“Xander, what’s wrong?” Derek was starting to get mad!

He just had…The greatest carriage ride ever! The greatest release ever! The greatest day!

He had even thought that he and his Omega will have better days from now on. Perhaps if they continue this way, Derek was thinking of becoming much more lenient with him…Especially if they could continue being this intimate!

Getting up, to sit beside Xander, Derek took away the cloth, that was somewhat covering him, and stopped.

Xander wiped his eyes, hiding his head, even starting to rock his body, to try and calm himself down.

“Why are you crying!?” Derek asked, taken completely unprepared by Xander’s tears.

We just had great sex! Why is he acting this way!?

 

Xander shook his head, closing his eyes.

Stubbornly, he refused to let anymore tears out and continued to rock himself…

He desperately wanted to get over his shameless act, he wanted to forget what he had just done. He never again wanted to lose himself to Derek, it just…He couldn’t do it! Not when he felt so terrible afterwards. Regret…Xander regretted it!

Now…Now he could only admit…That Derek still held a place in his heart. It may not be a big place because of how Derek had treated him, but after all this time, Derek…Was still ultimately there, someone who meant something to him…

 

“Xander!” Derek shouted, only realizing afterwards that he had used his Alpha aura on Xander.

Seeing him tremble and turn to bow his head at him, made Derek even more angry…

Sighing, Derek took his Omega into his arms and rocked him from the side…Just like he had done so many times before when they were young.

As he noticed that Xander was stiff, Derek frowned, unable to figure him out.

Tightening his embrace, Derek continued to rock Xander for another hour, not having been sure when to let him go…

After that hour, Derek put the stiff, quiet Xander into his lap and rubbed his arm slowly, feeling slightly better to the change of sitting arrangements.

Sitting beside Xander was awkward, it was much more comfortable for him if Xander was on his lap!

 

Lost in thought, Derek didn’t notice when Xander finally relaxed and even fell asleep. Derek’s free hand never seized and continued to go up and down Xander’s arm but…Derek’s thoughts were far away.

There was only one person who he could trust to watch over Xander. And that person was the one outside, taking the carriage closer and closer towards the capital.

His name was Scott Chandlers and Scott already knew about Xander, simply because he had been around all those years ago when Xander had lived with Derek, his master.

 

Unbeknown to Derek, Scott had questioned what had happened many years ago and had been the one to find one piece of small evidence to state that Xander had not stolen from the Princess. It was as simple as finding a witness to state that Xander had actually not been where he was supposedly been to steal at the time.

The problem was, the witness was just a worker, it was all from what was said as well, as no other evidence was found to make the knowledge something that could be used against the words of not only Derek’s father but also that of the King’s wrath…So, the witness was only ever found and been seen by himself and Derek, otherwise no one else knew about him and the truth of his words.

Scott could not find anything more but knew that there was something not right about Derek’s mother’s death as well.

 

Now that Derek and Xander reunited, Scott was surprised to see how close they still can be…

Especially since they had already had sex…

When they had been children, they were alright tight and would laugh and smile together often…

Scott now firmly believes that Derek’s father was right when he had stated that Derek was firmly attached to the Omega. Before, there had not been such an intimate, lover type of relationship between them but…Was it because Xander was now of age?

Was it because Xander had gone missing that Derek had taken things to a different level?

Nonetheless, Scott was loyal and felt Derek as close to being his own son, to which would be his only child…So, Derek to him, held a special place in his heart…And that meant that Xander was someone now that he will look after, especially when it was so obvious that Derek was besotted with the Omega.

 

 

Derek found that the more he thought, the more worried that he became.

He worried how to get Xander into his estate in the best and most secretive way.

He worried that his mother’s quarters might not be good enough for the little Omega that seemed easily shaken. That, with Xander’s strange behaviour, even Xander might run away. That Xander might not become his lover, that Xander will cry again. That he will let Xander off from killing his mother…

It was really so bothersome!

And Derek had never had so many worries before!

 

At least when they were still children, he hadn’t worried like this!

Sighing, Derek put his head back and tightened his hold over the body in his arms.

Looking down at Xander again, Derek moved a hair out of his closed eyes.

Having gotten so close physically, Derek felt that they were still so far away…

Why had he acted like that?

Touching Xander’s face with a finger, Derek became mesmerized.

With lips that were inviting and eyelashes that were so long and beautiful, Derek was sure that Xander was his mate.

 

The idea of mates was still known and sometimes even seen but ever since the Omega’s had gone, mates were few and far between nowadays.

Sometimes, the countries would celebrate near the borders, which would help one find their destined mate but…

Kissing Xander on the forehead, Derek sighed.

It would make an incredible amount of sense if they were destined to be together, because that would explain why he never forgot Xander and had not wanted to accept his so called ‘death’.

On the other hand, how could my mate kill my mother?

 

Now thinking of this, Derek flinched back and put Xander on the seat, to get away from him.

“I will do it…” The mumbling Xander said.

Still standing, Derek turned back to Xander and frowned, “Do what?”

“I will do whatever…You ask…Boss Beta.”

…Boss Beta…

Unbeknown to Derek, his thoughts of his mother being killed immediately left him…To be replaced with an emotion that he was unsure of…All he knew was…Who was this ‘Boss Beta’ to Xander!?

 

***

 

A few days later, before Derek was going to lose his mind hopelessly to Xander, they finally arrived in Knehind.

Using something called ‘Drops of Odour’, which really was just taking a few drops into the mouth, yet something that cost a lot of money, Xander finally gave Derek another type of look. He had never heard of such a thing before and didn’t feel any different after taking it, but Derek found this innocent, complaining part of Xander to be quite charming and could only secretly smile that Xander wasn’t frowning for a little while.

The ‘Drops of Odour’ specifically dissolves any kind of Omega scent, and they easily got into the gates and finally made it back ‘home’…Well, to Derek’s home.

Xander had not spoken a word to anyone. Whether he was hungry or thirsty, or needed a toilet break, not a word left his lips. At one point in the trip, Derek was glad for Xander’s silence because if Xander had given much of another response, and made the strangers who was eyeing the carriage with greedy and curious eyes to come and take another look, they might have had a problem on their hands.

 

It was lucky that not much else went wrong in their trip as Derek didn’t have a lot of the ‘Drops of Odour’ on him.

It took him months to hear about it, then months of knowing where to get it from and then another month to get it, to which he sent someone that no one could relate it back to him with.

The strange thing was, the ‘Drops of Odour’ seemed to originate from Spanniddy, which also helped Derek think that Alpha’s are behind what happened to the Omega’s and knew where they were throughout all this time and knowing that they were mostly all alive…Especially if it had taken time to make this sort of thing and have it tested…

 

Of course, something like this is still relatively new, as ‘Drops of Odour’ hadn’t been needed beforehand.

…What was sad to Derek was…There were more ‘new’ products out there that he was scared to how they came to be. There really is only one logical explanation that can be stated, and that is that Omega’s were being used as not only working slaves, but as experimental slaves as well…

There was a product in the making that he knew about, but it seems to be a big secret to which he wasn’t sure if others knew it or not…And that was the obvious ‘Breeding pill’. There was no doubt about what that pill will be able to do…

There were others too, that weren’t as popular, like that of ‘Security Elixir’, which Derek heard helps Omega’s not act so insecure and act more like a Beta, and the ‘Second Loosener’, which Derek was sure that it was another form of lubricant…One in which he didn’t want to question how it was obtained…

Now, a few of these were selling in black markets and Derek had gotten his from Ensia, where he could have actually gotten it cheaper if he gotten it from Spanniddy instead…

 

Nonetheless, Derek had gotten over getting the drops ages ago, what bothered him the most right now was Xander and his attitude towards himself.

Xander had randomly rocked himself, sometimes Derek wondered if Xander even knew that he was doing it in the first place.

Many words had been given to him, some in indulgence, some in anger, yet not once did Derek have the heart to use his Alpha aura to force Xander to tell him what was wrong…

He wanted too! He wanted to know how the hell they got into such a rut!

But for the life of him, he couldn’t bare to do it for some stupid reason!

 

With no idea of why Xander was acting this way, Derek didn’t know what to do and just endlessly asked if he was ok. There were times that Derek got bored and talked but it was like he was talking to himself because there was absolutely no response from Xander at all!

Not only that, Derek had tried to coax Xander twice into sex but Xander would not react, making Derek unable to continue.

He wanted Xander wanting him, looking at him with his beautiful green eyes. He wanted Xander calling his name and passionately moaning because of the feeling he was giving him…No response at all seemed to be a big problem, making Derek unable to continue, even if he wanted too!

 

At his wits end, Derek got off the carriage, at the front of the residence, trusting Scott with getting Xander safely inside his mother’s quarters.

Having to be by his Omega’s side constantly and feeling unwanted, Derek felt that getting away for a while would make him feel better.

“My boy.”

Derek turned to the side, seeing his father with a few Beta’s in some kind of meeting.

“Father.” Derek said, walking towards him.

“Tell us of your travels lad.” One of the Beta’s asked.

 

Derek knew them all…Except one. Most of them had, or used to have, a potential ‘partner’ for him and the one who called him ‘lad’ still seemed to want to stay in his good graces. “I scouted some of the border area this time, meeting some interesting people.”

Derek sneered inside, most people thought that Omega’s were extinct…But they were just outlawed…Or perhaps, maybe even some of the Beta’s here already knew about them…

It was intolerably hard to have gotten an audience with the black market and now Derek’s knowledge of Omega’s had vastly grown…And there’s one thing he does now, that he never used to do, and that’s to wonder what secrets people knew, well more specifically is if they knew more then he did about what happened to the Omega’s…

The sad thing is that if it hadn’t been for the fact that he was an Alpha, he probably wouldn’t have gotten as far as he had now! And who knows then how long it would have taken to have found Xander then!

 

“Haha, sometimes there’s fairs or celebrations around the borders, is that what you were talking about?”

Derek gave a smile and then turned to his father, “Is there much work that you’ve left me?”

It’d been nearly two months since he went traveling…His father should know though, of what he meant by asking this.

“It’s fine to wait until tomorrow…I expect to see you for breakfast though, my boy! You really should say hello to your stepmother first!”

His father’s words were getting all too familiar. “Yes, Father. Breakfast.”

With that Derek left, as his father answered someone’s question on where he was going. Each time he had traveled, he had gone to his mother’s residence, to tend to her garden afterwards.

Derek didn’t do as some other’s did and pray, or go to temples and anything else…

His mother was dead and that was that!

The devotion that he still had for his mother was used in tending to her garden…

But tending to the garden for an hour, Derek could no longer hold back and got some food and searched for his Omega.

 

Walking into the inner room, of his late mother’s quarters, Derek immediately closed the curtain, stopping Xander from looking outside, “You will not touch the curtains!”

Xander bowed his head, still remaining silent.

Harshly dropping food onto the table, Derek tried to calm himself down. All that gardening went to waste! He felt all rigid again!

“Eat!” Derek stated, sitting down in a huff.

Xander looked from Derek, to the food.

Picking up a few grapes, Xander couldn’t help but think that they tasted wonderful!

Along the trip here, the food was good, better than he was used to, but…He had been too tensed up and feeling ashamed, now Xander was finally feeling a little less stressed, he tasted the fresh and goodness of the food.

 

Finding his Omega suddenly delectable, Derek got up and sat next to Xander, bringing the whole grape bowl along with him.

Pulling a grape off, Derek held it in front of Xander’s mouth, waiting for him to eat it. “You always liked grapes…”

Derek’s voice was husky, watching with intense eyes as Xander tried to take the grape with his hand, but Derek moved the grape out of reach.

Xander bowed his head, taking the grape into his mouth from Derek’s hand.

Feeling satisfied, Derek got another grape and scooted closer to Xander, “You liked grapes, scones and pumpkin. You hated peas and didn’t like banana…”

 

Xander looked up at Derek, quite surprised that he remembered such things.

Putting the grape near his mouth, Derek watched with great interest how Xander took it into his mouth as he continued to stare at himself.

Smiling, Derek grabbed another grape and got a bit closer to Xander, “You weren’t good a climbing trees…Which was probably good anyway because you were afraid of heights.”

Xander once again took in the grape, still stunned to Derek’s knowledge after all those years together.

It probably wouldn’t have been hard to know all these facts but really…It had been years since they were together…How did he remember all this!?

And with Xander’s complete astonishment over Derek’s knowledge, it gave Derek’s ego more courage!

Unable to stop himself, Derek then leaned over and kissed those pursed, grape filled lips.

 

Tasting some of a grape flavor, Derek put a hand up to Xander’s face, wishing that he would respond.

Even pulling himself away from our kiss would be better than nothing!

Xander didn’t dare to close his eyes. He focused on a picture in the background and pretended to be anywhere else…But here…

He pretended that he wasn’t getting kissed by this person, the person that had already made him stunned, regretful and a bit depressed.

“Xander, why were we able to become intimate earlier but not now? I’ve been trying for the life of me to figure it out, but I can’t!”

Derek was still close, now putting his thumb over Xander’s lips.

Xander didn’t want to answer, he wished that he didn’t even hear his question.

I’m…Not strong enough…

Looking away, even moving so that they were no longer close side by side, Xander hoped that he will no longer care for this man soon. If he no longer cared, then who cares if they had sex or not…If he was his master or not…If he was desirable or not…If only he didn’t care…

 

Xander just couldn’t bare the fact that Derek still believed that he had apparently killed his mother. There were many times along the journey here that Xander knew that he was being ignored and it was probably because of that exact reason behind it.

A long time ago, their relationship had been full of smiles and trust, Xander had even been okay with his fear of heights, if Derek had been holding his hand. Derek seemed to accept who he was the most, helping him make his nest and get him out of hard labored work…

Sighing, Xander thought this was probably a good thing anyway.

If Derek hated him, then what does it matter?

Customer…Customer…He’s just a customer…

Looking back at Derek, Xander even started to think that if Derek knew what he has been up to, by being a sex slave, would there be any hope anyway?

That’s right…It doesn’t matter how I feel. There’s no future here. He’s just…A customer…

“Why did you look for me?”

 

Derek was stunned to Xander’s question. Not only because Xander finally spoke, but because of such a question that seemed to stump Xander to the point of asking it…

Isn’t it so that I can punish you and find justice for my mother?

“I…” Derek couldn’t speak further. Xander’s eyes were so curious and it made Derek feel like an idiot, “So what if I found you. You’re mine now.”

Xander narrowed his eyes, “Didn’t you find me to exact some kind of stupid revenge?”

“What ‘stupid revenge’? It’s justice!” Derek shouted.

“Justice?” Xander asked, getting up and walked towards a familiar object.

“Hey…” Derek got up and rushed towards Xander, putting his hand away before he could touch the crude, old blanket that was his mothers.

Turning viciously to face him, Xander suddenly slapped Derek’s cheek, hurting his hand in the process…