Chapter Text
Shane Hollander was an anomaly.
He was an Alpha, born and raised by Beta parents, a statistical improbability. He'd had a happy, stable upbringing. His parents were disgustingly perfect for each other and in love. They were comfortably upper middle class. He was showered with love, affection and support. He went to McGill for university, just like his parents, and earned a Master's degree. He never thought his tech start-up would take off the way it did but he sold his company for half a billion dollars at twenty-six and retired.
Now he was twenty-eight with too much time and too much money and parents who wanted grandchildren. They had tried to be subtle at first but the closer Shane got to thirty, the more they pushed. Their most recent attempt had been a twenty minute long PowerPoint presentation on how being an actively involved grandparent helped elderly adults stay healthier. His dad had even managed to shed a few tears.
Shane had shared all of this at dinner with his best friend, Hayden Pike. They had been roommates in college and Hayden had been a monumental help in getting the company started. He'd tried to argue when Shane split the profits from the sale of the company but Shane wouldn't hear of it. He never would have been a success without Hayden and his wife, Jackie, supporting him. Now they were comfortably well off, with a beautiful home and four children. Jackie had gone to school to be a nurse practioner and Hayden stayed home with the kids.
"I just don't know what to do," Shane groaned dramatically, "Can I just take one of yours?"
Jackie laughed into her wine. "Okay, but you'll have to take Arthur, he's in his terrible twos."
Hayden laughed with her, "I'll keep Arthur's terrible twos and you can have Amber's sleep regression and teething."
Shane buried his head in his arms. "This isn't funny, guys!"
Hayden and Jackie exchanged a soft look and Jackie leaned in to scent Shane. He immediately relaxed into her warm, lavender scent. Shane was always so grateful that Hayden wasn't the type of Alpha to get jealous. Being raised by Betas had meant Shane never really got to experience the same sort of scenting that Alphas and Omegas did. Betas could try but their scents were much weaker, the tones far more neutral. It had actually been Hayden's woodfire scent that pulled Shane out of his first panic attack in college.
"Have you thought about signing up for OPS?" Jackie asked gently.
Shane recoiled in disgust. Omega Placement Services was a government program that matched abandoned Omegas with suitable Alphas to support them.
"I don't want a slave, Jackie," he said. "I want an Omega who wants to be with me, not who's forced to."
Jackie sighed. "Shane, they need Alphas," she said, "Good Alphas, who aren't going to hurt them. You're a good Alpha. I know it's not a perfect system but you could really help someone. It's just a three month trial and if you or the Omega are unhappy, you can try again. Just think about it."
Their conversation was interrupted by the twins, Jade and Ruby, coming in to show him a new dance they'd learned. Still, the idea lingered in the back of Shane's head for the rest of the night. By the time he went to bed that night, he decided he'd at least try signing up. Maybe it would buy him a little time from his parents' ploys if he at least made it seem like he was trying.
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Ilya Rozanov had never in his life considered himself lucky. Being an Omega in Russia was dangerous at best and deadly at worst. Being a male Omega was even worse. When he was twelve, his mother died and the shock of it sent Ilya into an early heat. He was married less than a month after the funeral to an Alpha associate of his father's. He got pregnant three months later during his second heat and his son was born nine months after that.
Luca was absolutely beautiful. He had blonde hair and Ilya's hazel eyes and the sweetest smile. He was the light of Ilya's life and, to Ilya's horror, also an Omega. Ilya's Alpha was furious when he found out. Ilya thought for sure the beating he received would kill him but he survived.
Ilya spent all of his time caring for Luca and desperately trying to protect him from his Alpha father's wrath. The stress of it changed Ilya's heat cycles so he was only having two a year. He got pregnant twice more and lost both babies. Ilya grieved but couldn't help but be grateful that he only had Luca to worry about.
When Ilya's Alpha came to him to tell him they were going to Canada for a business trip, Ilya was shocked. His Alpha had taken dozens of business trips in the last seven years of their marriage and he'd never taken Ilya and Luca with him. Ilya had been so shocked that he asked why before he he could stop himself. Alpha had disciplined him with a quick backhand that left Ilya's lip bleeding and his head aching and sneered that he had no one to leave Ilya with now that Ilya's father was dead. So, Ilya packed up a bag for him and Luca and they accompanied the Alpha to Montréal.
Montréal was nothing like Russia and being in a country where Ilya didn't know the language was scary. He was pathetically grateful that Alpha let him stay at the hotel with Luca while he went to his conference. It only took Ilya one day and one instance of discipline by way of the Alpha's belt to learn the Alpha's conference schedule. He made sure to have Luca out of the way and his Alpha's drink ready when he came in on the second day.
On the third day, Alpha didn't show up.
Ilya waited all night, thinking it was a test, but he never showed. It was mid morning when there was a knock at the door and Ilya opened it to find two police officers. He managed to stay calm as they explained to him, first in French he didn't understand and then in English, which he barely understood, that there had been an accident. Ilya's Alpha was dead. Ilya would never admit that his first reaction was relief. His second was fear.
The police waited patiently while he packed up his and Luca's things before taking them to the hospital to identify Alpha's body. A social worker met them there. She took one look at Ilya's dry eyes, the way Luca's tiny frame clung to him and the stiff way Ilya moved and demanded a Russian translator. The translator, a Beta woman named Svetlana, explained that the social worker had some concerns and that she wanted to have Ilya and Luca both examined.
Ilya stripped himself naked and stayed perfectly still as a doctor and a nurse with a camera came in and took detailed pictures of the marks on his body. He was so ashamed. He knew how bad he looked. He just couldn't seem to be good and now everyone knew.
"How old are you and the boy?" Svetlana asked.
"I am nineteen and Luca is almost six," Ilya answered.
"And the Alpha that was killed, how are you related?" she asked.
"He is my husband, Luca's father," Ilya said.
Svetlana said something to the doctor in French and Ilya cringed as her anger flared so sharply, even her scent patches didn't cover it.
They finished examing Ilya and Luca, giving the boy a small piece of candy as they finished. Luca looked at it with confusion as Ilya thanked the doctor. He dressed Luca first, then himself and tucked them both into the small bed for the nap that Svetlana had suggested. He didn't know where they would go but it didn't matter.
He was an Omega, he would do what he was told.