“Derek!”

Derek turned and smiled at Jessica, instantly seeing that she must have fallen in dirt and had a leaf in her hair.

“Why are you so dirty?”

The twelve-year-old giggled as she ran towards Derek, with her arms wide opened.

Having no choice but to catch the little girl in his arms, Derek chuckled.

With so little children around, it was difficult to not be happy to see a little one so happy but…Derek quickly got over this and put her at arm’s length, then smiled at her, “Did you run away from your Mother and Father again?”

The girl looked coquettishly at Derek, and said, “It’s not declared as running away if I’m coming to meet with you!”

Internally sighing to the girl’s meaning, Derek decided to give her the cold shoulder. “You should go back, before they really do worry about you. I’m too busy to entertain you anyway.”

With that, Derek turned and determinedly walked away.

Hearing the girl’s usual antic of stamping her foot, it made Derek sigh.

 

Being an Alpha, that wasn’t royalty, it was a huge burden!

It’s so rare that an Alpha is just an ordinary person and Derek is fully aware now on why that is so.

He had grown to know firsthand that Alpha’s were very possessive of not just their partners, but also that of their positions. The Alpha King here does not and most likely will never fully trust Derek and his father…

The reason Derek found that his status of an Alpha was something to worry about, was because he had been threatened by this King personally!

Then suddenly, it became obvious to him that he and his father were the only other normal Alpha’s around in the whole capital of Knehind!

 

It was a rumour, but after this ordeal with the Alpha King, Derek started to wonder if the rumour of Alpha’s fighting each other for the throne, had indeed been true…That the reason that there were no other Alpha’s like them around, was because they had died or…Were the ones with the power of being King…

Before being threatened, Derek had not given much thought to his status, when it came to other Alpha’s, but now, he does his best to not do anything to make the Alpha King suspect him of anything!

It is quite an unbearable act, to a prospect, as he felt it was in his nature to fight and be the boss, yet…He didn’t want the burden.

Derek knew first hand about being a boss, as he was in control of a business, and knew of how much work it was and right now…While he was…Busy, he did not want the responsibility, so…This was the only reason he was able to tolerate bowing his head to the Alpha King.

It had taken a lot of effort and money to get past what had happened to the Alpha King’s daughter and this was only one part of the problem of being an Alpha that wasn’t royalty.

 

Now that Derek was nineteen, quite a number of females have been trying to get his attention, including a twelve-year-old girl named Jessica. It’s obvious that many of the Beta’s wanted an Alpha as a son, brother or husband, hoping to get an Alpha in their family. Derek wondered why they were like this, because of what the Alpha King would feel about that, and…Derek was pretty sure that it would be better to fear having an Alpha in the family instead!

It was unstoppable!

Derek was, without a doubt, the most wanted male in the whole capital, perhaps even the whole country…Just because he was an Alpha, an Alpha that was just a normal person instead of a royal, but…

Walking into his room, Derek sat down in a huff at his desk and sighed.

 

Having not found any trace of Xander in Spanniddy, which was the country that he lived in, Derek had gotten as far as also ruling out the country of Ensia, the country to the west. Ensia was a country that was wanted by many, which was why Derek thought it was a good place to start looking for Xander outside of Spanniddy.

Ensia’s borders had changed, as battles had taken place and good soiled land had been taken. The idea that Omega’s might have been either part of the battles or working the land, was something that Derek could not miss out and check…But it had come to no use…

If there had been an Omega, they had most likely been told to stay discrete…Not only that, but Derek knew that he couldn’t just ask anyone for information on Omega’s, he could only try to use his eyes and spy on people to find out anything himself.

And by chance, he saw that the people he did discretely talk to didn’t act like Omega’s either…So, that was another reason Ensia seemed to be not the place that Xander would be.

 

Looking over the other two countries town names and knew that one was indeed not a part of the other two countries of Promemder or Virthal, Derek had a sneaky suspicion.

Sate…

Could it be possible that Xander is there instead?

Derek then sat back and put a hand through his hair.

For…Forever…There had only been one that had been able to hold a place in his heart and that was someone that had completely disappeared, just like every other Omega!

It was impossible all this time for Derek to think that Xander was died, so that meant that he had to find him!

The problem was, even after generalizing what he was doing and looking more so for just any Omega, Derek came to find that there were secrets upon the land of Lemunk!

With no conclusive evidence, Derek was sure that the royals were hiding the Omega’s themselves!

…If there was anywhere that I’d want to keep a deep, dark secret…It would be in Sate!

 

Whether Xander had really killed his mother…Or had ruined his relationship with the Alpha Princess…It didn’t seem to matter anymore to Derek…Well it didn’t matter as much as finding him alive…

And that was what mattered the most, it mattered so much that nothing else was as important as finding Xander alive!

He had responsibility, such as looking after an inn and making sure he was available whenever for the Alpha King, so it wasn’t like he had nothing to do…

But until this day, the news of Xander’s death haunts him, whether he admits it out loud though was another matter, but even though three years and twenty-one days have passed…He will not believe it!

 

Sitting up once again, Derek checked to see how much work he had to do, so that he could take another trip out of the country.

He’d just have to employ someone again, to keep an eye on things, and make sure that he includes an extra touch before he goes…

The process of employing someone was easy, as no one wants to anger an Alpha, so that was no problem but…With the extra touch of his own system in the inn, where no other inn here in the capital has, Derek knew that he should make sure that it continues the way it is while he was absent.

The fact that trade was inserted as a payment system, was indeed more work, yet, his inn was the busiest inn in the capital.

And since trade was now implied, the warehouse had to be emptied before he left, so that anything that was traded, that could be stored, was stored.

Upon getting trading items that had to be used almost immediately, like that of food or livestock, a certain number is kept and then the rest was used as meals within the inn. Then the rest of the traded items that was stored was mostly sold to get back the money that was spent upon having the person stay at the inn and for purposes such as keeping the inn running smoothly and not have anything broken.

…And all this work had to be finished before leaving!

 

The trips out have come to a lot of good for the business that he’s got, as he was able to see how other’s make money and how it’s used elsewhere. Ideas could be found in the least expected places, such as a small town near the borders of Spanniddy, in which helped Derek introduce trade as a way of payment.

With his father taking care of many things, still acting as the master of the family, Derek had used his father’s neglection of watching him closely, to secretly search for Xander…

As far as his father was aware, Derek was instead just touring the continent and implying upgrades to the inn. And since he was an Alpha, it seemed that his father cared even less about his son’s absence or even his safety. Actually, Derek was sure that there was only one thing that his father had helped or done in his life, besides that of his share in producing him, and that was to understand how to use his Alpha aura to make another kneel to him. There really wasn’t much to it, and his father expected him to learn a lot of it on his own, but that was as close as they ever got…

A long time ago, Derek had not liked it, wanting more of his father’s attention and wanting to be more like him yet, now that he was doing something that his father would most likely disapprove of, Derek was glad that his father was just too busy and in his own world to worry about his own son and what he was doing…

 

 

The first trip that Derek had taken, had ended up as a good thing because the Alpha King felt more at ease seeing such a carefree and detached Alpha.

So, since then, Derek has spent a lot of time searching in the last two years, rarely showing himself in the capital.

In the first few months of Xander ‘disappearing’, Derek had not wanted anything more then to see his death, as the pain of seeing his Mother dead had been severe…

It was always something his father would demean him for, and that was because Derek had been very emotional about his mother dying…

At the age of sixteen, he had been old enough to look after himself and his father had not just scolded him for being emotional for his mother’s death but had even punished him because his father had gotten fed up with seeing this side of his son!

His father had never gotten emotionally close to either of them, but Derek was able to get close to his Mother.

Growing up with her, as she had played and taught with him, Derek came to be very protective of her.

He didn’t even know that it had been an Alpha part of him until she was gone, that he had been this way because she had been the most precious person to him, and that was why he had felt so emotional after her passing…

 

His mother had taught Derek how to read and write, how to treat others with respect and how to control his emotions, so he doesn’t know where he would be without her.

Games, strange and fun games that no one else seemed to play, seemed to bring them to another world and his mother and he had a great bond and friendship.

Being pampered had its downfall though, Derek knew this…

When his mother had died, he had then seen what betrayal was…What loss was, and the world felt less beautiful. It was when he saw his father, being the man that he was, that Derek questioned why his mother had put up with him all those years.

His mother had been full of life, valuing smiles and laughter, while his father had been greedy, holding a smirk…They had been so different…

But Derek also came to realize that no one else treated him like his mother did…Well, except for…

So…Derek grew up and matured quickly, having lost his most precious and favorite person.

 

Being able to travel, Derek had met two others his own age, and found them very rude and inappropriate!

They weren’t Alpha, like himself, yet they had acted like the world owed them everything!

Perhaps he used to be like that, not only because he had been a child, which was becoming rare, but because he was an Alpha…But, having matured, he thought that those two others his own age had a lot of growing up to do and that there was probably no hope on becoming friends.

This all showed him how proud he was, and he wished that he could tell his mother that he was at least better than those two fools!

But wishes don’t come true!

 

 

Finishing some other work, Derek got up and stood by the window, thinking of his past friend.

They had grown up together, helping each other. If Xander had been in trouble, Derek had come to give a helping hand and strangely, there were even matters that Xander helped Derek with.

Remembering this about Xander, Derek couldn’t help but soften up.

Even though there was an extremely painful experience between them, there were still quite a lot of good memories. Fond memories…Memories that can’t seem to disappear!

Xander had always been shorter, which was probably normal, but Derek always teased him about his height. Xander had looked more like a ‘little boy’, then a teenager! He was the perfect height to rest an arm on!

Those eyes of his…They looked at me with such adoration…Oh, and he looked so cute in his nest!

 

Already knowing that he was an Omega, when Xander had come to live with them, one thing that Derek’s father did let Xander do, was build a nest in his room.

Derek had thought it was strange because he didn’t know anyone else that had made nests, but he ended up helping Xander continue to keep the ‘nest’ happy and warm.

Upon remembering Xander waking up in his corner, in amongst a blanket, a teddy bear and a few other things, Derek’s heart softened even more.

He missed it, missed rushing into Xander’s room and seeing him wipe his eyes. Missed teaching Xander how to read and write, how to play games…Just as his mother had taught him. He missed that little boy with innocent, green eyes…

They had laughed and smiled together a lot and Derek’s softened heart started to make him feel angry!

What does it matter, he thought, he killed my mother!

Whatever that was between us, it’s gone! Soon…Soon I will come and find you…Xander…And I will get my justice!

 

***

 

“I’m co…Cold.” Xander said, shivering.

Derek took off his outer clothing and wrapped it around Xander, “You shouldn’t have worried over something so small, especially in this weather!”

The snow might not stick to the ground here, but it was in the depths of winter and Xander had looked for a certain pendant that Derek had accidentally lost.

Xander saw Derek’s father get seriously upset, so he went to find this pendant for him, only to come back as ice cold and with teeth chattering like they were playing music!

Derek rubbed his hands up and down Xander’s arms, looking at his father’s precious pendent, that was now found and on the table.

“You’re an idiot!” Derek firmly stated, then took Xander into his embrace, rubbing on his back.

Even though he was two years older than Xander, Xander was still so small that instead it felt like four years of age were between them.

 

“You…You help m…Me. I…Help you.” Xander stuttered back through his clattering teeth.

Being nearly fifteen at this time, Derek finally took note of Xander’s problem and immediately went to get the fire started in a close by room. It was the closest room to the pond out the back, which was a spare room that no one was using at the moment. It wouldn’t matter though, both of the boys knew that if Derek used it, he wasn’t going to get punished for it.

Taking all of Xander’s clothes off and putting them up to dry, Derek then got a bed warmer ready and put it into the bed in the next room.

 

Making sure Xander’s hair was dry, as they sat close to the fire, Derek then pulled Xander over to the bed and tucked him into the bed clumsily. With the blanket right up to Xander’s eyes, a voice was hardly heard through it and Derek had to lean in to hear better…

Xander wanted his teddy bear and so Derek went to Xander’s room to get it, then got into the bed himself.

A big blanket covered both of them, their bodies warmth spread on a nice, comfortable bed. Derek took Xander into his embrace, rubbing at his skin to warm him up faster…

Xander stopped trembling within just a few more minutes but Derek continued to rub the nice and smooth skin of the person next to him, which coaxed Xander into a deep sleep.

As this dream continued on into sleep, Xander felt more and more hot and more and more uncomfortable, not even aware that he started to frown in his sleep.

 

 

Hot! I’m so hot!

Letting out a grunt, Xander frowned and brought his legs up to his chest, wanting to get rid of this uncomfortable feeling.

Coming out of his dream, Xander realized that he was drenched with sweat and a throbbing, strange feeling was taken hold in his lower region.

Breathing heavier and heavier, as the time went by, Xander finally understood that his first heat had finally come!

Immediately, he got up and tried his best to block the door, with bed sheets and blankets, then went into his small bath, even though the water had not been changed from that morning.

Looking out, vaguely aware of his thoughts, he sees that the sun was still setting, but that thought was quickly replaced by feelings instead. He felt hot, sweaty and…Horny!