Faun

Faun opened his eyes to complete darkness. The first time this had happened, Faun had panicked. Now, the young man only calmly pushed away the warm tail smothering him. 

Blinking against the rays of sunlight streaming into the den, Faun lazily began waking up.

The brunette watched his dark-haired Alpha slumber on, nestled between shining scales and soft pelts. 

Cute.

His Alpha had been out late. Late enough that Faun had fallen asleep in the cozy main chamber waiting for the man.

His Alpha must have carried him to bed.

Smiling, Faun rose on sleepy legs, slipping on his soft, rabbit fur sweater to fight the brisk morning.

The finely crafted top was one of the many gifts the omega had received over the past few days.

Faun was not naïve to the primitive methods of courting between Alpha and omega. The young man hadn't received top marks in all of his omega classes for nothing.

So Faun knew what the fresh carcass of a grizzly bear meant when it had been presented to him. Knew the Alpha was proving he could provide for his omega. Was trying to court the doe-like man as a mate.

Faun was also aware of the significance of his own actions as he tucked into his meal of bear that same evening. Shyly meeting the Alpha’s eyes as they dined.

The presents became frequent after that.

Faun had woken up the next morning to soft boots lined with mink. The next day came with a set of fine china, which had left the omega dumbfounded on where the Alpha had found such things.

On it went until Faun was steadily running out of space in their large den to store all the courting gifts.

Faun had been patiently waiting for an opportunity to play his role in the courtship. 

And as he watched the Alpha deeply slumber in the early light, Faun knew his patience had paid off.

On quiet feet, the omega ambled out of their bed and into the main chamber of the den. Blinking the sleep out of his eyes, the omega took a second to mourn the loss of coffee before stepping up to the tall shelf full of dry ingredients. 

When Faun had first been given the tour of his new home, the sheer amount of stuff had taken him off guard. From chests bursting full of rich furs. To shelves stocked to the brim with preserved jams and hearty grains. 

It was like a small grocery store.

Trailing his hand down one of these shelves, Faun hmm and hawed over the ingredients before setting to work on breakfast. 

Faun let himself get swept up in the peaceful rhythm of cooking. The movements were well-practiced from years of cooking classes, mandatory for all omegas.

The young man enjoyed making a meal from scratch. The joy in his parent's eyes when he would make dinner after a long day. 

Faun looked forward to sharing that same joy with his Alpha. 

Placing the last plate stacked high with hearty pancakes next to the eggs and ham, Faun felt a flush of pride as he admired the table of steaming food. 

The giddy man was about to wake his Alpha when an odd noise permeated through the thick doorway. 

Were those voices?

Faun stood rooted in place. He knew he was supposed to get his Alpha, yet something queasy in his gut disagreed. 

As he crept towards the entry, the voices outside grew louder. The voices both sounded male, but what they were saying was too muffled to be understood. Ear against the door, Faun strained to make out bits of the conversation. 

“...My pups are-”

“ … haven’t seen him I’m sorry-”

“...Please my Alpha is hurt-.”

“...there's nothing I can-

“Please! He took everything-” 

Was that another omega? They sound like they're in trouble.

Faun felt himself reach for the door’s locking mechanism, prepared to investigate the distressing conversation. 

“What are you doing, sweet Faun.” Faun inhaled a gasp, rounding toward the voice. 

“You scared me, Alpha,” Faun scolded lightly, looking up into amused eyes. Not for the first time, Faun wondered how the Alpha could be so silent when lugging around a giant tail. 

“Why were you by the door, little one?” The Alpha eased the omega behind himself, away from the entrance.  

“I just thought I heard something, so I-” 

“You should have gotten your Alpha.” Faun’s Alpha chided, tilting the omega’s blushing face to meet his own.

Feeling his face burn crimson by the reprimand, Faun rushed to change the subject.

“I made us breakfast,” the freckled man threw a finger toward the table laden with food. 

The Alpha sent a dark, lingering look towards the doorway before turning back to the omega, eyes brightening minutely. 

“What a good boy.” Faun was glad that the Alpha was too busy looking over the spread of food to notice how the praise affected the young man. 

Trying to shake off the zing of arousal, Faun quickly ladled up two plates high with food. Rambling about this or that.

As they ate, Faun noticed how his Alpha’s eyes flashed periodically toward the doorway. That foreboding feeling in his gut gave a sharp twist with every glance. Faun had an odd, sudden urge to make his Alpha forget the peculiar voices.

“Kai?” The large man's full attention was immediately on the omega. Faun felt his heart squeeze, thinking he had made some mistake by using the Alpha’s given name.

“Yes, love?” The Alpha gave him a soft, amused look. 

Faun let out a relieved breath.

On the omega’s first morning in the den, the Alpha had revealed his name. Faun hadn’t used it until now, too nervous to disrupt the tentative peace they had formed. 

Realizing he had blurted the name without a proper reason, the omega spit out the first thing he thought of to keep the man’s focus.

“How many kids do you think you want?”

The Alpha froze, fork inches from his mouth. 

Feeling himself blush all the way to his antlers, Faun prattled on.

“I've always seen myself having three, two boys and a little girl to keep them in line. They could all be best friends. Look out for each other, you know?” Faun smiled tightly.

“Three sounds perfect, Faun. I can't wait to meet them.”

The food was abandoned now. The Alpha and omega shared a heated look across the table. 

As if remembering something, the Alpha suddenly rose.

“I seem to have gotten distracted,” the Alpha said with a knowing voice. The snake-like man bent to dig through a rough-looking bag that had not been there last night. 

Holding something behind his back, the Alpha approached the seated omega.

“Close your eyes.” Faun did so without thought.

“Okay now, hold out your hands.” The Alpha’s voice was laced with excitement.

Cupping his freckled hands together, palms up, Faun felt something cool and metallic being placed delicately in his grip. Opening his eyes, he felt his breath catch as he came face to face with a jewel-encrusted box.

It appeared to be many years old, yet the sparkling piece was in pristine condition. With prompting from the Alpha, Faun carefully opened the piece. Delicate music immediately rang out from the box as a miniature crystal ballerina started a slow pirouette from inside.

A music box. How on Earth had his Alpha gotten this?

Candlelight refracted from the crystals, causing a rainbow of light to splash around the room. Faun felt himself giggling at the blues and yellows streaking his Alpha’s handsome face.

“Thank you,” Faun took a second to clear the heavy emotion from his voice.

“This is beautiful, Alpha, thank you.” He carefully set the music box on the table, closing the lid when the song had ended.

Rising, Faun let his arms encircle the Alpha’s broad shoulders. Smoldering eyes tracked Faun as he slowly tilted his head to meet the Alpha’s lips. Faun gave the Alpha a sweet, lingering kiss. Hoping to push all of his gratitude into the gesture.

When his Alpha stayed preternaturally still, the timid omega let his pink tongue brush against his Alpha's bottom lip. The Alpha immediately moved to deepen the kiss. A slow dance of tongue and teeth.

A harsh nip made Faun release a startled moan.

The noise must have made some sort of switch flip in the Alpha because the next thing he knew, he was being scooped up into powerful arms.

A heartbeat later, Faun was being lowered onto their bed of soft pelts. The Alpha carefully maneuvered Faun’s legs to encircle his waist. 

The omega keened as the Alpha began a steady rhythm, grinding their lengths together. Faun let himself be driven into their bed with every thrust, hands white-knuckling the soft bedding.

Faun was pushed closer and closer to completion with every drag of delicious friction along his slight length. 

A rough hand dragging down his still sensitive antlers made Faun see stars. 

As Faun panted up at the ceiling, the powerful Alpha never slowed his movements, wrenching a cry from the over-sensitized omega.

The pain slowly turned to pleasure as the omega finished once again with a sharp cry, his Alpha following soon after. 

The wrung-out omega let himself be cleaned and tucked into the pelts by his Alpha. The sleepy man dazedly nodded along to what the Alpha was saying. Something about leaving to hunt and returning soon. 

Faun was asleep before the door had clicked shut.

Smacking his chapped lips, Faun sluggishly puttered toward the kitchen. Soft pelt slung over his shoulders like a cape. 

Only to stop dead in the shadowed entranceway.

A petite, frazzled-looking man was rifling through his den. The rough bag that Kai had just brought home was slung over the man’s shoulder. 

Faun moved to turn around and barricade himself in their bedroom, but the slight movement made the man stiffen before meeting Faun’s eyes. 

The stranger's bloodshot eyes searched for Faun's own. The intruder looked to be around Faun's age, but deep worry lines and gaunt cheeks made the man look much older.

“Please don’t scream. I’m not here to hurt you.” The man’s desperate voice made Faun gasp.

Faun knew that voice. 

This man was another omega.