Daryl studied the sleeping alpha in front of him. For his first time, Daryl had to admit it had been far better than he'd dreamed. It had also gone a direction he hadn't expected. Running a hand over his hip, Daryl winced at the resultant sting. Rick had claimed him. First time with an alpha he didn't know … who didn't know him … and he'd been marked. He'd been tagged as belonging to one Rick Grimes.

Fuck. Daryl thought miserably.

He couldn't stay. He couldn't be this guy's omega. Rick said he had a family. A wife … a son … how the hell did he expect to explain Daryl when he found them? If he found them … but Daryl had a feeling Rick was the sort of man that luck favored. Daryl generally had a different experience. After all, he'd found an alpha that seemed decent … seemed like someone who wouldn't force Daryl into the submissive bitch role most omegas suffered … and he couldn't stay with him. Not only was the claiming a mistake … there was no way that Daryl was good enough for someone like Rick. Daryl glanced over at the badge gleaming brightly against the khaki shirt of Rick's uniform. A sheriff? Daryl could already hear his brother Merle on the subject.

Merle. Daryl grimaced when he thought about his older brother. No way in hell he was going to be able to hide this … his scent would change to match Rick's if he didn't leave soon. If he went now, he could get distance between them and by the time he met up again with Merle, all that his brother would be able to tell would be that Daryl had gotten his cherry popped. Done and done … Daryl would deal with the inevitable lecture about losing track of his suppressant supply.

Rick frowned in his sleep and pulled the pillow a little tighter against him. Daryl felt his chest tighten.

What the fuck?

Daryl wondered at the emotion, then it dawned on him. He was bonding to Rick. He had to get out and get out now. That thought made his throat close up with a lump roughly the size of his fist. His heat hadn't run its course although it was dampened by the claiming. Daryl knew if he stayed much longer he wouldn't be able to leave. Like a fucking baby duck, he'd imprint completely on Rick and nothing would be able to break that except death.

Daryl picked up his discarded boots and ran … quickly and quietly, Daryl fled into the surrounding woods after making sure the downstairs area was still secure. He looked back once and swallowed hard. The bite on his hip ached and his heart was thundering in his chest. Instinct told him it was wrong to run away from his alpha. Instinct told him his alpha was where he belonged … where he should always want to be.

"Fuck that," Daryl muttered.

He did not look back again as he made his way back to his original camp to wait for Merle. The few walkers he ran across were dispatched with unusual venom and maybe a few tears.


Rick awoke with the sun dipping below the horizon. He knew immediately that Daryl was gone. The realization made him instantly nauseous and he barely managed to get his head over the edge of the mattress before vomiting. His omega was gone and he had no idea where … that was an anathema to his alpha nature.

His omega. Rick pondered that phrasing while he redressed. It had been anything but the gentle easy sex he recalled with Lori … before they began to have issues. It wasn't even the early teenage years of hot sex. It had been harder and less forgiving … and Rick wanted more of it. Daryl had been a virgin but that hadn't stopped him from fully participating once his nerves gave way to the heat burning through him. And once that happened … Rick felt his cock twitch at the memory of Daryl wrapping his long legs around his waist and pulling them flush.

Now Daryl was gone … his heat wasn't even done and he'd disappeared into the Georgia landscape. He'd run from Rick. Glancing back at the bed, Rick tried to remember what he'd done … what had driven Daryl off. When he saw the small spotting of blood he blinked. He'd bitten Daryl.

"Fuck fuck fuck …" Rick breathed, running a hand through his hair. "You stupid idiot … fuck!"

Daryl had no doubt been spooked when an alpha he barely knew had marked him … claimed him. Trouble was … it was done. Daryl wouldn't be able to respond to another alpha … not willingly, anyway. He was Rick's omega for all intents and purposes. Rick couldn't escape the feeling that gave him. He loved Lori and Carl … of that he was certain. But Lori was a beta and while the bond between them had been strong, it hadn't been the all-consuming heat of an omega/alpha bond. Lori meant as much to him as she ever had but Rick knew he'd given a part of himself to Daryl. To a lone omega he'd probably never see again … and that was so far from ok, Rick couldn't process it. They were both fucked.


Three Months Later

Daryl cursed softly. Where the hell had the fucking deer gotten off to? He been tracking the stupid fucker too long to lose it now. He cast around and finally caught sight of a hoof print. Fucking yeah ... it was headed back toward camp. Now if he could just bring it down before the tender hearts he and Merle had been forced to hook-up with chased it away for some lame ass reason.

Moving through the underbrush, Daryl heard talking.

Great … stupid fucks. Wonder any of 'em are still alive, Daryl thought. Betcha none of 'em are watching for walkers.

Setting his jaw, Daryl pushed through the bushes and emerged into the midst of the survivors. He glanced briefly at the weapons brandished at him before spotting his deer.

"Son of a bitch!" Daryl complained loudly. "That's my deer! Look at it … all gnawed on by this filthy, disease-carrying, motherless poxy bastard!" Daryl punctuated his rant by kicking the headless torso beside the well-gnawed carcass of his deer.

"Calm down, son," Dale muttered tiredly. "That's not helping."

"What do you know about it, old man?" Daryl growled, pushing up into the older man's space. Shane's rifle kept him from actually touching the man. Daryl reached up and flicked the man's bucket hat. "Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to "On Golden Pond"? I been trackin' this fucker for miles … was gonna drag it back to camp … cook us up some venison." Daryl pulled his arrows out of the dead animal as he spoke. "What do you think? You think maybe we can cut around this chewed up part?"

Shane snorted. "I would not risk that."

"Fuck. Ah well ... I got some squirrel … about a dozen or so," Daryl said, glancing around the gathered crowd. "That'll have to do."

As he stepped forward to go into the camp, the walker's head, which Dale had severed from the body, began to bite and twitch. Everyone jerked back a step. Daryl looked down, annoyed. He unshouldered his crossbow and sighed.

"Come on, people. What the hell?" Daryl said, firing a bolt into the skull. "It's gotta be the brain. Don't y'all know nothin'?"

Daryl walked past Rick with barely a glance. He didn't look back. He couldn't. If he did, Daryl was afraid everyone would know that this was the alpha. The alpha whose pup he carried. Daryl swallowed hard and forced himself to keep walking. His swagger didn't alter a step. Since Glen was back, Daryl knew Merle would be in camp. He needed the security of his older brother right now.

It had taken everything Rick had not to step forward and grab Daryl when the younger man walked into the clearing. He'd watched the omega posture and bluster almost as good as an alpha. Rick swallowed hard when Daryl stalked past him with barely a glance. Every nerve in Rick's body lit up at the omega's scent and he watched him walk toward camp. The situation did not bode well.


"Merle!" Daryl shouted. "Hey, Merle! Get your ugly ass out here! I got us some squirrel! Let's stew 'em up!" Daryl called, laying his crossbow down and moving off to look for his brother.

From behind him, Shane spoke softly. "Daryl … just slow up a bit. I need to talk to you."

Daryl glanced toward the convoy vehicles where Merle should have been. He frowned and turned back toward Shane. The heat was making him lightheaded and he needed to sit in the shade before it took him down. The farther along he went with the pup, the less stamina he seemed to have. Annoying, but it was just nature.

"About what?" Daryl asked. He nervously noticed people watching him.

"About Merle," Shane said. "There was a – problem in Atlanta."

Daryl blinked. "Problem". Why couldn't these fuckers just say what they meant? He swallowed and glanced over at Rick before turning his back on the alpha and facing Shane. "He dead?"

"We're not sure," Shane said.

Daryl's head came up. His temper flared. "He either is or he ain't!"

Rick cleared his throat. This was probably the worst moment he'd ever had since waking up in a world gone mad and finding his family gone. An omega … his omega … stood only feet from him and Rick was about to deliver quite possibly the worst news he could other than telling him that his brother was dead.

"No easy way to say this, so I'll just say it," Rick started as he walked over to Shane's side.

"Who are you?" Daryl snarled.

Rick bit down on his retort. If Daryl didn't want it known who he was, then that's the way they'd play it … for now. He returned, "Rick Grimes."

"Rick Grimes … you got something you wanna tell me?" Daryl said, low and dangerous.

His body was taut with barely controlled fury. He glared at Rick, blue eyes flashing. Rick breathed through his mouth to mitigate Daryl's scent and replied.

"Your brother was a danger to us all," Rick said quietly. "So I handcuffed him on a roof ... hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there."

Daryl turned away and wiped angrily at his eyes. "Hold on," he said, gesturing to his head. "Let me process this ... you're saying you handcuffed my brother to a roof? And you left him there?!"

Daryl's face was bright red with rage. He stared in utter disbelief at Rick. The alpha ... his alpha ... the one whose pup grew inside him. The handsome face that had brought him safely through a heat that could have ended in tragedy ... that face looked impassively at him. The voice that had gentled him into letting go and trusting during their knotting ... that voice was telling him calmly that his brother – the only family he had – was handcuffed to a roof in a city crawling with walkers in the middle of the fucking Georgia summer. He couldn't even begin to fathom how this was his life.

"Yeah," Rick acknowledged.

Daryl growled and threw the bundle of dead squirrels at the man. Rick ducked easily and Shane tackled Daryl. He released him quickly, mindful of Daryl's condition. Daryl was having none of the false concern. His blade scraped against its sheath as he leapt up and slashed out at Rick. T-Dog, another survivor, threw down the wood he'd been gathering and approached quickly but Rick quickly got ahold of Daryl's arm and forced the omega to release the knife. Shane was behind Daryl the minute he was disarmed and he maneuvered him into a restraining hold. Daryl snarled and kicked out, trying to free himself.

"You best let me go!" Daryl shouted.

"Nah, I think it's better if I don't," Shane disagreed.

"Choke hold's illegal!" Daryl protested weakly.

"You can file a complaint," Shane assured him.

Shane did not tighten his hold more than he had to ... Merle had made sure the camp knew of Daryl's condition. It was the only reason the brothers had been accepted into the group. No one wanted to be responsible for sending a pregnant omega out into the wilderness that had become the world. Pregnancy in any designation would guarantee entrance to this group, but a male omega was a rarity indeed even before walkers.

Of course, just because Daryl was carrying didn't mean Shane was about to let him kill Rick. He held the omega at bay while Rick crouched in front of him.

"Come on, Daryl ... I can do this all day ..." Shane murmured.

Rick met Daryl's eyes. "Daryl ... I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic. Do you think we can manage that?" Rick leaned in closer when Daryl did not respond. "Do you think we can manage that, Daryl?"

The omega did not meet Rick's eyes. He was having enough issue trying not to automatically submit to Rick. He had to keep his anger high or he wouldn't be able to defend himself. Shane leaned in close to Daryl's ear.

"Daryl ... think about the pup, k? Not good for it or you to be doin' this right now ... just hear the man out."

Rick blinked. "You're carrying a pup?"

"Fuck off, alpha," Daryl growled. "Get off me."

Shane met Rick's eyes and released Daryl, who sat in the dirt trying to regain his control. Rick pushed aside the information he'd just heard and looked directly at Daryl.

"What I did was not on a whim ... your brother does not work and play well with others," Rick explained.

About that time, T-Dog approached. "It's not Rick's fault ... I had the key. I dropped it."

Daryl turned to look at the man. "You couldn't pick it up?!"

"I dropped it down a drain."

Daryl huffed a disbelieving laugh. Pushing himself up, Daryl brushed off the dust and stalked off, putting distance between himself and Rick. He glared at T-Dog. "If that's supposed to make me feel better, it don't!"

"Look," the man said. "I chained the door to the roof so the geeks couldn't get at him. With a padlock."

Rick walked up to Daryl again. "That's gotta count for something."

Daryl's eyes narrowed as he shot a dark look at Rick.

You fucker ... Daryl thought.

Emotion flooded through the omega. He was stuck with this alpha's bastard and the man he'd once thought was decent had abandoned his only family to die on a rooftop.

"The hell with all of y'all!" Daryl barked, wiping frustratedly at his leaking eyes. "Just tell me where he is so's I can go get him!"

"He'll show you," a soft female voice said evenly. "Isn't that right?"

Daryl looked over to see the woman named Lori staring at Rick with an unknown emotion flaring in her eyes. Daryl looked back to Rick and then did a quick glance at Lori's son, Carl. It suddenly dawned on him ... this was Rick's family. The one he'd been looking for when they met. Despite everything, Daryl realized he'd held a faint miserable hope that Rick would claim the pup he'd sired. Now the omega knew that would never happen ... in fact, Daryl suspected Rick would do whatever he could to get the Dixon brothers sent on their way. No alpha wanted competition for his legitimately sired offspring. Daryl's pup had just become a liability.

Rick looked at Lori for a moment and then at Daryl. He saw recognition dawn on the omega's face and knew that Daryl had figured out who Lori and Carl were. He also saw something akin to fear enter the blue eyes he'd stared into while calling out his climax. Rick was familiar with the way many alphas viewed bastard pups ... obstacles to their acknowledged children. Some saw to it that the omega lost the pups. Others saw to it the omega went with the child. Daryl had good reason to be concerned and that made Rick unaccountably sad. And he could let none of that show ... he had to keep up the appearance of never having met Daryl and of not caring who the pup he carried belonged to.

"I'm going back," Rick said steadily.

Daryl looked at Rick for a moment and then he turned on his heel to stalk away. No one followed him and no one was privy to the omega's tears as he sagged against a tree far away from the camp.

"Don't you worry, kid ... I ain't gonna let you die. And I ain't gonna let your uncle Merle die neither. That fucker mighta got you on me but he ain't gonna ever have you ... ever. I promise you that," Daryl whispered to his still flat abdomen.

Rick looked in the direction Daryl had gone and wished he could follow. He looked over where Lori was pointedly ignoring him in favor of watching over Carl. He had a family. Daryl was obviously alright with never being acknowledged as being claimed. He could just leave things as they were and no one would ever be the wiser.

Unfortunately, Rick had lost Daryl once when the omega walked away from him. He knew he wasn't going to be able to let that happen again. He was right and truly fucked no matter how he looked at the situation.