ƇӇƛƤƬЄƦ ЄƖƓӇƬ: "and every road you take, will always lead you home."
Rick hotwires a muscle car; a cherry red challenger. The alarm blares, loud and annoying, echoing up and down the deserted street. He watches as Glenn fumbles into the driver's seat, hesitant, and Ren slides into the passenger side, immediately pulling down the sun visor and opening up the glove compartment.
Rick moves around the challenger and places his palm flat atop the red roof. It's warm. He peers into the car with narrowed blue eyes and gives his omega a flat look.
"Something wrong, officer?" Ren asks, placing a pair of navy sunglasses onto his nose. He must have found them inside the glove compartment. The omega leans back into the leather seat, curling his pretty, pretty, pink mouth into a smirk.
"Course not," Rick says, even though he feels his chest constrict uncomfortably. The thought of separating from his omega, if only for a little while, makes his teeth ache. All he wants to do is bite at Ren's slim, tanned throat, mark him up good and proper, so that everyone knows he's taken.
Ren hums and moves the sunglasses into his hair, pushing his bangs away from his face. He shifts, sitting closer to the window and tilts his head up, exposing the unmarked skin of his neck. Rick doesn't even think, just wraps his hand around the side of his omega's neck, slips his fingers into surprisingly long black hair and squeezes gently, softly, rubbing his thumb underneath Ren's jaw.
The omega's collar is even thinner than he'd thought it would be and Rick moves his thumb underneath the soft material instead, rubbing slowly and purposefully over the skin he finds there, making sure his scent stays. He gets a low, rewarding purr and rumbles in response, momentarily forgetting about his surroundings.
All too soon, Rick pulls his hand away, reluctant. He feels like a recovering alcoholic who's just stumbled upon a crate of booze, free and easy to take. He's thirsty and hungry and wants nothing more than to have Ren curled in his lap, making soft sounds and calling him alpha.
The urge only intensifies when he scents the air. He can't let Ren leave. Not when he smells like Rick right now; dark and rich, like hot chocolate on a winter's day, mixed in with thunder and lightning. His omega smells so, so good. Rick's thoughts are quickly clouded by the imagery of Ren underneath him, warm and wet and wanting.
The hand he has atop the red car curls into a tight fist. Rick wills his voice to be steady. "Glenn," he calls, flickering his gaze to the driver's side. The kid is facing the window, giving Rick and his omega an air of privacy. The tips of his ears are bright red.
"Y-yeah?" Glenn asks, turning hesitantly back around.
"Don't forget to raise the others," Rick says, uncurling his fist. "Those roll-up doors at the front of the store, that area? That’s what I need cleared. Tell them to get down there and be ready."
"Right," Glenn nods, grabbing the steering wheel, "I'm on it."
After he's sure that both Ren and Glenn have their seat belts secured around them, Rick pats the roof of the challenger and steps away. He motions for them to leave and Glenn presses his foot down onto the accelerator and like a fish taking to water, he speeds off, whopping and yelling as he turns a swift corner. Rick can just about hear Ren yelling, "later, Ricky!"
Ricky, he echoes internally, that's new. Rick's never been called Ricky before. He's not quite sure what to make of it.
Merle snorts from where he's sat in the passenger seat of the van, arms perched upon the open window. He says, "yer not evil. Yer just some s-o-b who's wrapped all nice an' tight aroun' his omega's pinky finger." The beta makes a considering face. "S'adorable."
Rick ignores Merle and climbs into the van. He starts the ignition and drives off, circling around the block and having to go the long way around. He hears the challenger's alarm blaring somewhere off in the distance and deems it safe enough to go back onto the main street. He pauses in front of the roll up doors of the store and waits, five seconds, ten seconds, looking out of the van and onto the street. Any and all walkers that had been here earlier are gone; the silence in their wake is eery.
Rick's fingers twitch around the steering wheel as he hears the doors suddenly rolling up. Andrea along with the humans pour out of the store, frightened and sweaty. They throw their gear and loot into the back of the van, hastily climbing in.
Morales and T-dog close the doors just as the walkers flow out of the store like an angry tsunami.
"Go!" Andrea yells frantically. "Go!"
Rick shifts the gear and presses down on the accelerator, speeding off. He glances into the rear view mirror, seeing the tsunami of walkers steadily disappear behind him the more he drives out of the city.
"We good?" He asks, turning his attention back to the road.
"Just dandy," Replies Morales, out of breath.
Other than Merle giving Rick the occasional directions to the quarry, where their camp is based, the van is quiet, the humans and wolves in disbelief over their survival.
They're halfway to the quarry when T-dog's walkie buzzes to life. The human starts to fiddle with it, twisting the dial for a better signal. "Hello?" He asks. "Anybody reads?"
"Hey," Ren says from the other side, "mind telling my Alpha I'm taking a little detour? Gotta pick up some things."
"Er," T-dog says intelligently, shuffling to the front of the van. He holds out the walkie for Rick to take. "Think it's that omega of yours.''
Obviously, Rick wants to say. Instead, he grabs a hold of the walkie and switches to driving the van with one hand. Once T-dog is settled in his original place at the back of the van, Rick turns the walkie on. "Ren, what detour?" He asks, voice low, tilted with sourness.
"Aw," Ren coos, "you worried? That's cute. Don't worry Ricky, me and Glenn will be right behind you."
"You little shit," the alpha says, more annoyed than sour now. His omega is going on a little side quest and making his chest do that weird constricting thing again. There's no way Rick is going to survive the sudden prolonged separation now, not when his blood is rushing through his ears and his stomach is dropping, tying itself in proverbial knots.
Merle shoots Rick a look, it's something between amused, incredulous and a little disgusted.
Rick ignores him. He licks over his lips and takes a moment before he says, "come back to me safe." He knows how he sounds; attached and wounded, like a child being denied their favourite toy, but he doesn't care. He wants Ren beside him, underneath him, on his lap, safe, content and comfortable, preferably dressed in nothing but one of Rick's shirts, smelling absolutely divine and purring up a storm.
Merle's right, Ren does have him wrapped tight around his pinky finger. Rick's known Ren for what? A little over two, maybe three days? It's unnatural how quick the two of them have gotten attached, calling each other my omega and my alpha, throwing around the titles like they have absolutely no consequences when, in fact, they do.
"I will," Ren says, sounding soft.
Rick turns off the walkie then and drops it into the console, feeling off kilter. Ren will be back with him soon, there's no reason to feel this needy and obsessive.
He's not even yours, Rick reminds himself internally, tightening his grip on the steering wheel, you don't even know anythin' about him. He bites the inside of his cheek, preventing himself from growling in frustration, callin' him your omega and scentin' him up like he belongs to you. That ain't right and you know it.
"Turn left," Merle grunts, placing his feet upon the dashboard. He makes himself more comfortable in his seat. "This gon take a while."
Now that he's pulled out of his thoughts, Rick pays more attention to Merle's directions. The ride to the quarry isn't that far, about two and a half hours away from the city. Rick slows the van to a stop, parking beside an old RV. He glances outside of the window, spotting a small lake off to the side. The quarry is nice, filled with greenery and the scent of wilderness, fresh and earthy.
Rick steps out of the van, watching as Andrea reunites with a young, blonde omega. Her sister, no doubt.
"Amy!" Andrea exclaims, wrapping her arms around her sister.
"You're back,'' Amy whimpers, hiding her face into the older beta's neck.
Glancing away, Rick spots the campsite. It's filled with tents and equipment like plastic chairs and tables, a grill and some other necessities. Someone was even smart enough to dig out two holes for a firepit. Rick scents the air, but the smell of humans overpowers the scent of wolves and he wrinkles his nose in distaste.
It's not bad, this quarry. The humans and wolves have made it homey, decorated the land with their things, but it's not safe here, not out in the open where they can all get easily killed.
"You're a welcome sight," an old man says, rounding the corner of the RV. He pulls Morales in for a hug. "I thought we had lost you folks for sure. How'd you even get out of there?"
"New guy," Morales answers, pulling away from the old male. He jabs his thumb behind him, "Crazy vato just came into town. Hey, officer friendly! Come say hello."
Rick turns on his heels, ready to walk towards the pair when he suddenly catches a soft, powdery scent, the one pups usually have before they're fully grown and he stills, freezing in his spot when his eyes land on Carl.
"Dad!" His pup cries, running from the otherside of the camp.
Rick moves. He grabs a hold of his pup and manages to stumble them both to the ground in his haste. Carl wraps his legs around Rick's waist and buries his nose into his neck, breathing him in deeply. The omega pup whimpers and Rick shushes him softly, pressing a kiss on each freckled cheek and then nuzzling at his forehead with his nose, clouding Carl in his scent.
"I've got you," Rick murmurs, picking Carl up and placing him on his hip like he used to when he was a toddler, "I've got you."
"Dad," Carl sniffles, rubbing his cheek into Rick's shoulders and smearing his salty tears there. "I thought you were dead," he hiccups, "a-an' I was all alone."
Alone? Rick forces a growl down. Instead, he presses his nose into the side of Carl's cheek and simply breathes him in, letting the milky scent calm him. He soothes a hand down his pup's back and asks, quietly, dangerously, "where's Lori?"
Carl whimpers again and he starts shaking in Rick's hold. "She left me Dad, she left me."
Rick seethes. That bitch. His hold on Carl tightens in protective rage. He's going to find Lori and he's going to kill her, rip her apart, tear her limb from limb and he's not going to stop, not until he has his hands inside her ribcage and her useless heart between his hands.
How dare she just abandon Carl?
Andrea hesitantly walks up to them and Rick does growl now, low and with a hint of teeth.
"Please don't hurt her," Carl begs, pulling his face away from Rick's shoulder. His cheeks are red and his blue eyes are wet from his tears. "She and the other wolves all looked after me. Promise, Dad. Promise."
Rick clicks his tongue, but his rage doesn't ease. He needs to kill someone or something. His blood boils beneath his skin, hot and viscous, ready to explode like a volcano. He tucks Carl's face back underneath his jaw and into his neck. It's best if he stays there for now, lest Rick kills a fellow wolf or, he thinks with a brutal kind of humour, a lousy human.
"Just w-wanted to give you t-this," Andrea stutters, holding out the walkie Rick had left behind in the van. "It's, um, y-your…"
Rick takes the walkie. "Thank you," he says, somehow managing to keep his rage out of his voice, "for lookin' out for my pup."
"Oh," Andrea's shoulders slump in relief. "We all pitched in a little," She explains. "Some human dropped him off here and then she disappeared with a cop. You know 'em?" She tilts her head. "They your friends or something?"
The rage does enter his voice now. Rick answers, "or something," and leaves it at that.
2177 words//unedited.
for those of you who have already read ren's chapter... I've deleted it 💀 partly bc I didn't like the pacing and partly because i didn't like the way i presented ren to all of you ://
as for those of you who have stumbled upon this fic and not come across ren's earlier pov, congratulations! you've been saved from that, er, pile of shit 😭
anyways, as usual, comments fuel me 🤧
until next time! 🪁🪁🪁