Chapter Text
Lukas doesn’t really remember that much his past. He only knows that, for nineteen years, he has made it. But if he lets himself ramble into those moments of the past, the concise image he remembers is when he was on the grass —watching how the house was reduced into ashes. The fire bellowed with rage through the windows, battling against the soft and delicate flow of the night breeze that was trying to calm the war. But it was too late already to even think about the word ‘hope’.
“Everything is gonna be okay. Everything will be okay.” They said, trying to pat Lukas’ head, but he not only didn’t understand what was going on but he was irritable and didn’t like what he was smelling. He didn’t let them touch his little brother either. “You have to let us see him, so we can verify he’s okay. Do you understand, Lukas?” He had tightly tucked him against him, enclosing him with his shaking arms, hiding him from the light, the smells —from the people that witnessed ashamedly how the little Bondeviks became orphans.
But Lukas always tried not to cry. At the very beginning, it was complicated. But then he understood that his tears will never be useful —that they wouldn't get the time back, they wouldn't end the fire, they wouldn't wake up his parents before the tragedy. He was a big brother, the protector, the one who was in charge now. He had to take care of his little family's security from that day onwards. Weakness would be one of the most dangerous mistakes. It'd hinder him —it'd hurt his poor little brother. People always accused him for being too young, but to Lukas, there were no more options. There never was any other option.
He remembers the rest of his life as always giving what he never thought he could give. The government benefited them with a decent amount of money (as they always did with kids under the age of eighteen who didn’t have relatives to stay with), but honestly, that wasn't enough. The money was consumed in the meals of the day, taxes and school needs; while other important things too like the medicine for his sickly little brother, or the clothes that were torn by falls or constant use were put aside. That's why Lukas started working for him and for his brother, he studied with the motivation that normally a child of his age didn't have; he consoled his brother when he himself was drowning in a sea of melancholy and suffering, which threatened to swallow him completely in the darkest, lonely and stormy nights. And it seemed to rain every day.
That was until things got worse for him. In addition to thirteen years and left to his fate, Lukas' easy future opportunities crashed. Life received him as an Omega, that is to say, making him even more unhappy, and, the little ant trampled by society. He was fired from his job. They bothered him at school. It was dangerous for him to walk home. People looked at him constantly over their shoulders. It was difficult to find a decent job with good salary for young Omegas like him; opportunities were scarce. Life treated him like shit, and there was a moment where he was about to give up:
Lukas looked at his brother with tears in his eyes. His hair was messy and dirty. His uniform had been dragged along the ground, appearing in little tears, nicks and shredded cotton. There were traces of new bruises on his pale, long neck. In his hand he had his math book, completely ruined by the humidity . It was enough, enough because he couldn't hold it anymore. The feeling of knowing that you were in danger, but not being able to do anything about it numbed his body with a painful anguished twist in his chest. He wanted to scream, and then; die.
He was about to break in front of who least he wanted to be seen like this by. Emil looked at him with his big eyes. "Brother?" Between his legs, he had a beautiful sleeping creature. It was a small, hairy beast, throwing carefree purrs, and wagging its tail from side to side. A Norwegian forest cat, pale as snow. Lukas stared at him motionless, not knowing what to say, how to excuse himself, or how to vent himself to his ten-year-old brother that he was done with his life. "Look, this kitten was outside in the rain and I didn't wanna let him get wet ... I'm sorry ... are you okay?"
Lukas exhaled a broken sigh, and walked quickly to embrace his brother. Strong, in a warm and protective nest . At the same time it was comfort and everything he needed to survive.
He had promised to advance, he had promised himself not to be defeated as a weak soldier in war. Finding a job was difficult, his schoolmates were heavier and more hurtful, society restrained them instead of reaching out to them, and even so, Lukas continued. Of the few things he remembers about his parents, it was that they were an Alpha-Omega couple.
This is why Lukas found comfort in the fact that his brother had immense probabilities of being an Alpha. Life could not be so cruel to slap him with the same hand twice, and besides, coincidences did not exist. The Omegas were a bit rare, and somewhat scarce. If Emil, his beloved brother, showed himself as an Alpha, it would be the beginning of the machinery of his plans. He could help him to work. He could help him to cope with his stupid companions. Lukas could pay tuition for his University, so Emil could find a certified job, and finally, finally they would be fine. The Alphas were privileged by the government and by society. If Emil was an Alpha, they would be given things a lot easier, and, in the end, the poor and unfortunate Bondevik brothers would be stable; an extensive marathon they would finally win.
But that never happened.
Emil looked at him scared, tearful, and sore. Sweat ran through his reddened skin. "Lukas, it hurts ..." he murmured, pointing his hips and the flat belly behind his uniform. "It's unbearable ... I feel so hot..." Then he understood what was happening. And his heart sank. Emil was experiencing a first-time heat. He was feeling hot, with pains in the belly and with the anxiety and the sensitivity that could only mean one thing at his age: a new Omega. In heat.
Lukas didn't go to school the days of Emil's heat. He was afraid that something would happen to his sickly brother, or that an intruder would take over a situation where the two brothers were at a clear disadvantage; but if that happened, Lukas would at least give his life for Emil. He couldn't stand the problems his poor brother was going through with his new condition: more annoying companions and exclusion of groups. Underestimation and inferiority. A gray and horrible life like his. Oh, his little, innocent and only family member; the only thing he loved in the world.
His eyes filled with tears of rage; he hated Alphas. He hated that they were superior, that they thought they knew everything, that they thought that with their stupid voice they could order him around. They had everything within reach of the hand, people felt more compassion for them, their lives were perfect, while Lukas' was gradually destroying itself in each time smaller pieces. The results of their efforts were only an allegory to misfortune. Lukas could right now do thousands of jobs to be able to enter the university because sadly, the price for the Omegas was higher because nobody needed them studying.
Or get on his knees before an Alpha and beg him to marry him so he could save his family.
Life as he knew it now would be solved throwing itself at the masses, taking the last decision, the easiest and prettiest. But of course, Lukas Bondevík, the proud and self-sufficient fifteen-year-old Omega, preferred to hang himself in the bathroom rather than do something as infamous and ridiculous as to depend on beings who, in his eyes, were arrogant and smug little puppies. He was not going to fall for this. He was not going to let everything he started doing and kept doing be destroyed by a weakness. Surrender was more than unacceptable, and he was not going to let his brother kneel in submission either.
That is why he did not hesitate to take his little brother -who had left his heat recently, and looked somewhat disturbed- by his face.
"You're gonna promise me something." He said looking at his eyes. The navy blue of the blond's eyes captivated Emil's attention completely. "No, we're gonna promise something, you and me, little brother. Are you worried?
The boy nodded, embarrassed and sad. "Sorry, Lukas, I know you wanted me to be an Alpha, but ...-"
"It doesn't matter. None of that matters anymore. It's my fault for believing that an Alpha would solve my problems." He said. A serious facet with that sore voice that hid behind his monotony. "But no longer. It's you and me against the world. We can know the world without the help of some moron. Emil, little brother, promise me that you will never let an Alpha mate you." The boy blushed of embarrassment hearing the subject, but Lukas didn't flinch no matter how adorable Emil looked before his eyes. Emil was unfortunately an easy prey; entirely beautiful, and completely innocent. He was not going to let anyone hurt him, and to do that, he had to make him promise that he would be aware of how bad that damned bond of whole submission was. "Promise?"
Lukas took him by the hand, and Emil couldn't deny that gesture to his beloved older brother, who had spent much of his life taking care of him no matter how young he was. He, who had done everything for him. "Yes. I swear. I won't let them do it. I'll punch them in the face. And you?
Lukas smiled, immensely, and the smallest Omega felt his heart warm at that unusual gesture. His cheeks blushed even more. "I will not only punch them in the face if they dare to make me break this promise with my dear little brother."
The hug between them lasted a few good minutes. A few minutes where both Emil and Lukas, felt that for the first time everything would truly turn out fine.