August

When he woke, his head was pounding right behind his eyes. He groaned as bright light only seemed to make his brain slice in two. He had expected this. Suppressants always made him feel like shit after going through the sickness. What he wasn’t expecting, however, was the incredibly soft and warm bed he was currently laying in. That had him sitting up immediately, only to instantly regret it. The room swam and he realized quite shockingly that his head had been hit rather hard. The room he was in was a massive gothic style cathedral ceilinged room draped in the colors of black and burgundy. There was a startling contrast of green plant life however that both fit in with the decor and didn’t. It was clear whoever lived here was old money and they weren’t afraid to flaunt it. This certainly wasn’t any place inside the slums.

He managed to get to his feet, albeit wobbly and began to search the room. The last thing he remembered was an Infected capturing him by using his own rut against him but he wasn’t in some sort of medieval dungeon or being drained dry. In fact, he was still wearing his clothes. But that didn’t make his situation any better. No one escaped from the Infected. His heart hammered in his chest. What would they do with him? There hadn’t been any known cases of Alphas for as long as he knew. Would they keep him around to breed their Omegas? Would he become one of their personal feeders? The ideas had the hair on the back of his neck rising. He needed to get out of here. He really didn’t want to find out what would happen. 

Suddenly, the door to the bedroom was kicked in and he whirled around to see the same red headed male from the alley stroll in. Fear immediately raced through him when the heavy stench of Them filled the room. It was enough to make his stomach roll. His only escape route was blocked by the male who grinned at him like he was something he couldn’t wait to devour. And he probably was. 

“Sleep well?” The other asked, his voice surprisingly jovial despite the situation. He had expected anger and violence. Not… whatever this was. It left him confused and uncertain. “Come on, they’re waiting. You don’t want to leave them waiting, do you?”

He could only assume that “them” he was referring to were other Infected and he certainly didn’t want to keep them waiting. If they were treating him this gently, he could at least give them some respect in that regard. He would find out what they wanted from him although he knew his choices were probably not good. They weren’t about to let an Alpha just walk away. 

When August appeared to be hesitating too long, the male strolled across the room with an annoyed sigh and forced him to walk towards the door. Without the effects of his rut, he was weaker to the other male and merely stumbled out of the room with him. 

“What do you want with me?” He demanded, the Infected’s grip bruising as he dragged him along. 

The male holding him grinned at him. “What do you think? Do you know how rare it is to find an Alpha? We need the humans to survive so turning more of them is out of the question. So, we need to breed. But Betas such as myself can only breed with other Betas and the birth rate is so low we’re multiplying far too slow. Lucky for you, there’s an Omega you’ll be paired to.”

He felt his stomach drop out. Right. He should have figured he would be used as a breeding mule. They walked through endless rooms and hallways of the gothic manor. Each place they went looked completely unlived in and each were draped in the same colors of black and burgundy. Plant life existed in every room and hallway, even some of them hung from open staircases. Finally, he was led into a drawing room where a few people sat around. They turned as they walked through the doors and it was only the male holding onto his arm that kept him upright. The overpowering stench of Them was enough to make him want to gag. His legs threatened to give out just from the sheer power they held over him.

The older of the males in the room pointed to a single armchair. “Sit him there.” 

He was led there and abruptly forced to sit down before the other seated himself not far on the end of a couch. He took quick stock of the room. The older male was clearly the head of the family. His dark hair was slicked back, with hints of gray peppered in. He wore a suit but the jacket was hanging over the back of a chair at the desk. He looked vaguely familiar. There was the male that had brought him here and beside him were several other gentlemen. They each held a glass of what was obviously blood and were eying him with distaste.

 “A mutt?” One of them asked with a snort. “You’ll have Merrik breed with a reject from the Slums?”

August felt his skin ripple with anger at the backhanded way he spoke of him. Just because he was from the slums didn’t make him any different from any other human! It had simply been the hand he had been dealt! Most of the people in the slums had arrived there thanks to Them in the first place!

Before he could defend himself, the older male spoke up, swirling the blood in his glass. “And where, pray tell, are you going to find another Alpha, hmm? The One God has led us to him and you’re going to reject this blessing?”