-Dot-
I opened my eyes to warm dim light. A blanket enveloped me, but it was damp with my sweat and the heat overwhelmed me. I struggled to kick it off but froze when I heard voices approaching.
My ears flattened and eyes widened. The strangers from before, were they coming back? I looked around and realized finally where I was. This wasn't my home. This place was much too colorful. The walls weren't white, but a soft shade of blue. The blanket around me was much softer, like the fur of my ears, and marked with an intricate design I didn't recognize.
The door creaked open and a tall and lithe man poked his head through.
"Hello." He said as he approached me. I scrambled backwards, only to fall off the bed with a shriek.
I heard a soft gasp before the man crouched down and peeked at me through the underside of the high bed. He had dark hair hanging in soft curls around his ears and icy blue eyes.
"It's okay." He said with a sad smile, but then continued on with a jumble of words I didn't recognize.
I didn't respond and regarded him suspiciously. He smelled like me, like an omega, not like the caretakers that poked and prodded me at home. Instead, he held up a clipboard and turned it around to show me a picture of myself with the illegible scrawling my caretakers used.
He pointed at a line of text and read out a string of syllables that I recognized as the numbers making my real name. "2-46?"
I nodded slowly, but remained silent. Why did this stranger know my real name? I knew he was an omega, but why was he allowed to be in here, dressed in a shirt and pants similar to my caretakers and not the thin paper gowns omegas were supposed to wear? Was he here to do more tests?
He placed a hand to his chest. "Conri." He said slowly. I tilted my head, but quickly realized it was an introduction. Why was he bothering to speak to me?
"Dot." I rasped out with a deep frown.
"Dot…" he repeated with a furrowed brow, but then a look of understanding sprang to his face. "Dot!"
The smile that graced his mouth looked pleased and his eyes squinted with crinkled kindness. The knot in my belly loosened, but I still doubted his intentions.
I let out a huff as he continued to prattle on. I recognized some of his words like "omega," "healing," "sleep," amongst others, but most of what he said was lost.
I looked around again and took in my surroundings, deciding to ignore his nonsense words. This was a far cry from my home. A bright window let in warm sunlight, and I faintly heard strange tweeting I'd never heard before. I wanted to get closer to the window, but the man was in my way.
"Dot?" He said and broke me from my trance. I glanced back to him with another deep frown.
He sighed and rubbed his temples, the same way my caretakers did right before they got angry. Instead of lashing out at me though, he rose to his feet and called loudly into the hallway. The door once again creaked open, and I immediately recognized the domineering scent that wafted from the woman.
I curled into myself and clenched my eyes shut, waiting for the imminent punishment from the alpha. However, she spoke in a soft gentle voice as she neared me. I stole a glance and noticed the concerned look she shared with the taller man and the hand she rested on his shoulder. They both looked at me then, but I merely pressed myself more closely to the wall. Why did the omega look so comfortable with an alpha having such an intimidating presence?
The man whispered something to the woman and she simply nodded with a sigh before exiting the room again. Was she really taking an order from him? He stepped closer to me from the same side of the bed this time and crouched once again.
The next words that he uttered finally released the dam of tears hiding behind my eyes.
"Safe." He said. Such a simple word felt like a breath of fresh air, like my stomach finally sat where it was supposed to and my throat no longer filled with cotton. I don't know why I believed him, but I did and the tears flowed down my cheeks freely.
He offered an open palm to me with a hopeful gaze, and instead of recoiling like I would have done any other time, I placed my shaking hand in his.