For Ship.
A translation of At the end of the world by Ship.
THE STORY IS NOT MINE!
this is a translation of the Italian story 'At the end of the world' by Ship.
Cover image by Jessica
CHAPTER 6 OF 14
Merlin stopped the horse that had once been Elyan's, staring at the horizon and sipping some water.
The day was still a slight mixture of blue and purple. Dawn was still far.
Probably they would travel a couple of hours more before reaching what Arthur and Leon had identified as a possible new refuge for the last day of journey...
By late evening, they would reach the sea and from there the Betas' village they were looking for. And there, they should find the healer with who they had to talk...
Then, perhaps, they could also trace the Catha with a bit of luck.
Since Arthur had revealed to him the purpose of their mission, he had joined the common anxiety to find the wise man, the general hope of a possible salvation and with it the creation of a new world.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead. The heat was raising from east, despite the sun was still far below the horizon line.
In those last two weeks, the temperature had always remained five or six degrees above average. The heat was unbearable and it was hard to find a cool place even at night.
.
Gwaine stopped beside him, dismounting.
"Sorry ... I need to stop ... nature calls"
Arthur, halting in turn, looked around, trying to capture every possible sign of danger before dismounting. He gave the order to patrol the area.
"Leon, Percival, make sure the perimeter's secure. If everything is fine, we'll stop here to rest for a quarter of an hour..."
The knights departed and Merlin, who until then had spoken little during the march, took his time to observe the Prince.
All day long, he had been noticing that Arthur was very tense.
.
After watering his horse, Merlin approached him.
The Alpha continued to scan the horizon, sharpening his senses, which he had more developed than the ones of the other members of his kind, since he was a Prime.
"You have been tense ever since we left our last shelter. What's going on?"
Arthur turned, staring at him impassively, and Merlin knew he hadn't missed the point.
The Alpha was alert for some reason and he could feel his tension all around them. He realized then he had been able to guess Arthur's thoughts, turn his every posture into a sensation, his every expression in a certainty, his every movement in an emotion, his every breath in his own heartbeat for a while.
They were united in a way he couldn't explain, since they hadn't created the Bond...
Yet, their making love had made him physically able to feel Arthur deeply, to perceive things with his senses, to see the world with his eyes.
Arthur nodded slowly.
"I have the feeling that someone has been following us since we left after our last break"
Merlin looked around, observing the landscape, but his senses were not as sharp as the Prime's. He was unable to read the reality like the Alpha could in a natural way.
"The others ... they have your same feeling, too?"
Arthur nodded, grabbing a bag and preparing a blanket where he put some food to eat.
"It would be better to take advantage of this moment of peace to eat"
Merlin approached him, tense, staring at him.
"Let me help you..."
Arthur put the last supplies of meat on the blanket, leaving it to Merlin, who divided the now hard bread they had left.
They also would have to think about supplies in Gedref, buying some food.
Merlin looked at the Alpha listening to every sound, paying attention to the horses...
The blond felt them nervous, making him even more alert.
"Who do you think is following us? Do you think they want to attack us?"
Arthur stared at him. His eyes revealed nothing of their intimate relationship. In that moment, he was acting like a pack leader, like someone with the weight and the responsibility of their survival on his shoulder, like the leader of their group.
"It could simply be a traveler who is following us to stick to this route... because the high road is still not viable"
Merlin felt that it wasn't what Arthur really believed...
The blond was only trying to reassure him.
Arthur looked down, continuing.
"Or it could be some smugglers. In that case we must be more alert to the horses and keep them close to us, even at the shelter"
Merlin nodded.
Then, a sudden thought, born from the tension, invaded him.
"What if they are other Alphas?"
Merlin knew that was the most feared option, because in that case the group would have to fight.
Arthur looked up, revealing that that was his real concern. The icy blue of his eyes seemed to soften for a moment, as he stared at Merlin, but then his attitude returned firm and aloof, majestic and regal as ever.
Merlin had become accustomed to his subtle distance, to Arthur's attitude toward him, to the way he always walked one-step ahead of him and never by his side, always close but unreachable.
He was the one who had wanted that situation and imposed that distance, even though it hurt him.
The moments where they had ended up touching each other for real were rare and immeasurable, relegated to the few times they had made love, when the Alpha had taken and possessed him... and it was during those moments that Merlin had felt, touched and understood him deep inside.
But the rest of the time Arthur remained the most impenetrable person he had ever met, a puzzle to him... unreachable as a King should be; inaccessible to everyone but his mate, that Merlin had chosen not to be.
His answer almost made him jump.
"Let's hope not. Otherwise, we will have to fight. This land doesn't belong to anyone... Here, dominance is established according to the law of the strongest, of nature. We couldn't avoid the fight. Besides, we are traveling with a Beta and they would probably like to know the reason why... at that point, it would be impossible to avoid the fight if they wanted to take you away with them"
"Fighting would be inevitable in any case then? Because of me?"
Merlin felt a chill down his back, as he saw Arthur nodding, at the thought of what his presence meant for all of them… something he had not considered.
His Alpha companions would certainly fight for him, as a member of their clan... and this moved him, as the fear of what might happen invaded him.
He made sure not to be wearing his Omega smell, afraid to be found out. Then, he banished this thought from his mind, calmly considering that his companions had not sniffed anything different about him. Therefore, his secret was safe.
He focused again on Arthur, trying to stay calm.
"Wouldn't we have already felt their scent if they were Alphas?"
Arthur shook his head.
"Not necessarily, when traveling downwind."
Merlin nodded. He saw Arthur moving and watering his horse. Then, Gwaine returned.
"Gentlemen ... I couldn't take it anymore. My bladder was about to burst"
Merlin smiled and Arthur relaxed for a moment.
"By the way, boss... the east zone is all right"
Arthur nodded and Merlin knew that Gwaine had already answered to what Arthur wanted to know from him… Gwaine too had had a look around, while he was gone to answer nature call.
They had eaten quickly, as Arthur had decided. Then, they had mounted on the horse, riding for two hours, while the sun had begun to burn, despite being early morning.
They had reached and left an abandoned village, completely destroyed.
Then, finally, they had arrived at the place Arthur had told them about: an old manor, partially collapsed, but still indicated by the maps as a safe stop.
A part of the walls, in fact, was still miraculously solid and, although it was necessary to go outside to fetch water from the well, the rooms used as a shelter (three in all) remained hospitable and fresh inside.
.
Merlin dismounted, wiping his forehead. He immediately went to the well to drink and to take the ointment that would allow him to hide his Omega essence, relaxing as soon as he had taken it.
He sighed.
The heat of the last few days had forced him to take his medicine more and more frequently. He feared that he might soon finished his supplies.
Even that was particularly vital: in fact, as soon as he would arrive in Gedref, he had to buy other ointments immediately. Otherwise, he would risk his and Arthur's life and future.
Especially Arthur's.
It was evident that his Alpha was destined for great things. He would one day become the leader of those who would survive. Probably, he would unite the survivors under one leadership and kingdom. Arthur would create a new world...
And until then, nothing had to go wrong, especially if due to the sudden revelation of his nature, resulting in their doom and the Bond.
At least not until Arthur's 'job' was done.
The night before they had ignored each other while riding, like the previous one, and although their relationship was much more relaxed now, Merlin had continued to remain tense, alert. The Alpha had done the same.
They were no longer enemies and Merlin had never really considered the prince like one...
The fact was only that he had been defensive since the beginning.
Ever since he had realized that a brief exchange of words wouldn't have been enough between them, or a couple of hours spent in the same cave ... Ever since he had realized that things would tumble, Merlin had tried to escape their situation, failing completely.
He stopped those thoughts of his to reach the group, eager to rest.
But it all came down in a matter of seconds.
.
The Knights were bringing inside the horses and even Arthur had already arrived at the entrance of the shelter, when someone who he had not perceived - an error and a fatality - grabbed Merlin from behind, pointing a sword at his back, immobilizing his neck with one arm.
He only had the time to shout. Then, he felt the grip on his throat tightening, his breath burning for the effort to come out.
"ARTHUR!"
Arthur heard his scream in his blood first, then in his ears and then in his head.
The scream of his mate in great danger.
Arthur's sprint happened even before really seeing what was happening.
The Alpha turned around in a flash, while also the others took notice of the situation. The Prime's skin was stretched to the limit, feeling the blood boiling and filling his muscles, pumping them and making them ready to attack.
Merlin felt Arthur's essence reaching him, telling the brunet that he was there and that he would soon be free and safe.
That Arthur would not abandon him.
Merlin stared at the man who was holding him: he had been caught in an iron grip by an errant Alpha. In the meantime, four other Alphas on horseback stopped behind them.
Arthur felt his heart becoming like a muffled drum, the blood flowing to his head, his senses lighting up to their fullest, while his voice changed, becoming dark and like angry roar. He stayed in front of his men, who had immediately rushed to his side.
Merlin could feel even at a distance Arthur's smell changing, filling with blind and uncontrollable rage...
The blade pressed a bit more in Merlin's back and the fear froze him, while his eyes were begging his Alpha to save him, to free him, to take him back.
The Omega was terrified by the idea of being taken, of losing his freedom ... but above all, of being separated from Arthur...
Or worse ... of seeing him dying before his eyes in a fight that he knew was about to happen without him being able to do anything.
Now, Merlin could only imagine his life by Arthur's side and the idea of being taken away from him terrified him.
Arthur's voice demanded unconditional surrender, full of barely restrained fury.
"Let him go immediately. Otherwise, my sword will be faster than your voice in response. LET HIM GO THIS INSTANT"
Merlin felt chills running down his skin, his hair on his neck and on his arms standing up, Arthur's animalistic roar seizing him completely, temporarily destroying the man in him.
He tightened his hands around the strong arm that was holding him, whitening his knuckles, but was unable to move it from his neck.
The Alpha that had him imprisoned was the leader of the pack that had assaulted them. However, he wasn't a Prime and didn't possessed Arthur's strength and instinct... he was clearly part of a wild and unscrupulous group, making the future fight very dangerous.
Those Alphas would not see reason and would be appeased only by blood. Even Arthur had already sensed this.
"DIDN'T YOU HEAR ME? LET HIM GO IMMEDIATELY AND FIGHT AGAINST YOUR OWN KIND. THE STINK OF YOUR COWARDICE IS PLAGUING THE AIR"
The Alpha holding him spoke for the first time and Merlin heard no fear in his voice, only the desire to dominate and provoke, to win.
"Certainly. But first we will make sure that this lovely Beta stays in our part of the field, behind our lines... He is a doctor, isn't he? We have established it during the two days we have been following you. We really need a healer in our pack... considering this damned epidemic that is destroying all the kingdoms"
Arthur moved forward. His eyes were black because of his pupils, dilated with rage. Fury was drawing his every muscle.
The knights were behind him, ready.
"Let him go, now... and when I'm done with you you'll receive mercy and a quick death. Otherwise, your death is going to be a prolonged torment"
The other man laughed.
"Uhuuu... I see a personal interest in this pretty face"
Merlin felt the blade of the sword coming up to his face and scratching his cheek. He felt his skin burning and a trickle of blood reaching his lips.
Then, Arthur snapped with a high and mighty roar, a scream that cut the air.
"LET HIM GO AND FIGHT! NOW!"
"Well, well... what an exaggerated interest. Perhaps… is this your Beta mate, then? It will be even more fun fucking him when I'm done with you"
Merlin felt Arthur's nature finally breaking, his smell changing and becoming more animalistic, as if he was like a big wolf, ready to bite his prey. Merlin could almost imagine the fangs, discovered by the cut lips...
Gwaine, Percival and Leon ran too, when the Prime commanded it, attacking the four Alphas behind their leader. The clatter of swords cut the air, while the horses of the assailants fled and Arthur continued to advance towards him and his attacker. Merlin struggled to remain standing, frozen by fear.
Arthur's voice remained dark, sunk in his instincts.
"WHEN I'M DONE WITH YOU, I'LL IMPALE YOUR CORPSE... HEADLESS"
Arthur's next roar was high and fierce unlike any Merlin had ever heard before.
The brunet saw the battle escalating and there was nothing he could do as he was knocked to the ground and forcefully pushed away. The Alpha that had imprisoned him grabbed a second sword and met Arthur.
Breathing and thinking straight was a slow and painful torment while witnessing that battle. Everything seemed foggy, a huge cloud of dust that was blurring the colors of the day. Then, he finally saw the enemy Alphas falling under Gwaine, Leon and Percival's blows and Arthur stabbing his opponent, without even giving him the time to get too close.
The last thing Merlin saw before passing out was Arthur slitting the throat of the leader of the pack, the blood spattering all over the blond, that Alpha's body without the head.
Then, darkness.
When Merlin awoke, he was inside the shelter, alone. Torches illuminated the alcove where he had found himself. Arthur's bedroll was again next to his, familiar, comforting, a slow pain in the soul.
He touched his cheekbone: it had been cleaned. Someone must have done it. It was only a scratch, so he immediately moved his hand.
He had just stood up, when a shadow entered the room, standing near the orange torches and staying in the dim light in front of him.
The light was dancing around him slowly, warming his figure. In that moment, after he had fought and won for him, he was even more beautiful and regal.
Arthur…
His presence was so warm that Merlin wanted to scream.
"Are you all right?"
Arthur's voice had resumed its usual amber tone and his smell had returned warm. He had cleaned up from the blood that he had spilled.
Merlin nodded and the Prince sighed in relief.
"The wound?"
Merlin felt his concern. Arthur was still obviously shaken: he had thought he was about to lose him, to lose his mate... and everything was still on him and on his skin. Merlin could feel it in Arthur.
"It's just a scratch."
Arthur nodded and approached him to see his face more clearly, to make sure he was real.
In that moment, Arthur's eyes were vulnerable, as Merlin had never seen them before, not even when they had become one, not even when his orgasm had made them wet.
He could feel his barriers vanishing, his heart trembling slowly, his fear coming alive. A fear that he had never felt in him during the fight and that instead was terrified him in front of him now.
Arthur nodded slowly, lowering his shoulders, relaxing.
"...Good"
Merlin came closer to him in turn.
"Have you really impaled him? After chopping his head off?"
Arthur clenched his jaw, hard.
"He deserved what happened to him for touching you"
Merlin shook his head.
"Was it really necessary to be so cruel? He was already dead"
Arthur approached him, his eyes a thin line, his breath almost inaudible.
"He had been warned. I gave him a chance"
Merlin shook his head.
"But going so far... after his death? In a so barbaric way..."
Arthur arrived on his lips. The tension exited from his heart after a long time.
"I did it for YOU"
Merlin stared at him, unblinking.
"Next time don't be so mercilessly with a dead man. Such acts make us similar to those we condemn and detest, due to their barbarism"
Arthur grabbed him and dragged him against the wall, crushing him with his body, breathing against him. Merlin's hands struggled to hug his muscles as tense as they were, while clinging to his shoulders.
"Are you saying that I should have let you die? Haven't you realized yet how nature is like? How long have you been living out of the world? The law of the strongest bends even the noblest of the souls!" Arthur said breathlessly.
Arthur felt judged. He could not stand his accusatory stare, even if Merlin was not accusing him, but rather trying to make him regain his genuine and loyal nature, which the brunet had always seen in him.
It scared him to know that Arthur was capable of such cruel acts.
"I'm just saying that that Alpha was a barbarian and that perhaps he had deserved to die, but you're a better man than that gesture at the end. I'm just saying that if you want to create a better world, you should start now... firstly by showing a noble heart and pure and fair feelings toward those who least deserve them. He was dead, can you understand? What was the point of being so cruel?"
Arthur grabbed his hair, pulling his head back, breathing on his lips.
Merlin had hit him: Arthur knew he was right, but his anxiety about what had happened had not gone away yet. Merlin could read it in his every gesture and breathe...
"Damn it! Do you have any idea what I went through? Felt? When that ... rat ... dared to put his hands around your neck? When... he said he wanted to...take you?"
Merlin clung to his arms because in his fury Arthur was lifting him against the wall. His feet weren't touching the ground anymore.
"Just the thought that he could have had you ... that he could have taken you away from me..."
Merlin breathed after a long time, knowing he had exaggerated before.
Arthur would have never done such a horrible thing if he hadn't been so furious.
"Arthur..."
"... It had sent my blood to my brain. I wasn't able to pull myself up the well of fear, anger and animal instinct I had fallen into... I had blacked out for a while"
Merlin looked at him and saw his pain. He felt the hurt and the hell that Arthur had lived. They may have not established the Bond, but Merlin was his Omega and Arthur had defended him as such.
Even if the blond hadn't realized it yet, still believing he was a Beta.
"I... I thought that nothing would have been enough to appease me: not his death and not even all his dripping blood. Nothing could satisfied me enough to make me return from that madness, from the animal I had become. My men were scared"
Merlin nodded slowly, defeated, softening against him. His body gave in against his Alpha.
Arthur too lowered his head against him, defeated.
"I have managed to be back to my old self only when I saw you here, safe and sound"
Arthur was shaking and Merlin lifted his face to kiss him on the lips.
When he did, he could swear he was able to feel the taste of salt on his mouth.
…Tears?
Arthur was superior and his greatness lived in his soul, but he was also a man and as such, he could still be crushed by his own nature.
He had only protected his mate. This didn't make him a monster like their assailants.
The gesture he did at the end was something that ashamed him first. He had not been able control himself and had even ended up being scared of yourself.
Merlin hugged him even more, looking for something more, for something that he had always denied him and that he was demanding for himself in that moment.
He began to undress him, desperate to feel his skin, his warmth, his Alpha power on him, his big and virile member against and inside him.
Arthur had fought for him, for the two of them...
And he had won.
"Take me, Arthur... now"
Arthur stared at him, eyes already dark with desire. His breath was short and hot, looking for peace. He was surprised by Merlin's new boldness, as his strong hands responded to the call and stripped him. Eventually Arthur freed only one leg due to the urge to take Merlin as soon as possible...
Arthur pressed himself against Merlin with a lot of force, penetrating him there, against the cold wall to reestablish his domination. Merlin's free leg was hooked behind his back; the other was still imprisoned in his pants, pressed against the wall, as Arthur possessed him forcefully, without restrain, cursing at each thrust to keep one-step away from him, as he had to in order not to hurt him...
Merlin thought he could die in front of Arthur's rude statement of possession. He melted completely against him.
He begged breathless.
"Harder..."
Merlin almost couldn't recognize his own voice as he begged him to make him his ... to take him until it hurt...
"Arthur... harder..."
The Alpha literally pinned him to the wall, lifting him so much and so hard to leave red marks on his white sweaty skin...
"Harder..."
Merlin felt the stones against his flesh, shaping his body, while Arthur's muscles increased their power to penetrate him harder, his breath a continuous cry in his ears. His sobs rose higher at each thrust.
"Ask me again, Merlin... ask me to pleasure you..."
Merlin bit Arthur's lip so hard it hurt...
"Fuck me... harder..."
One of Arthur's hands shot up to immobilize him, leaving his white ass to grab his head harshly to turn it sideway, sinking in his neck...
"Faster... Arthur... faster..."
Merlin was almost unable to move, pinned by the thrusts...
"And now Merlin... tell me... tell me you're mine... I want to hear you say it aloud. Tell me you'll always be mine..."
Merlin felt his heart breaking free at that brave request. Arthur was showing his vulnerability. He was asking him a promise. Only fucking was not enough anymore for him… it had never been enough. And now he was expressly asking him to be his mate, asking it directly to his heart...
"TELL ME"
Merlin bit his ear. Then, he whispered a long answer, defeated. He knew he could chose only one path...
"I'm yours ... only yours"
At that, Arthur yelled, coming, moving a little away from him, confused and stunned. He pinched the base of his penis with his fingers in order to prevent his Knot - suddenly filled with pleasure and belonging - to swell even more. He was confused to notice this strange phenomenon and lost himself in a high-pitched whine, while Merlin too was hurting himself in order not to beg him to establish the Bond with him ... coming.
That was close ... really close ... they had almost let the Bond take them.
.
Arthur releases him and Merlin's feet could finally touched the ground, while the Alpha was still embracing him tightly to imprint himself everywhere on him.
Arthur was panting with his eyes closed and Merlin could not look at him because it hurt him to see him being pushed away like that by his instinct.
"I can't believe ... that I can feel something so intense for someone who is not an Omega. My Knot ...had almost formed..."
Merlin was not even looking at him when he answered.
He couldn't, not now. He could not lie to him while looking at his face after having loved him like that and after having surrendered himself to him completely.
Well, almost completely.
"The extreme Domination Phase you have felt today ... must have altered your biorhythm. It can happen... I'm talking about the Knot obviously"
A half-truth, split by each panting word.
A lie that Arthur would accept, since Merlin was a doctor.
His Alpha's breath was irregular on his skin, but Merlin could feel him smiling.
"Enough with only shagging. You're my mate now"
This time, Merlin wanted to answer him while looking at him in the eyes, so that from that day on Arthur would have no more doubts.
Because even though they couldn't have the Bond, the fact that they were mates was clear like night and day and Merlin didn't want to deny it anymore.
He just would have to find the strength and the courage to resist every day, as he had done right then, without risking both their lives and with a Bond that they had already created in their minds and in their hearts.
"Yes. I'm your mate"
Arthur smiled. Then, he lifted him up bridal style and carried him on his bedroll, making him lie down beside him, wrapping his body so he could warm and cradle him.
They fell asleep slowly, without even realizing it.