Hello all. This is the first fan fiction I've published. I've tried my best to stamp out the majority of mistakes but please let me know if you find anything dire. Now, this has elements of Mpreg. That means it also has M/M, so if that's not your thing I hope you have a good day and I'll see you 'round (I'd have mentioned this in the description but I ran out of space). I was unsure of the rating. I'm not aiming for anything overly graphic but if I've rated it wrong please mention it. I cannot guarantee an update scedule. For now we'll say it'll be the 13th of every month, but if I can, I will do it more often.

As people always say, please read and review.

I hope you enjoy this first chapter.

~ Phoenix

Chapter One

Ichigo

The week after his sixteenth birthday was meant to be time off. Yes, he had to go through his first heat, and no, it wasn't a pleasant experience, but it came with being a demon beta, and there wasn't anything he could do about his biology. After his first there was medication he could take to suppress them, however his body had to go through one to adapt before the little pills could be any use.

It really wasn't as bad as people had made it out to be. He was overheated permanently; there was an awful pressure in his temples, and he found himself aroused more often than he was comfortable with, but he could handle it. It was the segregation that bothered him the most. There was to be no contact with people outside of family. If he was to be approached by some alpha in his current state it was a sure thing that they'd start touching, and if that happened instinct would take over, making it hard to resist. If he fell pregnant before he got mated it'd be a disaster. The heads of his family had been sure to drill that into him from the moment he'd started making friends.

Ichigo lay on his bed, arms stretched out above his head as he stared at the ceiling, trying not to think about what would happen once the week was up. He would have to find a mate before he was eighteen. It was just how things were done, had always been done, but that didn't mean he had to like it. There were procedures he had to follow. The heads of the family would find suitors, the sons of wealthy, well known people. They'd be sons of people who his family could benefit from through a mating. In some ways that part had already begun. He'd met a few of his suitors at his formal birthday event. They'd been invited for the sole reason of getting to know him, and he couldn't say he was optimistic. There had been one guy in particular that his grandfather had been pushing, Sosuke Aizen. Aizen was the only child of the captain of the Demon Division, a unique branch of the military which utilised the individual talents of their species. Ichigo had met Aizen before, many times, he always seemed to appear at any event Ichigo attended, and would go out of his way to speak to the orange haired youth. If he was being honest, he found it a bit creepy, but there wasn't anything he could do about it.

He hadn't yet asked his father what he thought of the situation. Ichigo could guess that he wouldn't be overly happy about it, not that it'd change anything. His father had only been allowed to marry his mother with the understanding that Ichigo's grandfather would play matchmaker for Ichigo and his siblings.

Ichigo wouldn't give up his family for the world, but he often wondered what would have happened if he'd born into a poor family instead of a rich one. People often said how lucky he was, living in such a large mansion with people to help him whenever he needed. He could have anything he wanted growing up, except for the one thing he wanted above all others, the freedom to choose.

He grew up on the stories of the gods, and how every being had been born with two heads, four arms and four legs, but only one heart. It was said, that once the gods had realised how powerful these beings were, they split them in two. New, smaller bodies were formed, but each only possessed half a heart. It was thought that a demon's soulmate was the one who held the other half of their heart, and that there was no way of knowing who it was before meeting them. He loved the tales of soulmates sensing each other, being drawn to a place on instinct only to find their other half. Ichigo had always dreamt of finding the other half of his heart, but that's all it ever was, a dream. There was no way he'd be allowed to go looking, and it went without saying that Aizen wasn't it. Ichigo wasn't even sure the guy had anything like a heart, he seemed nice enough, but there was something under the surface that put Ichigo on edge. Well, good luck to him. At least he had two more years before he might have to mate with the other man.

A knock at his door shook him out of his thoughts. He took his time to roll over onto his stomach so he was facing the entrance to his room.

"Yeah. Come in,"

The door didn't open. Instead, a faint humanoid shaped form stepped right through the solid wood. It stood there for a moment, shimmering, almost invisible, and then it solidified. To anyone who didn't know the family, the demon could have been mistaken for Ichigo's taller, and colourless twin, but that was not the case.

"Hey. How ya feeling?"

Ichigo watched as his elder brother settled himself on the edge.

"Alright, I guess. Are you guys leaving now?"

"Yep." Gold on black eyes turned to meet brown, "You'll have the whole place to yourself,"

"And that's great, but I wish I was coming with you,"

"I know it sucks. I'll take ya somewhere nice when we get back."

Ichigo sighed, shifting to lay his head on his brother's leg, "Alright."

A pale hand came up to run through orange hair. Neither male thought much about the gesture, used to the comforting touches shared between them. They sat together in the quietness of the room, just taking a second with their silent goodbye.

Eventually Ichigo moved away. The other got to his feet, but didn't leave.

"Ya sure ya gonna be alright?" Shiro said.

"I'll be fine, Shiro. You don't need to worry."

"Well, if you're sure. The staff won't be here for the week, so if ya need anything ya know ya can call me, right?"

"Shiro..."

"There's enough food so ya don't hafta go out,"

"Shiro, really..."

"An' ya got the whole house to ya'self, an' I'll be back on Sunday."

"Shiro. Stop. Seriously, you're making a bigger fuss about this than me. They're probably waiting for you."

"I know. I'm sorry, but I worry about ya, ya know?" Shiro said, moving back to the bed to wrap Ichigo up in a hug.

"I do. Now go." Ichigo pushed his brother towards the door, "I'll watch you leave from the window."

" Ya did say bye to everyone, right?"

" Yes. Unlike you, they were ready an hour ago,"

Shiro paused, unsure if he should leave, "Ya could always come down an' say bye again."

" Shi, please,"

"Okay. Okay, I'm leavin'. I'll see ya next Sunday, Ichi,"

With that he left through the door the same way he entered, and Ichigo was alone once more.

The first thing he did, on the Sunday morning after his family left, was gather all the pillows and blankets from the bedrooms to make a giant nest in the home cinema. He decided that he'd sleep in there for the week. It made it easier to relax while watching films, and it was close to the kitchen, which made it perfect for regular snacks.

He spent two days messing around in the empty mansion. All of the hallways, rooms and staircases looked the same as always, but the absence of family and staff made them feel bigger and lonesome. It was a weird feeling, and Ichigo, being restless with his condition, used his energy to explore the home where he grew up. With no one around to catch him at anything, he was able to be impulsive without having to think things through first. Of course he didn't want to be reckless, but something inside pulled on the childlike thoughts that flickered trough his brain, and there was no reason to ignore them. The thoughts could have been because of the heat, or it could have been that Ichigo had been acting as an adult for so long that the opportunity to be a child again was a too good one to pass up. He'd pondered the reason for his urges for a while, before deciding that he didn't care and just went with it. He let lose, running through the corridors and bouncing himself off the walls when he didn't slow down in time. He went through the games room, digging out packets of cards, dominos and Jenga bricks, which then used to build a massive tower underneath the pool table. Animals were made out of Lego, experimental and disastrous foods came out the kitchen, and by the time Wednesday came around there weren't many rooms left to put a mark on.

On Thursday Ichigo was so worked up from the heat that he could barley think. He hated it. He was hot and sweaty and had to keep touching himself just to get a short moment of relief to rest in. It was never long before the aching harness came back though, one or two hours at most. As much as he disliked being alone, he was more than glad his family had gone, he couldn't imagine anyone seeing him like this. Panting, he finished himself off. He lay in his nest, catching his breath before pulling on a pair of boxers and and long sleeved top to keep himself covered until it was too uncomfortable to be so. It was pointless, but, even in his state, it didn't feel right to be naked all the time. He buried himself under the mound of duvets and blankets, surrounding his body completely. It felt safe, warm, everything he thought a good nest should be. Making himself as comfortable as he could, he hummed and closed his eyes to sleep the rest of the night away.

Ichigo woke with a start. He didn't know what had disturbed him, but something at the back of his mind was prodding him, telling him that something was off, that something was wrong. Shifting, he pushed his head up to poke out of his fortress. It was dark, but he wasn't yet aroused, meaning he couldn't have been asleep for long, just for long enough for it to become night. He stretched into a yawn, displacing the blankets wrapped around his middle. As he turned over to snuggle back in, something in the hallway outside the door creaked. Freezing in place, he listened, trying to ignore the pounding of his heart. Something creaked again, this time accompanied by a murmur of hurried voices. Then silence. Pressing down into his nest to make himself as small as possible, Ichigo waited. The beating of his blood in his ears made it impossible to concentrate. Someone was in his house. Any other time he'd be after them, taking them down and making sure they knew never to come back. But he couldn't, not now. If they found him... it wasn't worth thinking about.

The door rattled. The handle turned. Ichigo drew in a breath, not daring to let it out again. He gripped at the blankets with shaking fists.

The door opened.

A person stepped through, a silhouette against the light from the hallway. Ichigo blinked as the figure reached out and flicked the switch on the wall, flooding the room with light.

Why was he here?

Ichigo let out his breath as Aizen turned his head towards where he was hidden. A warped smile spread across the brunet's face as their eyes made contact from across the room. Aizen knew. Everything in Ichigo's body was screaming at him to get out, to run away because this man was an alpha, and he knew Ichigo was in heat. There was no other reason for him to be there. Aizen had come for Ichigo, to take him and, as soon as the deed was done, there would be no reason for Ichigo's grandfather to choose anyone else. It wouldn't matter what Ichigo wanted. It wouldn't matter that the alpha had broken in to his home to get him when he was vulnerable because, at the end of it all, he'd be pregnant and it would easier for his grandfather to okay the whole affair since Aizen was a suitor than to make a fuss about it. They'd just blame it on Ichigo somehow. The word of beta male was worth virtually nothing.

"Ah. So this is where you've been hiding," Aizen said, pushing his glasses up before striding into the room, "You haven't made it easy, we were looking for you upstairs." He came to a stop in front of the orange haired boy and looked down into his wide brown eyes.

Ichigo had to move. He had to try to flee. He couldn't just let it happen. He didn't want this. He was supposed to have two more years for himself. He let his eyes dart to the door. There was someone else there, stood just outside the room. Even if Ichigo managed to get past Aizen he'd still have to get past the gorilla of a man that blocked the only way out. Unable to stop himself, he let out a whimper.

Aizen followed Ichigo's gaze, "Oh don't worry about him. He'll be staying out there," he waved a hand and the man disappeared down the hallway, "See. Now, are you going to behave?" He crouched down, reaching out to grab the teen's arm.

But Ichigo wasn't having any of it.

"No!" he jerked his arm back, only to throw it forward again to knock the advancing had away, "I am not a toy for you to play with."

He was still terrified, but he was going to fight as best he could. He was not just a mindless baby machine, no matter how many people saw him that way. He pushed his body up, trying to get his feet under him to stand, but, before he could get there, fingers tangled in his hair and yanked him back down again.

Aizen straddled Ichigo's back, one leg either side of the boy's body. He kept one hand in the orange locks, using the other to capture the flaying arms by the wrists and pin them to the ground. He lent forward to brush his lips along the shell of an ear, "I don't think you're quite understanding," he said as Ichigo growled beneath him, "I want you. I am not a patient man. Why should I wait when I can have you now?" He let go of Ichigo's hair and used his fingers to trail a path down the boy's side.

And that was all the leeway Ichigo needed.

He threw his head back as hard as he could. It connected with a crack and the man on his back gasped, loosening the grip on his wrist. Ichigo wrenched his arms free, pushing upwards with everything he had to throw the alpha tumbling off his back. He didn't dare look back as he scrambled along the floor towards the door. He got to his feet and he ran. Yelling erupted behind him as he reached the hallway and took off, heading away from where Aizen had gotten in. Pounding footsteps, thundered after him. He didn't stop, but he grabbed at bookshelves and tables as he ran, pulling them down behind him to slow down anyone who followed. He tried to think straight, but everything was crashing around him. His eyes burned, tears welling up making everything blurry. He could still hear them after him. He shook his head, pushing himself to go faster. As he reached the kitchen at the back of the house he turned, bursting through the double door and skirting around the island in the centre. He grabbed the key off the counter by the fridge as he passed and came to an abrupt stop as he smashed into the back door. With shaking hands he tried to get the key in the lock. It kept slipping. He couldn't get it right, his hands weren't in his control, and every time he missed the panic invading his chest increased. Breathing was becoming difficult. His brain couldn't focus on anything apart from the shouts that were growing louder with every second he wasted.

He jabbed at the lock again. The key went in and he was outside.

Ichigo knew that if he wanted to stay away from his pursuers he couldn't keep running. He went left, made his way down the garden path and climbed over the iron fence that cornered off the vegetable patch. As he was nestling himself amongst the massive rhubarb plants, Aizen and his lackey burst through the door. They both stood there for a moment. It was dark, to Ichigo that didn't mean much. It was always a little uncomfortable to use his demon heritage, but if he could see and they couldn't it gave him a better chance. Wincing, he concentrated his power into his eyes, make the pupils contract and shift until they resembled the eyes of a cat. Thin black lines appeared under his eyes to help direct what little light there was onto the lenses. He blinked as the cramping stopped and focused his attention on the two men.

Aizen stood on the steps, scanning the garden for the infuriating orange that he'd come to associate with the beta, "Where did he go?" He turned to the man next to him, "Don't just stand there, find him!"

The man, nodded and hurried across the grass towards the summer house.

Ichigo watched as Aizen stepped down and onto the path. The man looked both ways, turning his head slowly as if it would tell him where Ichigo had gone. After a minute, he walked forward, the tapping of his shoes against the stone echoing in the darkness. As the man came nearer, Ichigo held his breath, tears threatening to spill. The man came closer, until his shoes were so close Ichigo could reach out and touch them.

"Sir, there's something over here,"

The shout made Ichigo jump, but he was lucky because the shoes turned and walked away, faster than they had approached. He let his breath as the sound of footsteps disappeared.

Peeking out from the leaves of the plant, Ichigo looked to the summer house just in time to see the men go inside. It was now or never. He could feel his skin starting to heat up again and knew that, if he left it too long, he wouldn't be going anywhere. He pushed his power into his hands, gritting his teeth through the pain as his finger nails stretched and sharpened into claws. With these he'd be able to climb pretty much anything.

Darting from his hiding place, Ichigo jumped the iron fence again and sprinted across the wet grass towards the ten foot wall that surrounded the garden.

He heard something crash behind him.

"Don't let him run again!"

Reaching the wall, Ichigo dug his claws into the rough brick and pulled himself up. He kept going until he made it to the top, then, listening to the cursing from the man below him, threw himself off to land on the other side.

Ichigo didn't know how long he'd been wandering around in the forest area outside his home. He'd had to stop once, to take care of the problem of his heat which didn't seem to care if he was safe or not. He was sure he was going in the right direction, the ground had been sloping down steadily for a while meaning he was nearing the outskirts of the high side of the city. Shivering, he pulled the long sleeves of his top down over his hands, but it didn't do much good for his legs which were almost completely bare. He stumbled down a shallow embankment and found himself on a road. It was a built up area in the best part of town. Opposite him were rows of houses with large automatic gates and manicured lawns. He couldn't see any lights on, but even if there were he couldn't go knocking on peoples doors. If another demon answered there was a high chance they'd either take him for themselves or hand him back to Aizen, and, although human-demon relationships were improving, most humans had a scream first help later policy when his kind called late at night. Letting the tears that he'd been holding back fall, Ichigo started to shake. What was he meant to do? He choked back a sob and kept going, putting one foot in front of the other. Maybe he could... He looked up at the tall apartment buildings that loomed over the houses. It wasn't ideal, but somewhere like that, as swanky as they were, were sure to have some sort of store room or something he could hide in, at least until the morning when he could go to the front desk and have them call Shiro.

It took a while to get to the nearest building. He'd stumbled the whole way there, too exhausted by everything to walk properly. Every time he fell onto the concrete he got back up, even when his feet, legs and arms got so cut up he couldn't move without pain. He didn't try to stop himself crying, there was no point. The tears stained his face and made his eyes ache. He should be stronger than this. He knew he was stronger than this, but after everything that had happened the reality of his situation, of his future, hit so hard he wondered if it was worth it.

But he had Shiro. He had Karin and Yuzu and their father. He couldn't give up, even if it was just for them.

Ichigo lent against the wall to stop himself from falling. He had to get in. Pushing himself back up he looked around. A set of metal stairs, a fire escape, was attached to the building about twenty metres away. That would do. He tried to walk towards it, but his legs were so shaky he almost collapsed. Using the wall for support he dragged himself along and when he reached the stairs he grabbed onto the railing and used that to pull himself up step by step. He got up three floors before he could go no further.

Falling on to the cold metal, Ichigo stopped. His eyes were so heavy. He tried to keep them open, to move his arms, but his body had had enough. He whimpered as he finally let the pain wash over him and drag him into the darkness.