Until the Dawn of Spring

Initial considerations

Fictional subgenus based on the social organization of wolf packs, where there is a dominance hierarchy seen in human society, which are divided into:

Alphas: the dominant ones, the top of the chain, who normally occupy high-profile positions, influencing and moving the world;

Male and female alphas can impregnate male and female omegas;

They tend to be possessive and protective of what belongs to them, being extremely jealous of their partners;

They usually have a considerably larger body structure thanomegasandbetas, being known for their beauty and sex appeal;

Currently, they correspond to 20% of the world’s population;

Betas: Considered “neutral”, they are the majority of the world’s population and tend to live a life without obeying the rules of the pyramid, being free to live their lives as they see fit;

Reproduction is only possible between opposite-sex betas. In this story, reproduction withalphasandomegasof the opposite sex has little chance of a pregnancy reaching full term;

Omegas:The minority of the population, usually of smaller body structure, leaner and wider hips;

Male omegas can become pregnant, as they have an entrance to the anus that allows fertilization;

They produce a kind of natural lubricant, which generally has a sweet smell and taste;

In the genetic pyramid, they are the opposite of alphas, occupying less prestigious positions and being from simpler families, being despised even bybetas;

Pheromones:

Characteristic smell that alphas and omegas release to attract their partners, getting stronger close to heat;

Betas do not release and are not affected, few are able to perceive pheromones;

In this story,omegas have sweet-smelling pheromones, whilealphas’pheromones smell like flowers;

Heat:

It is the fertile period of the omegas and it happens once a month;

The chance of getting pregnant during heat is almost 100%;

Sexual desire is almost insatiable and only an alpha can quench an omega and vice versa;

Omegas can keep their heat stable with the use of suppressant pills;

The heat lasts between four and seven days, being a stressful and exhausting period;

Alpha salso have a kind of heat, exhaling more sexual pheromones and the chances of mating are high;

Knot:

It’s when the alpha’s sexual member swells, making it stick to the omega, increasing the chances of pregnancy;

The knot can take about thirty minutes after ejaculation to be undone, having to happen naturally, because if it is done in a forced way, it can hurt the omega;

Mark:

The alpha is able to mark the omega. The tagged omega can only relate to the alpha that tagged it. In this story, omegas can be marked in two ways:

Forced marks: when an alpha bites an omega that is going through their heat. That mark disappears when the omega or alpha finds its predestined mate;

Fated Marks: Flower buds appear on the back of the neck of omegas and, in a smaller size, on the wrists of alphas. It is definitive, arising when predestined companions meet, even if they don’t know each other. Once that mark appears, forced marks can no longer be made and, if already made, disappear. The brand’s flower buds open, as alpha and omega are indeed linked;

Conception dream:

Dream shared between alpha and omega, considered a premonition that precedes pregnancy.

Andreas

THE WEAK AUTUMN SUN SPREADED A TIMID GLOW through the cracks of his white silk curtains, a soft wind blew the smell of freshly cut grass into his room, along with the sound of conversations that filled the silence of that peaceful dawn. Andreas Udo woke up with his body dominated by laziness and the irritating phantom pain of a torn and long-lost limb. The bittersweet taste of waking up alive that morning nipped at his taste buds and made a heartburn burn in the pit of his still empty stomach.

Hasty, tight-lipped servants entered his room without bothering to look at him, bringing food, quickly opening the curtains and turning on the television, so that his breakfast would be somehow less lonely, even though everyone knew it wasn’t going to happen. As he forced himself to eat a handful of lightly frozen blueberries, he tried to ignore the voices coming from the television in the background:

— Three and a half years after the accident that put an early end to a promising career in the world of sport, the name of Andreas, the omega among the dominant alphas of the multimillion-dollar Udo family, rises from the ashes with the announcement of his engagement to Peter de La Ponte, entrepreneur of adult audiovisual branch. — said the journalist, a random beta, with a squeaky voice and disheveled hair the color of egg yolk. — In addition to his undeniable talent and golden background, young Andreas Udo stood out for being the only dominant omega to compete in figure skating, winning two silver medals and one bronze. However, his career came to an end after a serious car accident, which ended up severing his right leg and leaving him in a coma for almost half a year.

— No matter how hard you try, you cannot escape your place in the pyramid that governs our personal karma. — said the other journalist, yet another beta, this time an embittered fat man with a shiny bald head and almost brown teeth.

The memories of that fateful day were blurs in the form of flashes in his eternally tired mind. On that rainy dawn, lit by lightning, Andreas Udo had made two mistakes, two stupidities, two imprudence, both in a short space of time. His first mistake was ditching his trusted driver, his second was loading up on painkillers and alcohol before getting behind the wheel of his Mercedes. The car, whose speedometer had been “frozen” at one hundred and seventy kilometers per hour, drove in the opposite direction until it crashed violently against a truck. A huge, treacherous shard of glass pierced the pupil of his crystalline blue left eye, robbing him of his vision and leaving a hideous scar running from his forehead to his cheek. The right leg was crushed by the car hardware, being amputated at the knee during the rescue. Being alive had never been the most pleasant of experiences, but it had become a thousand times worse after the universe denied him the right to die.

— My little master, you must eat more. — her soft voice invaded his ears too gently. — You’re so skinny I can see the bones in your ribs.

Virginia smiled at him pleasantly, as she has every morning since he was eight years old. She was one of the beta employees of the family who had given up their lives to raise him, teach him about being an omega, about tracking and controlling his heat, about his pheromones and suppressant injections, about how to be the perfect wife for whoever the alpha his father chose.

— Hunger has left me a long time ago and you know that better than I do. — he replied. — Hunger, happiness, the will to live... — he smiled sadly. — I’m basically an empty shell, my dear.

— Ah, my little master, you should cheer up at least a little bit. Soon you will be officially introduced to your fiancée and you will know the joys that the union between you will bring.

— Of course, since it’s every person’s dream to marry a recessive alpha whose job is to accompany the recording of porn films, isn’t it?

— You can’t judge a book by its cover, my little master.

— Tell that to those who judge me for simply being anomega.

Silence reigned between them, a heavy, suffocating silence. Poor Virginia had run out of arguments sometime in the last year, and even if new ones came up, Andreas had little intention of listening to her.

With a sequence of quick movements, he got rid of the sheets and duvet. As he turned to get out of bed, he came face to face with the huge mirror, whose frame was a conglomerate of scrollwork colored in a marbled white. He wasn’t sure if the idea of putting it there was outside his mother, father or older sister, however, the mirror was the daily reminder that everything he loved most was taken from him by the one who rules the universe.

He stared at his reflection. In the distant past, Andreas Geoffrey Udo was a magnificently beautiful figure, an almost celestial being, however, today he was nothing more than a corpse that refused to accept his own death. He was paler than a glass of milk, his skin transparent and fragile, his pulsing veins and arteries visible. The bones in his cheeks were horribly apparent, making him wonder about the status of his ribs. Thick, dark circles hung from his right eye, a crystalline blue puddle brimming with pain and suffering, while his nonexistent left eye and the grotesque scar left by the accident were covered by blue-black hair.

The most painful part to see was his lower limbs, or rather the lack of one. There was nothing below his right knee, nothing but a memory, a scar and phantom pain. There was also a mark where the prosthesis still bothered him, a year using it didn’t mean he got along with it. He found himself laughing at his pathetic situation, fighting back the screams and cries that gnawed at his chest.

He was fully capable of moving from bed to wheelchair, but he ended up letting Virginia do the work, taking him in her arms as if he were a helpless child. In fourteen rhythmic and almost inaudible steps, she took him to the bathroom, putting him in the hot tub, which exhaled a perfume perfumed with the essence of jasmine. He rubbed himself hard, until his skin was red and irritated, in a failed attempt to get rid of all the shame and frustration, which stuck to his skin like grains of sand in something wet.

Dreadfully lost in thought, Andreas Udo didn’t notice when the door opened and Latona came in in her noisy high-heeled shoe. The next thing he knew, her eyes, a shade darker blue than his, were staring into the confines of his soul. Latona was tall like any alpha, not as pale as he was, but she had the same blue-black hair. She was wearing her best black silk blouse, with a scarlet red skirt that highlighted the emerald that hovered on her left ring finger. Her expression was always one of disgust and contempt when she looked directly at her younger brother.

— What do you want here? — he asked. — Am I not entitled to even take a shower in peace?

— You would have, if you weren’t delaying our plans, little brother. — she answered. Her voice was nasal and as charged with despise as her face. — You should have been dressed and presentable twenty minutes ago.

— As I care.

With steps that were too quick and loud, the sister approached, huffing. With her right hand, three times the size of Andreas’ two hands, Latona grabbed him around the neck, leaving her fingerprints in his skin, and lifted him out of the tub. A jet of cold air envelops his body, sending shivers down his spine, while his sister’s touch has deprived him of oxygen.

— Listen here you piece of shit. — Latona never needed to raise her voice to sound threatening, this one was no exception. — You’ve already shamed the Udo family too much by being born inferior, you won’t shame us again. You’re going to finish your shower, dress decently, join us without complaining and try to smile when a photographer points his camera at you, you hear me, you little shit?

— I... I... Air... — was the only thing that came out of her breathless throat.

With brutality, the sister released her neck, not before throwing him away. He felt his back hit the cold tile, a flash of pain made him shudder and air rushed into his lungs. He found himself coughing and gasping desperately for air.

— I’ll tell you one last time, Andreas. — if he could see right, anger foamed from the corner of her mouth. — Obey our father’s plans, or I will do what he never dared do.