Eggy stood by the open bars, his head slightly tilted to the side, and his usually stone face now expressed something strange, vaguely reminiscent of impatience. As if the very process of pulling Omega out of the cage was an unpleasant duty for him, which he wanted to get rid of as quickly as possible.
"Get up," he said shortly, and there was a slight shadow of irritation in his voice, as if even addressing a creature like Omega was almost humiliating for him.
Omega, without asking unnecessary questions, obediently rose on trembling legs, feeling how the cold floor burned his bare feet, how each step echoed with pain in his back and heart. He obediently followed Eggy, who walked quickly, almost without turning around, forcing him to hurry, stumble over his dress, almost run, so as not to fall behind.
The corridors of the castle were empty at this early hour, but that only made them more terrifying: dark arches, cold stone, thin strips of light falling from narrow windows high under the ceiling. Every step echoed dully in the emptiness. Omega could not shake off the obsessive feeling that somewhere in these shadows lurked the very same monsters that had mocked him then, on that terrible night when he was first thrown into the cage. Omega's body began to ache.
He remembered their faces, remembered their voices, and his heart sank with fear, with the humiliation that did not leave him for a moment.
Eggy led him to a familiar door, behind which they were already waiting for him: a woman with two men. The same ones who a few hours ago pulled a wedding dress on him.
The woman, without saying a word, pointed to a table on which men's clothes lay in neat piles. The clothes were simple but expensive, sewn with impeccable precision. For a moment, Omega froze, not knowing whether to be glad of this return to his nature or even more afraid.
"Thank you," he said quietly.
They motioned for him to change, and under their indifferent gazes, he quickly pulled off the soiled dress, feeling goosebumps of shame and cold crawling over his skin. The clothes fit him too well, as if they had been tailored specifically for his thin, emaciated frame.
When he finally pulled on the tight boots and fastened his belt, the woman nodded in satisfaction. One of the men stepped forward, holding a long, dark cloak, which he draped over Omega's shoulders.
Eggy took him under his wing again, turning him toward the next point of their strange route.
They walked through long corridors, and with each new turn Omega's heart beat faster. He almost turned around at every sound, almost sobbed at every echo of footsteps behind him.
But they got there without incident.
And when the massive doors opened in front of them, Omega saw a room full of the smell of medicine and cold metal.
The doctor was a young man with white, almost transparent eyes, and his hands, thin and confident, moved with mechanical precision. Eggy handed Omega over to him without unnecessary ceremony, and the doctor motioned for him to take off his coat and shirt.
Omega obeyed, holding back the humiliating heat rising to his cheeks with his teeth.
The examination was wordless: the doctor checked the reaction of the skin around the mark, ran his fingers along the spine. forced him to open his mouth, into which he looked with cold metal instruments, so deeply that Omega almost vomited, took blood into a small vial.
The man didn't say a single unnecessary word
Just work.
Omega thought that at least someone in this castle would want to talk to him. But even a person with such a noble profession as a doctor looked at him like a toy.
When everything was over, he was allowed to dress back, and Eggy came for him again.
And then, when they were already returning to that very extension of the castle, past a long gallery decorated with tapestries and coats of arms, Omega saw him.
Serak was walking with another servant, quietly talking about something. His strong and attractive figure seemed to fill the entire corridor.
And exactly at that moment, when Serak's gaze fell on him, Omega felt a sharp, burning pain in the place of the mark. Such pain that he caught his breath, and his legs weakened for a moment.
He involuntarily clenched his teeth, fighting a wave of weakness.
Serak stopped.
He looked at him with confusion and appraisal.
He clicked his tongue with such an expression of displeasure, as if in front of him was not a person, but a damaged thing.
"You are not the only one suffering," he said shortly, irritation was evident in his voice, but somewhere under this cold mask Omega caught something else: a thin, barely noticeable thread of his own pain.
He wanted to say something, either to justify himself, or to support, but instead he froze when Serak threw out another phrase, like an order that was impossible to disobey:
"Let's go. We'll eat together."
And these words, spoken almost casually, sounded like a bell striking in the silence.
Omega nodded mechanically, afraid to even raise his eyes, and, feeling his legs treacherously buckling, obediently trudged after Serak, trying to walk straight, not to stumble, not to look even more pitiful than he already was.
The corridors of the castle they walked along seemed endless.
And all this time Omega felt the weight of Serak's gaze on himself, even if Alpha did not turn around and even if he did not throw a word in his direction.
A weight from which he wanted to hide, disappear, be erased from the face of the earth.
But with every second of this tense path, another feeling slowly grew in Omega's chest, like a nascent storm.
Warm hope.
He caught himself thinking that Serak, despite his cruelty, had not pushed him away. He had not turned away.
He had invited him to eat together.
And this, in the broken world of Omega, sounded almost like concern.
And this tiny thought, barely born in his consciousness, melted the thin layer of ice in him.
He felt the blood rush to his cheeks, his heart, treacherously, begin to beat faster, loudly, heavily, and hot shame for this weak, stupid warmth overwhelmed him with all its might.
"They were wrong..." he thought, clenching his fingers into fists, hiding his gaze at the floor.
"The girls... they just wanted to scare me. They don't know him. They don't understand."
With this thought, he followed Alpha, feeling how in his chest, where recently there had been only cold, a tiny, timid flame of something else was igniting.
The corridors became wider, the ceilings higher, the air cleaner, and finally Serak stopped in front of a massive door, carved from dark wood, decorated with golden spikes and carvings depicting scenes of hunting and victories.
Omega did not know where they were.
His heart sank.
Serak swung the door open with one sharp movement, as if tearing the thin fabric of expectation.
Omega froze on the threshold.
Inside was a spacious room, filled with soft light from many lamps, with high ceilings and heavy curtains, behind which huge windows could be guessed.
The air smelled of herbs, metal and something familiar.
The center of the room was occupied by a massive bed, decorated with heavy, carved posts and dark velvet covers, and at the far wall was a long table laden with silverware, from which the steam of fresh food rose.
But Omega hardly saw all this.
Because in the next moment, Serak turned to him, crossed the distance between them in two long strides, and stood so close that Omega could see the smallest details on his skin, could discern the shade of his eyes, and feel the heat emanating from him.
They were separated by only a few centimeters.
And then Omega realized that this was the scent of the owner of this bedroom.
Omega was trapped.