A/N

This is a SuFin prelude to True Nature. It takes place about a year before True Nature. You don't need to read it first, but I apologize if something doesn't make sense because I didn't explain it very well in this story.

Also, this story will have some strong language, especially in the second chapter.

"-And then he said something about me not doing it right. But what does that guy know, yeah? I mean he already screwed up the Dodge and he refused some guy service because he was 'unawesomely creepy'. I mean, c'mon, how can someone just decide that? If that was the case then everyone would deny you service, am I right?"

"Mathias," Berwald practically growled into the phone. "Wha' d' ya want? I'm workin'." He glanced around making sure that his boss wasn't nearby to witness the phone call. Though, usually, Mr. Honda never really comes to this floor nor is he really strict, but just in case. Berwald doesn't want to get on his bad side… if the Japanese Beta had a bad side…

"Well, yeah, I know that. But I haven't heard from my little bror in forever!"

Berwald rolled his eyes. "We live together, ya see m' all th' time."

"True… but I can't call to check up on ya?"

"Not you."

"Well, that was mean. Fine. I was callin' ta see if ya were stoppin' by the store on the way home. I mean, it is your day to make dinner after all."

"I know, an' nej, I'm no'. Why? Did ya nee' somethin'?"

"Sorta… I'm almost out of my suppressants and I was wonderin' that maybe you could…?"

"No."

"Whyyyyy nooot…?" his brother whined through the phone.

"Because I don't nee' 'em an' ye only don't wanna go because ya jus' don't like bein' seen with 'em," Berwald responded back. His older brother Mathias was an Omega who liked to keep his nature suppressed by taking both heat and smell suppressants, which usually never bothered Berwald except for times like these when Mathias wanted him to go get more. It was just a bit awkward for the large Alpha to be in the Omega's suppressants aisle at the store… he gets weird looks and the Omegas tend to stay away… or laugh. Neither of those things was good. And this was why he's still single.

"Please Berwald? I'll make it up to you! I'll pay you back for the suppressants! And… and I'll wash the dishes for the week!"

"Mathia-"

"The month! I'll do it for the month!"

Berwald sighed. "Mathias, I hate goin' there."

"Me too!"

"Why don't ya jus' order 'em online?"

The other end was silent for a moment before, "Huh… I never thought about that…"

Berwald wanted to throw the phone across the room. Sometimes his brother got under his skin like no other person can. Why they still lived together, he'd never know. Oh wait, he did know. They're both still painfully single. Although Mathias claims it's "being free," Berwald just kind of thinks it's lonely… and a bit sad.

"Is tha' it?" Berwald asked rubbing his head. He thought he could feel a migraine coming on.

"Yeah… oh! Can you not fix something Swedish tonight? I don't like Swedish-y food."

"Mathias, I am Swedish."

"So…?"

"So tha' means I'm fixin' Swedish food."

"But-"

"Goodbye, Mathias," Berwald said and ended the call.

He gladly shoved his cell back into his pocket and turned back to the paperwork he had been doing before his brother called. Berwald was the head of the editing department in Honda Publishing. He was in charge of all of the different editors within the department, and doesn't have too much of a chance to edit any actual manuscripts anymore like the other editors. Though, every now and then he will still take on a children's story – those were always his favorite.

He glanced through a couple of packets before a knock came at the door.

"Come 'n," Berwald said, while taking off his glasses to massage the bridge of his nose.

"Hallo, I have the contract that you requested."

Berwald stood up as Lars Bakker walked into his office and handed him the packet. Lars was the head of the Contracts and Rights department. He was very intelligent and held a degree in Law, but had absolutely no social skills. He tended to be awkward around other people and a little bit cold too. Berwald could relate.

"Thanks," Berwald said as he was handed the document. He began to scan through it, not wanting to hold up Lars any longer than needed to be.

"Geen probleem… no problem. There's no rush. Just hand it to my personal secretary once you're done. He's new. His name's Tino Vain… uh… Vain-something… His name's Tino."

Berwald nodded and Lars walked out of the office. That's what Berwald liked about the Dutch Alpha, he was quick and concise – straight to the point. Unlike a certain brother of his.

A few hours later still found Berwald in his office. Although he was long finished with the contract Lars gave him on his desk, he still had yet to return it. Today it had been one thing after another, and he just hadn't found the time. Speaking of time…

Berwald pulled out his pocket to check the time, only the find that he had a message.

Mathias: [6:27] hejjj u sure u don wana go2 de store?

Berwald sighed and quickly typed back a response.

Berwald: [7:08] No, I already have everything I need.

Mathias: [7:08] D:

Berwald: [7:10] Why didn't you just order it online like I said?

Mathias: [7:11] i don hav mony :P

Berwald: [7:15] Didn't you just get paid on Friday?

Mathias: [7:17] mayyyyyb… plz waldo?

Berwald: [7:18] No. Get it yourself.

Mathias: [7:19] D':

Berwald silenced his phone and put it back into his pocket in case Mathias wanted to bother him some more. He wasn't going to give into his older brother's demands again. He hates getting those suppressants and that's what Mathias deserved anyway for spending all of his money.

He stood up and stretched, glancing at the packet on his desk. He supposed now was as good as time as any to return it to Lars. He needed to do it before the day was up anyway, and he was at a good stopping point in his paperwork.

Berwald picked up the packet and began heading towards Lars' department. He just needed to give it to the secretary right? What was his name? Tino something? Yeah that sounded about right… he was new though, that was a bit annoying. Most people were intimidated by Berwald. Whether it's by his Alpha nature or his glaring face. This will probably be just another secretary who will avoid him. Then again, he was working for Lars, so maybe there was hope for him yet.

He reached the floor and headed to where Lars' office was located. Outside of it should be a desk where the secretary was. He'll just leave the packet and get out of there as quickly as possible.

Berwald took some more steps toward the secretary's desk, where someone was busily filing something in a cabinet behind the desk, before it hit him. It was like a wall slammed into him. He felt dazed and his thoughts were a jumbled mess. The only thing he could get through his muddled mind was that it smelled really good.

It was… it was cinnamon and cookies and pine cones rolled into one smell. It smelled like winter and sugar all at once. It was such an indescribably incredible smell. It was nothing that he's ever smelled before that's for sure. He did know that he wanted the scent forever, and no one else could have it.

Berwald could feel his possessive nature start to take over and realized that he was still at work. He quickly tried to suppress the urge to overtake the smell and ignore it. All he had to do was drop off the manuscript and then quickly get out of there. Heck, he could probably go home after he was done here. He just needed to move.

After a few more deep breaths, he felt confident enough to continue to the desk. Luckily the secretary still hadn't noticed he was standing there. He took a few more steps to the desk when the boy working at the desk stopped and quickly turned his head to stare at Berwald.

His expression looked so frightened that Berwald felt instantly bad for coming to Lars' department in person. He should've gotten someone else from his department to return the packet!

Berwald went up to the desk and took a deep breath – first mistake. The smell was way stronger over here, which meant that the Omega in front of him was the source. Berwald froze and about gave into his instinct to conquer. He quickly regained control over himself.

"Here's th' pack't," Berwald said quietly hoping he didn't notice the shake in Berwald's voice and not wanting to scare the poor Omega more than he already had. He shoved the packet at the boy who looked up at Berwald in shock and the Swede finally got a good look at the sweet-smelling secretary – second mistake.

He was adorable. The Omega had fair blond hair that was slightly tousled as if he got out of bed in a hurry this morning. His mouth was slightly parted with pink, slightly chapped lips. They weren't as plump as a woman's but they still looked soft. He looked at big purple eyes which resembled sparkling gems, but there was a slight wetness at the corners.

Shit!

Berwald thought as he quickly let go of the packet and jumped back. He must've been scaring the poor boy half to death. Berwald felt his heart break as he muttered out an apology and scurried away as fast as could.

He missed the Omega's sigh of disappointment.

Tino was having a good dream about giant candy canes and puppies (except he was in a blue dress, but no one needs to know about that), until his alarm cut through like a shock. Tino groaned and buried his head hoping to block out the shrill sound.

However, the annoying sounds persisted no matter how much Tino groaned.

Finally, Tino snapped up his head and glared at the still-ringing alarm clock.

"Stupid alarm," mumbled Tino squinting at the red numbers. 6:52.

"Oh crap!" Tino exclaimed jumping out of bed and running to his closet yanking out the clothes he needed. He needed to be at work by 7:30 and it took almost 20 minutes to get there! He was going to be late!

He threw on the clothes and ran to the bathroom. He quickly brushed his teeth and ran his fingers threw his bed head a few times. He finished up in the bathroom and quickly shut off his stupid alarm clock that was still going off, on his way to the kitchen. He grabbed some toast and headed out the door.

It was only his second day at work and he was already making a bad impression. He bumped his head against the steering in frustration as he was stopped by another red light. To be truthful, his boss kind of intimidated him. He was a 6'1" Dutchman who looked angry all the time, or at least disinterested in everything. He had little room for mistakes which Tino tend to often do. And, to make matters worse, the guy was an Alpha!

Not that Tino had a problem with Alphas, his best friend Lukas was one, but sometimes they scared him. They were always so aggressive and angry. Tino liked to have fun and have little care in the world. However, he needed this job. Lukas helped him get this job. Apparently, his Alpha friend knew the owner of the company, and called in a favor. So, the least Tino could do was try.

He finally made it to the company and ran up to where the department was located. He glanced at the clock as he made it to his desk. 7:21.

He sank into his chair with a relieved sigh. He made it.

Someone cleared their throat from behind him, causing the poor Omega to jump up from his chair and spin around. Lars Bakker, his boss, was standing there staring down at him.

"Mr. Bakker! I didn't know- I didn't see you there!" Tino forced out. He was still trying to make a good impression, so far it didn't look like it was working. Then again, maybe the Dutchman always looked so judgmental.

"It's okay, Mr.-… er, what's your name again?" the Alpha answered.

"Tino. Tino Väinämöinen, sir."

"Right. Mr. Vainamomemen… Vainamomen… Vaina- uh…?" Lars gave Tino a look that said "help me." Tino almost wanted to laugh.

"Väinämöinen," he said for his boss.

"Vainanmon-"

"Just call me Tino," the Omega interrupted with a slight chuckle, saving his boss from more trouble than necessary. He was glad to see that the uptight Alpha could make mistakes too. Even if it was over something little like Tino's last name.

"Right. Tino. Anyway, I wanted to see if you mind doing me an errand. I just need this delivered to Mr. Honda, could you do that?" Lars asked holding up a thick envelope.

"Sure!" Tino said covering up his underlying nervousness. He's heard about Kiku Honda from Lukas, of course. They were friends or something, but Tino's never actually met the guy, as he was interviewed by Lars Bakker. Everyone he's talked to though had reassured him that Mr. Honda was one of the nicest people you could ever meet.

Apparently, everyone turned out to be correct. By the time Tino returned to his desk a half hour later, he was convinced that Kiku Honda was the nicest person Tino's ever met, and how did he ever befriend someone like Lukas Bondevik? Tino reprimanded himself. Lukas was kind in his own special way, you just had to get past his cold exterior. Besides, his friend helped him out with this job… which he should really thank Lukas next time he saw him… or text him!

Quickly glancing around making sure no one (the boss) was around, Tino pulled out his cell and typed a quick message to Lukas.

Tino [9:42]: hei lukas! thx 4 getting me the job! ur frined is nice :D

Tino put away his cell and busied himself with work, which was answering phone calls, taking down appointments, and filing documents.

Lukas [10:11]: Aren't you at work right now? *friend*

Tino [10:14]: dont worry im working hard! \^o^/

Lukas [10:21]: Alright. How's it going so far?

Tino [10:22]: good! the boss is kinda scary but i think hes prbly nice… i hope xD

Lukas [10:27]: That's good.

Tino was filing a stack of papers in one of the dozens of filing cabinets behind his desk. Geez, it was no wonder Lars needed a secretary. He may seem extremely neat and strict but he was actually very disorganized. Tino about had a heart attack when he saw the state of the piles of papers in his office. At least, the Alpha looked a bit guilty about it.

He was almost through another large stack. He had a few more to file before he could finally take a break from bending over. Filing papers takes a lot out of a guy!

He shoved another file in when he smelled the musky, dominant smell of an Alpha nearby, but this was no ordinary Alpha. Tino has never smelled a scent quite like this before in his life. It was over-powering and smelled like freshly cut wood and the pages out of a book. It was homely and warm, but aggressive and powerful too. Tino quickly looked around, trying to pinpoint the source, but froze when he spotted a large, unfamiliar man a few feet from his desk.

He was huge.

He looked to be barely taller than Lars, and more muscular. Well, Tino couldn't really see the muscles under that shirt, but the sleeves were rolled up showing off powerful arms. Why was he surrounding by all these hot, freaking tall Alphas!?

Tino eyed the Alpha up to his face and locked eyes with the man. His face held a stern glare and his lips were pressed into a thin line. But his eyes were beautiful. They were bright cyan.

Tino didn't even notice when he started to shake. He had no idea why he was doing it. Was he scared of the large Alpha? Possibly, but that couldn't be it could it? Sure, the guy looked angry, but the scent smelled too good to be aggressive.

He remembered something that his mother told him a long time ago about when she met his father. It was something like "when you smell a smell like no other in the world, then it's a good thing. Don't worry, you'll understand when you get older." Tino wanted to roll his eyes. He still didn't understand exactly what that meant, but this must have been what his mom was talking about.

"Here's th' pack't," the Alpha said quietly. He had a deep, heavily accented voice which Tino found endearing. Then he realized that man was talking to him as the packet was quickly shoved at him. Tino looked up in shock from the force of the Alpha, and he almost asked to go home with the nice-smelling guy right there.

What was he thinking! He was stronger than that! Oh how he wished he could've listened to his mother more! It's hard being the only Omega out of his friends of Betas and Alphas. What should he do? But it looked like the guy made the decision for him as he quickly backed away and scurried off.

Tino stared after him until he was out of sight, and sighed as soon as he left. Idiot! He didn't even know his name or which department he worked in! Tino wiped his eyes with the back of hands as he reprimanded himself for the loss of that amazing smell- wait… tears? Tino had no idea why he was crying. He didn't feel scared or anything!

All he felt now was emptiness.

Tino [7:36]: i hate u lukas bondevikkkkk! DX

Berwald made a point not to return to Lars' department. In all honesty, he rarely had to deal with them anyway, but he made an extra effort not to see them. He really didn't want to get near that secretary again. It was bad enough the boy haunted his thoughts and dreams constantly now, and those dreams were just only getting worse. Almost every night recently, he's woken up hot, sweaty, and hard. One night, his dream was so vivid that Mathias had burst into his room half-asleep asking nonsense about him being in heat. Berwald made every attempt to have a dreamless sleep after that.

He sighed looking at the line for the coffeeshop close to his building. It would take forever to get through that line and he didn't get a very long lunch break. He took it a bit later than usual today and happened to hit the rush hour he assumed. Luckily, he did know of a small café down the street that wasn't as popular. He had never visited the place but he's heard only good things about it.

He quickly made his way to the café, ignoring all thoughts of Tino and focusing on work. He had to go over a few more manuscripts today. Oh and he needed to talk to Yong Soo too. Just because he was the owner's cousin, it did not mean he could slack off. That boy was something else. Berwald wondered about how old Tino was. Obviously he was old enough to be working at the company. He still looked so young. Berwald shook his head. He wasn't going to think about Tino!

Berwald entered the café to find it had a good crowd of people but not a long line. The amount of people covered up any one's smell and it had the overlaying scent of coffee and freshly-baked pastries.

He stood at the back of the line and looked around. Berwald had never been in here before but it was quaint. A little bare on the walls but that was probably because it was new. It had a good atmosphere though, and Berwald wondered why he never bothered to try this place out before.

Berwald noticed he was next in line as the smaller man in front of him quickly paid for his order. He grabbed his drink and spun around only to trip and run straight into Berwald.

The coffee was probably scalding hot and his shirt was probably ruined but he wasn't paying any attention to that. He was only looking at the blond man in front of him – Tino.

"Perkele!" Tino cried. "Oh my god! I am so sorry!" He looked up with a red face and gasped. Berwald quickly snapped out of his daze when he heard the man's voice. He hadn't heard it before but it was better than what any of his dreams could ever come up with. The sound had a cute accent to it that just completed his person.

"Ah, it's alrigh'," Berwald replied looking down at the badly stained shirt. It actually wasn't good, but Berwald wasn't about to say that.

"Oh no," Tino groaned. "It's most definitely not right! D-do you have a spare shirt or something?"

Berwald paused. It was hard to understand the man when he kept staring at Berwald with such pretty eyes. He was beautiful. "No… bu' I do have a jack't at th' office."

"Well, I still must repay you!"

"There's no nee'," Berwald said earnestly. Just talking to you is enough. He moved around the shorter man so he could give his order. "Black venti with th' col' turkey san'wich, an' wha'ever he ordered." He pointed back to Tino with his thumb.

"Wait, what?" Tino asked shocked.

"Ya spilled mos' of yer drink on me didn't ya?"

Tino looked down sadly at his drink. "Oh… right…"

"Alright," the cashier said. "So, a black venti with a turkey sandwich and a venti half-caf, soy, white chocolate mocha with peppermint, a pump of hazelnut, and no whip, right?" Berwald looked at Tino in shock who blushed furiously.

"You don't have to get it! I'll pay for it!" Tino tried to argue but Berwald ignored him and said, "Yes, that's righ'."

She told Berwald the price and he paid for it while continuing to ignore the Omega's protests.

Berwald gave the drink to Tino who was now pouting.

He sighed, "D' ya wanna pay me back so badly?"

Tino looked at the Alpha. "Of course! It was my fault after all!" he said.

"Fine. Ea' with me." Berwald blushed slightly at the words he just said and Tino looked stunned.

After a moment, Tino replied with a shy "alright."

They chose a table near the edge next to the window. Berwald was beginning to regret it though because there were less people here and Berwald could start to smell the Omega's sweet scent.

Now that Berwald finally had the cute Omega to himself, he had no idea what to say. He definitely didn't want to make a fool out of himself by blurting out whatever was on his mind, so he just stayed quiet.

"So…" Tino slowly started, breaking the silence. Berwald guessed that Tino didn't like silence. "Y'know, I don't think I ever caught your name, Mr…?"

"Jus' call me Berwald," the Alpha replied.

"Well, then! Nice to meet you, I'm Tino!" Berwald nodded in response. He wasn't trying to be rude, he was just quiet. He prefers to listen rather than talk.

Tino opened his mouth to speak again when Berwald's cell started to vibrate loudly against the table. He glanced at it then shoved it into his pocket. He looked back at Tino to continue.

"Aren't you going to answer it?" Tino asked with a (cute) head tilt. After all, it could have been important.

Berwald shook his head though. "No… It was m' brother. He can wait."

Tino smiled slightly. "You have a brother?"

"Ja…" Berwald said with a sigh. "He's annoyin', bu' he's m' brother."

"I know that feeling," Tino said with a chuckle. "I have two. Well, they're not really my brothers."

Berwald raised an eyebrow and motioned for Tino to continue.

"Um… I guess it started out when they moved in next door when I was, like, 5. I just sort of became friends with them really quick. Lukas, he's older than me, I think he likes to be a big brother to everyone. He's an Alpha see? And, well, I guess he just became sort of an older brother to me." Tino shrugged.

"Then there's his younger brother, Emil," Tino said continuing on. "Emil, even though he's younger than me, kind of has a slight brother complex too… but he wouldn't admit that. I think because he and Lukas were so close growing up, he also wanted to be a big brother. Oh, he's a Beta. And since I'm an Omega, I guess they both wanted to "protect" me, not that I need protecting. I can take care of myself!" Tino chuckled. "What about your brother?"

"Hm," Berwald started unsurely. He definitely couldn't tell someone he barely knows about Mathias' nature since he doesn't really want people knowing… even if that person is totally hot. "Mathias is… m' older brother. He's… annoyin' an' got a big brother complex too. He likes ta prove he's stronger than everyone else… an' pick fights with me. But… he's a goo' person." Berwald shrugged not really knowing what else to say.

"Aww, you're a nice younger brother!" Tino cooed and Berwald blushed.

Tino looked down at his watch. "Oh shoot," he said standing up. "I'm going to be late if I don't leave now. Well, it was nice meeting you Berwald." Tino flashed him a smile.

Berwald's heart fluttered at the adorable smile and he stood up too. "Tino, wait."

The Omega turned and looked at Berwald curiously.

"Go on a date with me?" Berwald couldn't believe he just asked that. Tino blinked at him before smiling shyly.

"Sure."

"Friday?"

"Okei! See you then, Berwald!"

A/N

Lol I did so much research on coffee for this chapter...

So, I hoped you liked the first chapter of the prelude. There will be one other chapter. It's almost finished, I'm just not completely happy with it yet and I still need to write the last scene.

If there's any questions or confusion please ask! I will try to answer your questions as soon as possible! :P

And I know, the summary really sucked... I'm sorry D:

Please tell me what you think! :D

I'm thinking about eventually making a sequel to this and True Nature that will include MPreg with SuFin and DenNor... and will include some HongIce as well. Tell me if that's something you'd be interested in!