Runt [ManxMan]

Chapter Twenty-Three

As they passed the door leading outside, Mason attempted to pull away, but Mav finally intervened, moving between the omega and the door. Mason let out a frustrated sound, his wrist still held in his brother's grasp and his exit blocked by a wolf twice his size.

"What's going on?" Dax asked as he approached them. Mason started signing, either having forgotten Dax couldn't understand him or not caring. Chase caught his other wrist and stilled his hands, eliciting another frustrated sound from the little omega.

"No, Mason. We're going to the safe room, and you're going to stay there until this is over," Chase insisted, attempting to tug his brother forward against the younger's protest.

Dax's attention went to the omega. "You want to fight," he surmised, correctly it seemed, as the boy turned pleading eyes in his direction.

"But he can't," Chase said, sparing a glance for his adopted brother. "He's an omega, and not trained anyway. It's dangerous, he could get hurt, he could die. Absolutely not. I won't allow it."

Mason yanked his wrists out of his brother's hold and made a few quick gestures, the last of which Dax didn't need to know sign language to recognize as very rude, and he wondered where the kid had learned it. Surely not from Chase, though a brief glance at Mav's amused yet guilty expression revealed a likely culprit.

"Well," Dax said, his eyes falling from the beta to the hunter, then all the way down to the tiny, fierce omega. "Perhaps he hasn't had any formal training, but if I'm not mistaken, Mason here has been in more real fights than the three of us combined. If he wants to fight, I don't see any reason why he shouldn't."

Chase sputtered, turning fully to face the alpha. "But... but he's an omega. And... and he could die. Please, Dax, please don't let him go out there."

Dax could hardly ever deny Chase when he looked at the alpha like that, but with Mason standing next to him, both giving the alpha the same pleading look, it was harder to decide which brother to side with. He looked away from them both, turning instead to the beta still standing in the doorway looking unsure of himself.

"Have you ever trained omegas as warriors?"

The beta, looking startled to have been pulled into the argument, took a moment to put together a response. "Yes," he said. "I've never seen one all the way through, but I've seen a few get pretty close. Most of them can't get over their fear of dominants, or their instincts to submit."

"So what do you think of allowing Mason out there?"

Mav hesitated, casting a glance at the hunter, who glared back with a warning in his eyes, a warning that Mav somehow ignored, turning back to the alpha. "I think the first time I laid eyes on him I knew this boy was not like any other omega I've ever met. Little thing looked like a teen if that, scrawny and injured, barely alive, and he still growled when I stuck my head in his den. When he knew he was cornered, he came right at me, clawed my face up and almost got away from me. I'd bet after so many years of fighting his instincts, if any omega has a chance of being a warrior, it's Mason."

The omega looked shocked at this unexpected praise, a tiny smile curling up the corners of his lips, though Mav didn't turn to see it. The beta's attention was focused only on Dax, ignoring the little beta-born's furious expression. Dax knew how hard it must have been for Mav to go against Chase, how much he cared what the hunter thought of him, and was proud his loyalty to his friend and alpha outweighed that.

"In that case," the alpha said, "we've wasted enough time here. Mav, Mason, you're with me. We're going to protect our territory."

"No!" Chase begged, though he took a deep breath so when he continued, he sounded less panicked. "I... I'll come with you too. If Mason's going to fight, I'm going to fight too."

Dax took his brother's face in his hands and forced the younger man to meet his steady gaze. The alpha was calm as ever, even as the hunter's eyes filled with tears. "You are untrained," he said, "and for as long as I've known you, you have hated fighting. I will not put you out there where you cannot defend yourself. I know you love your brother, I know you would do anything to protect him, but he can take care of himself. Let him take care of himself."

"He's just a kid," Chase sobbed, grasping the alpha's wrists desperately. "He's just a kid, you can't send him out there to fight."

"Not a kid," a quiet voice said. They all turned to the little omega, who stood with his head high. "Not a kid," he repeated.

"He's right," the alpha insisted. "I know you remember him as the pup you had to look after, the kid you needed to save, but Chase, look at him now. He's not a child anymore. He's grown into a strong young man who can fend for himself. I know he trusts you with his life. Can't you do the same with him? Let him show you he's stronger than you think."

Chase wavered, the tears in his eyes spilling over as he turned from the alpha to his little brother. They looked so similar, clear blue eyes and dark blonde hair, slight builds and sharp features. Dax, had he not known them, could almost have believed the taller man with the tear-stained cheeks to be the omega, and the smaller one with fire in his eyes to be the beta-born.

He could tell the moment Chase saw what the alpha was seeing, saw the fight bleed out of the hunter's body as he realized Dax was right. Mason wasn't a kid, and he didn't need anyone to protect him. The hunter stepped forward, yanking the omega into his arms and holding him tight, more tears escaping as he clung to his little brother.

"Be safe, kiddo," he said, finally allowing the boy to step away. "I don't know what I'd do if I lost you again."

Dax took his adopted brother's hand, smiling at the younger man. "You won't," he said. "I'll protect him with my life."

Chase nodded, giving the alpha a hug as well, followed by another to a very surprised beta before pulling away, backing down the hall toward the safe room. "Be careful, all of you," he said, sniffling and rubbing his face. "Mason isn't my only family."

He turned the corner and was gone, leaving the stunned trio to stare at each other before turning to the doors and stepping outside, off to fight rogues and protect their home and the hunter they all loved.

Posted: 4-27-2021

Word Count: 1915

Fun fact, in the original version of this chapter, Tala had not decided to go back to her pack, so Dax encountered her in the chaos and she was an absolute coward. Honestly I'm kind of glad she decided to not be there (yes she decided it, I never intended for her to leave) because this newer version of her character would not have been such a chicken but I also don't really know what she would have done so I'm glad I didn't have to think about it too hard lol. 

Anyway, next chapter we're off to fight some rogues, how do you think that's going to go?

<3Koda