Cerulean Feathers

Chapter 11

When the guys quieted, Brock paused, his lips pulled in a tight frown.
"I think that is everything, besides flying of course. John, anything to add about Alphas?"
The Omega glanced curiously at the Alpha still leaning on the counter, who let out a puff of smoke in thought. Then he stated,
"Alphas can use Alpha Commands to get an Omega to do whatever they say. For example, I could tell you to stand up and do a stupid dance and you'd do it even if you didn't want to. It's a dumb thing that many Alphas take advantage of, so just be careful about it."

The Omegas nodded, and Smitty commented,
"I've heard of Omegas fighting it, but it nearly kills them. It's like going against every muscle in your body at the same time."
A few people mumbled an agreement before John sighed.
"And then there's also Alpha-state, where an Alpha defending an Omega will get super aggressive toward anyone around them. It doesn't happen as often anymore, but there are circumstances where it happens today."
"Like Evan against the Canaries,"
Brock added, motioning toward Jon in hopes it would help him understand. However, Jonathan just frowned.
"But even if he was aggressive, shouldn't he have recognized you guys?"
John paused for another vape before explaining,
"Alpha-state is strange. It completely erases everything from the mind except for fighting and killing the opposing Alpha. The brain releases testosterone and adrenaline in heavy doses before the mind goes blank, and then it isn't until one of them is dead that the brain releases dopamine to pull them out of Alpha-state."
"So that's why Evan tried to attack us,"
Brock added,
"He was still in Alpha-state, but because he hadn't killed the Alpha he wasn't released until he saw you."
Jonathan frowned.
"But why me?"
"Because you were the Omega they were fighting over,"
Ohm answered from the other side of Nogla,
"The scent of the Omega can also help calm them. That's why I had you open your wings. You have powerful scent glands on the inside of your wings near your shoulder."
Jonathan nodded, mentally going over everything again before glancing at Brock.
"I think I got everything."
The eagle-wing laughed, then said,
"Good. Then I guess the next thing to learn would be flying. However, that's something you usually learn in school, and they have safe padded rooms to practice. So, we'll have to be careful, but I think we can go to the roof. That's the only place open enough to fly, so we'll just have to make sure you don't fall off the edge."
Brock said the last comment with a smile like he was attempting a joke, but it just unnerved Jonathan. His wings twitched anxiously but nodded anyway.
He'd need to learn if he wanted to survive in the world.
They all headed downstairs to the elevator, cramming everyone in and riding to the top.

When they got to the top, the doors opened to a small room with only one door on the opposite end.
"Go on, that leads to the roof."
Brock said as everyone else followed soon after.  As they stepped onto the roof, Jonathan felt a breeze tug at his wings, pulling at the feathers playfully.
"Alright, Ohm, you fly the best out of any of us; why don't you give Jonathan an example of how to take off?"
The dove-wing had been staring at the view of the building, and it took him a moment to realize Brock was talking to him.
"Oh...right."
He whispered, opening his wings and running down the roof. The wind caught his feathers, and soon he was able to flap a few times before his feet were off the ground. As he veered back toward the others he seemed to have returned to his normal self.
"That's the easiest way to get into the air, later we can teach you how to take off in place."
"Like this,"
Smitty said, opening his wings before giving them a few hard flaps. It took a bit longer, but soon he was in the air.
"Alright,"
Brock started, turning back to Jonathan.
"First, let's try what Ohm did. I'll run with you."
Jonathan nodded, looking down the long stretch of concrete that made up the roof. Taking a deep breath, he opened his wings and set himself to run.
Then he sprinted.
He ran as fast as he could, and soon he felt the wind tugging hopefully at his feathers.
"Now flap!"
Brock called behind him, his wingbeats already sounding nearby.
Jonathan grunted, flapping his wings with and against the air current. It took him a moment to get them in sync, but when he did he started getting lift. He continued flapping until his toes were brushing the ground, then he lost his balance and his left wing tried to make up for it, only throwing him further off balance. He landed on his shoulder with a yelp.
The sound of running and wingbeats headed toward Jon and he sat up, rubbing his shoulder and stretching his wings. Nothing seemed wrong.
"You okay?"
Craig asked, being the first to reach him.
Jonathan nodded, standing up again and glancing at the group surrounding him.
"I'm fine. Let's try again."

He glanced at Brock, and the Omega nodded with a smile.
It took him a few more tries, (and several scraped knees and shoulders) but he eventually got it. He was able to hover in the air, albeit wobbly. But he quickly grew tired and had a bad feeling his wings would be very sore the next day.

As everyone headed back down for lunch, Jonathan found himself beside Ohm, the Omega intently staring at the floor.
"How long did it take you to learn how to fly?"
He asked, glancing at the dazed dove-wing. Ohm looked at him in surprise, then shrugged with a small smile.
"Um, I think about a month, but I practiced all the time. I wanted to be able to fly away from home as soon as possible."
Jonathan glanced at Ohm, who had returned his gaze to the floor, and frowned.
"Yeah."
Was all he could say.
He had never wanted to leave home, but, he figured if his parents hadn't forced him out he would have wanted to leave too.
"How'd you end up on the streets?"
Jon blinked at the question, looking back at Ohm who seemed to have pulled himself from whatever memories he had been trapped in.
"Oh, um..."
Jonathan began, now his turn to stare at his feet.
"I...I got kicked out. My parents believed only girls should be Omegas and only boys should be Alphas. The same thing happened to my Alpha sister."
Jonathan got a flash of his sister Jane behind his eyes, the pricks of her delicate horns piercing her scalp.
That had been years ago, when Jon was only 11 years old. Before that, his sister had been his biggest supporter and tutor through school, even if she never really liked James.
Not that Jonathan would blame her now.
She had promised to meet him again, to take him someplace safe, away from their parents.
However, after that night of his mother and father yelling about dishonor and packing her things for her, she had vanished without a trace.
At least she was an Alpha, so she was probably situated in a job with an apartment of her own somewhere.
At least she had a chance to pack her things and say goodbye.

Jonathan shook his head, forcing himself out of those bad memories. When he came to, Ohm was watching him curiously, although slowly turned his eyes to the elevator in front of them as they all packed in together.