He dreamed of home. He dreamed of the yard, of playing soccer with dad and Gray. He dreamed of a big, white monster crashing through their red fence and poppy bushes. He dreamed of a mouth wide open. He dreamed of a row of sharp teeth. He dreamed of Gray between it all. 

“Zach!”

 He dreamed of fire in his lungs. 

When he blinked his eyes open, he found the world aflame. 

The sun was rising, casting the cave entrance in a red hue. Zach got up on shaky limbs, his bones sore from the hard stone floor. 

Slowly, he walked forward until he was bathing in the sunlight. He closed his eyes for a moment and just felt the calmness of a morning between trees and flowers and dirt. 

There were s birds singing and a light breeze gliding through the woods. The world was awakening with him. 

The sun felt warm and refreshing on his skin after the chilly night.  

It took him not more than a few seconds to feel the presence of a certain alpha. Owen's scent was strong even if mixed with oil and sweat. 

He smelled just like this. Like sunrise. He smelled a bit like rain too, like the shore on a stormy coast. 

Zach took a deep breath, this time not of the world but of Owen instead. The man didn’t have to know. 

Zach relaxed his shoulders. There was no predator near anymore. 

“What a sight, huh.”, it was more of a statement than a question, so Zach didn’t feel the need to open his eyes. 

When he did a few breaths later, Owen was looking at him. His face was blank, his eyes unreadable. They were a rich greenish colour. Like the pond in his grandpa's backyard where he would always go looking for tadpoles and water striders. 

“Yeah.”, Zach finally said, looking back out into the open. 

Next to him, Owen did the same. 

“I'll bring you to your brother. I promise you that, Zach.”, Owen's words had lost their teasing tone. There was nothing but heavy commitment behind them now.

Zach believed him. Why he would do such a thing, he didn’t know. Because this was still a stranger. And yet, he believed him. Maybe it was the way the alpha carried himself, maybe it was the way he had protected him the day before. 

But that was not something he wanted to think about, so he focused on the forest stretching out before them. 

Somewhere on the other side, there was Gray. 

“Sure as hell hope so.”, Zach lastly decided on. “Unless you want my aunt to rip off your head.”

Owen chuckled. It was a deep sound. It sent a shiver down Zach's spine. He wanted to hear it again. 

A moment passed and Zach took a deep breath. They would leave the cave in a few moments. They would have to be careful and quiet and fast out there. And they would get back to Gray and Claire. 

“Let's go.”, he said as he took a step towards the endless green. 

A hand grabbed his wrist. 

Zach turned to look at Owen. “What?”

Owen smiled stiffly, his head turned just slightly sideways to avoid looking straight at him. “You will not like what I'm gonna say next.”

Zach, unimpressed, just stared at the man, waiting for an answer. 

Owen had the decency to look uncomfortable before continuing. “I need to scent you.”

Zach ripped his hand away. He stumbled a few steps back into the cave. Owen had to be joking. That or – “You’ve lost your mind.”

“Zach, just listen to me.”, he began, taking a step forward, but stopping once Zach held out his arm. 

“Don't you dare get any closer to me.”

Owen, luckily, listened. 

Zach didn’t know what to say or do, so he just huffed in frustration. “How could I be so stupid! Of course you're just like every other fucking alpha.”

“What's that supposed to mean?”, Owen asked incredulously. 

Zach, again, looked at him with an unimpressed frown. “You know exactly what that's supposed to mean.”, he spat. 

“Zach, would you please just listen to me? I won't do anything without your consent.”, Owen took a tentative step forward. 

Zach couldn’t help the flinch but he managed to remain rooted where he stood. 

“These dinosaurs are just animals in the end.”, Owen tried to explain. “To them, an omega’s scent is the scent of prey. It makes them go feral.“ 

“Don’t you think it’s smelling you?”, Zach tried to argue. He was grasping at straws and he knew it. “You know, like an alpha threatening another alpha’s territory or something?”

At his words, Owen had the audacity to chuckle. “Nah, trust me on that. It was definitely your scent that made that thing go wild.”

Great, so apparently his scent was all over the forest now, luring the dangerous creatures directly to him. It made Zach devastatingly annoyed that he knew that Owen was right with all of this – again. Fucking Mister Jungle-Expert really deserved his stupid fucking name. 

Zach rolled his shoulders back, his muscles cracking. He closed his eyes and counted to ten – a strategy his last flirt, Laura Adams, had told him about. With each number, he imagined popping a soap bubble. 

Ten soap bubbles later Zach decided that Laura was an idiot and there was no way around this. 

He rolled his eyes. “Go ahead, then.”

Seconds passed with neither of them moving. 

“Pardon?”, Owen looked at him like a lost man. 

“Go ahead.”, Zach repeated, crossing his arms before his chest. “Scent me. And fast or I might reconsider.”

At his words, the alpha finally moved. He walked closer, each step careful and slow. His movements were followed by his heavy scent filling the entire cave. It took everything in Zach's power not to step back or bare his throat to the alpha. 

Finally, the man was standing directly before him. Up close, Zach noticed that he had to crane his neck to meet Owen's eyes. He had a scar on his lip and one on his nose. Zach wondered for a moment what had caused them, but Owen spoke up again, forcing his focus back to his words. 

“Hands on my shoulders.”

Zach immediately complied. Owen, again, chuckled. 

“What.” It was a statement to show his displeasure with the situation, not a question. They both knew. 

Owen answered, nonetheless. “Nothing.”, he leaned in close enough that Zach could feel his warm breath on his ear. “Good boy.”

Zach's fingers dug into Owen’s shoulder blades. “Don't say shit like that.”

Seconds passed with them just standing. 

“Are you sure?”, Owen's eyes were intense, a green storm that could sway any man. “I'll stop now if you don’t want me to do this.”

“You said it was necessary. Now go through with it.”, Zach wanted this to be over. Owen's gaze was too much, his body too close, his scent too strong. But he had the feeling Owen wouldn’t continue like this, so he bit his lip and added. “I want this.”

Luckily, Owen didn't need any more convincing than that. A moment later, he buried his face in the crook of Zach's neck. Zach felt himself holding onto Owen like a lifeline, only now realizing just how strong the man was. 

He wouldn't stand a chance in a fight. The thought made Zach anxious and excited at the same time. It sent a shiver down his spine that he knew that this alpha could do anything and Zach wouldn’t be able to stop him. It triggered his fight-or-flight instinct and he tried to push himself away. 

Owen held him tightly. Zach hadn't even realized the man's hand around his torso until now. 

“Shh.”, he whispered, soothing nothingness. “You're safe with me. I won't hurt you. I won’t let anyone else hurt you.” 

Inside him, a small flame turned into a fire that could not be quelled by the biggest of floods.

For some reason unbeknownst to Zach, he actually believed Owen. So he remained in his arms and let the older man cover him in the smell of tree bark and rain. 

And with that, the fire was soothed. 

When Owen finally let go of him, Zach was glad that he was still holding Zach by the elbows, because otherwise he might have fallen right then and there. 

Owen took a shaky breath and shook his head once as if coming back to reality just now himself. “You alright, Zach?”

His goddamn name from his lips. 

Zach huffed and walked towards the cave entrance more or less steadily. “Get me to my brother. Now.”

Owen walked up to him, hands in his pockets. “Sure thing. Nothing easier than that.”

Zach snorted, ignoring the heat radiating off of Owen. “Yeah, right.”

Zach couldn't get his mind around it. How was Owen able to navigate their way through this forest when everything looked exactly the same? 

But Owen was heading this way and that, leading them back like he was born and raised in these woods. Tarzan, Zach thought to himself. The idea amused him tremendously. 

“You've got a creepy smile on your pretty face.”, Owen suddenly remarked. 

“Just thinking.”, and because he couldn’t keep his mouth shut, he added “Mister Jungle-Expert.”

Owen chuckled at his words. Zach averted his gaze immediately when Owen looked over at him, instead observing a conifer tree that he could swear has seen at least five times by now. 

As they went on, they talked about anything that came to mind. 

He learned that Owen had been working with the dinosaurs of the park for quite some years. He also learned that he was an arrogant asshole. Owen, of course, didn't say that himself. Zach just got the feeling during their little talk. 

It was after an hour or so that Owen grabbed his wrist. 

He put a hand to his lips and Zach's words died on his tongue. He heard it too. 

The rustling. The steps. 

Owen dragged Zach with him. Zach stumbled but there was no time to fall with Owen's tight grip on him. 

The man pushed Zach into the thicket. He crouched over him before Zach had any time to react. 

They were both holding their breath in anticipation. 

Two dinosaurs appeared on the other side of the thicket. Zach grabbed Owen's arms on instinct, searching for anything to hold onto. When he looked up in panic, he found Owen releasing a relieved breath. 

“Herbivores?”, Zach asked. 

“Herbivores.”, Owen confirmed. “We still have to be careful.”

The man got up as silently as possible. Zach followed suit. They walked cautiously and once they were in the dinosaurs' view, their steps became slow. 

“Show them that you're no threat. Make clear steps that tell them where you want to go. Move predictably. Don't look into their eyes for too long.”, Owen guided him through the forest. 

“What are they called?”, Zach asked, not quite able to avert his eyes from the creatures. They looked pretty with their dark green spots on their greyish skin and a crest on their head. 

“Those are Parasaurolophus.”

“Parasaurolophus.”, Zach tried the word on his tongue. It felt strange. He repeated it two more times. He wanted to remember. “I like those.”

Owen had a smile on his face as they continued with their way. 

They made it to an open field not long after that. What awaited them there knocked the breath out of Zach's lungs. 

He stumbled as he ran towards the creature bleeding out a few feet ahead and fell to his knees just beside its head. 

Owen was quick to take a spot by his side where the dinosaur could see him. He put a hand to the creature's head. He mumbled words to the dinosaur to calm it but of course, it didn't understand a single syllable Owen said. 

Zach saw the way Owen's jaw clenched in barely restrained anger. 

Zach put a hand to the animals face. It winced in pain and Zach flinched back. When he rested his hand more carefully on the dinosaur’s skin, it looked at him. 

Zach couldn't look anywhere else. Not when the creature to his feet was in pain and the life was slowly leaving its eyes. Not when it took a last breath – long and deep and almost peaceful – before finally closing its eyes for eternity. 

Zach's own breath stuttered. 

He kept sitting by the dinosaur's side, unable to move his hand. Unable to look anywhere else. 

He sat there waiting, as if the dinosaur would just wake up again. He had waited for grandpa to wake up, too. 

Owen's sharp intake caused him to finally snap out of it. He stumbled to his feet and came to a halt next to Owen. 

His heart sank to the bottom of the ocean. His bones felt heavy. His blood was ice-cold. 

Before them a field of dead dinosaurs stretched out. Green and grey mixed with ugly, dirty red. 

“It kills for sport.”, Owen finally said. He didn't have to clarify. 

Zach found no words to that. Nothing to make this situation any better. So instead he kept standing and looking and praying for these creature's to feel no pain ever again. 

“What are they called?”, he finally asked. 

“Apatosaurus.”, Owen said. The word a prayer itself. 

“Apatosaurus.”, he repeated. 

Zach wouldn't ever forget. 

They continued in silence. Their way led them across the fields and back to the western enclosures. In the distance, Zach could see another broken gate. 

“What was in there?”, Zach asked, pointing towards the destroyed fence. 

Owen let out a defeated breath. His shoulders sagged. “That's not good.”

A moment later, a hand wrapped around his, pulling Zach along. They made it to the enclosure in a few short minutes. When Owen finally let go of him, Zach leaned against the stone wall, breathing heavily. 

“Owen, what was in there?”, he asked again, not sure if he wanted to hear the answer. 

“You wouldn't know what it is even if I told you.”, Owen said while peeking around the destroyed fence. Then, much to Zach's demise, he added. “Carnivore.”

“Great.”, Zach groaned. He grabbed a metal bar that has been previously attached to the fence and was now lying there loose and followed Owen. 

They sneaked around the enclosure and past another two pens that were – despite all of their best luck – destroyed as well. A strange feeling spread through his body. It made Zach dizzy. 

“Did... Did it do that?”

Owen found his eyes. He looked older, exhausted. “Probably.”

“Why?” 

It didn't make any sense. Why would the big killer dinosaur help all the others escape? It wasn't like it had some saviour complex, not when it killed a dozen harmless Apatosaurus without mercy at the same time. Or did it want some playmates all of a sudden? 

“I don't know.”

With that, all hope left Zach. Hearing Owen – smart, stoic Owen – so at a loss for words left Zach completely helpless. 

“From here it's about twenty minutes to the back entrance. Claire will try to get there as well.”, Owen put a hand on his shoulder and Zach flinched. “Stay close. Stay alert. Got that?”

Zach nodded then, a determined feeling spreading within him. He balled his hands into fists, the grip around the metal bar tightening. He would stay close. He would stay alert. He would find Gray. 

“Good.”, said Owen, the hint of a smile on his face, and continued. 

Zach followed his every step. 

He turned at every other noise, raised his makeshift weapon high into the air whenever a particularly loud grumble could be heard and came up empty-handed each and every time. Still, he stayed focused. Still, he stayed alert. 

They stalked through tall grass, from paddock to paddock, until Owen raised a hand behind his back and Zach stumbled right into it. 

He took a step back with a huff. Owen just looked at him with a bit of mischief to with Zach simply rolled his eyes. 

The animalistic sound washed his face off any emotion but adamant, raw fear. 

“Herbivore?”, Zach mouthed. 

Owen shook his head. 

Fuck, okay. Okay, well, yeah. Actually, not okay at all. 

Zach felt himself gripping the metal bar with both hands now. He tried not to think about the little impact he would have if he actually had to use it and instead focused on the creature’s approaching steps. 

It walked slowly, as if it hadn't heard them yet and Zach could only pray that this was true. 

Before him, Owen adjusted the gun in his hands, checked the ammunition and loaded the weapon. 

With his right hand, he made a gesture that very much said ‘Back off' but Zach hadn't exactly been paying attention during his military period so he could only assume. Goddammit, he should've listened to his instructor instead of just ogling him. 

He took a step back and looked up at Owen to see whether his face changed to any sort of displeasure. Owen looked back towards the open enclosure, so Zach took another step back. They continued like that, taking small and tentative steps along the paddock’s wall. 

When Zach saw the dinosaur's head peeking out, he froze. 

The dinosaur looked something like the raptor picture Gray had shown him back home. Only this one was definitely above 1.6 feet tall. 

To be frank, that thing was easily eight feet tall and Zach was in no spirit to measure up close. 

So, no raptor. 

But worse. 

Then there was a hand – Owen's – against his chest, lightly pushing. 

Zach took a shaky breath and a painfully slow step. He moved in slow motion. Every bustling of leaves and rustling of grass sounded like thunder in his ears. 

He looked up at Owen who was staring right back at him. But his face, even though his eyes were opened wide, conveyed calm. The alpha nodded, ever so slightly, barely a motion really, and took a deep breath. Zach mimicked the gesture. 

He hadn’t even registered how tense his shoulders were until now. Zach glanced back towards the dinosaur, but Owen took his chin between to fingers and guided his face back, as if to say No, just look at me. 

Zach felt his heart beating in his chest and blood rushing to his cheeks. A moment passed, then he took another steadying breath. 

The next step was as quiet as a clumsy teenager's could get. 

He moved back along the wall slowly and Owen was right behind him. They rounded the enclosure but Zach didn't stop. The dinosaur might be out of sight, but not out of earshot. One wrong move and they were done for. 

So he continued cautiously, one step after the other, until another paddock caught his attention. There was another enclosure near, this one just as damaged as the ones before. 

Zach pointed at it and mouthed “Herbivore?????” to which Owen followed his gaze. The man seemed to be deep in thought, judging by the frown on his face. After a second or two he nodded and Zach had to suppress a relieved groan. 

Thank fucking god. 

It took them approximately ten hours – or maybe it was three minutes, he couldn't really tell – to make it halfway. Then, because of course the world still hated him, a flying dinosaur crashed down beside him, squeaking and squalling, to which he let out a surprised yelp. 

The Not-Herbivore screeched. 

Steps came their way. Fast, deadly. The dinosaur rounded the corner. It stopped, looked. Zach's eyes met the dinosaur's. It wasn't like with the Indo-something. It wasn't bone chilling, nerve wracking, cold. It wasn't an icy promise of death. 

Instead, this was hot, burning, aflame. A sizzling sensation. A foretaste of the end. Because this creature, first and foremost, was an animal – killing to live and not the other way around. 

It would rip Zach's throat and drink his blood, all for the sole purpose of survival. Not for sport. Not for ego. Not for lust. 

To live. 

Zach moved before the animal, before Owen. 

He grabbed the alpha's hand and ran. Owen was a force, heavy and hard to pull along, but Zach managed. When Owen came back to his senses, he ran himself. 

“To the paddock!”, he yelled. 

Zach would've headed there anyway, thank you very fucking much. 

He didn't let out the annoyed huff for Owen pointing out the obvious like he would've done in a normal situation. Instead he felt himself focusing on the ripped open doors of the enclosure.

They slipped in before the carnivore could reach them. 

When Zach took a look around, Owen was already pushing him to the ground beneath some nasty bushes. Zach suppressed a surprised shriek and instead looked up to Owen who was holding a finger before his lips in a shhh!-motion. Yeah, no shit. 

Zach felt himself grabbing the man's arm with a hand, his nails digging into Owen's skin. Owen looked down, put his own, bigger hand on top of Zach's and squeezed. 

Zach blinked and Owen was gone. He got up and ran further ahead, taking a shot into the sky just as the dinosaur burst through the gate. 

Owen whistled once, sharp and loud, and made a run for it. His gun strap got stuck in a low-hanging tree branch and he continued without it. The dinosaur followed immediately. 

Zach sat up to get a glimpse of what was happening. Owen was just climbing into a hollow tree as the creature tried to scratch through the bark. 

He heard a scream, then some rustling. 

Zach’s fingers clenched around the weapon in his hand. He looked down, the metal already warm from clutching it. 

His heart started racing. His skin was burning. The metal bar was suddenly entirely too hot. 

“No overthinking now.”, he mumbled to himself. Then he got up and ran. He focused on the dinosaur ahead and on the weapon in his hand. Nothing else was of importance. He was saving Owen. He was a fucking hero and that was his stupid origin story. He would so brag to his brother about this. 

As he came closer he raised the makeshift weapon high into the air. The next thing he felt was resistance. A pain in his right arm. Resistance. Sprinkles of blood. A pained screech. 

He took another swing at the dinosaur. It stumbled backwards. 

“Zach!”, he heard Owen's voice from miles away. 

“Fuck.”, his own voice sounded strange to his ears. 

The injured and definitely angry dinosaur shook his head, splatters of blood flying in every direction. The beast found Zach's eyes. It was ready to jump him, to end it right here, and Zach mentally cursed himself for not having tried making out with the hot alpha to his feet at least once. 

He just hoped Owen would make it to Gray, somehow. 

He closed his eyes, metal bar raised as a shield, but the teeth never came. Nor did the claws. 

Instead, there was another hissing sound behind him. Then a clicking of teeth, more hissing. Shrieking. Yelping. Disappearing steps. An angry roar. 

When Zach blinked his eyes open, he found the snout of yet another dinosaur before him. This, Zach thought, looks like a raptor. 

The creature sniffed him, as if to judge whether he would be snack-worthy or not. When the raptor yelped, Zach flinched back. The creature rounded him twice, then nuzzled its head against his hand as if trying to say Pet me! 

Zach couldn't stop the incredulous laugh from bubbling over his lips. He wasn't snack-worthy but cuddle-worthy apparently? 

“She likes you.”, Owen said as he dusted off the dirt from his pants. He took a step closer then, stopping only when he was right before Zach, who was still confused as fuck because why wasn't the raptor attacking? 

“You saved me.”, Owen's voice was gravy and deep, barely loud enough for Zach to hear. Still, it immediately captured Zach's entire focus. He felt Owen’s warm breath on his skin and the hair on his neck stood. “That was stupid. Brave, too.” He held Zach's arm then, turning it this way and that, only stopping when Zach hissed. Fuck, his entire arm pulsated from that hit.

"Not broken, you got lucky. Don't do anything stupid like that again.", Owen said and ignored Zach's annoyed grumbles. Instead, he ripped a part of his shirt sleeve and wrapped it carefully around Zach's arm. All the while, the raptor stood next to Owen like a puppy waiting for his owner's attention. 

There was another pressure on his back suddenly – apparently the raptor wasn't alone – and Zach stumbled right into Owen who caught him easily. 

The alpha chuckled deeply. “They like you.”

“They?”, Zach asked, pushing away from Owen slightly, only to be surrounded by four fucking killer dinosaurs that all looked at him curiously. “Can you explain to me why we're not dead?”

“These are my raptors.”

Zach took two seconds to take in Owen's words. Then two more to melt his brain. “Wait, your raptors?”, he sputtered. Because he was pretty sure that was impossible and Owen was talking crap. 

“Yeah.”, Owen smiled arrogantly as he stepped between the dinosaurs. “I've trained them.”

Zach’s mouth fell open as he watched the alpha gently putting his forehead against one of the raptors' in some sort of greeting. The raptor's tail wiggled happily, almost like a dog's. 

There was another sensation on his hand. Carefully, Zach patted the dinosaur’s dark green and grey scales to which the raptor made a funny clicking sound, pressing further into his hand. 

“What are their names?”, Zach asked, not looking away from the creature trying to get as many pets as possible. He smiled at the picture, because this was fucking absurd and Zach wasn't sure if he had hit his head in his attempt to save Owen and was now hallucinating all of this. Maybe he was already dead? 

“This right here is Blue.”, Owen said and laid a hand on top of the raptor with the azure complexion. “Then there's Charlie and Delta.”

The two dinosaurs were currently chasing each other playfully. Fucking adorable. 

“And the one that just fell in love with you is Echo.”, Owen said. 

Zach looked down at the raptor. It was watching Owen now. 

“Echo. Hi.”, Zach smiled and the dinosaur turned back towards him. It pressed its head against Zach's chest and made more funny clicking noises. 

Zach laughed, trying not to get shoved to the ground by Echo. 

His laugh died in his throat when he felt strong hands on his waist and a hot sensation on his back. “Don't let them push you around.”, Owen breathed against his ear. “They think you're as strong as me.”

Before Zach could even ask, Owen continued. 

“They can smell me on you.”

Zach let out a stuttered breath. He felt Echo pushing him further against Owen, not a hair’s breadth between them anymore. 

Zach wanted to flee. But even more than that he wanted Owen to kiss him. The realization hit him like a tsunami. It made him feel too hot and too cold all the same. 

When the hand on his waist started rubbing little circles on his waist, it was finally too much. 

“Okay!”, he said, turning sideways out of the raptor-Zach-alpha sandwich. “Okay, okay.”

Owen raised an eyebrow, amused. “Okay?”

“Why are you so touchy all of a sudden?”, Zach asked, a little lost. 

At his words, Owen had the decency to look flustered. He scratched his neck. “I just wanted to... Never mind. I'm sorry. I won't do it again.”

No! 

Before Zach could bring his displeasure to words and get himself into an even more embarrassing situation, he decided on a pout. “Well, good.”

Not good at all, but Owen didn’t have to know that. He sure as hell wasn't going to admit that he actually liked the man's touch and was just utterly overwhelmed by it. 

“So, should we continue?”, Zach asked, ignoring the way Owen was biting his lip in thought. The alpha had his hands over his chest, flexing his muscles. He had to be doing that on purpose! Shit was fucking distracting and Owen sure as hell knew it. 

“Yeah.”, the alpha said, looking around. 

“With them?”, Zach nodded towards the dinosaurs still running around near them. “Will they just... follow us?”

Owen dismissively waved with a hand. “Don't mind them. We might not see them, but they'll stay close. They'll protect you.”

Zach raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

“They think you're my mate.”

Zach hid the blush not so elegantly by looking at the ground. 

As they continued, Zach left his metal bar behind. With it, the dread and fear of minutes ago. Somehow, he felt lighter as they left the enclosure. Behind them, the raptors ran around, finally vanishing into the endless green. 

“How did you even manage to train them that well? They're like your pets.”, Zach couldn't stop thinking about the way Echo had nestled against his hand. 

Owen secured his weapon and put it back on his back. “Well, I've been training them ever since they hatched. It's mutual respect. A special bond that formed throughout long training sessions.”

“That makes sense. But shouldn't they still be”, Zach searched for the right words until he found them in the destroyed gates as he waved lazily with his arms, “wilder?”

Owen had a pretty smile on his lips as he answered. 

“Our souls are connected.”

Zach stopped abruptly. “What?”

Owen came to a halt a moment later and turned back to him. 

Zach bit his lip and continued walking, ignoring the confused frown on Owen's face. “I mean... I've heard about people connecting with dinosaurs. It's rare.”

“Yeah.”, Owen breathed, walking beside Zach. 

“How does it feel? To have a dinosaur as your spirit.” Zach shoved the envy deep down, ignoring the sick feeling in his chest. He felt like he was about to puke. 

“It's good.”, Owen said. “I imagine it's not much different than any other soul bond. I didn’t have one for the longest part of my life. When I started working with the raptors six years ago I didn't imagine finding such a special connection.”

“I wasn't looking for my soul bond here. I just wanted to work with the animals.”, Owen said and Zach tried shoving the jealousy deep down his throat. Of course Owen didn't have to find a spirit animal. He was big, strong, sure of himself. No one would ever be dumb enough to make fun of him. 

Not of the big, scary alpha. 

Zach had almost forgotten the feeling of being lower, weaker, alone, despite being hunted by a huge killer machine. Somehow, Owen had made him feel safe, equal even. Now, however, he was reminded of what awaited him back home. (If they managed to make it home, that was.) 

“You obviously did something right.”, Zach finally said, ignoring the way his voice broke. 

He answered every of Owen's further questions with one-syllable-answers or quiet nods or the shaking of his head. Owen's concerned glances he ignored completely. 

He wasn't in the mood for talking to an alpha. 

He was sad enough already, thank you very much. 

The truck was mere rubber and dust. They found it on a clearing, turned over with broken windows and slit tires. Whatever had attacked it, it had done so well. 

There was blood on the glass edges and Zach's breath caught in his throat. There was no sign of Gray and Claire. 

Neither corpses nor footprints. 

“Did they...”, Zach wasn't sure himself what he wanted to ask, so he was let the question trail into nothingness.

Nevertheless, Owen answered. Probably because he was spiralling too. Or because he couldn't keep his big mouth shut. Maybe a bit of both. 

“They are alive.”, Owen said, pointing at the forest a couple hundred feet away. 

Yup. That looked like a forest. 

Zach raised an eyebrow, silently demanding clarification. Owen didn't answer him but instead started walking towards the huge trees. 

Zach rolled his eyes – an action no one on this planet could see but was still very much needed – and followed Mister Jungle-Expert to the forest. 

Not much later, Owen stopped between the thicket. He stood, probably listened. Zach stood too. Listened too. He raised his head and looked up. 

No birds. 

Zach looked back down. A second ticked by, then another. After the third, Zach felt the air shift. Steps rushed past him. Fast. Quiet. Almost like cutting wind. 

“Blue?”, Owen asked. The alpha's stance shifted, too. He was on high alert now, gun in hand, and took a step closer to Zach. 

Owen whistled. 

A low hissing sound came from the dark raspberry bushes. 

Zach didn’t dare breath. 

“Where are your raptors?”

Zach didn’t know whether Owen's gaze might have answered his question, because he couldn’t avert his own from the thicket. He stared into the darkness between dark green leaves and blackberries. The emptiness that stared back felt like a cruel monster lurking. Waiting. 

He never got an answer from Owen. 

The answer came in the form of another hiss, right at his back. 

Zach didn’t know how a raptor the size of a hound could move that quietly, but he didn’t care anyways. He was going to die. Because all the playfulness had left Owen's precious raptors. What remained was forebodings of death and endless suffering. 

Zach closed his eyes when he felt the raptor's snout on his back. For a moment, he wondered which one it was. 

“Charlie.”, Owen answered his unspoken question. His voice sounded tense, a bit of an order and on the verge of a plea. “Don't.”

Charlie's snout disappeared from the small of his back and Zach's shoulders, ever so slightly, sagged. 

There was a moment of utter silence. Zach still looked straight ahead. However, now he was sure that what he was looking at wasn't the raspberry bushes. 

“It's here.”, he breathed. 

The world crumbled, formed a crack right between Owen and him, let him stand all on his own once again. Black turned to dirty white. The beast's mouth – abstrusely misshaped in the form of a cruel smile almost – was all red blood and sharp canines. 

Zach knew the end when he saw it. He knew that this creature was to be his undoing. It was the feeling of all the hair on his skin standing, of his heart beating in his fingertips, of the sour taste of bile on his tongue. 

When the Indominus Rex – the word came to his brain like a prayer to a man stranded on the sea – stepped out of the shadows, the trees almost bowed to it like they would to a king. 

The sound that emanated from the creature was a last question as it looked directly at Zach: Anything before I kill you? 

Zach wasn't exactly keen on dying. Hadn't been for quite a while. He still had to tell his friends how cool the Mosasaur was, needed to let Jeremy and Molly know about the hot raptor trainer. He still needed to tell his mum and dad that, despite all of the bickering, they weren't half bad. He needed to see Gray growing up, watch as his eyes light up whenever he talks about dinosaurs or space or that stupid comic where there's dinosaurs in space. Dammit, he still needed to have his first time! All the flirtations and make-out sessions and now he would leave this earth as a virgin. It was a tragic destiny, really. 

As the creature approached, the raptors left their hiding spots as well. All four of them had been surrounding them. Zach hadn't heard a single footstep of any of them. 

As he began to realize that he was being cornered by not one but five killers, his body began to understand what was going on. The step towards Owen was one taken on instinct. The growl that followed almost made him regret. 

Almost, because Owen was taking his hand into his own and that felt good enough to risk another step towards the alpha. 

“We need to run.”

Zach didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. All of this was utterly hopeless. 

“Where to?”

Owen looked to the side, deeper into the forest where there was nothing but endless splatters of greens. 

“I'm not sure, but if we're lucky, there's a door.”

Zach wanted to answer – wanted to ask about that door – but then the raptors yelped and the Indominus Rex sniffled and made a low sound of its own. One of the raptors – Blue, maybe? – stomped with her foot. 

“Three.”, Owen said. 

Zach's heart beat so loud he almost didn’t hear him. They could see the southern back entrance from here, but there was no way they would make it that far with a raptor on their toes. 

“Two.”

His stomach was clenching. He was going to throw up any second now. 

“Go!”

The force of Owen tugging at his arm took him by surprise. He stumbled but caught himself quickly. Behind them, he heard a raptor's yelp and some clicking noises. 

Then the Indominus Rex barked in it's distinct manner. Footsteps followed. 

They were being chased. 

And what were ten seconds of a head start to a raptor? They would be dead in about five seconds if they didn’t hide anytime soon. 

But then Owen stopped and Zach just barely managed not to crash right into him. He didn’t question Owen shoving an old, rusty trap door open and pushing Zach inside. 

Zach held the door open as Owen crawled in. Behind him, the raptors sprinted towards them. Owen fell down and the last thing Zach saw was a raptor's snout right in his face as he let the door fall to the ground. 

It was pitch black. 

Their ragged breathing filled the space. 

Above them, the raptors came to a halt. They were right there and dust rained down on them as the creatures stomped on the trap door. Zach barely contained a cough. 

He held a hand to his mouth and pulled his phone from his pocket. He ignored the crack across the display and instead turned on the flashlight. 

“You forgot the One.”, Zach huffed quietly to which Owen let his head fall to the ground once more, a relieved smile on his face.

It was silent again then, the only sounds the ones from above. Footsteps. Claws scratching against wood. Yelps and skittering. 

Zach found himself crawling down the three steps towards Owen. He wanted to get as far away from those killer machines as humanly possible. 

The safest place, he decided, was at the alpha's side. 

Owen got up and dusted off his jeans as if that would've done anything to the battered look of them. Zach just waited for him to lead the way. 

Owen did that a moment later, nodding towards the darkness before them. They started walking side by side, Zach's phone, despite being broken and barely of any use, spending enough light to illuminate the hallway they were going through.

“Where are we?”, he asked as they passed a sleeping bag and a pile of books. 

“It's an escape tunnel. Once built for emergencies but long forgotten.”, Owen explained. 

Zach tried not to think about the way those halls looked almost lived in, like someone had hid here and stayed down here for months, maybe years. 

The walk to the next exit was a short one, maybe fifteen minutes long, if his feeling of time wasn't completely fucked up yet. 

“Where does it lead?”, Zach asked as Owen climbed the small flight of stairs up and pushed against the old wood. 

“Freedom.”, Owen smiled. 

“Idiot.”, Zach huffed. 

“Just wait and see.”

Zach shook his head in amusement. When Owen put a hand to his lips, all of Zach's joy left him. They were still in dangerous territory. The Indominus Rex was still near. So were Owen's raptors. 

Owen pushed the trapdoor open slightly, peeking through the gap. Zach all the while held his breath and pressed his lips to a tight line, only barely stopping himself from asking the other what he saw. 

Just as Zach got close behind Owen, the man shut the door and turned hid head back. He was only raindrops away. A silently cackling fire arose in his cheeks as he smiled sheepishly. “Hi.”

“Hey.”, Owen said as well, watching with the eyes of a hawk as Zach stumbled back a few steps. “You’re really nosy, you know that?”

“You can't really blame me.”, Zach muttered. 

“You're right.”, Owen said and made a step towards him. “I saw our ticket to safety out there.”

“What?”

“There's the back entrance to the visitor centre. It's still quite a bit, though, so we rather stay down here and walk through these tunnels.”

“Do they go that far?” Now Zach was really fucking curious who took the time to built those things and he wanted to kiss whoever did. What a legend. 

“They go beneath most of the island. It's just hard to navigate through them.”

“Oh, I can see why. But that's no problem for my Mister Jungle-Expert, am I right?”, Zach blinked sweetly, ignoring the intense stare Owen shot his way. Did he say something wrong? 

Before he could overthink, however, Owen spoke up again. “No. No problem at all.”

“Good.”, and because he felt like being a little bit of an ass, he stepped forward and petted Owen's head like he would a well-behaving dog. 

To that, he had Owen actually speechless. Finally, seemingly for the first time since meeting the man, Zach was the one with the reigns in the hand. So, with his head held high and his back straight, he walked passed the alpha and ahead into the tunnels. 

Only when the tunnels parted ways minutes later, did he turn around and wait for Owen who was only two steps behind. 

“Which one?”

Owen walked passed Zach to look into both tunnels. To Zach, they looked pretty much identical, only that one was leading to the left and the other straight ahead. 

Owen took the left one. Zach, of course, would have done the same if he was on his own. Obviously. 

Sometimes they heard small animals crawl and run around above them. Every sound and scratch made Zach's skin crawl. It was unsettling, to say the least. 

And then there was a growl, lower than most they'd heard. Low enough to be the Indominus Rex. Zach immediately stood frozen, his eyes looking for Owen's. 

Owen turned back to him in no time, his own expression one of disbelief. 

“Does it...”, Zach gulped. “Does it know where we are?”

“That can't be.”, Owen's own words were nothing more than a terrified whisper. 

Nevertheless, neither of them spoke another word as they continued. Every step they took was deliberate not to create noise. Every breath was supressed. Every word buried beneath their tongues. 

Minutes passed. They encountered three more turnoffs through which Owen lead them with ease. Almost like he built those tunnels himself. 

Zach followed without a word, and somewhere down the line, the man's back became his whole vision. Zach would watch the way his muscles worked as he walked and the way they clenched when he seemed to think about the right way. 

Owen was his lighthouse. 

But Zach, Zach was nothing more than a wave, distorted by a storm. He would come crashing down on Owen, sooner or later. 

Zach almost bumped into Owen’s back the next time he stopped and could only stop by pressing his hands against the man. When Owen turned, Zach formed a silent ‘sorry' with his lips, to which Owen nodded once. 

They sat then and Owen, who had taken to holding their flashlight, turned it off. It was pitch-black, much darker than the night in the cave, and way quieter. 

Above them, wind was bustling. 

A monster growled. 

Zach's heart sank. 

It knew. It knew where they were. It would follow them wherever they went. It would wait until they came out. 

Heavy footsteps sounded from above. 

The Indominus Rex was leaving. 

But that made no sense. 

Until it did. 

“We are almost there. Don't worry, you hear me? I'll get us back in no time and then I'll shut this hellhole down myself.”

Claire.

That was Claire! She was alive!

Owen reignited the flashlight just to find Zach's eyes. 

“I want to see Zach again.” God, how he'd missed that stupid obnoxious voice. 

Zach got up within a second and Owen followed suite. The two were almost right above them. Exactly where the growl had come from not even two minutes ago. 

The darkness in the corners of his eyes etched their way closer and closer. 

“It's waiting for us to come out.”, Owen said darkly. A hollow whisper of despair. 

“No.”, Zach breathed. “That can't be... I mean, this... it's still an animal, isn't it?”

Somewhere between Claire's voice and Gray's light footsteps, Zach found dark circles under Owen's eyes and an exhaustion and fear that he didn't want to see. 

This was about to come crashing down on them in the most gruesome way possible. 

Owen ran towards the nearest trapdoor. Zach stood frozen. Because out there, just a few feet from his brother away was a monster. The darkness crawled up his ankles, his calves, his thighs, until it reached soft skin and old wounds. 

It reached where Sara March had rammed a pencil into his skin in third grade when he'd just found out that he was weaker than the rest of the world. It reached the moment he had put her on the ground and punched her until she lost a tooth and broken excuses spilled over her lips with snot and saliva and tears. 

Zach wasn't weak. Not then. Not now. 

So he ran and he raged like the sea. 

He sprinted towards the last trapdoor they had passed. He fumbled with the old lock, ripped it off and threw the door open fully. 

“Here!”

Adrenalin was keeping his limbs moving as he clawed his way out. He was panting and on all fours. He found his fingers digging into damp earth. 

“I'm here!”

Zach didn't see the Indominus Rex. He heard it. Its growl low, almost a purr if not so bone chilling. It was – just like a day ago – between his brother and him. 

Only this time, Zach would save his brother and not the other way around. 

“Come and get me!”

Zach watched as the Indominus Rex walked out of the bushes and trees. It released an earth shattering roar. Then it came running. 

So did the raptors. 

Zach fumbled for the trap door. He got it up, raised it high, let it slip through his fingers. He got it up again, raised it high another time, just as Blue opened her mouth. 

A sharp whistle cut the air in half. 

Blue's jaw snapped shut. 

She stilled. 

Her head whipped to the side where Claire was vanishing beneath old wood and Owen's eyes remained strong and deliberate.

“Zach, down!”

Zach had a second to react before he saw the Indominus Rex coming at him. He saw its teeth, white and yellow and glistening. He smelled what he presumed death to smell like. Hot and raw and disgusting. 

Zach slipped back into the tunnels and let the trapdoor fall shut. 

He jumped down the three steps to the ground. He closed his eyes, cowered there, his body made as small as possible. There were scratches, right above him. An angry roar, a pained yelp, running footsteps. 

He opened his eyes when a hand touched his shoulder. 

Owen grabbed him by the shoulders. He looked Zach up and down three times, checking for injuries or else. Then he pressed him into his arms. 

“God, you're alive.”, he whispered as he cradled his head and put his own on top of Zach's. “You should stop being so brave.”

“I don't have to.”, Zach said and crawled his fingers into Owen's back. “Because you're here to safe me.”

“I didn't do shit.”, Owen said and tightened the hold on him. 

“Zach!”

Running steps. 

A brown mop of curls. 

Wide, frightened eyes. 

“Gray!”

Owen let him go easily and Zach saw the smile on the alpha's lips as he got up and stormed over to his brother. 

They hugged like a hurricane and soon stumbled to the ground where they hugged some more. Gray, despite the blood on his leg and the cut on his nose, laughed. He laughed like he was the sun. Like he was a happy thirteen year old and not a child who had seen death. 

Zach laughed because he had found his sun again. Because despite the terror and the blood there was still this: small hands and hopeful eyes that would always find him. 

“Are you okay?”, he heard himself ask when the adrenaline slowly subsided and he had the strength to be two feet from his brother. 

Gray looked shredded, like when his teacher had called their mum to come pick him up from the camping trip with his class two years ago because he'd broken his arm. There was a scratch wound across his nose and many little cuts on his bare arms and legs. Other than that, Zach couldn't find any wounds. 

“I'm fine. I'm good.”, Gray mumbled. “What about you?”

Zach thought about it only for a second. The image of strong arms and green eyes appeared before him. He blinked it away, a small smile tugging on his lips. “I'm fine.”

“I'm glad you two are okay.”, he hadn't heard Claire's loud steps, too entranced by having his brother right before him. 

She looked different. Less like a business woman stranded in the terror of wilderness and more like a fighter doing whatever it takes to survive. There was fire behind Claire’s eyes and ashes between the dirt and the blood under her nails. The look fit her surprisingly well and Zach wondered what Gray and her had encountered out there. 

She hugged them both, fiercely and tight, like a mother would her children. Maybe this was the closest to motherhood she ever got. Maybe this wasn't a reunion, but a promise of a new beginning. A promise to stay. 

Then something changed. Her scent suddenly covered them whole, elderberry and a crackling campfire washing over them. Zach looked up just to see the woman get back on her feet, never stumbling no matter how high her damn heels were. 

Claire turned towards Owen slowly and deliberately. Her back was just a tad bit too straight and her hands too stiff. 

“Did you scent my nephew?”

Oh, no. 

This wasn't good. 

Sure, it was going to be hilarious, and Zach would love to see Owen all frightened and small because of his aunt. Sadly, he still possessed a heart. 

“I asked you a question.”, Claire spat. 

“Look-“, Owen began, which was clearly the wrong thing to say, considering Claire's murderous stare. 

“It's a simple question, Owen Grady.” Claire took a step towards the man. “Answer it.”

Owen glanced at Zach, let his shoulders drop and a sigh escape his lips. “Yeah.”

Claire took a moment to inhale sharply before she grabbed the man by the shoulders and slammed him into the nearest wall. 

“He's a child!”

‘Legally, he's an adult.”, Gray interjected smartly. “Mentally, however...”

“Gray!” Since when was his brother so ruthless? The forest must've changed him! 

“As I'm trying to say, I had my reason.”, Owen said trough gritted teeth. “Could you please let me go so I can explain?”

Claire didn’t move a muscle. “Explain.”

Owen waited another ten seconds but Claire didn’t budge. With a dramatic roll of his eyes, he gave in. “Fine, fine.”

Claire didn’t respond. 

“You and I both know that these are animals, Claire. They could smell him from a mile away. I just did what was necessary for us to survive. They wouldn't follow the scent of another alpha. You get that. I know that you do.”, Owen wiggled free from Claire's slowly loosening hold and stepped to the side. 

He didn’t meet Zach's eyes, no matter how long Zach stared at him. 

And Zach felt suddenly cold, disgusted by the way he knew his skin tasted of Owen right now. Disgusted by the fact that it had been for the sole reason of their survival when his stupid self had interpreted so much more into it. 

Of course Owen had only teased him all this time. Of course nothing of it was real. 

Only this time, it hurt so much more than it did with Brandy Hops or Stewart Mills or Samantha August or any other crush he'd ever had. 

“Is that true, Zach?”, Claire's voice sounded nothing like before. Her tone was worried, on the brink of apologetic. In all her best efforts she made Zach feel like a stupid child that couldn’t fend for himself again. 

Zach didn’t have the strength to fight back. “It's true. He only did it for our survival.”

Claire looked for lies and Zach knew she couldn’t read him well enough to find any. Zach didn’t even have to hide them. He wore them on the frown of a classically unhappy teenager.

“Okay.”, Claire finally gave in. “Then we should get back.”

“These tunnels lead back to the southern gate. It's not far.”, Zach said what Owen had told him. 

“We should go there and find backup.”, Claire agreed. “They are evacuating the island, but I think Rory might still be there.”

When Zach looked over at where Owen was standing, he found the man already staring at him. Neither of them said a word and the silence washed over them like the flood over the shore. Owen looked like a hurt animal, like a wounded tiger in a way. 

Then there was a hand in his, warm and steadying and sure. 

“Let's go.”, Gray said softly, looking up at Zach in this peculiar way that made his heart melt. 

“Yeah.”, Zach said. “Let’s go.”

Owen led them through the tunnels expertly despite not saying much. 

“Cat got your tongue?”, Claire asked when the silence was louder than their worried heartbeats. 

“Something like that.”, Owen mumbled in return, glancing at Zach only for a millisecond. 

Zach didn’t get what Owen's problem was. Was he upset that his cover was blown and he couldn’t tease Zach any further? 

As he muttered a great variety of insults under his breath, they arrived at their destination. 

“We're here.”, Owen said. 

When Claire looked through the trap door, she huffed. “What do you mean, we're here? It's still hundreds of feet away.”

“Firstly, don't overreact. If we run, we can be there in a minute. And secondly, it’s the nearest tunnel exit.”, Owen explained, raising his hands in a manner that said calm down.

Claire didn't calm down. 

“We had those tunnels built for safety reasons. What purpose do they have when they don’t lead through all of the park?”

“They did when they were first built. But all the renovations caused some of the tunnel passages to get buried. You can dig your way through if you feel like it.”, Owen snapped. 

Claire was definitely unhappy with Owen’s answer but didn’t say anything else.

After almost an entire hour of not moving a muscle, they finally heard it. Loud steps of a giant predator – leaving. 

It was only twenty minutes later that they decided to go.

Owen was the first to make a step though the trapdoor. He looked around and only helped Zach out when he felt sure of them being alone. Gray was next, followed by Claire. 

They walked silently, Owen clasping his gun tightly in his hands.

Each and every rustling leave sent a shiver down his spine. He could feel his heart beating in his fingertips.

There was a yelp then. Flapping wings. Zach would ask for the flying dinosaur's name if he wasn’t busy pissing his pants.

Gray’s breath hitched behind him but other than that he didn’t make a sound. Good.

What should have been fifty seconds turned into five minutes of absolute concentration. Lastly, they saw the entrance. 

It was then that more yelping came from above.

“Run.” Owen didn’t need to say anything else.

They stumbled over roots and stones until they finally reached the gate.

Owen opened it without much problem and led them inside. 

The door shut close. Zach looked around. Gray was there. He was shaking and breathing heavily but he was alive. They all were. Thank fucking god. 

“We're safe.”, the words were barely recognisable between Gray's heavy breaths. 

“Don't speak too soon.”, Owen said in his usual amused tone to which Claire let out a frustrated groan. 

“We have to find someone that can get us off this Island.”, she said between breaths.

With that, Zach could certainly agree. 

As they made their way through the southern extinction hall slowly, Gray, despite everything, still looked at the fossils with big doe eyes that even fucking sparkled. 

Zach could only supress a flinch whenever a skeleton with particularly huge claws was in sight. 

He wouldn't be watching any more The Land Before Time with Gray from now on, thank you very much. 

“Are these all real?”, Gray breathed excitedly. 

“Most of them are.”, Claire smiled. “The deinonychus was missing a few bones. We printed what our scientists thought they would look like and added them. All of the others are real fossils.”

“Shouldn't they be somewhere where scientists can actually work with them?”, Zach couldn't stop himself from asking. 

“That's what I’ve been saying.”, he heard Owen mumble from further ahead. 

Zach ignored the flutter in his chest. What a disgusting feeling. Like there was a bird stuck in his ribcage that desperately wanted to push through his bones. 

“Luckily, we have some of the world's best scientists here to study them.”

“You mean Henry Wu? The guy who created the monster that's hunting us?”, Owen’s words were venomous.

“Despite your dislike for him, he is still a master in his field. Few can compare to him.” Claire said. “What he did with the Indominus Rex however, went too far. I agree.”

“Why is it always a man with a god complex?”, Zach mumbled as he passed a small skeleton that looked more like an otter's than a dinosaur's remains. 

They made their way deeper into the building, past the customer centre and various souvenir stands. He took a little key chain that looked like a wooden ankylosaur and put it in his pocket.

It felt wrong seeing the building empty like that. There was an eerie quiet that followed their every step. Danger hid in every dark corner. 

It clung to them like a drowning man to the sun. 

Then the lights began to flicker and muffled voices could be heard in the distance. The sun went out. Someone was talking. No, someone was arguing. And someone was not happy. 

Zach turned to the others. His eyes immediately found Owen's. They exchanged a silent gaze that said that they needed to be careful. 

“Stay behind me.”, Owen said as he walked towards the voices. 

Gray happily complied and Zach, at least for now, would do as he was told. 

Claire, of course, didn't. 

Instead, she jogged the few steps up to Owen and walked right by his side. Her back was painfully straight, shoulders tense with anticipation. Whatever she had seen in her time with Gray had made her stronger. Maybe more careful too. She looked like whoever they would find would be fired instantly. 

“- No, you don't understand me. This isn't a proposal. We're doing this.”, a man said stubbornly, like the one he was talking to was a complete idiot. 

“This is insane.”, said another man, his voice nothing but a frustrated growl. 

“It is insane not to do this. It's the perfect opportunity. Only an idiot would throw it out of the window like that!”, said the stubborn man stubbornly. 

Owen opened the doors to the main hall with a loud pang, announcing them in the most spectacular way. “Perfect opportunity for what?”

As soon as they saw the two men arguing, Claire let out an annoyed huff. “Of course it's you, Hoskins.”

“Claire!”, the stubborn man – Hoskins – said in feigned joy. “I thought you were dead! What a nice surprise to see you still breathing and in one piece.”

Claire just stepped towards them without answering. She crossed her arms when she stood right before Hoskins and the other guy, a man dressed in all black soldier attire.

“What is going on here?”

“Mrs. Dearing. Mr. Grady.”, the soldier greeted the two with a nod. “Mr. Hoskins here is proposing we hunt the Indominus Rex with the raptors.”

Hoskins' smile only widened, an ugly imitation of childlike joy that only the most stupid of kids possessed. 

“You will not turn my raptors into weapons.”, Owen said through gritted teeth. He sounded a second away from committing murder. 

“Last time I checked they were state property.”, Hoskins answered cheekily, hands in his pockets like he already knew he would win this argument. 

“Our first task should be to evacuate the remaining staff members. After that we can still neutralize the Indominus Rex.”, the military guy said and Owen nodded. 

“You're right.”

“Are the visitors safe?”, Claire asked. 

The soldier nodded. “We started with the evacuation as soon as we received your orders last night. The visitors are getting transported back to Costa Rica by ship. There's only a couple dozen staff and security members, as well as InGen workers left.”

“Good job, Captain Romero.”, Claire patted the soldier's shoulder once. The man nodded, hands folded behind his back, his posture straight. He looked rough around the edges, Zach thought. But there were also wrinkles at the corners of his eyes – from smiling. What a contradiction. Zach couldn't picture such a guy – stern gaze, straight posture, scarred – smiling wildly at anyone. His hair was almost black and dishevelled. He had a scar across his lips and dried blood sticking to his skin. Not a man for behind a computer, then. 

Zach could admit that he was good-looking, too. Many alphas were, in fact. It was unfair, that people with looks like those often possessed the ugliest personalities. 

“I’m afraid you don't quite understand what's going on here.”, Hoskins chimed in again. “We will do as I say. With or without your permission. This is an InGen matter now.”

“Good luck finding my raptors.”, Owen said then. “They ran.”

“Oh, we know. Good thing we know exactly where they are. And you will be the one bringing them back to me.”, Hoskins laughed, vile and dirty. Zach wanted to puke. 

“Raptors?”, Gray was tugging at his shirt, looking at him with big, disbelieving eyes. 

Oh boy, he would flip out when he saw Owen's raptors for sure. 

“Raptors.”, Zach agreed, a small smile tugging at his lips. 

It vanished when he remembered Charlie's snout against his back, razor sharp teeth millimetres from ending his life. They weren't playmates – they were bloodthirsty killers. 

They were still out there. 

They were a danger.

He looked at his baby brother. 

Brown mop of curls, big blue eyes. Good. Breathing. Even better. 

He put a hand on his brother’s shoulder, had to keep in contact in some way, before he could get ripped away from him once more. 

“Where are they now?”, Owen demanded. 

Hoskins smiled. 

His steps echoed through the empty hallways as he walked towards the glass. The water was calming, the blue colour soothing his trembling soul. 

Zach exhaled, finally able to breath. This whole situation got worse by the second but now, deep inside the veins of these metal and stone constructions – something not 65 million years old but manmade – he wasn't in any immediate danger. Now Gray was safe with Claire, eating sandwiches they'd found in one of the fridges and coordinating a meeting with a helicopter guy that would escort them to safety while Owen and Barry were arguing with Hoskins and potentially getting into a fistfight just outside the front door. Now he could just concentrate on the water before him. Now he could breathe. 

He didn’t know how long he stood there or what was happening beyond this room. It all didn’t matter. Not with the corals dancing and fish swimming past him. 

He spared only a glance at his reflection. Even in the dim, blueish light he looked tired and exhausted, the little scratches scattered across his face in tiny constellations a stark contrast to his pale skin. He looked a second away from passing out. 

Then the mosasaur appeared. 

Zach stepped back immediately. One step, but not a second. His breath hitched. He leaned forward on his feet, watched the creature with a fascination that rarely bubbled beneath his skin. He had almost forgotten what it had felt like, to be excited like this. His heart beat so loud he could feel it in his fingertips. 

The mosasaur swam towards the glass slowly, like a lion stalking its prey, as if it had sensed that someone was standing there watching. Just before it reached the surface, it turned. Zach's breath stuttered as he exhaled. 

The creature was enormous. It was magnificent. His heartbeat slowed, fully relaxed as he watched the mosasaur swim away and melt into the deep blue water. 

Up this close, Zach could see the scales on its body, the way they created a beautiful pattern that reminded him of the ripples he loved to create when he let his feet dangle into the pond back at grandpa's yard. 

The glass was cold as he put a hand against it.

The mosasaur returned. It swam even closer this time only to turn back once more.

“There you are.”, Owen's voice made him jump, his hand reaching for his thumping heart somewhere beneath his chest. When he looked back up, the mosasaur was gone, submerged into one with the dark endlessness beyond the glass. 

“Sorry.”, Owen said with an amused smile. The fucker wasn't sorry at all. And that damn smile looked unfairly good on the man too. 

Owen walked over to Zach with his hands tucked into his jeans' pockets. 

“I'm a little on edge, I guess.”, Zach smiled weakly, only slightly embarrassed by his reaction to seeing the other man. 

“For obvious reasons.”, Owen chuckled. So did Zach. Owen then lazily pointed towards the glass, “You got a thing for the mosasaur?”

Zach stared back at the water as well, thinking.

“I think it's really cool. It was the first thing that really caught my attention here. Probably cause it lives in the sea and all. Water in general calms my mind. The sea, rain, lakes, whatever.”, he admitted quietly, finally turning back to Owen and expecting to find humiliation or arrogance or something similar in Owen's eyes. 

Despite Zach's best efforts, he couldn't stop preparing himself for the worst possible outcome. Even Marcus Hunter, his first lover, had reacted poorly to this little secret of his. Nobody had ever understood Zach when it came to that matter, so he added: “I'm rambling. Sorry.”

“I quite like that.”, Owen said, voice deep and honest. “The infatuation. The rambling, too.”

“Huh?”, Zach made a surprised noise as he looked up at Owen in plain shock. “Really?”

“I mean, it’s the same for me with the woods. I don't like crowded places, I'd rather be spending my time in the green.”, Owen responded easily and Zach felt himself smile. He shouldn't have worried. 

When Owen suddenly lifted up Zach's arm and examined it, a tiny sound escaped his lips. The alpha was staring at the purple marks and the dried blood intensely, his brows furrowed and his gaze dark. When he looked back up into Zach's eyes, the man was only inches away. 

“Does it still hurt?”, Owen asked. 

Zach couldn't breath. Not when all he smelled was the scent of sunrise, of wet grass and tree bark and rain. He was entranced by it and he felt lost. Lost, because Owen felt like home and like safety and he didn't want to be left by him. Not now. Not after this. And these were thoughts he shouldn't be having. Thoughts he should shove away and bury six feet under, where no one could ever find them. He had never felt like this before. He had never wanted someone like this in his life. 

As Owen's fingers grazed over his arm, a shaky breath left him. He wanted the man to touch him properly, to hold him tightly and tell him that he wouldn't ever leave him. 

“Zach?”, Owen asked instead and Zach looked back up at the man. Damn, even in the dim light those eyes were green. 

“It hurts... It hurts a little bit, but it’s okay.”, he managed lastly, coughing, because his voice was hoarse and his words unsure even to his own ears. 

“Let me.”, Owen mumbled, fishing for something in his pants, still holding onto Zach's arm with the other hand. When Zach realised he was holding a bandage and wanted to wrap it around his arm, he looked back up at Owen. 

Owen was already watching him, slightly tilting his head as if asking Zach for permission. All Zach could do was nod, slowly and perplexed. 

At first, it was all quiet. Zach watched as Owen carefully freed his arm from Owen's t-shirt sleeve and instead wrapped it properly with the bandage. His hands were big. He could easily hold down both of Zach's wrists with one hand, Zach thought to himself. He felt his cheeks heat up at the sudden realization. He bit his lip to stop his spiralling thoughts. 

Owen coughed and when Zach looked back up at him, he found the other looking away fastly and continuing with his task. 

“So, your soul is connected to an animal that lives in the sea?”

The question made him draw back his arm on reflex. He hissed at the sharp pain shooting up his flesh. 

“No.”, he sneered before he could think it through. It was silent for a few seconds, the quiet growing louder and louder, until – 

“Did I say something wrong?”, Owen's hands were still in mid-air as he asked this, the bandage hanging loosely between them.

Zach let out a defeated sigh. 

“I... I don't have a soul bond.”, he said, his hands turning to fists, his gaze averted. Not even the blue of the water could spend consolation in this moment. 

Owen then, against all odds, just carefully finished the bandage. Once he was done, he slowly grabbed Zach’s balled fists, taking them into his own hands. Zach let Owen open his fists. He held his hands carefully, safely cupped between his own.

“Zach, it’s okay.”, he whispered and his voice sounded so honest and Zach was so tired. He had buried the hurt of being alone so deep, not letting anyone see. But now, he was on the brink of tears. He let his head fall against Owen's shoulder, with it the weight of the last few days, maybe years. 

“You know it's not. You know how they treat people that don't have one.”, he mumbled and his breath stuttered. He blinked the tears away. “They think I’m weak. I’m weak.”

Owen rested a hand on the back of his neck, his thumb caressing the exposed skin, while a wave of his scent emanated from him. It calmed Zach to the core.

“You're not. You survived out there. You took care of your brother. You protected him and brought him back here. Zach, you're so strong.”, Owen said and Zach couldn’t stop the sob escaping his lips. 

Not a moment later he was completely surrounded by Owen's scent. The alpha was holding him now, his other hand pressing into his waist tightly. Zach dug his hands into Owen’s shirt tightly. This, all of it – the touch, the smell, the warmth – it was intoxicating. It was too much, too good. 

It couldn't last. 

Zach had to say goodbye sooner or later. Better now and be over with it. He should stop those flickers of hope before they began to burn him from within. He was already barely able to speak, scared of all the smoke that would leave his lips once he opened his mouth. 

What was supposed to happen after this anyway? Owen wouldn't claim him. He wouldn’t make Zach his own and live with him happily ever after. It's not how things worked. Not for Zach, at least.

Zach would finish school next semester and then he would try to get a job as an apprentice mechanic somewhere far away if he got lucky, work in a supermarket or at some office if he got unlucky. He would see Gray rarely, maybe only on the weekends or only once or twice a month. He would continue his life as an omega with no spirit bond and stick to his rule of never falling for any alpha. Because out there – in the real world and not on this godforsaken island – alphas weren't kind and patient and protective. 

Zach would fight to survive, maybe survive just to fight.

The place didn't matter in the end. It was the same everywhere but here. 

“I always protected myself, you know?”, he began, his thoughts spiralling into the mess that left his lips. “Against alphas, against the injustice of the world. It was nice. Being protected for once. Thank you.”

Zach stepped back, wiped his face with a hand and took a deep, shaky breath. 

When he looked up at Owen, he found the man watching intently. Moments passed and Zach wondered if Owen waited for more, a question maybe or a proper farewell. When he realized that Zach had said what he'd wanted to say, he stood more upright than before. 

“Anytime, Zach.”, his words sounded genuine and warm but there was an edge to them, like he as well had more to say. 

They fell silent. 

A moment passed. Zach looked at Owen. Owen looked right back. 

There was an edge to this moment, like a single raindrop could change the outcome of this all. 

And then, nothing happened. 

And maybe that was for the best. No words of a possible future or a goodbye. Just silence. Just the green of Owen’s eyes.

“Zach!.”, came Gray’s urgent voice from far away. “Come here! Quick!”

And with that, their little interaction was over, despite the words trying to spill.

He had always been good at staying quiet, after all.

Never in his life had felt waiting so cruel. So endless.

Zach was in the server room together with Claire and Gray and a guy named Rory. He was nice, even if a bit clumsy. When he first shook the man’s hand he realized he was a beta. It made his shoulders relax immediately.

Rory’s leg moved nervously the whole time and Zach couldn’t blame the guy.

He was fucking on edge, waiting for a single red dot to move in their direction.

Owen was out there, trying to get his raptors back.

The raptors that had been trying to kill them mere hours ago. 

He raptors now controlled by the killer dinosaur still on the loose.

Yeah, Owen was a fucking madman. And Zach would find that incredibly attractive if it weren’t a life or death situation they were all trapped in.

So he stood with his arms crossed and his heartbeat fastening indefinitely. All he could hear was the thumping. All he could see was the red splotch on the screen. It looked like a drop of blood. 

“Ah.”, he hissed. He touched his throbbing lip and tasted blood in his mouth. 

“There! He’s coming our way!”, Claire was on the verge of yelling, stepping closer to the huge monitor before them.

“And look at that”, muttered Rory.

Zach followed his eyes to the monitor where four white circles followed a singular red one.

“He’s not coming alone.”

It was dark outside, indefinitely colder than during the day, but his hand was warm where it rested on Gray’s shoulder still. Like to the sun, his own tiny epicentre, he was being pulled and pulled and pulled towards his baby brother. 

“Woah!”, Gray breathed excitedly. 

Before them, only separated by metal bars and thick air, was Owen, his hand carefully wrapped around Blue’s snout. 

Owen turned around at hearing Gray’s voice, an arrogant smile firmly placed on his lips. 

“Those are raptors!”, Gray exclaimed the obvious.

It made Zach smile to see him so excited again.

“Are they tame?”, his baby brother asked.

“As tame as they can get.”, Owen said while opening the gate to the paddock. 

Zach’s fingers itched with the need to touch, to check if Owen was unharmed and uninjured and safe. He felt the sting as he bit his lip. The blood had long dried, the red dot on the monitor long since arrived.

The door swung open and he threw himself against Owen, not caring about anything but the man.

“Woho!”, Owen laughed breathlessly before holding Zach by the small of his back and pressing him even close. “What did I do to deserve this ?”

“You fucking scared me, you idiot!”, Zach breathed into Owen’s neck. Then, quieter, “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

The hands around him tightened. 

Something cold and wet pressed against his arm. When he looked down, he found Charlie’s snout being the reason.

“Hey, girl!”, he greeted the raptor happily, escaping Owen’s arms and turning towards the dinosaur fully. “Missed me?”

The raptor chirped happily, pressing its head against Zach’s chest.

Zach disbelievingly turned towards Owen who, once again, had this smug look on his face. His arms were crossed, showcasing his muscles. His shirt was wet, most like covered in sweat from the mission. Zach had never found him hotter than this, dishevelled and arrogant and with Blue at his side. 

“How did you-“

“Get them to like me again?”, Owen finished Zach’s obvious question. “Looks like they value loyalty more than some of us do. They stayed true to their pack.”

Zach was speechless. 

In his chest, there bloomed a hesitant hope. Like a flower in spring, careful to bloom.

Owen turned to a wide-eyed Gray. “Want me to introduce you?”

Gray nodded frantically.

Zach laughed.

A man walked in a few minutes later, muddy and with a playfulness in his eyes that wasn’t typical for a situation like this.

“Thank fucking god, you’re alive.”, Owen said as soon as he saw the newcomer.

“Could say the same about you, but I guess weeds never die.”

“Ouch.”, Owen held his chest as if the words physically hurt him. “That was uncalled for.”

“Debatable.”, mumbled the man with a wink.

Owen then seemed to remember them as well. “Barry, this is Zach and Gray.”

“Claire’s nephews?”, he asked to which Owen nodded. Barry then turned towards them and shook their hands in a friendly manner. “Nice to meet you two. Thanks for keeping an eye on him out there.”

Zach couldn’t help the laugh escaping his lips while Owen protested loudly.

Yeah, he definitely liked Barry.

“Rory said our ship arrives in three hours. A helicopter will pick us up from the western roof.”, Claire explained.

“I know how to spend my time wisely.”, Hoskins said which lead them to where they were now: Outside.

Hoskins, the absolute lunatic, was too scared to fight himself, so he left it to Owen and Barry and the handful of soldiers that were still unharmed and willing to risk their lives for a death trap.

“We have to kill it.”, Owen had declared and Barry had merely nodded. “And then we will go home.”

“As long as you do it with the raptors I don’t care.”, Hoskins had said and followed Zach, Gray and Claire to one of the nearby vans. 

Owen and Barry were out there, following a killer machine with nothing but four raptors, some guns and whatever faith they had left. 

“Do you see it?”, Claire asked through the car’s integrated hands-free system. 

“Not yet.”, came Barry’s annoyed voice, followed by a mumble that sounded French. Well, Zach wouldn’t even try to translate that with how little attention he’d paid in his classes.

Not five minutes later, the silence was broken by Owen. “It’s there.”

Be careful. Zach wanted to say. Be safe. Only a quiet whimper came over his lips.

Then, gunshots. Yelling. The raptors’ screeches. An explosion, maybe? A roar. Silence.

“What’s going on?”, Gray asked nobody in particular.

“We’re making history.”, Hoskins answered proudly. 

Zach groaned. He really didn’t have the patience to deal with that asshole right now. “Can you just shut up?”

“You do not talk to me like that, omega”, Hoskins spat the last word like it was venom on his tongue.

“No.”, Claire interjected before Zach could even think about a response. “You will not talk to him like that. Or you can get out and try your luck alone. Understood?”

Zach was at a loss for words. 

Not his teachers – not his parents – had ever protected him from the unfairness of the world like this. They had told him to learn to live with it. That the world wouldn’t change overnight. 

Claire, he thought, was proving them all wrong.

“This place doesn’t belong to you.”, Hoskins said, his voice loud and angry.

Gray was covering his ears like he always did when his parents yelled at each other and there was nothing there to distract him.

“And it sure as hell doesn’t belong to you either.”, Claire spat.

“-llo? Can you hear me?”

That finally shut Hoskins up. 

Claire pressed the ‘Talk’ button. “Did you get it?”

A long silence, then “We got a few good hits on it but it ran. We lost it. Last we saw it, it was running in your direction. Are you inside?”

“We’re in the van next to the raptor paddock.”, Claire said quietly.

“Claire, you need to get inside.”, Owen ordered. Then, louder, “Now!”

“Okay, okay.”, Claire mumbled to herself before she turned to Zach on the passenger seat. “Out, let’s go.”

Zach unbuckled – why had he even buckled up in the first place he didn’t know – only to stumble out of the vehicle and to the ground.

Claire and Gray were on the other side of the van and running back towards the southern entrance.

Behind Zach, Hoskins opened the door as well.

Zach froze as he heard the approaching steps. He looked forward to where Gray and Claire were standing. They were almost there. He motioned with a hand for them to Go! so Claire grabbed Gray’s arm and tugged him along. 

For a moment, Zach just stayed there crouching. Behind the opened car door, Hoskins seemed to be doing the same.

“I hate you.”, Zach mumbled, just for good measure.

Hoskins, for once, stayed quiet as the Indominus Rex walked into the open.

Zach scanned the area. It would take him a minute or two to get back to the entrance. He couldn’t risk it. He would just climb back into the van as quietly as he could and drive it right through the fucking door before –

The Indominus Rex sent the vehicle flying.

For a second, it was just this: Zach and Hoskins out in the open. That was until the wind hit him and the van crashed to the ground.

His eyes found another car and he ran.

The Indominus Rex roared.

What a gloriously horrible idea. 

“You stupid asshole!”, Zach yelled as he ran for his life. 

Beside him, Hoskins breathed heavily. “How could I have known!”

“That the Indominus is a killer machine that can sniff us out easily? I don't know man, how could anyone have seen that coming?”

“You should shut your stupid mouth, omega.”, Hoskins growled beside him. The man slowly lost speed and Zach didn't feel one bit sorry for him. 

“And you should run faster.”

The monster was getting closer, ready to kill whatever got between its teeth. All the talk about loyalty and control, for nothing!

“I just wasted an hour of my life listening to you!”, Zach yelled as he reached the nearest vehicle. The van had blood splattered across its hood.

Nothing a good windshield wiper wouldn’t be able to fix.

He took the seat behind the steering wheel and turned the key. The engine sprung to life easily. At least the cars here were of use .

“Get the fuck inside!”, Zach yelled just as a screech cut the night into half. 

Zach leaned over the passenger seat and opened the door.

A glance in the window showed Hoskins breathing heavily, followed by what seemed to be death itself. 

He wasn’t going to make it.

The realisation came between one breath and the next.

The Indominus Rex was too fast. Too hungry. Too angry. Hoskins not angry enough. There was a millisecond, a breath too long, a step too heavy. 

“I’m sorry.”, Zach whispered. 

He didn’t feel the gas pedal beneath his foot. He saw the trees blurring into a splotch of dark green. Everything passed by like he himself was merely a passenger.

“Hey! Hey, you can’t leave me here! Get back you little asshole! Get the fuck ba-“, the scream that followed was loud, louder than any engine could ever be.

The sound would follow him into his dreams. Into his nightmares. He would see through the rear-view mirror how a singular arm flew through the air, abandoned and dead.

He didn’t say anything else for a long time. Not when he made it back to the entrance and not when Gray hugged him tight. Not when Claire checked on him and asked him words that didn’t make it past the screams.

Nothing made it past the screams, until – 

“Zach?”, Gray.

A deep inhale. A shaky breath. A moment to close his eyes. The screams quieted, if only enough to understand what was going on around him.

“Are you okay?”, asked his baby brother.

Zach tried his best at a smile. He didn’t succeed, judging by the look on Gray’s face.

“I’m fine.”, he lied.

And that was that.

Hoskins, the asshole, was dead. Zach, on the other hand, wasn't. An asshole. Sure. But not yet dead. 

Maybe he would die, he realised as he climbed up to metal crane into the night sky. The sky, he thought, looked beautiful. The water beneath him was calm and clear. 

Where once a shark hung, he desperately held onto the silver metal. The Indominus Rex roared, an earthshattering sound that made him loose his footing. 

He stumbled, fell. 

In the distance, someone’s – probably Gray’s –  voice was cut off mid scream.

Zach caught onto the rope. Held onto it for dear life. It felt hot in his hands. He hazily realized the blood trickling down. 

He needed to hold onto the rope, needed to buy Claire some time for whatever the hell she was doing. 

“We need more teeth.”, Gray had nuttered and Claire had nodded and run off. So when the Indominus Rex had thrown the raptors into this direction or that, successfully knocking them out or worse, it had laid its eyes on Claire. Of course, Zach had ran, leaving their little hiding spot, and made himself the target.

He needed to trust her, he thought as he climbed the crane, even if her muttering about getting help didn’t sound all that reassuring.

As long as Gray was safe Zach would gladly play the distraction. Even now he could see Owen’s disapproving face. He had tried to stop him, hadn’t been fast enough. He hadn’t been able to keep him from running into the open before it caught up with Claire.

Now he was here hanging, like a fish on a hook.

There was a row of teeth – white and razor-sharp – just inches before him. There was the smell of death, so disorienting and raw it made his heart skip more than just one beat. 

There were the same eyes that had fixated on him two days ago. 

This chase was coming to an end, Zach finally began to realise. 

This – between a sea of stars and crystal clear water – was his last stance. He thought it to be somehow beautiful. 

As long as Gray was okay.

As long as his baby brother would make it home safe.

Zach closed his eyes. The air smelled of blood and fear and a faraway forest. Like a distant light in the morning that seemed eons ago. He wanted to see it again. To feel it on his skin.

There was more sound for a moment, a loud yelp beneath him, screams of the others, a sudden lightness. He wasn't holding onto the rope anymore, he realised. A second later, there was water all around him. 

He couldn't breath, he registered hazily, hadn't taken a breath before the fall. 

He was lightheaded, disoriented, weak. Always weak.

He reached the surface, somehow. 

He coughed, then looked. He was in the water. Above him, the Indominus Rex roared. It began the descent, it’s claws heavy and deadly. Then, it stilled. Looked down. 

Their eyes met. 

It didn’t roar again. It didn’t move, just stared. The only sound were Zach's panicked, yet clumsy strokes to keep him above water. 

The Indominus Rex left. 

There was time for a single inhale, not even a sigh, until he felt the presence. He saw it a moment later, right before him. Then at his side. Then it vanished behind his back only to reappear moments later. 

The mosasaur was circling him. 

“What a way to go.”, he mumbled to himself as he tried to move as little as possible, despite the creature surely having long since noticed him. 

The Indominus Rex was gone, leaving him to his end, and he was about to die.

“Zach!”, he heard Claire's terrified voice. “Zach, come here!”

Then, a roar. It was different from the Indominus Rex’. Not ringing in his ears and echoing in his blood. Not whispering promises of death. This one was loud yet sure. It vibrated in his chest. Again and again and again. Long after silence had overcome them, his chest still felt the buzz of it.

The answering roar was nothing but terror. Filled with rage and a declaration for war. There was something standing up to the monster.

Water made it into his airway. He coughed. He realized then, he was still breathing. 

Fuck it, he decided in that moment. He would at least try to get back. 

So he swam, careful not to create ripples in the water but still fast.  

The mosasaur was adjusting its circular movement to Zach's location. Well, that was probably a bad sign. It knew exactly where he was, could open its huge maw and devour him with a single bite probably. Two if it was especially cruel.

“You're almost there! Keep going!”, Claire whisper-yelled in her effort not to attract the Indominus Rex again. She ran towards the edge of the pool.

In the distance sounded gunshots and the screeches of raptors and more roars. They came back and Owen was fighting at their side.

Claire stretched her hand out towards Zach. 

Zach focused on nothing but that. There was only her hand, perfectly manicured nails with dirt underneath them and scratches and blood all over her knuckles. 

Zach reached for her. He was too far away, he realized. He was exhausted, every move of his arms and legs hurt as hell. 

Claire leaned forward, over the edge of the pool and into his reach. She grabbed his hand with so much force he was scared it would rip. 

“Got you!”, she breathed and then tucked. 

She hauled him out of the water and over the edge in one go. 

Behind her, there was the T-Rex. It was fighting against the Indominus Rex. It was helping them. There was Owen. There was Charlie and Blue and the rest of the pack. But Zach was too tired to think about what was going on.

He landed powerlessly beside his aunt, his chest heaving, his vision blurring. Every breath felt like it weighed a ton. Every beat of his heart sent a sting to his chest. 

When he was finally able to sit back up again, the mosasaur was long gone. Or maybe it was still there, hovering, just inches below the surface where no one would see it coming.

“God, I was so scared.”, Claire said shakily. 

Zach didn't have time to respond because not a moment later her arms were around him and he was suffocating all over again. He couldn't get a word out of his mouth so he gave up. This, he thought with a lazy smile on his lips, was a good way to go. 

Many lifetimes passed like this – in the warmth of someone's arms – or maybe just a few seconds, but Zach felt loved and cared for in a way that was rare and special. He felt like the word family finally meant something again. Because Claire was family. She was warm and soft and felt like home. Maybe he felt like home to her again, too.

When she finally let go of him, her eyes were bloodshot and wet. This couldn't be. Zach hadn't ever seen his aunt cry – not even at grandpa's funeral. 

“Don't scare me like that ever again.”, she whispered and Zach's own eyes became glassy. 

“Okay.”, he whimpered and let himself fall against her once more. He pressed his head to her chest, closed his eyes and listened to her frantically beating heart. 

Elderberry and a crackling fire. 

He was back at grandpa’s house, peeking into the old kitchenette from the hall. He was back to eleven years old and watching as Claire – big-eyed and ambitious – told grandpa about the new job offer she received. He watched as she held the old man's hand despite his disapproving frown and harsh words. He watched her say goodbye to her father, a man she rarely saw and would never see again. Their eyes met, when she finally turned and walked through the entrance door, only now it was an exit. She knelt down, pressed Zach against her taller body and promised to visit again soon. He hadn't known that she was lying. 

Seven years later he was back in her arms. 

Seven years later he knew the wait was worth it.

Seven years later Claire brought backup in the form of a motherfucking tyrannosaurus rex to fight off an evil half dinosaur while cradling Zach’s head.

Then there were strong arms, the scent of sunrise and morning dew and tree bark. 

“Are you two alright?”, Owen asked them but his hands touched only Zach. 

He helped Zach to his feet and only let go once he nodded frantically. “Gray?”

“Here.”, the voice of his baby brother sounded from behind him.

“Let’s go!”, said Owen but when he looked behind him it was already too late.

The creature’s maw was wide open as it ran. 

Zach could only watch.

A moment turned into a minute turned into years.

It was the mosasaur that ended it all. 

It wrapped its teeth around the Indominus Rex and dragged it with it into the depths of the tank where it would suffocate or get ripped into pieces or find its fate in some other cruel form.

And despite everything that had happened, Zach felt no relief. Not after breathing out the fear and the stiffness. 

Not after Gray’s voice asked quietly but hopefully. “Is it over?” 

“Yes.”, said Claire, holding onto Gray’s shoulders tightly. “It’s over.”

The T-Rex made a noise then, a satisfied hum or something like it. It stood, tall and sure. It waited, Zach finally realized.

Claire stepped towards the carnivore and came to a halt when the dinosaur fixated her with its eyes.

“I never accepted you. Never accepted myself. I... I...”, she struggled for words. “I’m not good at this.” 

Claire exhaled shakily. “But I see what it means now. Or I’d like to think I do.”

“Thank you.”, she lastly breathed, a small smile forming on her lips. 

The T-Rex lowered its head. Claire redted a hand on the dinosaur’s skin. It made a quiet noise. Claire flinched, but didn’t back away.

“Thank you.”, she said again, her voice a soft breath.

The moment lasted not longer than it needed to. The T-Rex rose to its full height again. It seemed to study Claire for a moment, a hint of curiosity in its eyes. 

Zach could only watch as the giant creature finally turned and vanished behind a row of trees.

Claire’s shoulders relaxed. When she walked back to them, she only stumbled once. Zach had never seen her weak on her legs before.

There was another sound then. It was an excited yelp. Zach had heard it before.

The raptors.

Owen nodded at his raptors only once. The raptors looked at him for a long moment before they ran off. They vanished beneath dark leaves and the rising sun.

Zach found it a short farewell, one without words or gestures or promises. He found it fitted Owen. It fitted the island and all that was fighting to survive on it.

Maybe it fitted him too.

They made it to the helicopter landing place limping but alive.

The flight was short, the accidental touch of their knees in the close proximity even shorter.

He held Gray’s hand the whole time. Or maybe it was the other way around. He was man enough to admit as much.

They landed on a ship that brought them to a rescue centre, a hangar in the middle of nowhere.

Then, thunder sounded. Far away, where it was safe and warm and not on dinosaur-fetched land. 

Zach had texted their mum on the way back to Costa Rica from Claire’s phone. He was glad his own was a pile of junk at this point. He was too exhausted to check and respond to any messages. He would probably just throw it as far away as he could if it kept ringing like Claire’s.

Claire, at some point, put her phone on mute and laid it somewhere out of her reach. She rested her head on Gray’s, who was uncharacteristically quiet. When Zach looked closer, he could see his closed eyes and evenly raising and deflating shoulders.

It made his heart ache in the most welcome way possible, to see him like this. Tired, exhausted, alive.

The sun was shining through the windows, casting them in golden light. It was warm, they had blankets wrapped around their shoulders and each others company.

“I’m getting water.”, he decided and Claire nodded, half asleep herself.

There were doctors roaming around, tending to the wounded. People were talking, whispering of what they’d seen out there. Some were crying. There were parents finding their sons and daughters and there were best friends reuniting. 

There were people crying for the ones forever lost.

Two girls were hugging each other tightly, crying for the missing piece in their friend group, a girl called Margot, Zach heard them whimper.

Zach hoped whatever had happened, happened fast.

He found the water dispenser in a hallway that gave the illusion of some privacy. The voices from outside were muffled. Only the people on the lookout for a toilet or and exit were occasionally walking by.

Zach grabbed a paper cup and waited for the guy before him to finish.

After ten seconds of waiting, nothing happened. Another minute passed, the man didn’t move. His cup was overflowing.

“Uh, sorry, are you alr-“

“Ah!”, the guy’s scream made Zach jump as well.

“My god, don’t sneak up on me like that.”

“I walked normally?”, Zach said just slightly pissed-off, “You were the one not moving.”

“If you say so.”, the guy said disinterestedly. His eyes focused on the now too full cup in his hands and he took a big sip in order for it not to spill. Well, more than it already had.

“Wait.”, Zach said. Now that he took a look, he remembered the guy. Giant doe eyes with shadows as big as a black hole beneath them, lips in a tight line and uncountable freckles covering his face. “Aren’t you the guy working at the hamster wheel?”

“Definitely stuck in it.”, he said and Zach snorted. His smile vanished, however, when the man continued talking. “Well, I guess, not anymore. I’m jobless now. I assume.”

“Oh man, sorry! Didn’t want to hit a sore spot.”, Zach found himself rambling. 

‘No, it’s chill. Would’ve probably quit either way.”, the guy shrugged like it was no big deal. Zach liked the attitude. 

“Maybe you get the ‘I survived a traumatic dinosaur attack during office hours’ bonus now?”, Zach tried to cheer the guy up.

“Great thinking.”, the stranger had a small smile on his face and something about that made Zach damn proud. It lit a tiny fire in his chest. It was rare, to feel warm like that.

“I’m Zach, by the way.”, he held out a hand. He didn’t know why he did it. It wasn’t like this guy was going to become his best friend or his next hook-up. Maybe he just wanted to be remembered. By anyone. In case another row of sharp teeth suddenly made it through the walls.

Or maybe he just wanted to get the guy’s name. Because he seemed special and interesting and not so unlike Zach.

Maybe it was neither and it just felt right to let him know. A name, Zach had always felt, was like giving the tiniest fracture of a soul. And wasn’t that a plain stupid thing to do?

The hand in his was warm. Sun-kissed. Heavy. It shut all of his wandering thoughts up instantly.

“Lenny.”

“Nice to meet you, Lenny.”, Zach said. The day felt lighter. His shoulders relaxed.

Maybe all the world needed to heal was a cute guy with a chill vibe, Zach decided. And curls that were a bit too long. But Zach wasn’t a complete asshole so he would remain silent. 

“You too, Zach.” , Lenny said with the tiniest hint of a smile on his lips. He looked like he wanted to say something, but then his mouth closed and his eyes wandered up and a heavy arm was around Zach shoulders.

“Sorry to interrupt.”, Owen said. His voice sent a shiver down Zach’s spine. It was deep and it had a strange edge to it. “I need to borrow this one for a moment.”

“You do you.”, Lenny mumbled, already losing interest. “See you around, Zach.”

“Yeah.” There was no time for more words because not a moment later he was being dragged off into the main hall again.

“Water?”, Zach asked light-heartedly while they made their way through row after row of survivors. 

Owen snorted but took a sip nonetheless. Zach emptied the rest and threw the paper cup into a nearby trash bin.

“How is your arm?”, Owen asked as they walked through rows of survivors.

Zach tried moving his arm. It still hurt but it would heal. He would be okay. 

Owen stopped abruptly. Zach came to a halt a step later. 

Owen took a hold of his hands, inspected the dried blood on his palms, the red a stark contrast against his fair skin. When Owen raised his hands to his mouth and pressed a tender kiss to his skin, he could basically hear the blood rushing to his cheeks. Owen nestled his face to Zach’s hand.

“You need to be careful.”, he grumbled and looked at Zach through long lashes. When I’m no longer here to protect you. He didn’t say it out loud. It was clear nevertheless.

“Can’t promise.”, Zach tried his best at a cocky smile but it felt bitter. His words were a quiet rage, a fruitless plea to get Owen to stay. 

But the sun was shining again and his parents were on their way and soon enough he would be back home in his room and soon enough he would listen to his parents argue and play games with Gray in the dead of the night.

Soon Owen would be a cool story to tell his friends and Claire would be gone for another seven years, till they saw her at some funeral or weird family dinner.

Soon all he would have is Gray, one or twice a month.

Soon the sun would set but for now he enjoyed Owen’s warmth. “You need to be careful too.”

Owen chuckled like it was the most absurd thing to say. He let go of Zach’s hands. They felt ice cold immediately.

“Can’t promise.”, Owen smiled and the distance between them fitted an entire sun. It was too much, Owen too far away. 

He wanted to reach out, to touch him again. Instead, he bit his lip and turned his hands into fists. “Thank you. For out there.”

For proving me wrong.

Owen just stared at him, said nothing. Neither of them looked away until Owen faintly shook his head, taking a step closer.

“No.”, he said, voice nothing but a deep grumble. “Thank you.”

It felt like a last stance again, like this was important. Everything concerning Owen was. At least, to Zach.

Then there was a sharp inhale followed by a loud screech.

Owen took a step before Zach, shielding him from whatever threat was lunging their way.

Zach saw swollen eyes and red cheeks rushing through the hall. He grabbed Owen’s biceps and gave it a squeeze. To get his attention, of course. No hidden agenda. 

Owen only relaxed when he saw the faint smile on Zach’s face.

“No man-eating killer dinosaurs in sight.”, he nodded towards the crying woman. “Just my parents.”

Owen exhaled. “Oh.”

“Yeah.”, Zach couldn’t help but giggle to which Owen let out a disapproving grunt.

He leaned up then, because the sun felt warm and they were safe, and kissed Owen’s cheek. He let his fingers trail down his arm before stepping away and towards his parents.

“Thank you for keeping me safe, Mister Jungle-Expert.”, he said sweetly and for once, Owen was left speechless.

Zach, with a last glance at Owen, bathed in warm sunlight, walked back. 

As his parents hugged him close and suffocation was near, he saw Owen smile. Far away, where the light met the world, he stood. Content, happy, like a man that had achieved everything.

His mother took his face into both of her hands and examined Zach closely. “My poor baby!”, she cried and Zach groaned. The smile on his face didn’t vanish.

There was a mop of brown curls pressed to his chest and his mothers tears soaking his shirt. When he found his father’s eyes, even they were slightly red. He nodded. Zach was too stunned to react.

When he turned back a few minutes later, Owen was long gone.

Claire walked with them to the entrance of the hangar and not a step further. Like an invisible line she wasn’t able to cross, she stood.

They only realized when she wasn’t falling into step next to them. Zach was the first to notice.

“Claire?”, he asked.

Next to him, Gray turned around hastily. His voice was shaking. “Aunt Claire?”

The smile on her face was apologetic. “I’m sorry, boys. I can’t  leave just yet.” She held herself with so much grace despite the cuts on her skin and the dirt on her clothes.

“Then we’ll wait!”, Gray immediately said. “We can wait for a bit, right?”

Zach put a hand on his brother’s shoulder. Gray’s lower teeth began to shake. 

“Come.”, Zach said quietly. As they walked back to where Claire was standing, their parents remained a few steps behind, granting them at least enough space to say goodbye properly. 

“Come home with us!”, Gray tried to bargain. “Please.”

Claire smiled bitterly, like it took everything in her power to remain strong. She knelt down before Gray, now eye to eye with him. 

“I’m afraid I can’t. I have some angry business men to get off my back and some lawyers to talk to.”, she said but she didn’t sound that unhappy. If Claire was good at one thing, it was working herself out of a disaster.

Zach already felt sorry for the people trying to sue her.

“When will we see you again?”, he finally asked. For good measure, he added, “Seven years?”

Claire let out a laugh. “Definitely not.”, she promised as she got back up. “I’ll have to manage this mess but as soon as this is done, I’ll see what I can do. Maybe I can get Owen to tag along.”

Zach’s cheeks only faintly heated up at the thought of seeing the man again. 

Gray jumped excitedly at the idea. “Yes! Reunion time!”

“Don’t take too long.”, Zach agreed.

Claire smiled at him. It was a little thing, a crackling turning into a flame. It smelled of fire and elderberry. Zach smiled back.

Not a second later, Claire’s arms were full of Gray. His baby brother was hugging her tight and possibly ruining her stained clothes even more. 

“I’ll miss you a lot, aunt Claire.”, Gray mumbled.

Claire ruffled his hair, the movement a bit clumsy but full of adoration nonetheless.

“I’ll miss you two too.”, she said, barely a whisper. For a moment, Zach thought he must’ve misheard but the faint veil of red on her cheeks was all the proof he needed.

“Come on.”, Zach finally said, holding out his hand for Gray to take. His brother complied with still trembling lips.

Zach waved at Claire who stood her ground smiling. “Bye, aunt Claire.”

They walked back to their parents, back to a world with no monsters trying to devour them whole. 

Where they went, it was still freezing cold and the only dinosaurs he saw where the crows on the roof – he’d learned from Gray that birds were the descendants of dinosaurs – and the pixels on the TV. 

Like that it could stay, he thought, as he watched Gray’s peacefully sleeping form while some The Land Before Time movie was slowly coming to an end.