Dyllen sighed as he followed his long- time friend and leader through their budding village. In the short span of a few months, the rolling field had turned into a prosperous, albeit small, community. Only a few buildings were complete so far: barracks, mess hall, stables, and a few houses. Linus had been concerned about having the first house built for himself, never one to put himself above the others, but Dyllen was glad of it. As much as Skye had grown on him and they had reached something of a friendship, constantly seeing the two engaged in sappy moments of romance had been driving him crazy. Even the others in the band had been happy to get the lovesick couple away from them for a while and no one wanted to have to deal with Skye’s heat again. A hassle that could be easily avoided by having a little privacy in the form of their own home. The large wooden structure sat proudly in the middle of t

 Athelney was bustling with activity when they arrived.A few people recognized them as they passed and waved or called out greetings.Linus and Brite often came through to speak with various townsfolk or hire services so the attention wasn’t surprising. Annoying, but understandable.All Dyllen wanted was to hurry up and get to the village green where the mayor would be waiting with their new members. Linus had no idea who or how many people they would return with and being in the dark still, after all their hours of travel, grated at him.They pulled up beside the large patch of grass where a dozen dirty, ragged people greeted them.Dyllen paid no attention to Linus as he greeted the mayor, choosing instead to dismount and cast his gaze over each of those present before dismissing them all out of hand.What the fuck was this?Not even one among them looked fit enough to hold

 “Oh! But I only just finished my own training,” Skye replied in surprise and disappointment flooded through Eician.Did he travel for weeks only to be turned away?“I didn’t mean you couldn’t be,” the other omega clarified at his crestfallen expression. “I’m just surprised. I knew they would send someone eventually, but I didn’t realize it would be so soon. Ecrin is such a long way from Aldea, most choose to stay closer to home. Especially an Aldean native.”Eician worried at his lip as he decided how to reply.He had chosen Skye purely because he was based so far away but saying that would raise questions he didn’t want to answer right now.The Kingdom of Heral sat like a triangle between Aldea and Ecrin with each country sharing a border. The capital of Ilaridge, where he was originally told that Skye re

 Skye came bouncing into the room with a cup in hand just as Eician sat down at the table, unsure what to do with himself while he waited.The other omega beamed at him, and Eician gave him a tentative smile, unsure how to react to such a look.“Is everything okay?”“Hmm?”Was he making more tea?The thought made him a little anxious, he enjoyed it but the memories the warmth of the tea brought back were less wanted.“T- the alpha? The one outside?”“Oh! Dyllen! Yeah, he’s fine, he’s just sulking. He looks and acts all tough and callous but he’s got a real soft underbelly. I think he misunderstood something and got upset thinking he was being cast aside. That, and he sure acts like a grumpy old man sometimes.”“Oh, I- I see,” Eician replied faintly, trying to equate the huge, rough looking alpha with som

 Dyllen looked up from sorting out the wooden fence posts to see Linus standing with the six teenagers from that morning.They looked cleaner now; the dirt washed away and fresh, too large clothing adorning their frames. It only highlighted how poor shape they were all in.He held back a sigh as he looked them over properly, gaze lingering for a moment on the only girl among them. She was an alpha while the rest were betas.Female alphas were as common as male omegas- which was to say rare- and he wasn’t sure what to expect from her most of all.“We’ve rearranged the sleeping arrangements in the barracks, you will all be right at the back. You’ll see when you go in there. There aren't enough beds just yet, you’ve only got six allocated, but we are working on putting bunks in. Should be sorted in a few weeks,” Linus said, staring at him, hard.There was a warning in his gaze and Dy