#calpops

“Anyway, I do think this shit went fucking perfect,” Ashton kept filling the void. “You really impressed them, boy, with that confidence of yours,” he chuckled. “Good job.”

Calum huffed. “We’re still at major risk, Ash,” he reminded his friend. “The deal is huge and if we don’t provide the amount of sales that is expected, we can lose everything.”

“Yeah, and when we do provide it, which we will, don’t wanna hear any shit about it, we’ll be able to buy the second shop,” Ashton continued. “Fucking second shop! Fucking awesome!”

Calum chuckled finally, not able to resist his friend’s optimism. He was just about to inform Ashton, how wonderful it will be not to see his face every day, when something on the curb drew his attention. 

“What the…” he mumbled, pulling over. 

“Why… why do you stop?” Ashton asked him, but Calum was already getting out of the car. 

They were on the border of the city they came to for the meeting with a supplier. Dust of dry industrial area wrapped Calum as soon as he left the car. The second thing he sensed were the wolves. He smelled them only when he got closer and quite frankly felt relief. There were eight or nine of them and what looked like a fight from the car in reality turned out to be a beating of a weak one. Had they been humans, it could have been a problem for him and Ash because of their number. But it was much simpler, two alphas against some betas and a couple of pure bloods. The advantage was on his side, and betas did understand it too. 

“Hey, you, the fuck is going on here?” Ashton’s voice sounded from behind Calum. 

But even that was unnecessary, as those jackasses stopped kicking their victim and froze, surprised they were interrupted and startled by the anger on Calum’s face. His furious look said more than enough as they fled in a matter of seconds. 

“And what do we have here?” Ashton caught up with him. They were standing over a young male omega, curled in an embryo pose to protect at least some parts of his body and massively covered in a disgusting mixture of blood and dust.

Calum bent down and tried to find pulse on a thin tattooed neck.The omega tried to fight his hand off, but the attempt was too weak. However Calum got the proof that the wolf was still alive and even in conscience. 

“What’s your name?” Calum hunched down. 

“Fuck off, man,” the omega moaned back, slowly rolling on his front. 

“Sure, buddy,” Calum stood up and looked at Ashton. “Gimme a hand.”

“Of course, we gonna help him,” Ashton sighed bending down on the other side of the guy and helping Calum put the omega on his feet.

“You’d rather we leave him here?”

Ash rolled his eyes, “Couldn’t even dream about it.”

The change in orientation brought the omega back to reality. 

“The fuck are you doing, man?” he mumbled, thin blood stream going down from the corner of his mouth. 

“Helping you, man,” Calum huffed, as they with Ashton dragged that wolf closer to their car. 

“Don’t need your fucking help.”

“Right. Can you stand?” they leaned omega with his back on the car door and stepped back a little. The wolf was skinny and lanky, pitch black hair in a messy uneven haircut, a black tattoo on the neck and a couple more on his arm. He looked more like a teenager from an extremely bad district rather than like a grown up wolf.

“Course I can stand,” he spitted some blood right in front of them and started to sink down slowly.

“Whoa, easy, buddy,” Ashton caught him in the middle and helped up again. “So what we gonna do?” he asked looking back at Calum.

Younger alpha sighed. “And what d’you think?”

“Right,” Ashton gripped the omega tighter and mumbled to Calum, “The door.”

Soon they were back on the road, the omega lying on Calum’s backseat, no music on to lighten the mood. Both Calum and Ashton were thinking about the same. The city they’ve just left was no pack territory, too spacious and crowded for the big number of wolves to live there safely. But the outskirts of it were a favourite place for the scum from the southern packs to do their disgusting deeds. Although attacking another wolf like that in the open so early in the day was too much even for them. What could this omega do to deserve such treatment? Or were they just beating him up for fun? Just because he was an omega? What bothered Calum the most was that the omega didn’t act like he was new to such treatment. 

“Tell me,” the wolf called from the backseat, his voice hoarse, “how did I get so lucky to be saved not by one, but two alphas?”

“Guess it’s the best day of your life, honey, so you better remember it well,” Ashton retorted. 

“Don’t get me wrong, man, but I did have a couple of days better than this.” A low moan followed these words as the omega tried to move a little. 

Calum’s grip on the steering wheel got tight. No matter what this wolf had done, no one deserved that. 

“Could you, please, call Robert and explain everything?” he asked Ashton under his tone.

“Sure, when we get closer to home. Not sure he’s already on shift,” Ashton nodded.

About three hours later Calum pulled to the hospital building, tall grey-haired doctor already waiting for them outside with a gurney and two nurses. 

“Hey, doc,” Ashton dropped, as they with Calum got out of the car. “Ladies,” a smile to the nurses. Calum only nodded to Ashton’s wolves.

“How bad is he?” the doctor asked them as both Ashton and Calum helped to move the omega from the backseat of a car to the gurney. They weren’t sure if he was unconscious or just asleep, but the bleeding had stopped somewhere along the way and they were pretty sure they heard his ribs crack from getting back in place.

“He’s healing pretty fast,” Calum explained, “but I’m more concerned about some of his old injuries not being treated well. Something tells me he’s been beaten up quite often.”

“We’ll check everything,” the doctor nodded. “I’ll be needing his name for the chart.”

Ashton and Calum shared looks, but said nothing.

“Did you ask him for a name?” 

“Yeah, we did,” Calum sighed.

“And what did he answer?”

“Fuck off, man,” Calum quoted watching the nurses taking him into the building.

“Not sure I’ll be able to put this in the chart,” doctor mumbled. “Fine, will be a John Doe for a while. Are you coming?”

“No, Robert…” Ashton stopped abruptly as Calum entered the building, following the nurses without sparing them another word. “Ookay, I’ll put it this way. I won’t be staying, but Cal obviously will. Thank you again for your help.”

“That’s my job, alpha.”

They shook hands and Ashton left, taking Calum’s car shamelessly.

It was late in the night when the omega woke. He wasn’t surprised, shocked or even confused. Calum was right, this wolf wasn’t new to waking up in strange places after being beaten up. 

Calum was sitting in an armchair, mindlessly scrolling his phone. He had enough time to take a nap while the staff took care of the omega. 

“What am I doing here?” the omega asked, his tone more cautious than aggressive.

“Being treated,” Calum explained the obvious and switched off his phone.

“From what? My wounds must have been healed themselves already.”

“Those you got today most definitely,” Calum agreed calmly. “The doctors are checking those you got before that.”

“There’s nothing to check.”

“Let them be the judges of that. Now, could we, please, have your name?”

“You don’t get it, do you? I don’t need this checking. I need to get out,” the omega tried to get a catheter out of his hand but was too weak even for that. 

“What’s your problem? I’m just offering you some help,” Calum frowned.

The omega leaned back on the pillows and looked at the ceiling. “And who’s gonna pay for your help, huh? Not everyone can afford staying in hospital even for one night, you know.”

“You don’t need to worry about that. Now…”

“Is it some kind of charity for you?” the omega interrupted him, his voice full of anger and offence. “Helps you sleep at night, knowing you’ve saved some poor lost soul?”

Calum closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I really don’t like the way our conversation goes.”

“Well, that’s too bad.”

“What’s your name?” Calum roared. He didn’t mean to use his alpha voice, it just slipped. 

“It’s Andy,” the omega swallowed and closed his eyes. “It’s all the same with alphas, isn’t it. You just take what you want cause you can, everything else doesn’t matter to you.”

Calum sighed and stood up, his arms crossed on his chest. “I don’t know what alphas you’ve seen before, but I can promise you I’m not like that. And I’m sorry, didn’t mean to order. Your stubbornness just makes me angry.”

“Oh, I beg you pardon, didn’t mean to bother your precious peace,” Andy clowned.

Calum sighed again, hand on the chin. He was looking at the omega, thinking if there was any chance he’d get the information he was craving. The omega was obviously uncomfortable under his stare, but didn’t say anything, looking into space. 

“I didn’t mean to order,” Calum repeated again slowly, “but the fact that you obeyed means that you don’t have an alpha. And you don’t have a pack.”

“Seriously, man, why don’t you just fuck off?” Andy mumbled tiredly.

“Do you have a family at least?”

“You think any family would have a packless omega?”

“Some would,” Calum arched his brow. Those last words said to him more than anything. Andy was obviously from one of the southerns packs. He was excluded, probably as soon as he’d ascended, if not before that. He’s never seen a normal life. And Calum dreaded to imagine a family that raised him.

“Dunno in what fairy tale you live, man, but in real world none would,” this only confirmed Calum’s ideas. 

The alpha sighed again and caught some movement in the dark hall. Michael came up to the door and stopped there.

“Doctors wanna monitor you for couple more days, check the concussion you got about a year ago and some inner organs, so I would really appreciate it if you don’t make it a problem for them,” he informed Andy, ready to leave.

“Don’t count on that,” the omega shook his head. “The moment I wake up in the morning, I’m out of here.”

Calum only smirked, imagining that lunky omega standing against his best pure blood, but left without saying anything else. 

The room was empty in the morning though. Calum looked around, not actually getting anything. The bed was undone and Andy’s clothes still on the armchair. But the omega was nowhere to be seen just as Calum’s pure blood. Did they take Andy for tests?

“Try checking the roof.” 

Calum turned back to the voice. Robert was standing behind him, studying the chart carefully. 

“Why the roof?”

“Have no idea. They’ve been yelling at each other with Mike, then I asked them to find some better place and then I saw them going up,” Robert closed the chart and looked straight at Calum. “What about the bill?”

“Put it in my name, please.”

“Calum,  I understand that as an alpha you feel responsible for more than just your pack, but we’re talking hundreds of dollars, thousands if he stays longer, you can’t just…”

“What about his concussion?” Calum interrupted the doctor, trying not to look him in the eye. Was he doing it because he felt responsible as an alpha? Maybe. Was it stupid? Definitely. Could he not help that guy? Absolutely not. 

Robert sighed and answered his question, “Not that bad, to be honest. His liver worries me the most, but it should heal in couple of months. If he…”

“Doesn’t get in more fight,” Calum finished.

“Indeed. We’d like to keep him here till the end of the week, he’s still extremely dehydrated and generally exhausted. Apart from that, and not mentioning his mental state, there’s nothing to be worry about.”

“Thank you, Robert,” Calum nodded and was already on his way out. Then he stopped and looked back. He noticed how Robert didn’t even make an attempt to move, like he knew Calum would ask something else. 

“Could you share your ideas about his mental state, please?” the alpha asked quietly. 

Robert nodded as he was expecting this question. After all Calum was known among the older wolves of both packs as the kind of alpha not to be embarrassed to ask for an advice or an opinion at least.

“He’s seen some horrible things in life,” Robert stated, Calum now looking him straight in the eyes. “I take it he’s been forced to things and mistreated more than enough and therefore he would push back. Softness and patience should be your main companions here, but it shouldn’t be hard for you, Calum. And also, he’s quite closed and overprotective about himself. Not sure if that’s because he just doesn’t know how to be the other way or if he’s hiding something.”

Calum nodded again in silent gratitude and headed to the roof. Both Andy and Michael were there. Mike was standing near the door to the staircase and the omega leaned on the railings near the edge. 

“I said guard him, not the door,” Calum chuckled, shaking Mike’s hand.

“Nah, he won’t jump, alpha,” Mike shook his head, smiling.

“Sure?”

“He’s headstrong, not stupid.”

“I can actually hear both of you, morons!” Andy shouted back at them.

Mike and Calum smirked. 

“Doc said you with him were yelling,” Calum asked.

“The omega wanted out of the room. Said he felt suffocated.”

“Still do!” shouted Andy. Calum laughed to that. He patted Mike on the shoulder. “Thanks for tonight, go have some rest.”

“Are you sure, alpha?”

Calum smirked back at his pure blood. “Said it yourself, he’s headstrong, not stupid.”

Mike chuckled and left the roof.

“So,” Calum called on Andy, coming closer, “are you gonna jump?”

“And what do you think?” Andy looked at him jokingly. Calum could feel something changed in him, couldn’t only understand what or why.

“I think,” he started carefully, “if you wanted to be dead, you’d have already kicked the bucket in one of those fights you’d been in.”

Andy smirked but didn’t say anything.

“Did you really feel that uncomfortable in the room?”

Andy huffed. “Dunno if it was because of the room or because of your puppy.”

“Michael can seem like a nice guy to you, but he’s most definitely not a puppy,” Calum huffed. 

Andy looked up at him, the corners of his lips twitching in an attempt not to laugh. “Do you have any idea what he was doing the whole night?”

“No,” Calum admitted, sensing some catch.

“He was watching anime! The whole damn night!”

Calum was looking at Andy totally confused. Andy was getting more and more confused with every other second in return. 

“Isn’t it some japanese animation?” Calum decided to clarify in case it starts making sense to him.

“Yeah, exactly,” Andy confirmed, though it wasn’t much of the help for Calum. 

“Well, what’s wrong with that anime?”

Andy looked dumbfounded. 

“Wait, I’ll say it again. Your pure blood, who got a direct order from you to guard me, spent the whole night watching some cartoons.”

“Yeah, that I understood. Still not sure what you think it should mean,” Calum admitted. 

“He was ordered to guard me,” Andy repeated.

“Well, he succeeded, didn’t he? You’re still alive and you’re still here. I think Mike did fine,” Calum shrugged and turned to the town beneath them. 

“So you were honest last night, weren’t you?” Andy huffed.

“I try to be always honest,” Calum nodded. He wasn’t sure what the omega was referring to, but whatever it was, he didn’t care that much. If Mike watching some cartoons was enough to change Andy’s attitude, Calum was more than okay with that too. 

“This place looks nice,” Andy mumbled. Calum felt like the omega was embarrassed with his earlier words and promised never to remind him about that in the future. And he was sure there was some future for Andy in his pack. 

“You like it?”

“I like the trees,” the omega admitted. “There are lots of trees here.”

“Do you think you could stay here for some time?”

Andy sighed heavily and looked away. “And what would I do here?”

Calum felt like maybe he was a little too persistent, but decided to give it a shot still. “And what exactly were you doing there except of being regularly beaten up?”

Andy smirked and Calum held his relief hidden inside. 

“I have nowhere to live. Not sure you’d like a wolf sleeping on a park bench in your town. And I don’t have any money to pay the rent,” the omega continued sadly. 

“All I hear are just excuses, Andy,” Calum smiled.

“Not everything in this world is as easy as you want to believe, you know,” Andy bristlet again. 

“And why the fuck no?” Calum chuckled. “Can you work?”

Andy thought for a moment. “Well, I’m kinda not bad with fixing things.”

“That’s a start. There’s some work in the town, not much, but we’ll figure something out.” Calum nodded.

“Why doing this all? You know nothing about me?”

“Hey, I haven’t offered you a place in the pack yet, have I?” Calum tried to joke it off, but Andy kept looking at him with all seriousness. “I’m doing this because I believe I should help where I can. And you’re wrong when you say I don’t know anything about you. I’m an alpha after all. I know the breed when I see a wolf.”

He took the last look around the town and turned to the door. “Oh, yeah, the doc said you’re in till the end of the week.”

Calum tried not to laugh from the moan he heard from behind. 

He didn’t see the omega till Monday, when Robert finally agreed to let Andy go. 

“I know this car,” Andy smirked stopping in front of Calum, who was waiting for him. 

“Sure you do, it took some time to wash your blood away from the seats.” 

Andy rolled his eyes and reminded Calum of Ashton so much, it made the alpha smile. “I’d apologise, but it’s not like I asked you to pick me up that day, so…”

“Get in the car,” Calum huffed.

“So,” Andy started shyly as they arrived, “why are you picking me up and what’s this place?”

“What’s wrong with me picking you up?” Calum fished the keys out of his pocket and stepped to the door.

“I mean, your pure bloods could do that, or even betas.” Andy shrugged. 

“Ah, they have a day off.”

“All of them?”

“Yup, Monday is an official day off for all the wolves. We call it alpha-does-his-shit-by-himself-day,” Calum smirked, stepped inside and turned on the light in his tiny hall. “ And this is my home.”

They walked in the living room and Calum pointed at the couch. “You’ll sleep here. I know it’s not much, but I’ve only one bedroom. The kitchen is that way. I’ve got not that many rules. Find a job, clean after yourself, don’t use all the hot water if you’re up first. That’d be all.”

Andy looked around in hesitation. 

“You brought me to your own home,” he said, half statement, half question. 

“Well, yeah, that’s exactly what I’ve just said,” Calum felt confused again. He understood he may had freaked the omega out, but he was prepared to that. He only hoped he didn’t freak Andy enough to make him run away. 

The omega kept looking around in silence. He looked like a wolf preparing to jump and Calum could only hope it wasn’t for an attack. 

“You wanna know why those fucker were beating me up?” Andy said finally under his voice. 

“I… I dunno,” Calum hesitated, taken by surprise. “Do you wanna tell?”

“I think you should know, before you actually let me stay in your house.”

“Okay.”

Andy swallowed. 

“You see, we don’t like those who are not like us,” Andy looked up at Calum in search for an agreement. Calum was only listening carefully. He couldn’t agree with Andy as he had no problems with those who were different and therefore didn’t see a reason to lie now. “At least most of us,” Andy finished with a huf. To that Calum finally nodded. 

Then Andy swallowed again. And then whispered something. So quietly and illegibly that Calum couldn’t work out what that was. 

“Sorry, what did you say?”

Andy sighed, closed his eyes and repeated just a tiny bit louder, “I’m gay.”

Calum felt both fury to those who made Andy ashamed of that part of him and unbearable tenderness to this young wolf. However he had no idea what he could answer to that, so he went on with the first thing that came to mind. “Okay. You hungry? I’ve got some pizza in the fridge.”

Andy opened his eyes and looked at Calum as if he was the most stupid wolf in the whole entire world. “Are you… I’ve just told you that I’m gay.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard that.”

“So? Is that all the reaction I get?”

“I don’t know,” Calum shrugged in all honesty. “What reaction do you think I should provide?”

“Er, I dunno,” Andy replied as dumbfounded as Calum was right now. 

“Well,” the alpha mused, “when you know, we could come back to that. For now, pizza?”

“Yeah, would be great actually,” Andy finally nodded, following Calum to the kitchen. 

There was one more question that was burning in Andy’s mind that night, but he left it for another time, being more than satisfied with pizza, a stupid action movie and finally sleeping in an actual house. And when he found it in him to ask Calum why the alpha didn’t offer him to join the pack, he got exactly the answer he wasn’t ready for. Calum said that it wasn’t up to alpha choosing wolves for his pack. It was up to wolves choosing him to be their alpha. And if Andy ever felt like joining Calum’s pack, he would be honoured to have such a wolf. Good thing by that time Andy had already decided to stay a little longer in that town. Of course, not because of Calum. Just because he liked trees. And there were a lot of trees around.

***