TW/ Sexual Assault and manipulation.

/

Hunter glowered down at the witch struggling to get on her feet.

"P-please." She said, tears streaming down her eyes. "Don't do this."

He laughed at her pitiful plea. "Sorry poor Omega," he said before reaching out with his staff. Her body glowed red before her clothes began to melt off.

"W-wait," She said tears in her eye as she tried to back away and over herself. "Don't…"

"Enough." Hunter said hungrily. He unleashed his scent completely.

The girl froze. Then she stopped trying to get up and looked up at him, her eyed filled with fear, adoration and most importantly, obedience.

Hunter smirked and strolled up to her before grabbing a fistful of her lavender hair. "Open your pretty mouth." He said as his own clothes began to melt away.

Hunter screamed and sat up on his bed. He took a few deep breaths as he tried to regain his bearings.

He looked around, greeted by the dark outline of his bedroom. It wasn't sunrise yet. He looked at his clock. His alarm would go off in half an hour.

He grabbed his face, panting. "It's fine," He said. "It's fine. I'm fine. I didn't do anything."

He rolled his tongue in his mouth and flinched at the sharpened canines. He reached into his mouth, gingerly touching them. He was on the edge of a rage. With some concentration, he forced his Alpha back into the cage, his teeth going back to normal as he did.

Concerned chirping drew his attention to the red cardinal hidden in his blanket. "Sorry," he said. "Bad dreams."

More chirping as the red Palisman hopped around on his bed.

"I'll go see a doctor. Tomorrow. Belos has a job for me. And I'm going with two Coven Scouts, so you're staying here. I don't trust you to behave."

Hunter ignored all the indignant chirping as he proceeded to get ready for his day.

/

"Boscha dear, could you come down for a second?"

Boscha sighed before looking at her crystal ball. "Give me a second Skara."

The triclops got up and walked out of her bedroom. The second she opened her door, the scent hit her. There was an Alpha was in the house. The hairs on the back of her neck instinctively spiked before a second whiff made her relax, but only slightly. A male Alpha.

Downstairs her parents were waiting with three members of the Emperor's coven. Two were dressed in the unfashionable outfits they usually wore, but the one that interested her was in the middle. He was shorter, and his mask was gold.

"Ah," she said, reluctantly getting on one knee. "The Golden Guard."

"No need for that." He said waving his arm.

Boscha nodded and stood up. Then she walked up to him. "Is there a reason you've come to my house and filled it with your scent?"

"Boscha." Her mother said, scandalized.

Hunter raised an arm. "It's okay. I react the same way when an unknown Alpha unleashes their scent in my home." He stifled a yawn.

"So…" Boscha said, expectantly.

"My apologies." Hunter said. "I've been expose to… a lot of scents today. And you know, Alpha's don't like having their scents overshadowed."

Boscha hummed. "You should probably get some rest then."

Hunter narrowed his eyes.

Unlike their Omega counterparts who rallied together, Alphas were a lot more aggressive with each other. However, Alpha's on opposite genders, not genetically predisposed to competing for Omegas, were just catty.

"Well, I like to get a job done before stopping."

"And what is your job exactly? Now that I'm up close." She took a breath feeling more excited. "I can smell male Omegas on you."

"I'm…" Hunter stopped himself from saying anymore, unleashing more of his scent to cover up the myriad of smells that had stuck to him. "I'm not obligated to explain my work to you."

Boscha smirked. "You're so serious. I like that." She faltered. Did she just say that? Her more rational mind was telling her not to pick a fight with the coven official. Even if he was an Alpha that had entered her territory and smelled like several Omegas and Alphas.

"I've gotten what I need." Hunter said, straining a smile beneath his mask. "Thank you for your time." He gave Boscha a once over before leaving.

Once the officials were gone, Boscha's parents gave her a flat look.

"Kinda mean of him to leave a girl hanging. I wonder what he looks like under that mask."

Both sighed.

/

Hunter stopped in front of the house of the triclops girl before he looked at the two scouts with him. "One down," he said. "Bonesborough is the last town on our list. Should be easy if the other witches unconsciously unleash their scents once they smell me."

"Sir," one of the scouts said, "with all due respect, I must ask; is it healthy for Alphas to expose themselves to so many scents in such a short span of time?"

Hunter gave the scout a withering glare. "That doesn't matter." He said, "The emperor wants me to memorize the scents of every registered Alpha and Omega. An easy enough task. Who's next?"

One of the guards brought out a clipboard "I believe the next person is Amity Blight."

Hunter almost heard his heart screech to a stop at the name, fearful eyes flashing his memory, quickly replaced with imagined obedient ones. "No need," he said. "I've smelt her scent before."

The slightly earthy citrus scent from his rutting rage was still seared into his mind.

"Oh, then we can move on to…"

"Actually, remove the human and Lilith Clawthorne as well."

"The human?" the guard asked.

"Oh… I suppose she wouldn't be registered with us. Regardless, I've smelt her too. We met during the Selkidomus hunt. I know the coven heads aren't on the list but, Lilith's not one anymore and…" Hunter hesitated. "I've met her way too many times to forget her scent."

The guard nodded.

"Anyway," Hunter said, cheering himself up. "We're in the home stretch of this mission. Let's finish up. Who's next?"

/

Hunter bowed before the emperor. "It is done sir."

"Impressive Hunter." Belos said. "You exposed yourself to so many scents and memorized them all in less than a day."

Hunter felt himself almost vibrate at the praise. "Thank you Emperor. If it's for the Titan's plan, I'm happy to help."

Belos nodded before getting up. "But Hunter, you do seem to be affected by the scents. Your scent is quite unrestrained at the moment. The Alpha in me is feeling rather challenged."

"Sorry." Hunter said. "I have the scents of so many on me and my body can't accept being buried under it."

"It's okay." Belos said as he walked closer to his nephew before motioning for him to get up and follow. "This will only help with the next part of the Titan's plan."

Hunter raised an eyebrow and looked at his uncle as he walked behind him, following him out of the throne room. "There's more?"

"Of course." Belos said. "As a magicless Witch, you are quite unique. And despite that, you still have quite a lot of skill."

Hunter blinked. "Well, that's mostly thanks to your instruction."

"Oh," Belos stopped and looked back. "Can I see your staff?"

Hunter raised an eyebrow before pulling out the compressed staff and holding it out to his uncle.

Belos took it before handing Hunter a pair of keys and resumed walking.

"And of course, it seems that the trait would be passed onto any potential children you have."

Hunter did not like where the conversation was going.

"Beyond your role as the head of the Emperor's Coven, the Titan has plans regarding understanding your… condition."

Hunter very much did not like where this conversation was going.

"So…" he began. "The Titan wants to… study me?"

"No." Belos said. "It wants us to study your fetal development."

"Well we're over 18 years too late for that." Hunter said.

Belos looked back at him.

Hunter chuckled awkwardly, wishing he was still wearing his mask.

"Well," Belos said. "We can just make a new one."

Hunter's stomach dropped. "You want me to…"

"I was surprised too." Belos said. "But the Titan revealed that we had a unique opportunity for comparison that will allows us a more technical understanding of the development of the sacs attached to our hearts by comparing the development between two different species."

"I… don't understand."

"Well," Belos said. "Your family has long since integrated with normal Witches, yet you still can't use magic. But… what if you were to have a child with someone without a bile sac at all. Would one still develop?"

Hunter's mind was in overdrive. "Like the human?"

The Emperor stopped in front of a door Hunter didn't recognize. "Yes."

"You want me to… mate with the human?"

"Not just the human. It's best we compare it to the development in a pairing with a powerful witch."

"You want me to mate with the human and a witch?" Hunter asked, sounding more incredulous than he meant to.

"Yes."

Hunter began mentally thinking of how to get out of this situation. "But… you can't mate with two people."

"That is usually correct. Unless someone does something like, say, keep themselves on the edge of a rutting rage for over a day."

Hunter stared at his uncle. He knew?

"Your self-control is truly amazing. In every other documented case, the Alpha could barely hold a conversation."

The praise did not inspire the same feelings it normally would have.

Belos looked at the door. "This room was constructed while you were gone. What do you think?"

Hunter looked at the door confused by his uncle's actions. He opened it and walked in. Then he froze.

"This room will be reopened in six hours. To ensure they don't escape." His uncle said behind him. Hunter turned to stare at him, in time to see two blue orbs staring back at him right as the door slammed shut and disappeared.

Hunter stared at the wall, expecting to wake up from this nightmare at any second.

After a minute, he slowly turned back to the room. It was completely empty save for three things. A Kings-sized bed and the two livid Omegas handcuffed to it.

"Hunter," Luz said.

Hunter looked back at where the door had been and touched it.

"Hunter." Amity said cautiously. Their last encounter was still in her mind.

Hunter began took a few steps back before running his shoulder into the wall the door had been in. Nothing, but shoulder pain.

"Hunter!"

Hunter ignored them as he tried kicking at the wall.

"Hunter!" They both yelled.

"What?" He yelled back.

"Your scent." Luz said.

Hunter blinked before realizing what they meant. He concentrated and forced himself to stop giving off his pheromones. His body protested at being covered in the scents of so many other Alphas and even Omegas, but he ignored it.

"We already tried breaking the door. This whole thing was made by the head of the Construction Coven. Unless you have a very powerful magic spell…" Amity trailed off. Hunter's scent was gone, but now it felt like they were in the room full of Alphas and Omegas.

Hunter thought of his Palisman. "Of all the times to leave him in my room." He sighed then looked at the girls. "How are you even here?"

"We were grabbed at school." Luz said. "I don't know what happened. One minute we were having lunch and the next we woke up here without my glyphs and Ghost. Why are we here?"

Hunter's stomach dropped. "Um… well…"

"Yes?" Amity asked.

Hunter glared at her. "Belos wants… the Titan wants… I have too…" He trailed off.

"Hunter." Luz said. "You're scaring me."

Hunter groaned. Then he explained Belos' plan, keeping his head down. From the rutting rage to his mission to the six-hour deadline.

"Is that why you smell like every Alpha and Omega on the boiling Isles?" Luz asked. "You were literally scented by every Alpha and Omega on the boiling Isles."

"We aren't making it to six hours." Amity said. She spun her finger making a small purple flame and held it to the handcuffs.

"Wait…" Hunter said. "I have the keys." He took them both out.

"Unlock us." Liz said.

"No." Amity said, fear evident in her eyes. "Just… toss them over to us."

Hunter did so. One landed on the ground just shy of the bed and the other landed on Luz's lap.

"Great aim dude." Luz said. Hunter couldn't tell if she was joking.

Once both were free, they looked at the Coven head sitting as far from them as humanly possible.

"What if we handcuff him?" Luz asked. "So if he loses control…"

"Then he'd just order us to go to him." Amity said. "We need to bust out of here."

"This room was created by the head of the Construction Coven." Hunter said. "We need a big blast."

Luz thought about it. "Big like make a three-story tall tower of ice big?"

Hunter looked up.

"I have an idea." Luz said. She looked Amity. "You think you can burn a gouge in the floor?"

Amity raised an eyebrow before crouching to do so. She summoned her flame and held it to the ground. After a few minutes, she'd successfully disfigured the floor. "This is really good construction work." She said. Then she sniffed. "Hunter. It's easier to ignore a bunch of secondhand scents than your own."

Hunter blinked. He hadn't realized that he had begun leaking his scent again. He concentrated on pulling it back.

"So here's the plan." Luz said. "Amity burns a glyph into the ground while I supervise, and Hunter focuses on rejecting all of his instincts."

Amity thought about it before smiling. "Well," she said, "guess we'll have to rely on some human magic."

Luz smiled back. "Thanks."

Hunter turned around and laid on the floor, facing the wall. "Sounds like a plan. But reign in your own scents. Stop with the lovey dovey stuff."

Both girls blushed at being called out.

"That's not helping."

/

Two hours later, it occurred to Luz that Hunter hadn't said that it sounded like a great plan.

They'd moved the bed for better access to the floor and proceeded to burn 90% of a very large plant glyph. Anything else would have been too deadly for them.

However, Hunter had long since stopped responding to their requests that he kept his scent down and their bodies were already reacting to his scent with their own.

"We're almost done Amity." Luz said before she snuck a glance at the other occupant of the room.

"Don't look at him." Amity said. "Look at me."

Luz looked at her girlfriend who grabbed her hand. "We're gonna get out of this," she said. "But stealing glances at him won't help."

"You've been looking at him too." Luz said.

Amity blushed. "Not as much as you."

"Seriously?" Luz asked.

"Luz," Amity said, "I'm gay. I've never been attracted to a guy in my entire life. I know that what I'm feeling now isn't genuine. It's my body's reproductive instincts going into overdrive. Same with you. You just need to remember that. And our own scents aren't making this any easier on him."

Luz blinked at her girlfriend. Then she shook her head. "It's suffocating," she said. "And he's trying so hard. He doesn't even have the turn-off of being a bad person who wants to take advantage of out statuses. You said he stopped a rutting rage. I've never even heard of that before. Maybe he just can't hear us?"

Amity sighed and went back to finishing the triangle. "We can give him a medal later. Right now, we need to… Luz?" Amity looked up.

Luz was walking up to the Golden Guard.

"Hey Hunter," Luz said, sweating as she did so. "Could you please reduce your scent?" She got on one knee behind him and looked at his face.

He looked, sad. Sadder than normal. And in pain. Luz stared at his gentle features, so peaceful. His eyes were half opened, and Luz couldn't tell if he was even conscious. She reached for his face.

Amity opened her mouth to yell but stopped. She couldn't bring herself to do it. It suddenly occurred to her that she and Luz had been breathing in the Alpha's scent for two hours and releasing their own in response. This wasn't a situation they were destined to escape.

Luz touched Hunter's cheek. Hunter's eyes snapped open.

/

Hunter screamed as he sat up.

"Again?" he asked. "My dreams are getting annoying…" he trailed off.

He wasn't in his room. He was in on a cot. And he was outside.

"What the hell?" He asked before looking around.

That's when he saw it. The Emperor's Castle, the symbol of the Emperor's power, home base of the Emperor's Coven, and Hunter's home. Its top floor was a wreck.

Giant vines had sprouted from dozens of spots around it and wrapped around the top of the building. It seemed that the only think keeping it from collapsing were the vines themselves, holding the condemned building together in its grip.

"Wild magic did that?" He asked. Then he paused at a strange taste in his mouth. He touched his canines with his tongue, but they were the normal length.

"Hunter." A voice said, drawing his attention.

"Dr. Pine." Hunter said looking at the Healing Coven witch.

"Good to see you awake." She said with a huff. "What were you even doing?"

"Doing?" Hunter asked.

"We found you unconscious outside the castle." She said, exasperated.

Hunter blinked. Had the girls carried him out?

He shifted and got out of the cot. "How long was I out?" He asked, looking around. There were several people in cots around him. It seemed to be an emergency first aid camp, minus the camp.

"Well, the castle exploded six hours ago."

Hunter looked at the sky. It seemed that dawn was drawing close. Then something caught his eye.

"My staff." He said, grabbing the object that was leaning against his bed.

"Yeah," Dr. Pine said. "Emperor Belos dropped by to return it before he returned to handling the…" she glanced at the Castle. "That."

Hunter blinked. "Really?"

"Yeah, he also left a message."

Hunter winced. There was no way the emperor wouldn't be upset about his total failure.

"Despite the unexpected disaster, good job Hunter and thank you."

The world screeched to a halt. "What?"

"He said good job." Dr. Pine said. "What's with that look? I thought you'd…"

The sound of her voice trailed off as Hunter stared at nothing.

Good job? Why would Belos congratulate him? He'd failed. Amity and Luz had escaped, and he'd failed. He hadn't done what he'd been tasked with.

Right?

He began walking forward.

"Hunter?" Dr. Pine asked as he walked off. She rolled her eyes as he walked into the forest. "Teenagers." She walked off to her next patient. "How's that broken arm Steve?"

Hunter kept walking through the forest with no clear destination, thinking about Belos' words.

Good job? Hunter hadn't done a good job. If anything, he was guilty of insubordination and was a traitor. He'd done nothing while they escaped.

Chirping caught his attention and Hunter looked up in time for to notice his Palisman and catch him.

"Yeah," he said. "Belos must have assumed I succeeded. But I failed. I couldn't…" Hunter smacked his lips, confused about the taste. "What is tha-?" he froze.

/

Hunter unlatched his teeth from Amity's neck before he looked at the human she was currently making out with. The Blight heiress unlatched herself from the death grip she had on him being able to do little more than lie in her own sweat and pant. Finally, both Omegas stopped making out.

Both of them looked at him obediently and expectantly. Luz's neck already had the mark of his bite.

Hunter grabbed the human by the back of her neck and pulled her closer, his free hand wrapping around her bare waist.

/

Hunter slapped himself, but he didn't wake up from the nightmare.

He fell to his knees. "No…" he whispered, his staff slipping from his hands. "I… I…" He flinched at the taste in his mouth. He finally recognized it. Blood. Their blood.

He gagged as he felt bile rush through his throat and threw up what little was left in his stomach.

Good job Hunter and thank you, he heard in his head.

Hunter saw drops of liquid hit his vomit and looked up. It wasn't raining. He touched his face. "Oh, I'm crying."

Then he remembered the way the girls had smiled at each other and the scent they'd produced. He'd taken to calling that the scent of their love. A love he'd ruined.

"Why am I crying?" He asked, getting angry at himself. He stood up. "I need to find them. I can't sit and feel sorry for myself. I need to apologize to them. This… this is my fault."

/

Well… that took a turn. What do you guy think? Was this plot development too sudden or too dark?

I promised you a more hateable version of Belos. I think I followed through.

Lumity is still endgame, not some weird three way with Hunter, just want to remind you of that. This is… just something to deal with.

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