The last thing I remembered was the sale ring, Ace being hurt, and a sharp pain before passing out. Without moving much, I tried to become aware of my surroundings. It felt soft under me. The area I was in was quiet, except a few beeps here and there. My one arm was a little sore and felt a little colder than the rest of my body. Opening my eyes slowly at first, had me soon opened wide and jumping up right away. Where I happened to be, was in another sealed room and on a bed. Huge NO from me.
A long tube and needle were in my arm and sticky things were attached to my chest. I ripped them away, ignoring the sting and the blood from my arm. While the things I pulled off were still in the air I had jumped off the bed and immediately searched for the darkest corner. I did not like how clean the room smelled. Or how bright the lights above me were. Or the white painted walls. Now to add to the discomfort, the beeping became a long high-pitched sound.
The room gave no hint of where I was. Past experiences told me I need to stay clear of the bed and that part of the room. Off to the left side of the bed was a large metal door with a window. Looking to the right was another door, grey in colour but solid unlike the widow one, but beside it was the darkest corner in the room. I had no clue where that door leads, but my instincts told me it was not the main door. As I heard footsteps running towards the room, I hurried myself to curl up in the corner as much as possible.
What I did not expect to see were strangers. Not one person I recognised. They were dressed the same. Not colour wise but outfit wise. Plain tops with a small pocket over their heart and plain pants. Some had neutral colours and a couple had bright colours with patterns. Of the five that came in only one looked in my direction right away. Doing what I did best I ignored them and gave no reaction.
"Someone get me the sedatives. He needs more rest and fluids." The most plain looking one started walking to me after two others walked out. The ones staying behind closed the door and stood in front. My gut was right on the door being the way in and out. He turned his voice softer. "Hey there. Uh. What's your name?"
The guy looked like an absolute idiot. He looked like he was approaching, well, I am not sure what, but he was crouched down and his hand was outstretched towards me. Narrowing my eyes, I curled up more in my corner.
A knock on the door had the man stand up and look at it. The two that stepped in were not the two that left minutes ago. "Who might you be?"
"Your boss?" The shortest of the two answered.
"Oh! Forgive me. Gekka and Mr. Route. I have been expecting you. If you could wait in my office I will deal with this minor issue and be right with you."
"What is the issue doctor?" The tallest spoke and his voice caused me to tremble, but not in fear. My attention went to him right away. "I believe we told you not to force anything on him. Or were our rules ignored?"
The plain man shook his head, and his voice went from demanding to pleading. "No sir! He woke a little panicked. He needs a check over to make sure he did not injure himself while pulling everything off. However, as you can see, I am waiting for the sedatives. His behaviour is like a stray dog, meaning it is not safe to approach him while he is awake."
"Then don't." The doctor cowered at Mr. Route's command. "Gekka, please deal with the medical team here and update them. We will move him to the room we have at the office today."
"Boss, you sure?" The one called Gekka was looking at me now. "He could run."
Mr. Route then spoke soft, but in a voice that calmed me, unlike the doctor. "He will be okay. Ace will be waiting to see him. Since the family taking him in plan to arrive later this evening, it would be for the best for them to say the goodbyes now." He turned to me. "It won't be a forever goodbye. But Ace needs to recover and so do you. If you are willing to follow us now, we can arrange you both to see each other. Would you like that?"
I looked at the alpha before me. He was asking me what I thought. Honestly, I thought he was crazy. Then I thought about Ace. It would be nice to know he was okay. I looked past the man and at the doctor. Yeah, I did not like him. The man before me was, well, more interesting. I stood up and waited for the chains.
"See that doc. He is reasonable. He is a human being as you and I are. Never again do I want to see you treat them like wild animals. You will no longer have a job if you do." The doctor walked out with Gekka and without another word, while the tall one looked to me. "Do you remember any name you have had?" After I gave him no response, still waiting for the lead, he continued walking forward. "Well, until you have a name, I will call you Dante if you allow. Follow me. We will go wait in the car for Gekka."
I stood still. Did he think me a fool? I knew better than to move without the leads. Seeing as he kept walking, I sat back down in the corner. This was not right in so many ways. There was no way to know how to behave without punishment with these people. It was best to wait and observe some more. Even though the tall man before me seemed to feel comforting and, well, I am not sure what else, he was not behaving in any way I was used too.
"You can follow me. It is okay now." I looked at the man again. "I can understand you're confused and a little lost. Maybe unsure what is expected. But it is safe. I assure you." He walked back to where I was sitting and sat down across from me. "There is no way for me to fully understand what you have been through all these years. I can only assume with the history of what we have found, the past treatment of other omegas we have rescued and how you behave. You have lived an injustice, and we are on the tract of giving you whatever life we can now."
My eyes would not leave the man before me. It was strange to see him sitting on the floor for one. Though his scent is very mild, I was sure he was an alpha. He behaves like no alpha I have ever seen before. His voice is soft, not commanding. His presence is quiet not overpowering. Internally something said to react to him. To behave and get closer for comfort. It scared me more than everything else going on. Trying my best to ignore what my instincts were yelling at me I curled up more.
"If I am scaring you, I will move away." Something he did right away, now sitting on the bed I was once on. "We have a safe room set up for you at another location. Away from this hospital. Unless you feel safer staying here with the doctor?"
That caused me to think. I follow him or stay with that weird idiot of a man. Taking in a deep breath and weighing my choices, it was an easy one. I would rather tempt punishment for no leads, than to stay with a man that wanted something else from me. Slowly I stood up watching the man's reactions, seeing if there was anything else he might want from me. Body language spoke lengths to me.
"Thank you, Dante. Stay close and follow me to the car. We do not have to go too far." He walked in silence for a while until we reached a car. "I feel you will be more comfortable alone and not crowded. So, I decided you will have the backseat to yourself." He opened the one door and motioned me to enter.
This was a mode of travel I have never been through. At least not awake for anyways. Looking at the man, he smiled and stepped back to give me time. Turning back to the space he wanted me to get into did not look comfortable. To say it is crowded was an understatement. Taking a deep breath, I entered.
"I will close the door now. Make sure you put on the seatbelt." My look must have told him I had no idea what he was talking about, and he sighed. "You have no idea what's going on, do you? Here, let me help you. Sit in the middle. It will give you more space and view. Beside you by your arm is the seat belt." Slowly I shifted where he told me and looked at the piece he was talking about. It looked like a wide lead. My eyes narrowed. "Hey! I even wear one in the car. It is for safety. Look, it goes over your body and across you lap and clicks in here." He placed the seatbelt on me after reaching over. "Sorry for crawling in. Once you get used to these, they really aren't that bad."
"Hey boss. You guys ready?" The one called Gekka was walking up behind the tall one. "I am glad he did not run. It would have made it worse for his healing to go through a chase."
The tall one closed the door and entered the front seat putting on a seatbelt too. Looks like he did not lie on that. The one called Gekka who entered the other side did the same. "He is very intelligent. Anyone that had to go through what he may have could have done many things, but I think he learned by watching. I can see him processing everything you know."
"Has he reacted to his new name yet?" Gekka was not focused on what he was doing at the car moved.
"Not yet. I am unsure if he likes it or even cares right now. Maybe he would like to choose his own, or he remembers his name. Until we get him comfortable to speak and tell us, it is a guess for now." Listening to his words I realized he knew, unlike they others, that I could speak, but refuse. This man was a curiosity to me even more.
After some time, all chatter quieted down and I looked out the windows. That was until I felt ill. My stomach was not feeling well. If I had eaten, it would have already exited my body. During one turn I had to close my eyes holding on to the seatbelt.
"Slow down Gekka, I think he is car sick." The tall man's soft voice had me open my eyes. "Dante, here is a bag if you can't hold it. We only have a few more minutes and we are done." He ended up placing the bag near me on the seat as I would not grab it then turned to the other one. "Keep a note that he gets car sick in his file. It would not be a good experience to get stuck in a long drive like this."
To say I felt gross was nothing to what I exactly was going through. My head hurt, my stomach wanted to empty, my body felt heavy, and I was sweating through the clothing I had on. I wanted to lay down and curl up, but the seatbelt held me in. My choice was slowly becoming a regret sitting in this car. I never noticed it stopping, or the door opening. I did feel the cool air cooling my heated skin.
"Dante. We are here. When you're able to move, we'll take you to your new room." Opening my eyes, I slowly turned towards the tall one. "The room is about the same size as the one you left. And will be locked for your safety at night when most staff leave. However, during the day, when you are ready you can wander the area."
"Akira, I'll head in first and make sure security is ready." Gekka then left the two of us once more.
The one I now know as Akira watched him walk into the building, before he turned back to me. "Take your time. The cool air should be helping, yes?" I could see he was hoping for some sort of reaction. For now, I let go of the belt, looked down at it then back at him. "Ah! I can help you. Watch how I do it so you will know for next time." He shuffled in close reached over and tapped something near my hip. "Look at this. It is a button and will release it. Never do it while the car is still moving, unless of an emergency." He moved away without hitting the button and waited.
I looked back at it and pushed the red button. The belt moved fast and almost hit me as it flew from the clasp. My eyes narrowed; I looked back at Akira.
"Ah shit! My bad. I forget they do that. It's one of the items we use so often we can forget steps. Are you okay?" He had crawled back inside and was looking me over for injuries. "Let's get in and get you settled." Moving back outside the car once more, he gave me room to follow him.
My shock entering the building behind him was tenfold as his aura even went from relaxed, to stiff, as soon as we passed the doors. Then there were people everywhere and of all genders. No signs of leads or chains. People all smiled and greeted Akira as well. Though most called him Mr. Route. For the most part the others ignored me verbally, though I knew they watched.
One tried to come up to me and Akira stopped them. "No closer Sir."
"Mr. Route, you must understand the confusion of the folks here wondering why you are bringing in such a possible liability alone. It could turn on you." The older alpha gave me a strange look.
"If you feel the need to talk so degradingly to a man standing before you, assuming he does not understand a single word you are saying; then I believe this company might not be for you." Akira was now glaring at the man.
"I apologize Mr. Route." He then bowed.
"It is not me you need to apologize to, but the man you slighted." Akira moved a little to allow the man to face me. "Dante might not speak, but he understands you not just by your words but your actions. Tread carefully."
"I do sincerely apologize Dante. I hope we can put this mater in the past." He bowed then looked at me.
Turning away I looked back at Akira. There was no care as to how the man behaved for me. My interest was in Akira and what he wanted right now. "You can leave now. Make sure to pay more attention to those around you." Akira watched walk off then turned back to me. "Fucking idiots. No matter what some will still feel that omegas are less than they are. I am sorry Dante for my language and his behaviour. We do weed out most of them. Let's go. The rest of the trip should be quiet as we will take my private elevator."
There was a strange sound coming from Akira's pocket and I saw him pull out his phone. "Hello Gekka. Is there a problem." I could not hear the rest of what was said but Akira's body language told me there was nothing to worry about. "Perfect! Thanks, we are heading up now." He put his phone away and brought me to another new door.
Beside it was a small black box with a red light, but when he put a white card to it the light turned green. The large metal doors opened to a lit room. About the size of my cage from before. Mirrors on the wall had me see my reflection for the first time. Akira watched me as I stood in place looking at myself for the first time. Slowly I walked forward staring at my eyes.
"Hold on to the bar in front. The elevator goes right to the top floor and the sudden start and stop can be hard on some people."
One hand grabbed the bar he pointed out, but I never stopped looking at my reflection. Barely registering the movement. My eyes. One was a dark crystal blue and the other was a dark crystal purple. Never was there a time I remember seeing anyone having eyes like mine. One a different colour. It made me wonder if something was wrong with me.
"We're here Dante." Looking back at Akira I saw the doors open once more. "We have a mirror in your room. Come. I am excited to show you what we set up for you." I followed him out wondering why his mood seemed more relaxed. "This is my private floor. My office is this room on the right. You will be able to find me here most days. The large room on the left is for meetings with the Omega teams. You already met Gekka, but in time, when you're comfortable you can meet the few other trusted members. This room we are heading to is just a room for relaxing. To be honest I am rarely here. We will head in here first. There is someone that wants to see you."
Without further talk, Akira lead us into the room. As soon as I entered, I knew who wanted to see me. Ace was standing in the middle holding the fluffy thing. Behind him were an Alpha and another omega. He looked up at them before running over to me. Before he got to me, I kneeled as I have done many times before the week he was in my care.
"I am so happy you're okay! No matter how many times I asked no one was telling me anything. I was so worried. When I woke up, I was alone, and you were gone." Ace then started to cry. "We aren't gonna go back. It is all over. And look! See those two? They said they wanna adopt me!" He curled into my body. "That means we won't see each other for a while. I brought the teddy, so you can feel like you're not alone. Okay?" I let him cry it out while handing me the fluffy thing. "Don't worry big brother. We will see each other again. I promise!"
"Sorry Ace. But it is time to go. Dante still needs to get settled in his own room now." Akira was once more speaking soft.
"You will watch over him, won't you Mr?" Once he saw Akira nod, he smiled. "Okay big brother. Take the bear. I will see you when I can."
He moved away and walked to the other two and I stood up as the alpha spoke. "He would not stop talking about how you helped him. We are grateful you did what you did, no matter how small you feel it is. When Mr. Route says it is okay, we will bring Ace for a visit." He then turned to Gekka and Akira. "Thank you once more. We will keep in contact."
"I'll walk you out." Gekka follow the three as they left.
Akira came close and pat my shoulder. I looked at his hand as he spoke. "Are you okay Dante?"
There was nothing for me to say. I did my job for my pack. This time it seems I will see him again and he will be well. I looked back up at Akira waiting for the next move.
He sighed. "You seem to have shut down from showing emotions. That's okay. We all cope differently. Let's go to your room."