Chapter 3

Ethan had been depressed ever since he left his Alpha, he had moped in the shared room for three days before he decided to distract himself by doing the laundry and cleaning the entire kitchen. It didn’t help much but everything got clean. A few days later he walked down the stairs and into the meeting room, where the other guys were waiting with his boss and a new Client. He looked to be a reptile, and clearly an Alpha, not bad but not his or Cotton Candy’s favorite. Walking into the room he could smell the Alpha’s pheromones and it smelt rancid. The slightest whiff made his stomach turn and the urge to vomit quickly rose, he tried to cover his mouth and hold it back. Thankfully nearby was a garbage can and he promptly vomited into it his whole body trembled and heaved, he didn’t know what was wrong.

“What is wrong with you?” His Boss said, grabbing him by his collar.

“It smells rancid.” He whispered, trembling. 

“Excuse us, it seems he’s not doing well so you’ll have to choose from one of them.” His Boss said in his most polite tone he used with all the new Johns. He then pulled Ethan into his office and shut the door. “Did that Tiger mark you?” He asked angrily, pulling him towards his desk.

“N-no I haven’t been marked. I, I couldn’t have been!” He told him. He had wished that he had but he knew his collar had never been removed, not even when he showered. The stout Bear pulled out his phone and unlocked his collar and carefully inspected his neck, there wasn’t even a blemish, most of the marks that had been left were mostly gone. 

“That fucking Tiger.” He growled, locking the collar back into place. “You stay here, I’m going to have to fix this or you’ll have to go back home.” He growled. “Sit on the floor till I am done out there.” He said pointing to the floor next to his desk using his Alpha tones. 

Ethan quickly moved to the side of the desk, he didn’t know what was going to happen, he couldn’t go back home, his father would just throw him out on the street. His mind was racing, wondering what was going to happen to him, where he could go. He thought that maybe his Alpha would take him in, but he didn’t even know where to look for him, all he had was his name, Leon Brett. His mind raced as he tried to think of how he would even go about looking for him. 

“He’s useless! That stupid son of yours is a defective product, you’re going to have to take him back.” He heard his boss yelling in the other room. His stomach dropped, he was going to toss him to his father, he started to panic. “What do you mean then you don’t want him?” There was a pause. “Fine I’ll drop him off at an Omega facility then and you’ll not get a dime more!” Ethan jumped as his Boss slammed the door open and looked at him angrily. “You have five minutes to take whatever clothes you want and be at the door.” He told him.

He got up and quickly dashed to the room he had shared and stuffed his better clothes into a bag. The Boss had followed him up and then after three minutes he grabbed him by his arm and dragged him out not even letting him say goodbye to the others. He was thrown into the back seat of the car and was driven off. “Your father doesn’t want you back so I’m being nice enough to put you into an Omega shelter I happen to know of.” He growled. “Whatever bond you may have forged will be broken in a few months and you’ll be free to do whatever you want but you are going to have to stay there.” He told him.

“What about Mr. Brett? Shouldn’t I be allowed to tell him? Can’t I go to him instead?” He asked.

“Come here for a second.” He said motioning for him to lean closer, he did and he got slapped hard across the face. “Stop being so stupid he would have noticed it first and from the way that he just let you go as if he didn’t care it’s clear this is the best option for you. Just forget that fucking Feline doesn’t exist, it will be better if you do.” He told him. 

Ethan recoiled from the slap and then attempted to make himself look as small as possible in the seat. Leon didn’t want him either then? His chest started to hurt and he could feel the tears forming in his eyes. It hurt so much, why did no one want him?

He didn’t remember anything about the rest of the ride other than the pain in his chest and the tears he fought to not fall from his eyes. He just moved automatically as they arrived, they gave him a small room with a blanket and a pillow, his collar was removed and replaced with a different one, it bothered his neck as it rubbed him with it’s hard edges. He barely ate and mostly spent his time sleeping alone in his room, it was all he could do to not think about the fact no one wanted him. In his dreams he saw Leon again and again, sometimes he would call out to him and it was like he couldn’t hear him, other times he was with a female Cat who told him he didn’t matter Leon belonged to her, and sometimes it was Leon himself who told him he wasn’t wanted.

Soon he wasn’t even sleeping or eating and it seemed that the people running the place didn’t care much. After three week of being there they decided to drag him into a doctors office and do a full examination. It turned out that Leon had not only bonded with him but had also got him pregnant. It was hearing this tiny bit of news that snapped him out of his funk. There was a small life inside of him, a true miracle to him that shouldn’t have happened but had. He had cried hearing the news, surely Leon would want him back if he knew wouldn’t he? He had to start to take better care of himself, starting with eating better, and taking the medication they gave him. He hoped if he could show the staff he was good and he was better that they might let him find his Alpha.

They didn’t, they didn’t let him near a computer or phone, he was restricted to his room. Weeks started to go by and then a month and they kept on recording his progress without telling him anything. His visits were silent with the exceptions of being told what to do. He became depressed again, locked away in his room with only a small TV to entertain him, mostly it showed children’s programs or talked about care for pregnant Omega’s. No news about the world, no music to listen to, just children’s shows and shows about what to expect when you're expecting. 

“Stupid bird boy thinks if he keeps being good that we’ll let him see the guy who knocked him up.” He heard the guard say as he walked down the hall. 

“I know, he actually thinks that any alpha would want him, he should know by now he’s just a baby factory, once he pops this one out we’ll sell him off to another Alpha so he can give birth again and again. That’s the only thing these shitty Omega’s are good for.” The second guard said as they continued by,

Ethan felt his stomach drop, what would happen to his baby? Would they at least give them to Leon? He wanted to ask but he didn't that would be stupid. Another thought came to his mind, he could disobey and leave, he could sneak out and find Leon on his own. He could go to the police and they would help him wouldn’t they? That was their job right? He had to try.

He waited another week before he attempted. He hadn’t gotten far before they caught him, his one attempt to escape ended up in failure. Not only that but it had also ended up with him being chained to his bed. He wasn’t going anywhere, at least for now the nightmares of being rejected had stopped.

It had been almost three months since he had last seen Leon, and he laid in bed, the TV playing some kids show in the background. His only motivation was to stay healthy enough to give birth to the kitten growing inside of him. Soon enough he would start showing their baby was about the size of a lemon now according to the doctor. He had given up hope that Leon would find him, he now only hoped that they would at least find him to give him their baby. He morbidly decided after he gave birth he was going to just let go, he wasn’t going to let himself become a baby making machine.

There was sudden yelling in the hallway and the power went off. He sat up and made his way to the door, and peered out the tiny window. He could see the emergency lights were on but there was no movement. He tested the door and found it was still locked. There was the sound of hissing followed by a pop and then down the hall. He could see a cloud of smoke billowing down the hall. He jumped back and panicked, was it an explosion? A fire?He didn’t know he just knew he had to get away from the door, he retreated to his bed and pulled the blanket off. Worry of what he was supposed to do in fire raced through his mind.

“Stay low… Stop, drop, and roll… no that’s if you are on fire, but I should stay low… and if I hear anyone make noise?” He bit his lip and curled up on the floor next to his bed watching the door. No smoke came in but he could see it fill the window in the door. Distracting himself he hummed softly caressing his stomach. “It’s okay my baby it’ll be Okay.” He said softly. “Maybe this is a good thing, maybe this means we can get out of here and find your daddy now… if someone comes.” He said looking up at the door.

It felt like hours had passed and it was still mostly quiet, there were a few pops he heard in the distance that made him jump but nothing close, but it seemed the fire had gone out as he couldn’t see any more smoke. Then the power popped back on the TV turning on suddenly to a lamaze class in session made him jump. Still no one came and he was hungry, it had to be close to dinner and this had started before lunch. His stomach growled in protest, it was used to three meals a day.

“There should be a few down this hall, one of our projected targets should be here.” He heard an unfamiliar voice say. Then there were heavy footsteps and the sound of a key in locks and he could hear others being brought out and the words “we’re here to rescue you” were repeated. He got to his feet and went over to the door just as a man with a military looking uniform came to the door startling him. 

“Are you alright sir? Can you tell us your name?” He asked as he opened the door. “We’re here to get you out of here.” He told him calmly.

“E-Eth-than P-Plum.” He shuddered out.

“Ethan Plum? Alright we’re here to take you out, are you okay? Do you need to be carried? What is your condition?” He asked as the door opened.

“I would need to be unchained.” He said showing the crude chain that allowed him to reach the door and the toilet but not anywhere outside the room.

“I need another set of bolt cutters here!” He called out.

“On it!” Another voice called back. 

“I’m also pregnant and really hungry…” He admitted as his stomach growled loudly.

“Ahh we’ll get you something to eat once we get you out of here, we’re going to take you to the hospital just to make sure everything’s okay, I know it’s been a stressful day.” He told Ethan. He was a kind Gorilla, probably a Beta as he didn’t seem to give off any pheromones. He was big and strong with short black hair and kind eyes. A younger wolf came in with bolt cutters and snipped the lock and released his foot from the chain. An older man who appeared to be a feline, judging by his tail he was a lion, came to the door with a clipboard and a wheelchair. “This is one of the targets, Ethan Plum.” The Gorilla told him. “He’s going to need food and a hospital visit.” 

“Alright, pleased to meet you Mr Plum, I’m going to take you to an ambulance where they are going to look you over and feed you before they take you to the hospital.” He told him patting the chair. 

Ethan walked over and carefully sat down, if this was some sort of weird trap he’d have to figure something out, he’d run now that he was free once he was outside. They wheeled him to the entrance where he saw cop cars, SWAT cars and several ambulances parked outside. He started to cry, he really was being rescued. They didn’t lie they brought him to an ambulance where they gave him some sandwiches and gave him a look over, they removed the collar and put ointment onto the raw spots there and then the raw spots around his ankle where the cuff had rubbed him also raw. Confirming he was pregnant they took him to the hospital where he would stay for a few days. Police came and got his statement and all the information, the only thing he had asked about and never got an answer about was. “Why was I a target?” The answer was usually just a shrug or to ask a higher up.

He had been in the hospital for two days now, he didn’t know what to do, or where he wanted to go when they let him go, the only thing he knew he wanted was Leon. Even after all this time that one week the only Alpha that he wanted was Leon. He knew he was going to have to find his way to Leon, after all if anything Leon would want their baby. 

He didn’t remember falling asleep, but he must have, there was a comforting scent in the air and something warm on his hand. Opening his eyes he could make out another hand atop of his holding onto it slowly following the hand up to the arm and the shoulder he was met with a familiar face, his eyes were closed but he knew they’d be amber in color and his orange hair was a mess. His Leon had found him, he wanted him right? Tears started to form in his eyes as he gently squeezed his hand.

Leon’s eyes popped open hearing not only a sniffle but the hand of his birdy tentatively squeeze his own. “Ethan? Oh my little birdy don’t cry I’m here for you, it’s Okay.” He told him as with his other hand he reached up and gently brushed away his tears. There was that tenderness that Ethan had missed in his voice and the gentle touch he’d craved, but most of all it was his scent, his pheromones that calmed him and made him feel everything was finally going to be Okay.

“Leon, I missed you.” He sobbed, unable to hold back his emotions. Leon moved to the edge of the bed and pulled him into his arms and let him cry into his shoulder.

“I missed you too, I should have never let you go, I won't ever let you go again Ethan. You are my little birdy.” He told him over and over again till he calmed down. “I’m going to take you home tonight, I’m so sorry I couldn’t come here sooner but they had to make sure you were okay, they had to get your story too, and there were things I had to do.” 

Ethan looked at him, his eyes wide in surprise. “Home? With you?”

“Yes, you belong with me, you both do.” He said putting his hand onto his stomach. “I’m going to take care of you both forever.” He promised.