Chapter Text

Chapter 1

If you had asked Big six months ago whether he would wind up with two bullet wounds on his chest and half his body covered in burns all because he dove head-first to save the love of his love, then yes Big would probably agree because he’s just that big of an idiot. Ugh.

This whole mess that is now Big’s life started almost 8 months ago when a certain alpha with a waist to die for (and no Big is not jealous of it, thank you very much) Waltzed into his life like a hurricane and wrecked it right to its core.

8 months ago.

The morning started like every other, Big woke up to a row of Ken’s horrendous alarms which with no surprise whatsoever, had no effect on the man himself who slept like a fucking log. People would expect the bodyguards of the biggest and the most powerful mafia family of Thailand to be alert and always on their best performance, but alas expectations are always meant to be shattered.

After getting himself ready and dragging Ken into the bathroom (because otherwise the man would sleep through Pol’s yelling, an invasion, and Big is not putting it past him to sleep through a nuclear explosion) so that both of them can then start their day, they headed towards the cafeteria where they were met with the sight of Pete sitting alone at their table already with a plate.

“Good morning”, Big greeted Pete who replied with his signature sunshine smile. Both of them started chatting about their upcoming day while Big waited for Ken to get their breakfast.

“Finally, I was almost sure that today was the day you smothered Ken in his sleep because of the alarms when I didn’t see you guys here.”, Pete said relieved, which Big would’ve taken offense to, if it wouldn’t have been such a valid possibility.

“He wouldn’t do that to me.”, Ken replied while plopping down in his seat beside Pete. “I am way too adorable to be smothered in sleep”, Big just rolled his eyes because 10 minutes into the day and he was already done with his best friend’s bullshit.

“How did your date with Vegas go yesterday?” Big asked while taking the first bite of his plain chicken and rice, and if someone asks Big five years is not enough to get used to this tasteless crap and it is very much visible on his face if the laugh that he hears from Arm and Pol is taken as evidence.

“It was good as always we went for a ride on his new sports bike which for the life of me, I cannot remember but it was very fast”, replied Pete, as Arm and Pol took their seats on either side of him.

“Smooth, dude. Smooth.”, Ken said “This is what is expected from the boyfriend of a guy who gets orgasms when he comes across bikes

This resulted in getting hit in head by Pete which Big enjoyed very much.

“Anyways, after aimlessly riding the bike for a while we ended up on the beach and just strolled around talking about everything and nothing.”, Pete sighed with a stupid smile on his face, which got him disgusted looks from everyone on the table.

“Oh! Please”, Pete rolled his eyes. “You all are just jealous you are not getting laid.”, he sassed and continued eating his breakfast.

Big just chuckled in response and turned his head towards Arm who was sitting on his right side and was currently looking like he had been infected with the plague and only had a few days to left to live.

“Another all-nighter watching series with Khun?”, he questioned, to which he just got a long groan and an overly dramatic head thrown on his shoulder.

“That’s it, I give up.”, Arm muffled in his shirt. “I am a tech wizard I came here to crack security walls and burn digital assets of our enemies, not watch a mind-numbing series of two useless waste of spaces falling in loooooooove.”

Before anyone could say anything, another head landed on his opposite shoulder, this time it was Pol

Without a word Big just resigned himself into being the snuggle bunny for both the betas.

They continued to chat as they finished their breakfast after which they went their separate ways, where Arm and Pol went to their room to get some much-needed sleep before their next shift, Pete went to Khun Tankhun’s quarters for his shift and Big along with Ken went up to Khun Kinn’s quarters for theirs.

...

Ken was spewing some nonsense about a new videogame that was releasing that weekend and how he and Pol could not wait to get their hands on it and spend their next day off playing with it. Big was about to voice how their room was going to turn into a garbage dispenser next Saturday, but all thoughts went out of the window as soon as they stepped out of the elevator and smelt the room more specifically Khun Kinn’s room.

The room even with the wall between them reeked of sex and Big felt his stomach drop. No matter how many times he encountered the exact same situation, every time he felt a piece of his heart and soul break and fall into that dark void.

Big knew he had no right to feel this way when the alpha sitting on the other side of the door has never been his, but it had been three years since he fell in love with his boss and has given up on trying to control it. He knew that, everyone in the compound including Khun Kinn knew about his feelings, and over the years his love and devotion towards Kinn had been used for the family’s advantage. Despite all the fucked up things he had been put through because of these feelings Big never complained.

Because Big knew this was the only way he could ever get to love Kinn.

Beside him, Ken went quiet for a moment and then gently nudged him towards the door, Big felt him heavily releasing his scent of roasted coffee grounds and pistachios. That’s when Big realized his own scent of soft cocoa and caramel had come out with a soured edge due distressed pheromones of anger, sadness, and longing.

He had forgotten to wear scent blockers that morning.

Shit.

This realization had him dreading the encounter with Kinn even more, but before Big could spiral further Ken released another wave of calming pheromones, which had him relaxing a bit. Big turned towards Ken and gave him a grateful look. Ken released a bit more of his scent to add an extra layer of protection.

“Alright you can do this we are not going to embarrass ourselves in front him, well not more than the amount you do on a daily basis but that’s beside the point. You are not going to make a fool of yourself in front of him Big you are the head bodyguard for the heir of the biggest mafia family, dammit. Act like it”, Big thought to himself, after his very inspiring pep talk (not) he took a step forward and knocked on the door.

“Come in.”, said a ridiculously deep voice. Ken followed Big inside the room. The moment they entered the room they were slapped with the scent of burnt whiskey and cloves.

Yeah, all of Big’s thoughts of not embarrassing himself yeeted themself out of the window. This meeting has come to an end ladies and gentlemen, now for the entirety of this interaction Big.exe is going to concentrate on not soaking through his pants while his boss just sits in all his glory without an ounce of shame.

Seriously, can Kinn be any more alpha than this, and the smug bastard was always so proud of it, flaunting it around without a single ounce of regard for Big or his poor pants.

“Good morning, Khun Kinn”, greeted Ken, there was an edge in his voice that snapped big out of his turmoil, and slip his mask of professionalism.

“Good morning, Khun Kinn”, Big parroted, while bowing. Kinn nodded in response, and asked his schedule for today.

“The only major meeting you have today is with the Italians, Khun, to finalizes the prices for the upcoming ammunitions deal we are doing with them.”, replied Big with his no nonsense tone.

Ken continued to explain the details for the meeting to Kinn, at the end Kinn dismissed them both and asked to get the cars ready after lunch. Both Big and Ken bowed as they were dismissed and stood guards outside the door in the meantime.

...

Big along with Ken, Arm, and Pol was stood beside two sleek Maserati and a surveillance van, waiting for Khun Kinn so they could leave for the meeting with the Italians. As Kinn arrived, the group of nine bodyguards split where four bodyguards went in the first car, Big and Pol went with Khun Kinn in the second one, and finally Ken joined Arm in the surveillance from which Arm would keep an eye on the perimeter of the meeting’s location.

An hours’ drive later they reached the hotel where the meeting was supposed to take place. Don and his men were already present there. As soon as the Theerapanyakun heir entered the conference room the negotiations began.

As the meeting progressed every person in that room knew that something was off. Don was either playing hooky with another clan to get one over the Theerapanyakuns or had gotten greedy and wanted to keep most of the profits to himself.

At first Kinn kept his patience and let the Italians play their games, but as the time went on Big could see his boss’ patience running thin, from the way his jaw was slightly clenched, and thanks to Big’s obsession over Kinn’s scent over the years he could smell the subtle changes in it, even though Kinn was doing a phenomenal job in masking them.

Big prayed to all the gods above that they would get away with minimal injuries this time, as he saw a very cynical smirk appear on Kinn’s face.

“You’ve grown some balls since the last time we met, hm?”, Kinn drawled, lazily tracing his fingers around the rim of his glass and slowly looked up to meet Dons eyes. No, Big did not find it hot at all. Shut up.

Big scanned the entire room once again as he sensed the tension rise up after Kinn spoke. He saw Don’s guards very subtly grasp their guns, and that made Big’s jaw tense. Filthy Bastard, Big thought. Don was here to kill Kinn not for a stupid ammunitions deal.

Big once again scanned the room and saw sniper on the roof of the neighbouring building. Shit. He turned his eyes to Pol and flicked his eyes towards the roof. Pol followed his line of vision and his jaw clenched a bit, he turned back to Big and nodded subtly.

After he saw Pol press the panic button which alerted Arm and Ken about the sniper Big turned his attention back to Kinn. He was still staring at Don expectantly, waiting for some kind of bullshit explanation that was surely coming.

“Whatever do you mean, Khun Kinn?”, Don questioned, feigning nervousness. “We’ve done each and every deal to serve the Theerapanyakuns for the past decade, even your father knew he could place blind trust in us.”

Kinn ever so slowly cracked his neck before looking back at Don. “Well, it’s a good thing I am not my father, am I?”, he replied voice like silk over steel, as he casually kept his gun on the table.

Seeing that all the guards in the room fetched their guns out ready to shoot at the first order they received from their boss.

“Easy boys.”, Kinn drawled. “We are civilized enough to honour a decade long loyalty now, aren’t we?”, he continued and arched on of his eyebrows in question.

A beat passed.

Big’s intercom buzzed and in came Arm’s voice, “Sniper’s neutralized. No visible threat outside.”, Big relaxed a little hearing this and brought all his attention back inside the room.

“Of course, Khun, we’d be happy to comply any of your demands.”, said Don, voice tight with tension. Big noticed how he had subtly started sweating. Good, he received the sniper’s news too.

“That’s what I like to hear.”, Kinn replied with condescendingly appreciative tone. “I hope you would present me with better numbers in the next meeting.”, Kinn concluded the meeting as he buttoned his suit jacket and tucked his gun back in its holster.

“Of course, Khun.”, Don bowed as Kinn walked out the room.

As they were walking towards the elevators, Big was not able to shake this nagging feeling in his gut, which said it was too easy. And as soon as Big finished that train of thought he saw two men in staff uniform following them, the two then turned to three, which then increased to four. By the time they were reaching the elevators total of ten men were subtly following them.

“Pol, take Khun Kinn to the first elevator, the one with a lot of guests, take two bodyguards with you. Get off it on the tenth floor and use the stairwell.”, Big ordered while slightly increasing his pace.

“Ten, Mic, and Fourth get on the second elevator, get off on the twelfth floor and eliminate any threat that might be present on the stairwell.”

And finally, “Tank, Khao with me, get down the stairwell.”, as he saw everyone following his orders he followed the last two bodyguards.

“Arm, I need eyes on the stairwell and the fire escape, send ken in to take Khun Kinn to the van and call in for back up.”, he voiced in the comms.

“Copy”, Arm replied.

As his team dispersed to follow the orders, he unlocked the safety of his gun and stealthily descended the stairs, screwing a silencer to his gun.

In the next ten minutes, the bodyguards neutralized around ten men on the stairwell, as they reached the floor Khun Kinn was on, they took position surrounding him and started in the direction of the fire escape where Ken and backup bodyguards were waiting.

It all went to shit, when one of the Italian guards threw a smoke grenade on the stairwell. Fucking Fantastic.

The guards all covered their eyes, they were all coughing and half-blinded, but were still pushing Kinn towards the fire escape. Big saw an Italian guard take and aim towards Pol and shot him point blank amidst all the smoke.

Pol turned towards him and nodded his thanks. Guards from both sides continued shooting for the next couple of minutes, they were almost at the fire escape, but at the last moment shots were fired from the floor above.

Double fucking shit.

Big forced Kinn to duck as a bullet whizzed past him. He heard Kinn growl in frustration and yank Big towards his body and he shot the men behind him.

Big’s mind turned into goo.

What the actual fuck was Kinn doing?

Before he could spiral more his rational side of the brain kicked in and reminded him, he is still standing in a middle of a fucking gun fight. He shook his head and started shooting.

They were able to eliminate almost all the enemy guards and were moving back towards the exit when he saw it, a bullet, shot towards Kinn. Before anyone could comprehend anything Big pushed Kinn aside with all his might and felt the bullet pierce his shoulder.

The next thing he felt was white hot pain and blood running down his arm. Everything went black for a couple of minutes, and the next time he opened his eyes he saw the guy who had fired that gun was on the ground. He clenched his jaw and stood up, exhaling harshly he followed everyone down the fire escape.

...

They lost Khun Kinn.

Fanfuckingtastic.

The skilled guards of the most powerful mafia family in Thailand, had lost their heir. All because that big oaf decided to run in different direction amidst all the chaos.

Now, majority of the guards are running around Thailand trying to locate their stupid boss, while Arm frantically goes through each and every security camera in the city.

And where is Big amidst all this chaos you ask, he is back at compound getting the bullet out from his shoulder, because apparently you cannot brush a bullet wound off like it was a scrape. Which he totally disagrees with, but a glare from Chan had him gulping and hightailing it back here. Just, great.

So now, Big is sitting in the medical bay after getting his bullet removed waiting for the rest of the guards to come back with what he hopes is an intact Kinn. After he is given his medicine, Big tries to relax on his bed, but who are we kidding, so Big acts as he is relaxing so the nursing staff in the med bay would leave him alone and then stews for the remaining time.

Big is in the middle of planning the tenth way of killing Kinn with his own hands for stressing the pants off him, while the nurse fusses over the IV drip attached to his hand, that’s when he hears footsteps coming towards his room.

At first, he thought it was another doctor to fuss on him, but as the door opened, he saw Nop come in, as the beta’s scent spread through the room Big felt himself relax a bit for the first time since that meeting.

“Hii- Ow, what was that for?”, Big whined, his greeting rudely cut off when Nop flicked him on the forehead.

“You know what that was for.”, Nop replied, setting a bag containing some of Big’s favourite snacks on the bedside table.

Big was still rubbing his forehead and pouting like a petulant child, when Nop turned around to face him. He looked at Big like a parent who didn’t know what to do when their kid had come home from playground with yet another injury, exasperated, but not surprised.

“Okay, in my defense,” Big started, “the shot came out of nowhere. If I hadn’t pushed him, he could’ve died, which would’ve ended in my unfortunate demise, because well let’s be honest, why would Khun Korn let me live if the heir was gone.”, Big heaved out a breath after his overly long, and let’s face it, mostly baseless explanation.

Nop just stared at him, then sighed, “You done?”

“Are you convinced?”, Big questioned.

“Yeah, you’re done.”, Nop said, and sat down on the bed beside Big.

They just sat in silence for a while, and Big was getting restless again, he opened his mouth to ask Nop about Kinn’s whereabouts, but the door was slammed open again, followed by Ken, Arm, Pol, and Pete swarming in like sheep high on cocaine.

“Oh my god, Big not again-”

“Thank fuck, you’re not dead-”

“You idiotic fuck do you not have any self-preservation instincts-”

“Big! Are you okay-”

“Okay, everyone shut up!”, Chan yelled from the door way, everyone went quite once they were faced with his infamous glare.

But Big was not listening to anything that his friends were saying, because Chan was there, and that meant Kinn was safe. His eagerness was visible to everyone present in the room which made them collectively roll their eyes.

“Yes, he’s back in the compound, and yes he is safe.”, Chan answered before Big could question him.

Chan then walked in and kissed Nop to greet him.

“Hi, love”, he murmured.

“Hi baby”, Nop greeted back, smiling.

Big felt his lips curl into a smile, the other four boys mirrored him, looking at their dads be so chummy after so long. He had found this little dysfunctional and weird family when he had joined the compound 6 years ago when he was a barely eighteen and was a newly presented omega.

...

Six years ago

Big was born in a family of pricks and assholes, where omegas, especially male omegas were a disgrace and were sold as soon as they presented, according to his father omegas were not worth the money spent on them. The only thing they were useful for was keeping a cock warm and to bear healthy alphas.

So, as soon as Big got the first symptoms of his presentation, and that he was going to present as an omega. He ran away from his home with the help of his brother, and spent the rest of his presentation period in a dingy, old motel.

As painful, and depressing as it was, it was still hundred times better than being sold to some greasy old alpha for a few thousand baht.

After it was over, he had started doing odd jobs to survive; waitressing, bartending, being bus boy, he did them all. It was on job like this when he had first met the Theerapanyakun family.

It was the month of June, monsoons in Bangkok were in full force Big had been working at a cozy little puppy café then. It was late afternoon, when a boy not over eight years old, came in surrounded by three rather large men all dressed in suits.

The boy’s eyes lit up like a thousand candles had been lit inside them, the moment he found the puppies scattered across the floors. The café had been pretty much empty then, so all the puppies at once dashed and crashed on the boy letting out little barks while doing it which were then accompanied by cute little giggles of the boy.

Big felt his heart flutter hearing that sound, and for the first time he felt his omega instinct come alive. His scent might have flooded the café as all three bodyguards turned to look at him, Big got a little flustered, but didn’t react much because he noticed the little boy had relaxed to it.

He rounded the counter and moved towards the group, the men slightly forming a shield around the boy and the menacing glares they had were not missed by Big. Must be from the mafia, Big thought. But Big didn’t let that affect him, and knelt in front of the small puppy pile that was formed.

“You seem to be their favourite, they’ve never reacted in this way to anyone before.”, Big said, smiling.

The little boy looked up and blushed hearing Big words. Cute. “I like them too.”, he replied.

“Aw, they’re really happy to hear that.”, Big chuckled. “What’s your name?”, Big asked, maneuvering the puppies so the group of four can sit in their seats.

“Kim.”, the boy, well Kim replied, and bowed politely.

“Hi there Kim, I’m Big. What would you like to have today, hm?”, Big asked taking out his notepad to note down their orders.

“Can I have a strawberry milkshake and a chocolate pie, please?”, Kim asked.

“Of course you can sweetheart. Would you guys like anything?”, He turned towards the three, he’s assuming, bodyguards. Big noted their orders and went behind the counter to get them prepared.

While Big was preparing their orders, he could here Kim running around the café with the puppies, the café had floor table to make it easy to interact and play with the puppies, and it being completely empty right now was working very well in Kim’s favour.

Big placed the three coffees, the strawberry milkshake, and the chocolate pie on a tray and walked towards the table. When Kim saw Big coming with the orders he stopped playing and eagerly sat down.

After setting down their drinks and desserts on the table, Big walked back to the counter and continued cleaning until the group was done with their food.

“Come back again soon, okay.”, Big told Kim, as they were getting ready to leave.

“Yes, P’Big I will see you soon!”, exclaimed Kim. Big ruffled his hair and waved him off.

...

After closing the café Big headed home, sipping on the Biscoff frappe he had awarded himself with. He was halfway home, when he felt a weird shift in the air. His defences went up as he looked around, it was the deserted area, which contained abandoned warehouses, it always made his skin crawl.

Big was just going to brush it off to him being a scaredy cat, but then he caught it. A sound, more like cries of distress coming from one of the warehouses. They were very faint, but when he concentrated, he could hear it, a wailing sound, more like a child wailing.

What the hell.

He walked closer to warehouse, with his heart in his throat, wishing it was only his stupid brain coming up with scenarios to scare him. When he got close enough, he was able to smell five different scents, out of which one smelled familiar, and two smelled like they were drenched in blood.

Someone’s dead, Big realized. Great, just fucking great. This is exactly what Big needed right now, be a witness to a murder, and most probably be the next victim. He briefly looked up at the sky and gave a big fat thumbs up to God. He had half a mind to just ignore it and run away, because frankly that’s what normal people should do.

Big had almost turned around and continue his way home as if nothing had happened, but then he heard it, a scary little whimper. His omega instincts skyrocketed. Big exhaled a resigned breath, he looked up and muttered, “When I get up there, we’re having a serious chat.”

He crouched and tried to peek through the window to se what was going on, while praying his scent was not potent to a point which will get him caught. As soon as Big got the glimpse of the scene inside his heart dropped to his stomach and he cursed under his breath.

There, in the middle of the warehouse was pathetic little wooden chair with a child strapped to it, Kim, and not four feet away from the little boy were his two bodyguards lying in a pool of blood, most probably dead. The picture inside the warehouse seemed like it was taken out of some cliché mafia movies set in the 90’s.

Big felt his anger flare up, and vision turning a bit red when he saw the marks on Kim’s face, motherfuckers. Big wanted to cut off the hands that were responsible for them, and forcefully feed the captors their own hands. Before Big got anymore graphic, he forced himself to calm down, because let’s face it him getting angry and running head first is not going to do anyone any good, as he was just an omega with zero fighting experience, and the men inside had managed to off Kim’s bodyguards who had a lot of experience. And will most definitely lead to his very embarrassing death.

He once again looked around to ensure there was no one else outside, who can jump at him. After making sure he was alone, he very silently tried to round the perimeter to gain better knowledge, and find an entrance to the warehouse. Big had seen enough spy movies to what know he was doing was completely badass, thank you very much.

He found a broken window with a hole big and wide enough for Big to enter the warehouse, he once again looked towards the group and made a final head count of people inside.

“Okay, there’s Kim, that’s one”, Big started. “Two kidnappers, that makes three, and finally two dead bodyguards… wait there were three bodyguards this morning.”, Big’s eyes widened as he realized one of them was missing. Before Big could digest the new information, and react, he felt the cold press of the barrel of a gun against the back of his head, along with the heavy presence of someone. Again, great, just fucking great.

He slowly turned around, to come face to face with one of the bodyguards from Kim’s detail. Wow, Big thought, could this get anymore cliché, you could’ve come up with a more original storyline you know, he internally rolled his eyes at God.

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t the pretty little omega from the café.”, the bodyguard smirked.

Well, that just wouldn’t do now, would it.

Big’s eyes narrowed at the comment. Normally, he was able to brush off any and all insults thrown his way, and he was pretty proud of it. But, the insults regarding his sub-gender woke something really ugly inside him, his father, which usually ended up with the other person having a bloody nose. But, in this situation Big could not execute his usual plan of action, because the guy in front of him was trained and armed.

Big forced his breathing to slow, and scent to simmer down. He was not going to give this bastard the satisfaction of scaring the crap out of him. Big thought of a way to get out of this situation, maybe he could find an object sharp enough to jam it into the bodyguard-turned-kidnappers eye or something.

Big’s back was pressed up against the wall beside the broken window, so he started feeling the windowsill for broken shards of glass.

“Hey! We need help with the kid.”, Big froze, but didn’t let go of the small piece he found, as he heard one of the kidnappers from inside.

The kidnapper in front of him let out a breath of frustration, “Useless pieces of shits.”, he turned his gaze back towards Big, “Move. And don’t try anything smart I don’t want to hurt you yet.”, he smirked.

They turned around and Big slipped the shard in his pocket. As they reached inside the warehouse the smell of blood got more suffocating to the point that Big could taste it on his tongue. He swallowed down the urge to vomit all over the kidnapper’s shoes and focused on Kim’s scent.

When they reached him, Kim’s head was lolled back on the metal chair he was tied to, he had a new gash which was bleeding from his right temple, the red a stark contrast on his pale skin. But the worst thing was the gut-wrenching scent of distressed pup.

Big’s hackles rose and his instincts went haywire, all his brain could focus on was the pup in danger. He once again had to force himself to calm down, before his eyes could turn blue and he got himself and Kim in a deeper shit.

Big took a couple of calming breaths, he subtly emitted soothing pheromones towards Kim, strong enough so that only Kim can smell them, the ability to sniff out any omega wired into the pup’s brain chemistry, but light enough so that the other alphas could not smell him. Almost immediately Kim twitched in recognition, his little body relaxed in his unconscious state, and the scent of distress decreased in the air.

Big let out a small breath of relief and turned his attention back on assholes who were the root of all the problems and misery in his life currently.

“What new mess did you bring in now?”, asshole #2 grunted.

Big did roll his eyes at that, consequences be damned. Like Big was dying to be here.

“Found him lurking around, looking where he shouldn’t. So brought him in you know, entertainment purpose.”, asshole #1 drawled. He was way too cocky for Big’s liking, and Big would like to stab him now.

Hearing this the third guy who was silent till now walked towards where Big and asshole #1 were standing.

And, oh my god.

He had a literal scorpion tattooed on his big bald head.

Tattoo-head, as Big so lovingly christened him, needed some new friends. Ones who would punch him in the face when he got bright ideas like tattooing his head and walking around with it like it was some personality trait.

“Well, I am all ready to be entertained”, tattoo-head smirked, as he came closer to Big, invading his personal space.

“Smells like a sweet treat too.”, he shoved his face into Big’s neck. Like he owned the place, and took a long drag of his scent.

Big’s jaw clenched, he wanted to stab two people now. He would also like to cut tattoo-heads dick off while he was at it.

Big once again forced himself suppress his urge to scream, bite, or vomit. He dragged his eyes across the room and survey all possible escape routes, and weapons he could use against these three douchebags. He had that shard of glass he took from the windowsill in his pocket that’s one, Big could probably stab the pervert sniffing his neck like a fucking dog in the neck with it. But the problem with this very enticing plan was there was a bodyguard/kidnapper standing right behind him, and another one four feet away, and they both had guns.

Before Big could spiral further, or these filthy animals could do anything, a small, broken whimper echoed through the room. Big froze, everyone turned towards the source, and saw Kim wide awake with his eyes firmly set on Big.

Kim’s breathing was speeding up, along with it his scent was also spiking and turning rotten, and his big wide eyes watering up when he realized his last hope was also in danger. He rattled against the ropes that were binding him and bent forward in Big’s direction, like he wanted Big to hide him. Big growled in response and tried shaking himself off of the hold the kidnappers had on him. Arms that were holding him in place tightened and tattoo-head took a step back to look at him and smirked.

“Well, well, well. Now this is very interesting”, tattoo-head once again spewed.

“I want to see how far this would go, never seen an omega going all teeth and claws you know”, he continued.

Big was really losing all his patience now, he let out a low growl towards tattoo-head in warning.

“Ooooh,” Tattoo-head cooed mockingly. “Feisty little omega’s gonna growl at me? Someone please, I’m terrified.”

Kim once again tried to break free from his restraints and run towards Big, Big was sure the ropes have cut through Kim’s soft fragile wrists and caused damage not suitable for a five year old. Asshole #2, who was standing closest to Kim walked towards him.

“Enough! Behave yourself you little shit, or I won’t hesitate to knock you out again”, he seethed, and yanked Kim back by his hair.

 Kim let out a gut-clenching scream, Big’s control snapped. He yanked the glass shard out of his pocket and plunged it into tattoo-heads neck. A splatter of blood came out of his neck and splashed across Big’s face and shirt. Tattoo-head fell to the ground and blood started flowing out the hole in his neck.

A pin drop silence followed tattoo-head’s death.

Big’s head was now ringing, his breath coming out in angry puffs, but all he could think was kill the remaining two, grab the pup, and run to safety. He didn’t let the blood coating his skin, and slowly pooling under his shoes phase him, he plucked the glass out of the now dead kidnapper, more blood squirted out of the wound along with some chunks of meat but he ignored them. He turned, and blindly flung the shard behind him, it was messy and very off target but luck was on his side today, it hit the kidnapper on the shoulder of the arm holding the gun.

The impact made the kidnapper lose his grip on the gun, and it clattered in the floor. Big lunged at him, and collided with the kidnapper’s body with all the force he could muster. Both tumbled to the ground and before the bastard could recover, Big took fistfuls of hair in both his hands and banged the kidnappers head against the concrete. After two very harsh bangs, a sickening sound was heard and the guy below him went completely still.

Big was panting heavily, trying to control some of his rage now that two out three were gone. He slammed asshole #1 head once more for good measure. He slowly got up and turned around the last one was still frozen in his spot with wide eyes that showed a flicker of fear. Good.

The kidnapper came back to his senses when Big charged towards him, he raised his gun to pull the trigger. Kim who was behind him the whole time saw this, his eyes widened and in a pure moment of fear and panic lunged his upper body forwards and bit the kidnapper’s back as hard as he could.

“Ahhhh!!!”, the kidnapper screamed.

His aim missed, but he still pulled the trigger.

Bang.

The bullet flew through the air and pierced Big near his shoulder.

“No! P’Big!”, Kim sobbed.

Big hit the ground hard, his vision swimming, and ears ringing. He felt blood from his wound soaking his shirt, the pain was still diluted thanks to the amount adrenaline flowing in his blood. He tried to get up but his arms gave out. Big let out a frustrated growl when he failed the second time.

“Should’ve stayed pretty and quiet. Maybe I would’ve let you go, but you had to play hero, and for who a kid you don’t even know. Fucking omegas, always ruining everything with their emotions…”, the asshole continued to rant as he walked towards him.

Big’s heart pounded and the bastard got closer to him, he forced his eyes to focus and find anything that could help him. His frantic eyes landed on a shine object, a gun, Big smirked luck really was on his side today. He decided he was going to go to the temple to make merits after this whole shit show was over.

Big stretched his arm towards the gun, the kidnapper was still ranting about Big disrupting the whole plan so he did not notice Big grabbing the gun. As soon as the gun was in Big’s hands he waited for the bodyguard to get close enough. He counted till 3 in his head, and turned, aimed his gun at asshole #2 and shot.

The kidnapper froze mid rant and looked down at his torso, and to the blood now spreading through the shirt. He looked up again towards Big, his face was still frozen in surprise, the asshole opened his mouth to say something but all that could come out was gurgling noises. Big saw anger flare across his eyes, the bastard raised his gun to fire one more shot at Big.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Before he could, Big emptied the clip on the kidnapper’s torso. The body fell on the ground with a thud. Silence followed, as Big too dropped the gun and just stared at the scene in front of him.

He looked around at all the mess, the blood, and the bodies.

The blood he had shed.

The bodies he was responsible for.

Holyfuckingshit.

Big’s eyes widened in realization; he killed three people. He had actually killed three fucking human beings.

Holymotherfuckingshit.

Fuckfuckfuckfuck.

“P’Big.”, a frightened little voice cut through Big’s crazy but a very valid freakout.

His head snapped towards Kim. The little pup was still tied to the chair, he looked much smaller somehow. Big got up, hot searing pain shot through his shoulder, he screamed out in pain. He tried to steady himself when he felt black dots appear in front of eyes, he couldn’t collapse now, he still had a frightened pup to care for. He took a couple of really deep breathes and scrambled towards Kim. He cupped Kim’s cheeks very softly.

“Hey, shh, it’s okay baby, it’s over now, see they’re gone, you’re safe now, shh.”, Big tried to soothe the kid.

Kim just whimpered in response. Big started releasing soothing pheromones, as he untied Kim’s restraints.

When all of his restraints were undone, Big pulled Kim out of the chair and hugged him close on his uninjured side. Big let Kim cry out all the fear and panic that today had caused him, and just held him tight till his sobs turned in to little hiccups and sniffles.

Big held Kim for a little longer, and allowed him to snuggle up his shoulder. Big ignored the pain that was shooting from his shoulder, the wound had stopped bleeding. That meant the bullet hadn’t gone deep, good.

When Kim was calm enough, he pulled him away slightly. Big brushed the bangs out of Kim’s face and checked his wound. There was a gash on his temple, a bruise was forming on cheek, and his wrists were raw from the ropes. A threatening growl erupted from Big’s chest as assessed the wounds. Kim let out a whimper in response to the spike in Big’s scent. Big shushed him and tried to suppress his distressed scent.

“Hey pup, you have any way to contact your family, or you remember anyone’s number, your maa, or your paa, hmm?”, Big asked when Kim had completely calmed down.

Kim looked up at him and nodded.

“I know Hia Kinn’s mobile number, he made me memorize it after Hia Khun was taken from us.”, Kim responded.

So, the pup had seen this happen before. Big tightened his hold on Kim hearing this. He searched his pockets for his phone, finding it he unlocked the phone and asked Kim to recite the number.

After dialling the number Big prayed to all the gods in the heaven that whoever was on the other side of the phone would pick up and not ignore the call.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

“Hello?”, a voice questioned on the fourth ring.

“Hia!”, Kim screamed.

Twenty minutes later P’Chan along with ten other guards had stormed the warehouse. Big had growled at them to back off.

After a very weird interaction where neither Big nor Kim were letting go of each other, Big was taken to the Theerapanyakun mansion. Two weeks later Big was an official employee recruited by Kinn Theerapanyakun to be a bodyguard.

...

“Oii, earth to Big.”, Pol shook his hand in front of Big’s face.

Big blinked his eyes as his brain focused back to the present, and he looked around the hospital room filled with his family.

He shook his head and concentrated on the conversation that was going on, Arm was yapping about a new surveillance device he was creating. The words coming out of his mouth were so complicated you could see smoke coming out of Pete’s and Ken’s heads, Pol was completely ignoring words coming out of Arm’s mouth and was concentrated on the snack bad Nop had bought for Big. Chan and Nop were sitting on the armchair and talking among themselves enjoying the rare moment where they could openly express their true emotion to each other without any prying eyes.

Big just sat on his bed and smiled. He was going to be okay he was sure of it, no heartbreak was going to be big enough, to break him when he had all these buffoons by his side.

Yeah, Big takes it back he was high on painkillers and was not thinking straight, because the storm that entered the mansion two days later in the form of Porsche Pachara Kittisawat, fucked Big’s like from left, right, and beyond. Great, just great. Ugh.

Chapter Text

Chapter 2

“My grandma, god bless her soul, used to run faster than you imbeciles”, Big heard Chan bark at the new recruits as he entered the gym.

The placed smelled of sweat and the obnoxious amount of deodorant the recruits had drowned themselves in, each clashing with their own individual scent to create a recipe guaranteed to trigger an episode of projectile vomiting.

Big dragged his feet inside the room, he still didn’t understand why he had to be punished like this when he had saved the heir from getting shot in the face. It had been a week since Don’s pathetic ambush, Big had been completely off-duty to let his shoulder heal. A week later he is still off-duty, but he was getting antsy sitting around all day. Two days of whining later Chan had assigned him to train the recruits for their endurance test till the doctors gave Big an OK to take the sling off.

So, if he was being honest, Big had brought this hell on himself.

Big scanned the room to take a look at what the newbies were up to, and how big of a headache he was going to sport the entire week. A group of alphas was sparring, it seemed more of a dick measuring competition if Big was being honest. Seriously what was it with alphas and their desperate need to always be hulkiest hulk there could be, he thought to himself. He continued to watch the horrendous sight for a few more minutes before walking towards it.

“Hey!”, Big barked.

Five heads whipped around to face him.

“What do you apes think you’re doing?”, Big questioned with an arched brow.

“Sparring.”, one of them replied.

“Oh really.”, Big tilted his head. “Because from where I was standing, it looked like a bunch of pups fighting to see who’s the strongest, and losing. Very badly, might I add.”

He let the silence hang a beat before continuing, “I’m a feminist through and through, but four-year-old girls could fight better than you brutes.”

All of them had the decency to look ashamed, Big let out a breath.

“Alright in positions all of you.”, Big instructed. They shuffled in a straight line in front of him.

“Alright, Dew, White.”, Big called. “In sparring positions. I am going to show you guys techniques that will hopefully give you fighting chances, and maybe not get you killed on your first missions out.”

Both of them moved and took their sparring positions.

Big asked them to start their match and observed, he gave them pointers regarding their stances, the methods they were using to fight, and techniques to get out of difficult positions.

This went on for the next hour, with Big calling the others in turn to spar and studying each of their fighting styles. When everyone had gone at least once, he finally called for a ten-minute water break.

The word “break” wasn’t even fully out of his mouth before all five recruits bolted toward the water bottles like kindergarteners on the first day of school.

Big rolled his eyes so hard it was a miracle they did not get stuck there.

He definitely felt like a kindergarten teacher when he saw his students flipping, and squabbling over one another for the bottles of. The circus act was getting too much for Big, he stomped towards the rack containing rows and rows of bottles, grabbed a couple and threw them towards the idiots. At least they had the decency to look sheepish before chugging the water like they hadn’t had a single drop in their entire lives.

“Big”, Big heard Chan call him out.

The recruits scrambled to get up and stand straight when they saw Chan. Big ignored them, and turned around to face Chan.

His eyes landed on Chan, and Porsche.

Porsche Pachara Kittisawat. The man who had saved Kinn, when Big had not been able to, and then had waltz into the mansion like he had always belonged there.

Big had been wary of him, from the first day he entered the compound. At first glance, Porsche looked like any other alpha you would find around. He was the bartender of Yok’s, a small bar where Kinn stumbled in while he was running away from Don’s goons. Long story short, Kinn had asked for Porsche’s help, and Korn had hired him to be one of Kinn’s bodyguards after watching the CCTV footage of Porsche singlehandedly beating up three thugs.

What bothered Big wasn’t the fight, it was how fast Korn had pulled him in. Straight into the heir’s detail, without any extensive background checks, or probation.

And Big was only worried because he cared about the wellbeing of every member of the family very much, not because he was jealous of the way Kinn looked at Porsche.

Shut up, Pete.

“Train Porsche with the other guards too, will you?”, Chan brought Big out of his thoughts. “His overall skills are good enough just need to help him polish his techniques.”

“Yes, sir.”, Big nodded.

“Alright everyone, breaks over, Porsche you can spar with Mint.”, Big instructed as Chan walked away.

Porsche gave his signature sunshine smile to Big before going and standing in front of Mint. That smile made Big’s stomach churn, in a vomiting kind of way not in butterflies wrecking a havoc in his stomach way.

“Okay, ready?”, Big cleared his throat and questioned. “Fight!”

Mint lunged at Porsche with a clean upper cut, aiming straight for jaw, Big had to admit he was proud of the punch the boy threw.

Porsche for his part easily side-stepped the attack and rebutted with a kick to Mint’s torso. The hit got the air knocked out of him, but to his credit, Mint recovered quickly and stepped behind before he could get kicked again.

Both of them circled each other waiting for the other to attack.

Mint was getting a bit riled up, he was one of the top recruits of his batch, and getting his ass handed to him by a measly bartender, Big was able to understand his frustrations, but he hoped to god Mint would get his act together.

Opposite him, Porsche was still being sunshine personified, no one within the five kilometre radius would believe he was able to casually beat goons up during a smoke break. But, Big noticed, his goofy expression had sharpened around the edges.

Porsche feinted a punch toward Mint’s nose. When Mint’s guard shot up, Porsche drove a fist into the same spot on his torso he’d kicked seconds ago. Mint doubled over, and before he could draw breath, Porsche’s knee cracked up under his chin, snapping his head back.

Dizzy, and unsteady, Mint was trying really hard to regain his balance, when Porsche jumped and slammed a roundhouse kick against his right temple. Mint landed on the mat with a thud.

The whole gym had gone quiet, and Big if he was being honest was teeny bit turned on, he was not proud of himself, no, but even he had to admit that was hot.

“So, this is the top recruit in Theerapanyakun security? No wonder the bosses have to beg outsiders to protect them.”, Big got snapped out of his trance when he heard Porsche spoke.

Wait. What did the asshole just say!?

Big was now very much ready to blow his very handsome face off.

“Listen here you jackass”, Big growled.

“Just because you were able to land a couple of-”, Big’s rant got cut off, when someone cleared their throat behind him.

He swirled around as Porsche’s eye raised to meet the eyes of the same person. Kinn.

Where the hell did, he come from!?

Kinn never set foot into this gym. Ever. The man had a whole private floor stacked with equipment. It took P’Chan dragging him by the metaphorical ear to get him down here for guard selections.

So, why now? Was he here for Porsche? Had he just witnessed Porsche’s little glory show? Was Porsche performing for him?

Oh god. Was Kinn the reason why Porsche had been smirking so damn much?

Big really needed to stop spiralling, and getting lost in his head when he is around these two. Because, when he snapped out of it, Big had somehow ended up being sandwiched between the two alphas.

Big was not used to being around alphas so much, okay that’s a complete lie he lived in a mafia compound for god’s sake, the place was swimming with alphas.

What he was not used to was being surrounded by these two alphas.

Suddenly, the air in the room got thicker, and ten times hotter than what it had been a few seconds ago, a few more seconds and Big would start visibly sweating. The heat was not the worst part, the worst part was how well their scent blended together.

And oh, god the scents.

Kinn’s burnt whiskey and cloves bled into Porsche’s deep, musky bite until they wove together into something that made Big’s stomach knot and his knees want to give way. Heaven and sin bottled up, filling his lungs whether he wanted it or not.

Now, Big prided himself in being a strongminded omega, he could withstand heats, stupid alphas being arrogant, and a lot of intimidation thrown his way.

But this?

This was where Big’s strength drew a line. He was actively trying to hold on to last shreds of his willpower and not let his omega, who by the way had melted in a puddle of goo, do something stupid like whimpering, and baring his neck for the alphas to mark and do whatever the fuck they wanted with him.

Which… nope. Absolutely not. Over his dead, very hot body.

“Now, now, Big. We don’t need you to strain yourself and worsen your injury, just because you lost your temper, right?”, Big was again brought back, god he seriously needed to stop doing that, when Kinn questioned him, it sounded more like a scolding than a question, but Big was going to ignore that for now.

“No, Khun.”, Big replied with his head bowed a little.

He felt his cheeks turning red. He seriously wanted the earth to swallow him up right now.

“Come on Kinn, it’s not that big of a deal. He was looking very cute all riled up.”, Porsche said.

“I – excuse me!?”, Big whipped his head up, and screeched.

Had Porsche just called him cute. Big was not cute, he was the head bodyguard to the heir of the most dangerous mafia family in Thailand, dammit. If anything, he was a very dangerous man, and he was not hesitant to show – wait, had Porsche just called Kinn, Kinn.

Big’s eyed widened, he looked at Kinn, pretty sure he was going to see that dark scowl on his face, but to Big’s surprise, Kinn had a smirk on his face and not the demeaning one he gave his employees, it was the amusing one which was usually reserved for Khun Tay, Khun Tankhun, and Kim. Why was that expression aimed towards Porsche?

Okay, Big was now really done with the interaction now, he darted his eyes around the room to find someone who could help him get out of this situation. Big now wanted to be dismissed so he could go and peacefully throw himself off the roof.

Big’s misery must have been clearly visible on his face, because P’Chan cleared his throat then and asked the everyone to disperse for the lunch break.

As soon as those words were out of P’Chan’s mouth Big practically ran out of the gym and to the nearest bathroom.

Reaching the bathroom, he slammed the door shut and leaned against it. His knees finally gave out and he slid down the door breathing heavily.

“Shit”

He really needs to stay away from Porsche.

Chapter Text

Chapter 3

The past few weeks, if Big were to describe them in a word would be – weird.

Porsche had somehow taken over the compound. Usually when there were new guards around, the poor souls would try their hardest to not even breathe too loud, double checking their every step, and just living as if they were in a war zone; which technically was true according to Big.

But Porsche was a whole different story. Within the first couple of weeks in the compound he had befriended everyone.

Be it the recruits, where Porsche had somehow ended up being a ringleader. Whatever Porsche did the recruits admired with stars in their eyes, which was nothing but chaos. This had made training the recruits extremely painful for Big, he was sure he had multiple strands of grey hair by now because of their shenanigans. When Big had gone to P’Chan to whine and complain about it he had been shooed away, with the reason being it wasn’t negatively affecting anyone. Big was flabbergasted, Porsche was able to even woo P’Chan, scratch flabbergasted Big felt betrayed.

It didn’t end there, no. The bastard was able to charm the kitchen aunties too. Big had seen him goofing around them with that sunshine smile, and boyish charm of his. Seeing their sons in him they ended up pampering him, with dumpling and spring rolls no less. Agh!!! All Big could do was just stand there with his chicken breast and white rice staring at them longingly.

He had even managed to befriend Pete, and now the two of them were joined at the hip whenever they were on breaks, and during meals. Which meant Big had to endure him and his “Hey cutie”, which he had started calling Big every time he saw Big, it did not make Big blush. Shut up. Again, he had taken bullets for the family, why was he being punished!?

And yet, what unsettled Big was not the chaos and changes Porsche brought along with him, it was Khun Kinn.

Kinn had never taken any personal interest in any of the guards, hell the guy hadn’t taken any interest in anyone after the disaster that was Tawan four years ago. But now, Big saw the way Kinn’s eyes lingered on Porsche whenever they were in the same room. He had now made it a habit to come down to the gym at least thrice a week while the recruits trained. His eyes followed Porsche’s every move as if he were hypnotized.

Porsche seemed to be oblivious to all the lingering glances and heart eyes that Kinn threw his was, but Big noticed. Oh, he caught every single gesture, glance, even the twinges in Kinn’s scent whenever he was around Porsche, and Big was not yet ready to acknowledge and name the feeling that was curling up in his gut.

...

“Big!”, Arm screamed from across the cafeteria.

Big looked up from his soup, Arm and Ken were manically waving their arms at him as if he were across the ocean.

Big just raised an eyebrow in question, he made no move whatsoever to get up from his table and walk towards them, as they so desperately wanted from him. He was going to just sit here and eat his soup after a long day of screaming his lungs off at the recruits, thank you very much.

When they saw their wish was not going to be fulfilled, they stomped their way to Big’s table.

“Has anyone ever told you how infuriating you are?”, Ken grumbled as the two of them slumped down into the chairs opposite of him.

“Yes, my father told me. On the day I was born.”, Big blew on his soup.

He continued eating his soup while a silence fell upon them after his comment. If only he could get some cheesy garlic bread with this, ah heaven.

“Okay.”, Ken said clearing his throat, “I’m going to pretend that you did not say that right now, because we don’t have the time to unpack the mountain of self-hatred, and self-esteem issues you have.”

“Yeah, and now the original reason we’re here for.” Arm interrupted Big’s very logical and valid rant on how he did not have any self-esteem issues.

“We are going to a bar.”, Arm stated.

“No, we are not.”, Big declared.

“Yes, we are.”

“No, I am going to sleep.”

“No, we’re going to a bar.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Big!”, Arm slammed his hands on the table.

“Noooooooo, I am not going.”, Big definitely did not whine. “And anyways, who’s even giving you permission to go to a bar? You do remember both of you are on night shift today, right?”

Hearing Bigs’s very valid question, both Arm and Ken’s faces lit up with an evil glint. Big did not like it. At all.

“We know, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”, Arm said.

“What?”

“Porsche convinced Tankhun to go to the bar he worked at, and we are going as his security detail.”, Ken explained, as he snatched Big’s soup bowl and downed the remnants in one go.

Big let out a squeak. Did Ken just down his emotional support soup without any second thought!? That’s it, Big is going to kill him today. Don’t get him wrong Big can handle a lot. Stab wounds? Please. Gunshots? Just another Wednesday. Being waterboarded? Sure, you name it and Big could handle it all. But eating his food, nope, Big drew a line there. Sorry to disappoint the people who liked Ken alive, say your goodbyes be –

Wait.

“Did you just say Tankhun wants to go out!?”, Big exclaimed, with his hand in the air ready to smack Ken.

“And did you say Porsche convinced him!?”

“How on earth is that possible??”, Big was very red with how he was punctuating his question back to back, but frankly it was very valid, because what the actual fuck!?

“It was just another day with Khun you know”, Arm started, “after fourth time, was it? Yeah, after the fourth time of watching the same drama Pol, Porsche, and I were this close to committing homicide.”, Arm looked as if he were reliving that nightmare.

Poor baby.

He took a shuddering breath and continued.

“When he wanted to watch it the fifth time, Porsche went on his knees and begged him to go out for the night, after I don’t know, two hours maybe? Yeah, after two straight hours of screaming and crying Khun agreed to go to the bar Porsche worked at, with the condition of their being karaoke there.”, he finished.

Big did not know how to react to that. Khun never went out not even when Khun Korn begged him. Hell, the guy refused to get off the compound, when there was a bombe threat. So, how in hell was Porsche able to do it? There was only one explanation for this.

Porsche was a witch!

Yes, that was it! How else could he just waltz in the compound and charm each and everyone with a wave of his hand!?

Big needs to search his room now. He needs to find all the witchy voodoo Porsche has hidden in his room. Yeah, after they all leave tonight, he’s going to do exactly that.

Tonight, Big is going to uncover Porsche’s secrets and show it to Kinn. He needs to do this to keep everyone safe. Humph.

With his mind made up, Big looked at the two and opened his mouth to decline the invitation –

“NO”, Ken interrupted him, what was with everyone interrupting him today!?, “I am not hearing any excuses out of you. You’re coming and that’s final.”, he said with finality.

“You cannot force me to do anything.”, Big grumbled, “besides if you guys have forgotten I am injured I cannot leave the compound you know doctor’s orders.”, Big pathetically reasoned.

This time it was Arm and Ken who levelled with Big with the “are you actually spouting this nonsense?” stare.

Big tried to give them another reason why he should stay at the compound but couldn’t come up with anything.

“Now that you’ve run out of excuses, get your cute little butt off the chair and to our room so that you can change and we can finally leave.”, Ken said, with sickeningly sweet voice.

“I won’t hesitate to throw you over my shoulder if you don’t move in the next five seconds.”, Arm threatened, when Big made no move to get up.

“What!?”, Big exclaimed, “You cannot do that, that’s bullying, and you’re bluffing any-”

“Five”, Ken interrupted him.

“Four”

“Three”, Arm got up from his chair and rounded the table.

“Tw-”

“Okay, okay I am going”, Big hastily got off the chair, “I am going to tell P’Nop about this just you wait.”, he threatened their smirking faces and walked towards his and Ken’s room.

...

“Oi, Porsche.”, Tankhun screeched, “make us some drinks, will you? And where is the karaoke machine I was promised!?”

They had arrived at Yok’s bar roughly ten minutes ago and Big already wanted to go home.

Not that the bar was bad, don’t get him wrong. The bar was actually pretty sleek. The walls were painted black, broken up by strips of neon pink that glowed like candy wrappers under the low light. Sleek furniture hugged the edges of the room, leaving the centre wide open for people to dance. The bass from the speakers thumped steady in the background, the kind that crawled into your chest and set your heartbeat out of sync - not too soft, not too harsh, just perfect enough to get under your skin.

If Big were to describe it, he would say the place was kind of sexy. Its just the people he came with here just sucked the sexiness out of it.

Big brought his attention back to the bar as Porsche lunged across it to make them some cocktails.

All six of them were sitting at the bar counter with Arm, Pol, and Pete huddled around Khun and Big and Ken sitting on either side of them.

“What are you making us tonight?”, Pol questioned.

“Some of my famous herbal spirit.”, Porsche smirked.

See! Big called it right, Porsche is a witch. Now he is going to poison everyone and use them as his sacrifice to Satan.

Big’s brain shut up, as Porsche expertly started mixing the drinks for them. He smoothly measured various spirits and tipped them into the shaker, after all the ingredients he desired in the shaker, with a swirl of wrist he closed the lid and started shaking it.

Big gulped when Porsche made eye contact with him and winked.

Porsche then maintained eye contact with Big, as he proceeded to do some tricks with the shaker.

Big felt his cheeks get hotter and redder with each passing second.

Why was Porsche looking at him!?

Why was his stupid heart speeding up!?

We don’t like Porsche goddammit!? He reminded his heart, body, and brain, but none of them listened to him.

But Big had to admit, the alpha did look ridiculously hot while making drinks, no wonder he was so famous.

When he was finished mixing the drink Porsche strained it in five glasses. Before Big could reach a glass, the neanderthals beside him snatched them up and downed the contents in one go.

Big was just left gaping. His mouth was still hanging open when the five idiots simultaneously started hacking their lungs out like they’d been poisoned.

“Guys it was a sipping cocktail, not a shot!”, Porsche reprimanded them.

Big couldn’t believe these were some of the most lethal bodyguards of the family. Pathetic. Absolutely pathetic. Also serves them right for not letting him get a taste of the drink.

Big was in the middle of gloating/sulking when he felt a puff of air against his ear.

“For you.”, Porsche whispered in Big’s ear, making him jump and turn his head.

 He was surprised his neck did not snap because of the speed at which he whipped his head around. And boy was that a mistake, now his face was very close to Porsche’s who was leaning on the bar.

Big physically felt his brain melt into a puddle of goo, heck his whole body was one step away from turning into goo and just evaporate.

Why was Porsche so close to him!?

Someone ask him to back-off!!!!

Abort Abort Abort!!!!!

Because of the close proximity, the glint in Porsche eyes, and the breath that was fanning across Big’s face, all Big’s really smart brain was able to come up with was-

“Huh”

Porsche chuckled breathily, and oh god, the shivers. Porsche seriously needs to back off, like right now.

“I made you a drink.”, Porsche smirked and slid the glass in front of Big.

Big looked down at the drink, and back up at Porsche.

“You didn’t-”

“Drink, Big”, Porsche’s eyes darkened.

Big took hold of the glass and took a sip from it, flavours of whiskey, caramel, and cocoa burst in his mouth. Big let out a tiny sound of appreciation at the taste and went in for another sip.

“Good boy”, Porsche praised.

Big froze.

His ears started ringing. He felt his fingers clam up, when he tightened his grip on the glass. Breath caught halfway across his throat.

He’d surely heard it wrong.

He looked to make sure he had heard Porsche right, but he wasn’t there anymore.

Big felt warmth spread across his chest as Porsche’s words rang in his head. Good boy.

He shook his head to get rid of these ridiculous thoughts, and brought the glass back to his lips to another sip. And no, he did not smile, not at all.

After the weird encounter, Big was almost three cocktails down and you could say he was quite tipsy. Being a major family bodyguard and having a gazillion rules never gave him many instances where he could go out and get drunk, and times he did get a chance to do that he chose to spend those eating as much junk food as he can.

Yeah, Big was what people called a loser. He never went out drinking and partying, at least not willingly, and when he did go it always took some amount of alcohol for him to loosen up.

But drunk Big, now that was a completely different story.

Drunk Big was a grade-A slut.

Well, Big had always been a slut, but his chronic anxiety had always stopped him from acting on it. But when alcohol comes into the equation, boy was it interesting, and Ken the bastard knew about this very well.

When he saw Big finish his third cocktail, he subtly pushed a fourth one in his hand.

“Cheers”, they clinked their glasses and downed them in a go.

Big was slowly losing focus of his surroundings. The warm and giddy feeling inside his chest, that appeared when Porsche gave his first drink intensified. His complexion started to redden, and he subconsciously started releasing happy pheromones with his scent.

He got up on wobbly legs from the bar stool he had taken refuge for the night and moved towards the group of bodyguards and Tankhun dancing or just flapping around like hyenas in the middle of the room.

“Biggiee”, Tankhun screamed noticing him, “Finally!!! Dance with us babyboy.”

He pulled Big in the middle of the group and resumed his dancing.

Big was lost for a second, his brain finding it difficult to catch what was going around him.

“Petey!”, Big giggled when he recognized him.

He threw his arms around Pete’s shoulders, who in turn held his hips, and they both started bouncing to the beat, while giggling uncontrollably.

The group continued to dance around for a while, Big took turns dancing with everyone. While dancing his scent had sweetened even more than before, making everyone around him blissfully gooey.

He was in the middle of his dance with Pol, when an arm snaked around his waist, and he felt warmth on his back.

The arm around his waist pulled him flush against a warm chest making him lose his hold on Pol.

When his brain caught up to it, his senses were flooded with the scent of white musk and cedar. Big involuntarily took a deep breath in, his omega preened as the scent completely washed over him.

Somewhere in the back of his alcohol and scent ridden brain, a voice was screaming at him to push the arm away, it was a strange alpha, not one from his family.

But the rest of his brain, his stupid thirsty omega, did give two flying fucks about it.

Big with his past of dealing with asshole alphas never let himself near them easily, and him being hopelessly and desperately in love with Kinn squashed any and all hope of him finding an alpha he liked inside the compound.

So, today Big’s alcohol addled brain decided he would let go and enjoy his time with whoever it was behind him.

“Having fun Big?”, a very familiar voice whispered in his ear.

Porsche.

When Big’ brain caught up to it, he turned around in Porsche’s hold, and looked up at him, why was he so tall!?

“Tsk. Tsk. Tsk.”, Porsche tsked, when Big tried to get out of his hold and tightened his arm around Big’s waist.

Big’s toes curled. Fuck.

“Let go.”, Big wanted to grit, but it came out really small.

What the fuck is wrong with!?

“Why?”, Porsche smirked, “I thought everyone was getting a dance with you tonight.”

“Well, I was in the middle of one with Pol. It was rude of you to snatch me away.”

“I don’t think minds it much.”

Big turned his head back to look, and Pol indeed had forgotten about him and was now acting as pole for arm to glide against.

“Come on pretty boy dance with me.”

“Don’t call me that.”, Big grumbled, but he did curl his hands against Porsche’s chest.

In turn Porsche wrapped his other arm around Big, and pulled him impossibly closer. Big’s heart was beating inhumanely fast, the skin touching Porsche’s was tingling uncontrollably, and the butterflies in stomach… at this point they were not butterflies it was a whole damn zoo wreaking havoc in there.

They started swaying their hips with the music. Slowly Big slightly relaxed around him, as more of the alpha’s scent wafted through his nose, making him scent drunk.

“You smell divine.”, Porsche mumbled against his neck, and inhaled once more.

Big purred. He tilted his neck to give Porsche an easier access his glands. He shivered when he felt Porsche inhale against his neck and fisted his shirt in his hands.

“Porsche-”

Phantom smell of burnt cloves and whiskey entered his senses.

Big’s body went rigid. The pleasant hot flush spread across his body, turned into cold sweat. He haphazardly pushed Porsche away, and took couple of steps back to get away from cloud of warmth that was created.

Porsche looked utterly dumbfounded.

Big turned around and moved towards the bar before Porsche could ask him any kind of questions. He sat beside Ken, who had taken a break from dancing and had order some shots.

Big took one of the glasses and downed it. He winced at the bitter taste but went for another anyway.

Why. Why. Why. Why!?

The night had been perfect. Big was enjoying like he was supposed to.

Heck, he even liked what Porsche was making him feel!

Why!? Why would his stupid fucking brain do that?

It wasn’t like he was dating Kinn or anything. Hell, he was not anywhere near dating Kinn. The guy didn’t even spare Big a second glance if  he didn’t need Big.

And on the other hand, Porsche was showing interest in him and his stupid brain decided to just go ahead and make him miserable.

Fuuuuuuuck.

Big downed two more shots down his throat and willed himself to forget about Kinn, try to salvage what was left of the evening.

Alas, it was easier said than done.

Five shots later, Big was still feeling miserable.

Why is the alcohol not working!?

He reached for another one, but before he could bring it to his lips, a hand snatched it away.

“Hey!”, Big turned toward the perpetrator who stole his drink.

Why is everyone snatching his emotional support beverages today!?

“I was drinking that. Give it back to me.”, Big whined, and tried to get the drink back.

“No, you’re done for the night.”, Porsche reprimanded.

“No, I am not done for the night. I decide if I am done for the, not you.”

“Big.”

“Please.”, Big rounded his eyes.

“No.”, Porsche downed Big’s shot.

Big gasped. The betrayal.

“Come on now, drink this.”, Porsche pushed a glass of water towards Big.

“NO!”, Big pouted.

“Big.”

“N. O.”, Big folded his hands on the bar and burrowed his head in them.

“Seriously Big.”

Big just shook his head, still buried in his folded hands.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,”, Porsche grumbled.

A hand wrapped around Big’s nape and forced him to raise his hands.

“He-”, Big’s mouth snapped shut when he saw Porsche glaring at him.

“Drink.”, Porsche ordered as he pushed the glass between Big’s lips.

Big obediently opened his mouth and took a sip, looking Porsche in the eyes.

“The whole thing pretty boy.”, Porsche tightened his grip on Big’s nape.

“Good boy.”

Big’s lips spread into a pleased smile hearing the praise. He nuzzled into the hand holding him.

“Come on pretty boy, time to go home.”, Porsche said caressing his cheek.

“Don’t wanna.”

“Big.”

Hearing the disappointment in Porsche’s voice he reluctantly got up from his seat and slumped his weight completely against Porsche. He sighed happily when the familiar scent again entered his senses. He nuzzled his face in Porsche’s chest.

“Has anyone ever told you these are like two fluffy pillows.”, Big questioned as he groped Porsche’s pecs.

“Are they now?”, Porsche chuckled.

“Mhm, the softest.”, Big mumbled against the said pecs.

“Okay, I appreciate the compliment, but let’s get you in the car before you suffocate yourself with them.”

Big just mumbled incoherently. He was losing the last of his senses because of the scent surrounding him. By the time they got to the car Big was half asleep.

Porsche carefully deposited him on the passenger seat. He then went back and brought everyone to the car one by one. When all of them were safely in the car, with half of them passed out, and other barely coherent. Porsche slid into the driver’s seat and started the car.

He backed away from the bar’s parking lot and onto the road leading home. Big watched the street light pass by, mind blissfully empty, finally, and slowly went to sleep.

Chapter Text

Chapter 4

Fucking hell.

Why was the room so fucking bright!?

Big slammed his eyes shut after making the mistake of opening them. He turned on his side and counted till ten, and tried to open his eyes again.  It did not make much of a difference. The room was still spinning like crazy.

He soldiered through the nausea and sat up on the bed. He waited for everything to stop spinning, and then reached for the bottle of water kept on the nightstand. He gulped down as much water as his stomach would allow without starting an episode of projectile vomiting.

Yeah, Big stood by his previous notion – drinking alcohol is a terrible decision, life-ruining decision, and humans should not drink it.

When he finally felt like he could sit up without face-planting the floor, Big scooted to the edge of the bed and faced Ken. The guy was still out cold, and he did not look any better than Big.

Big decided to let the guy sleep some more and looked at the nightstand between their beds to check the time. He squinted his eyes to bring the red digits back into focus. 9:00 am.

Shit, P’Chan is going to murder them.

Hangover completely forgotten, Big scrambled off his bed and ran towards the bathroom. He looked in the mirror above the sink and grimaced, ew, he looked like death reincarnate. He splashed some cold water on his face in the hopes of reducing some puffiness from it.

“Ken!”

“Wake up, you dumbfuck its 9:15 already!”

Big came out of the bathroom with a toothbrush, haphazardly brushing his teeth, and tried to shake Ken awake.

“Ken, wake up or else P’Chan will behead you this time.”

When five minutes of shaking didn’t do anything, Big huffed and rounded the bed to pick up a glass of water to splash the idiot awake.

“This is the last time I am asking nicely”, Big warned, “Ken…”

“Oh my god, shut up wil- ahhhhh”

“I tried waking you up nicely.”, Big smirked at a drenched Ken.

Who was still very shocked and was now gaping like fish out of water. The scene in front of Big was extremely entertaining, if only they were not on a clock. Compromises, compromises.

Big turned to place the glass back on the table - wait, what’s that?

He noticed a piece of folded paper resting on the table. He raised his brow in question, and slowly flicked it open.

Morning cutie,

I had fun with you last night, you’re cute when drunk.

I hope we can do this again soon.

Also, I’ve kept a couple of painkillers and a bottle of electrolyte for you to drink.

Finish them like a good boy.

Porsche.

Big’s stomach dropped, along with it the toothbrush in his mouth clattered on the ground.

He blinked.

Once.

Twice.

Thrice.

What. The. Fuck.

He snapped his head back to the piece of paper, and read it again.

“Oi!”

Big swirled around when Ken kicked him in his shin, still sitting on his bed.

“What is going on with you!?”

Well, Big was asking himself the same question.

What the actual fuck was going on!?

Why was there a letter from Porsche on his table?

Why did he keep the bottle of electrolyte and painkillers for Big?

What the fuck does he mean by ‘cute drunk’?

And the most important question of all…

What the fuck did Big do last night!?

As if static fading away from his brain, last night’s events slowly came back to Big.

“For you…”

“Drink Big.”

“Good boy.”

Big dancing around like a stripper.

“Having fun Big?”

“You smell divine.”

Porsche had scented him…

Two fluffy pillows.

Big’s eyes went impossibly wide. He had called Porsche’s pecs fluffy pillows.

Oh. My. God.

What had he done!?

He slumped down the floor next to his toothbrush, and wished for the ground to swallow him up. Big looked beside him at the table, and yes there they were the painkillers and the bottle of electrolyte.

So, this is not a nightmare.

Great. Just great.

“Okay what the fuck is going on with you dude? You’re creeping me out now.”

When Ken didn’t get any answer from Big, he snatched the paper from Big’s hands and started reading it.

“Cutie!?”

“Since when have you been a good boy?”

“Also, what the fuck happened between the two of you yesterday?”

Ken fired multiple questions in a breath, all Big could do was bury his head between his knees.

Upon hearing his last question, memories of muscular arms tightening around his waist, holding him close. Of the white musk, and cedar wood scent mixing with his and surrounding him - drowning him came to his mind, sending shivers up his spine.

“Big!”

He jolted out of his reverie and looked at Ken, who had an eyebrow raised in question.

“What?”, he finally acknowledged.

“Okay I was going to laugh this off, thinking it’s a prank. But the way your face is resembling a tomato right now, something did happen last night.”

“Nothing happened, you know Porsche likes to play around.”, Big tried his luck to save whatever dignity he had left.

“Yeah, he likes to joke with us, not you. You were hellbent on him being some kind of a witch till yesterday-”

“I still do think that.”

“And today there’s a note with painkillers and electrolytes. Plus, your face which is screaming that something did happen yesterday, so spill.”

He then sat and looked expectantly at Big. The latter was quiet for a few minutes, with a sigh he started recounted the events of last night to the alpha.

“Wow”, Ken whispered when Big finished recounting last night’s events to him, “I – wow.”

“I don’t know what was wrong with me yesterday.”

“Do you like him?”

“NO!”

Ken raised his eyebrows at the response.

“I mean no, I don’t like him, I just met him for crying out loud.”

“So?”, Ken countered, “just because you just met him doesn’t mean you can’t like him.”

“Ken…”

“Ah”, realization dawned on Ken’s face.

Kinn.

Because Big refused to like Porsche, he was already in deep shit with his feelings for Kinn. He did not have it in him to go through a second heartbreak. One unrequited love was enough for this life, thank you very much.

“If you think about it. I’d say this is Karma from all the water you’ve drowned me in to wake me up.”, Ken laughed breaking the silence that had settled between them.

Big chucked the now empty bottle of the electrolyte at the idiot, when he didn’t stop laughing. Still, he appreciated his best friend’s efforts to distract him from the spiral he was going into.

“What the hell are you two imbeciles doing on the floor!?”, both of them scrambled to their feet, when P’Chan’s voice boomed in their bedroom.

“Do you thickheads know what time it is? First you go out to drink on a weekday, come back heavily wasted - which by the way totally deserved - and then don’t show up on duty the next.”, he continued shouting.

“And when I come to make sure you both are alive and well, I find two of my best bodyguards leisurely enjoying themselves on the fucking floor. I expected this from Ken, but you Big, you are my only obedient employee among these monkeys!”

P’Chan ignored Ken’s squeak of protest and continued his rant a bit more which Big zoned out of because behind him Kinn entered their room with Kim.

Seriously, what the fuck.

Big really had murdered someone very important in his past life. He really needs to go and make merits. Maybe perform a small ritual to get rid of the evil eye that just refuses to leave him alone.

Also, why is everyone in his room!?

Do people not have any sense of privacy anymore!?

Like mobile phones exist people! Use. Them.

“Big!”

Big snapped his eyes back towards P’Chan.

“Are you even listening to me?”

“P’Chan-”

“You know what that’s it. You both are not rooming together anymore.”

“What!?-”

“P’Chan! No! you-”

“Ken…”

“No, Big don’t worry I am not going to let him separate us.”

Oh, Big would very much like to separate himself from this world now, thank you very much.

“Ken!”

“As pressing as this current issue is. I’m afraid it will have to wait.”

Finally. Finally.

The other two, finally noticing two new presences in the room whipped their heads to meet a very amused Kim, and a kinda pissed off Kinn.

There was a minute of stunned silence in the room after Kinn interrupted Ken.

“Khun Kinn.”, P’Chan saluted coming out of his reverie.

Big and Ken quickly followed his lead.

“Now that I have your attention. May I know why you two were not present in the morning briefing?”

Big gulped, there had been very few moments where the alpha had been angry at him. Big had not reacted well in any of them.

At the first note of distress from Big, Ken, out of instinct started heavily dousing their room with his scent. Within two minutes the whole room was covered in the scent of roasted pistachios.

Big felt his shoulders sag with relief when the scent of rusted iron and gun powdered – P’Chan, subtly mixed with that of roasted pistachios.

He always hated how he had to rely on his family to mask his actual emotions in front Kinn. He despised himself for giving this much amount of control to someone who didn’t even want it.

Kinn’s nostrils flared a bit sensing the onslaught of pheromones being released in the room.

“Big.”

He pierced his eyes into Big’s, “take Kim to school.”

“Yes khun.”

“Ken”, he snapped his eyes at Ken, “if you still want this job, be by my office in the next 10 minutes.”

“Yes Khun Kinn”

“Be good at school okay”, Kinn lightly ruffled Kim’s hair, “don’t indulge in any kind of mischief that Macau comes up with today.”

“Okay hia.”

With one final smooch on Kim’s forehead Kinn left the room.

“P’Biiiiiig.”

In the next second Big’s arms were full with a highly energetic pup.

“I missed you.”

Kim tried to burrow himself in Big chest like a cute little bunny.

“Aw, baby I missed you too.”

Big sniffed the sweet scent - which had subtly started changing as Kim neared his presentation – like a meth addict.

Besides the family that Big had found, the best thing he got from this compound was Kim. The little gremlin was the biggest headache and the most precious thing in Big’s life. Big would deny it till his last breath but he had already adopted the kid as his own, and would not hesitate to slit throats if anyone ever hurt him.

After thoroughly scenting the pup, Big asked him to sit down so Big can quickly go and get ready.

“Okay I am leaving honey – fuck where’s my fucking phone!? – Kim, behave at school, okay?”

“You really are-”

“MUAH”

“I’m gonna miss you too sweetie.”

“KEN YOU IMBECILE.”

Big violently rubbed his cheek where the asshole left a very wet kiss.

“I’M GOING TO KILL YOU.”

“I LOVE YOU TOO”, Ken shouted from the hallway.

“What are you giggling at?”

This only resulted in Kim’s giggles to turn into full blown laughter.

Big was surrounded by idiots.

Oh, well they were his idiots nonetheless.

Still muttering under his breath, Big entered the bathroom to take a quick shower.

…

“Can we go eat cheesecake with Macau after school?”

“Sure.”, Big answered as the exited the elevator and headed towards the parking lot.

“I’ll ask Pete to tell Khun Vegas about it.”

Kim beamed at him. Cute.

“Hey cutie!”

Big snapped his head to the left. There Porsche leaned against a car in all his ridiculously smiling glory.

“Where are you headed?”

“I am taking Khun Kim to school.”

Big was trying really hard to not let his face show he remembered anything from last night. Like really really hard.

He started trying harder when the bastard started walking towards them. Why was he walking towards him!?

Big willed his breathing to slow down, and his face to return to normal colour. He had enough embarrassment for the day, no more please.

“Are you feeling okay?”

Wait, what!?

“I-um…I-”, Big cleared his throat, “yeah, I’m fine.”

“No, he isn’t”, Kim oh so helpfully chimed, “he threw up twice. I heard him, it was gross.”

Did Big mention Kim was the biggest headache of his life?

If he hadn’t loved the kid so fiercely, Big would’ve happily tortured him right now.

At this splendid and unnecessary revelation, “did he now?”, Porsche smirked

Big opened his mouth to try and save himself from further mortification.

“Yes!”, Kim answered with so much enthusiasm, one would think he was being graded for it.

“And then he downed a whole bottle of painkiller to overcome his headache.”

“Is that so.”, Porsche bore his eyes into Big’s.

Don’t you dare turn red!

“I’m fine.”, Big broke the eye contact and glared at Kim.

The little gremlin had the audacity to look innocent.

“Uh-huh, sure you are-”

“Big?”

Big froze. Porsche looked over his head, his gaze turned serious.

“Hia!”, Kim bounced towards Kinn.

Of course.

Of course, this is what was missing from the current situation. Which god had Big angered this time. All he wanted to do was take the pup to school.

Big’s nervous system could not take any more of this ridiculousness, which was probably all in his head. He had half a mind to just grab Kim and get the hell out of here.

But Big was a lot of things, including a pathetic loser, but he was a professional. Controlling his features he turned around to face Kinn.

The alpha in question was not even looking at him. Kinn was busy staring behind him at Porsche.

Big’s heart stuttered at the look on Kinn’s face. Kinn was staring at Porsche as if he were the only person in the room and was worth burning it to ashes.

Big schooled his features to a perfect blank, and clenched his fists to hide the tremble in them.

“Khun Kinn.”, he bowed and steered Kim towards the car without waiting for any response.

He needed to get away from them, maybe for a while even. To avoid witnessing whatever nonsense was brewing between them.

He opened the passenger door for Kim, and rounded the car.

“Drive safe Big.”, Big turned to look at Porsche and nodded.

He got inside the car and drove off.

He ignored the look of genuine concern Porsche threw his way.

He also ignored the confused flutter from his heart in response.

…

After the events at the bar, Big thought Porsche would lose interest. And Big’s life would go back to normal.

Boy was he wrong.

Over the course of weeks that followed the bar incident, Porsche was everywhere. Even in the places where he had no business to be.

Like Big’s fucking room.

It started with small gestures.

Like always, always sitting next to Big whenever they were in the cafeteria having a meal.

Or Porsche noticing the kind of food Big liked to eat and leaving them in various places Big could be in.

A box of candies that Big liked in his gym locker.

Side dishes that he liked appearing in his plate before he reached for them.

Or a drink he liked already being in his car whenever they were out on missions.

After every incident, Big was left with a swarm of butterflies, and a tingling sensation in his heart which made his toes curl.

But the worse part about this was, after every gesture from Porsche, Big was left feeling special.

Big was never special.

And he was afraid of getting used to this feeling just for it to disappear.

Among these little things, a major incident occurred in the gym, couple of months into Porsche’s recruitment.

Big was finally given the green signal to resume his regular physical activities by his doctor. Everyone was going on with their regular drills, and sparring regimes. He was working on getting his strength back in his arm.

Pol had been keeping a watch over his form and his strength, making sure Big wasn’t overexerting himself.

Which knowing him was the only possibility, P’Chan’s words not his.

They were in the middle of a set when a recruit came running towards them.

“P’Pol, P’Big!”

“Mint and Ice are at it again.”, Pink panted, “They are trying to see who can hold their breath longest under water.”

“What!?”

Gods. Sometimes this job felt like Big was working with a bunch of toddlers with no self-preservation instincts instead of full-fledged adults.

Pete would point out the irony of this particular statement, specially form Big’s mouth. Big does not deem Pete’s words important though.

All three of them rushed towards the pool. A crowd of recruits had gathered around the pool. All were standing there cheering.

Seriously, where do P’Chan and P’Nop get these idiots from.

“Hey!”, Pol screamed.

All heads turned their way.

“What the fuck are you idiots doing!?”

“Where are the two morons?”

“Khun, you won’t believe this!”, one of them exclaimed, “Both of them are amazing. It’s been almost five minutes and neither of them have come up for air.”

Pol and Big’s eyes widened. Shit.

At once, they dashed towards the pool. Pol jumped in first. Big leaped to follow Pol’s lead.

Big’s feet were almost off the pool’s edge when an arm snaked around his waist and pulled his body back towards itself.

What the hell!?

Before he could scream at the person behind him.

“Mint get Ice out of the pool.”

Porsche.

Big scrambled out of his hold, as Mint dived in the pool.

“Everybody, scram!”, Porsche just tightened his hold on Big.

All of them scrambled away from the pool like a bunch of headless chickens. Pol and Mint had also gotten the two morons out of the pool by then.

As they started giving CPR to them, Big finally got out the vice like grip and turned to face Porsche. To say Big was pissed was an understatement.

How dare Porsche pull something like that? In front of all the kids no less!

“What the fuck do you think you were doing!?”, Big screamed at the alpha.

“Preventing you from drowning.”, Porsche said it as if it were the most logical thing.

“Drowning!? I am perfectly capable of swimming and carrying a person out of swimming pool you moron!”

Porsche’s gaze darkened at Big’s tone.

“Oh yeah?”, Porsche raised his brow, “Let me throw one of the recruits in and let’s see how well you are able to save him and yourself with that shoulder of yours.”

Big felt his face flush at the realization. Still, Porsche had no right to just grab him, Big was capable of pulling a person out of water even with an injured shoulder. What did Porsche know, hmph.

“I was capable of pulling him out. Plus, you don’t have the authority to decide what my actions are going to be.”

“I think I very much have the authority to decide what you should and should not be doing.”

That was another ridiculous development that had occurred.

Porsche, as it seemed was tailored to be a Theerapanyakun bodyguard. The guy had aced the physical test which normally took almost months for new recruits to clear, in the second week of his employment.

He had even managed to pass the family history test, which even Big had struggled with, on his first try. It was as if he had a blueprint to become a head bodyguard.

The final nail in the coffin had been the mission that was carried out with the minor family.

Porsche had helped Vegas meticulously plan and carry out a mission regarding the Italians making some back-door deals with the family’s dealers and stealing profits.

Big had found it extremely sexy-suspicious.

After that mission Khun Korn himself had promoted Porsche to be Kinn’s head bodyguard.

Big had not liked that at all. It felt too easy, like Porsche had been part of the family for years, not just a couple of months.

The weirdest part of it all was the blind trust everyone seemed to have on him.

Because, no normal bartender was capable of fighting the way Porsche did.

But after a thorough checking of his background, which Big personally did. And thousands of reassurances from everyone including P’Chan, Big had decided to trust Porsche.

“Authority or not, you should not have done that. Someone’s life was at risk. What would you have done if Ice had been too late to pull him out, huh?”

Big knew he was being irrational right now, he didn’t care. He had to win this.

“Also, instead of pulling me-”

“Big!”, Porsche’s jaw clenched, “The kid’s fine, if you had gone under you wouldn’t have been. And I’d rather rush the kid to the med bay than pull you out and see you in pain, gasping for air.”

Big gaped at the alpha.

What.

“I-”

“Just”, Porsche sighed, “You don’t have to always risk yourself to save everyone around you.”

Big was left there standing alone shocked from Porsche’s words as the alpha walked away to check on the recruits.

Porsche’s words along with the feeling they brought stayed with Big for days that followed.

Porsche still continued with all the things he did for Big.

The difference now was, Big had started liking them. Hell, he now eagerly waited for their meal breaks.

The giddy feeling, the redness of his cheeks, and the butterflies in his stomach were now his permanent companions.

The changes in his demeanour were evident, so much so that people around him had started looking at him weird.

One night after a particularly nice dinner, Ken had had enough.

“What the fuck is going on with you?”

He had asked when both of them were in their room and finally done for the day.

Big just raised an eyebrow in question.

“You have this weird spring in your step. And why are you always red? Are you sick or something? Oh my god! Are you dying!?”

“What? I am not dying, you idiot.”

“Then what’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing’s wrong with me, you’re just seeing things.”

“No, I am-”

“Speaking of seeing things.”, Big interrupted Ken.

“What’s going on with you, Pete, and Khun Vegas?”

“I know what you’re doing. You cannot fool me, you know.”

“No, I am not.”, Big whined.

Ken just stared at him.

“Okay I’ll tell you. But you spill first.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 5

The room was thick with the smell of sex, cigarettes, and whiskey.

Kinn was seated on an armchair, swirling a tumbler of whiskey in his hand. Skin damp, naked and reeling from the post-orgasm haze, he rested his head on the back of the chair and sighed.

“Tell me again,” Porsche dragged in another puff, smoke curling around his lips, “how me saving the mighty Kinn Theerapanyakun from a couple of low-life thugs is going to make daddy Korn take an interest in me?”

Kinn emptied his glass in one smooth tilt, and padded barefoot to the minibar. The clink of the bottle cap filled the silence.

“Because my father’s a paranoid old bastard.” Kinn refilled the glass, amber liquid sloshing. His gaze cutting back to Porsche. “He’s been wanting you close. He just hasn’t figured out how to do it without raising alarm bells yet.”

Porsche took a final drag from his cigarette before stubbing it in the ashtray. He cracked his neck, and got off the bed.

“And a measly little fight is going to be enough?”, Porsche downed Kinn’s freshly made glass in one go.

Kinn’s jaw flexed. He ripped the empty glass back, fingers brushing Porsche’s with deliberate bite, before turning back to the bar.

“Please,” he poured another drink, “if you so much as stumble upon my car, he’ll use it to drag you in.”

He walked back towards the bed and sat down facing Porsche.

“Besides, this way I can keep an eye on you and control where you are.”

Porsche smirked.

“Control me, huh?”, Porsche waltz towards the bed in all his naked glory. “That’s what gets you off, Khun Kinn?”

He shoved Kinn onto the mattress and straddled him. His lips ghosted over Kinn’s jaw. He dipped his head and inhaled the scent of burnt cloves and whiskey.

Porsche released his own white musk and cedar, pushing it against the alpha’s.

This was the part that excited Porsche most about this arrangement of theirs. The game of dominance they played, trying to overpower and gain control.

As the room saturated with their combined scent, Kinn’s hand shot up and grabbed Porsche’s neck dragging his face back up.

“Getting bold now, are we?”

Porsche grinned.

“Well, what can I say, I’ve always been kind of an overachiever.”

Their teeth clashed in a fiery kiss, both of them racing to gain an upper hand, desperate to devour the other.

Porsche’ hands took hold of Kinn’s and pinned them above his head. He dipped his head back down Kinn’s neck and bit, drawing blood.

Kinn growled and flipped them over.

For a moment, their scents tangled heavy in the air. Burnt cloves biting against white musk and sharp whiskey laced with cedar. Porsche smirked up at him, dangerous and challenging.

As he looked down at dangerous lilt on the alpha’s face, his mind drifted back to the first time Porsche had bumped into him.

It had been almost a year ago. Kinn had been attending a charity gala with Tay and Time.

The gala had been for abused omegas, or children. Kinn didn’t bother with the basics, all they needed from him was his money anyway.

It was like any other charity event, an excuse for the elite of the country to make shady back-handed deals, or for the new ones to lick as many boots as possible.

The air was suffocated with the alpha scents trying to establish their dominance. Pathetic.

If Kinn had a choice, he’d stay back at the compound, finish the mountain of paperwork he had on his desk, and maybe – if it wasn’t too late – take Kim and Khun out on a ride. Or he would call one of the boys and forget about all this bullshit.

Anything was better than this circus.

Alas, those thoughts were a luxury. If Kinn wanted to overthrow his father, and not kill himself and his family in the process or aftermath, he had to attend these events. To gain their trust and convince them it was the best move.

So, he smiled at all the flattery offered to him, shook hands with people who wouldn’t hesitate to cut his given the chance. And praised the idiocies just to pump up some fragile egos.

He had just excused himself from yet another mind-numbing conversation, and strutted towards the bar.

If Kinn had to be here for another hour, he sure as hell was not going to do it sober.

As he neared the bar, a little crowd of guests had formed around it. Kinn raised a brow in question and walked towards one of the empty spaces.

A bartender dressed in all black was preparing drinks with elaborate tricks and techniques, attracting some admirers along the way.

Kinn watched as the man flipped a shaker behind his back, caught it with ease, then poured a perfect stream into two glasses without so much as looking down. The crowd around him practically swooned.

The man was not someone one would see in events like this. Even the waitstaff in these events were prim, proper, and pristine.

They knew how to keep their head down, blend into walls until one of the snobs needed them, basically they knew not draw any attention towards them.

But this guy, well it felt like he was here just to gain attention. The parlour tricks, the showmanship, his rugged street looks, Kinn was surprised he wasn’t removed from the premises yet for stealing so much attention from the elite.

Well, it was none of Kinn’s concern anyway. He signalled the man over.

“What can I get you today, Khun?”

Kinn smirked at the charming expression the man threw his way. He would be an interesting fuck.

“Sazerac.”

“Right away.”

His eyes disappeared as he smiled. As if he were trying to suffocate people with his warmth.

He’d definitely be an interesting fuck.

And was Kinn right. At the end of that night, they’d ended up tangled between sheets in a hotel room, skin mapped with bites and scratches.

Kinn thought it was the end.

But, after that day Porsche seemed to be everywhere Kinn went. Every gala, every fundraiser, every event that required Kinn’ presence, the alpha was right there.

By the twentieth encounter Kinn had had enough.

“Either you are the only bartender left in Thailand, or you have a death wish.”

He cornered Porsche at the back alley of the hotel an auction was taking place in.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about khun.”

Kinn continued glaring at him.

“Now, if you have nothing important to say I would like to get back to my job.”, he stacked the crates he was holding.

Porsche’s reaction seemed normal. Too normal.

Kinn’s reputation preceded him everywhere he went. People, especially the ones who were completely powerless made it a point a to stay out of his way.

And if caught, they were never this nonchalant.

Porsche seemed as if he had practiced this interaction multiple times before.

“You sure you want to take that route?”, Kinn took a threatening step towards him.

“I’d rather not take any route khun.”

And there it was again—that smile. Still radiating warmth of seven suns, but this time there was a venomous tint to it.

“Porsche! How-”

A short middle-aged man barged out the door cutting through the tension.

“Khun Kinn.”, he bowed low as soon as he noticed Kinn.

Kinn looked at Porsche one last time before turning on his heels, and heading towards his car.

He fetched a burner phone out of his suit pocket when he reached a secluded area.

Kinn: Porsche Kittisawat.

V: On it.

Pocketing the burner, he glanced back at the alley one last time.

See you soon.

…

“You should not be here.”

Kinn turned from the window in his office and faced Vegas.

“I know,” Vegas replied, closing the door behind him, “but I have the report.”

Without waiting for a reply, he settled in one of the chairs in front of Kinn’s desk.

“We have a system to deliver reports Vegas. You know we cannot take a single risk.”, Kinn reprimanded him.

Because if the news of any kind of suspicious activity reached his Paa’s ears, it would be hell for all of them.

Especially Vegas.

“You know if Paa catches-”

“I know that P!”, Vegas exclaimed, “But this is important, like changing a lot of lives important.”

Kinn observed the urgency in Vegas’ otherwise calm face.

He sighed and settled in his own chair.

“Alright, show me.”

Vegas pulled out his tablet and opened the folder named Kittisawat and passed it to Kinn.

Name: Porsche Kittisawat.

Date of Birth: 22^nd August, 1996.

Place of Birth: Bangkok, Thailand

Parents: Namphueng Kittisawat, Pat Kittisawat

Sibling(s): Porchay Kittisawat

Kinn frowned. The names tugged at him, snagged at some half-forgotten thread.

He scrolled further, occupation, education; nothing out of ordinary.

“This is just routine information.”, he pushed the tablet back towards Vegas.

“What’s life changing about this?”, he snapped.

“Have patience, will you.”, Vegas grouched in return, as he reached inside the folder he had with him.

He pulled out a couple of photos and pushed them towards Kinn.

“When I first pulled out the family photos, I thought she looked familiar. But I couldn’t point out how exactly.”

Kinn picked up one of the pictures. A woman was probably in her twenties - atleast that’s how old she was when the photo was taken – was smiling in the photo.

The smile, was the exact copy of Porsche’s.

“So, I went into Paa’s old office to check, and there I found this,”, Vegas pointed at the photo in Kinn’s hand, “And this.”, he pushed another forward.

It was a photo of his uncle with the woman from the previous photo.

What?

Kinn’s snapped up at Vegas, the omega in front of him had a deep frown etched into his face as he stared at the photo.

“Did you find out how he knew her?”, Kinn questioned.

Vegas sighed and buried his face in his hands.

“No”, he muffled, “I exhausted all my contacts, no one knows anything.”

How convenient.

Kinn’s jaw ticked, he nodded and once again looked at the photos and reports in front of him, zeroing in on the name repeating like a drumbeat in his head.

Namphueng. Namphueng. Namphueng.

Wait.

Kinn shot off his chair and stalked towards the cabinets lining up his office walls. He opened the third cabinet from the right hand corner.

He shuffled around the files and folder present inside the cabinet until he reached the back wall. He pressed his thumb against the small protrusion for the digital keypad to come alive. As soon as his fingerprint was scanned he typed in the code.

11902010.

The keypad opened to reveal a secret compartment. Kinn pulled out a bunch of old files, the papers had turned brown due to age.

When he found the one he wanted, Kinn closed the cabinet along with the safe and walked back to his desk.

“What are you doing?”, Vegas tried peaking at the file in Kinn’s hand.

Kinn ignored him and flipped through the brittle pages to find the name he was looking for.

His mouth curved into a razor-sharp smirk.

Gotcha.

Namphueng Theerapanyakun.

He spun the file around and pointed his finger at the name.

Vegas’ eyes widened, “What!?”

“What the hell is this?”

Kinn turned the file back and started reading it carefully.

“It’s bpuu’s will.”, he turned a page, “I found it when I raided one of our safe houses in Surat Thani.”

“She was his adopted daughter,” Kinn said, flipping through more pages. “Apparently, when Bpuu had the reins of the empire, there was no major/minor family division.”

He turned the file to Vegas. “She was supposed to handle the underworld operations along with uncle, while Paa handled the legal side of the empire.”

Vegas’ brows knit as pulled the file towards him and started reading the clause thoroughly.

Clause I: The Theerapanyakun Empire shall function as a single faction. All the decisions shall be concluded through votes of the internal families.

Clause II: The successors of the Empire shall oversee the sections appointed to them in the will. No alterations or manipulations in the hierarchy of command should be permitted.

Clause V: Korn Theerapanyakun, eldest son of Somchai Theerapanyakun, shall be responsible for any and all legal enterprises under the Theerapanyakun Empire.

Clause VII: Gun Theerapanyakun, second son of Somchai Theerapanyakun, shall oversee all the security and artillery operations carried out by the Theerapanyakun Empire.

Clause XI: Namphueng Theerapanyakun, youngest daughter (adopted) of Somchai Theerapanyakun, shall carry out any and all communication pertaining business expansions and/or external affairs on behalf the Theerapanyakun Empire.

“Okay,” Vegas ran his hand through his hair, trying to wrap his head around what he read, “what the hell!?”

Kinn leaned back, giving him a minute to compose himself.

“If this is bpuu’s actual will,” he said, pointing at the files, “then what the fuck is this!?”, he gestured their surroundings.

“Because that old man would not have died if had gotten even a wind of this.”

“Before you spiral further”, Kinn interjected, “read the rest of the clauses.”

Vegas raised a brow, but went back the reading nonetheless.

Clause XXIV: Should any of the appointed successors be deceased, their rights and holdings transfer directly to their lawful children. Any attempt to remove or erase such heirs from succession shall be considered an act of treason against the empire. All children of the appointed successors are to be protected by the empire until they come of age.

Vegas slumped his head back on his chair and closed his as he finished reading the document.

He took a deep breath, as he comprehended everything.

“Okay,” he finally muttered, pushing himself to his feet, pacing around the room like a nervous animal.

“Let’s say our dads buried this. Let’s say they orchestrated everything from scratch. Fine. But how the fuck do we even know this Namphueng is actually dead? And most importantly—” he spun back to face Kinn, “—how do we know this Porsche Kittisawat knows anything? If he knows at all?”

“Regarding her death,” Kinn walked over to the bar in his office and poured a glass for the both of them.

He figured the omega needed it before he collapsed.

“I tried to investigate further, but didn’t come up with anything.”, he handed the glass to Vegas, who downed it in a go.

“Everything was wiped out, people, papers, properties, all of it was erased.”

He slipped the document back in its file.

“Wait.” Vegas narrowed his eyes in suspicion, “If Korn and Gun destroyed everything, how did you get your hands on this?”

“Lady luck.”, Kinn smirked.

Vegas huffed at the alpha’s arrogance and sprawled on the couch against the wall.

“What sins did I commit in past life to be born in this fucking family?”, he muffled against the couch cushions.

“Well,” Kinn drawled, “you should worry about your next life more. You are not exactly a model human being in this one either.”

Vegas glared at Kinn, “You find this hilarious, don’t you?”

Kinn just shrugged in response, “Makes this more interesting.”

“How-”, Vegas cut himself off with a sharp exhale, “Nevermind, what are we going to do now? This royally screws up the plan we came up with.”

“Well.”, Kinn toyed with Porsche’s photograph, “We start by questioning him.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 6

“Hia!”

Porsche was engulfed with Porchay’s delicate warmth as soon as he stepped through the front door of their house.

“Hey kiddo,”, Porsche smushed Porchay’s cheeks as they pulled away, “What are you still doing up, hm?”

“Waiting for you.”, came his muffled reply, as Porsche still hadn’t let go.

Well, it’s not Porsche’s fault the kid had marshmallows for cheeks.

Done assaulting the poor kid, he finally let Porchay go and toed his shoes off.

“So, how was your day today?”

“Nothing grand,” Porchay fiddled with the takeout container Porsche had brought, “I have exams coming up next week so we are just revising for them.”

“Ugh”, Porsche shuddered in response, “All the best for them, because that’s all I am going to offer you from my side.”

He dropped his keys in a bowl and cracked his neck to release the days stress.

Porchay had made himself comfortable and was now nibbling on Kozhukatta, little dumplings filled with a sweet coconut filling, and toying with the remote to find something good to watch.

Porsche let him be as it was a Friday night and both of them had a day off tomorrow.

“So, little wolf what’s for dinner?”, Porsche asked as he plopped down of the couch beside him.

“Whatever you decide to cook.”, he swatted Porsche’s hand as the latter tried to take a dumpling. Rude.

“Hey! Stop hogging all the dumplings.”

Porsche reached for them again and Porchay all but leaped to the other end of the couch.

“Mine.”, the kid growled, clutching the container to his chest.

“You know that I bought those right.”, Porsche raised a brow at the kids slightly strange behaviour.

“Yeah, and now I am eating them.”, Porsche plopped a whole dumpling in his mouth while maintaining a very intense eye contact with his brother.

Yeah, the kid was weird.

When Porsche established he was not going to get any of the dessert, he let out a long suffering sigh and got off the couch.

“I am going to take a shower.”

He made a detour towards the main entrance and the large windows beside it. He locked and double-checked both the doors and windows, when he was sure enough there wasn’t any unwanted presence he drew the curtains and went upstairs to his bedroom.

…

As the water cascaded down his back, washing away the grime of the day, Porsche closed his eyes.

His mind drifted back to his encounter with Kinn Theerapanyakun two days back.

Porsche had gotten careless, he had taken Arthee’s words at heart. He made the mistake to assume that the alpha was just another rich nepo kid with a brain the size of a pea and an ego as big as the fucking universe.

Boy, was he wrong.

Kinn with all his practiced smiles and charm was a conniving son of a bitch underneath, more than Porsche himself and that was saying something.

Porsche, after their first encounter had truly believed he could use his charms and tricks to easily manipulate the asshole, like he had done multiple occasions before, and get to Korn.

But no, that’d be too easy. Porsche never got shit on a silver platter. Why would this be any different?

Porsche growled and smacked the tiles in front of him.

Motherfucker.

The bastard in all his infuriating glory had gotten way too close to ruining Porsche’s plans.

He found the way the bastard expected the command of whatever room he was in.

And that scent.

Whiskey and burnt cloves.

He hated the way it got under his skin, both tempting and revolting at the same time.

Porsche thumped his head against the wall as the memory of the night they spent together clawed its way forward.

The way his scent clashed with Porsche’s musk and cedar with the equal amount of force. Both of them pressing hard, refusing to yield.

The way their teeth had clinked in a feral kiss, as they stumbled into the room tearing each other’s clothes apart.

Porsche groaned low in his throat, blood rushed hot to his cock as he remembered the heat, and the thrill of playing with someone who had an equally nasty bite.

Fucking bastard.

He wrapped his hand around himself, and leisurely stroked up and down. He hissed as the first spark of pleasure ran up his spine.

He remembered the way Kinn’s teeth had felt against his skin as he marked him all over his body. He remembered the way his teeth tore through Porsche skin drawing blood and fervently lapping at the wound like a starved animal.

Porsche could still feel the sting that had healed days ago.

His pace quickened as he remembered the way Kinn’s skin tasted on his tongue, salty and sweet with sweat, as he decorated the scarred surface with bruises of his own. Or how Kinn’s hands had tightened their hold on his hair when Porsche had reached those deliciously plump pecks and sucked.

The sinful groan Kinn had let escape, as Porsche lapped and sucked one of his nipples. How his own cock had reacted to the sound. How his cock still reacted to the memory.

He remembered the way the alphas cock felt going down his throat, the heavy weight resting against his tongue as Kinn fucked his way into Porsche’s throat.

The salty bitter taste of Kinn’s release as it slid down Porsche throat.

And worse, the way Kinn’s body had clamped around his when Porsche sank in. The way his walls had swallowed him down greedily, clenching, demanding more.

“Fuck,” Porsche groaned, pre-cum spilling slick between his fingers at the memory.

And then Kinn’s voice - low, taunting – echoed in his ears.

“That’s all you got alpha?”, he smirked against Porsche’s ear.

“I don’t even feel it. All talk it seems.”

Positively enraged, Porsche had then hammered into Kinn making him groan in satisfaction.

Porsche stuttered out a breath at the phantom feeling of his walls around him.

How Kinn had returned the favour after their first round. Pounding into Porsche like there was no tomorrow.

Porsche’s hand moved faster as he remembered the delicious stretch of Kinn’s cock, the brutal pace the alpha had subjected him to. Knocking his breath out with every thrust.

With a final stroke, his climax ripped through him, painting his torso and chest white.

He pressed down on his knot as shudder went up and down his body. He gulped trying to get his breathing under control, as he rode the aftershocks of his orgasm.

Once his breathing was under control, the shame hit like a fucking tsunami.

Pathetic.

He clenched his jaw, and furiously scrubbed his body of the remnants of his orgasm and arousal.

…

After thoroughly cleaning himself, Porsche padded into the living room in his sweats.

His lips stretched into a smile as he saw Chay borrowed into the couch cushion fast asleep. Porsche walked closer and slightly shook the pup.

“Chay.”, Porsche ran his fingers through Chay’s hair, “Come on, you cannot sleep out here.”

He just got some intangible grumble in response.

Resigning to his faith, Porsche carefully gathered Chay in his arms and walked upstairs to the kid’s room.

He kicked the room’s door open as he reached it and walked towards the bed. He gently lay Chay down and pulled the comforter over his body, tightly tucking him in.

Chay nuzzled further into his blankets and completely dozed off. Satisfied, Porsche walked towards the door and turned the lights off, slowly closed the door.

As soon as the door shut, his gaze darkened.

Someone was in his house.

He subtly sniffed the air again. And yes even under the scent blockers Porsche smelled them, two distinct scents weaving heavy through his living room.

One was of jasmine and sandalwood, and the other – Porsche’s knuckles turned white against the knob – burnt cloves and whiskey.

Fucking bastard.

He swiftly locked Chay door from outside. Willing his pulse to slow down, Porsche slipped his hand under the banister and grabbed the gun he had tapped there.

Porsche had half a mind to storm downstairs and put a bullet in his intruders, for compromising his brother’s safety. But that would ruin all the plans he had set in motion, and that wouldn’t do either now would it?

Still in the hopes of keeping his cover intact, he tucked the gun in his waistbands and slowly tip-toed down the stairs, following the trail of scent.

He hoped this would not end in bloodshed, and even if it did, it wouldn’t be too gruesome. Coz lets face it, blood was a bitch to clean up, and then he would have to take care of the bodies too. And he can assure you digging up the earth to bury a body was way too much work.

Plus, the noise can wake Chay up, and Porsche was not ready to expose his baby brother to body matter yet.

And then there were the other repercussions, like killing the heir to the biggest mafia family in Thailand.

Chay on a normal road trip was a complete and total bitch. Porsche was okay with the tantrums and tolerated them wholeheartedly. But being on the run with the little devil? Jesus Christ. Porsche shuddered at the thought.

Porsche rounded the corner leading to his living room and ‘froze’.

Two figures had made themselves at home in his sofa. One was Kinn Theerapanyakun, and the other was Vegas Theerapanyakun?

What the fuck?

Why are these two together?

Last Porsche checked, the major and minor families had always been at each other’s throats, especially these two, who if left alone in the same room for more than five minutes would shoot each other’s brains out.

Okay, Porsche shut up, focus, and get these men out of your home.

He shook himself out of his stupor and schooled his face into wide-eyed panic

“What the hell are you doing in my house!?”, he yelled with a tinge of faux fear in his tone.

Two sets of eyes turned in his direction. One was scrutinizing and the other infuriating.

When the silence between them stretched too long, Porsche gritted his teeth and completely stepped in the living room.

“Khun,” There was a subtle bite to his voice now, “I don’t know what ridiculous image you’ve spun of me in your head. But this”, he gestured around the room, “is crossing a line.”

“Wow,” Vegas mocked, “is this how we treat guests now Porsche?”

Porsche’s irritation spiked at the tone. His fingers twitched towards the gun tucked in his waistband.

Handling one of the Theerapanyakuns was manageable; but two of them together made it nearly impossible to not push the trigger.

You slimy son of bitch.

Controlling the urge to maim and kill, Porsche forced his jaw to relax and said, “Guests don’t barge into people’s houses at fucking two in the morning, Khun Vegas.”

Before Porsche and Vegas could continue their argument, two men in suits barged through the front door dragging a thoroughly beat up man with them.

One of the men grabbed the injured guy’s hair and forced his head up.

Uncle Arthee.

Porsche’s eyes widened, “Uncle Arthee!”

He leaped towards the injured man and snatched him towards himself.

“What the hell is wrong with you!?” His voice cut like a whip as he rounded on Kinn.

“Do you just go around beating innocent people up, huh? You think someone looks shady and that’s enough reason to break their ribs?”

He stormed towards Kinn, fury radiating off of him in waves. But, before he could reach the alpha, the two men in suits moved and stood between them, shoulders tight with cold stares directed his way.

Typical.

“Well,”, the bodyguards before him parted away, “As much as I am enjoying the theatrics,”, Kinn drawled rising smoothly from the sofa.

“You and I both know he isn’t your uncle.”, he fastened the button of his suit jacket, gaze locked on Porsche.

Fucking bastard.

Oh, how Porsche is tempted to just shoot the fucker at this second.

“I don’t-”

“It would be beneficial for you and people in this house, to drop the naïve civilian act before my patience run dry.”

Oh, this asshole had some nerve to come in here and openly threated his brother.

All thoughts of keeping his act up went down the drain, and Porsche’s expression darkened.

“What makes you think I am just going to obey you like a spineless chicken?”

Porsche reached for the gun tucked in his pants and clicked the safety off.

“Now we are talking.”, Vegas sprawled on the couch.

Porsche ignored the omega and concentrated on Kinn.

“I have two men outside your brother’s room, if you want we can bring him in to join the fun.”

He knew the alpha was bluffing. Porsche smelt no other scent except the ones present in the living room.

If he wanted he could fight them off, he had been training for it his whole life.

But he couldn’t risk Chay. Not in a million years, so reluctantly,

“How do I know you won’t harm him if I agree to talk?”

“Well, if I had wanted you dead.”, Kinn settled on the armchair, “You and your precious little brother would have been bleeding on the floor right now.”

Oh, how he despised the asshole.

Porsche stared at the alpha, and reluctantly lowered his gun.

“Good boy.”

“Now, shall we.”, Kinn gestured towards the couch.

…

Porsche puffed out a cloud of smoke above him as he waited in the back alley of Yok’s for Kinn to stumble upon him and ask for ‘help’.

It was almost funny how everything had panned out, or how all of his carefully laid plans had gone to shit the minute Kinn Theerapanyakun had stepped in his house almost a year ago.

What was supposed to be a perfectly crafted revenge turned into a volatile fucking coup. Where Porsche had no fucking clue about the outcome. Well, to be fair, he had no fucking idea what his own plans would result in either, but hey at least those would’ve been the consequences of his own actions.

But no, Kinn just had to bulldoze in his life and disrupt everything on the way.

Asshole.

Their relationship over the past year, if Porsche were to describe it, was a bit weird – no scratch that it was a straight up fuck-fest.

Everytime they tried to make plans regarding mission, sieges, or even fucking lunch orders, they would always end up bickering. Which would then somehow turn sexual and led to angry sex.

After getting caught in the middle of all that sexual tension the first couple of weeks, Vegas had outright refused to attend any meetings in person.  Now, any matter important enough was discussed on a video call from his side, where he could mercifully cut the call whenever Kinn and Porsche started behaving like horny roosters.

But as the months passed, Porsche had started coming to terms with this change of events. Don’t get him wrong, he still thinks Kinn is in over his head and is going to get himself and everyone around him at least maimed if not killed. Nevertheless, Porsche could see a sliver of hope that they might come out of this unscathed.

And he was not too petty to admit that the sex was mind-fucking-blowing, so it was kind of a win-win for him.

“Help me!”

A body collided into him breaking his train of thoughts.

Porsche glanced sideways and saw Kinn, suit a bit crumpled and hair dishevelled, slightly panting on Porsche side.

He crushed my cigarette.

Porsche looked behind the alpha and saw around three to four goons rounding the corner.

“No, thank you.”, he turned to the back entrance, “Not my monkey not my circus”

Well, just because he had agreed to go along with Kinn’s stupid plan doesn’t mean he couldn’t be a dick about it.

“Wait!”, Kinn grabbed his arm, “Please.”

Oh, this was fun.

“Hmm…”, Porsche crossed his arms across his chest and contemplated, “What’s in it for me?”

Kinn glared at him.

“Whatever you need.”, he gritted out.

Porsche smirked at the mafia heir, lunged over the stack of crates and kicked a guy behind Kinn across his face.

He followed this by swinging his fist at the guy on his left and knocking him out with a knee up his nose.

Porsche heard the scoff Kinn let out at his obvious showmanship.

Well, he’s just a jealous little man, fuck him.

He swiped his legs under the third guy and knocked him to the ground, where he pressed his heel on the guy’s neck till he passed out.

The fourth guy seeing the state of his colleagues, turned and bolted out of the alley, choosing his ribs over loyalty.

Porsche wiped off the sweat on his forehead and turned back to Kinn with a shit-eating grin.

“Shall we, Khun.”

“Fucking asshole.”

…

Porsche sighed as he got off his bike and trudged towards his front door. His shift at the bar after depositing Kinn to his guard dogs had been exhausting.

As he lodged his keys in to unlock the door, his gaze landed on the watch on his wrist. He chuckled remembering the expression on Kinn’s face as he had snatched the watch off his wrist.

Also, who in their right mind bought a watch worth a million baht anyway?

Rich people.

Shaking his head, he pushed the door open and toed his shoes off. He dropped his keys in the bowl and turned the lights in the living room on.

Chay was away on a trip with his music club in Phuket, so Porsche had the whole house to himself for once.

He made his way towards his room to take a relaxing long shower and then hit the bed and sleep like a dead log.

“What’s in it for me, huh?”

Porsche was roughly pushed against the wall beside his room’s door.

The scent of burnt cloves and whiskey ripe with anger and a tinge of arousal invaded his senses full-force.

“Well,”, Porsche smirked at Kinn, “one should always find gain for his actions Khun Kinn.”

Kinn crashed his lips on Porsche’s, not dignifying his remark with a response.

Porsche felt blood rush to his cock as the alpha in front him growled and pushed him inside his room.

They continued their aggressive make-out session as they stumbled inside the room. Tongues clashing with each other in an aggressive battle of dominance neither of them was willing to lose.

Kinn’s hands travelled up Porsche torso and squeezed his chest tight through his shirt.

Porsche hissed and bit Kinn’s lip hard enough to draw blood in retort. He laved the cut clean with his tongue the metallic taste making his dick twitch in his pants.

Kinn shoved Porsche on the bed and towered over him, his dark heated gaze trained on Porsche's heaving chest as Kinn unbuttoned his shirt.

Following his lead Porsche hastily shrugged his own shirt off and tossed it somewhere in his room.

With their torsos bared both the alphas shamelessly raked their eyes up and down each other’s body.

Trailing his eyes back to Kinn’s face, Porsche slid further up on the bed and slightly opened his legs inviting the alpha in.

That was all Kinn needed to pounce on the alpha below and attack his neck, nipping and biting any patch of skin he could.

Porsche groaned as Kinn landed a particularly harsh bite on his scent gland sending a shiver down his spine.

The air in the room was saturated with their arousal. There was a wet patch on the front of Porsche’s pant as his cock leaked ridiculous amounts of precum grinding against Kinn’s own clothed dick.

Kinn’s hands slid down his torso and expertly unzipped Porsche’s pants. His mouth followed the trail his hands had left behind.

Porsche was left panting when Kinn zeroed in on his nipples, sucking them like his life depended on it.

When Kinn didn’t touch where Porsche wanted him the most, he sat up and pushed Kinn down by his hair.

“So impatient.”, he tsked.

Porsche growled and shoved Kinn’s face on his boxer covered crotch.

Kinn groaned as the smell of white musk and cedar hit him as he nosed along the length of Porsche’s painfully hard cock.

He pushed the boxers along with the pants down Porsche’s legs. And thumbed the precum seeping out the head.

Above him Porsche hissed at the direct contact and pulled Kinn’s hair in a warning.

Kinn locked his gaze with Porsche’s as he took the head in his mouth and sucked.

Christ.

Porsche groaned as he finally felt the heat of Kinn’s mouth around him.

Kinn continued sucking his way down the alpha’s length, hollowing his cheeks to create suction around the length.

Porsche panting increased as Kinn continued his ministration. He fisted the alpha’s hair again and started guiding Kinn’s head up and down his dick.

When he felt the pressure building up in his stomach, he held Kinn’s head in place and started thrusting at an inhumane speed.

Kinn clenched his fingers on Porsche’s thighs for balance as the thrust in his mouth increased in speed.

As Porsche felt his orgasm building up he wrapped his hand at the base of his cock to deflate the knot that was forming and continued thrusting.

“Ahh.”, Porsche’s whole body shuddered as an orgasm ripped through him and came down Kinn’s throat, who milked Porsche dick to the last drop.

Porsche pulled his cock out before Kinn could suck it into oversensitivity. He was still catching his breath from the orgasm when Kinn shoved him flat on the bed.

“My turn.”

He ripped open a packet of lube from his pocket and smeared it over his fingers before bringing it to Porsche’s hole.

“Thank you for your services.”, he smirked as he plunged two of his fingers inside Porsche, punching the air out of his lungs.

God, the man was a fucking beast.

The lube Kinn had covered his fingers with was not enough. Porsche’s walls burned as the alpha roughly scissored his hole open.

Eh, Porsche was a masochist anyway.

When he had deemed Porsche loose enough, Kinn took his dick out of his pants and messily stroked it with his lube covered hand, as he properly settled between Porsche legs, and thrusted.

Both the alphas groaned as Kinn bottomed out on the first thrust.

Fuck.

Porsche breathed through his nose, trying his best to let his body adjust before Kinn started thrusting like a fucking madman.

As Kinn got adjusted to the tightness, he started moving. His pace was slow, pleasant even, but Porsche knew this won’t last.

Kinn was an animal through and through while he was fucking. And because Porsche was an alpha and therefore as strong as him, the asshole had thrown all the caution out the window since the first time they’d slept together.

And boy did Porsche loved it.

The alpha increased his speed making Porsche body jerk with each thrust. Porsche wrapped his arms around Kinn’s back to keep his balance and not sling out the bed because of it.

When he wasn’t satisfied with their current position, Kinn put Porsche legs over his shoulders and pistoned his thrust deeper into Porsche, aiming at his prostate with each thrust.

FuckFuckFuckFuck.

Porsche’s back arched with the new position. He dug his nails deep into Kinn’s back to counter the waves of pleasure rocking through him.

Kinn groaned appreciatively at the sting left because of Porsche’s nails on his back. He dipped down and laved his tongues inside Porsche mouth.

Porsche tongue met him with equal vigour, resulting in a mess of saliva running down his chin.

Kinn followed the trail down Porsche’s throat and resumed sucking bruises all across Porsche’s throat.

Porsche felt another orgasm building in his gut, and judging by the pace Kinn was close too.

He clamped down on Kinn length as he felt his knot swell.

Porsche growled and clamped his teeth on Kinn’s neck as the second orgasm rocked through him painting his chest white.

Kinn continued thrusting, making Porsche ride his orgasm before pulling out as his knot swelled beside Porsche covering both their torsos in his cum.

He crumpled on top of Porsche as both of them caught their breath, their bodies covered in a sheen of sweat.

…

Porsche stared at his reflection in the fog of his bathroom mirror after Kinn had left later that night.

He traced the teeth marks around his scent gland, similar to the ones he had left on Kinn.

They would’ve ended up mating each other if they had been in their ruts.

And the worst part about this realization was the lack of alarm bells in Porsche’s head.

Chapter Text

Chapter 7

“Alright, let’s do this.”, Vegas dropped a very heavy and thoroughly organized binder on Kinn’s desk and proceeded to plop himself down on the unoccupied chair beside Porsche.

The three of them were in Kinn’s extremely private office. The stupid thing was basically a fucking closet inside his actual office, with three entrances and only enough air inside to not suffocate to death.

One was from the bathroom on Kinn’s private floor, one opened into Kinn’s actual closet, and the third entrance was from one of the many conference rooms below.

Porsche was lowkey impressed the alpha had managed to remodel this hell-hole without Korn catching on. Then again, in the weeks Porsche had been at the compound, he’d witnessed firsthand how the slimy bastard could give his own father a run for his money when it came to manipulation.

If Porsche hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he would completely fall for the dumb, obedient son desperate for his daddy’s approval act too.

“Okay, what the fuck is this?”

“It’s called a binder you illiterate moron.”

Porsche rolled his eyes at Vegas’ ever-present snark.

“I can see that genius.”, Porsche hissed, “I meant, why the fuck are you lugging around a very noticeable and extremely suspicious binder, when the best of 21^st century technology is at your disposal?”

“Are you fucking ser – oh my god”, Vegas very dramatically thumped his head on the desk, and let out a long-suffering sigh.

The omega took a couple of deep breaths and faced Porsche again.

“Okay, repeat after me”, he cupped Porsche’s face in his hands, “The most secure information on planet earth is the one printed on paper.”

“You little-”

“Enough, you two.”, Kinn interrupted.

Both of them reluctantly sat back in their seats like chastised kids.

“So, what did you find?”, Kinn pointed towards the binder.

“After you showed me bpoo’s actual will, I went into digging information about the families and clans in business with us and were loyal to us during his reign.”

He started flipping through the pages.

“I found there were total twenty different clans loyal to us, both local and international.”, he turned the binder towards the alphas to get a look at the list he’d prepared, “I compared this list with our current business partners, and with no surprise whatsoever, only twelve of them are still in business with us.”

“Let me guess, Korn either kicked the ones who did not agree with his plans or got them killed.”, Porsche said while reading the names on the list.

Kinn flicked his eyes towards Vegas in question, agreeing with Porsche.

“Good observation, you might have braincells after all.”, Porsche rolled his eyes but ignored the comment otherwise, “But not quite right, you see the ones eliminated were mostly international, members of the Triad, the Yakuza, the Cambodian mafia, etc.”

“Basically, the ones who didn’t have much power in Thailand, well not as much as the Theerapanyakuns atleast.”

“And for the remaining clans, Paa either bought their loyalty or threatened them into submission.”, Kinn interjected as he read through the pages.

“Exactly.”

“Okay.”, Porsche rubbed a hand down his face.

Yeah, he was not made for this political nonsense, beating thugs up and planning fields missions was more of his forte. Even in school’s history and politics class he would always end up in tears because it was just so boring.

“And how exactly is reading Theerapanyakun History 101 going to help us with taking down Korn and setting things right?”

Before Vegas could pass yet another snarky comment, Kinn shut the binder and turned towards Porsche.

“Because, this -”, he pushed the binders in Porsche’s directions, “– is going to help us gain the political standing we need to take down my father.”

The alpha stood from his chair and started pacing the too small office. Which he looked absolutely ridiculous doing.

“This is not just about killing Korn. That, I can do right now. I am the heir, no one in this house is going to wage a war against me for killing him.”

He leaned forward on the desk and looked at Porsche.

“It’s the aftermath that’s going to be bloody. These scavengers would swoop in the minute they smell Korn Theerapanyakun’s death.”

A beat of silence passed as Porsche processed Kinn’s words and nodded.

“So, basically we need to convince them to betray Korn.”, Porsche looked at the cousins with an eyebrow raised.

 “Uh-huh.”, Vegas had that certain glint in his eyes that meant he was going to nerd the shit out of whatever the topic at hand was. Great, just great.

He ripped the binder open with enthusiasm Porsche had never seen before, and started listing the clans easiest to manipulate along with detailed strategies and back-up plans.

…

“Oii, Porsche!”

Porsche turned around to see Pete running towards him.

Porsche’s expression morphed into his signature sunny smile as the alpha came to stop in front of him trying to bring his breathing back to normal.

“Hey Petey.”, Porsche rubbed Pete’s back to help with the panting.

“Don’t-hah-hey-hah- Petey me dimwit”, Pete gulped a lungful of much needed air and straightened his back, glaring at Porsche.

“Where the fuck have you been!?”, he hit the alpha’s head.

“Hey!”, Porsche rubbed the spot on his head Pete had assaulted, “I was on my way up to Khun’s.”

“Yeah, you sure were taking your sweet time reaching there. Tankhun is up there throwing tantrums because his precious Porsche was five minutes late for his shift.”

“Sorry.”, The alpha atleast had the audacity to look guilty, “I had to pee. Had too much soup at dinner.”

His reasoning was met with an extremely unamused look.

“Come on, Arm must be on his last breath trying to contain the tyrant.”

Both the alphas started walking towards the elevator.

“Where’s Pol? He usually manages Khun very well.”

“He’s out on a mission for Khun Kinn, won’t be back for atleast an hour.”

Porsche furrowed his eyebrows at that. What mission?

“Khun Nu! Please calm down-”, a loud bang was heard cutting Arm’s voice.

“No! They are ten minutes late; the villain has probably killed someone by now and my guards are nowhere to be found!”

A very shrill voice bounced around the walls of the floor, making Pete and Porsche’s eyes wide in fear as they sprinted down the hall.

“That’s it! They are going to get pu-”

“We’re here Khun Nu!”

Pete exclaimed as he and Porsche stumbled in the door, almost collapsing over one another.

The man in question turned around – very dramatically according to Porsche – flapping his overly ridiculous but somehow fashionable robe behind him.

Tankhun narrowed his bright pink eyes at the new comers.

Behind him Arm sagged against the couch in relief. Porsche felt bad for the guy. Maybe he should buy the beta some weird tech stuff to make up for the emotional trauma.

“Where were you!?”

Before Pete could open his mouth and rat Porsche out, he side-stepped Pete and flashed a sickeningly sweet smile at his boss.

“Don’t be mad Khun Nu.”, he fluttered his lashes at his boss., “I was checking the arrangements for your surprise.”

“What surprise?”

“You were?”

Both Pete and Tankhun simultaneously questioned.

One of these days Pete is going to get strangled by someone – Porsche - for his stupidity.

“Yes”, Porsche gritted out.

“Remember how you were making some really good points about the lack of vibes the karaoke room in the compound has? And how it’s restricting you from showcasing your amazing voice?”

Thankhun just narrowed his eyes in response.

They had migrated towards the couch now and behind him both Arm and Pete were looking at him with so much distress, it was completely ridiculous.

“So, I went forward and solved the problem for you.”

“Solved, how?”

“Remember how I used to work at Yok’s?”

Pete slapped his forehead as he caught on to Porsche’s absolutely idiotic plan.

“What has Yok’s got to do with my singing?”

Wow, are all the Theerapanyakuns this dumb?

Porsche took a deep breath and with all the patience in the world, “The bar has karaoke Khun. We can go there tonight. Not just the machine it has the lights, the bar, everything you’d need to set the vibe right. So, what do you say?”, he looked up at the beta with stars in his eyes.

But when he saw doubt and fear, instead of excitement gathering in Tankhun’s eyes, he scrambled to squash all of them.

“I’ve already talked with P’Yok khun, the bar would be reserved for us. No one who isn’t authorized or approved of would enter the place. And all of us would be there to keep you safe, won’t we?”

He turned and glared at the other two guards who had turned into mute statues and were staring at them dumbfounded.

Porsche was seriously surrounded by idiots.

“Won’t we?”, he gritted out once again when the fuckers didn’t respond the first time.

As if woken from a trance the two stumbled over each other to reassure their boss.

“Yes khun, we’ll protect you with our life.”

“Yeah, and we can even take reinforcements with us.”, Arm vigorously nodded his head agreeing with Pete, “Ken and Pol have night duty, I’ll talk to P’Chan, he can change their shifts.”

“We can take some new recruits too. To patrol the perimeter. And Big is also on leave so he can come too.”

Big huh.

When Porsche had first come to the compound, he had not crossed paths with the omega a lot. Well, with Big being in the med-bay and all, and Porsche memorizing the ridiculous amounts of secret passages Kinn insisted were vital and was annoyingly smug about.

(He and Vegas strongly disagreed with that notion.)

Their first meeting in the gym — where Porsche was obviously showing off — had been… interesting.

Especially the part where Big went red as a tomato the moment Kinn walked in and somehow managed to trap him between them. Porsche still remembered how Big’s scent had changed, the caramel sweetening with nerves.

It had been…cute. In a way that made Porsche want to see what more he could pull from the omega.

But the most enticing part had been the way Big’s eyes had glazed over when Kinn had played along with Porsche, teasing the omega further.

Like he wasn’t used to that reaction from the alpha. And was desperate for it.

“Okay!”, Porsche snapped out of his reverie as Tankhun shot up from the couch, “Got get everything ready. We leave in thirty minutes!”, He snapped his fingers like a drill sergeant and waltzed towards his closet muttering to himself about the clothes he was going to wear.

The three bodyguards shared a look and shot out the room to make arrangements because if they took even a single second more than the given time limit, all three of them would be swimming in the freezing pool water in mermaid costumes.

And Porsche had definitely had enough of that for one lifetime, thank you very much.

…

Porsche took a deep breath and sighed as he stepped out of the car.

Yok’s.

One of the two places Porsche had ever had close to home. The smell of cigarettes, various cocktails that were always too sweet for his taste, and the disgusting room freshener P’Yok refused to change.

God, he missed this place.

“My baby!”, Porsche smiled, a genuine one in what felt like months, as P’Yok’s voice reached his ears.

He walked towards her and was engulfed in a bone-crushing hug. He buried himself in the embrace, trying to get as much of the familiar scent as he could.

“I missed you ma.”

“Aw, I missed you too baby. Now tell me how do I look, hmm.”

She dramatically twirled in front of him, fluttering he lashes.

“Like an angle from heaven.”

His maa just wrapped her arms around him again at his compliment, squeezing him tightly before letting go.

“Come on introduce me to your friends.”, she turned them both towards the group who was standing behind them looking around the place.

…

So far, the night with these buffoons had been a weirdly interesting affair. They were everything and more of what Porsche had expected them to be with alcohol in their system.

The loudest and most obnoxious of them had been - with no surprise whatsoever - Tankhun.

Porsche watched in amused exasperation as the beta flailed around the bar, dressed in a suit decorated with literal disco mirrors and the darkest pair of white-rimmed Prada glasses Porsche had ever seen.

How Tankhun managed to navigate through the place with that much dramatic flair and not crash into anything was beyond him.

But the one who had surprised him the most tonight had been Big.

Especially when he had made the omega his very own customized signature cocktail.

It had been a long time since Porsche had been behind the bar and his hands were itching to make something beautiful.

Something that would suit one of the most dangerous bodyguards in the Theerapanyakun family, who was currently sulking at the end of the bar with his bottom lip jutted out in what Porsche thought was one of the most adorable pouts he had ever seen, like seriously this one came second only to Chay’s.

All because his friends did not let him have the last shot.

Cute.

With that observation, the alpha rolled-up his sleeves and started mixing various ingredients together. His fingers moved towards the various bottles in front of him with the kind of ease that came with years of practice.

He started by pouring a shot of single malt scotch, smooth and dark, swirling in the shaker like liquid gold. Following the scotch, he poured in two shots of cocoa liqueur, rich and velvety, the kind that lingered on the tongue just long enough to leave you craving more. And finally, he added a swirl of caramel, sweet and golden, just enough to soften the bite.

He gave the ingredients a good shake, the clinking of ice inside the shaker like music to his ears, and took a taste.

Fuck.

It tastes exactly like he smells.

That was… interesting.

The alpha had not realized how much he had familiarized himself with the omega.

Not letting himself dwell on that notion, Porsche turned towards Big and slid the drink across the bar, catching his attention.

The interaction that followed had been like a breath of fresh air for the bartender-turned-bodyguard.

Don’t get him wrong — he loved the constant push and pull of power that came with Kinn, the thrill of being challenged. But the way Big had obeyed him without question? That had been both surprising and deeply satisfying.

There was something dangerously addictive about the way Big’s pupils had dilated when Porsche’s voice had dropped, about how his throat had bobbed before he took the first sip.

And that sound.

Porsche hadn’t known the grumpy, always-frowning-as-if-all-things-wrong-in-his-life-was-your-fault Big was capable of making such a sound.

But the omega had, and Porsche had half a mind to do things that would coax more of them out of his throat.

He turned his head slightly, hiding his smirk behind a glass as he took a sip of his own drink.

His attention was broken when his burner buzzed in his pocket. He set the glass down and flipped it open.

Kinn: Did you meet him yet?

So impatient.

Porsche: No, not yet.

Kinn: Pray tell, what the fuck are you waiting for?

And an asshole.

Porsche rolled his eyes as he typed in his reply.

Porsche: Relax, will you.

Porsche: In case no one’s told you before, you cannot just waltz straight to the person you’re supposed to meet when you’re undercover.

Porsche: Was that extremely common lesson not included in your mighty Theerapanyakun training.

Kinn: If only you could work as smoothly as your tongue rolled out sarcasm.

Excuse me!?

Porsche worked plenty smooth, thank you very much. Ask any of his employers, and all of them would say the same thing. Hmph.

Before he could relay his thoughts to the oaf, P’Yok came behind the bar.

“Po, can you help bring out the crates from the back room.”, Porsche turned towards her and saw her tap the counter twice, signalling him that the person he wanted to meet had arrived.

“Sure, ma.”, Porsche nodded his thanks and swept his eyes across the room checking where everyone was. When he was sure everyone was where they should be he slid to the storage room.

…

Porsche entered the dimly lit store room and saw Boun, one of his mother’s men already present.

“Sawade Khap, P’Boun.”, Porsche waid.

The man nodded in response and stepped forward with a file in his hands.

“I could only get detailed information on five families at such short notice.”, he handed Porsche the file, “This would be more than enough to intimidate them, or destroy them completely without it coming back to you.”

Porsche flipped through the file. Chalermchai. Suthamchai. Phrayapong. Woraphat. Phanupong.

“My men and I are still working on the international families that you mentioned, I’ll get those to you by the end of this week.”

“What about the remaining seven?”, Porsche questioned.

“They are a bit difficult to dig into given their social standing and the shit tonne of money and resources they put into their securities.”, he rubbed a hand down his face in frustration, “But the most difficult person to convince is Thammasat.”

“Itthiphon Thammasat? The Prime Minister’s brother?”

“And Korn Theerapanyakun’s best fucking friend”, P’Boun confirmed.

Fucking perfect.

Just fucking perfect.

Porsche took a couple of deep breaths to ground himself and process the new box of mess that had been presented to him.

Of course, of-fucking-course the bastard would keep the country’s fucking prime minister in his pocket. Porsche was ready to bet his life that Korn had played a big role in putting the said prime minister in power.

Great. Just fucking great.

“Alright, I’ll see you when I have the rest of the information.”

Porsche nodded and waid as the man left the storage. He sagged against one of the walls and dialled Kinn.

The alpha answered at the first ring.

“You got that?”

“Yeah, I did. Was that all your precious associates could muster after I gave them fucking months!?”, the heir snapped.

Okay, seriously, what the fuck!?

Porsche felt the anger and frustration over the turn of events simmer and spill. He got that the alpha was pissed, fuck so was Porsche but he wasn’t going around screaming and debasing people because of it!

“Listen here you little shit.”, Porsche snapped back, voice low but cutting, “My associates are much more competent than the jokers you have running around in your so-called fortress. You gave me fucking ghosts to chase and my men did. You don’t even have the fucking manpower to dig this up in years, let alone months. So, you’ll take what you fucking get.”

Before Kinn could say anything, Porsche cut the line and shoved the phone back in his pocket.

Fucking bastard.

He again took a couple of breaths to calm himself down. When his ears had stopped ringing and the panic had subdued, he shoved the file in one of the souvenir bags P’Yok was going to give Tankhun at the end of the night and straightened his clothes and turned towards the stack of crates behind him.

Porsche then picked a couple out of the stack, lifted them up and carried them out of the room.

…

Porsche was cursing Kinn to hell with a scowl decorating his face when he entered the main floor. He all but slammed the crates beside the shelves and was ready to angrily stack the bottles up when a sinfully sweet scent wafted through the air.

His hands froze mid-air as all his senses zeroed in on the caramelized-cocoa, threading through the haze of alcohol and cigarette-smoke taking over the atmosphere. The alpha’s instincts stirred; it was different from the one he had gotten familiar with over the past year.

He slowly straightened himself and turned towards the dance floor, searching for the source. And there he was.

Apparently the little omega was a lightweight - Of course, he was - because Big was currently tripping his way over to the group of bodyguards and their boss with the same dazed expression Porsche had left him with.

“Biggie!!!”, Porsche heard Tankhun’s screech over the blaring music.

Big snapped his face towards their eccentric boss. Porsche felt his breath hitch as Big’s lips spread into a wide smile, the kind that made his eyes crinkle, his cheeks dusting pink (from the alcohol or sheer happiness Porsche didn’t care), and the most devastating of all, the way his eyes lit up like a thousand stars as he fell into the beta’s open arms.

Porsche’s eye twitched as Khun wrapped himself like an octopus around Big and started swaying. The scent that Big was unconsciously releasing spreading through the air, making everyone warm and heady, soothing everyone around them.

The other four drifted closer, pulled in by that same warmth. Porsche clenched his fist at the sight, something cold curling around his chest.

The alpha let out a low growl as Arm wrapped his arm around Big’s waist and pulled him closer. How dar-

Wait.

What the fuck?

Porsche blinked, shaking himself out of the trance. Why the fuck was he getting affected by this? He shook himself again, forcing his shoulders to relax. It’s just because he hadn’t been with or around an omega for a long time. Vegas did not count.

Yes that’s it. That had to be it. Because there was no way Porsche would be attracted to plain old Big otherwise.

Anyways he had Kinn, in all his assholey glory now. And he liked what he had going with the alpha. He had just missed the way it felt to be around someone who was so pliant.

And Big had just surprised Porsche a lot tonight.

That’s all.

With his mind made up he started turning to go back to his crates when –

*giggles*

The alpha snapped his head back towards the dance floor and saw Big fucking giggling (he did not know the bodyguard was capable of producing that sound) as Pol playfully twirled him around.

Fuck it.

Porsche had always been a selfish man.

He swiftly made his way through the dance floor and all but snatched the omega out of Pol’s hold.

Big jolted when Porsche’s arm snaked around his waist, his back hitting Porsche’s chest with a satisfying thud. Porsche tightened his hold pulling him closer until there wasn’t an inch left between them.

He felt Big go still for a breath before he melted, the tension in his frame giving way under Porsche’s hold. The omega tilted ever so slightly into him, taking a deep breath like he wanted to drown in it.

The realization nearly undid him.

Porsche swallowed hard, his lips twitching into a smirk he didn’t quite feel. He leaned down until his mouth brushed the shell of Big’s ear.
“Having fun, Big?”

The bodyguard stiffened in his arm, as recognition flickered through him. He turned his head slightly, wide eyes glossy with surprise looking up at the alpha.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk,” Porsche tutted when Big tried to wriggle free. His grip around that waist only tightened. “What’s the rush?”

“Let go,” Big said, but it came out softer than it should’ve, breathy and unsteady.

That sound went straight to Porsche’s gut.
He grinned. “Why? Thought everyone was getting a dance with you tonight.”

Big frowned up at him, the pink in his cheeks intensifying. “I was in the middle of one with Pol. It was rude of you to snatch me away.”

“I don’t think he minds.” Porsche tilted his head towards where Pol was now spinning Arm like a drunk ballerina. “See? Traded up.”

“Come on, pretty boy,” Porsche drawled, voice low enough to vibrate between them. “Dance with me.”

Big’s nose scrunched adorably. “Don’t call me that.”

But his hands curled against Porsche’s chest, betraying his words.

Porsche’s grin widened. He slid his other hand up, settling both around Big’s waist and tugging him impossibly closer. The omega gasped; his chest pressed flush against Porsche’s.
The bass from the speakers was nothing compared to the pounding the alpha felt against his chest.

They started to move - it did not match the beat of the music in background, swaying to a rhythm that only the two of them could hear. With ever step Big curled further into Porsche, filling up his senses until he could barely think.

Fuck.

He was getting drunk on it.

“You smell…” Porsche’s voice dropped, rough and quiet against Big’s neck. “Divine.”

He didn’t realize he had said it out loud until the omega shivered against him. Big tilted his head without thinking, baring his throat just enough that Porsche could se the pulse beneath the skin.

A low growl rumbled through the alpha’s throat as he leaned in and inhaled deep, right against the spot Big’s scent glands were.

Where the omega would be marked,

The noise that left Big’s throat chipped away at Porsche’s restraint; it was a small, helpless purr that hit him like a punch to the chest.

“Porsche—” Big’s voice cracked around his name.

Porsche exhaled against his skin, fighting the growl that threatened to slip out. His fingers flexed against Big’s hips, holding him still, keeping him there.

God, it was addictive.

Porsche nuzzled Big’s neck. Trying to take in as much as he could when, the omega stiffened in his arms, scent souring in an instant as he pushed himself out of Porsche’s arms.

What?

Porsche looked at him then, the pretty hue on Bigs cheeks had completely vanished, draining his face of any colour. The glaze in his eyes had been replaced by panic and fear?

He too a step towards the omega, hand stretched out towards him, but Big recoiled like he’d been burned, stumbling back with wide panicked eyes. Okay seriously, what?

“Big, what-”

Before he could finish, the bodyguard turned on his heels and all but bolted towards the restrooms. Porsche stood there, frozen, breath lodged in his throat, caught between confusion and disbelief.

What the actual fuck just happened?

One second he had Big in his arm feeling all warm and sweet, and the next the omega had looked at him like Porsche was pointing a gun at him.

Every instinct in Porsche screamed at him to follow, to go after him, to fix… whatever the hell that was. His body had already started moving before his brain caught up—he’d crossed half the dance floor when logic finally slammed into him.

The alpha stopped dead, chest heaving, hands curling into fists at his sides. He took a few steadying breaths, forcing his pulse to slow.

No. Big clearly needed space.

Porsche dragged a hand down his face and muttered under his breath, “How the fuck do I always surround myself with the weird ones?”

…

Fluffy pillows huh.

Porsche chuckled as he remembered Big’s druken rant about his pecs as he carried all the buffoons out of the bar.

“Ahhh-!”, Porsche jolted out of his thoughts as Tankhun screamed and slipped from his hold, “Biggie!”, he ran-fell his way towards the car, “Are you dead!?”

Oh, my fucking god.

Porsche cursed under his breath as he saw Tankhun rip open the passenger door and violently shake a very obviously passed out Big. Hearing the commotion, Pete, Ken, Pol, and Arm came running towards the hyena all yelling over each other.

“No!! Big!”, Pete wailed, as he reached the car and took hold of Big’s hand, trying to pull the omega towards himself, “Come back to me!”

“No”, Ken staggered back, and fucking pointed up at the sky, “I won’t let you take my best friend away from me.”, he said with terrifying conviction.

“I am going to get you back Biggie, okay? Don’t be scared.”, Ken continued still glaring up at heaven?

Just when Porsche thought that the idiot was done with his monologue, “But how will I get up there?”

Oh. My. God.

“Maybe you need to die too!”, Pol exclaimed with so much excitement, Porsche was not sure whether to be concerned for his intelligence or just eliminate himself from this world.

“Yes!”, Arm backed up, “You need to die go up there and fight God and bring Big back.”, he pushed his glasses up his nose as he walked towards Ken and put a hand on his shoulder, “And don’t you worry, we’ll keep your bodies safe and warm back at the dorms.”, he assured.

Yeah okay, Porsche gave up and leaned against the car next to a still wailing Tankhun just watching the drama unfold.

Ken looked back at Arm, like he was god himself and nodded his gaze determined.

“Wait!”, a new voice – Pete chimed in, “How do we know he’s really up there!?”, what the fuck?, “What if Ken goes up there and Big’s not there, but down there?”, he pointed towards the ground.

Okay, how the fuck did these idiots become the bodyguards for the biggest mafia empire in the country? Porsche really needed to talk to Kinn about increasing the difficulty of the recruitment tests, and maybe add a test or two to idiot-proof the batches.

“Pete should go too!”, Pol again of so helpfully added, “Ken can go up and Pete can go down, whoever finds Big first will can the other, and all three can then come back!”

Signal with what dumbass?

All four idiots nodded at each other in unison. Pete walked towards Ken and fucking intertwined their fingers.

“Ready?”

“Ready.”

Porsche nearly had a heart attack as the two launched themselves toward the oncoming traffic. He bolted after them, catching both by the backs of their shirts before they could actually die for real this time.

“No-!”

“Porsche!”

Both of them continued struggling as he brought them back towards the safety of the car, Arm and Pol had taken their position to guard Big’s body and were watching their surrounding vigilantly.

“Shut up!”, Porsche exclaimed as he all but threw the two in the back of the SUV, “Not another word from you two.”

“Arm, Pol, Khun!”, he glared at the three heads that whipped in his direction, “All of you in the car right now.”

“But Big!”, Arm exclaimed.

Porsche heaved a long suffering sigh as all of them turned their eyes at him with so much concern.

“Don’t worry.”, he rubbed his face in defeat, “I’ll go and bring him back.”

“But-”

“I’ll check both the places, I promise.”

“Also, if everyone is not in their seats by the time I count till five, no one’s getting ice-creams when we get back home.”

Within seconds all five of them were on their seats, sitting ramrod straight, or well as straight as you can when you are drunk out of your ass. Porsche was just happy that the chaos was finally over.

He rounded the car towards the passenger door, and gently adjusted Big, the poor think might’ve gotten bruises from all that shaking. Porsche straightened his body against the backrest and pulled the seatbelt over him before rounding back and slipping behind the wheel.

The alpha took one last look at the sleeping omega beside him, and started the engine with a small smile gracing his lips.

…

Porsche kicked open Big and Ken’ s dorm door and walked in with Big snuggled up in his arms.

They had reached the compound twenty minutes ago. And the words that Porsche had uttered to get everyone inside the car came back to bite him in the ass.

Because as soon as he had parked the car five voices behind him who were passed out the entire car ride home spoke in an eerie synchronization, “Ice-cream.”

So, twenty minutes and a ruined kitchen later Porsche had successfully shooed everyone to their room like fucking mother-hen and carried Big back to his room.

He gently deposited the sleeping omega on his bed, after he had adjusted Big in a comfortable position Porsche gently removed his shoes and socks, keeping them aside he pulled the comforter over the bodyguard tucking him in.

He slowly got up when he deemed the omega comfy enough and made his way back towards the door. Porsche looked at the sleeping man one last time before turning of the light and shutting the door close.

Maybe I should get him drunk more often.

Porsche smirked as he made his way towards his room. He opened his door as he unbuttoned his shirt, dreaming of warm water cascading down his body under the shower.

He reached his room and shimmied himself out of his pants, Porsche was in the middle of taking a towel out of his cupboard when he felt his presence.

The scent of whiskey and burnt cloves flowed through the room but the alpha refused to acknowledge it, still feeling petty about their earlier conversation.

“Po”, Kinn called out.

“What?”, Porsche muttered without turning back.

“Hey.”, the heir took hold of his arm and turned him around.

Porsche glared at him as their eyes met, hell bent on holding a grudge this time. He had always forgiven Kinn for his harsh words easily in the past, making excuses for him in his head. But this time he has questioned one his maa’s associates, and Porsche drew a line there.

Kinn drew in a breath and took hold of Porsche’s hands in his, “I’m sorry.”

So, oaf knew how to sincerely apologise. Porsche almost let his lips spread in a smile but quickly schooled his expression. The guy needs to work for it a bit. And just raised his eyebrows waiting for the alpha to elaborate further.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have taken my frustrations on and your men. You were right they are a thousand times competent then the headless chickens I have running around here.”

You’re not wrong about that.

At all.

Porsche continued staring at the man in front of his for a couple of more seconds, “I get it you were frustrated, so was I. But you cannot keep doing this.”, he squeezed Kinn’s hands, “You need to remember I am not one of your bodyguards, we’re both equals here.”

“Okay?”

“Yeah, okay.”, Kinn nodded.

Porsche let his lips spread in a smile then, and jumped on Kinn giving him a bear hug. The alpha tried resisting in pretence before giving in and wrapping his arms around Porsche.

“Wait.”, Kinn pulled back and gave Porsche a once over, before giving a noticeable sniff.

“Why do you smell so sweet?”

“What?”, he sniffed himself, “What do you mean sweet? I smell like I always do.”

“No, you don’t smell this sweet usually.”

Excuse me.

“I mean you don’t usually smell sweat like cocoa. You know like chocolates.”, he clarified as Porsche’s glare returned.

Oh.

“That.”, he sniffed himself once more and yup there it was caramel and cocoa, “I carried Big back to his room from the car. The poor guy I going to have such a hangover tomorrow.”

He turned back towards his closet rummaging through his clothes trying to find his pyjamas.

“You carried Big?”

“Yeah”, he glanced back at the alpha, “Given that the guy was passed out someone had to bring him back to his room right.”

He turned towards the heir, “Cannot leave you best bodyguard stranded now, can we?”. He smirked.

“Yeah, but did you have to do it? You could’ve asked one of the other guards you know.”

Porsche completely turned towards Kinn after hearing those words, “Okay why are you being weird about this?”

“I am not being weird.”

“Yes you are being wei – wait.”, Porsche closely observed Kinn then.

The alphas fists were slightly curled at his sides, his shoulders had gone stiff along with that there was slightest twitch in his eyes, that signalled he was angry, and finally his scent. His scent had spiked with a note of…jealousy.

“Oh my god. You’re jealous.”

“What!?”, Kinn sputtered, “I’m not jealous.”

“Oh, you so jealous.”, Porsche chuckled, “Aw, don’t worry alpha, no one’s going to steal me away from you.”, he obnoxiously fluttered his eyes at Kinn.

Kinn’s nostrils flared, with his jaw clenched, “I am not jealous.”, he swiftly turned around and started walking towards the door, “Anyways I came here to apologise, which I have done so good night.”

“Hey! Wait, wait, wait.”, Porsche scrambled after him and pulled him back into the room.

“I won’t tease you I promise.”

Kinn stared him down for a full minute and when he was sure he could trust Porsche, he let himself be pulled back in.

As the two alphas stumbled their way across the room and into the shower, Porsche couldn’t keep the smile off his face.

Oh, how fun this is going to be.

Chapter Text

Chapter 8

“Big!”

Big was walking back to his room, having completed his morning workout routine now that the doctor had finally cleared him for active duty. P’Chan gestured the bodyguard to follow him to the elevators.

“Morning P’Chan. How are you doing this fine morning?”

P’Chan raised a brow at Big’s unusually chipper mood, “Someone woke up on the good side of the bed this morning.”

“Dr Top cleared me for active duty this morning.”, Big beamed towards the alpha.

“I know.”, they stepped out of the elevator and moved towards one of the conference rooms. “I tried really hard to prevent that from happening.”  

Rude.

Big narrowed his eyes at him, clearly offended, “You know…sometimes your words leave a deep wound.”, he vehemently pressed a hand against his chest to emphasize the hurt.

P’Chan did not dignify him with a response and just walked ahead towards the conference room at the end of the hall. As both of them entered the room, Big noticed the blueprints, task-charts and his doofuses scattered around the room.

“You know, for someone who is so worried about me fucking things up, you sure did not waste a second before sending me back out on the field.”, Big sassed.

“You want to go back to being an invalid on your first day back?”, The alpha threatened.

Again. Rude!

“Chan.”, Both of them turned their heads back to the entrance. “Stop threatening the poor kid.”

“P’Nop!”, Big all but threw himself behind the other alpha. “Your husband is bullying me.”

“And you,” he turned towards Big, “stop provoking-”

“Ow!”

“–him.”

“I didn’t do anything!”, Big whined, rubbing the spot where P’Nop had flicked him on the forehead.

His boss just gave him with a look that screamed oh really?

“One of these days, I am going to quit my job, sell all your secrets and make you regret ever being mean to me.”, Big sniffed.

“No, you won’t.”, P’Chan walked into the room. “You are too much of a simp to betray your crush like that.”

“I-excuse me!?”, Big choked.

“I am not a simp!”, Big very loudly spluttered.

“And I hear,” P’Nop smirked, nudging Big inside the room, “there’s been a new addition in the mix.”

What!?

“No! -”

“Oh, yes!”, Ken exclaimed from one of the chairs, “A very interesting addition.”

Fucking traitor.
“No, there hasn’t been any new additions anywhere.”, Big denied, but the red that was spreading through his cheeks betrayed him.

“Why did you call us here anyway?”, he questioned, desperately trying to change the topic. But no one bothered to give him a response, opting to just enjoy the show.

He sulked his way towards one of the empty chairs beside Arm and plopped himself on it, clearly not pouting.

Stupid people. Teasing him first thing in the stupid morning.

Big was grumbling under his breadth when Porsche along with Kinn and Vegas entered the room.

Big could feel the amused eyes on him.

He was going to accidently drown some people in Khun’s koi pond today.

Big ignored all of them and continued staring holes into the table in front of him. Maybe he should’ve just stayed in bed, consequences be damned.

But they do look mouthwatering.

Why do they have so many muscles!?

How would it feel to be between them agai-

Big! Get hold of yourself.

He subtly shook himself out of his (perverted) thoughts and focused on the discussion going on.

“Okay, now that everyone’s here let’s begin.”, Both P’Chan and P’Nop stood in front of the blueprints, and the whiteboard where various maps, names, and pictures were threaded out.

As Big observed the board closely, he noticed the information was about one of their own casinos. The one they shared with the Italians.

Of course.

It was always the fucking Italians.

Big didn’t know whether to be impressed or just go bang his head against the wall. These cockroaches never let him have a month in peace.

Like he just got cleared for active duty. Can’t they give him at least a couple more weeks before doing something absolutely stupid and dumb. The omega let out a long-suffering sigh and listened as the two head bodyguards began their briefing.

What stupid shit did they do this time?

“As you all see,” P’Nop started pointing towards the pictures of the casino, “this is one of the casinos we share with the Italians. While going through the record books and other routine security procedures,” he pushed the stack of copies on the table, “we found the numbers didn’t match our estimations.”

“Along with that, we saw an increase in number of members of the Triads visiting the casino. Ones we are not in business with and don’t belong in that particular area.”, P’Chan continued.

Big flipped the file open skimming through, as his bosses continued with their briefings.

“Big.”, Big whipped his head up when P’Chan called out his name.

“You’ll go to the main office,” the alpha said, sliding a sheet across the table. “Check for anything out of place and look for these. We think the data sent to our offices is being manipulated.”

“Yes sir.”, he started reading the names on the list, memorizing them.

“Porsche. You’ll go with him.”

What!?

Big looked up sharply at P’Chan, who continued instructing the other alpha.

“As soon as he gets the files. You will bring him out first before going back in. The files are our top priority. Go it?”

No.

Not got it.

Not got it at all.

He tried to convey his silent protest through sheer force of will — maybe if he glared hard enough, P’Chan would understand. But P’Chan ignored him like he was just a fucking fly on the wall.

“Sure Khun.”, Porsche replied easily.

Big heard a stifled snicker beside him.

“Ow-*cough*”, Arm’s muffled yelp made the room pause for a second. The beta rubbed his shin under the table and offered a nervous smile.

“Sorry, water went down the wrong pipe.”

“Remember everyone, it’s a recon mission. Stay as low as possible, you are going in just to observe. Note as many faces as you can but do not make contact.”, P’Nop resumed. “And keep your guise as Khun Vegas’ detail intact.”

“Yes Khun.”, everyone in the room echoed.

The room shifted focus back to the board, and the briefing resumed. Big sitting there all thought about the mission thrown out the wind, trying really hard to not throw up with all his nerves on fire.

“You did that on purpose, didn’t you!?”, Big whispered-yelled after the briefing was over and he was sure the people in question were far away from them.

“Did what on purpose?”

“Oh, you know setting him up on a date.”, Big shrieked as Pete materialized out of thin air behind him.

“Got to hand it to you P’Chan, you really are a sly fox.”, Ken added.

If not the Italians, Big himself was going to fucking shoot them all tonight if they don’t shut their traps.

“Why’d you have pair me with him!? Anyone could keep a watch while I went into the office.”, Big pouted.

“What?”, P’Chan levelled them all with a glare. All five of them immediately straightened their backs at that. “I did not set any date whatsoever. I am sending Porsche there with you because the Italians don’t know he’s one of us yet, unlike the rest of you. Now quit playing around and start preparing for tonight. And Big,” he levelled Big with his drill sergeant look, “I expect every item listed on my desk by three a.m.”

“Yes P’.”, They all scattered towards the armoury.

…

“You ready, pretty boy?”, Big froze as Porsche stood behind him, close enough that he could feel the alpha’s breath on his neck.

Why does he always stand so close!? Someone really needs to teach this oaf the concept of personal space!

“Yes,” Big elbowed the guy creating some space between them before turning around to face him-

And, oh my god.

Big silently thanked the gods above that he’d doused himself with two bottles’ worth of scent-blockers before coming down, because holyfuck, the alpha looked sinful in his combat suit.

Which according to Big was completely unfair. How was he supposed to concentrate when an eye-candy was literally breathing down his neck.

If he gets shot today, it’s going to be Porsche’s fault. Stupid alphas and their stupid fucking muscles.

“I should be the one asking you that.”, Big shot back, “You know with your amazing ability to always lay low.”

Porsche just raised his hands and smirked in response (the kind that made Big’s knees go weak), “Hey, I can be stealthy.”, he said with that playful tilt in his voice.

Big just stared at him, deadpanned.

“Okay, okay, I admit my methods haven’t always been the best in the past.”, he leaned in closer, voice dropping low, “But I would never let you get hurt.”

Big blinked, caught off-guard for half a second before he scoffed and shoved past him, “If only you’d put half as much effort into the field as you do flirting with every living soul.”

He then promptly went to aggressively loading his weapons, desperately trying to hide the fact that his face had turned into a fucking tomato, and his whole body felt like a big, stupid puddle of goo.

Thank heavens the other idiots weren’t here to witness this.

“Aw princess, you wound me with your words…”, Porsche flanked himself on the table in front of Big.

But the omega did not hear a thing.

Princess.

Big felt tingles spark across his skin as his brain registered the word. A sweet warmth curled through his chest, and the red that had finally faded started creeping back up his neck.

“Don’t call me that.”, he scowled at the alpha, desperately trying to hide his reddened cheeks.

“Sure thing, princess.”, the scoundrel winked, slinging his gear over his shoulders and striding out of the armoury.

Asshole.

Big followed him, begging his body to stop reacting to the alpha’s advances so much.

“Alright,” P’Chan called as Big reached the underground garage, “now that everyone’s here. Stick to your assignments, if you see something out of the ordinary just for the love of god observe, don’t be a hero. Remember this is a recon mission, any further actions will be discussed tomorrow. Understood?”

“Yes Khun.”

All of them waid and scattered to their assigned vehicles. Big made his way to surveillance van with Arm and Porsche.

“Big.”, P’Nop called, “Don’t land yourself back in the med-bay, got it?”

“No promises P’”, he cheekily grinned.

“Big.”

“Don’t worry Khun,” Porsche pulled him in by the shoulders, “I’ll make sure he doesn’t do something reckless.”

“Get off me you oaf!”, Big pushed him away and stomped towards the van, exaggeratedly brushing his clothes as if the alpha’s clothes had been contaminated.

…

“Okay, Khun Vegas is in the building.”, Arm informed, “Fifteen minutes and you two go in through the backdoor. When you reach this room-” he pointed at one of the squares on his ridiculously complicated screen that only he knew to make sense of, “-you both have to climb in this vent and then I’ll guide you to the office from there, okay?”

Both of them nodded in response and fixed in their earpieces. Big always hated the ever-present static that would flood his senses.

Beside him Porsche had gone unusually quiet and serious, his brow furrowed, typing furiously on his phone.

Who is he talking to?

And – wait – why is he smiling now?

Is that his girlfriend? Boyfriend?

Maybe I could take a pea-

“Ahem.”

Big jerked his head away so fast he nearly face-planted on the van floor and turned towards Arm, who had his eyebrow raised in a what the fuck are you doing look.

“Alright, it’s time.”, Arm spoke up, “You both ready?”

Big nodded, trying to salvage what little dignity he had left and opened the door, his game face on. He checked his gear one last time and adjusted his earpiece, checking its connection. When he deemed everything okay enough he started towards the door, Porsche falling into step behind him.

As the two guards reached it, Arm’s voice buzzed trough their ears. “Go through the left corridor, at the end of it you’ll find a door on the left, wait for my signal before getting in. I am doctoring the video feed.”

Big pushed the door open as the line went silent and crouched behind a stack of crates lining the corridor. On Arm’s signal, Porsche walked further down the corridor checking doors as he went.

When he deemed it safe enough he signalled Big to follow. Big crouch-crawled towards the storage room, “Arm?”, he whispered through the earpiece.

“Just a sec, it’s almost done.”, Big pressed his back against the wall as they waited for the signal.

He tried to calm the nerves that were flaring in his belly. It had been a long time since he had done this kind of a mission, with him getting injured and Porsche taking his place in Kinn’s detail (which he is still mad about) he hadn’t been on the field much.

Don’t get him wrong, he loved taking care of Kim. That boy was the most precious thing in his life. But he missed the thrill and the adrenaline rush that came with these kinds of missions.

Maybe P’Chan and P’Nop were right to worry about him so much.

Eh, who cares. It’s not like Big’s an important part of anyone’s life anyways. He’s a side character at best.

“Okay, you both can go in.”, Arm’s voice cut through Big’s thoughts.

“Okay, we’re going in.”, Porsche replied and pushed the door open, Big followed him quietly closing it behind him.

Once completely inside the room, Porsche pushed the shelf covering the vent aside. Big crouched and pried the vent cover loose, gently setting it down before crawling in. Porsche followed him pushing the shelf back in its place, covering the open vent.

They both started crawling their way in as per Arm’s instructions, turning this way and that. Big won’t lie, it was a tight fit and the alpha’s face almost being glued to his butt was not a position wanted to be in, at all. But he forced himself to supress any physical reaction he had, and just move forward.

*Thunk*

“Hey!”, the omega’s patience snapped, when Porsche’ head bumped against his buttcheeks for the fourth fucking time.

“Cut it out, will you!?”, he whisper-yelled, slightly tilting his head back to glare at the alpha.

“What?”, Porsche whispered back, all innocent.

“Don’t play dumb! You know what I’m talking about.”, Big grumbled.

Porsche blinked at him, “I’m sorry for having shoulders?”

“You could at least crawl a couple of steps behind.”, he countered.

“Okay, seriously what?”

Big just groaned in frustration and resumed his crawling, all the while muttering complains under his breath, “Why do I have to be paired up with a stupidly huge oaf, who cannot even fit in the fucking vent!?”

“Aw, you think I am big princess?”

Big froze mid-crawl for five full seconds before his brain booted up again, “I swear to god Porsche, if you call me that one more-”

“Call you what? Princess?”

That’s it.

Big lifted a leg to kick the stupid alpha, but Porsche caught his ankle mid-air and pulled. “Eek!”, Big slammed his hands on the metal to break his fall, making the duct creak below him.

“Are you insane!?”, he yelled.

“Hey! I was just defending myself.”, and god Big could hear the smirk in his voice.

“I-”

“Boys!”, Arm’s voice crackled through their earpieces, “You are aware that I can hear everything right? And that all of this is being recorded.”

Big went rigid, while Porsche fucking giggled behind him. Oh, he was seriously going to shoot this bastard tonight.

He turned forward and started rapidly crawling ahead, metal creakings be damned. “Arm how far?”, he questioned.

“Two turns left,” Arm sighed, “and for the love of god, keep your voices down before you blow your cover.”

Big shook himself and crawled forward. The metallic clang of each movement seemed deafening in the tense silence that followed. The vent twisted sharply, forcing Big to manoeuvre awkwardly. Porsche followed, and for a few blessed seconds, there was quiet.

Taking another right turn, they were greeted with an opening. Finally. Big peered down through the slits and saw a couple of men, promptly accountants, working on their desks.

Big took a deep breath as pulled his mask up, and reached into his vest to pull out a small cylinder. He threaded nozzle through one of the slits and turned the valve open, releasing a slow, steady hiss of chloroform into the office.

About five to ten minutes later, both the men in the office slumped on their desks, unconscious. Big turned the valve close and eased the vent grate open.

Dropping down on the floor with a soft thud, Big immediately sprung to action, trusting Porsche to keep an eye on their surroundings. The said man landed behind Big with barely any sound and scanned the room with eagle eyes. When everything seemed safe for now, Porsche stood near the door listening for footsteps.

Big first went to the computers and plugged in the drives to connect Arm’s computer in, “Arm, you in?”

“Yeah, I’m in go look for the files.”

Big moved toward the filing cabinets, eyes sweeping across the room. The scent of paper, ink, and faint chloroform filled the air. The adrenaline kicked in — the familiar hum that made his heart race. He’d missed this.

“You’ve got ten minutes before the guards make their rounds, be careful.”

Big started going through the cabinets one by one, searching for the required files. Opening the ones that felt suspicious and bagging them too.

Wait. Why are there two copies?

“There are two copies of each file mentioned in the list.”, he turned towards Porsche. The alpha cocked his brows in question as he made his way towards the cabinets.

Big showed Porsche the files he was talking about, “The numbers are off by millions.”, he pointed towards the entries in question.

“But, that’s not possible. All the files are checked by Khun Kan himself.”, Big looked at Porsche in alarm.

The alpha was glaring at the files with his jaw clenched. He had a look on his eyes, as he already knew.

“Porsche?”, Porsche snapped his head up, and within seconds his eyes transformed back to the star-lights they always were.

“I’ll bag them up.”

“But-”

“Big.”, he had that look in his eyes again, the one he had in the bar, “P’Chan told us to just get the stuff we need, we’ll figure this out back in the compound, got it?”

Big wanted to argue because Porsche had acted really weird and the omega found it really strange, but let it go. He was right they need to stick to task for now.

Big nodded, went back to finding the remaining files as Porsche put files in his backpack and went back to man the door.

Weird.

“Guys?”, Arm said, “How much longer? I am done with the digital files.”

“Almost done I just need to get two- ha, got them!”, Big stuffed everything in his bag and zipped it up, “Arm we’re rea-mhmpf!”

Porsche whipped around to face him, hand instinctively reaching for the gun, but froze when he saw Big held at gunpoint, one of the accountants who were supposed to unconscious had somehow burnt the sedative faster than humanely possible and was now standing there with a fucking gun against Big’s temple.

Great. Fucking great.

Yeah, Big knew he jinxed it by joking about not coming back in one piece with P’Nop, but in his defence he didn’t think universe would be granting him fucking wishes today. Stupid universe. Okay maybe not stupid but it sure as hell loved watching Big miserable.

Like don’t you have someone else to play with!?

“Okay.”, Porsche cut through Big’s very justified rant, “Easy there tiger. We don’t want blood to ruining this very expensive carpet, right?”

What the fuck!?

Big made sure to convey the offense he had taken through whatever amount of his face was visible through the mask because seriously!? A fucking carpet!?

“Drop you gun and slowly kneel on the floor with your hands in the air!”, the guy behind him hissed and tightened his hold on Big.

Ew. His breath is disgusting.

Porsche tensed as the guy clicked the safety off, he slowly followed the man’s order as he subtly searched their surrounding for any sort of distraction. He looked eerily similar to Kinn, before a kill.

Big’s heartbeat picked up as he looked at the alpha. His breath now shallow, from what he didn’t know, he liked to believe it was because of the lingering sedative in the air because-

Get a grip on yourself you stupid omega! This is not the time to thirst over him, you are at literal gunpoint!

“I said hands where I can see them!”, Big could hear the panic in the man’s voice, the hand holding the gun had started shaking too. Good.

From the look of it Porsche noticed it too and looked into Big’s eyes, trying to communicate his plan. Big nodded at him and watched as subtly counted to three with his finger as he put his hands up.

Big threw his head back against the man’s nose with all the force he could muster. The man screamed his grip on Big loosened as he stumbled back from the impact. Big wretched himself off the mans hold and stumbled forward, head ringing due to the hit.

He heard a gunshot behind him, he whipped his head (big mistake, ouch) and saw Porsche pinning the man down seemingly unharmed a hole on the wall behind him. Big’s knees buckled and stumbled against the desk, the combine effect of the hit and the sedative making it hard to recuperate. Fuck.

“Guys!”, Arm panicked voice cut through, “Incoming! Get out of there fast!”

Shit.

Big forced his breathing to relax and his brain to stop fucking spinning, as he hoisted himself up and grabbed his backpack.

“Come on, I got you.”, Porsche grabbed him by the waist as they both made their way towards the vent. The alpha hoisted him up, following him suit.

Maybe snarking at the universe worked because no sooner had Porsche closed the grate, the door below them had slammed open followed by a lot of chaos.

“Arm, directions.”, Porsche ordered through their comms.

They were halfway down the vents when the first bullet dented the surface where Big’s hand had been seconds ago. The echo deafening.

“Shit!”, they both cursed and crawled faster through the vents.

“Arm, where now?”

“You’re almost there, take the next left and at the end you’ll see the exit grate.”

With relief flooding through him, Big crawled towards the grate, reaching it he pushed it open and it fell…on the ground…ten feet below.

Big shrieked as he came to an abrupt halt, causing Porsche to bump against him, “What happened!?”

“Arm!”, Big’s screeched, “What the hell is this!? This is not the staff bathroom!”

Porsche poked his head above Big’s shoulder trying to take a peak and “woah”

“Well…the plan changed?”, Arm nervously chuckled through the earpiece.

“What!? What do you mean the plan change!?”

“It’s not my fault the waiters decided to have a fucking orgy in the staff bathroom on their break!”

Oh. My. God.

“Nice. Is it the good kind? Is it steamy? How many are-”

“Shut” smack “Up.” smack.

“Arm I am not jumping down from the first fucking floor dammit I just got back on active duty.”, Big all but whined through the earpiece.

“Big-”

“Ahhhh!”, Before Arm could finish pathetic excuse Porsche wrapped his arms around Big and pushed them both off the vent.

He should not have joked about not coming back.

He screamed all the way down.

They landed hard, Porsche hitting the ground first breaking their fall as best he could. Big slammed on top his clutching the alpha’s shoulder for dear life.

“Holy shit!”, the omega wheezed.

“See? Perfect landing.”, Porsche grimaced below him.

“Perfect landing!? You threw us out of a vent!”, Big whisper-yelled, smacking his chest as he scrambled off of him, “We could’ve died-”

“As much as I love hearing you scold me,” Porsche groaned as he stood up after Big, “we should get going before they find us.”

Without waiting for his reply, Porsche grabbed the omega’s hand and lead them over the fence where Arm was waiting.

As soon as they were inside the van Big wrenched his hand out of the alpha’s hold, “I am never going out on the field with you again.”

“Hey! Not fair.”, the alpha groaned as removed his gear from his shoulder, “I brought you back safe and sound, didn’t I?”

Big’s eyes zeroed in on the blood on the belt Porsche removed. “You’re hurt!?”

Big jumped across the seat trying to see the wounds his stupid alpha had caused himself, in his panic he accidentally pressed hard against the wound causing the alpha to hiss in pain.

“Sorry.”, Big mumbled and forced his fingers to stop trembling and his breathing to slow down. Once he was calm enough, he slowly pulled the alpha’s shirt up, revealing a bunch of scratches on side which Porsche had used to break their fall.

Stupid alpha.

Big examined them further, most of them were just on the surface, but there were a few which ran a bit deep causing blood to ooze out. Big helped Porsche remove his shirt and pulled the emergency first aid kit from under their seat. (No, he did not swoon over his phoenix tattoo, shut up.)

Big dabbed antiseptic on a cotton pad and leaned closer, muttering under his breath, “You’re such a dumbass.”

Porsche hissed as the alcohol made contact with his skin. “I am not a dumbass, just a quick-thinker.”

“You threw us off a fucking building, while being shot at.”

“And back to safety, see quick thinking.”

Big pressed the pad harder into the wounds.

“OW- okay, okay I deserved that!”

“Idiot.”, Big grumbled as he continued cleaning the wounds.

When he deemed them clean enough, he unscrewed the cap of an antiseptic cream and started applying it on the wound, “Sorry.”, he mumbled as the alpha hissed at the burn. Big began blowing over them to ease the pain.

A comfortable silence washed over them as Big took out the roll of bandage, and slowly started wrapping it around the alpha’s torso. He ignored they way Porsche skin felt under his fingertips, or how gooseflesh erupted where Big’s fingers had brushed it.

“You could’ve seriously gotten hurt.”, Big whispered against Porsche’s back.

“I didn’t.”

“But-”

“Big,”, he turned around to slightly face the omega, “I didn’t.”

Big looked into the alpha’s eyes a second longer before nodding and going back to fixing the bandage. When he was done neither of them moved from their places, scents unconsciously intertwining silently letting today’s events wash over them.

“We’re almost there.”, Arm voice broke through the silence. Big started packing up their stuff as Porsche put his shirt back on.

…

Big along with the others was sitting in the cafeteria eating a light snack after the briefing was over. Half of them were almost falling asleep on their bowls, tired to their bones.

Big himself was just functioning on last adrenaline fumes running through his system. All the omega could see was his very soft, comfy bed, but P’Chan had asked them to stay for some godforsaken reason that Big knew would be entirely ridiculous. The old man liked to fuck with them a lot like that.

Well, this is not going to work at all.

Big rapidly shook his head to get some of the sleep out of him and got up from his chair to put his bowl in the sink. He was in the middle was splashing some water on his face to bring some kind of feeling back to it when-

“Big.”

Big’s hands froze mid-way as his brain registered the voice. Water still dripping down his face, the omega turned around, heart in his throat.

“Khun.”, he bowed at Kinn, hoping he looked somewhat presentable.

Wipe your face, idiot!

As if a lightbulb had gone off in his head, Big swiftly turned around and dried his face with some tissues lying around. He turned back around trying desperately to seem alert and not look like a racoon who’d stuck his face under a tap.

When Big matched the alpha’s gaze, the man was looking at him with an amused glint in his eyes. The omega straightened his back, training his eyes on the wall behind Kinn trying to supress the stupid blush creeping up his cheeks.

God, his cheeks muscle really need a break.

“You okay Big?”, Kinn asked, his lips curved into a tiniest smile ever.

“Splendid!”

Splendid?

Splendid!?

Big wanted to bash his head against the wall and then drown himself in the sink. Who even says splendid?

“Splendid, huh?”, Kinn was full-on laughing now. And Big didn’t whether to enjoy it or freak the fuck out, because holy hell Kinn was laughing.

“Yeah? I am mean I’m good sir. Did you need anything?”, Big asked, desperately trying to salvage the situation.

“No, I just wanted to check how you were doing. I heard you held at-”, he stepped closer as he spoke, almost crowding Big against the sink, lifted his hand up and traced the faint bruise that had formed on the omega’s temple, “-gunpoint.”

Big’s heart stuttered to a stop. The world around him faded in the background, as all of his senses zeroed in on the warmth against his temple, and zaps of electricity flowing through his body.

The alpha’s trace was light, barely touching him. Just a whisper of pressure against his skin. But that alone was enough to wreak havoc through Big’s body and brain. The omega’s eyes were zeroed in on the alpha’s, as if in a trance, breathing in the familiar scent of whiskey and cloves, that had completely enveloped him by now.

Please don’t move.

“And that you had to jump off a building.”, Big blinked once, slow and heavy, as Kinn’s voice gently cut through the haze.

He swallowed once, trying to get some moisture back in his mouth, “Oh, that-”, he looked up, “it was nothing serious, not something I haven’t already faced at least.”, he broke the eye contact as the heir’s brows furrowed at his words, “And about the fall Porsche took the brunt of it, so if anyone it’s him you should be worried about.”

He finished with a wobbly smile, his mind screaming at him to create some distance between them lest he do something stupid like leaning and purring into the alpha’s touch.

At Porsche’s mention, a sharp look flickered through Kinn’s eyes, gone too quickly to name but unmistakable, “Did he now?”, his jaw tightened as he dropped his hand and took a step back.

No-

Big clenched his hands against the sink, trying to suppress the protest that was threatening to climb up his throat.

“Next time,” the alpha straightened his perfectly crisp shirt, “I need you to be careful clear? I don’t want to see a scratch on you.” He commanded before turning on his heels and walking away.

Big bowed after him, but all the omega could think was-

Why?

It was the first time since Big had taken a position in the compound that the alpha had personally come in to check on him. And being concerned because of a tiny bruise. Kinn had not batted an eye when Big had taken literal bullets for him, not even something as small as a thank you was thrown the omega’s way. So, why now?

Big started walking towards the hallway leading to bodyguard’s quarters, still deep in his thoughts, trying to figure out the weird incident that took place seconds when the scent of cedar and white musk hit him. He whipped his face in the scent’s direction and saw Porsche’s retreating figure walking back to the cafeteria.

What?

Before Big could contemplate further, “Big!”, came Ken’s voice, “Come on, let’s sleep.”, the omega followed his friend, a weird, uncomfortable feeling curling up in his gut.

Chapter Text

Chapter 9

The next couple of days were inhumane for the squad. Every hour was spent either going through ridiculous amounts of numbers, tailing the Italians and the Triad members, or going on more recon missions, not as intense as the first one, sure, but still exhausting enough to make Big question his life choices.

P’Chan and P’Nop had achieved a new level of cruelty, which Big did not think was possible, but expectations were meant to be broken, weren’t they? Both of them were always found either barking orders around (which Big thought was completely unnecessary) or berating poor recruits to the end of their souls for minuscule mistakes.

Even Big’s mango sticky rice had not been spared from their wrath. The omega was going to take his revenge as soon as this mission was over and both the alphas were relatively less scary. Hmph.

Their days blended together in a painful, sleep-deprived collage of combing through corrupted files, torturing information out of low-level thugs, tracing their enemy’s steps, to predict their next movement and planning a perfect ambush.

Arm had eye-bags Big didn’t think were physically possible. Pete had threatened to leave everything and go back to his grandma twice, Ken eagerly ready to follow him. Pol was more coffee less human at this point and Porsche was found napping on any horizontal surface he could find. Big had once found him napping on the fucking pool table, what in the world was the alpha doing there was beyond him.

But, the happiest person of them all in this whole shit-show was Khun Vegas. That bastard, Big could see the glint in his eyes when he was ordering the guards around like puppets in his little show.

Finally on the fourth day, all of them were gearing up to raid one of the warehouses near the coastline, where the Italians were having a deal with the Triads, trading assets, trying to establish a command over the Bangkok mafia. Idiots.

Everyone moved forward in their respective groups to execute their assigned tasks. Both Khun Kinn and Khun Vegas were involved, which in Big’s opinion was a bomb waiting to explode.

The squad loaded into their vehicles, engines humming low in the night, Big adjusted his harness, as Arm double-checked every comm line, along with the video feeds, and Ken took a bunch of “in case we die” selfies. Big rolled his eyes so hard it was a miracle they weren’t stuck.

The vehicles pulled out of the compound.

The next thing Big knew, they were back.

Somehow through sheer spite, adrenaline, and whatever cosmic luck that refused to let them die the raid had gone perfectly. Every target apprehended, every stolen asset recovered, every missing ledger retrieved.

A rare, clean win.

Big didn’t remember half of it. He remembered running, shouting, Vegas tackling people twice his size, and Kinn blazing guns like he was in a fucking action movie.

And in the blink of an eye, they were back in the vans and heading back home. P’Chan had announced a celebration making everyone rejoice at the mention of food and alcohol.

Upon reaching the compound everyone trudged out of the vans and towards their respective rooms to freshen-up and take a much needed nap, before meeting back in the courtyard. Big had half a mind to just go to bed for the night and not show his face at the party, but he knew his stupid friends wouldn’t let him do that. Stupid fuckers.

…

When Big entered the courtyard the party was in full swing. How do these people even have the energy? Big wasn’t even sure how he was standing on his own two legs right now, and here everyone was dancing as if it were a normal Friday.

Kids these days. Tch. Tch. Tch.

(Big was only twenty-four.)

He scanned the crowd to find his hooligans when-

Wait-

Is that Vegas between Pete and Ken!

Big blinked twice, rubbed his eyes for good measure, and blinked again. Nope. Still there.

Wedged between Ken and Pete with his back leaning against Pete was Vegas. The omega had his arms on Ken’s shoulder, and Pete had his own on Kens waist, both of them successfully trapping his best friend against them. Big squinted and saw Ken’s lips curved in shy smile, his cheeks coloured a cute red as he talked (flirted) with the couple.

As the initial shock faded, Big felt his own lips spread into a big smile at the scene, finally, maybe coming to the party was not a bad idea after all.

He watched for another second, leaning his hip against one of high tables like a neighbourhood auntie. Ken was practically glowing, all pink-cheeked babbling about something that made Vegas look up at him with the softness that was only reserved for the people he loved. Pete, meanwhile had a dumbest grin plastered on his face, swaying them gently like they were the only ones here. And maybe they were.

Big couldn’t remember the last time he had seen Ken smile like that. The kind that made him look like an overenthusiastic kid in a toy store. Warmth curled in Big’s chest watching his best friend finally be with the men he had been so pathetically pining over for the last couple of months, and from the looks of it, the feelings were mutual if not tenfold.

“They look cute, don’t they?”, a voice whispered beside Big breaking him out of his reverie.

Pol looped his arm around the omega as he came to stand beside him, pulling Big slightly to himself, “They do. And about time they came to their senses.”, Big nuzzled into Pol’s side without any shame having half a mind to fall asleep and force the beta to carry him back to his room.

“Hey.”, Pol nudged him slightly, “Don’t fall asleep on me now.” All he got from the omega was some unintelligible sound as Big burrowed in further.

“Come on,” he pushed Big towards the bar, “let’s go get you a drink. Arm’s waiting for us.” Big groaned but let himself be herded towards the bar. He leaned most of his weight on Pol, his feet just futilely dragging behind him. Honestly, if Pol were to let go of him right now, Big would no doubt faceplant and accept his fate and just lay there.

God he was so tired.

The bar area was lit with warm fairy light (which suspiciously looked like the ones Big had put up with Kim in his balcony) crowded with bodyguards who were too rowdy and drinking too fast for men who’d almost died twelve hours ago.

“There he is!”, Arm spotted them as soon as they reached the bar, “My favourite disaster.”, he dramatically clutched his chest. Great, seems like the beta was already drunk.

“Here.”, he pushed a drink in front of Big as soon as he sat down. Big stared down at the tumbler as if it were the bane of his existence, and then promptly downed its contents in a go.

“Ewugh!”

“Yeah…that was sipping whiskey.”

“When were you going to tell me that!?”

“Hey, I didn’t know you would down it like water. Is this your first time drinking alcohol!?”

Big felt moisture gather around his eyes as Arm yelled back. Great. Knowing his history with alcohol, Big was now both exhausted and highly sensitive.

He thumped his head against the bar counter to hide his tears and took a couple of deep breaths. What the fuck is wrong with you!?

Arm’s face instantly melted into panic, “Oh-oh, no, no, no, no,” he scooted closer, clasping a hand around Big’s nape, trying to gently coax his head up, “Big? Biggie? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to yell at you. Don’t cry please. Pol, do something!”

“Big?”, Pol gently rubbed his hands up and down the omega’s back, “Are you okay, baby?”

Big’s throat tightened at the question, desperately trying to scream a big NO. He was not okay, he has had a very confusing week, where everyone – especially those two, had been acting weird, and Big didn’t know what the fuck to make out of it. And he was just very, very tired, and just wanted to sleep. Please.

Trying to control the onslaught of emotions, he slowly raised his head, “I’m sorry.”, he whispered as he wiped residual moisture from his eyes, “I’m just being dramatic.”

“No, you’re not being dramatic.”, Pol scolded.

“The past few days have been a lot, haven’t they?”

“They have but it’s not fair,” he pouted, “you guys have had the same days I did and don’t deserve to be burdened by my useless emotions.”

“Okay no. No, none of that.”, Arm cupped Big’s face almost squishing it and made the omega face him, “We’ve talked about this before, haven’t we? Your emotions are not a burden. Things that are troubling you are not useless.” He pulled the boy’s face closer to his own, “You won’t label mine, Pol’s, Pete’s, Ken’s, or any of the recruits for that matter useless or stupid for whatever problems we had, would you?”

Big shook his head – well as much as he could with the death grip on his face, as he looked at his friend, mind slowing down a smidge. “That’s what I thought.” The beta wiped a stray tear that escaped from Big’s eyes, “Now tell me what’s going on with you, this doesn’t seem like the usual post-mission exhaustion.”

“But first,” Pol interrupted, “drink up.” Big gulped down the complete bottle of water Pol held against his lips and settled comfortably against his friends, pondering what to say, and how to convey the mess that was swirling in his head.

Taking a deep breath Big started recounting the incidents that had occurred in the past weeks, everything he’d bottled up, or refused to acknowledge, even to himself. He talked about his moment with Kinn in the cafeteria, the alpha’s odd behaviour, the way his fingers had lingered on Big’s skin which had his heart stutter so violently he was scared it would stop.

He talked about Porsche’s behaviour since the night they’d been to Yok’s, the way the guy had started flirting with him, his remarks, the way he would always stand too close to Big every time they’re in the same room.

He talked about how the past weeks had left him feeling off-balance, confused, and unsteady in a way he did not like. About not knowing what any of it meant.

As he was talking his voice got smaller, more unsure like this was just a big illusion his mind had come up with to cope with his pathetic feelings. And Arm and Pol through it all just listened, letting the omega vent, cry and confess all his insecurities and feelings, holding him tight and keeping him tethered.

When Big finally exhaled, his shoulders sagging. He felt a weight which he hadn’t realized he had been carrying around lift off his shoulders.

“Oh, sweetheart,” Arm spoke first, “that’s not stupid, that is a completely valid reaction to all the things that have happened, that too all at once.”

“Yeah, you haven’t even had time to breathe, let alone process all of this.”, Pol continued, “So don’t beat yourself up over it, okay?”

“Exactly, anyone of us would have the same reaction.”, Pol nodded agreeing with Arm.

Big curled a little tighter between them, “I just- I just don’t know what to do. I don’t know what any of this means.”

“Do you want it mean something?”

Big looked up at his friends staring at Arm first and then shifting to Pol, Pol’s question echoing in his head, contemplating it before letting out a small “…yeah”, like he wasn’t allowed to say this out loud, like he was asking for something forbidden.

“With both of them? Or…”

Big hesitated, his eyes stinging again as his breathing picked, he looked at them both again, terrified to say it out loud.

Arm squeezed his hands in reassurance, both of them patiently waiting for him to gather the courage to say it out loud.

After a long pause.

“Both.” he whispered, coiling upon himself as if trying to protect himself from their judgement, their disgust, or worst of all their pity for falling for something he can’t have.

But it never came, instead, “Oh, baby,” Pol breathed, his voice warm in a way Big had only heard when he was soothing Tankhun after one of his nightmares.

“That isn’t something to be ashamed of, okay?” Arm assured.

“But-”

“No buts, you have feelings for them and that’s completely okay. You are allowed to fall in love with them. Okay?”, Arm interrupted Big’s very self-deprecating protest.

“I don’t- Okay.” Big let out a tiny smile at Pol’s stern expression.

“That’s my boy.”

“I love you.” Big mumbled after a minute of silence, squeezed them both tightly closer, grateful for having them in his life.

“Aw honey, we love you too.”

“You wanna talk some more?”

“No,” he pulled away and slid down his seat, “not today. I’m just too exhausted. I think I’ll just go splash some water on my face, get my head cleared bit?”

They both nodded giving him a pair of reassuring smiles. Returning one of his own, Big started walking towards the building, “Big?” Big whirled around and came face to face with very concerned Ken and Pete. Both their eyes widened when their gazes met his, noticing his slightly reddened eyes. They hastily covered the distance between them their arms raised out to reach him.

“What happened!?”

“Are you okay?”

“Why are you crying!?”

“Where are you-”

“Guys!” Arm interrupted their questions, “Let him breathe.”

He pulled both the alphas a few steps back and continued, “Let him go, and freshen up a bit, then you can fuss over him all you want, okay?”

Both of them looked back at Big waiting for him to reassure them, physically restraining themselves from not smothering him with their scents. Big smiled in response with a slight nod to reassure them he was alright. Well, as alright as one can be after that nerve-wrecking confession.

Big turned back around and walked towards one of the bathrooms inside when he saw both his friends were alright and were not going to stink up the place because of their protective instincts going haywire.

…

Big rounded the corner into the hallway leading to the bathroom. It was one of the bathrooms situated in a secluded corner of the mansion, anyone rarely came here guaranteeing Big the silence and privacy he so badly needed.

He walked further into the hall, wiping the tears that had managed to fall, willing himself to hold on just a little longer. He was almost at the bathroom door when-

Sharp, angry and frustrated pheromones hit him through the bathroom door, giving him a whiplash.

Wait.

He knew those scents.

Big took a tentative step closer and took a hesitant little sniff – burnt whiskey and cigars intertwined with cedar and white musk.

What? No.

What were they doing here?

Big’s fingers curled against his palms, nails biting into the soft flesh a new set of nerves hit him. He swallowed; he should leave. He should give them some privacy. He should-

“…the concern was too real for someone who is so insignificant to you.”

Big froze so hard his breath stopped for a minute as he heard Porsche seethe through the door.

“You are no position to huff, when you were the one who started this stupid game.”, Big’s brows furrowed his heart picking pace as Kinn’s rough, angry voice rebutted.

What are they talking about?

He really should leave. This is not his place.

Shaking himself out of his stupor, Big lightly took a step back in the direction he came from when Porsche’s words made him freeze again.

“My thing was just a joke, a little harmless flirting, anyone with two functioning eyes could see that. But you!”, Porsche’s voice crackled, “You going to him, fucking touching him was not harmless. Especially with the kind of feelings he has for you.”

Big’s vision blurred.

No-

No, no, no, no, please-

Kinn let out a sharp, humourless laugh.

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.”, Something slammed, maybe a fist against a counter or a bottle against the sink, the sound ricocheting through the hallway making Big flinch. “Flirting with him was not harmless, seeking him out in every room was not harmless-”, clang, “-fucking using yourself as a shield to save him was not fucking harmless!”

“Kinn, I-”

“No!”, Kinn sharply cut him off, “I tolerated when you flirted with him just to get some spite out of me but this. This wasn’t harmless, this-”

“Kinn!”, Porsche’s voice trembled full of emotions Big did not want to name cut through Kinn’s rant, “I did not do it because it was him-”

Big’s breath stuttered, his knees threatening to give out. No, please stop.

“I did it because he was going to jeopardise the mission. I would’ve done the same if there were someone else in his place.”

Someone else in his place.

Jeopardise the mission.

A burden.

“I don’t know. I just heard people catching up to us below the vent, and all I could think about how we needed to get out. How we-I needed to do something to-”

“To what? Play the hero and save the day as always? Be the guy who bravely saved the damsel and ran through the fucking fire!?”

“No, to come back to you.”, Porsche whispered.

 The entire hallway settled in silence after that sentence

But Big.

Big felt his world slowly tilting off its axis in that hallway, where he stood painfully pressed against wall listening to a conversation he knew was not meant for him, but would shatter him to pieces nevertheless.

The omega bit hard on his lips, drawing blood, trying to suppress the sobs that were threatening to rip out from his throat, tears continuously falling down his cheeks making it hard for him to breathe.

But the pain in his lungs was nothing compared to the way his heart was shattering piece by piece as his alphas – no not his alphas, as the alphas he was in love with were slowly tearing it apart without even knowing it.

Or, maybe they did know it.

“Porsche…”, Kinn breathed, in a way Big had only ever dreamed of and now knew was never ever going to be directed at him, “I-”

“But, then you went to him,”, Porsche voice came out wet, as if he too had tears streaming down his face, “and touched him. Looked at him in a way that screamed he was yours.”

And wasn’t that the cruellest truth of all.

He was his.

He was theirs.

In the most hauntingly painful way possible there was.

Big dug his nails into his palms drawing blood, letting the pain centre him.

Inside, Kinn’s voice splintered, “Po,” he took in a shaky breath, “it didn’t mean anything.”

The last piece of heart Big had desperately held onto shattered.

“When I went to him, I wasn’t looking at him.”, footsteps shuffled inside, “I was angry, jealous, and scared that I had almost lost you. And I saw him and I got this stupid urge to get back at you for all the time you used him to rile me up. To make you feel what I felt whenever you…”

“That’s the problem isn’t it.” Porsche whispered, his voice wrecked, as if it was physically hurting him to say all this out loud, “How long are we going to play around like this? I’m tired. I’m tired of feeling insecure, of always being afraid that you’ll find someone better than me. Someone who suits your tastes more. Someone who is blindly devoted to you. Someone like him.”

Why…

Why did it have to be him?

Why did you use me like that?

Big felt the questions tear through him, raw, aching and humiliating. His throat burned as he stifled another sob, pressing both his hands tightly against his mouth, shoulders shaking uncontrollably.

“Someone who hangs onto every word you say. Someone who looks at you like you hung the damn moon.”, please stop talking, “And I hate that I’m jealous of that. I hate that I can’t stand it when he smiles at you. I hate that I- I hate that I wish I could be that easy for you to love.”

Kinn inhaled sharply, like he was the one hurt by Porsche’s words. He haphazardly moved towards Porsche, as if he cannot see the alpha in pain a second more than necessary.

“Porsche no-”, his voice carried so much pain that Big recoiled into himself, trying to save some of his being, “Po, listen to me. Hey-”, Kinn’s voice turned impossibly gentle, a tone Big had once yearned, “look at me.”

The sound of fabrics rustling against each other echoed through the hallway as they moved closer to one another.

“You are the one I want.”

“Bu-”

“No.”, Kinn said with such conviction that even the deaf could hear it, “Not him. Not anyone. You. You understand. I love-”

Big forced himself to walk out of that hallway, one step, then another, then another-

Away from the hallway, away from that door, away from the words that shattered him to his core. He stumbled through the corridor, desperately trying to keep himself from breaking down in the middle of the living room.

He owed it to himself to fall apart in the sanctity of his own bedroom without any prying eyes pitying him and his pathetic feelings.

After what felt like hours, he stumbled in front of his bedroom door. No sooner had he entered it than, he felt all the sobs, the whimpers and the screams he had suppressed in that corridor tear out of his throat.

His legs gave out beneath him, his knees buckling no longer able to hold his weight, and he crashed onto the floor with a bruising thud. But the pain did not register in his brain, not even a sting.

All he could hear were their words ringing in his ears in an endless loop, again and again, each repetition twisting painfully deeper, sharper.

Flirting was a harmless joke.

I did not do it for him.

It didn’t mean anything.

It was never him.

Big pressed his palms against the floor, shoulders shaking so violently his joints ached in protest. More choked out sounds were ripped from his throat, leaving it scraped raw.

WHY!?

Why, why, why, why?

“Why!?” The omega wrecked out loud, his face red and eyes completely swollen. “Why…”

Why drag him into their mess!?

Why give him hope?       

Why were his feeling not important!?

Big gasped, as the questions got louder and louder in his head, his lungs desperately fighting to pull in some air in.

Who had he wronged to deserve this!?

He never asked for this…

Big sobbed, banging his fists against the floor, the pain getting too painful to contain.

The air around him filled with the scent of an omega in distress, the cocoa burnt, charred. Big reached inward in his mind searching for his omega, desperately praying he hadn’t lost it.

Please…where are you…?

Nothing.

He came up empty, his omega had gone eerily quiet, not acknowledging Big’s attempts to reach out, it was as if he was never there in the first place.

His breathing got alarmingly uneven, his throat closing in panic. Big clawed his way up his chest and around his throat. His finger painfully scratching the tender skin, breaking it, trying desperately to get his breath even.

No-

Come back. Please.

Please.

Not you too. Don’t leav-

“Hey, hey, it’s okay.” Big felt warm hands wrap gently around his own, trying to pry them away from around his throat with careful strength. “It’s okay, little one, let go.”

No-

He’s going away.

Big whimpered as the smell of gunpowder and smoke, mixed with the sharp, grounding scent of miswak, curled around him like a shield.

The omega looked through his tears and found P’Nop leaning in front of him, his own eyes filled to the brim with worry, palms gently bracing Big’s trembling sides.

“Little one.” The voice again whispered behind him – P’Chan. “I need you to let go pup, please. You’re hurting yourself.”

“Breathe, little one. Come on.” P’Nop successfully pried one of Big’s hand and pressed it against his own chest, breathing exaggeratedly. “See, just like this. In. Out. In- yeah you’re doing amazing. Just a couple more okay. Yes, just like that.”

Big continued looking into the alpha’s eyes and tried to mimic his breaths just like the older man guided him. Behind him, P’Chan gently took hold of his other hand and slowly unclenched his fingers, one at a time as if they were the most fragile things he had ever handled.

Once Big’s breathing was normal enough, and the burning in lungs had lessened, P’Nop removed his hand and intertwined their fingers together. “There you go. Feeling better?”

A new set of tears gathered around his eyes at that question. “Oh, no don’t cry little one.” P’Nop brushed some of them away. “I’m sorry. That was a stupid question, wasn’t it?”

“I’ll get some water.” P’Chan gently pushed him into other alpha’s arms and stood up to grab the pitcher of water from the small kitchenette.

“Come on, let’s get you on the couch, okay?” P’Nop gently lifted the omega in his arms.

“P?” Big looked at the door to see Ken, Arm, Pete, and Pol standing there. Their expressions showing different levels of distress.

“What’s going on?” The four of them entered the bedroom, closer to where P’Nop was sitting with Big on his lap. Seeing them coming closer, Big curled tighter around himself, tightening his hands around his legs.

Ken let out a strangled noise to Big’s reaction, his scent turning sad and desperate, the other three mimicking him.

Sorry.

Big flinched, subconsciously digging his nails into the flesh of his thigh, desperately trying to tell his brain that he was safe now. They were his brothers; they won’t hurt him.

“Boys,” P’Chan called out as he walked towards the couch with a glass of water in hand, “it’s okay. He’s stressed right now. Give him some room to breathe, yeah?”

“Little one.” He kneeled in front of the couch. “Come on look at me.” P’Chan gently lifted Big’s chin. “There you are,” he smiled, “drink this for me, okay?” The alpha lifted the glass to his lips and gently tilted it, helping Big take small sips from it until he had finished the whole glass. “There you go. That’s it, you did so good.”

Big took in a couple of deep breath, taking in the scents of his family around him, trying to ground himself. He slowly unclenched his fingers around his thighs and looked at them, “Sorry…”

The four standing back until now took it as a sign and scrambled close to where he was sitting, forming a little circle. Desperately reassuring him and telling him that there was nothing to apologise for.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Pete hesitantly asked, breaking the slow comfortable silence.

“No,” Big whispered, “not tonight. Please.”

“No, no.” Pete shook his head rapidly, “It’s okay if you don’t ever wanna talk about it.” His own face crumbling, “Just. I just want you to be okay.”

Big opened his arms, and they didn’t hesitate for even a second, pulling him from P’Nop’s lap and wrapping around him tightly, cocooning him. “I will be.” Big whispered, “I promise.”

“Can-” Big swallowed, “Can you all stay with me tonight? If- If it’s not too much.”

“It’s not.” Arm assured immediately, the other three nodding in agreement.

“All of you can sleep in our room.” P’Nop added, “No one would disturb you there.”

“Yeah.” P’Chan agreed. “And you all have a day off tomorrow. So, sleep in okay? God knows you need it.”

“Alright everyone,” P’Chan stood up, “Get changed and come to our room in half an hour okay?”

Everyone nodded and slowly started dispersing to their respective rooms. Ken wrapped his arm around Big and took him further into their room to change out of their clothes and freshen up a bit.

Roughly half an hour later, a soft chaos had erupted in P’Chan and P’Nop’s room as everyone busied themselves arranging mattresses and blankets to make the set-up as cozy and comfy as possible.

Big was trying to arrange the pillows in the most perfect way possible when-

“Big?” He looked up to see P’Nop gesturing him to come where he was standing. When Big was close enough the alpha pointed towards one of the chairs there, he obediently settled on one of them, P’Nop taking a seat on the other one.

The alpha gestured Big to come closer and gently started applying a cooling gel on the scratches he had given himself along the column of his throat. “Don’t hurt yourself because of someone else ever again okay?” He gently scolded Big.

“They are not important enough.” He screwed the cap back on and stared at Big, as if challenging him to disagree.

Big hesitantly nodded in response, P’Nop stared at him for a couple of more seconds before giving a nod himself and allowing Big to go back.

On his way back, the omega made a slight detour towards the small kitchen where P’Chan was brewing some tea from them. Big slid onto the counter beside the stove, watching the kettle boil the water, and gathering the courage to make a request to his boss.

“What is it little one?” P’Chan asked, sensing Big’s nerves. He folded his hands and leaned on the opposite counter waiting for the omega to respond.

“I-” Big took a breath to ground himself, counting till five before looking back up. “Can you please transfer me to Kim’s detail?”

A beat of silence passed, P’Chan stared at him so intently that Big felt like the alpha could see straight into his soul — every wound, every crack, every ache. Big swallowed his nerves, forcing himself to no curl-in on himself again.

“Are you sure about this?” he asked quietly.

Big thought back to all the incidents with them, a strange swarm of butterflies curling in his belly. And then he remembered the words they’d uttered earlier, the pain that Big had felt – still was feeling in his very being.

He clenched his hands around the edge of the counter and nodded, “Yes,” he said softly, “I’m sure.”

Because if he didn’t… He’d let them do it again.

He’d let them break him again.

“Okay, pup.” P’Chan pushed away from the counter, “You’ll be transferred to Kim’s detail day after tomorrow. No one will question it.”

Big let out a breath he didn’t notice he had been holding and managed a small smile, great-full for his understanding and not forcing Big to tell him why.

“Now, come on.” He helped Big down the counter and guided him towards the room, “Let’s sleep. You’ve had an exhausting day.”

Big followed him to the main room where they had set up the mattresses and burrowed himself between Ken and Arm, forcing his brain to quiet down, leaving all the hurt for another day, and giving in to the exhaustion.

Chapter Text

Chapter 10

The next morning, sunlight lightly filtered through the curtains, dimly lighting up the room in a warm hazy glow. Inside, five bodies were spread across multiple mattresses on the floor.

Pol sleeping like a dead starfish on the left taking up almost a whole mattress alone, beside him Pete and Ken were curled together their heads pressed together forming a crooked heart with their bodies, and finally on the far right corner Big was lying sideways with Arm completely cocooning him and squeezing him like a teddy bear.

It looked like a picture taken straight out of a kids’ slumber party, only the kids here were pushing twenty-five, but were kids nevertheless.

Big shuffled first, eyes and brain heavy with sleep and his bladder begging him to go to the bathroom. The omega rubbed the crust off his eyes and looked around the room, his face turned in frown when he didn’t see the familiar walls of his and Ken’s room. Slowly the events of last night came up and he fell back on the mattress with a sigh.

Fuck.

He lay there for a few seconds, counting to ten in his head to stop himself from spiralling. Okay, one thing at a time. He turned to get up – or more like tried to - but the arms wrapped around his tightened, pulling him closer and a very cold nose pressed against the back of his neck. Big jolted so hard he almost kicked Ken in front of him.

“Arm!” he elbowed the beta behind him trying to wriggle free. “Arm, I need to go to the bathroom.”

All he got was some sleepy gibberish and Arm pressing his cursed cold nose even harder into his neck.

Gods it’s like a wet snout.

“Eek! Arm get your nose away, you oaf!” he again tried to pry the arms off him but it was in vain. He huffed and laid back down to catch his breath, which shouldn’t happen because he was a trained bodyguard and should have much more endurance than what he is currently portraying.

Maybe he should start doing cardio again, but then again…cardio…ew.

Big again tried pushing the hands off him, his bladder holding onto a thin rope now, but the log behind him didn’t budge. Oh my god. He had almost given up his hope of peeing in a toilet bowl, when an idea popped into his mind.

With careful hands, the omega slowly slipped his finger underneath the beta’s shirt, when he had reached his target he slowly dragged his fingertips along Arm’s sides knowing how sensitive they were. And-

The reaction was instant.

“ACK- Wha- What!?” Arm jerked awake. A strangled half-growl, half-yelp ripped out of him as his whole body spasmed, his limbs flying in various direction in an attempt to protect himself.

Big barely rolled out of the way in time, landing on the floor with an “oof”. “Sorry! I NEED TO PEE!”

He scrambled to his feet and all but ran to the bathroom, leaving behind four startled boys looking at each other as if they had been dropped off to an alien planet and were figuring out which way is up.

Big stumbled through the bathroom, not caring to shut the door properly, before almost ripping his pants down in his hurry and plopped himself on the toilet with a relieved sigh.

Finally.

After finishing his business and flushing the toilet, Big walked up to sink to wash his hands. There he caught the sight of his own reflection staring back at him. To sum it up-

Big looked exhausted.

With dark bags under his eyes, pale cheeks, and the marks he had made of his throat last night made up a really pitiful picture.

Refusing to let himself dwell in it too much, he splashed some water on his face and walked out of the bathroom.

On second thought, he should’ve just stayed in there.

Big pattered through the hallway and came face to face with a very angry Arm. Shit.

“You!” the beta pointed an accusing finger at him. “Are dead fucking meat.”

“Arm liste- ACK!” Big dashed back into the hallway as his friend launched himself at him. “Arm! I’m sorry!” the omega shrieked as he tried to force the door to P’Nop’s room in Arm’s face. “I had to pee!” he firmly pressed himself against the door and pushed.

“Oh no, you don’t you little shit.” Arm grunted and pushed with all his might.

When Big felt his legs giving out, he let go of the door and haphazardly climbed the bed - barely saving himself from banging his head against headpost - to create some distance. Which again, was a huge mistake. With Big’s weight gone from the opposite end, the huge amount of force Arm was putting against the door made it loudly bang against the wall and the beta faceplanting on the floor with a loud thud.

The room settled into silence.

Big peeked from his hiding space on the left side of the bed. “…Arm?”

Silence.

“Arm?” Big hesitantly rose from his position when the beta didn’t move from his place on the floor.

Is he dead?

“Are you dead?”

He slowly made his way towards Arm, now genuinely scared for his friend, but Big should’ve known better.

No sooner than the omega had reached there, a hand shot out and grabbed him by his ankle pulling him down. “AAHH!”

Big hit the floor with a scream his butt slamming against the cold, hard tiles – ouch, as Arm pulled him towards himself. “Arm! Let GO! My butt hurts!”

But the beta did not budge and pulled him in his direction till the omega’s sides were within his reach and then-

“ACK!!” Big screamed/giggled as Arm assaulted his sides. “Arm! I’m sorry- sto- I can’t breathe!” he wheezed in between trying to gain some sympathy but he should’ve know, never mess with Arm and his precious sleep.

If the beta did not get at least ten hours of sleep every day – like a fucking toddler, and/or you have an encounter with him before he gets his precious coffee…well then it was nice knowing you.

And right at this moment, Big thought it was his last. Can’t believe he’s going to die in this mansion. But on second thought, he gets to haunt this place for eternity. So, Big’s not that sad.

“WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL ARE YOU TWO DOING!?” At the scream both the men lying on the floor whipped their heads to come face to face with a very grouch Pol with his hair sticking in thirteen different directions.

Also, what’s up with everyone waking up angry this morning?

“Do you assholes even know what time it is, and that some of us are still asleep!?”

Using this as the distraction, Big scrambled out of Arm’s hold and on his feet dashing behind Pol using the beta as a shield. “Don’t yell at me! That dumbfuck started it.”

Excuse me!? Big didn’t start anything. It was his bladder, thank you very much.

“Hey-”

“I don’t care.” Pol seethed. Big gulped at the tone, wow maybe it was this room. Maybe the air around here had been saturated with its residents’ signature assholeyness and is now poisoning everyone with it.

“Just come back to bed” The beta grabbed Big and started his way back to the living room where their mattresses were. There Pete and Ken were lazily snuggling together and glaring in their direction.

Okay, Big really needs to ask Ken about this.

Pol plunged into the mattress he was occupying before and turned out like a light, lucky bastard. Following his lead Arm plopped on the beta’s back and pulled a blanket over them, hiding them both from any future chaos.

Big just ignored it and whisked his eyes towards the clock – eight thirty, hmm, it was kind of early to be awake. He flicked his eyes across the mattresses trying to find a comfortable place to burrow in, he didn’t want to sleep alone. So now he had two options, try to get into the blanket lump and risk himself actually getting bitten or-

Both Pete and Ken had made some space between themselves and were looking at him expectantly. Big smiled wide as he burrowed himself between them, trilling when both alphas started scenting him. Big let them do till they were content and had their nerves settled after last night’s incident, they both hadn’t gotten the chance to get close to him then. The omega let out his pheromones reassuring them he was fine.

Ken rumbled in response as they both settled around him finally drifting off to sleep.

…

The next time Big’s eyes opened, he felt more refreshed than he had been before and somewhat settled. He stretched his back out like a cat sighing at the satisfying pop. Big turned to his left to see the space beside him empty, beyond that Arm and Pol were still tangled together and he could hear Pete snore behind him.

Well, that was odd.

He got up and shuffled around the dorm (more like a full-fledged apartment) trying to find his best-friend.

Said best-friend was standing in front of the stove glaring at the kettle, threatening it to boil his water faster. “The kettle is already on fire, you know.”

“Yeah, well it needs to do better. I’ve been standing here for fifteen minutes already. This stupid thing just - clank – wont - clank – boil - clank.” Big slid on the counter beside his friend and against the wall, chuckling at the alpha’s paper thin patience. 

“How come you’re the first one up?” Big quipped, “Did the sun rise from the wrong direction this morning?” The omega just laughed at the glare directed at him.

They settled into a comfortable silence as Ken poured water into two mugs, now that the kettle finally did its job, and put two tea-bags in.

“So…” Ken started as he handed Big his mug and settled on the counter beside him, “About yesterday…” Big’s hands froze in the air, the mug almost touching his lips as his brain processed Ken’s words.

Yesterday’s memories flashed before Big’s eyes, the words said, the pain they brought along with them, and the anger and hopelessness he felt, at himself. At them.

No.

He to a deep breath forcing his hands to work and took a soothing sip from his tea, giving himself some time to centre. 

“What happened?” Ken’s voice broke through.

“It was nothing.” Big tried to out as much conviction as he could in voice “You know me. I bottle shit up and it just…blows back in my face at the worst possible moments. With the mission and all the chaos and the exhaustion, I just couldn’t keep it in.”

Big fiddled with the rim of his mug as a silence once again settled over them, but this time it was not comfortable at all. He could feel Ken’s eyes on him gauging at his body-language, his scent to figure out whether he was lying or not.

And, it wasn’t like Big wanted to lie to his friend, lie to any of his friends for that matter. They had promised each other long ago, that they would not keep things from each other no matter how long it took for any of them to blurt them out. And Big felt the guilt crawling up his legs as he lied to them.

But what choice did he have, anyway?

The omega so desperately wanted to yell, lash, cry, and rant to his family about what he had heard. What they had done. Or, how they had used him like a fucking toy. And how much he hated himself that the hurt was still stronger than the anger inside him. How he still wanted them.

Or, how his omega had just vanished.

How he was so afraid that they had taken that last piece of him with them. And they didn’t even want it.

But, he couldn’t do that now, could he?

Not when so much at stake. Not when, Ken had finally gathered the guts to make a move with Pete and Vegas. Not when Vegas’ position in this family was already fragile, and they would have to fight for their love. Not when Arm and Tay had decided to bond after years of dating. And especially not when Khun had finally found his safe space in Pol after all these years. Not when P’Nop and P’Chan were finally able to publicly acknowledge each other as mates without everyone questioning their loyalty, towards each other, towards their bosses at every step of the way.

Because Big knew, the moment he utters a single word about what happened yesterday – the moment he breathed the truth behind their every action towards him these past few weeks. His family would wage war on them, ranks be damned. He was sure of it because Big would do the same.

And after last night’s events Big knew Porsche was not some ordinary bodyguard Kinn had accidentally stumbled upon. They both knew each other way before Porsche had stepped foot into the compound, so he was someone as important as Kinn if not less and Big was not going to subject his family to their wrath.

“You’re lying.”

“No-”

“I know you’re lying because I saw them leave the same hallway last night.”

No. Big whipped his head in the alpha’s direction. No. “Ken…what?”

Ken took a deep breath and slid down the counter to get a glass of water. “After you left to freshen up and did not come back, I went there to check on you and there I saw them stumble out the hallway. I don’t what was going on but I could smell it.” Big gulped his nerves crackling, “It was so obvious – your distress, the air around was practically saturated with it.” He lifted his eyes to look at Big. “I don’t know how those two didn’t notice,” why would they “but whatever happened yesterday was because of them.”

The alpha was getting agitated as he recalled last night’s events, his grip on the glass tightening, knuckled turning white to a point where Big got scared his friend would hurt himself.

“Ken listen-”

“At first I just brushed it off,” he walked closer “I thought you were genuinely just having a meltdown and nothing else. But then we saw you and that was not what your meltdowns look like.”

Big opened his mouth to defend himself, but nothing came out.

The alpha rubbed a hand down his face in frustration. “You really think I’m that stupid- that we’re that stupid. Or do you just not trust us enough?” Big’s chest tightened at the crack in Ken’s voice.

“Ken, no.” He stumbled to cover the distance between them and tightly held Ken’s hands in his. “Of course, you’re not stupid and I do trust you. I trust you all with my life!” The omega insisted.

“It’s just whatever happened yesterday. I- I just need some time to process it myself. Before you know I can talk about it with you guys.” He looked at Ken in earnest. “Please let me just process it. I promise I’ll tell you.”

“Of course you can have all the time you want stupid!” Ken reprimanded, “I meant not to just brush off your hurt like it was nothing! Not in front of us at least.” He squeezed Big’s hands once, “You take as much time as you want we’ll always be here.”

Big nodded at him a small smile gracing his lips before letting go of his hands and turning towards the stove wordlessly ending that topic. Ken shuffled behind him a bit getting all the ingredients they’d need to make their breakfast, well lunch and busied himself beside Big. A comfortable silence settling over them.

And the tightness in Big’s chest that had gathered since last night loosened a bit.

“So…wanna tell me about what happened last night? Between you, Vegas, and Pete.” The omega wiggled his eyebrows at his friends reddening cheeks.

…

The rest of the day all five of them spent hiding in P’Chan and P’Nop’s room binging all the movies they missed on the alphas’ gigantic LED and stuffing their stomachs to the brim. Like the perks these two have just because they had been in the compound a few years, okay a lot of few years (ten) longer than them was just dumb. No, Big was not being petty.

He and Ken were now walking towards the cafeteria to have their dinner and then go to bed, because it takes a lot of energy to complete five movies and five kilos worth of junk food in a single sitting.

They were in the middle of discussing the last movie they saw when-

“P’BIG!!!!!”

Hearing the familiar voice Big prepared himself, and not even a second later air whooshed around them and the next second an overly excited mass of sunshine slammed into his chest, “Uff.” knocking the air out of his lungs.

“HI!” Two bright shinning eyes looked up at Big.

“Hi little one,” The omega ruffled Kim’s mop of hair – he needs a haircut. “what are you doing here?”

“Wait, am I just a piece of chopped liver now?” Before the pup could answer Big’s question, Ken mused beside them.

“Sawade Khap, P’Ken.” Kim flashed a sickly sweet smile, which was ninety percent sarcastic at Ken in response.

“Brat.”

“Okay,” Big interrupted “now tell me what are you doing here? And why were you running like your butt was on fire, hmm?”

“Oh, oh, oh.” The pup squeezed his tighter around Big in his excitement, “I heard you are going to be with me from now. Is that true!? Is it!? Is it!?”

Big’s lips spread in an endearing smile seeing Kim’s excitement. Oh, how he missed the kid. “Yes, I’ve been transferred to your detail. You happy?”

All he got in response were some extremely excited nods, which Big had to stop in the fear that Kim would sprain his neck something. “Okay, okay, enough.” He gently squeezed the pup’s nape grounding him a bit. “Have you eaten?”

“Uh-huh, I had dinner with Hia, Hia Khun, P’Porsche and Chay.” Oh. “They are now talking with Paa about something and P’Porsche and Chay went out.”

“Is that so.” Big whispered, a weird feeling curling around his chest hearing that. Family dinner night, huh.

How Big had ever been delusional enough to think that those two-

“We were going to get some dinner now; would you want to come with us?” Ken’s voice cut through before Big could spiral into his thoughts. The alpha was eyeing him, as if scolding his inside voice with his own.

“Yes please!” Kim unwrapped himself from around Big and went to stand in front of Ken. The pup stood in front of his friend and raised his arms in demand, “Up.”

God he was just like his brother. Big rolled his eyes at Kim’s antics.

“Oh, now you remember me huh.” Ken raised an unimpressed brow at the brat, “Why don’t you ask your precious P’Big to pick you up. Also, you are a grown kid capable of walking on your own legs. Why should I pick you up?”

“Because P’Big got shot recently, duh.” Kim sassed, “And I am your boss, you need to obey me.”

What.

“Kim.” Big called, warning laced under his tone.

He really needs to stay away from his brother. Gods.

“I mean, you are so tall P’Ken. I want to see the world from that height. Please…pleaseeeeeee.” The menace presented Ken his best puppy eyes ever, like you could see stars coming out of them aiming straight at ken’s hear like a fucking beam.

The pup needs to stay away from both his brothers. All the work Big had done to raise him to be a good boy had gone down the drain. But then again his pup was a cute little thing, and knew how to manipulate people into doing his bidding so it was a win-win situation.

Ken matched that stare for complete three seconds before drawing a long suffering sigh, “Okay, okay I’ll carry you stop with those eyes before I go blind.” Ken hadn’t even finished his sentence before Kim had started climbing like a fucking tree, giving Big almost a heart attack in the process.

Big leaped forward to support Ken when Kim missed a step and almost brought them both tumbling down on the floor. “Careful!”

“Sorry!”

Ken finally got a proper grip under Kim’s thighs and hoisted him up on his back, the pup wrapping one arm around him and with the other hand gripping Big’s shirt.

“Let’s go. Let’s go. Let’s goooo.” He pulled both the adults towards the cafeteria.

Upon reaching the cafeteria, the trio walked towards their usual table where Pete was already sitting, Kim still chatting their ears off.

“Where are Arm and Pol?” Ken asked as they reached the table, carefully setting Kim down in a chair, and plopping himself beside Pete.

The said alpha kissed Ken on his cheek. “Hey babe.”

“EW!” Kim visible gagged at display making Big chuckle as the red on Ken’s face got ten times brighter.

Revenge tasted so sweet.

“Are you and P’Vegas not together anymore?” Kim tilted his head in question.

“What!?” Both the alphas shouted in unison.

Oh, this was so much fun.

Big slapped a hand over his mouth to smother the cackle clawing up his throat.

“Are you cheating on my hia!?” Kim gasped. “And that too with this oaf!?” He pointed an accusing finger at a red faced Ken struggling to get any words out of his mouth at the kid’s questions.

At this Big did laugh out loud. A full-on belly-aching hyena sounding laugh. Oh, this was better than any soap opera he had ever watched. His laughter grew ten-fold when he glanced at Pete.

The alpha seemed to be frozen in place, utterly flabbergasted at the kid’s accusation towards his loyalty to his mate and the humiliation towards his future mate.

“Pete!?” Ken shrieked beside him. “Say something, you idiot!”

Oh, Big couldn’t breathe. He wished Arm and Pol were here to witness this.

“Huh, yes.” Seemingly pulled from his thoughts Pete shook his head and looked at Kim, “No, I am not cheating in your brother. We’re courting this oaf-”

“Hey!”

“-, okay? And it’s a secret so don’t tell anyone.” To seal the deal Pete materialized a candy and offered it to Kim.

“Pete, don’t bribe a kid!” Big reprimanded.

“Deal!” Kim snatched the candy from Pete’s hands and held it against his chest as if it were the most precious thing in the world.

“Kim!”

“Hia Nu always taught me to always look for profits in every situation.” Kim so graciously reasoned.

Big defeatedly sighed and looked up, asking for some strength, “Why do you never remember the things that I teach you?”

Kim as usual had an answer ready. “Well,” he twiddled with the wrapper, “your teachings are complicated and boring. Plus, they never get me candies.”

The omega finally gave up all hopes of raising a good boy then and accepted defeat. He got up to get himself a plate of some rice and chicken, wallowing internally at his loss.

Such a pure soul…now corrupted.

He returned to their table, light chatter filling up the table as they ate, Kim now busy with his candy. Pete was in the middle of a story about Macau planning a ridiculously ornate plan to steal one of Tankhun’s fish to gift it to his teacher, when a small piece of candy was placed in Big’s plate.

Huh?

Confused Big looked up from his plate and saw two identical pieces on Pete and Ken’s plates too. Both of them were already staring at Kim with fond eyes. Oh.

Big followed their gaze.

Kim was nibbling on the last candy piece, happily swinging his legs under the table without a care in the world. His little shoulders rose and fell in contentment, completely oblivious to the three men looking at him like he’d just healed the planet.

Big smiled at the pup, and leaned down to press a kiss on his head. Kim looked up at him and beamed, eyes almost closing with how wide he was smiling before going back to his spoons and resuming the battle that was going on.

Big kept his gaze on him, his chest relaxing further, the cold feeling in his stomach that had been present the whole day dissipating a little. He ruffled Kim’s hair one last time before turning back to his meal, a small smile still trained on his face.

It had all started with Kim, hadn’t it?

The life Big had now, the family he had found here, and…them.

All of it because this little thing had barged into his life without any warning, all starry eyed bouncing on his feet. So easily excited and innocently curious about everything around him. And somehow, somewhere between one terrified moment and the next, Kim had decided that Big was the safest place on the entire planet and held on so tight that Big could never let go.

Not that the omega ever would.

And wasn’t he the real reason?

Wasn’t Kim the reason Big had fallen so helplessly, so stupidly, so deeply in love with the heir of the biggest mafia empire.

No.

Not the heir to the empire.

Big hadn’t fallen for the cruel, ruthless heir.

He had fallen in love with Kim’s big brother.

The superhero in Kim’s little life, who was ready to burn down worlds for him.

Big remembered the first time he had seen Kinn almost six years ago.

He remembered the blood in his hands. The shard of glass still tightly clutched his shaking fingers, and a small body pressed against him shaking like a leaf caught in the storm.

Big had been a bloody mess – a terrified and scrawny little mess - clutching the little pup tightly to his chest he could barely breathe, trying to make himself big enough to hide him from the entire world. Three goons dead at his feet, killed not by skill but from a rush of instincts and sheer dumb luck

Kinn had burst into the warehouse then, a pack of bodyguards behind him frantically calling out for Kim. The alpha’s scent had taken over the air like a shockwave. Spiked so bad with nerves and anger, that Big’s omega instincts went haywire.

Making the omega go almost feral growling in warning at the newcomers, arms tightening around Kim and lips curling into a snarl. His eyes still completely violet.

Kinn had seen them then, curled up in the middle of all that blood and gore. The alpha paused taking in the scene in front of him. “Kim?” He stumble through the room and dropped down a few steps away from them.

“Kimmy?” He called again, voice a bit rough now, trying to reach for Kim with slightly trembling fingers. “Hia’s here little one. Won’t you look at me?”

Kim didn’t move.

So, the alpha did the only thing he could. He released some of his scent trying his hardest to make Kim recognize him through the haze of fear and panic.

A cloud of burnt cloves and whiskey gathered around them, the pup in Big’s arms stiffened, hesitantly sniffing the air for the familiar scent. Big felt his own instinct soften as the scent got stronger - stronger than the stench of blood surrounding them (which if Big thought about it now was weird).

The little one peeked out from under the cage of Big’s arms and called out –

“Hia?”

Kim launched himself at his brother. Kinn caught him with both arms, dragging the pup tight against his chest as if he’d been drowning and the kid was his first breath of air. Kim sobbed into his neck—small, broken, terrified sounds. The alpha heavily scented him half trying to comfort the pup and half trying to reassure himself that Kim was alive and in his arms.

And Big…Big’s vision blurred at the sight.

His body relaxing now that the pup was safe and back in his family’s arms. It had been a long, long time since he had witnesses such raw and vulnerable, and untethered emotions. He leaned back slightly, sighing, the adrenaline crash hitting him with full force and observed the brothers clinging to each other in front of him, using them to keep himself grounded.

“Thank you.” The omega looked up at those words. Kinn was staring at him over Kim’s shoulder, the pup now passed out in his hia’s arms. “Thank you for saving him.”

He’s handsome.

“It’s nothing,” Big tried to wave off, his pulse quickening a bit, “anyone in my place would’ve done the same.”

“No, they wouldn’t.” The alpha shook his head.

Big didn’t have the energy refuse so he just nodded his head and tried to get off the floor, now very aware of the horrible pain crackling all over his body.

“My men will help you with your wounds.” Kinn offered (commanded) when he saw Big stifling a whimper as the omega accidently moved his injured shoulder.

“There’s no need,” Big walked towards the pair and softly ran his hands through Kim’s hair reassuring himself that he was okay, and looked up at the alpha, “I’ll manage on my own.”

“I insist.”

“It’s the least I can do.”

Big had thought that would be the last time he ever saw Kim and Kinn. Or had any encounter with the mafia, for that matter.

But boy was he wrong.

Three days after the incident, the doorbell to his tiny apartment rang. And before Big could even take a breath, Kinn and P’Chan barrelled into his living room and changed his life forever.

At first, Big was hired as a nanny for Kim. Just until the pup calmed down. Until the nightmares passed. Just until Kim stopped crying at random hours if the omega wasn’t within reach. The pup refused to let go of him, having imprinted emotionally on Big so fiercely that even Kinn had been forced to relent.

But all that melted in less than a week.

Because how was he supposed to resist Kim?

The little goofball, with his ridiculous wiggle-run, his hundred-questions-a-minute, his way of tugging Bigs’s pant leg whenever he wanted attention. Or the way he clung to Big’s chest when he got scared. Or especially after he saw the way Kim’s entire world lit up whenever Big walked into a room.

Big had thought his life in the mansion would be simple, slow, and easy. All he had to do was take care of Kim every second of the day, which was not that difficult, the little guy was practically an angel (which Big now realized he had jinxed it somehow).

Sometime Vegas would leave little Macau with them when he had to go on mission or meetings, which Big didn’t complain much about – not that he could, because even a nineteen years old Vegas was scary as fuck.

All in all, his life in the mansion had been peaceful, and predictable which was kind of a relief for the omega.

What wasn’t predictable was the way Kinn behaved when it was just them in a room.
How the mafia heir — the cold, brutal, terrifying heir — would drop the entire act the second Kim crawled into his lap. How he’d let that tiny gremlin “defeat” him in battle, collapsing onto the carpet like he’d been shot, groaning dramatically while Kim giggled on top of him.

Kinn hadn’t been that old himself, had been fresh out of college. But, according to what Big had heard the alpha had been training to become the heir of the empire since he was twelve and had all his humanity ripped out of him.

Big had completely believed it too, believed every whisper about Kinn Theerapanyakul being carved of stone and violence. With the way Kinn yelled and commanded his way around. The omega had half a mind to punch the stupid man in the face for that exhausting attitude of his. So, it had been a surprise when he had walked into Kim’s room to see the alpha sprawled on the floor with Kim on his chest, both of them laughing their hearts out.

Big just stood there, frozen.

The two of them had continued playing not yet noticing the new presence near the door yet, too busy with playing with whatever ridiculous game they had come up with. And Big…just stared. After the initial shock wore off, a warm feeling tingled up the omega’s spine watching them play without a care in the world.

Well, he shouldn’t have been that surprised, with the way Kinn had stormed in the warehouse scared out of wits, and had refused to let the pup go. Or, how he seemed to allow Kim whatever he desired, look at Big for example. It had just two days of Kim whining and the alpha had barged into Big’s life and presented him to his little brother.

After that encounter Big noticed it more and more, to the point he had questioned himself why he ever thought Kinn to be cruel.

The heir made sure to spend time with Kim every day, no matter how packed his schedule would be. It didn’t matter what they ended up doing whether it would be to just sit and colour, or play with cars and design ridiculously complicated race-tracks which were not at all structurally inclined and would end up collapsing the next second. Or, to just lay down in the bed and listen to Big read a bed-time story until the little one fell asleep.

It had been one of those nights. Big had just finished reading from one of Kim’s books, all three of them lying on his bed with the pup in the middle, now deep in sleep tightly clutching his hia’s arm. Big softly shuffled out the bed to tidy up the room a bit and go back to his room to sleep himself when-

“Thank you.” Big looked back towards the bed at the alpha’s voice, surprised. Kinn was looking at him over Kim’s sleeping form, his eyes soft in a way Big had never seen. “Thank you for taking suck good care of him.”

Big felt tingle spark up his fingers at the stare, not used to that look, especially from Kinn.

Swallowing to get rid of his dry throat, “It’s my pleasure Khun,” he whispered, “plus I like doing it. He’s an angel.” He busied himself with straightening Kim’s blanket so he didn’t have to meet those eyes. “Well not always, but he’s cute enough to get away with it.”

The alpha chuckled in response.

“Still,” He softly ran his finger through his own hair and fixing his eyes on Big again, his expression so open and vulnerable that it scared Big. Making him feel like one wrong move from his side and he would break whatever this was that was now surrounding them.

So, he lowered himself back on the bed, forcing his heart to behave. “you coming into his life has brightened it up a lot. He has always been a lonely kid, with everyone being so busy with the business. And Kim not getting to go out much for security reasons.” Kinn tightened his arms around the pup his scent souring a bit, no doubt remembering the scene from the ware house he had stumbled into.

Big felt like wrapping the alpha in his arms-

Wait. Where did that come from?

“He had gotten so quiet. I…” He took in a deep breath “That day in the warehouse hadn’t been the first time.” What “There had been attempts before, and we’ve been able to save him but-”

Kinn leaned his head against the headboard, taking a couple breaths trying to ground himself. Big tried to do the same, the amount of fear and guilt from the alpha made his skin crawl.

Kinn turned his head to look at him again, “So, thank you. It was not your problem but you still solved it.”

Big’s stomach flipped in weird directions, his heart now completely out of control. “It’s nothing Khun.” Big said desperately trying to fight the blush rising up his neck. “If it ever come that, I’d do it again.”

“And, please don’t be so hard on yourself.” The omega continued after a couple of beats; his voice soft. “You do an amazing job with him, even when you know you don’t have to. And Kim adores you so much, you are his superhero, you know.” They both chuckled, looking at the drawing Kim had drawn of Kinn, well stick Kinn flying over burning buildings, with atleast six people in each arm.

“Plus, he is easy to care about.” He murmured. “Anyone would fall in love with him.”

“Yeah…he is easy to fall in love with.” Big looked up at the alpha.

And found him already staring, with emotions so intense Big shivered visibly.

Big’s throat tightened. His pulse buzzed under his skin. Kinn’s gaze flickered down to Big’s mouth, it was a quick glance but enough to make Big’s breath hitch.

The air around them charged, causing Big to clutch the blanket tightly in his fist. Desperately trying to control…something, as their eyes held each other. “Khun?” Big whispered so low, Kinn wouldn’t’ve heard him if the room hadn’t been so quiet.

Kinn leaned in a bit closer, just a breath. His eyes still trained on the omega’s face. Big tightened his hold on the blanket, willing himself to move, twitch, or speak. But he stayed immobile as little by little the alpha closed what little distance there was between them.

Big fluttered his eyes shut, waiting – afraid with his heart in throat, for Kinn’s next moment-

A little rustle broke the moment.

Big snapped his eyes open when he heard a small whine from between them. Kim twitched in his sleep, eyebrows slightly furrowed in a grimace as he tightened his hold on Kinn’s arm.

Kinn snapped his head downward, instinctively scenting the pup, trying to calm him from whatever nightmare he was having. Big snapped back a pace, his breath unsteady still trying to process what had happened between then a few moments ago.

He looked down on the bed, Kinn had now pressed Kim completely against his chest still scenting him, and rumbling trying to calm the pup down.

Whatever that was, was now shattered.

Big gulped in a few breaths, trying to calm his nerves and shake himself out of the stupor. “I’ll let you both sleep.” He whispered as he knelt down and slightly scented the pup, accidently gulping in the scent of burnt cloves. Fuck.

He ripped himself from the bed and shuffled towards the door, lingering at the doorway for a beat longer trying to memorize the sight.

Knowing that neither of them would ever talk about it.

Chapter Text

Chapter 11

The next couple of weeks brought Big back to a familiar routine. The one he had when he first came to the compound and Kim was just a little bean who fit perfectly in Big’s arms, back when he was new to the life in the mafia. When everything was new, exciting, and just more alive.

Now everything just felt…muted.

Like the edges of the world were smudged with too much grief.

But Kim? Kim was the same.

Big couldn’t thank the gods enough for it. The little guy was the only thing keeping him tethered to reality, after the incident and especially after his omega had locked himself deep into his subconscious and Big was left hollowness so deep, he felt he would go insane.

Through all the ups and downs in his life, his omega had been the only constant. The only thing Big could rely on, even when he was freshly presented and homeless, trying to survive on scrapes. His omega had been his anchor and his protector, be it from depression, from the stone cold fear and dread, or filthy alphas who had no control on themselves. It had always been his omega and him together against the world.

But now? Now Big was all alone.

And he did not know whom to blame more, himself or them.

Speaking of them, after the celebration party three weeks ago, where Big’s entire world had shattered around him and the rose tinted glasses were ripped from his face.

He saw them.

He saw them so fucking clearly, it made him laugh at himself for ever believing he could have anything with either of them.

Because, gods they looked perfect together.

Like two puzzle pieces fitting exactly right.

And not in the obnoxiously dazzling way, not the kind of perfect that blinds you. No, they were perfect in the quiet way. The kind of perfect that was subtle and inevitable. The kind that felt like it had always been there.

It was obvious in the way both of them always knew what the other needed, be it during missions, trainings, or while they were simply existing together.

It became glaringly obvious that they had always been something more, so much more than everyone perceived them to be. And after that night, after they had confessed their undying love to each other. Both of them had stopped trying to hide it from the world.

They didn’t flaunt it around like a newly engaged couple. No. It was just…there.

In the soft smiles they shared. The conversation they had with their eyes. Or how they just regulated each other’s emotions with just a slight push of their pheromones.

It was magical and perfect in every that could exist. And Big just wanted to claw and rip every last shred of it apart and burn it. Not because of jealousy. No, that wasn’t the ugly root of it. He wanted to tear it apart because if they felt just a fraction of what he felt every time he looked at them…maybe they would finally understand the agony they had left him with.

But he couldn’t do that now, could he?

Not because they were his bosses or anything. But because it would hurt him too. Gods would it hurt. Because as much as it tore him apart to see them together. A part of him also felt fiercely protective of the bond they had.

Yeah…

Big would like to punch himself in the face too.

So, he did the next best thing. He stayed away from them as much as possible. Which had been easy since he had himself transferred to Kim’s detail three weeks ago.

Now, Big’s mornings consisted of coaxing Kim awake to go to school, instead of yelling his lungs out at the recruits so that they won’t die on their first mission.

Which if he was honest were equally draining. Because the kid still refused to get out of the bed in the morning all these years later. With the same argument of why should he get out of the bed when the sun was still asleep.

Gods.

“Kim.” Big called out for the third time, “Bunny, you need to wake up. You don’t want Ajan Brew to scold you again, do you?”

He slid on the bed and gently cuddled the lump buried under three blankets, trying to coax it out. “Come on, Kimmy. We’ve already got two strikes. Third strike and they will call your hia.”

“No, they won’t.” Came a muffled voice from underneath, followed by a mop of hair and two very sleepy eyes peeking at him, “They’re all scared of my hia. You’re just scared because it’s you they will scold.”

This little-

“Okay, I am going to count till five, mister.” Big warned as he got up from the bed, “If your butt is not in the bathroom by then, I am going to as Vegas to drop you off.”

As expected the reaction was instant.

Kim shouted from his burrow and narrowed his eyes at Big, “You wouldn’t…”

Big just raised his brows in a you wanna try me look.

“P’Biiiiiig.”

“One…”

“Five more minutes please!” Kim pouted followed by his signature puppy eyes that would fold most hardened men in seconds. But Big was no amateur.

“Two.”

“Why do you hate me sooo much!?” He whined, finally sliding off the bed and stomping his way towards the bathroom.

“I love you too.” Big called out over the grumbling he could still hear, shaking his head at Kim’s antics.

…

Roughly thirty minutes and two whole battles later, Big and Kim were finally walking towards the cafeteria to grab some breakfast, and get Macau and Porchay to leave for school.

Kim was animatedly talking about his classmates and upcoming bake-sale their grade was going to host to raise money for an orphanage as a part of their social science project, all of morning grievances now forgotten.

“And I told Ajan Brew, that I would bring the chocolate walnut muffins, that you bake so well.”

Great now he’s a baker too.

“And why, pray tell,” Big sighed, “do you think I would have the time to do that? I am your head bodyguard not a baker.”

“Well, you know…” The brat shrugged, “my hia is your boss.”

Big halted in his steps and slowly turned to face the little shit, “You wanna try again?” He asked (threatened).

Kim gulped under the stare levelled at him, then flashed the sheepish, too-sweet-to-be-legal smile he used whenever he knew he’d messed up and wanted out of jail free.

“Because, you are the best person in the world and you love me so much? Right?”

Big let out a long suffering sigh, “Just get your breakfast, you menace.”

Kim beamed in triumph and sprinted towards the table - almost knocking the tray out of a recruit’s hands - where Macau was already seated with Vegas and Pete.

Big muttered an apology on the brat’s behalf, rubbing the bridge of his nose in exasperation. And moved to follow Kim when-

A sudden hot wave rolled through him. A dizzying, nauseating rush that left him breathless. The cafeteria blurred at the edges, causing Big to stumble sideways. He gripped the nearest chair to keep himself from falling, squeezing his eyes shut and inhaling sharply – once, twice, three more times, trying to steady the floor beneath him.

Fuck.

He shook his head a couple of times trying to get rid of the dizziness, and straightened himself. Big forced his legs to move, wiping the sweat off his forehead utterly confused about what had just occurred.

He's probably just exhausted. Maybe he can turn in early tonight.

“Good morning everyone.” He greeted as he slid in a chair beside Kim. The pup had barely touched the rice in his plate and was busy chatting with Macau about the new car his hia had bought him.

Gods, this kid.

“Good Morning!” Pete greeted with his signature sunshine smile. Vegas just nodded in response and continued with his breakfast.

Big turned towards Kim, ready to scold the kid for hundredth time this morning when suddenly white hot pain flashed through his body. His lower abdomen cramping painfully.

What the fuck!?

His breath strangled in his throat, Big clenched his teeth tightly and doubled slightly over the table. Fingers clenched hard around the edge of the table, turning his knuckles white.

Gods! What’s wrong with him?

“P’Big?” Macau voice cut through the painful haze, small, curious and worried.

Big forced his spine to straight, gulping down the excess saliva that had gathered in his mouth before meeting the pup’s eyes, “I’m fine Cau. Just a stomach bug”

He hoped.

“Are you sure?”

He turned his head towards Pete and just nodded in reassurance.

“Come on bunny,” He turned towards Kim, trying to change the topic and distract himself, “finish your breakfast. We’re getting late.”

Kim blinked at him, sensing something off but thankfully not pushing.

“Is your heat due?” Vegas asked bluntly, sniffing the air around them.

Big froze.

He blinked at Vegas, then at Pete – looked just as confused. Which was expected, mated alphas weren’t affected by omega pheromones, especially not from someone who was their bonded or a potential mate.

“No.” Big double-checked the math in his head, “Not for another three weeks.”

His cycles had always been religiously regular, so he was sure this was not it.

“It’s just stress.” Big said trying to reassure them and himself. “I’ll just splash some water on my face.”

He stood up on wobbly legs, and made his way to the bathroom adjacent to the cafeteria. Heart beating slightly out of pace, and praying to the gods above that it just exhaustion and nothing else.

Big stumbled in the bathroom and walked towards the sink. His cheeks were completely flushed, like he had a fever or something. His scent was slightly off too, the caramel slightly accented, making it sweeter and potent.

Which was not a good sign, at all. But the thing that scared Big the most were the streaks of lilac glinting in the brown of his irises.

Big’s pulse spiked as he leaned in closer to mirror, blinking rapidly. Hoping that he saw wrong, just a trick that his tired brain had played.

But, no-

There they were, streaks of lilac threaded with brown staring right back at him.

What the hell!?

What are you trying to do? Come on talk to me!

Big desperately tried to reach his omega. To get some kind of reaction. To understand what was going on. Trying to feel that familiar presence, which would always reassure him.

But, nothing.

All he received was hollow silence.

Big’s breath hitched. His eyes blurred with tears as frustration crashed through him. He pressed his forehead against the cool mirror, shoulder trembling and let a few tears slip down his cheeks. Completely frustrated and confused.

He continued leaning against the mirror, trying to regulate his breathing.

He’s been doing that a lot recently.

Giving himself a couple of moments, he knelt down and splashed some water on his face. Trying to rid himself of some tension. When he was satisfied, he straightened himself up and gave a last glance at his reflection. Still there.

Exhaling, he pulled some tissues to wipe his face and walked towards the dispenser filled with scent patches. He grabbed a couple and slapped them against his glands. Big didn’t want to risk attracting anyone because of his scent. He didn’t need another reason to increase his stress levels today, thank you very much.

Ignoring the slight ache that had returned in his abdomen, Big pushed the bathroom door open and walked back to the cafeteria.

“Alright pups,” Big called out as he reached the table, “let’s go.”

The pup climbed down their respective chairs, and started gathering their stuff. “Where’s Chay?” Big asked as he double-checked all the things Kim was supposed to take with him.

“He was having breakfast with P’Porsche.” Macau answered as Vegas fussed over him.

“He was going to meet us in the garage.” Kim piped in, as the three of them made their way out the cafeteria.

…

“Big!”

“Biggiee!”

Big snapped his head towards Ken, who was waving at him like a madman and yelling from across the hallway filled with senior bodyguards.

“What!?” Big hissed, heat crawling up his neck at all the stares they were receiving,

“Don’t yell at me!” The idiot whined still rooted at the exact same spot, “P’Chan is calling us. Important team meeting!”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” Big stomped his way towards his disaster of a best friend. “And you couldn’t walk ten feet to tell me that.”

“Well, you were far away-”

“Exactly why you had to walk, idiot!”

“-and we had to come back here anyways.”,” Ken shrugged like it was the most logical thing he had ever said. “So, you know, why waste all that energy?”

Big just stood there completely dumbfounded at the nonsense that was spewing out his best friend – who by the way was a grown ass adult.

“What- are you- ugh. Let’s just go.” Big groaned and walked towards the briefing room, Ken happily trailing after him.

The two entered the room, which was filled with light chatter with most of the senior guards in the compound present. And, Arm and Pete, who were waving at them from the far right corner of the room, looking completely out of place.

“Do you know what this is about?” Big asked as they sat down.

“The Theerapanyakun family has been invited to the biggest diamond auction in Thailand.” Arm answered, “Usually Khun Korn and Khun Kan go, but this time Khun Kinn and Khun Vegas are going. To introduce themselves as the next heirs.”

Big frowned.

Weird.

Khun Korn never passed up chances to flex his influence—especially not at something as public and politically loaded as the auction. So, why would he send them instead of going himself? Especially Khun Vegas.

After all the years of working at the compound Big knew one thing for sure: the current head of the family was a power-hungry maniac who clung to traditional sub-gender roles like holy scriptures.

The man believed so deeply in alpha supremacy that when Tankhun presented as a beta, Korn had practically combusted from shame. And Big knew, the alpha would have sold Vegas off the moment he had presented as an omega if it had not been for Khun Kan, and the fact that the omega had gotten himself bonded with Pete, rendering him politically useless in Korn’s eyes.

Big did not have a good feeling about this.

“Alright everyone!” P’Chan walked in interrupting the chatter around the room, “Settle down. I hope you all are aware about the auction tomorrow.”

A chorus of agreement flowed through room, as everyone settled down and focused on the screen at the front of the room.

P’Chan began the briefing, first dividing the guards into four teams – one to secure the perimeter around the building, second to secure the floor of the auction, third was assigned the surveillance tasks, and finally the one which would accompany Khun Kinn and Khun Vegas inside the auction.

Big turned all his focus on the plans presented on the screen, jotting things down he thought were important. He was in the middle of assessing the floor plans of the room where the auction was going to be held when-

The door burst open and Porsche stumbled in, completely out of breath.

“I’m sorry…” The alpha gulped down some air before continuing, “Khun Nu was throwing a fit and refused to let me go.”

“That excuse is getting old, you know?” P’Chan sighed. “Just sit down.”

The room erupted in a light chuckle as Porsche sheepishly smiled at P’Chan, making his way towards the empty seat beside Big.

Can the universe get anymore cliché.

Big kept his eyes pinned to the notebook in front of him, his body stiff as stone. He forced his hands to steady and take notes like he was doing before.

Beside him, Porsche exhaled as he settled down in his seat and leaned forward to take a look at all the papers and maps scattered around the table. His shoulder brushing against Big’s, causing the omega to stiffen further.

It had been a long time since Big had been in close contact with the alpha, with either of them for that matter. Long enough, that he had forgotten the effect they had on him, how they had the ability to completely mess with his system, with just a whiff of their scent. And gods.

The alpha smelled divine.

Big’s fingers turned white around the pen he was holding, as more of white musk and cedar invaded his senses. And his omega. That stupid little shit, who refused to acknowledge Big’s existence all through the past weeks, stirred inside him at the scent like he had been given water after weeks of drought.

Thirsty little bitch.

Big clenched his eyes shut, willing his breathing to get under control. And begging his omega to not do something stupid like lean his head against the alpha and sniff.

Don’t you dare.

His omega, naturally, dared.

The little shit forced him closer to the alpha, until Big took in a slight sniff, and his senses were completely flooded with-

White musk, cedar, and whiskey.

Wait-

Whiskey?

Big pinched his brows together, confusion slicing through the haze as he subtly took in another whiff, and yes there it was, whiskey perfectly blended with Porsche’s scent, settling warm and heavy beneath the cedar.

Which was new. Very new

Big knew Porsche’s scent better than he wanted to admit. Months of doing training, missions, and the stupid amount of time the alpha had invaded his personal space had etched every note of his scent into Big’s memory.

And whiskey was not one of them. That undertone belonged to only one person.

So, why?

Maybe they had scented each other before Porsche had entered the briefing room. But scenting didn’t blend pheromones so perfectly. Scenting never made two distinct scents indistinguishable. So-

Wait.

His pulse roared in his ears drowning out the voices around him. His vision blurring around the edges as realization hit him like a blow to the gut.

Mated.

They were marked.

Big’s breath stuttered, as he accidentally took in another lungful of that scent, swallowing him whole. His omega who had stirred after so long, howled in pain inside him – a raw, feral sound that vibrated against Big’s chest, before going eerily silent again.

No. No. Not again.

Big had just begun to patch the wounds they had left behind. His hurt had just started to simmer down, low enough that he could now breathe without it turning into a sob.

So why? Why now?

Big wanted to scream his lungs out at the universe. Or, just get down in his knees and beg her to give him a fucking break. Because he just couldn’t do this again.

The meeting progressed. P’Chan now briefing everyone about their individual roles, but Big didn’t hear any of it. His pulse still thrumming loudly in his ears.

He wanted to leave. Leave and curl up in his room and cry his eyes out like a pathetic little omega that he was. But he didn’t. Because Big was also a professional who took his job very seriously, no matter how draining it was both emotionally and physically.

So, he counted till ten in his head, and straightened his spine. His gaze now sharp and devoid of any emotions that were internally tearing him apart and zeroed in on the task-chart displayed in the front.

…

“Ken, P’Ice cover the right exit.”

Both men nodded and peeled off instantly.

“Pete follow them. Make sure no one unrecognized gets within the ten meters radius.” Pete nodded, signalling two more recruits to follow.

“Porsche.” Big addressed at last, “Keep watch at the bar. Every drink going their way needs to double checked, no matter who’s carrying it.”

One by one, the team dispersed like clockwork. Comms crackled to life in Big’s ear as everyone confirmed their positions. Big took his position by the stairs, assessing each and every guest, bodyguard or staff that entered the room.

The room beneath him hummed with light conversation, almost all the elites in and around Thailand striving to cut deals that would make their pockets heavy. Big scanned the room again, checking each and every corner, hidden behind shadows for any suspicious face.

Till now everything was running smooth, just the way they had planned it to be. Big should’ve relaxed at that. Instead, the same ugly feeling curled around his chest.

The heat that was simmering under his skin, pulsed, making him clench his hands around the railing in efforts to conceal his reaction as much as possible. The ache in his lower abdomen returned now that he was not razor-focused on his surroundings.

The only relief he had right now were the scent patches and the heat suppressants he had swallowed before they had left for the venue. They didn’t eliminate the symptoms completely, but atleast he won’t attract the attention of every unmated alpha within the twenty meter radius.

The doors to ballroom opened again. Khun Kinn entered first in his steel grey suit; aura so sharp it made the room pause for a second. Every head turned to catch a glimpse of the new heir to the Theerapanyakun empire. Khun Vegas followed in his crisp white suit, carrying that deadly sweet charm people bowed down to.

Big stepped aside as Pete and his team flanked the two heirs, making their way towards the table reserved for them.

Big continued to asses the room as the heir took their seats, until a flicker of motion caught his gaze.

A man. Dressed in a black suit who hadn’t been there before. Big narrowed his eyes at the man. There was no badge on his person, that would indicate which family he belonged to. Looking too close at Big’s bosses for his liking.

“Ken.” Big pressed into his comm, “A man in black. Nine O clock.”

Ken’s jaw tensed in acknowledgement as he subtly turned in that direction. The alpha subtly moved in the direction to get a closer look.

“Porsche.” P’Ice’s voice crackled in. “The bartenders changed their shifts. It was not supposed to happen for another ten minutes.”

Porsche subtly straightened and backed into a corner he could get the complete view of the bar.

“Sawade Khap!” The host greeted as the lights dimmed around them. “Welcome to Thailand’s most prestigious…”

Big drowned the voice out and focused around the surrounding, trying to scout unfamiliar faces.

“Fuck.” Big’s head snapped in Porsche’s direction as the alpha cursed. “He’s armed.”

“They’re both armed.” Ken confirmed.

Fuck.

“Pete.” Big called into the comms. “Tighten your bubble. Two confirmed and possibly more armed men are in the room.”

“Copy.”

“P’Chan.” Big changed the channels. “You have eyes on the room?”

“There are two more.” P’Chan replied. “One along the south entrance and one on you right.”

Big shifted his eyes to his left and saw a similarly dressed man, hiding behind a gallery pillar. Fuck.

“Everyone, stay on standby.” P’Chan continued. “We’re getting confirmation. Do not move before command.”

Big tightened his stance, tension coiled through his veins as he tracked the movements of the man on his right.

This was supposed to be a safe event. Just a political performance, nothing more. Fuck. All the adrenaline was not good for Big’s already fucked up hormones. This shit needs to get over before his omega fucking snaps. He took a deep breath to get some of the tension out his system.

Below the auction continued like there weren’t four gunmen waiting to gut the whole room. The host continued to introduce all the donors of the auction. After the introductions, the first item of the night was presented.

It was one of the most beautiful pieces of jewellery Big had ever seen and Khun Nu had one hell of a collection. The auctioneer announced the initial bidding price, and opened the floor for bids.

As soon as the bidding started, the man on the southern entrance – directly in line with Kinn and Vegas, shifted. Big tensed and stole a glance to his right. His target was still perched in his position but he now had his gun in hand. Shit.

“P’Chan, I need the confirmation. The targets have turned hostile.” He hissed into his comm as both Porsche and Ken moved closer to their respective targets.

Before he could get any confirmation, a shot rang through the ballroom resulting in chaos.

Big snapped his head in the direction the shot rang from and saw a woman dressed in blue. Her shot aimed at Vegas.

“Pete!” Big shouted as he leaped his way down the stairs. “Get them down!”

He took his own gun out and shot in her direction. The woman turned towards him; a smirk plastered on her face.

Using her distraction, P’Ice tackled her from behind, neutralizing her successfully.

Big turned to his right, barely missing the knife targeted at him. The blade sliced air inches from his cheek.

Reflex too over as Big grabbed his attackers wrist and twisted with all the force he could muster until he heard a pop. The attacker screamed in pain. Big didn’t give him a chance to recover and slammed the man’s head with a metal tray he found rendering him unconscious.

His lower abdomen cramped, hard. White hot pain searing through his body. Fuck. Big muffled a scream and made his way forward.

Not now. Not now. Not NOW-

He slammed another attacker who had his gun pointed at Porsche hard against a pillar. The man’s head making impact with a sickening crack, blood pouring out of his temple colouring the wall red.

Big gritted his teeth as his vision blurred around the edges. His omega going haywire inside him.

Can you calm the fuck down for like ten fucking minutes!? We’re literally in a life or death situation!

The little shit just growled in response and slammed harder against him.

“Two more armed on the left!” Porsche shouted from the bar, knocking a tray aside as a second shooter popped up from behind a table.

Big didn’t have time to think. He dove behind a pillar just as another bullet whizzed past him, sparks flashing where it clipped the marble.

“Ken, cover!” Big barked in the comm.

“On it.” Shot cracked from Ken’s direction, as he distracted the shooter.

Big creeped from behind the pillar and aimed his gun at the shooter. Nodding once at Ken, who ducked down as Big fired a shot. The man dropped to the ground, blood pooling around his head.

The omega leaned against the pillar, as another cramp tore through his abdomen, his gun trembling in his hand. The adrenaline coursing through him did it’s best to simmer down the pain, but he could still feel it under his skin, hot and heavy like a fire trying to burn him alive.

“Both the heirs are secured!” Pete screamed through the comms.

Big groaned as he stood up, still heavily leaning against the pillar. His palm now pressed against his abdomen trying to smooth some of the pain. His omega now clashing against him full-force.

He swallowed hard, trying to regain whatever control he could grasp.

“Big!” Porsche’s voice tore through him. “Balcony!”

Big’s head snapped upward. A shadow moved along the banister. His gun aimed straight at Pete’s exposed back.

The omega snarled and sprinted in that direction. His lungs burning at the exertion but he ignored them. He cocked his gun once, leaping up in a chair and then a table, scattering glass as he went. Once he was high enough he aimed his gun at the man and shot twice.

One on his shoulder and other straight in the chest. The man toppled over the railing with a splat.

Big exhaled shakily as silence settled over the ballroom. His knees wobbling dangerously.

The omega slowly got down the table, immediately holding onto its edges as his knees buckled.

“Status, everyone?”

“Clear.” Porsche muttered first, followed by Pete and Ken.

Big felt his scent roar against the patches on his glands, making him dizzy.

He needed to get out of here.

“Big?” Came in P’Chan’s voice.

“Clear.” Though his breath hitched through the word. “All threats neutralized.”

…

Big stumbled his way through the parking lot, not bothering to report back to the designated point. He’ll face the consequences tomorrow. Right now, he just needed to get home, get to his nest before his body betrayed him somewhere he couldn’t hide.

Big ripped the passenger door open and sagged into the seat, slamming the door shut behind him. Another visceral cramp ripped through him. He couldn’t hold back the scream that followed, his body lurching forward. His fingers clenched around the glove compartment, desperately trying to find an outlet to counter the pain he was feeling.

Gods, it hurt!

Big whimpered, breaths coming short as another onslaught of cramps jolting through his spine. Heats weren’t supposed to feel like this. Not for him atleast.

He needed to get home.

His hands fumbled with his suit jacket. His fingers flittering around the fabric trying to get his phone. He needed to call Pete; the alpha wouldn’t react he was the safest option for Big right now. And the omega needed to get home.

“Ugh! Fuck!” He cursed as his sweat-slick fingers and blurred vision made it difficult to operate the stupid machine in his hands.

Another wave of heat flared under his skin, making him feel feverish. The omega hissed as a strong wave of sweet caramel followed. His scent patches were just stickers on his neck at this point.

He pressed his head to the dashboard, trying to blink away the tears, before trying again to unlock his phone. He needed to call Pete-

The backdoor to the car opened and the scents of whiskey, burnt cloves and white musk invaded his senses.

1. NO. NO.

Big’s pulse skyrocketed as panic cut through the haze and he snapped his head back to see Kinn completely frozen halfway into the vehicle, as the scent of sweet caramel, with a tinge of cocoa hit him.

The alpha’s pupils were blown wide, nostrils flaring as he took in the scent that had saturated the air inside the car.

Big’s omega clawed viciously against Big as he sensed his alpha. Roaring so loud Big felt his ears ring.

No, don’t do this. Please.

Big whimpered. Begging his omega to get back to his senses.

They’re mated.

(Our mates.)

 “Kinn?”

No!

“Kinn? What are-” Porsche cut himself off as he came closer to the car got his with the same scent that had his mate paralyzed.

Fuck, he needs to get out of here.

He fiddled with the handle, a desperate scream ripping off him as another cramp crawled up his spine.

Wrenching the car door open, the omega stumbled out of it on shaky legs determined to put as much distance between them as possible.

“Big?”

“No!” Big stumbled a couple of steps back as Porsche stepped closer, his hands reached out to stable the omega. “Do-don’t come closer. Please.”

“Big.” Kinn spoke his voice low and rough, the alpha came forward, now standing beside Porsche who still had his hands slightly outstretched. “You need to get in-”

Big was already shaking his head before the alpha finished his sentence, which was a really wrong move. Because the next second his omega retaliated by pressing against his consciousness, trying to take control.

The omegas knees buckled at the impact, making him slump against the bonnet to steady himself. He was sure streaks of lilac were now visible in his eyes.

“N-need to ge-get… to Pete.” He panted as he tried to make his legs work, “Need to-to get to Pete. Sa-safe”

The alphas snarled hearing that, their scents unconsciously turning possessive. They took a couple of steps closer to omega, as if in a trance.

The omega rolled in delight watching their reaction and released another puff of his scent.

Don’t do this! You’re manipulating them!

Big hissed at his omega, trying to control his scent. He took a couple more steps back in retaliation, trying to create as much distance as possible before his omega completely took over.

Which was not long.

“No-no! Don’t-” Big slammed against something, an unfamiliar scent flooding around him. Completely uncontrolled and feral.

Alarm bells started ringing as his brain registered the presence. Another alpha. Danger.

He needed to move. Run. Run. Run.

Eyes wide with fear, he scrambled his feet forward, trying to get away from the new presence. But before he could, a pair of arms wrapped around his middle and pulled him towards itself.

No. No. NO.

Big thrashed in the intruder’s hold, clawing against the hands holding him. His chest curled in disgust as he felt a nose pressed against his glands inhaling greedily.

“NO!” Big screamed, and trashed harder, his panic making him rapidly lose control over his conscious. His omega withered inside him, frantic, terrified and enraged at the unknown presence.

The omega screwed his eyes shut as the disgusting scent filled the air around him, clouding the scents of his alphas.

Where are they?

The omega whimpered again, forcing his gaze - now completely lilac on his alphas who were frozen in their place. “Please.”

Twin snarls tore through the air. Deep. Guttural. animalistic.

One second, the stranger had Big pressed against himself ferally scenting him. And the next second, the omega was locked into familiar arms, the scent of white musk and cedar engulfing him completely.

Behind him, a crack echoed through the parking lot followed by a wretched scream, and-

“I’m going to kill you.” Kinn’s voice now so rough it bordered into a growl.

The arms around him tightened, completely carrying his weight, as the sounds of bones cracking continued in the background.

The omega completely buried his head in the chest he was pressed against, getting a momentary relief from the agonizing pain he had been feeling all night. The alpha rumbled in response as he scented the omega’s throat, his jaw, his hairline. Trying to get off the foreign scent off the omega.

The omega keened curling closer, fisting the alpha’s jacket, completely surrendering to the haze he had been fighting for two days.

“Hurts.” He gasped as another cramp tore through his abdomen, turning his already useless legs into jelly.

“Shh…it’s okay,” The alpha tightened his arms around the omega, completely lifting him off the ground. “I’ve got you.”

“Kinn!” The alpha called out.

Footsteps followed his voice and soon enough, burnt cloves and whiskey joined the white musk and cedar. The other alpha scenting the omega too.

“We need to get somewhere safe.”

“Where? To the compound?”

“No!” The omega felt another set of arms joining the ones on his waist and pulling him closer. “Too many people.”

“What about my place?”

The omega didn’t hear the rest of the conversation, fever again creeping up his body making him go completely dizzy. But he was transferred from on embrace to another and was carried back to the car.

Porsche shuffled into the driver’s seat as Kinn pulled the omega into his lap in the backseat. The omega instinctively curled around the alpha. Tightly pressing himself against Kinn, trying to drown himself in that familiar scent.

Porsche pulled the car out of the parking lot, tires screeching against the road as he sped through the mostly empty Bangkok streets. The city light streaked past the windows in smeared ribbons of red, golden and white.

But the omega didn’t process any of it, too busy shaking from the arousal that was slowly mixing with the constant heat and pain.

The omega curled against Kinn like he was carved solely to fir there, his forehead tightly pressed under the alpha’s jaw, breath hot and ragged gulping down copious amounts of the alpha’s pheromones.

Kinn’s hold in his tightened, arm locking tightly around his back, one palm spreading over his lower back, while the other held his waist like a vice as another spasm shot through him.

The alpha’s scent wrapped around him, the cloves and whiskey now tinged with something darker, something more animalistic. The omega shivered due to its intensity, his own caramel sweetening in response.

“Porsche?” The alpha growled. “How far?”

“Ten minutes.” Porsche muttered, his posture completely stiff, eyes glued to the road. Trying to keep his focus completely on the road and not one the omega whimpering and purring in backseat.

“Fuck.” Both the alphas groaned as the omega let another puff of his scent out, now completely ripe with heat pheromones. Shredding their control piece by piece. Streaks of red now appearing in their pupils.

“Omega.” Porsche gritted, “You need to control your scent.” The alpha desperately tried to blink the haze threatening to cover his mind and focus on the road.

Behind the omega winced as another cramp tore through him, his body arching against Kinn’s. His patience dwindling by the second. “Please.” He whispered against Kinn’s throat, moving to completely straddle the alpha.

Kinn let out a groan as the omega settled completely on his lap and gently rocked against him. The omega on the other hand moaned as his clothed folds finally gained some kind of friction. The dampness that he had been ignoring the whole night sending tremors down his spine.

The omega continued to gently rock against his alpha, his breaths coming out in pants, trying to chase some kind of release. Fuck.

Porsche growled at the sight in the rear-view mirror. His grip in the wheel turned his knuckled white. He was sure he’d leave dents on the stupid thing. But he didn’t care, because-

“Alpha…” The omega pathetically keened, his scent thickened again. The caramel now dark and molten, flooding the car like smoke. It wrapped around the alphas’ throats and settled heavily in their chests.

Porsche sucked in a deep breath, his body stiffening as his alpha snarled inside him, wanting to completely claim the omega. The alpha pressed hard against the gas peddle instead, wanting reach their destination as soon as possible. A red ring now present around his pupils.

Behind Kinn was not better, the alpha had bruising grip on the omega’s hips rocking over him. His senses now completely filled with it. “Omega, you need to control your scent.” He muttered against the omega’s scent glands, nipping them slightly when he couldn’t control himself.

“Ah!” The omega arched against Kinn as shots of pleasure snapped through his body. “Ca-can’t…hurts…plea-please.”

The car skidded to a stop, followed by Porsche ripping the back door open, his chest continuously rumbling, and eyes now completely red.

The alpha ripped the omega out of Kinn’s lap and walked towards a two storey house – Porsche’s house. Kinn followed behind his body wound tight like a spring, desperately trying to hold on to the last shred of control he had over himself. The alpha was fighting a losing battle anyways.

As soon as the three of them were inside the door, Porsche pulled the omega flush against his chest and slammed their lips in a bruising kiss.

“Mhm…” The omega whimpered as he was pulled into a bruising kiss, full of teeth and tongue completely overwhelming him.

A second set of lips descended down his throat, biting and laving against his scent glands. Star appeared behind the omega’s eyes at the sensations, his toes curling as both the alphas sandwiched him between them. Hands roaming all over his body.

The world around him faded as he drowned in the mixture of burnt cloves, whiskey, cedar and white musk.

Chapter Text

Chapter 12

“Ah…” Big winced as sunlight hit him behind his eyelids.

Why the hell is there sunlight in his room?

The omega turned away from the light and buried his face in the pillow beside him, deeply inhaling the familiar mixture of cloves and cedar. He snuggled in further, letting out a contented sigh, the scent around him lulling him back to sleep-

Wait-

Cloves and Cedar?

Big jolted awake, sitting in an upright position. His eyes now open wide, any and all traces of sleep now gone, because, what the actual fuck?

He frantically looked around the room, which was way too big for it to be his and Ken’s dorm back at the compound. The bed was king sized as opposed to the two singles in his dorm, the sheets were way too soft, and smelled different, and there was a big fucking window right in front of him which opened to a backyard.

Was he kidnapped!?

Wait but why would he be kidnapped? Big discarded that ridiculous idea, and tried to calm himself down. The omega put his bodyguard training to use and listened for sounds in the space around him.

Straining his ears to catch even the slightest noise, padding of feet against the floor, some sort of movement outside the room that would tell him he was not alone in the house. And maybe give him some kind of idea where the fuck he was because his brain refused to do so.

But there was nothing. The house was completely – almost eerily silent. Like there hadn’t been anyone but him for a long time now.

Big drifted his focus back into the room he was in, to try and get any clue regarding the place he was in. It was…just a room. Nothing out of the ordinary or in his case – normal, that would confirm his doubts of him being abducted. But instead of guns and torture devices, there was a dresser, a closet, and a door to what Big assumed to be the bathroom. And of course, the bed he was currently lying on.

Big shifted his eyes on the bed. The sheets were completely rumpled, like more than one person had been occupying it. The blankets and pillows were scattered and arranged in a weird way. Almost like a wall, designed to stop unwanted intruders-

The omega’s breath hitched. No. He scrambled on the bed to get hold of one of the many blankets that were present and took a deep whiff.

Sweet caramel, ripe with heat so perfectly intertwined with cloves and cedar.

No. no. no. no.

He looked down at his body with rising panic – he was naked.

“No. no. no. no.” He stumbled out of the bed and made his way to the dresser.

The omega froze as he saw himself in the mirror. There were marks everywhere. His torso was completely covered with them. A mixture of bruises, bite marks, and scratches. His eyes travelled further down and fuck. His thighs were worse than the mess that covered his torso and his cunt.

His cunt was swollen. “Ah!” Big hissed and jerked his hand away from his sensitive lips. He glided his eyes back up and was met with an expression of dread staring back at him.

So, it was not a dream.

Dread crawled up his chest as his eyes landed on the nes - bed’s reflection. His brain now slowly remembering snippets from last night.

The hands that had roamed all over his body.

The lips that had that had mapped his entire body.

The marks he had left on them.

The voices – moans, whimpers, begs that had left his throat.

No.

Big snapped his eyes away from the bed. His jaw clenched as tears gathered in his eyes.

What had he done?

What the actual fuck had he done last night!? Anger replaced the dread that had gathered in his chest. Guilt following suit as the intensity and the consequences of his actions dawned on him.

Why’d you do that?

He squeezed his eyes shut, a couple of tears trailing down his cheeks as he pathetically questioned his omega. All he got in response was the sated and satisfied purr.

Which further nailed the guilt in his chest, the omega’s fingers now tightly clenched into a fist almost drawing blood.

This was not right. Whatever happened last night…

Big pulled himself away from the dresser, not being able to look at himself any longer. He walked towards the bed in hoped to find his clothes there. He couldn’t stay like this. Couldn’t look at himself. Shuffling around the covers a bit he found his clothes from last night, luckily for him they weren’t torn.

The omega started dressing himself with shaking fingers, struggling with the buttons in his haste to cover himself up. To try and hide the evidence of the thing he should have never let happen.

Fastening the final button, Big looked around the room one last time. Letting the scent in it completely occupy his senses for a bit. Letting himself have this moment, irrespective of whether he deserved it or not. Feeling the sense of safety and security it brought to him, covering up the hollow feeling that had resided in him since that night.

Straightening his stance, the omega forced himself to walk out of the room. Removing himself from that space before he could do something stupid like curling back in his nest.

Softly shutting the door behind him Big glanced on either side of the hallway, still trying to decipher where he was. He walked towards the stairs, coming face to face with a wall lined with photos.

Photos of Porsche and Porchay.

Big’s heart stuttered in his chest as realization dawned on him. They had brought him to Porsche’s house. The alpha’s old house.

They had brought him somewhere safe.

Away from prying eyes. Away from unwanted scents. From unwanted intrusions. Somewhere he could feel safe. Could feel at home.

The omega swallowed the lump that started forming in his throat as he looked at the pictures. Looked at the crinkling smiles of Porsche and Porchay. The guilt now completely swallowing him.

Big wrenched himself away from that wall with a shuddering breath. Now making his way down the stairs, where he was sure both the alphas were present. He didn’t know whether he wanted to face them or not.

Because he knew as soon as he reached there, it would all be over. There was no way he would be able to keep his job after the stunt he had pulled last night. Hell, he would do the same if the positions were reversed.

He descended the last step slowly, his hand holding onto the banister in a desperate attempt to steady himself for what was to come. The living room opened up in front of him, flooded with morning.

Big hesitantly pattered inside expecting to come face to face with two pairs of furious and disappointed eyes. But all he was met with was silence. His skin crawled at the implication, he refused to accept and slowly turned towards what he hoped was the kitchen.

Hoping he would find them there. Because as daunting as it was to face them, it was still leaps and bounds better than what happened last night to be brushed off by the alphas like it meant nothing. Like he meant nothing.

Because a negative reaction was still a reaction. It was still proof that they were affected. Affected by the events of last night as much as Big was. And that last night had rattled them too. And as selfish as it sounded, this way Big could get a closure, a way out of the spiral.

But, that was too much to ask for. Because Big was again met with silence. The kitchen was spotless. Its counters squeaky clean, not a utensil out of place. No mugs or plates scattered on the counter or in the sink, that would tell him that they were here.

The omega had the urge to search the entire house for them. To not accept what his surroundings implied. But he knew all of it was futile. Because it wouldn’t change the fact.

The fact that they had left.

That they had left him in Porsche’s old house – which now felt like home - all alone.

Big bit the inside of his cheek to stop the onslaught of emotions the realization brought. Because he had no right to feel this way now, did he? He knew they were not in the wrong to have left him there. To have wanted space away from his as soon as they had come back to their senses.

He turned away from the kitchen and padded across the living room, towards the front. Suddenly feeling like he was intruding something special and personal, like he had no business being here and had shattered something sacred.

Reaching the front door, he turned around looking at the house for the last time, memorizing as many as details he could. “I’ll just…go.” He whispered to the empty house. His words felt like an apology.

With a final look, the omega stepped out the front door shutting it behind him.

…

Walking out of the neighbourhood, Big had taken a bus towards the compound instead of a cab. He knew he should’ve rushed to the compound according to the protocol, reporting to P’Chan as soon as possible. Because he had disappeared last night along with the heir and his main bodyguard without informing anyone. He was aware of the chaos it would have ensued back at the compound.

But, frankly Big had no energy to care about any of it. Screw him. He needed time to process, accept, overthink, or dissociate himself from last night’s event before facing the reality.

And, he was just so exhausted.

The bus ride was long and uneventful. Something that Big needed at the moment.

Big took a seat at the far back near the window, watching the city blur past him and watching people getting on and off the bus as their stops arrived. It was a good distraction from the swirling guilt and sadness that was trying to completely drown him.

At some point, he leaned against the window and closed his eyes, letting the buzzing voices around him drowning his thoughts out completely.

His omega tried to poke into his conscious trying to get his attention but Big refused to budge. His anger still too strong for him to have a proper conversation.

He knew his omega was not a villain in this story.

The poor thing was just acting on the feelings of hurt and betrayal he had felt. But it still didn’t make what happened last night any better. It did not make Big’s guilt about manipulating them - probably causing rifts in the alphas’ relationship – any less.

Big let out a breath as the bus got near his stop and made his way to wards the front. Pressing the button to signal the driver to stop, he leaned against the railing waiting for the doors to open.

The omega got down the bus and started walking the small distance between the bus stop and the compound. He rounded the corner of the compound and walked towards the back entrance.

He needed a shower before he could go and face anyone right now. Because, firstly he looked like he had been through a hurricane. And second of all he reeked of them, so much so that his own scent was completely masked. The notes of cocoa and caramel completely gone under the mixture of whiskey-cloves and cedar-musk.

Big parted the section of bushes that were not that tightly intertwined together, which was a huge security issue but right now worked very well in his favour. After clawing through them, he crouched and almost sprinted his way across the backyard and towards the building.

He rushed up the floors, to his advantage they were all almost empty. Which was weird because there should’ve been some guards on floor duty at each floor he crossed. Big’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion at the observation.

The omega shook himself and decided to find out what was going on once he was clean and presentable. He entered his room and made a beeline towards the bathroom, picking up the first pair of clothes he found in his closet.

Now that he was finally inside the compound the panic regarding the consequences that were waiting for him got alarmingly scary. He rushed under the shower not waiting for water to flow in perfect temperature, making his body tighten and his as ice cold water made contact with his sore muscles.

Giving himself a couple of seconds to adjust, Big sped through the cleaning process. Scrubbing himself raw in the restricted time-frame that he had. When he was sure that the alphas’ scent was completely gone he rinsed off the soap suds. He brushed his teeth at a speed which would make every dentist in the world shudder and quickly dressed himself.

Putting his hair into a ponytail, he rushed out the door, crossing the hallway to go to the elevator. Once inside it, Big leaned against the walls and let himself breathe. Trying to collect his thoughts, to map out any and all scenarios waiting for him outside these doors. And readying himself to not fall apart in the middle of any of them.

Okay, whatever happens, we’ll be alright.

The elevator dings as the doors open to the common area. Big started his way out of the elevator and froze.

The entire room was in chaos.

Recruits running from one place to another. Radios buzzing everywhere. A gazillion projectors displaying the entire Bangkok. And worst of it all, Khun Korn and Khun Kan along with Tankhun and Vegas were present.

But there was no Kinn.

Or, Porsche.

What the hell…?

Big slowly resumed his steps, and inched closer to the centre of the room where the I.T. guys with Arm in the middle were furiously working with atleast ten system in parallel.

The omega did not like the feeling that had started accumulating in his chest. “Ken…?” The room promptly froze, like someone had pressed pause on the remote. Big felt sweat accumulate on his forehead at the silence he was greeted with.

“Big.” The omega sharply turned to his left and came face to face with P’Chan.

The man to put it lightly was mad. Not the red-face-yelling-at-any-living-thing-in-his-vicinity mad, but the face-completely-void-of-emotions-and-a-voice-as-cold-as-ice mad.

Big bowed at the man in greeting before standing ram-rod straight, not having a single clue about what to do. Among the hundreds of scenarios he had imagined for this moment, not one consisted of something this dire.

The room had gone completely silent, even the members of family had paused whatever they were doing and were focused on him. Only the chatter in the radios could be heard. Everyone was looking at Big like he had committed a horrible crime.

And Big did not like this attention. At all.

He also did not like that he had no fucking clue about what he was being accused or questioned of. Like he knew last night was pretty fucked up, but there was no way the entire compound knew about it, right?

“P’Chan-”

“A little late for the mission’s report, isn’t it?”

Big’s stomach clenched at the alpha’s condescending tone. His fingers trembling on his side, as the alpha raised an eyebrow for added effect.

“Sir, I-”

“Where have you been since last night?”

Big knew this question was coming, but he didn’t want to answer. Not here. Not in front of the whole world.

If P’Chan would’ve had asked him somewhere private Big would’ve told him. He would’ve told him everything. But here, in front of everyone? It felt wrong. It felt like he was giving away something private. Something that was meant to be just between the three of them. Like Porsche’s house was for just their eyes only.

“I-” Big cleared his throat, “I was indisposed sir.”

He was met with silence, P’Chan just kept staring at him.

“Indisposed how?” Big turned to towards the centre of the room. Khun Korn had now risen from his seat and made his way towards them.

Before Big could answer him, “We got a footage from last night of you leaving with Porsche and the heir.” P’Chan said.

Big felt like he was completely naked in a room-full of people. He turned towards his boss with pleading eyes trying to communicate through them. Trying to make him understand or just gain some kind of empathy out of the guy.

But, luck was not on his side today.

P’Chan just continued staring at him with that same blank look in his eyes, waiting for Big to answer.

The one time Big messed up…

The one time he messed up in all his years at the compound and he was being grilled like a fucking war criminal. The omega felt tendrils of rage intertwine with the never-ending guilt in his stomach at the treatment.

But then again, he was just a bodyguard now, wasn’t he?

So Big took in deep breath to regulate the anger he was feeling and spoke, “My heat destabilized due to the adrenaline crash after the mission.” The room as a whole held their breath as Big continued. “Khun Kinn and Porsche helped me safely get out of there before dropping me off to a safe location Khun.”

“Did you have any symptoms before the mission?” P’Chan questioned.

Big gulped a lungful of air, “Yes, Khun.”

“And you didn’t think it important enough to inform your superiors.”

“I thought I could handle it.”

A hushed silence spread through the room, even the radios had stopped buzzing in the background.

“You thought.” P’Chan took a step closer and Big had to fight against every fibre of his being to not flinch or step back.

P’Chan was safe.

He repeated this like a mantra in his head. More for his omega who had hunched in alarm and was seconds away from doing something stupid like growling in warning.

“Since when do you get paid to think?”

“P’Chan-”

“Enough.”

P’Chan stilled instantly, jaw tightening as he took half a step back.

Khun Korn moved in an unhurried, shoes clicking softly against the floor. He stopped a few feet away from Big, eyes assessing him with detached interest.

“So, you couldn’t wait to whore yourself out, before looking for my son’s safety.”

The words landed like a slap across Big’s face. For a second Big forgot how to breathe. The ringing in his ears that had started since the first time P’Chan had called him out, intensified to the point where it physically hurt him.

His omega who had been quietly content since morning, curled in on himself at being accused of jeopardizing his alphas’ safety.

“Sir-” P’Chan now alarmed with the way Big’s scent started rotting, tried to intervene.

“Batting your pathetic lashes at my son hadn’t gotten you anywhere all these years,” Korn said calmly. “So, you let your omega try.”

Big’s lungs stopped taking air in, his heart thudding to a stop at the implication behind Korn’s words.

Korn tilted his head, studying him the way one might inspect a stain that refused to come out.

“You’re so insignificant you haven’t even failed yet,” he continued evenly. “You exist beneath notice, yet you still reach for favours you’ll never deserve.”

The silence that followed was suffocating.

Big wanted to leave.

The omega was seconds away from a panic attack from all the sneering remarks and the accusations beneath them all.

Because Big was many things but not this.

The head of the family turned on his heels and towards the exit. “Pray with your entire being that my son hasn’t paid the price because of your shenanigans.” The alpha half turned levelling Big with a glare so cold it roused a physical reaction from the omega. “Because if that’s the case then a destabilized heat would be the least of your problems.”

“Extract whatever you can from him.” He announced to them room. “And when you have everything, discard him.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 13

The whole room was stunned into silence after Khun Korn’s words. Everyone’s gaze zeroing in on the omega in the room; some filled with pity, others were filled anger and disgust.

And in the middle of it all Big stood, physically frozen. His fight or flight response kicking in making him stand utterly still in the room, trying to make him as invisible as possible.

“So, you couldn’t wait to whore yourself out, before looking for my son’s safety.”

The room felt too big and too small at the same time. He felt someone calling out his name but all he could concentrate on was the exit.

Just a couple of steps.

His omega whispered to him. Begging him to leave. Go back to the house, where it was safe.

“Big?” P’Chan called out.

Big registered his voice, but instead of the tension loosening, his body tightened even more. Strands of violet appearing in his eyes, as his omega clawed his way out to take them somewhere safe.

“Big?” P’Chan called out again. This time taking a step towards him, the alpha’s hand raised out.

The omega flinched, violently, body jerking back like it had been struck. Taking hasty steps back, to create a distance between himself and the alpha.

It wasn’t conscious. Big knew P’Chan was safe, hell he was one of the people he felt the safest with since he had entered the compound. But right now, all his omega could see was an alpha who was a threat.

No! You need to rein it in!

P’Chan is safe goddamit. Stop fucking over-reacting!

Big, forced some air inside his lungs. Forcing his body to calm the fuck down and shoving his omega far back in his mind and bolting him shut.

The omega looked up at the alpha, who had frozen mid-step at his reaction. “I’m sorry, sir.” His voice was extremely professional, any trace of vulnerability now gone. “If you want we can get to the questioning, as Khun ordered.”

P’Chan opened his mouth to say something, but changed his mind last second and just nodded at Big. “Alright then,” he straightened his coat and turned towards Arm, “let Arm know about the location you three were in last night.”

Big nodded and bowed before turning and making his way towards the large computer setup.

Arm was following him with eyes so concerned Big could feel it in his chest. Oh, and how he just wanted to curl up in it. To just get the fuck away from here and just let them hold him, be the pathetic omega Korn had painted him as.

But, they had more important things to do. Like saving his alphas, who apparently had given themselves up to keep him safe.

And wasn’t that realization just perfect for his guilt.

Because, can this situation get any more fucked.

“Biggie-”

“I don’t remember much from last night, it’s all just one painful blur.” Big interrupted the beta and took a seat across from him. Just now realizing how fucking exhausted he was.

He was still in his post-heat phase. It was a miracle he had not fainted or gone feral yet. “But I can point out the last location I was in, and I think they were there too.”

Big jotted down the neighbourhood and street address on a piece of paper. He omitted the house number or the fact it was Porsche’s house. Refusing to give the last ounce of his safety – however fragile – away.

Arm not wanting to create anymore fuss, nodded and turned back to his computers to deeply search through that area. As the clicking sounds filled the room, everyone slowly resumed what they were doing and dispersed in various directions.

Big just sat there. Staring blankly at the table.

…

Big didn’t know how he had ended up here.

One moment he was in main area watching everyone work and ignore him like the plague. And the next he was walking down familiar corridors and into Kim’s room.

To his surprise Kim was not alone in there. Macau and Porchay were huddled with his pup on the bed playing some kind of board game. Which Macau was clearly losing, if the adorable pout on his face was to go by.

Big gently knocked against the door to get the pups’ attention. Three heads jerked in his direction, with Kim’s lightening up like a thousand fucking stars.

 “P’Big!!!” One second Big was closing the door behind him and the next he had tiny arms tightly wrapped around his legs, and a mop of hair buried in his belly.

“I missed you!” The pup beamed at Big, making his heart melt in a puddle of goo. “Why didn’t you come home last night?”

The omega felt a wave of warmth hit him with such intensity that it made him sway a bit on his feet. “I’m sorry bunny. I had to go protect your hia.” He lifted the pup in his arms and deeply inhaled the familiar scent. His chest loosening for the first time since he had left the house this morning.

He stood there, against the door for a couple seconds more, soaking in the comfort that was Kim, before slowly pulling away and walking towards the bed where other two pups were sat.

Big first set Kim down on the bed, and took a seat at the edge of it, hugging Cau and Chay in greeting too.

The kids’ chatter resumed as they started their game again. Apparently, Macau had discreetly messed up the pieces when Big had entered the room, Chay was not happy. He looked at them with a small smile gracing his lips, forgetting about the chaos that was going on outside this room.

Big knew he should be out there, helping however he can to find them. Because it was his fault, wasn’t it? But, at the same time he knew no one would let him. Not after Khun Korn’s words.

“Discard him.”

Well, if Big was going to get thrown out, he might as well spend his last moments with the one person who gives a shit about him.

He leaned back on the headboard, getting comfortable. The exhaustion that had been clawing at him for hours, now ached deep in his bones. Maybe he could just close his eyes for a bit.

“P’Big?”

“Hmm.” He hummed; his eyes still closed.

“Do you know where my hia is?” The omega’s eyes snapped open and looked at Chay. His little head tilted in question.

Yeah, all the intentions of ignoring the outside chaos were now out the window.

“I…” Big cleared his throat once, to buy some time and come up with some excuse, because no sane person could tell a kid his hia was fucking kidnapped now, could they?

“Yo-your hia um, your hia…your hia is out with Kinn.” Big jumbled, “Yeah! They both had to go out of town for some urgent business.”

Chay furrowed his eyebrows at Big’s response, “But he didn’t say bye…”

Oh, my god. Just put a bullet in my head already!

“I know baby.” Big leaned forward and gently ruffled his hair. “They had to leave in a hurry last night. I promise they’ll be back soon.”

“Okay, but can we video call him?”

Gods, this was worse than being out there.

“We can’t right now pup.” Seeing Chay’s face dim Big hastily added. “But if your hia calls me I promise I’ll come straight to you, okay?”

“Okay!” The pup beamed up at him and returned back to his game.

…

It had been two days.

Two days since he had woken up alone in the house. Two days since he had walked into the compound. Two days since Khun Korn had showed him his place in front of the whole squad. Two days since his alphas had gone missing.

For the past two days Big had been roaming around the compound as a ghost. He barely slept an hour or two that whole time. Desperately waiting for any updates on the situation.

After the whole Khun Korn fiasco, everyone had maintained some kind of distance with him as he had predicted. No one would tell him anything, except Ken, and that too was limited information. Apparently, they all were ordered to keep Big out of the loop, him being behind the kidnapping still a very plausible explanation in the family’s eyes.

Which, Big knew was completely logical but that didn’t mean it stung any less.

The suspicious eyes that followed him whenever he was in a communal space, or the awkward silence that had fallen on their table whenever they would have a meal together hurt just the same.

And on top of it all, both Kim and Chay had glued themselves to Big.

They had sensed that something had been wrong after the first day, where Big had gone to Kim’s room. But they were too scared to ask, with all the gloom around. So, they did the best thing their minds to come up with; stick to the one person who wouldn’t shoo them away.

And Big with all the guilt and restlessness welcomed them with open arms, with the thought that he could at least keep them safe until their hias came back.

Hence why he found himself in the kitchen in the middle of the afternoon, with all three pups stirring cupcake batter in bowls.

Kim, Chay, and Macau were perched on bar stools against the counter, all three of them had their own small bowl of batter. They had insisted they wanted to do the whole process on their own – which went as well as you would imagine.

Every few seconds there would be a ‘P’Big’ in the air accompanied by the most adorable pout one could imagine. Like, seriously how did all the children in this family wound up being so cute and fluffy!?

Big steadied the bowl against the counter as Macau took his turn stirring, tongue peeking out in concentration as he tried not to slosh batter everywhere.

“Slowly,” Big murmured, placing his hands over the pup’s smaller ones to guide the motion. “Like this. You don’t want to beat all the air out of it.”

Macau nodded his little head and continued doing what he was told. “You want some help bunny?”

Big looked at Kim very intently filling up the silicone sheet with his batter, his nose almost touching the sheet itself with how close his head had gotten in concentration. Big huffed a laugh before moving over to the pup and gently tying the mop of hair on top of his head like a coconut tree.

“All done!” Chay quipped. Very proudly showing Big his messily filled silicone sheet.

Big smiled at the look of pure accomplishment that adorned Chay’s face. Not wanting to rain on the pup parade, “That beautiful Chay. You know what to do next don’t you?”

“Mhm.” The pup nodded enthusiastically, “Remove all the air bubbles.”

“That’s right,” Big said approvingly. “Gently though, we don’t want the batter to spill all over the counter now, do we?”

Chay giggled and carefully tapped the tray against the counter. Kim copied him immediately, gently tapping his own sheet. Macau also tried to copy his hias, albeit with more enthusiasm than necessary.

“Cau, gently.” Big warned the pup as the tray hit the counter with a loud thump, the batter almost splashing around the whole counter.

Macau just grinned up at him, entirely unapologetic.

Big was in the middle of getting the ingredients they would want for the frosting when the kitchen door swung open with Ken and Pete coming in.

The omega froze, his hands still in the air reaching the mixing bowl kept on the upper shelf, as his friends came further in.

“P’Pete, P’Ken look! I made these all by myself!” Before the adults in the room could utter a word, Macau jumped from his stool and pulled both the alphas towards the counter.

“It looks amazing Cau.” Pete schooled his expression and turned towards the pup with his sunshine smile.

“Yeah, and it smells amazing too.” Ken piped.

This made Big snap out of his reverie. The omega collected all the things they needed and made his way back to the counter where all five of them were huddled. Kim and Chay enthusiastically showing their own sheets to the newcomers.

Ken looked up at Big as he placed all the ingredients on the counter. The alpha had that constipated look on his face, the one he had when he wanted to desperately tell Big something important. Well important was a far-fetched word when it came to Ken, but this time Pete had tagged along and even though the alpha was smiling down at the pups, his shoulders were tense.

So, Big in an attempt to get them alone, “Pups.” All three heads looked at him at once. “Why don’t you three go and play while I put these in the oven?”

“But…frosting?” Kim questioned.

“We’ll make the frosting as soon as the cupcakes are out of the oven, okay?”

It looked like the three of them wanted to protest but looking at the serious expressions on all the adults, they slowly got down from their stools and made their way out of the kitchen.

As soon as the door was shut, Big picked up the sheets on the counter and turned towards the oven. Placing the sheets carefully in the oven, he closed the lid and set the timer and temperature to the perfect setting in the ruse of buying himself some time before facing what he was sure would be bad news.

“Big.” Pete’s voice floated across the room. “We found them.”

Big gripped the oven handle, his knees buckling with the force with which relief spread through his being.

The omega slowly turned to face his friends, searching their eyes to confirm what he heard was the truth and not some cruel trick his mind had played on him.

“A rescue team is going to the location.” Ken continued. “You should come too.”

“I want to,” Big wiped the batter that had splattered around the counter. “But P’Chan won’t let me.”

“He will.”

“What?”

“We talked to him.” Ken said taking the rag that the omega had started twisting in nervousness.

“You did what!?” Big screeched. “Are you crazy!?”

“You-”

“Big!” Pete exclaimed. “Listen to us first please?”

“We went in there, fully prepared to have full on dramatic blow out.” Ken started, making Big roll his eyes because typical. “But as it turned out, we didn’t need to.”

“Yeah, they guy had already included you in the mission. Something about P’Nop almost biting his head off if he didn’t.”

Okay…wow.

“Huh.”

“Yes, exactly. We had the same reaction.” Pete pointed. “But the semantics don’t matter right now. We need to gear up. The team leaves in an hour.”

Big nodded and followed the two out the kitchen door and towards the armoury.

…

The squad was armed and moving towards the briefing area, to have teams and roles assigned.

Big did not miss the ugly looks some of the traditional senior bodyguards - who had never liked Big in the first place – threw at him. But the omega did not have any fucks to give. He had been subjected to these looks since he presented, from his own family no less. So, these useless alphas did not affect him.

The thing that was causing butterflies in his belly was the anticipation. The multiple images of the state he would find them in. His omega was okay with them being lightly stabbed, anything more and the little shit would surely go feral.

Gods, Big loved his omega but sometimes he just wanted to…

For fucks sake don’t do anything stupid.

You’re the reason we’re in this mess.

The little shit just rolled his eyes and retreated back in his mind, while swaying his hips dramatically.

“P’Big?” Big halted in his steps as Kim’s voice travelled through the room.

He turned to his left and saw the pup standing on the threshold of the game room, a controller in his hand. “Where are you going?”

Big nodded at Ken to go ahead before walking towards Kim. “Hi bunny.” Big kneeled in front of the kid.

“I need to go on a mission. Your hia needs my help. So, I am going to go and get him, okay?”

“But-but you promised…we would frost the cupcakes.” Kim pouted at the omega.

Big just smiled at his pup’s antics. Brat. “We can do that after I get back okay?” He took Kim’s hands in his own. “I won’t be gone long, I promise. And when I get back we can even show your hia the cupcakes you made. How does that sound?”

Kim seemed ponder over Big’s words, before finally nodding. “You promise?” He held his pinkie out.

“I promise bunny.” The omega curled his own around Kim’s and got up. Kissing the pup’s head goodbye, Big resumed his way to the briefing room.

The warehouse loomed ahead of them. They were total of twenty guards, and from his position he could see at least fifteen men in and around the warehouse. Good. They had an advantage then.

And would you look at that!

They were fucking Italian.

Again.

One of these days-

“Alright everyone.” P’Chan’ voice cut through Big’s very valid rant.

“Take on your positions. The targets have been confirmed in a room at the far-left corner of the warehouse.”

“All team will proceed on my command.” Their comms crackled again.

Big exhaled slowly through, adjusting the strap of his vest as he took in the scene one more time. The ware house looked old and dangly, almost on the verge of collapse. Corrugated metal rusted through in places, walls blackened with both burn marks and mold, ew, windows were boarded up like those cliched mafia movies.

Big could see, six to seven men around the perimeter. That left at least five inside. If Big thought about it, this was fairly easy mission. Which raised slight alarms at the back of mind, because why keep such scarce and slopy security if you have the fucking heir as a hostage?

But the omega didn’t have much time to ponder over that thought, because the next second P’Chan fired the command for his team in their comms and chaos ensued.

Gunfire split the air almost immediately, sharp and ear-splitting. Big moved on muscle memory, his body reacting to his surroundings before his brain could catch up, ducking behind one of the shipping containers as bullets sparked against metal somewhere to his right.

Panicked shouts erupted in Italian from inside, surprised and completely uncoordinated.

Pathetic.

Big leaned out of his cover long enough to take down one of the perimeter guards, the man dropping down with a yell.

“Ken!” He shouted. “On your right.”

A gunshot followed his voice, and another one of the guards went down. They continued to take down guards with practiced movements, letting the other team easily breach the doors. Once the perimeter was cleared, they moved inside the warehouse.

As soon as they entered, the smell of damp rotting walls hit Big with force, making the omega gag. They advanced carefully, booths crunching over broken glass and other litter. Somewhere deep inside something exploded, it was small and controlled, but it made the entire structure shudder dangerously.

Big moved forward through the dust, taking down as many guards as he could; some with bullets and some with his hands. It got almost mechanical, years of training kicking in. His brain was now actively trying to find them.

Far-left corner.

“Hostages confirmed alive.” P’Chan’s voice crackled through the comms.

Relief surged through Big’s chest so fast, it almost made him dizzy.

Safe.

They were safe and alive.

This was almost over now, they can go home and-

A bullet whizzed past his ear, snapping him back into the moment.

Shit.

Big swore and dropped low, returning fire as another guard lunged from behind a stack of crates. He exhaled as the man went down, leaning against the crates to catch his breath.

The omega could see the room now. It’s door almost off its hinges, behind it Porsche was crouched behind a concrete pillar, teeth bared as he fired back. Big could also hear Kinn’s voice from deep into the room.

They were safe.

He barely had time to digest this news before his omega snarled and slammed himself against Big’s conscious almost frantically. Big’s defenses went up immediately and he whipped his head in the direction his omega was desperately pointing towards.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

A nameless Italian guard had his gun raised in Porsche’s direction. He was too close. Too fucking close.

Big scrambled off his feat and dashed in their direction. Shit. Shit. Shit.

“Porsche!” He yelled to gain the alpha’s attention. But it was too late, the guy had already fired his shot.

Big didn’t think. He didn’t hesitate.

Alpha’s in danger.

He lunged to cover the remaining distance.

For a second, everything went silent, as his body crashed on the concrete.

Well, that didn’t last too long.

Because the next second pain tore through his side, white-hot and vicious. Big gasped as the muscles around the wounds spasmed in pain as he tried to breathe.

Okay, breathing was a wrong idea.

He slowly moved his hands where he taken the bullet and-

Oh.

That was a lot of blood.

As if to confirm his notion, his vision swam violently, the ceiling above him going out of focus. He could make out someone or someones shouting in the background, but his brain refused to make any sense of it.

Ignoring the intense ringing in his ears he tried to listen to the noise around him, in an attempt to get some clarity on the current situation.

Was it safe enough for him to let go and let others take care of him?

A second explosion rocked through the place making the beams and the pillar crack and groan.

Okay, then not safe enough it is.

He needed to get up. So he did just that, except all he could lift was his stupid head to a forty-five degree angle before another dizzy spell hit him with vengeance.

Fuck.

Rolling it is then. The omega tried to roll onto his side and immediately regretted every life choice he’d ever made. Pain laced through him again, sharp enough to steal his breath, and he collapsed back on the concrete with a choked sound.

Blood pooled around him as he continued lying there, seeping through his uniform.

Now that he was aware of it, his body felt too heavy to move. In a distance something heavy fell down with force causing the whole floor to vibrate.

Big turned his head in that direction. A beam had fallen from above and

Oh, there’s no one here…

He’s alone.

Big stared at the empty stretch of concrete, his brain taking a few painful seconds to accept what his eyes were telling him.

Gone.

Everyone is gone.

The only noise now resonating through the warehouse was it collapsing in on itself and Big.

He let out something between a laugh and a breathless cough. “Kind of poetic.” He muttered weakly.

A warehouse.

It had all started in one.

It seemed only right that it would end in one too.

A sad smile graced his lips, his eyes finally giving up.

I’m sorry, bunny.

Chapter Text

Chapter 14

“Khun Kinn? I need you to follow the light with your eyes okay?” Kinn winced as the doctor flashed a bright ray of light in front of his eyes, but tried following it nonetheless.

“Okay,” The doctor turned the light off and turned towards the nurse beside her. “He’s mildly concussed. Nothing to worry about, but still keep him under observation for the night.”

The nurse nodded and took the doctor’s place, and started patching the alpha up. Kinn sighed and leaned on the wall behind, trying to make sense of the events of the past few days.

“Where’s Porsche?” He asked the nurse, who was now wrapping his forearm, where he had gotten nicked with a knife.

“The doctors are stitching his arm up Khun. You can go see him as soon as I am done here.” She taped the bandage shut and moved towards the wound on his ribs. “I’m afraid you both will need to stay in the med bay tonight.”

Kinn closed his eyes, resting his head against the wall, trying to stifle the headache he could feel behind his eyes as the nurse resumed her task of fixing him up.

He couldn’t wait to sleep and just forget about the whole thing.

Another ten minutes passed in silence, just the rustling of bandages and various tubes being opened filling the room as the nurse tried to finish her job as quickly as possible.

“Khun?” Kinn opened his eyes to see the nurse holding a cup filled with tablets and a glass of what he is guessing to be some kind of electrolyte. “I need you to take these before I can escort you to Khun Porsche’s room.”

He swallowed the pills and downed the whole glass, just now realizing how thirsty he was and proceeded to get down the bed he was sat on.

The world lost focus the moment he stood upright, making him stumble in his steps. “I’m fine.” He moved away as the nurse moved forward to give him a hand.

Kinn took a breath to steady himself, before resuming his way out of the room. The nurse a few steps away but still ready to step in if he were to need her help.

Porsche was already tucked in when Kinn entered the room, the nurse checking the I.V. drip attached to Porsche before quietly taking her leave.

“Hey baby.” Kinn greeted Porsche as he got into the bed.

“Hi.” Porsche pecked the alpha on the lips as they snuggled closer. “You doing okay? What did the doctor say?”

“Slightly concussed, nothing to worry about. What about you?”

“Hmm.” The alpha closed his eyes in content as Kinn slight ran his finger through Porsche’s hair. “Nothing much. Just had to get stitched up a bit.”

A comfortable silence fell over them as both the alphas got lost in the day’s events.

Kinn’s head now throbbed steadily. He shifted slightly on the bed trying to get comfortable. The movement jostled his ribs causing him to wince slightly, he pulled the blanket tightly around his shoulders once the pain had settled a bit.

“It wasn’t the Italians who were behind this.” Kinn stopped his ministrations and tilted towards Porsche. The alpha was already looking at him, trying to clock his reaction.

“Yeah,” Kinn sighed and buried himself deeper in the bed. “I know.”

This one had dear old dad written all over it.

“We were moving too fast.” Kinn continued as he rubbed his fingers against his temple. “We need to lay low for a while. We don’t know who he’ll target next time.”

Images of Kim and Khun bruised up in run down basements flashed in his mind.

Porsche hummed, seemingly lost in the same spiral. “Sleep for now.” The alpha whispered snapping himself out of his thoughts, “We’ll worry about this tomorrow. Everything’s okay for now.” He nuzzled his head against Kinn’s and closed his eyes.

Porsche breathing evened out beside him, the painkillers and adrenaline crash doing their work. Kinn on the other hand did not have the same luck. He tried really hard to fall asleep but his alpha refused to settle. Like something was still wrong, and Kinn was missing something really important.

Sighing in frustration for both his alpha and the stupid headache that refused to settle, Kinn turned towards the side table and grabbed the painkiller kept for him. Chugging two of them with water he settled back on in the bed, now on his side facing Porsche.

Looking at his mate for a couple of minutes, tracking the alpha’s breathing, he tried to convince his own alpha that their mate was okay. They were all okay.

…

The next morning both the alphas were discharged from the med-bay with Porsche’s arm in a sling and a bag full of medicines for both of them.

They made their way towards the residential area of the compound in silence, still fighting off the effects of the gazillion painkillers and meds they were given the night before. Both of them had half a mind to just go to their room and sleep them off, but they knew they couldn’t push meeting their family any longer.

They had been rushed straight to the med-bay yesterday night after the mission and it had been quite late, so the doctors had not allowed any visitors. And Kinn was more scared of Tankhun’s reaction than the pups’ if they decided to go straight to their room now.

“Hia!” Twin voices echoed through the dining room and the next second two small bodies all but slammed into the alphas, injuries be damned.

“Hey-hey careful!” Porsche laughed, instinctively tightening his hold around Chay. Wincing when the movement pulled on his stitches.

Kim had latched himself around Kinn’s side, his face buried in the alpha’s shirt. Kinn in response bent down and lifted his pup in his arms, needing it as much as Kim.

“Hi, little one.” Kinn greeted the mop of hair under his chin, receiving something unintelligible as Kim refused to pull away.

The four of them moved further into the dining room Kim and Chay still nestled in Kinn and Porsche’s arms respectively. They greeted the rest of the family and stood still as Tankhun fussed over them for the next ten minutes.

“We’re fine hia.” Kinn reassured his brother, when the beta started obsessively looking all over their bodies for hidden injuries.

Tankhun still continued to fuss for another five minutes. Now chiding them along with every touch. “Keep your fine to yourself mister.”

He pulled back and allowed the four of them to settle down when he was satisfied. “Do you have any idea how scared and stressed we’ve been!?”

“Especially the little ones.” Kinn pulled a plate in front of him and piled several dishes served on the table, just now realizing how hungry he had been.

Beside him Tankhun continued his rant, which Kinn kind of muted. Don’t get him wrong it was endearing how his big brother still fussed over him all these years later, but he still had that headache from last night. And they had been in this situation too many times now. So, the beta should be used to it.

“…the whole house had turned into one big panic room. Kim and Chay had refused any meals they were offered. Always asking whether their hias were back…”

Kinn looked down at the pup on his lap, who was now looking down, fiddling with his finger at being snitched. “Kim.”

The pup looked up at his hia. His eyes now all wide and round, trying their best to earn some grace points.

Brat.

“We were lucky we had Big with us who had taken over their care. But that too went down the drain when he had gone with the rescue team to get out both out-”

Big.

Kinn froze. His hands, fiddling with a piece of orange stopped mid-way towards Kim as the name washed over him.

Big.

Big had been there. Had been at the warehouse. The alpha’s eyes darted around the room, as if expecting to find the familiar figure lodged in some corner of the room, how it always had been. But, his eyes came up empty. There was no Big in the room.

And now that he had noticed it, the room felt wrong, almost incomplete without the caramel and cocoa scent.

Dread crawled up his spine, his alpha now pacing anxiously in his mind. Kinn turned to his right and looked at Porsche, finding the alpha in the same conundrum. As if sensing eyes on him Porsche turned to face Kinn, his eyes filled with the same worry.

Neither of them said anything.

The dining table continued with its motion in the background. But it felt muted to Kinn.

Big was probably still at the warehouse. Mostly overseeing clean-up along with Pete and Ken. The alpha reasoned with himself, as the dread refused to go down.

He instinctively tightened his arm around Kim, pulling the pup closer to himself. His expression soured when he didn’t get any response from the kid. “Kim?” He looked down.

Kim had stopped playing with the food on their plate and was now intensely staring at the entrance of the dining room. “Hey.” Kinn jostled him a bit, snapping him out of whatever trance he had gone in.

“Hia, where’s P’Big?” Kim looked up at his big brother.

Kinn opened his mouth to answer, but nothing came out. For the first time in his life the alpha did not have an answer to Kim’s question.

Beside him Porsche too glanced at the hallway leading to the dining hall, his eyes searching through every nook and cranny trying to find the familiar figure clad in bodyguard’s suit with his hair tied up in a ponytail. Or to at least find any traces of caramel and cocoa. 

“He’s with the guards I think.” Vegas answered instead, “Everyone was quite shaken up after the building almost collapsed on us.”

“Yeah,” Tankhun picked up after Vegas, “He would be with the other guards pup. Don’t worry he’ll come to you as soon as he can.”

Kim looked at all the adults in the living room with uncertain eyes, before turning back to Kinn. “You promise?”

“I promise.” The words came out of Kinn’s mouth before he even registered them.

As always, taking his hia’s words as the eternal truth, the pup – now satisfied – turned back to his plate resumed eating.

…

After having their breakfast, they all broke into different groups with Tankhun taking Kim and Chay with him. Kinn and Porsche on the other hand headed towards Korn’s wing of the compound.

The alphas walked towards the elevators leading to Korn’s floor. Getting into the elevator, Kinn leaned against one of the walls, sighing heavily. He was too exhausted to deal with his father’s mind games.

The elevator opened to the hallway leading to Korn’s own apartment if you will inside the compound. They both walked towards his office at the end of the hall.

Unsurprisingly, before either of them could knock, the door opened revealing a blank faced Chan. The head bodyguard nodded at them in greeting and sidestepped to let them. The alphas walked further in the and were greeted with Korn sitting behind his desk – calm as ever – and sipping his morning tea.

Gods, did Kinn want to kill him.

Instead, the alpha smiled his perfect smile, “Morning Paa.” They both took their seats at the desk, “I hope you it wasn’t too difficult to manage everything while I was gone.”

“Your old man is not that old yet.” Korn said with that sickly sweet smile of his, it made Kinn’s skin crawl every time he witnessed it. “And I am just glad my son and his mate are back. Completely safe.”

“I hope the arm’s not as bad as it looks, Porsche.” Korn addressed Porsche for the first time since they entered the room.

“Just a scratch Khun. Nothing I can’t handle.” Porsche replied, his eyes crinkling as he smiled at Kinn’s father.

“So, mind telling me what went down?”

“I haven’t gotten the time to get briefed about yesterday’s mission yet.” Kinn replied.

“I was not talking about yesterday.”

Kinn’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion, the alpha shared a look with his mate who had the same expression as him. His eyes very briefly landed on Chan standing behind his father’s chair, the alpha’s body had gone stiff.

Okay, what the fuck?

“I am talking about the night of the auction.” He slowly turned back to the table, “I want to know the reason why the protocol wasn’t followed.”

Kinn’s jaw tightened at the direction this conversation was being lead. “Some variables had come up. It was important to take care of them.”

“Was it, though?”

“Yes, it was.” Porsche spoke, his fists now curled around the arms of his chair. Kinn wrapped his own around the alpha’s grounding them both for whatever shit his father was going to spew.

But the head of the family just stared at them. The only sound in the office now coming from the grandfather clock on the far left corner of the office.

When it was definite that neither alpha would speak further, Korn relaxed back into his chair, “Well, taking care of variables is not part of your job.” He picked up his tea cup, “Especially expendable ones.”

The alpha then took a sip of his tea, clearly dismissing the two.

…

The sun had almost set when Kinn was done with all the work he had missed in the past three days. It was mundane and tiresome, but Kinn welcomed it with open arms. Because it was the easiest thing to do among all the chaos that was whirling around him.

After their meeting with his father and Chan briefing him about the logistics of the mission, Kinn had hidden himself away in his office. But, even with the mounds of paperwork surrounding him, the alpha was not able to get his father’s words out of his head.

“Especially expendable ones.”

His alpha had not liked the meaning behind those words. Nor had he. Which was the most irritating thing of it all. Because Kinn knew his father was right, hell it was one of the things that he had in common with the old bastard.

Kinn harshly rubbed his face in a desperate attempt to clear his thoughts. This was getting ridiculous.

Fuck it.

The alpha pushed his chair back and stood up. Walking out of his office, he pulled on his suit jacket and made his way towards the elevator. He needed some space to think, somewhere out of here.

He was long overdue for a drive anyway.

With his mind made up, Kinn rode the elevator down to the garage and walked towards his Bentley. The one with a faux GPS tracker in it. He did not need his father watching him like a hawk as he aimlessly drove around Bangkok, he had ‘forgotten’ his phone in his office anyway.

He slid into the driver’s seat and pushed a button on the steering wheel to open the garage doors. Pressing on the accelerator, Kinn drove out of the compound and into Bangkok’s night.

The streets of Bangkok blurred past him in streaks of neon and headlights. The city live and loud, with its residents rushing about in their lives, some hurrying home after a long day at work, some milling about just enjoying the evening, some kids with their friends laughing and joking around as they found a place to eat.

This chaos was so different from the one Kinn witnessed and regulated back at the compound and in his life every day, and so much better.

The alpha continued driving around with no destination in mind. His body had taken over at some point, navigating through the roads purely on muscle memory as his brain drifted to a million places and nowhere at the same time.

It was kind of peaceful.

At some point, the bustling city area had given way to the quite suburbs of Bangkok. Rows upon rows of houses blurred past him, each designed with a touch that represented the family that resided it, some of them had kids playing in yards, some had people on their porch swings reading or just dozing off.

Kinn drove further into the neighbourhood, taking a left on the second intersection he came face to face with a familiar house.

What?

The alpha came back to his senses as his legs hit the brakes right in front of the familiar white gate.

Why was he here?

At Porsche’s old house.

Irritated with himself, Kinn tried to shake off whatever reverie he had been and tried to turn his way out. But as soon as he shifted the gears to reverse, his alpha slammed against his head so hard his vision went white for a few seconds.

What the fuck!?

Kinn pressed his palms against his eyes, trying to get his vision back to normal, and the ringing in his ears to stop. All while his alpha continued to push him towards the house.

“Okay, okay!” Kinn yelled out loud, “I’m going in.”

The alpha slowly got out of the car and walked towards the gate. Sliding it open he walked further into the property. The house was dark, as it was expected no one had lived in it for the past six months atleast. The only person who came in was the cleaning lady that Porsche had hired to clean the house once a week.

Kinn walked up the porch steps and paused. The door was already unlocked.

What the fuck.

The alpha tucked his gun out of his waistband and clicked the safety off. He slowly pushed the door open, inside the living room was completely dark. Kinn walked in and stood against the wall aligning the door, listening for any sounds that could tell him something about the intruders. But he was met with silence. Walking further in the room, he sniffed the air, trying to gauge out unfamiliar scents.

But the only thing he caught was the scent of cedar and white musk, with traces of fading and caramel and cocoa.

Porsche.

He relaxed a bit after the realization and followed the trail the scent had left. It led him down the hall which led to the stairs, Kinn climbed them as quietly as possible, his paranoia still keeping him on guard. Reaching the landing, he turned left his hands again tightening around his gun as he realized which room the scent was leading him to.

As Kinn pushed the door open, he was hit with the stale but still as intense scent of cocoa and caramel mixed with whiskey and cedar. His alpha growled in satisfaction, retracting his claws that had been out this whole day. But Kinn didn’t pay him any heed. Instead, his eyes were zeroed in on the figure leaned against the dresser, staring intensely at the bed.

The nest, Kinn realized as his eyes shifted towards the bed too.

His nest.

“Po?” Kinn whispered, breaking the silence when he couldn’t stare at it any longer, “Why are you here?”

Porsche turned to face him, as if just now realizing his presence in the room, “I-I don’t know.” He turned his eyes back at it, “After the meeting I tried to go back to work but my alpha refused to settle. So I thought I’d come to the house and check for any damages…”

He briefly glanced back at Kinn, “Why are you here?”

Well, Kinn would love to know that too now, wouldn’t he?

“I-” He cleared his throat, when his voice scratched up, “I went out for a drive to clear my head and ended up here.”

“We need to talk about it at some point, don’t we?”

Alarm bells went off in Kinn’s mind at Porsche’s voice. It was the same tone he had heard back when they had weepingly confessed their love to each other. Kinn had promised himself that Porsche would never sound like that again.

He hastily crossed the distance between them, “Po, I-”

“No.” Kinn stopped dead in his tracks, “I mean, I’m not accusing or anything. But we cannot just pretend it didn’t happen.”

Porsche closed the remaining distance between them, wrapping his good arm around Kinn, trying to reassure him.

“It doesn’t have to mean anything.” Kinn said earnestly. But even those words caused his alpha to snarl in his mind.

Porsche leaned in closer, “I know it doesn’t.” He looked into Kinn’s eyes, “But do you really feel that?”

“Po…”

“Because, I don’t.”

What.

“What?” Kinn said, now alarmed. What did he mean he didn’t.

“We’re mates Kinn. If it were nothing, we shouldn’t’ve been affected in the first place. You wouldn’t’ve almost killed that man just for touching him.” Kinn’s alpha snarled in anger at memory of those filthy hands around him, “See,” Porsche pointed out as the cloves turned bitter in the air, “It was not nothing, was it?”

Kinn closed his eyes and sighed, taking a couple of breaths in to calm his nerves, “Yeah…it was not nothing.” He admitted.

He opened his eyes again and looked at his mate, ignoring everything else around him, the scents, the nest, everything and just focused on his alpha. “But this changes nothing between us. Not our relationship. Not our bond. Not our life.”

For once Kinn’s alpha agreed with him in his mind, eager to reassure his mate.

Porsche searched his eyes, before nodding, “I know. I love you.”

“I love you too.” The reply was instant and easy, like breathing.

Kinn leaned forward and rested his forehead against Porsche, his own arms wrapping around the alpha’s waist. They breathed in silence for a while, both simmered in their own thoughts.

“But you do feel something about him.” Porsche broke the silence. It was not a question, it was a statement, a fact if you will.

“Porsche-”

“Don’t lie.”

Kinn exhaled in frustration. He did not want to have this conversation right now, or ever if possible. But his mate and his mind thought differently because, unbidden memories flashed through his eyes.

Memories he had buried deep inside his mind. Memories he refused to acknowledge even to himself. Memories that were both extremely precious and haunting.

“Yeah…” He whispered, defeated. “I don’t know what it is. It’s too complicated, with a lot of history involved. But…yeah.”

Kinn had expected hurt. He had expected Porsche to scream at him, the way he had done back then. What he hadn’t expected was the alpha to slightly sag against him in relief and say, “Good.”

“What?” Kinn pulled back and looked at his mate completely puzzled.

“I don’t know what it is either. I’m not even sure if they’re tangible or not. But yeah I do feel something too.”

The relief that rushed through Kinn when he heard those words was so surprising and sudden that it left his body completely numb. Kinn tightened his hold around Porsche without quite realizing it, grounding himself in the familiar weight of his mate’s body.

“Okay…” Kinn gathered his thoughts and continued, “What do we do now?”

“I don’t know. But we don’t need to rush this.” He turned towards the nest, “It’s still fragile.”

“You’re right.” Kinn followed Porsche eyes, “We’ll figure it out. We’ve got time I guess. Besides there’s already a lot of chaos around. Rushing won’t benefit anyone.”

Porsche nodded his head and lightly pecked Kinn’s lips, “How are you so calm about all this?” Kinn questioned as he pulled away.

“Well, I’ve had almost two hours to digest all this before you arrived.”

Right.

Porsche was the emotionally mature one.

They both stayed in the room for a while longer before heading out.

Chapter Text

Chapter 15

The alphas made their way back to the compound roughly half an hour later. Porsche wheeled his bike inside the garage, firmly locked all the gates and slid into the passenger seat of Kinn’s Bentley, the alpha already in the driver’s seat.

Kinn turned the ignition on and revved the car out the gates and slowly drove it out the neighbourhood and onto the main road. A silence fell in the car as they drove turned on the highway leading towards the compound, both the alphas simmered in their own thoughts.

Kinn felt a weird feeling settle deep in his gut, a mix of hope and dread regarding the situation. The alpha hated not being in control, he liked to know all the odds would play in his favour before he introduced himself to one. But here. Here the odds weren’t even in the room with him, let alone be in his favour.

He sighed and rested his head against the headrest, the lights from the street and other vehicles burning in his eyes.

God, he wanted this shit to be over.

“Kinn…”

“Hmm…” Kinn hummed as he made a turn to get off the highway.

“What-” Porsche cleared his throat once, “What are you thinking about?”

“Nothing much…” He flicked the indicator to right, “Work. Everybody back home.”

Porsche hummed quietly, accepting the alphas words for what they were. The city lights blurred passed them, the city’s chaos coming back as they rode further into it.

“We need to sit with the kids. The morning was very chaotic for them.” Porsche murmured.

“Yeah, we can have dinner and do something together with everyone. Last week has been a bit hectic for all of us.” Kinn said, as he turned the corner on the street leading to the compound.

“Do you think everyone is back? From the warehouse?”

“Mostly yeah. They wrap up things pretty quickly after they’ve confirmed everyone’s accounted for.”

The gates to the mansion came into view, Kinn rolled the window and outstretched his hand towards the sensor to get scanned.

“Big’s going to be exhausted.”

“Big’s always exhausted.” Kinn replied automatically.

Porsche just chuckled at that.

Kinn rolled the windows back up and drove inside, stopping the car right in the front of the main entrance. Both the alphas got out of the car with Kinn handing the keys to one of guards at the door and walked inside the mansion.

They crossed the bodyguard’s cafeteria, which was unusually quiet today. Kinn checked his wristwatch – seven p.m. – this was their dinner-time. The alpha once again looked around the cafeteria and it was completely empty.

“Were there any other assignments today?” He turned towards Porsche, who had matching frown on his face.

“No.” Porsche met Kinn’s eyes, “P’Chan ordered everyone to take it easy after last night’s event. Only the clean-up crew was out.”

The dread in his gut from before intensified.

The alpha’s eyes urgently darted around the room trying to find someone, anyone really. Anyone who would clear all his doubts and confirm he was just overthinking this.

“Khun Kinn.” Both the alphas whipped their head to the left, and saw a recruit sprinting towards them.

“P’Chan wants to see you. He’s in the family living room. P’Ken and P’Pete are also there with the mission report.”

But, why the living room?

“Why the living room?” Porsche asked the question Kinn was thinking.

The recruit looked at them for a moment before averting his eyes, “I…I don’t know, P”

Kinn’s eyes narrowed at that. And the dread started spreading all over his body.

Without further ado Kinn turned to his right towards the elevators, Porsche following suit. The somewhat calm they had attained after their conversation back at the house now completely devoured by the nerves that had saturated the compound.

The elevator ride felt longer than it was. Kinn stood intently staring at the number changing as the moved up the floors. Beside him Porsche had gone completely still, his shoulder hunched over as if expecting an attack beyond those doors.

The elevator opened with a ding. The alphas made their way towards the living room at the end of the hall, their steps having a slight urgency in them now. Reaching the end pf the hallway Kinn pushed open the doors and was greeted with his entire family – minus the kids - along with their personal detail.

The alpha paused in his steps, as confusion coloured his mind seeing this odd sight. “What is going on?” He questioned quickly gathering himself.

All the bodyguards in the room turned and bowed at once. “We’ve got the report about the kidnapping and yesterday’s mission Khun.” Chan answered.

“And this couldn’t’ve happened in my office?” Kinn questioned, now quite irritated.

“I asked him to do it here, son.”

Kinn darted his eyes to meet his father’s, and suppressed the urge to just shoot the old geyser.

Wasn’t his father’s heart weak or something!?

Kinn schooled his expression back to a neutral one and further walked into the room and took a seat on an armchair. Porsche taking his position behind the alpha. “Let’s begin then.”

Chan nodded once and the flat screen at the centre of the room was turned on. “We’ve scoured through the possible suspects behind the kidnapping. It was the Italians, but-” The slide on the screen changed to show a picture of a man – a man of their own family.

“-this time they were not acting on their own. We believe they were commissioned by some of our own members.”

“And why do you think this?” Kan interrupted “It is a serious accusation you are throwing around.”

Where’s Big?

“We have various strong reasons to believe this Khun.” Nop continued. “First of all, the men behind the kidnapping did not belong to any clans. They were mere mercenaries hired for the job.”

“And, Arm was able to trace cell records and text chains between them to confirm our theories.” Chan picked up. “Apparently,” The alpha averted his gaze, slightly hesitating. “they were not happy with the heir’s choice of mate and wanted to take actions in their own hands.”

Porsche stiffened behind him after those words.

“Choice of my mate, you say.” Kinn all but sneered, because how dare they.

And also, because he knew perfectly well who they were and they were definitely not the men displayed on the screen.

“Do you have their locations?” Korn questioned after a bout of silence; his voice filled with concern.

“We’re still narrowing it down Khun. We’ll have them by tomorrow.”

“Get them as soon as you can, because if they are the suspects then we are not safe even within the compound…”

Oh, Kinn knew they were not safe within these walls. He had known this since Tankhun had been first kidnapped.

The alpha tuned out the discussion going around him, considering it was just a load of bull his father had orchestrated because he had failed in his whatever fucked up plan he had devised. Kinn’s eyes landed on the reports scattered around the coffee table and picked one up.

Mission Report.

Kinn flipped open the report and skimmed through the pages.

Mission Plan.

Strategies Used.

Teams.

Guards Taken.

Arms Used.

Techniques.

Blueprints.

Injuries.

Casualties.

Assets Retrieved.

Hostages Captured.

Wait-

The alpha flipped back a couple of pages. Casualties. He scanned the list, which contained only one name.

Big.

His fingers tightened around the file. He read the name once, twice, three times. Trying to confirm that he had read it wrong. That it was not that name under that list.

But the name did not change.

It was still Big.

A certain numbness spread through his body, his brain going completely blank as he intensely stared at the file in his hands.

“Ken.” Kinn’s voice interrupted the conversation in the room.

Some shuffling was heard as Ken crossed the room, “Yes Khun?”

“Where’s Big?”

A hush fell over the room following Kinn’s words.

“Why are you asking about a bodyguard in the middle of such an important discussion?”

His alpha sneered at the question.

“Ken, where’s Big?” Kinn asked again completely ignoring his father.

“Khun…”

Kinn finally looked at the bodyguard with such fierce eyes that it made the other alpha take certain steps back. “Ken.”

The said man casted his gaze downward. “He-he didn’t make it Khun.”

The alpha felt the world come off its axis at Ken’s words.

He didn’t make it, Khun.

“What?” Porsche gasped behind him. “What do you mean he didn’t make it?”

“I-” Ken cleared his throat when his voice cracked. “During the shootout, Big had taken a shot. But the Italians had thrown some grenades around and the structure had started shaking, and we had to rush out.” He heaved in a breath before continuing, “Pete and I, we went back in, you know trying to find him below the rubble. Bu-but we were too-Mhm-too late.”

“We found him under a pillar…” Ken trailed off; his own eyes now positively wet. “We couldn’t-”

Clang.

All the heads turned towards the sound. And there beside a knocked lamp stood Kim.

The room stilled.

All eyes trained on the newcomer in the room, waiting his reaction with bated breath.

“Hia…?” The pup’s eyes zeroed in on Kinn, “Where’s…where is P’Big?”

The question seemed to snap Kinn out of the trance he had entered since he’d read the name. The alpha stood up from his seat and hastily crossed the room, “Hey Kimmy.” He took the pup’s hands in his. “What are you doing up, baby?”

The pup’s fingers trembled in his hands. His gaze not even trained on Kinn, but somewhere behind him searching for something, or someone.

“Hia…” Kim’s voice came out thin and wet, “Why did P’Ken said P’Big isn’t coming back?”

Oh, god.

Kinn’s throat locked. His mind scrambled to find words, any words to reassure the pup, something that would get the stone cold fear out of Kim’s eyes. Because fuck-

Being subjected to the worst kind of torture would be easier than this.

“Kim,” Kinn moved his hands up the pup’s arms, bringing him closer trying to shield him. “Bub, P’Big…P’Big got hurt-”

Kinn could not do this. He could not tell Kim his P’Big was not coming back. The alpha had barely digested the fact himself for god’s sake.

“Baby,” Porsche knelt beside him, turning Kim slightly to face him. “Yesterday, when P’Big came to save me and your Hia he-he got hurt…”

“So, he’s in the med-bay?” A little spark of hope flashed in Kim’s eyes. “Can we go see him?” He turned his face back to Kinn. “Please Hia.”

Kinn swallowed, his throat now as dry as the desert as the little one looked at him so earnestly. He took in a deep breath trying to piece himself together, “Pup, sometimes when people get hurt they-” He gently cupped Kim’s cheeks, “-they don’t wake up…”

Kim continued staring at him, trying to process the words coming out of Kinn’s mouth and waiting to be told where his P’Big is. “P’Big got hurt…a lot this time.” He stared intently in the pup’s eyes as he said the next words, “And-”

Big…fuck, come back. Please.

“He won’t come back baby.” Kinn brought the pup closer to him. “I’m sorry.”

A silence once again settled in the room, but this time it was thick, so much so that it felt difficult to take in air. Every person in the room stayed absolutely still as the pup processed the news, even the dust had stilled.

Kim didn’t move an inch. The pup just stood there staring at his hia, waiting for him to say that all of this was a joke. A prank that the adults were playing on him. He waited for his Hia Tankhun to start hysterically laughing as P’Big came out from behind a pillar and Booed.

But that did not happen. All the adults just kept staring at him with sad eyes. And slowly the realization dawned on his face, his heart dropping down in his tummy as his Hia’s words rang back in his ears.

He won’t come back baby.

I’m sorry.

But P’Big promised…

“But he promised…” Kim whispered, fisting Kinn’s shirt in his little hands. “He promised he’ll come back with you.”

“He promised he’ll teach Cau, Chay and me to frost the cupcakes. He promised.” He said alternating his gaze between his Hia and P’Porsche. His voice now getting increasingly breathless. “Why didn’t you bring him back with you…?”

“He always listens to you Hia…” Kim looked at his Hia intensely.

The words landed like bullets in Kinn’s chest, leaving him completely breathless.

Because it was the truth, wasn’t it?

Big had always listened to him, followed every command, every whim the alpha had. His omega had always listened to him.

So, why had it been different this time?

“I know baby, he does.” The alpha pathetically agreed.

“So why didn’t you ask him to come this time?”

The room seemed to shrink around Kinn after that question, the walls caving in making it difficult to breath. Difficult to think.

Because, how the fuck was he supposed to answer to that?

How did he explain that sometimes you ask and the universe simply doesn’t listen?

“I-” Kinn started, desperately trying to find the right words. “It doesn’t work like that bub.”

“But-but…” The pup eyes started filling further as he scrambled to find more arguments that would prove his P’Big would come back. That his P’Big was still alive.

“…he promised.” Kim finally exhaled his voice now completely wet, stubbornly holding onto Big’s last words. “He promised Hia.”

“I know baby, I know.” Kinn whispered pulling the pup flush against his chest. “I know.”

“Kimmy…?” Porsche whispered, gently weaving his hand through Kim’s hair. “Baby please look at me.”

“Please-”

“No!” Kim jerked his head away from Kinn’s chest startling both the alphas. “I want him to come back!”

Kim jerked himself out of his Hia’s hold, his vision now completely blurred as tears continuously ran down his cheeks. “Hia! I want you to bring him back!”

Because P’Big cannot leave him like this.

He was not allowed to leave Kim like this!

“Pup, listen-” Kinn outstretched his arms to bring Kim back in his arms but the pup swatted it away hastily shaking his head.

“No!” He yelled again. “I want you to bring him back.”

“I want my mamma back!”

Every adult in the room froze.

Even Korn’s face twisted as the pup’s words echoed around the walls long after they had been spoken.

Kinn slowly got up from his position on the ground. “Everyone out.”

“I said,” The alpha turned his head towards all the adults in room, his eyes now completely blank. “Everyone. Out.”

As if pulled out of some trance, everyone at once got up from their seat and herded themselves out of the room.

The room settled into silence as Nop closed the door as the last person left. Kinn turned back to Kim, who was now looking at the ground his little body shaking with the intensity of his sobs. The alpha’s chest felt completely hollow, his heart completely shattered after those words. All he could think, all he forced himself to think about was his pup.

Chapter Text

Chapter 16

As the last person left the room, Kinn walked towards Kim who was tightly clutching Porsche’s shirt. The pup’s face had turned completely red, with tears and snot continuously running down it. Porsche was whispering reassurances in his hair. The alpha’s own eyes were rimmed red.

Kinn kneeled before the pair and gently pulled Kim towards him, the pup falling on his Hia’s chest immediately.

“Hia…” He hiccupped against Kinn.

“I know baby.” The alpha tightened his arm around his pup. “I know.”

“Hia…pl-please tell him…tell him to c-come back.” Kim sobbed.

Kinn felt his chest tighten at the words and more at the possibility of it never happening…ever.

“I wish I could, bub.” He nuzzled Kim’s hair trying to relax him through his scent. “I wish I could.”

The three of them stayed like that, huddled close together with Kinn tightly holding Kim and Porsche engulfing them both. The pup continued to cry his heart out and neither of the adults tried to stop him.

A while later Kim’s sobs quieted down to little hiccups as exhaustion started to take over his little body.

“We need to take him upstairs Kinn.” Porsche whispered.

Kinn nodded and slowly, carefully gathered Kim in his arms, wrapping the pup’s legs around his torso as he stood up. Porsche rose with them, a hand staying at the small of Kinn’s back as they made their way out of the living room.

As they reached their room, Porsche opened the door and let Kinn enter the room before closing the door behind him. The alphas shuffled towards their bed, Kinn settled on it with Kim still curled on top of him. Porsche kneeled on the floor beside him, he raised his hand to gently smooth the lines that had formed on the pup’s forehead.

Kim whimpered in his sleep at the contact, curling tighter in Kinn’s arms. Porsche moved forward to lightly scent him and then stood up.

“I’ll be downstairs.” He whispered, “Call me if you need anything.”

Kinn looked up at his mate. Porsche’s eyes had too many emotions flowing through them, now that Kim was asleep. Kinn had half a mind to refuse and pull him on the bed but stopped himself.

Porsche deserved to process this, and Kinn was in no position to help him do that. Fuck, the alpha himself hadn’t even registered it till now.

So, he just pulled Porsche down and kissed him, hoping to gain some sort of feeling back in his body through the act. Porsche sighed against his lips, the sigh was more watery than relief against his lips.

“I love you.” Porsche whispered.

“I love you.”

An eerie silence settled as Porsche left the room with Kinn just sitting there gently stroking Kim’s back while staring at the wall in front of him.

“Khun Kinn.”

Kinn startled awake, heart racing as his eyes darted around the room.

Gods, when did he fall asleep?

The alpha looked at the digital clock beside his bed. One a.m. He sagged against the pillow, a tired sigh leaving his lips. He had half a mind to go back to sleep but did not have the strength to be subjected to that voice again-

Wait.

Where’s Kim?

Kinn jerked upright as he realized the lack of weight on his chest, his eyes frantically roaming around the room to find the familiar body of his pup.

“Kim?” He called out when he did not find the pup in the bedroom.

“Kimmy?” He called out again as he rushed into his office and finding it empty too.

Fuck.

Panic started clawing up his throat as he found both the closet and bathroom empty. The alpha haphazardly rushed out his room and into the hallway. “Kim?” He ran down the hallway checking every room as he went, each one of them coming up empty.

“Baby where are you?” He asked the empty hallway.

Kinn had half a mind to call Tankhun and ask if the pup had crawled up his bed on the floor above, when-

The alpha skidded to a stop in front of the pup’s room, the light inside was turned off but the door was left ajar. Kinn hurriedly made his way inside, his heart running at an erratic speed with both panic and exhaustion.

Turning the nightlight on, Kinn almost hit the floor in relief as he found his pup curled up on the bed tightly clutching his blanket.

Taking a couple of deep breaths, the alpha made his way towards the bed and quietly knelt beside it. “You scare me, little one.” He whispered, lightly caressing Kim’s hair.

He leaned forward to press a kiss on the pup’s head, when he was hit with it,

Cocoa and caramel.

Kinn froze against Kim’s head, as the scent attacked his senses. Taking another whiff to confirm his mind was not playing tricks on him again, the alpha’s eyebrows furrowed as his senses were met with the same scent again.

With confusion lacing his eyes he looked around the room, finally zeroing in on the blanket Kim was clutching to his chest.

The blanket was saturated with Big’s scent.

And now that Kinn had recognized it, he realized the whole room was filled with it.

His chest ached at that, his body slightly trembling as he lowered his head on the bed, resting it at the edge of the blanket. Kinn took in a deep breath his senses filling with that scent again, spreading a warmth through his body that had disappeared since that meeting in the evening.

The alpha carefully traced the patterns on the blanket with trembling fingers.

Candies.

Which, was fitting, wasn’t it? Kinn thought with a small rueful smile gracing his face.

He slowly shuffled on the bed, mindful of not disturbing Kim’s grip on the blanket and adjusted them both by wrapping his arms around the pup and pulling him to his chest. Finally, he pulled the comforter on the edge of the bed over both of them and settled against the pillow.

The alpha at last closed his eyes, desperately clinging to the warmth that had spread in his body.

…

The days that followed that night kind of blurred together for Kinn.

Kim had plastered himself to his Hia, and had just gone…quiet.

The pup had stopped interacting with anyone other than Kinn. Occasionally, when Kinn wasn’t around, Kim would curl against Tankhun or Porsche, but other than that he only sought his big brother out.

Which the alpha was grateful for, truly, because this silence from the pup had scared the hell out of him.

As sad as it sounded, in their world this kind of loss was a common occurrence. The worst part for Kinn was that, Kim had not reacted this badly when the pup himself had been kidnapped.

And a small selfish part of him was glad because Kim using him as an anchor meant that the alpha didn’t have the space to face the reality himself.

So, as any good caregiver would, Kinn gave his all to look after his pup. Which also meant that he wasn’t able to concentrate on his work like before, or execute his little plans to dismantle his father as efficiently, but they were compromises the alpha was happy to make.

Porsche stepped up during the times when Kinn was not able to, and took over the deals which weren’t important enough for the heir to be present.

And Kinn couldn’t be more grateful for his mate.

He knew Porsche was hurting too, if the way Porsche had found him and Kim in the pup’s room the next morning was anything to go by. His eyes were swollen along with his face being puffy from the tears he had gone and shed in private.

Kinn was afraid there would be some backlash from the other families with Porsche taking over some of his duties, but to his surprise the other alpha was met with open arms. There was some displeasured chatter sure, but not loud or important enough to be dignified.

And for that Kinn was extremely proud of Porsche, that fucker was one hell of a charmer.

It was one of those days where Kim had not been glued to Kinn’s side. The pup, after a lot of coaxing from both Tankhun and Kinn was whisked away by the beta to go and play or watch some movies with Chay and Macau.

Which gave Kinn the time to look over the mounds of paperwork waiting for him in his office.

It was in the middle of a discussion he was having with both Porsche and Vegas that Chan interrupted them with yet another life-changing news.

“Khun?” Chan entered after two knocks on his office door.

All three of them turned to face the head of bodyguards. “There’s some bad news.”

“What is it?” Kinn questioned when the guard hesitated.

“Khun Kan’s dead.” Chan paused to let the three of them digest the news. “From what we’ve gathered it was a highway accident. It happened when Khun was on his way back to the compound from the airport.”

A beat of silence passed as all three of them processed the news they were subjected to.

Kinn moved his eyes towards Vegas. He knew that the omega’s relationship with his father was a big fat joke, but it was his father nonetheless.

But Vegas’ face was completely empty.

“Where’s Paa?” Kinn asked slowly moving his eyes away from his cousin.

“He’s on his way to the hospital. I was instructed to inform you and escort you there.”

Kinn nodded, “We’ll be right out.”

The guard nodded and gently closed the door shut behind him.

“Vegas?” Kinn called once they were left alone.

“You know it was not an accident right?” His cousin lifted his eyes from the table.

“I know.”

“You okay?” Porsche asked, his arm lightly wrapping around the omega.

“Yeah.” Vegas scoffed, but leaned onto the alpha nonetheless. “I mean, it’s not like he was dad of the year or anything.”

“Yeah well, we still won’t judge you if you want to ugly cry on the floor.” Porsche snickered. “Just don’t snort all over it okay, the carpet’s expensive.”

“Why do I put up with you!?” Vegas exclaimed, leaning away and punching Porsche on his chest.

“Alright both of you.” Kinn stood up as he chuckled at their ministrations. “Let’s go see the new drama dear old dad has come up with.”

The three stood up and made their way out of the office and towards the garage where Chan probably was.

…

The day of the funeral was filled with fake sympathy and endless condolences.

Vegas was the star of the show, the freshly orphaned omega of the Minor Family up for grabs. It did not matter that he was already mated to two alphas. Simply because both of those alphas were nobodies, nameless guards who could easily be eliminated.

Kinn was disgusted with it, especially when he saw the looks some of the family heads were throwing at his cousin like he were some prize. Which if looked at deeply he was, because whoever mated with Vegas would be a step closer to having control over the Minor Family.

The alpha gut tightened with disgust, the need to protect his pack clawing up his chest.

“Hey.” Porsche hand gently brushed his wrists. “I know they are disgusting assholes but we need to keep up the façade.”

Kinn nodded at his words and took in a couple of deep breaths to get his composure back.

The alpha then looked back at the alter where Vegas stood, perfectly poised, accepting condolences from people that walked up to him. But he could see the slight tension lining his cousin’s shoulders, a clear indication of discomfort the alpha was feeling from all the vultures around him.

Fuck this.

Kinn stood up from his seat and walked towards the alter and stood beside Vegas who was being greeted by a someone old enough to be their grandpa. Horny bastards.

“Khun Chuahirun.” Kinn greeted the old geyser. “Thank you for coming today despite your health issues.” He subtly shifted his body between the old man and Vegas.

“Oh, it was no discomfort Khun Kinn.” The man waved away, his breath smelling worse than the sewers at the corner of their street. “Certainly, no more than what this poor thing had to go through at such a young age.”

The asshole’s gaze shifted behind Kinn. “Poor thing left alone, completely defenceless. With a small pup no less.”

Kinn’s jaw clenched as the old man turned his eyes towards Macau who was sitting in the front row between Kim and Chay, both of them holding his one hand each.

“Now, now Khun,” Gods, what wouldn’t Kinn give to shoot this guy. “I don’t think they that defenceless, yes?”

Seeing the warning in Kinn’s gaze the man nervously laughed, “Of course Khun. There’s nothing to worry about when you and Khun Korn are still alive.”

With that the man bowed and left to mingle with others in the room.

“I was handling him. You didn’t have to swoop in to save my ass.” Vegas whispered haughtily behind him.

“You’re welcome, little brother.” Kinn turned to face the omega. “Plus, it was more for my sanity if I had to sit there and watch him try and console you any longer I would’ve ended up shooting him in the face.”

Vegas just rolled his eyes at the comment.

“Now come on. Start crying before someone else comes up to console you and I actually do end up shooting someone.”

“You know, for my big protective older brother,” Vegas started, “you exploit me too much.”

Kinn supressed the urge to snort at his cousin’s dramatics and motioned for the omega to hurry up.

Vegas huffed one last time before contorting his expression into a perfect distressed one, tears immediately gathering in the omega’s eyes. He then turned to dramatically slump against Kinn’s chest and heaved his shoulders as if sobbing uncontrollably.

Kinn was both amazed and terrified by the omega’s skills.

The murmurs around the room dimmed a bit as Vegas continued his performance, all the guests now openly staring at the display of vulnerability.

Kinn’s eyes met Porsche’s across the room. He was looking at them with a mix of amusement and exasperation. The alpha slightly shook his head at the performance, as if it was ridiculous.

The rest of the funeral passed in a blur. No more people tried to come closer and console Vegas.

At the end of it Korn gave a heartfelt speech about his little brother, which had Kinn supressing the scoff that desperately wanted to climb out his throat, as if he himself wasn’t responsible for the said little brother’s death. It got increasingly difficult when his father managed to shed a couple of tears by the end of it, causing the entire room to look at the head with sympathy in their eyes.

People dispersed after that, the funeral coming to an end.

“Well,” Porsche walked up to them. “That was nauseating.”

Vegas scoffed in agreement; the act now completely drained out. “Can we please get out of here now. I think I am done with politics for today.”

Both the alphas nodded in agreement and made the three of them made their way towards Tankhun and the pups.

…

Later that night after everyone had retired to their respective rooms, Kinn settled on his bed now in pyjamas.

Kim was already curled up in the middle of it doing some kind of homework, the blanket clutched in his arms, the scent of cocoa and caramel was almost completely gone now.

“Hey baby.” Kinn shifted closer to the pup, peering over his head to look at Kim’s work. “Which subject is it?”

The pup held his book out to, showing his Hia the work he had done till now. “Math, huh?”

“Mhm.”

“Do you need my help?”

“Mhm.” He shook his head, going back to problem he was solving.

“Alright then,” Kinn said shuffling back to lean over the headboard and picked up his laptop. “If you need me just call out okay?”

Kim nodded in response.

He had really gone quiet, hadn’t he?

A silence settles in the room as both the brothers got immersed in their respective works.

Kinn was immersed in reading one of the contracts about a deal regarding the gold mines that was under negotiation.

“Hia?”

“Hmm?”

“Why do people keep dying around us? Did we make god angry?”

Kinn’s fingers stilled on the keyboard.

His brain coming to a halt, because how the fuck were you supposed to answer that!?

His eyes instinctively flicked to the blanket that was lying beside Kim. He swallowed hard and turned gully towards the pup, who was still looking down at the sheet of homework, the pencil in his hand hovering mid-air.

“Kim.” The alpha scooted closer to the pup, gently prying his hands off the pencil and gathering up in his arms. “Where did that thought come from, little one?”

Kim just shrugged in his lap, still not meeting his Hia’s eyes.

“Pup.” Kinn called out. “Look at Hia please.”

Slowly, hesitantly Kim lifted his head enough to meet Kinn’s eyes.

“No.” He whispered. “We didn’t make anyone angry baby. You didn’t upset anyone, okay?”

He took a couple of moments to gather his thoughts before speaking again.

“Sometimes…” Gods, this was hard. “Sometimes things happen that are not in our control. Sometimes people get hurt and it’s not because we made someone angry enough to take them away from us.”

Fuck, he was so bad at this.

“They get hurt, because of some choices they made. And sometimes these choices are bad and they are facing consequences of it, or sometimes the universe isn’t just on their side no matter how hard they try to get out of it.”

Why the fuck was he explaining all this to an eleven year old?

“And because of that they don’t get to come back to their loved ones even though they would give everything away to do so, just like your P’Big.”

Just like your mamma.

“You get it?” Kinn asks pulling Kim a little closer to him. “Them dying was not our fault, it was just-just that their time here with us was over.”

“But…but I did not want to say goodbye…” Kim mumbled against the alpha’s chest.

“I know baby.” He tightened his arms further around the pup. “It was not fair.”

“Hia…”

“Hmm?”

“You won’t go away right?”

“Never baby. As long as it is in my power I am not going anywhere. I promise.”

Kim didn’t say anything further just slumped himself against Kinn, while the alpha scented him, covering him up in his pheromones in an attempt to calm the pup.

“You wanna grab Hia Khun and others and get some ice-cream baby?” Kinn asked after a couple of beats of silence.

He received a small nod in response, which was bigger than anything he had received in the past month.

“Alright, let’s go.” Kinn got off the bed Kim still in his arms. A small relieved smile gracing the alpha’s lips at the miniscule progress they had made today.

…

It was two weeks later when, Vegas stomped into Kinn’s office with Porsche in tow.

“You asshole! You’re going to propose this dumbass for the next head of the Minor Family instead of me!?” The omega screeched, which was so out of character for him that Kinn had a hard time not to laugh at his cousin’s face which had gone positively red.

Porsche on the other hand had no such qualms and openly cackled at the huffing omega in front of him.

“You couldn’t wait to break the news to him together?” Kinn asked his mate completely defeated.

“Well,” Porsche started trying to catch his breath. “I thought of doing that but then I would’ve missed this awesome show.”

“Are you two seriously talking about me without acknowledging me!?” The omega fumed. “You know I thought you were one of the good ones. The ones who actually do respect omegas and see them as equal instead of just some pup-popping machines, who can be easily sidelined. But here I am proved wrong, yet again. Seriously why do I even try and keep faith in your kind, knowing all I am going to turn up with is disappointment. And you-” Vegas pointed at Kinn with a dagger the omega seemingly materialized out of thin fucking air. “even for a second if you think I am going to go down without a fight.” He took several steps closer, leaning over the desk. “Then you are wrong, and your days are numbered.”

Vegas stood there, hunched over the desk, gulping in lungful of much need air after his rant.

“Are you done?” Kinn questioned calmly, as he stood and pried the dagger out of the omega’s hand for everyone’s safety.

“No, I am not-”

“You’re done.” Kinn interrupted, which he was sure was yet another rant.

“Sit your ass down and listen to me before you slit my throat.” Kinn slid the dagger in his desk drawer and took his seat. “And you,” He pointed at his mate. “Stop cackling and sit down.”

After everyone was settled Kinn pulled out a binder and pushed it towards Vegas.

“What is this?”

“Your assignment, where you would be actually working and using that messed-up brain of yours for our benefit instead of hoarding off the vultures who want take over the Minor Family.”

The mood in the room instantly shifted as Vegas opened the binder.

“We want you to go to Hua Hin,” Porsche started. “There’s a safe house there – it’s my mother’s.”

Vegas looked up surprised.

“It was one of the territories my mother used to deal with before she got married and reduced her dealings in the underworld.”

He pulled the binder towards him and flipped to page that had details about those dealings.

“After she got married, she passed most of those dealings to Korn which completely stopped after the asshole cut ties with the Triad.”

“If the operation’s dead, how is me going there beneficial to us?”

“Well, my mother was not a complete idiot. She kept a few assets and properties under shell names for back-up, along with some men to help resume the operation if she wanted to in the future.”

“These men are loyal to her and not my father or our family. So, in a way they would be loyal to you if you take up the assignment.” Kinn picked up. “None of your activities would reach Korn, not immediately at least and we’ll make sure we have a tight enough cover that he won’t see the need to put people to keep watch.”

“And one other thing,” Porsche piped up. “These people actually see omegas as equals instead of some pup-popping machines. So, you can be your complete psychotic self and they would not undermine you at all.”

Vegas did not dignify that with a response.

“And what is this operation?”

“They’re mostly related to smuggled artifacts from around the world. The Triads use that port to evade taxes.” Porsche answered. “Our job is to collect the list of items at the port and then ship it to whatever location they require.”

“And in return we get?”

“Information.” Kinn answered. “Regarding Paa’s network in and out of Thailand. A list if you will, and also the profits we make from that assignment.”

“And how do I know you are not manipulating me, huh?”

“Well, because as much as a pain in the ass you are, you’re still my little brother. And I don’t want you to waste your potential and turn into some puppet who is constantly looking over his shoulder regarding his and his mates’ safety.”

“Well, isn’t that just mighty of you.” Vegas replied haughtily.

“So, what is it going to be little brother, this assignment or spending the rest of your life surrounded by old geysers climbing over each other’s chest trying to court you?”

“Oh, I would love to see that unfold.”

“Shut up.” Vegas snarked at Porsche. “I’ll take the assignment. Now what’s my cover?”

“Summer break start in a month and a half.” Kinn leaned back in his chair. “You’ll go to Hua Him under the pretence of taking a break from the chaos that occurred after your father’s death. This way you can take Cau with you without any difficulties or questions.”

“Till then,” Porsche said, a cheeky grin spreading across his face. “you’ll have to act as an omega in distress, who doesn’t know which way is up.”

Vegas stared at the alpha.

“I change my mind, I’m ready to be the puppet and watch old geysers kill themselves trying to impress me.”

“No, you don’t.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Vegas...”

“Kiiiinn.”

“…”

“Well, if I am going to do this I want my mates to go with me.” The omega pouted.

“That is not possible. However,” Kinn lifted a finger when Vegas started protesting. “I’ll send them to you on all of their off-days. And yes I will schedule their off-days so they can come see you together.”

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Okay, I’ll go.”

“Good.” Porsche responded. “I’m proud of you for making the wise decision. We’ve come such a long way with this one, haven’t we Kinn?”

“Excuse me!” Vegas glared at the alpha. “I have always been smart. If anyone here needs to be trained it you, you uncultured bum.”

The omega stood up in huff and walked towards one of the secret passages with the binder in his hands still muttering profanities about Kinn’s mate.

Porsche walked around the desk as the omega slammed the door shut, and draped himself at the back of Kinn’s chest. “You know with all the stupid things you do, I sometimes forget how sexy you are when you take charge.” He whispered against Kinn’s ears.

“I do stupid things?” Kinn questioned, turning in his chair and pulling Porsche on his lap.

“Mhm, so stupid.”

“Maybe, I should it won’t be bad if did one more stupid thing then.”

Kinn yanked Porsche closer and smashed his lips against the alpha, his hands instantly going towards Porsche’s shirt to unbutton the very few buttons he does.

“You two a gross.”

The alpha’s jumped apart, their hands instinctively going towards their respective holsters.

“What the fuck Vegas!?” Porsche exclaimed.

“What? I came to get my dagger back. The one your mate snatched away from me.”

“And that couldn’t wait till later!?”

“Um…no. She’s limited addition and I don’t want her to witness your gross sexcapades.”

…

Two days later Kinn was headed to attend the meeting his father had scheduled to decide the future of the Minor Family. Both Porsche and Vegas at his tow, with his cousin keeping up his act of depressed omega rather splendidly.

The guards at the door bowed at him before opening the boardroom door. The alpha nodded in acknowledgement and entered the room.

The room was already filled with the representatives of the allied families, all of whom stood up to greet the heir. “Swadee Khap, Khun.”

Kinn walked further into the room and took his seat on the right of the head of the table, with Porsche on his left and Vegas taking a seat opposite him.

Chatter resumed around the room as everyone took their seats, waiting for the head of the Major Family to arrive.

A few moments later the doors to meeting room opened again, as Korn arrived with Chan in tow.

Everyone again stood up to greet the Head.

“Please take your seats, everyone.” Korn acknowledged the greeting passed his way.

“You all know why we’ve gathered here today,” He began as everyone settled. “We’ve faced a loss too deep. One that cannot be overcome. However, business must commence, right?” The alpha ruefully chuckled.

And no matter how long Kinn had been witnessing his father’s manipulation, it never reduced his urge to barf at it.

“So, now the matter at hand is to choose the next head of the Minor Family. Usually it passed on through blood, but sadly, as we all know that is not one of the options,” He turned to look at Vegas, who seemed to shrink in his seat for real this time.

Kinn felt a bout of anger shoot up his spine at the meaning behind his father’s words.

“Well, at least not until Macau presents, hopefully in our favour.” The asshole continues. “Till then, we need to appoint an interim head for the Family.”

This was followed by a long drawn discussion with each group pushing for a candidate they feel would be best suited for the job. While other agreed or disagreed with the choices presented in front of them.

Kinn leaned back in his seat, watching the chaos unfold knowing full well his father had entered this room with decision made and who would disagree with the Head of the Major Family right?

After around twenty to thirty minutes of discussion, three names were ‘shortlisted’.

Throughout it Korn sat there with a blank face just observing everything, but Kinn had known his father long enough to recognize the glint in his eyes when a particular name made it to the list.

Anurak Phrayapong.

Heads of one of the families Kinn had destabilized at the beginning of this year. It was one of the families deathly loyal to his father, and shared the same disgusting ideologies as him.

“Enough.” The room turned silent at Korn’s command. “I think we’ve heard enough. It’s time we pass a vote-”

“I would like to propose something.”

All eyes turned towards Kinn as he cut off his father.

“Sorry Paa, it was rude of me to interrupt,” Kinn turned to his father with a saccharine sweet smile. “But I have a proposal I think everyone here would like. So, if it pleases you?”

“Sure, son.” Kinn could see the slight click in his father’s jaw as he gave his permission.

Kinn nodded and shifted his eyes to rest of the room, everyone looking at him intrigued.

“As it has been proven before, the names that’ve come up in the discussion are some of the best men we have in the family.” A murmur of agreement followed those words. “However, it’s time we change tactics.”

A wave of confusion and subtle outrage wafted through the room.

“For decades we’ve prioritised seniority over adaptability.” His voice remained calm as he continued, “And Minor Family deals with the most volatile branches of our business, the ones that require someone who could think quickly, adapt faster, and are willing to take calculated risks in an increasingly unstable landscape.”

He took a breather, for everyone to process his words.

“And all of the men suggested today are not familiar with that kind of environment. Which can result in a lot more harm than good.”

“What are you suggesting Kinn?” His father questioned.

“I was suggesting Porsche to be made the interim head.”

Immediately chatter erupted in the room, some of them agreeing, some of the disagreeing, while some felt outright disrespected.

Kinn didn’t give heed to any of them and just waited for them to calm down.

“This is absurd-”

“A mere bodyguard-”

“He doesn’t even belong to the family-”

“Enough.” His father interrupted the outraged voices overlapping each other, and turned to face Kinn.

“Kinn,” Korn said calmly. “You’re suggesting appointing your mate as interim head of the Minor Family.”

Kinn nodded in response.

“And you don’t think this is more personal than professional?” His father baited.

Kinn inclined his head slightly. “Of course it’s personal.”

Korn’s expression sharpened at his response.

“He is my mate.” Kinn continued, “Which means his success directly impacts mine. His failure would be mine to bear. And his actions would reflect directly on the Major Family.”

His eyes roamed around the room, meeting with each and every person sitting.

“And I won’t suggest someone incompetent into a position that would destroy everything I am expected to inherit.”

“But, he lacks formal experience.” One of heads spoke up.

“For the past month due to some other priorities of mine, Porsche had taken over some deals and had negotiated on my behalf. And he had come out with results better than the ones we had expected. These are the files that highlight the profits he had bagged for us,” On his command two bodyguards place copies of those files in front of each member. “You all can go through them to help make the final decisions.”

Hushed voices echoed around the room as the men skimmed through the files, some flipping pages faster than others, some pausing to reread certain numbers.

Kinn settled in his seat.

“The numbers are impressive,” One of them started. “But we cannot determine his competence by a few numbers on files.”

“And I wouldn’t expect anything less.” Kinn responded. “That’s why I recommended him as an interim head. Give him six months to prove himself. After the time-period is over we’ll gather again and based on his performance you all can decide whether his is fir or not.”

“And whatever your decision would be,” He added. “I would gladly accept. After all your opinions are valuable to us.”

“Very well then,” Korn started. “Porsche had six months.”

Well, now that was a surprise.

“But,” Of course there’s a ‘but’. “During that time any if he makes a mistake, you will answer for it. If he causes instability, you will bear the consequences. If his leadership damages the Minor Family…” His voice lowered just slightly. “Then you would be held responsible.”

“Fair enough.” Kinn nodded towards his father.

“Alright then gentlemen,” His father turned back towards the room. “We will meet in six months for a formal vote.”

With that his father stood from his seat, followed by everyone in the room and walked out.

…

The first couple of weeks after that meeting, their lives had turned completely chaotic.

Kinn’s father had not wasted a single second to dismantle Porsche’s authority over the Minor Family.

The first week in particular was filled with burned deals, surprise attacks from rivals that spawned out of nowhere, and people ‘betraying’ them left and right.

It was both highly stressful, and amazingly hilarious for the alpha to see his mate and his cousin almost rip each other’s hair out while coming up with counter strategies.

One time after an ambush against one of the rival gangs, Porsche had come home with a stab wound on his right bicep. Kinn had been ready to hunt the complete gang down but,

“It was Vegas.”

“What?” Kinn was positively bewildered. “How!? He wasn’t even part of the fucking mission.”

“I know.” Porsche shrugged. “He did it when I got back.”

“What-” The alpha took a deep breath and got his pulse back to normal. “Why pray tell, did he do that?”

“Oh, I got his bike scratched.”

Oh. My. God.

“Why- Okay.”

Kinn walked out of the room to go and bang his head against a wall.

But just like everything new, as time passed they all settled into their new roles.

Along with this, Kim started getting better bit by bit as the days passed. The pup was still significantly quiet, but he had stopped clinging to Kinn as much. He had now started playing with the other pups again, he wasn’t as rowdy as before but he was getting there.

Kim still got nightmares from time to time, which was why among files and laptops a baby monitor sat on Kinn’s bedside table. Other one placed in Kim’s room which he now shared with Chay.

With everything settling and Kim not needing Kinn all the time, the alpha was forced to face the feelings he had suppressed these past few months.

And Kinn had no idea what to do with them.

With Kim clinging to him the first couple of months after it, Kinn had gotten used to processing these feeling through Kim.

Processing it as Kim’s loss and not his own.

But now. Now Kinn was lost.

Lost because the alpha knew these feelings were ridiculous. Ridiculous because they had not mattered when he was here.

When Kinn had a chance to do something about them.

It got even more pathetic as the alpha realized how deeply ingrained he had been in his life. Kinn found himself subconsciously calling out his name in the middle of the day for something really insignificant, or the way his eyes would involuntarily slip to the corner of his office where he would always be.

It didn’t help that his alpha was getting antsy as the days passed, desperately insisting that they were missing something.

What? Even Kinn would like to know.

But the stupid jerk refused to tell him anything, just continued pressing against his conscious until Kinn ended up with headaches so bad that he was rendered useless for the rest of the day.

It was after one of those days that the alpha found himself sitting on the floor of his bedroom, his back against the bed, Porsche massaging his head to aid with the headache.

Kinn sighed heavily, his eyes now closed as Porsche’s fingers worked through his scalp. The alpha sagged against the bed, leaning heavily against his mates’ legs.

“Kinn?” Porsche whispered in the quiet of the room.

“Hmm?”

“Did…did you notice,” He started hesitantly. “Did you notice that we…that we…”

“Hey,” Kinn turned around to face Porsche. “What is it?”

The alpha had a grimace on hia face, as if he were contemplating his words. Kinn patiently waited for Porsche to collect his thoughts. His hands soothingly rubbing the alpha’s shins.

Taking a deep breath, as if gathering all his courage to say whatever he wanted to say Porsche met Kinn’s eyes. “Did you notice, we never…we never saw the body.”

Kinn’s hands froze on Porsche’s legs, his alpha screaming and clawing against his conscious.

Chapter Text

Chapter 17

Ow! Okay not fit enough to power-walk yet.

Big leaned against one of the big umbrellas lined along the shoreline, desperately trying to not pass out because his lungs refused to cooperate long enough for him to walk back to the house.

The sea breeze did absolutely nothing to help. If anything, the stupid salt in it made breathing feel like sandpaper being dragged against his lungs.

He turned right and squinted towards the house which was only a few paces away, but looked like it was in a whole different city.

Great.

Just fucking great.

The omega slid down the pole of the umbrella, his legs not being able to hold his weight any longer.

Three and a half months.

And all he could manage to do was walk two measly steps before collapsing on the ground gasping for air as if all the oxygen on the earth had vanished.

Big leaned his head against the pole and closed his eyes, waiting for someone to find him before he died of dehydration.

“You know,” A voice echoed above him. “The doctor had allowed light movements inside the house. Not impromptu walks on the fucking beach.”

Big cracked his eyes open and was met with the sight of Vegas standing before him like a disappointed parent. The omega had his hands on his hips, with one of them holding a bottle of water, and a pair of sunglasses behind which – Big was sure of it – were a pair of eyes reflecting his immense disappointment.

“I know,” Big raised his hand expectantly towards the bottle of water. “I got bored.”

“Your boredom is giving my blood vessels a run for their money, you dumbass.” Vegas snarked as he all but threw the bottle at Big’s face.

“Hey!” Big barely caught the thing before it hit him in the eye. “Easy will you. My face is the only thing properly working right now.”

“I am starting to think that it’s not that much of a blessing that we’ve been making it to be.”

Big chose to ignore that comment and leaned forward to take Vegas’ hand and stood up.

“So, when are Ken and Pete coming?” The omega asked as Vegas slipped a hand around his waist, holding most of weight as they made their way back to the house.

“Next weekend,” The other omega huffed at the additional weight. “They’re coming for five days, something about them begging P’Chan and him saying yes just so he could have some peace and quiet.”

Big chuckled at the expression he was sure P’Chan must’ve had while those two idiots had been relentlessly begging him.

Gods, he missed the alpha.

It had been almost three months since Big had seen him. Or, Arm, Pol, and P’Nop for that matter.

If Big was honest, he didn’t remember the better part of the past months that well. Well, up until the last month to be exact.

The last thing he remembered about the day of rescue was him getting shot and the foundation shaking because of the explosions happening around him.

Then it had gone quiet.

Dust flowing around him in tonnes making it harder to breathe, or it could’ve been all the rubble that had managed to fall on him. He couldn’t tell anymore, his consciousness had started to ebb away, the remaining adrenaline helping to numb the pain.

He remembered seeing a white light and thinking, this was it.

But, right at the cusp of unconsciousness muffled frantic voices flooded his ears, asking him to stay awake. It had taken him embarrassingly long to recognize those voices as Pete and Ken, desperately shouting, and pleading for him to stay awake.

The next memory he had was waking up in a hospital room covered in gauze and a million tubes attached to his body.

Big had panicked as he felt something deep inside his throat, making the heart monitor beep furiously as his heart rate increased. The next thing he knew, Ken was hovering over him, the alpha’s face looking both relieved and completely panicked. The omega had wanted to laugh at him but his friend was shoved away and was replaced with a bunch of people in scrubs.

It was after that disgusting pipe had been taken out of his lungs and replaced with an oxygen pipe shoved up his nostrils – both of which being completely horrible experiences and he would not recommend trying them ever – he was given a gist of where he was and what had happened to him.

And boy, was it a lot.

Apparently, besides the gunshot the omega had ended up with a lot of other injuries, like a punctured lung from the ribs that had broken. Big had stopped listening halfway through the doctor’s prognosis, his head going all heavy and mushy with the onslaught of information.

All he’d managed to digest was that he’d been put under a medically induced coma so his body wouldn’t go into shock from the pain.

The first couple of weeks after he had woken up were a bit hazy, with him being high on morphine and all. So, most of his time was still spent sleeping, and the few hours he did manage to stay up he had either Ken or Pete with him.  Sometimes it was Vegas who was on duty. And boy it would’ve been awkward had he been completely conscious. Because, well the omega was still his boss before he was his best-friends’ mate.

But as the days had passed the time-period he could stay awake had increased. His lung had reflated and his ribs had mostly healed, so the oxygen pipe had been taken out after a week and he was allowed to breathe on his own.

Which, if Big were to describe it was both freeing and daunting. It must be what babies would feel as they took their first steps.

The omega wished that things after that had been a cake walk. But it wouldn’t be Big’s life if the universe didn’t fuck with him every chance it got. So, the month following him gaining consciousness was filled with moments where all four of them had wanted to rip either their own or each other’s hair out.

In Big’s defence he was the patient and was allowed to be cranky and unbearable and in his opinion people surviving death were entitled to have their way every time. Hmph.

There was this one time where Vegas had nipped him, like he was fucking pup. Granted Big was being extremely difficult but he was still an adult dammit!

So, the omega did the only thing he thought was appropriate – nip the other omega right back. Which may not look like a good decision given the other omega was Vegas Theerapanyakun, but well Big was high on morphine and had nothing to lose.

After the month was over and the doctors were sure that almost all of his injuries had been healed, Big was discharged from the hospital.

The omega had thought that he would be taken to the compound to report back to P’Chan and resume his duty with Kim. But to his surprise, Ken told him he was given another month long vacation and was being taken to a beach house in Hua Hin to recover and, apparently, keep Vegas and Macau company.

Big knew it was just a big load of shit his best-friend was spewing, but he was just too exhausted to force the real reason out of him. And frankly a month long vacation away from the compound, away from them sounded nice.

So, here he was stumbling towards a lovely beach house with most of his weight being supported by Vegas - who Big now considered more of a friend than his boss – trying very hard not to pass out on the patio stairs.

What an eventful time huh?

Big was half scared and half relieved with the way he had been reacting to his near-death experience with such ease and calmness. Because, any other mentally stable person would at least be a bit bummed about it, if not severely traumatized.

Which, almost everyone, and he means everyone was most concerned about, even more than the literal holes littered across his body.

But, in the omega’s defence, he was not the most sane potato in the sack anyway. And working for the mafia for the past five years desensitizes you to certain things. Honestly, Big was just glad he didn’t end up with a prosthetic limb or something.

“Okay,” Vegas unceremoniously dumped Big on the couch.

“OW!” Big exclaimed. “Show some compassion will you! I am still a patient.”

“Oh, shut up, you’ll survive.” The omega turned towards the kitchen. “And don’t even think of getting off that couch.”

As if Big could do that.

His legs were still shaking, the omega couldn’t even get up from his spot if the house were on fire and he had to run out to save his life. Not for another half an hour at least.

 “Watcha doin pup?” He instead asked Macau, who was lying on his stomach in front of the couch with his feet swinging in the air.

“Painting!” The kid beamed, excitedly turning around and shoving the painting in Big’s face.

It was a painting alright. The page was soaked with a variety of colours to make up the background, with three figures in the centre of it, playing some sort of game.

But what caught Big’s eyes was not the paper – which was hanging on its last thread to survive all the moisture seeping through it – not even the three distorted figures playing…football? No, it was the artist himself.

Macau’s face and hands were covered in various shades of paints. His cheeks were adorned in a mixture of yellow and pink. And his hands, boy his hands were drenched in paint as much if not more than the paper itself. All the colours mixing together and making a shade of grey on his finger.

Vegas was gonna loose it.

The omega suppressed the urge to laugh at the mental image of a red faced Vegas. He did not want the pup to think he was laughing at his picture. “It’s amazing, little one.” He said instead.

“Can you tell me who they are?”

To that the pup nodded his head furiously, and clambered to his feet to stand closer Big.

Gods, he was so cute.

Big pulled the pup closer to him, and made him stand between his legs. The urge to squeeze the little guy close overwhelming him.

Or, maybe it was just him missing Kim again.

Oh, he missed his pup so much.

The omega had not seen Kim at all after the accident, in person was not even in the options because he had not set foot in the compound yet. He did not have his phone with him to call the pup.

And the weirdest part was that whenever he asked Ken, Pete, or Vegas to lend me theirs, all three of them got extremely weirds and tried to distract him or outright escape him in Vegas’ case.

If Big was suspicious about these idiots being up to something before, their weirds reactions made him sure that they were doing or had done something very stupid.

And from his past experiences, whenever best friend’s genius was involved, the situations always blew up way out of proportion.

“This is P’Chay, Hia Kim, and me.” Big was brought out his thoughts as Macau pointed at the three watery figures in the painting.

Aw.

“That’s very cute Cau.” He peered over the pup’s shoulder to take a better look. “What are you guys doing in it.”

“We’re fishing duh.”

Yes, of course, that’s exactly what that giant murky dark brown represented – a pond filled with fish.

“Yes, how stupid of me to ask that.” He conveyed as much. “You’re very talented, my little artist.”

Macau giggled as Big tickled his sides. The paper slipped from the pup’s slippery finger and landed paint down on the floor, Big immediately bent to pick it up which-

OW!

Was a big mistake. The omega winced as he lifted the paper, the scar tissue around his shot wound getting pulled because of his movements.

He handed the paper to Macau and leaned on the couch cushions with his hands gently pressed over his scar, trying to breathe through the pain.

Did he mention recovery sucks? Because it abso-fucking-lutely does.

Big continued lying on the cushions with his eyes closed, waiting for the pain to subside and let him breathe again without making his insides burn.

“P’Big?”

“Hmm?”                                       

“Why-why are you angry at Hia Kim?”

What!?

Big straightened from his position, now completely ignoring the pain that flared up his sides as a consequence and looked at Macau.

The pup had his head bowed down like he was afraid of being scolded for his question. Which again raised questions in Big’s mind because – what!?

“Macau,” Big pulled the pup close to him again and lifted his chin. “What do you mean by angry?”

When he realized he wasn’t going to be yelled at, Macau opened his mouth, “Hia Kim said that-that he had been a bad boy,” he broke his eye-contact with the omega and looked down at his feet, “And because of that God was angry at him and took you away. And that you agreed and went with her.”

Big’s mind went completely blank.

Static sounded in his ears as the omega tried to register the words the pup had said. Trying to make sense of the implications behind them, because-

Leave Kim.

His omega got agitated at the notion. Because they both knew they would never leave him behind.

“Cau…” Big called out, desperately trying to not spiral. “What do you mean leave him, pup?”

“Macau.” A voice cut through the suffocating silence that had settled around the room. “Go wash up, bub.”

Vegas’ voice was stern when he said that and Macau knew better that to protest. The pup nodded and pattered out of the living room.

All this while Big kept staring at the spot Macau had been occupying.

“Vegas,” He slowly turned to face the man, the dreadful feeling in his chest increasing as he saw the expression on the other omega’s face.

Big had been living with Vegas for the past three weeks now and had known the guy outside of their boss-employee relationship for three years, and not once had he seen the combination of pain and guilt decorating the other omega’s face.

“Vegas, what did Macau mean?”

“Big…I don’t think it’s the right time-”

“Oh, don’t give me that bullshit Vegas!” Big bellowed as he sprang from the couch and turning to face the omega. “Tell me what did he mean by that.”

At his outburst, the guilt on Vegas’ face increased making Big’s stomach drop and his brain spiral in various directions. “I wish I could. I swear! But I cannot, not without Ken and Pete.”

Big wanted to walk up to Vegas and throttle answers out of him after that stupid, flimsy excuse.

Instead, “Call them.”

“What?”

“Call them. If you cannot give me answers, they sure can. So, call your mates.” Big’s voice had gone eerily calm.

“Big, you know that’s not possible.” Vegas took a couple of steps closer to the omega. “They’re on duty, and they’re anyways coming this weekend. We can talk then-”

“No,” Big interrupted. “You either call them here right now, or I am going back at the compound to find out what you’ve been hiding from me. Which you three have been adamant on keeping from happening.”

“Big,” Vegas crossed the remaining distance between them and stood in front of him, clasping his shoulders. “You and I both know you’re not fit to drive all the way back to the compound. And we cannot afford another injury when you’ve just started to get better.”

He tightened his hold on Big’s shoulders.

“So please just calm down. And we’ll talk about this.”

“Am I going to get to know why you three have been acting so secretive?” Big questioned.

“Big…I cannot do that.” Vegas sighed, his hands falling from Big’s shoulders. “Not without them.”

“I’m leaving then.” He turned around to walk towards the door.

“Big, wait! Why the fuck are you being difficult!? I told you-”

“Difficult!?” Big’s voiced boomed across the room as he sharply turned back to face the omega. “I’m being difficult!?” He stormed the distance between them and jabbed his finger sharply against Vegas’ chest. “Your brother just dropped this fucking bomb on me that my pup thinks some god took me away from him because he was a bad boy who did bad things and I fucking agreed!”

“How the hell am I supposed to react after that!?” Big heaved, his ribs screaming in protest.

His outburst was met with silence.

Vegas continued staring at him, now the pain being more evident than guilt. The omega slowly wrapped his around Big and pulled him in an embrace. “Okay.” He whispered against his neck.

“Okay, I’ll tell you everything.” He pulled away slightly. “But, you need to calm yourself first. Please.”

Vegas looked at Big with earnest, pleading eyes. And he had never seen the other omega look this vulnerable.

So, Big nodded. Trusting Vegas to tell him everything.

The two of them slowly made their way back to the couch and settled down, facing each other.

“Three months back, a day or two after the rescue…” Vegas started, not meeting his eyes, instead choosing a spot on the couch to stare at.

As the omega went further into the story if what fuckery had been going on while he had been recovering, the hollow in his chest increased, now being filled with dread.

Big didn’t interrupt Vegas, not even once while he was speaking and he was speaking for a long time.

About the chaos that had ensued in the past three months. About the family heads involved behind their kidnapping. About Kan’s death. About everything.

About Kim overhearing Ken lie to them.

About his death.

“They think I am dead.”

“Big-”

“Why?” Big moved his eyes back to Vegas from the spot on the wall he was staring at. “Why, Vegas?”

The omega took in a shuddering breath, “He was trying…we were trying to protect you.”

“…protect me?”

Big ruefully chuckled as the words and the absolute mess finally registered in his brain. The omega leaned back again the handrest, rubbing a hand over his face.

“You were trying to protect me…” Big repeated those words towards the ceiling.

“What about the others…?”

“Arm, and Pol found out last week after we thought you were stable enough.” Vegas paused for a moment. “Big, listen to me-”

“I need some space.” The omega stood up from the couch, intending to walk to his own room.

“Big-”

“Vegas,” Big halted in his steps. “I need time to process it. I don’t want to say something that’ll hurt us both.”

Vegas looked at him, processing his words before hesitantly nodding. “Okay.”

…

“Big?”

The omega stiffened but didn’t turn around from his position on the patio swing overlooking the ocean.

The sun had almost set, it dawning on Big that almost five hours had passed since his talk with Vegas. The omega had initially wandered towards his room, Vegas’ words echoing in his head.

Big had no idea what to think or feel.

What the fuck were you supposed to feel after finding out the world thought you were fucking dead for the past three months!?

So, Big had done the most logical thing he could think of – ominously staring at the ocean and watching the waves wash over the shore.

“Big…” Another voice called out, this time a lot closer.

The omega looked at the setting sun for a couple of more minutes, trying to gather his thoughts. Heaving a tired sigh, Big slowly got up, the swing creaking in protest and turned to face them.

Ken looked positively haggard. Behind him Pete was no better, except, unlike Ken the alpha was all jittery as if he was holding himself back from crossing the distance between and pulling Big to himself.

Good, a small petty part of Big’s brain thought.

“Why…?”

After a stretch of silence Big uttered the word that had spinning in mind for the past five hours.

“I wanted to protect you.” Ken whispered, his voice almost drowning against the waves.

“Protecting me from what?”

“I…” Ken trailed of, not finding any words to explain his actions. More importantly not finding the words to explain the feeling behind them.

“Protecting me from what Ken?” Big voice rose, as the omega felt anger simmer low in his chest.

“Big-” Pete took a step forward, “listen to me please.”

“What am I supposed to listen to Pete?” The omega turned towards his other friend, “What possible reason could you give me that would justify my death!?”

Ken flinched at the words.

“Tell me,” Big demanded. “Because I have been trying to figure it out and I cannot for the life of me come up with a single reason that’s good enough.”

Big’s chest was rising too fast now. His ribs protesting with every breath he was forcing himself to take, and frankly, he was glad. The pain was the only thing keeping him grounded, not letting him spiral way out of control and barrelling into shit.

“And,” He sharply took a few steps towards Ken who was still looking down at the wooden plank. “Were you ever going to tell me about any of it!?”

He jabbed a finger against the alpha’s chest, “Were you ever going to tell me about this grand plan you had about my life!?”

“I am asking you something Ken!” He pushed at Ken’s chest when the alpha still refused to look at him. “How could you? Out of all the people in my life, how could you do this!?”

“How could you do this after knowing me? After knowing the way I was treated my whole life? After knowing how I hate having decisions made for me!?”

“Big no!” Pete took hasty steps forward. “It wasn’t our intention to do that! You need to trust us!”

Taking a deep breath the alpha continued, “We were not trying to decide your life for you, we were trying to do what we thought was best.”

“You thought.” Big clenched, his eyes now blazing with anger. “That seems to be the running theme here, doesn’t it? You thought. You tried.”

He turned his face back to Ken, “And where exactly did I factor into it, huh?” His gaze turned towards Pete, “At what time did anyone think – hey, maybe we should ask Big what the fuck he wants!?”

Big’s chest was moving rapidly now, his ribs aching to a point that the omega wasn’t able to ignore them.

Taking shaky steps forward, he made his way towards his room and slammed the door shut, the sound echoing through the house.

Big stumbled upon his bed and lied on it with a pained sigh. The argument and all the other things now pushed at the back of his mind as the omega focused on stopping his lungs from burning.

Okay, a breath in - motherfucker!

Big cursed as his ribs protested further.

Okay, no breathing at all it is.

He lied completely still on his bed like a corpse, refusing to breath until the pain subsided. A couple of counts later he inhaled slowly, testing the waters and sighed in relief as his ribs allowed it.

Big stayed liked that for a long minute, breathing shallowly, waiting for the fire in his ribs to settle. In. Out. In. Out. In-

“Big…?” Ken’s voice came through the door.

Big didn’t answer.

“I’m coming in.” Ken voiced before pushing the door open and shuffling inside the room.

Big just stared at the alpha, not moving an inch from his position on the bed. One because he literally could not and two, well because he wanted to be an ass to his best-friend.

After awkwardly standing at the foot of the bed and just staring at the omega on the bed Ken settled himself at the foot of the bed, leaning against one of the posts lining it.

“I’m sorry.” Ken murmured.

Big turned on his side to face the alpha then.

Seeing that, Ken got comfortable in his position too. “I know what I did was fucked up. But before you go pointing it out that I don’t know you, please hear me out and after that you can kick my ass.”

“Mine too.” Came a voice from the doorway, followed by Pete walking in the room and settling beside Ken.

As the alphas settled completely on his bed, Big had no choice but to also get up, with so much effort it was actually ridiculous. With a final grunt he pushed himself up and leaned against the mound of pillows behind him.

Both Ken and Pete patiently waited as Big struggled his way up.

“Okay” The omega sighed looking at his friends. “Speak.”

“After the explosions in the warehouse,” Ken started after gathering his thoughts together. “It was complete chaos. Everyone be it us or the goons that had kidnapped them were desperately trying to get out of the warehouse. After, everything was somewhat settled and we didn’t see you there, Pete and I ran back into the rubble.”

The alpha paused as he recalled the moment he had found Big, “We were running around the area, desperately calling you out hoping you would answer, but you didn’t.”

“So, we started turning over pieces of concrete, praying that we would find under something superficial which just ended up knocking you out or something,” Pete continued. “But, as we know that did not happen.

“We found you under a collapsed beam.” Pete’s voice had gone soft as he continued. “You were barely breathing then.”

“I thought I was too late.” Ken whispered.

Big swallowed a lump in his throat, as Ken’s voice turned watery.

“By the time we got you out, everyone had left…”

The room fell silent.

“Left?” Big frowned.

“Yeah,” Ken nodded. “The place was falling apart, we were order to secure the heir and pull out. Everyone was just rushing to get to safety, with half of them chasing after the goons that were left.”

“And when we brought you out, we didn’t have the time to think about it all. Our focus was to get some help.” Ken was now fiddling with the sheets. “We took you to the nearest hospital. You were barely hold on then. I was not sure you were going to make it and that terrified me.”

“You were rushed into surgery as soon as we reached,” Pete picked up when Ken faltered. “It took almost the entire night for someone to come out of that room and tell us you were fine or not. And even after that Ken and I were at the hospital for two days, and after the doctors said that you were going to be okay did we head back.”

“And you know what the worst part about all this was,” Ken had that smirk on his face that he got when he was extremely mad and disappointed with someone. “When we reached back home besides Arm, Pol and the dads no one seemed to care what had happened.”

“But…” Big began. “That is the protocol isn’t it?”

Silence settled in the room, both alphas looking at their friend with resignation. Like they were expecting nothing less from Big.

“Yeah…” Ken replied. “It is what the protocol states. And that was the reason why I did it.”

“What?” Big puzzled, incredulously looking at his friend.

“When we came back from the hospital I had no intentions to do what I did. But seeing how much you matter to those people…I-I just got so angry.” Ken properly looked at Big then. “I wanted you out of there. I wanted you to be as far away as possible from them. To start a new life if you did make it through the recovery.”

“Ken, no I-”

“They left you there to die Big!” The alpha yelled, making Big flinch. “Neither of them tried to find you. Two days Big two fucking days. They didn’t even fucking question it! The only reason they found out about is because Kinn read it in the report that I had wrote!”

Ken abruptly got off the bed and started pacing near the window, taking rapid breaths to control his anger.

Big wanted to crawl over and comfort his friend. But the omega was himself frozen in his spot, Ken’s words echoing in his head.

They didn’t even fucking question it…

The omega had refused to think about the two of them since the moment he had woken up, afraid that he would be met with this exact truth.

Which shouldn’t surprise him given their past, but after his heat…subconsciously a small ray of hope had formed in Big’s chest. And maybe that was a secret reason why Big had been so angry. Trying to reason and blame the others that his alphas hadn’t shown up because they thought he was dead.

Neither of them tried to find you.

His omega whimpered in his mind, his throat now completely raw and scratchy.

“And you wanted the actual truth right,” Ken all but seethed. “I did that because I didn’t trust you.”

Big whipped his head in Ken’s direction, his eyes wide as saucers, “What…?”

“Ken,” Pete got up from his place and placed a hand on Ken’s shoulder. “Don’t. You need to calm-”

“No,” Ken shrugged Pete’s arm off of him and walked towards the foot of the bed. “I did that because I knew the minute you get better, you would go back to them. You let them hurt you again. Let them use you how they please and then toss you aside like trash.”

Big’s eyes started watering as each jab from Ken did its job. His ribs now completely on fire, to a point that it was making his skin vibrate.

“All these years I watched you-we watched you get hurt again and again because of Kinn. And tried really hard to not get involved because it was your choice and we’ve always known how important that is to you. Even though for the longest time I wanted to shoot that dickhead myself. And then,” The alpha chuckled hoarsely, dragging a hand down his face. “The other one came in. At first I was happy that maybe now you would be able to move on. That you’ll finally be happy with Porsche.”

Tears were now rapidly flowing down Big’s face as Ken continued, the alpha’s own eyes had gone damp. Big shuffled a few paces on his knees, trying to get closer to his best friend.

“But then it all went down the fucking drain. But this time it almost cost you your fucking life!” Ken looked at him again. “So, yes I made that choice for you because I knew if I didn’t you would go back and would surely wound up dead. And I was not brave and selfless enough to let you do that.”

“I am really sorry for the mess I caused.” Ken shuddered. “But, I just couldn’t lose you Big. You’re my best friend and I love you.”

Silent tears fell down Big’s face as he continued to watch the alpha, who was now catching his breath. Slowly he raised a trembling hand towards Ken.

The alpha immediately took hold of it, pulling Big against his chest, both of them crying their eyes out. Moments into their embrace another presence came and embrace them both, and Big completely melted into the familiar embrace.

It had been so long since he had experienced this, since he was wrapped up in their scents making him feel oh so safe.

“I’m sorry,” He whispered against Ken’s chest.

“Big, no-” Twin voices protested, breaking the embrace they were in.

“No!” The omega yanked them back, not yet ready to let them go. Both of them went in willingly. Pushing the omega further on the bed to get themselves settled and re-embraced Big, now in a comfortable position.

After snuggling close to them for a couple of more minutes, Big slowly pulled away. The three of them were still completely squished together with Ken’s hand tightly wound around Big and Pete pulling them both to his chest. Both alphas releasing their scent to soothe him, creating a cozing atmosphere around them.

Big had come out of the hospital almost three months ago, but this was the first time since the incident he was this close to his pack due to his injuries and all. And to say that omega had missed it would be an understatement.

“I’m sorry,” Big began again. “And please hear me out before you go all alpha on me.”

When he was sure they won’t interrupt him anymore he resumed, “I’m not apologizing for my outburst earlier.” He made sure to look at them both as he spoke. “I think I had right to be angry at that. Still am, and I’ll come around in some time.”

He held both their hands in each one of his.

“I’m sorry that you had to see me get hurt all these years.” Pete tightened his hold in his hand. “And I am sorry I made it so easy for you to believe I would go and do this again and again until I couldn’t anymore.” He said specifically looking at Ken. “And now it’s out there, yeah I would’ve probably gone back as soon as I was fit to do so. Or maybe much before.”

“I didn’t realize I was hurting you all like that.” He admitted, Ken pulling his hand away and wrapping it around Big’s waist to pull the omega closer to him. “I thought I was doing an okay job hiding it,” He chuckled as he remembered his pathetic attempts at acting a-okay all these years.

He leaned against his back against Ken as he gathered his thoughts, both his friends patiently waiting for him.

“I know promising that I would suddenly change my habits would a very stupid thing to say,” he huffed weakly. “I think we all know it’s going to take a lot of time for me to get them out of my system, if I could at all.”

His omega whimpered at the meaning behind his words, but didn’t react any further, still hurt from the recent revelations.

“But I can try,” He wanted to laugh at the reactions he got from his friends, Pete looking at him like he had delivered an oracle from the gods above or something. Ken on the other hand, Big could distinctly smell hope and uncertainty in the alpha’s scent at his words. But he stopped himself because it made him realize how little faith they had in him. “I can try to move on. Try to put myself first.”

“I am not going back to the compound, not for the time being atleast.” He could feel the anxiety crawl up his chest as he said these words. “And even if I do, I am not going back to them.”

He pulled away from Ken.

“I promise.” He looked at them both with all the honesty and certainty he could muster. “Because I don’t think I would be brave and selfless to let you do it either.”

Silence settled between them after his speech. All three of them digesting the words that he had spoken and the gravity of them.

But this one was comfortable, the kind that used exist between them. The kind Big had not experienced since after his accident, and he hadn’t realized the lack of it had affected him this much. The lack of familiarity had affected him this much.

“There’s one more thing,” He started hesitantly. “I need to see Kim.”

The reaction were immediate. Both the alphas straightening at once ready to refute.

“Big,” Ken turned the omega to face him. “We can’t. Meeting Kim would be an open pass for others to find out about you.”

“He’s right,” Pete said agreeing with his mate. “It’s too dangerous.”

“I don’t care.” Big replied, his voice firm.

The omega looked at his friends, “I need to see Kim. And that’s non-negotiable.”

“Big,” Ken sighed, sounding kind of frustrated. “You just promised us you won’t go back to them.”

“I am not going back to them.” He half gritted. His omega snarling in his mind at the implication of Ken undermining his relationship with his pup.

“I want to see my pup.”

Realization dawned on the alphas’ faces.

“I cannot and I refuse to let him think that I am dead for even a single moment more.”

“Big-”

“He thinks it’s his fault Ken.” He cut his friend off, his eyes filling up again as Macau’s words echoed in his head. “He thinks I am gone because some god thought he was bad and that I agreed.”

“So, I am begging you,” He whispered curling hand around Pete’s shirt. “I need to see him.”

“Please…”

Pete and Ken looked at each other then, seemingly having a silent conversation with their eyes.

As the silence stretched, with now response from either man above him, Big felt his patience go thin. The omega gathered himself, preparing to threaten his way out of this but-

“Okay,” Pete whispered, wrapping his hand around the one that was clutching his shirt in death grip.

“What?” Big asked, stupefied.

“Okay,” Ken answered. “We’ll bring him here. But you need to give us a couple of days. We have to do it in a way it’s not suspicious.”

“But-”

“No,” Pete interrupted this time. “That’s non-negotiable. We need to plan everything carefully Big. For your safety. For Kim’s safety.”

Big gulped as he processed their words. He can wait a couple days. If it meant he got to see his pup, yes he can wait a couple of days.

So, the omega nodded. “Okay.” He looked at his friends. “But I’ll wait only two days.”

“I want him here with the two of you when you come over for the weekend.”

He levelled them with a stern, no-nonsense gaze.

“Okay.” The voiced simultaneously, making Big sag in relief and fall back into their cozy embrace.

Just a little longer bunny.