Reisi awoke to the sound of his alarm going off. Instinctively he reached back to shut it off, while the gears in his head started to turn and his eyes tried and failed to focus. He snatched up his glasses and was met with the clear picture of his ceiling, with the light still on. For a few precious seconds, it was a normal morning, but then images from last night filtered through his mind's eye and his blood went cold.

His grip was bruising on the boy's arms as he forced the younger male down onto the bed. The world was a blur of pheromones, the man he used to be locked deep inside and a beast let loose in his place. He was focused on the flesh, not the face, of the boy he was about to defile. No, he would make sweet love to this magnificent creature, but if only it would stop struggling. He leaned down and licked a strip up the side of the boy's neck, and the male shuddered and lay still. He smirked against the pale flesh, he tasted so heavenly-like honey and sugar and sex.

Tears sprung to the Blue King's eyes as he remembered bits and pieces of the atrocity he had committed. Bile rose in his throat and he clapped a hand over his mouth, hot tears running over his fingers. He had yet to look beside him, to the warm presence he felt so near to his bare skin. He couldn't look, couldn't bear to see the crime he had committed-couldn't look at the boy's fearful eyes that would surely be filled with betrayal and hate.

But he had to look, had to assess the rate of damage so he could pay for his actions accordingly. He gulped, Christ-and right after he spilled his heart to me I just go and take advantage him like this...how disgusting...The boy had opened up to him finally, after their first and most likely last date, and he just turns around and rapes the poor boy. After that story...those feelings...to hurt him like this was just too cruel. Not for the first time in his life, Reisi cursed the roles of Alphas and Omegas-wishing they could be a more civilized and less instinctual race. He took a deep breath, steeled his nerves, and turned to look at the boy he had defiled, only to lose his breath in one fell swoop.

The boy looked like an angel.

The sunlight that filtered in through a corner of his blinds shone the on the boy's face as he lay turned towards Reisi. He was snuggled deep into the white sheets up to his neck, his dark hair fanning around his beautiful face like a halo. His high cheekbones were as if sculpted marble, his long lashes casting shadows along his aquiline nose. His breath came out slow and steady passed bright pinks lips parted slightly as he slept soundly.

Reisi reached out gently to carefully pull down the sheets to see the damage he might have caused, and the illusion of tranquility was lost. He dropped the sheet which pooled above the boy's waist and had to clap a hand to his mouth to prevent from sobbing aloud. The boy's chest was a mottled mess of bright red hickeys and finger nail scratches-some of which would be in dire need of stitching. There were almost black hand shaped bruises around both upper arms as well as ones that peeked out at the boy's hips. His lower abdomen was splattered with cum on the front and a horrific amount of smeared blood near the base of his tail bone. Reisi could honestly care less about the state of his sheets. His only thoughts were what a horrible monster he was for mutilating this innocent boy.

But the worst thing of all was the bloody bite mark on the boy's collarbone.

A Bonding Bite.

Reisi wanted to scream, to tear out his hair and beat his fists bloody on the wall. How could he have done something so awful to this child? How could he mate with this boy after his old mate, as well as his rapist, had died only a week prior? How could he shackle him with children once more after hearing such a sad speech? How could he? How could-

"Reisi, are you alright?"

His heart skipped a beat for the first time in his life, and Reisi didn't know whether to be relieved or horrified that the tone of the boy's voice was innocent worry directed at him of all people. He looked down at his new mate and expected hatred and anguish, not the bright smile and glittering sapphires he was met with.

"Good morning."

"...Good morning..."

Saruhiko blushed when he realized he was stripped of covers and pulled it up to his neck like a child would a safety blanket. He winced as he maneuvered himself onto his stomach, curling his arms around the pillow and burying his face in the torn feather case. White fluff fluttered out like stuffing in a bear, and Reisi didn't want to think about which one of them had raked their nails down the satin pillow case. Saruhiko turned his face, side pressed into the soft fluff, and gave him a dazzling smile. What did this boy think he was doing? Why was he acting like everything was fine? Like what had happened the night before had been an act of love and not the lust it had been? Did he not realize what Reisi had done? Or had he, God forbid, thought he had intended it to happen? That he meant to claim the boy after he had just explained his sad life's story?

"Saruhiko I-" He what? He was sorry? He would find a way to fix this? Offer Severance? Offer abortion? These things were abominations after learning of the boy's past, of what his mother forced him to do at the fragile age of thirteen. He would be damned if he abandoned this boy, this gem he had fallen for so hard and then shattered so easily like glass. He couldn't find the words to express his sorrow, his soul crushing guilt, his determination to make things right between them.

Saruhiko's smile fell into a light frown and he cast his eyes down sadly, reaching out fluidly to thread his finger's with the older man's. "I know," he whispered, flicking large blue eyes up at his face once more, "but we can make this right, can't we?" The soft hopeful tone of voice punctuated by the sheet sliding down a fraction to expose a hint of the Bonding Bite that had yet to heal. Reisi felt guilt roil in his gut once more and loosened his fingers from Saruhiko's grasp.

"I raped you." A fact, his crime, his cross to bear until he rotted in his grave. Saruhiko's squeezed his eyes shut, "I-" he sounded like he was trying hard not to cry, and Reisi felt regret again, "I know this...isn't ideal...but this is what would happen anyway, you know?" Reisi wrinkled his nose in disgust, "I mutilated you- have you not seen what I've done to you? You're bleeding and bruised black. You think this would have happened eventually?!"He had lost himself to irrational Alpha anger, and despaired when Saruhiko shrunk back into the sheet as if struck. His eyes watered and he bit his lip, voice but a whimper, "I meant that we'd be mated eventually...I...I'm sure if we had kept it all up I would have fallen in love with you as well...at least...I love you a little already..."

His eyes welled with tears as Reisi struggled with his emotions, "How can you love after I violated you?" Saruhiko squirmed under his gaze and winced in pain, just making the guilt well more. "I don't", Saruhiko whimpered, "think of it that way..." Reisi was silent so he continued in a normal voice, "I...was scared...at first...but I understood it wasn't your fault, you were just acting on instincts and, believe it or not, you were very gentle." Reisi gestured to the mauling hidden underneath the sheets, "That's gentle?" Saruhiko smiled sadly, "Before I had a fractured arm and broken ribs, I've heard that Omegas sometimes die..." Reisi was shocked into silence, and Saruhiko took it as an opportunity to rejoin their hands and scoot his body closer to him.

It was natural that he was clingy, Reisi knew, as all Bonded Omegas are with their mates. Frankly, he himself wanted nothing more than to hold this boy until the end of time, bury his face into the soft tresses and whisper to him how much he adored him. But could he, after all he had just done?

As if reading his mind, Saruhiko's face lost it's color and his grip on his hand turned into a choke hold. "You won't," his voice broke, "you won't make me kill them will you? You wouldn't...no..." His fingers went from a death grip to slipping away limply, as Reisi watched in horror as the boy seemed to retreat within himself in his grief as he mumbled, "No no no I can't not again I can't no don't make me no-" He lowered himself down quickly and pulled the boy into a hug as best he could without touching the bruises or moving him too much. The boy froze in his hold, mumbling ceased but breathing uneven, "Wha-"

"I would never make you do such a thing, never in a million years. It may be backwards but I'm confident we can make this work. You can do whatever you wish, it's your body, but I would be honored to raise our children with you as my mate." He wasn't as confident as he said, but he was sure he would never love anyone like he loved the boy in his arms. He felt tears on his bare neck, and knew by his shaking that Saruhiko was sobbing, "I-thank you...thank you..." he whimpered, raising his bruised and battered arms to encircle him with surprising strength.

"Saruhiko, I love you with all my heart."

"...I think I'm on my way to doing the same, Reisi."

Reisi called in sick for the two of them that day, and they spent the rest of it in bed-sleeping soundly in each others arms. Safe in their beautiful world of two.