Chapter Text
Fuck my life.
Never, not even in the darkest of times, did Jayce imagine his end to be so fucking pathetic.
Here, laying against the cold and unpaved road.
Half-naked.
Bleeding.
Beaten to a pulp.
Well, that pretty much sums it all up.
It’s been two months, two months, since the City of Progress became nothing more than a pile of ash; the city which once overflew with technological advances and the prospect of surpassing the future, now drifted as a forgetful memory of an abandoned ghost town. Piltover, with its wealthy citizens and biased politics, ceased to exist when people realized, if there is nothing more to eat, then eat the rich.
For years, political confrontations between Piltover and Zaun felt more like an ongoing debate between cats and dogs. For as much as Piltover paid to propagandize the idea of their city being the holiest of grails, where the building blocks of a utopian society can withstand the trials of existence. Such petty illusions were exclusively funded by the rich, easily overshadowing the truth of Piltover’s wealth.
Piltover secured its survival by using Zaun as their personal scapegoat. Through wrongful methods of exploitation; Piltover used Zaun as a dumping ground, intoxicating the environment with industrial waste, directly affecting Zaun’s quality of life. Aside from contaminating the Undercity, Piltover asserted dominance over Zaun’s political needs, which were usually regarded as trivial inconveniences.
That being said, an entire society forced to withstand multiple injustices had finally reached its limit. And a retaliation was born. Of course, Piltover demonized Zaun’s oppression as a form of violence spreading across the minds of dangerous criminals keen on eliminating the source of power found amongst the representation of the Council.
So, on that fateful day, all seven seats representing Piltover’s most powerful and elite Houses were holding a general meeting. Amongst the well-known leaders of every respectful House, the House of Talis, represented by Ximena Talis, one of the few members constantly acknowledging the transgressions against Zaun, was at the time, fighting for justice in Zaun’s name.
Unaware to every council member, their paradise of a home, was about to be consumed by fire. Zaun’s citizens stormed through the gates of Piltover, quickly eliminating every enforcer in sight and taking over Piltover’s Police Department. Once Piltover’s defenses were down, the massacre of Piltover’s citizens began.
Far from the gates of Piltover, in the Academy Building, Jayce was fiddling around in his room. The Alpha was excitedly working on his presentation, keen on explaining the potential of Hextech to Professor Heimerdinger. It seemed rather silly but even after being accepted into the Academy, Jayce never met Heimerdinger in person, at least, not yet.
But, today was going to be the day where he would meet the well-respected Dean and Head of the Council. And bonus, it took the Alpha so long to request a personal audience with Heimerdinger, so when the Professor finally accepted, Jayce couldn’t contain his happiness. The Alpha was cleaning up his speech, when the alarms went off in the Academy, demanding everyone to evacuate immediately.
To be honest, everything became a blur. Even now, Jayce couldn’t recall anything, besides the desperation he felt as he kept running and running. People were screaming left and right, guns were going off, the once glittering streets of Piltover were now drowning in endless rivers of blood. From a distance, a massive explosion went off, destroying Piltover’s Council Building.
The horrifying sight was enough to asphyxiate everyone’s dying screams into static wavelengths of white noise. The Alpha vaguely remembered falling onto his knees, his entire world truly shattering into the depths of Hell. Mom. Jayce couldn’t fully comprehend the idea of being alone, his mother meant the world to him, was life cruel enough to violently end her life in an explosion?
No.
Right?
Instinctively, the Alpha went towards the Council Building, not giving a shit whether the prestigious structure was completely ruined or not. Jayce needed to find his mother. Dead or alive. But, the surge of violence against Piltover’s citizens became ultimately worse. Everyone kept pushing and shoving each other, collectively becoming a swarm of people.
Before the Alpha knew it, he’d been swept away by the crowd, getting further and further away from his mom. The first month on his own was pretty tough. Jayce’s memories were a bit foggy but snippets of his own survival came and went like ocean waves endlessly beating against the shattering stones of the sand.
In the beginning, the Alpha followed a group of people who sought refuge in the woods, the closest outlet of a chance to escaping Piltover without being murdered. Days were slowly dragging into weeks. Weeks were gradually shifting towards the incomprehension of time and space. The sun lasted up in the heavens for way too fucking long and the moon illuminating the night sky was nothing more than a continuous nightmare.
Jayce constantly found himself aimlessly wandering through the woods, turning to his right, and seeing a few stragglers. The Alpha would turn to his left and oh, what a surprise, more stragglers. Within the blink of an eye, his usual stragglers would no longer be across from him and the sensation of being alone, grew into something awful.
Somehow, Jayce managed to survive long enough to see himself enduring the second month of being poor, bereaved of a prominent household, lonely, and disoriented as to why he was still alive. The Alpha kept moving forward, staying in the same area for more than a day was out of the question, and to be honest, Jayce couldn’t tell how far these woods kept going.
The farther he was from Piltover, the better. The Alpha kept to a strict schedule; early in the morning, Jayce would shower himself in a nearby stream, maintaining himself clean was nonnegotiable. Even though every morning, the Alpha dealt with freezing his ass off and the loud chattering of his teeth constantly clashing with one another.
After cleaning himself up, Jayce would keep a lookout for a large and sturdy tree, making sure it’s branches were long enough to provide a curtain of shade from the afternoon sun, which burned like hell. And of course, being a man of science, his survival instincts in acquiring food were beyond hopeless. Occasionally, the Alpha would find scraps of food here and there, but not enough to satiate his hungry stomach, which kept growling against his will.
Those were the least of his problems, until just a few weeks ago, the weather had changed for the worse. Instead of each day being hot and humid, it became cloudier with a lethal dose of hostile winds. In two months, Jayce’s physical appearance underwent a drastic change; his once clean and shaven face which flawlessly outlined the Alpha’s sharp and defined jawline, was now hiding behind an unkempt beard.
Jayce’s short and perfectly trimmed brown hair had fully grown-out, became shaggier, and messily fell over his golden eyes which shimmered like honey beneath the morning sun. The Alpha used to look like a young and determined inventor with ultimate promise. Now, Jayce looked like a disheveled, rugged, and homeless vagabond.
But on this particular morning, the Alpha decided to venture out of the woods, except he couldn’t… just yet. Instead, Jayce luckily found an unpaved road, which meant if the Alpha simply followed it, he might find a small town.
Right?
Damn.
That was such a stupid decision.
Jayce couldn’t even complete three full steps, when a group of Alphas ganged up on him; physically attacking him and tearing off his clothes. The Alpha was left semi-naked and beaten to a pulp. The Alpha figured his clothes were too nice for these parts and honestly, those assholes could get a lot of money from his outfit alone.
Jayce was simply left with his forest green briefs and black socks. The Alpha was lifelessly thrown onto his side; his face covered in a blooming array of fresh bruises. Jayce’s lips, nose, and high cheekbones were deeply wounded with tortuous gnashes, blood kept dripping from his painful lacerations. The Alpha groaned in agony, fuck, he couldn’t be sure if his ribs were broken or not, but judging from the endless bruises covering his body and the distressing pain throbbing at his side, it might be a huge possibility.
Jayce couldn’t believe how much of a pussy he was. Really. The title of an Alpha should be stripped from his very existence. How could someone as big as him be easily defeated and pathetically bruised from head to toe? Okay, to be fair. Jayce has lived amongst a society where crime and self-preservation was never even heard of.
Safety in Piltover was an absolute guarantee. So, embarrassing as it was, the Alpha didn’t really know how to fight. How the hell was I supposed to defend myself against six Alphas who were constantly hitting and kicking me?! Of course, the group of crooks he sadly stumbled into, were no fucking joke, their punches hurt like a motherfucking bitch.
And if that wasn’t enough, Jayce now had nothing to protect himself against the damn wind. The Alpha’s situation kept getting worse, and to be fucking honest, Jayce couldn’t do it anymore. The Alpha lost his home, his mother, his opportunity in becoming an inventor, his title, and now, he lost all his fucking clothes to a group of Alphas.
Truly, what else could they take away from him?!
Jayce couldn’t stand being a contestant in this stupid survival game.
Why am I still alive?
The Alpha growled bitterly as he pushed himself off the unpaved road, shivering against the cold wind and utilizing every ounce of strength in maintaining himself in a sitting position without falling onto the ground again. Jayce took a deep breath, closing his eyes and wishing for someone to give him a sign. Any sign will do!
The Alpha lazily opened his eyes, when something shiny caught his attention. Jayce turned to his right and oh, it was a blade. A sharp one. The Alpha was confused, could it be, during the mini session of getting the absolute shit beaten out of him, the blade accidentally slipped from someone’s pocket and the disregarded weapon before him went plainly unnoticed?
Oh.
Was this the sign he was waiting for?
Jayce hissed at the aching pain in his ribs as his bruised hand reached for the blade, carefully holding onto the sharp weapon and noticing how his body began to tremble as if his nerves were conspiring against him. The Alpha easily deciphered the interpretation of what he needed to do, or better yet, how impossible it was to escape his doomed fate.
I can make the pain stop.
It doesn’t have to hurt anymore.
I don’t have the will to continue.
Should I just kill myself?
Jayce pondered over the idea of death and honestly, what was holding him back from killing himself? No one would mourn for him. No one would fucking care. Heh, isn’t that a sweet thought? The decision to end his life was one of the easiest choices he’s ever made. Jayce truly believed his life meant nothing, the absence of his presence would go unnoticed; the world will continue spinning on its own axis and the Alpha will simply fade into the black void of nothingness like scattered dust particles.
There was only one problem though. How should I kill myself? Should Jayce slice his wrists open? Should the Alpha stab himself? Should he drag the blade across his throat? Dammit! Choices, choices, choices. So many goddamn choices! Jayce figured a quick and clean death should be the easiest, right? The Alpha didn’t fancy the idea of committing a messy suicide, where he’d be gurgling on his own blood while dying a slow and painful death.
Jayce took a deep breath, coming to a final decision in ending his life by stabbing himself directly in the heart. Yeah, that sounds good. The Alpha fixed his sitting position, groaning in pain as he sat down on his knees. Once Jayce felt comfortable, the Alpha looked down at his malnourished chest and couldn’t help scoffing at himself; his wide and muscular build gradually became lighter and frail.
Jayce pressed the tip of the blade against his sun-kissed skin, taking deep and cowering breaths, tilting his head downwards and feeling a cascade of crystalline droplets landing against the tight grip of his hands. The Alpha’s trembling breaths were getting worse; the instability of his shivering gasps were throwing off his balance in holding the blade correctly.
Jayce shakily exhaled, the tip of the blade was forcefully pushed into his skin and even then, the Alpha was mustering up the courage to push the entire blade into himself. Jayce began to laugh in hysteria, here he was, a stream of blood pouring down his abdomens. This is what I want. The Alpha deeply wished to end his life, yet being face to face with death, it scared the absolute shit out of him.
You’re such a walking contradiction.
Okay, get it together.
Here we go.
Jayce decided it’d be easier to count to three in his head. Once the Alpha reached the number three, he’d end his life. Easy peasy. So far, this is a great plan. Sweet and concise. Short and to the point. Let’s go, baby. Jayce took a deep breath, his head remaining in the same position, tilted downwards. The Alpha tightly closed his eyes and began to count in his head.
One.
Jayce pitifully begged his mother to forgive him; he could already see the disappointment in her eyes. If his mother were here, she’d push the Alpha to fight for his life, but instead, giving up seemed like the better option. Jayce’s mother raised him to be a distinguished gentleman, an inventor immune to failure but in the end, the Alpha’s true colors revealed him to be a coward.
Two.
Was Jayce overreacting? Could the Alpha be blind to the bigger picture and instead of acting like a drama queen, maybe there was a chance he could bear the weight alone? But, could I actually make it on my own? Jayce is young, brilliant, and had an entire future ahead of him, but who would he be living for? Myself?
No.
There was no one waiting for the Alpha.
Whatever.
Life’s a joke and the punchline sucked ass anyway.
Thr —
“Am I interrupting?”
Jayce was only seconds away from plunging the blade deep into his heart, when only a few feet away, the smoothness of an Eastern European accent melted like warm velvet against the Alpha’s eardrums. Jayce let out a shuddering breath, opening his eyes and regaining the control of his quivering exhalations by breathing through his nose.
The Alpha bit the inside of his cheek before slowly lifting his gaze, through the dark curtain of his messy strands, Jayce vaguely recalled the slender and lithe silhouette standing so far yet so close to him. The Alpha immediately detected the stranger’s scent and oh, he’s an Omega. It was distant but Jayce could smell the lingering notes of freshly printed paper, smudged ink, and worn leather.
The touch of the harsh wind smoothly pushed aside the Alpha’s hair, clearing his vision. Oh shit. Jayce felt himself being entranced at the sight of the most beautiful Omega he’s ever laid eyes upon. The Omega was of average height, nowhere near as tall as the Alpha. The Omega was warmly bundled in a long leather coat, brown gloves, and a woolen gray scarf.
The Omega’s hair was softly blowing against the wind, shimmering in multiple copper undertones and every once in a while, a single strand of brown hair would prettily caress the Omega’s forehead. The Omega’s eyes were tenderly reflecting the color of honey and depending on the light, Jayce could see specks of amber-gold glittering within the Omega’s beautiful irises.
The Omega’s pale skin reflected the delicacy of porcelain, soft and fragile. The Alpha noticed the slight blush coloring the Omega’s cheeks due to the cold weather, the rosy red hue kept illuminating the Omega’s skin in the prettiest honey glow he’s ever seen. Aside from the Omega’s ethereal beauty, Jayce noticed the Omega’s lanky body; his build was delicately lean, his long limbs were dainty, and the width of his frail shoulders weren’t even half of the Alpha’s enormous build.
The Omega clutched onto the handle of his cane, taking slow and cautious steps towards Jayce. “You poor thing.”
The Alpha’s brain was embarrassingly short circuiting, Jayce remained speechless; he couldn’t actually understand the basic mechanics of speaking. As if he were under a love spell, the Alpha simply focused on the Omega’s voice rippling through his body, similar to the bewitchment of a siren’s song. Jayce wasn’t sure if he was hallucinating but there was a honey-like scent filling his lungs, it kept getting sweeter as the Omega took a step closer towards him.
The Omega stood before the Alpha, wincing in pain as he crouched down, meeting Jayce’s despairing gaze and letting his cane fall to the side. “You must have been so lonely to have come to this.”
The Omega removed his brown leather gloves, placing them against his lap and extending his pale and slender hand towards the Alpha’s face. The Omega caressed Jayce’s cheek, before tenderly cupping it, his long and warm fingers were benignly holding the Alpha as if he were on the brink of shattering into a million kaleidoscopic pieces.
Jayce let out a broken whimper, closing his eyes and deeply burying himself into the Omega’s docile touch. It’s been so long since he’s been in contact with other people, and fuck, the Alpha was beyond touch-starved. At this point, Jayce was acting like a clingy golden retriever puppy whose been happily waiting to see his owner for the past decade.
The Alpha felt a cascade of droplets falling down his cheek when the Omega sweetly grazed his thumb across Jayce’s cheekbone, wiping away the Alpha’s tears. “Why don’t we fix that?”
Jayce opened his eyes, helplessly falling into the Omega’s alluring gaze, and desperately wishing he could speak but fuck, he just couldn’t. Before the Alpha could even rearrange his thoughts, the Omega benevolently began to intertwine his fingers with Jayce’s. The Omega never broke eye contact with the Alpha, purposely keeping Jayce calm with his pheromones.
The Alpha practically melted against the Omega’s touch; the scent of honeysuckle became so fucking intoxicating. The Omega held Jayce with such delicacy, before breaking the Alpha’s grip on the blade. The Omega immediately tossed the blade towards the taller grass, hoping the weapon would be lost amongst the trees roots.
The Omega noticed the bleeding wound against Jayce’s chest.
It was barely a scratch and the Omega breathed out a relieved sigh, beautifully smiling and using both hands to cup the Alpha’s face while gently whispering. “Good boy.”
Oh, that’s dangerous.
The small appraisal was enough to make Jayce realize how completely whipped he was for the Omega. The Alpha’s heart began to recklessly palpitate, something within him had been unlocked. Jayce wanted to continue hearing the Omega praising him. The Alpha found himself craving to be seen by the Omega and if it wasn’t too much to ask, he also wanted the Omega’s admiration belonging solely to him.
Maybe he’s worth living for.
The Omega immediately retrieved a handkerchief, softly pressing the silk fabric against Jayce’s wound. “Come with me. I can offer you shelter, food, clothes, and safety.”
The Omega lowered his head, biting the inside of his cheek and hissing at the pain in his leg. The Omega had been crouching down for a long time and the uncomfortable position for his leg was becoming a nightmare.
The Omega took a deep breath before looking back into the Alpha’s eyes, offering Jayce the gentlest of smiles. “Can you hold this for me?”
Jayce obediently held onto the handkerchief, immediately worrying for the Omega since he seemed to be in pain. The Alpha noticed the Omega reaching for his cane and trying to stand up, so Jayce swiftly stood to his full height. The Omega wasn’t even given a chance to understand what was happening when the Alpha respectfully grabbed the Omega from underneath his arms, easily lifting the Omega onto his feet.
The Omega could die from embarrassment; Jayce literally lifted him up as if he weighed nothing. So yeah, the Omega’s ego was excessively bruised. The Omega was this close to giving the Alpha a piece of his mind but one look at Jayce’s sad puppy eyes and pouty expression, as if the Alpha had been truly concerned for the Omega’s welfare, the Omega realized he didn’t have the heart to hurt Jayce’s feelings.
The Omega swallowed down his wounded pride and shyly began to chuckle, averting his gaze from the Alpha’s and feeling the tips of his ears, as well as his cheeks becoming bright red. “Thank you.”
The sight before Jayce made him feel so fucking happy, he made the Omega smile and honestly, seeing the Omega being shy and adorable, triggered the Alpha’s primal instincts. Jayce wanted to wrap his large arms around the Omega’s thin waist, possessively burying his nose against the Omega’s tender scent gland, and territorially, claiming the Omega’s body with love-bites and intimate bruises.
These unfamiliar and obscene thoughts failed in escalating towards a filthier path when the Alpha noticed the Omega removing his long leather coat, exposing the rest of the Omega’s outfit. Jayce couldn’t stand the cuteness aggression growing inside him, the Omega is so fucking pretty! The Omega nonchalantly wore a white long-sleeved shirt which perfectly nestled underneath a maroon-colored waistcoat.
The Omega wore faintly striped black slacks along with high-ankled leather boots. The Alpha took in the Omega’s entire image and honestly, Jayce felt like he was looking through the unholy scriptures of forbidden porn hidden deep within Piltover’s secret vault. The Alpha knew he shouldn’t be staring at the Omega with such ravenous eyes but fuck, the tight waistcoat sensually wrapping itself around the Omega’s delicate torso sparked a dangerous surge of desire pooling within the depths of his navel.
Jayce’s hunger became worse when his eyes danced along the seductive outline of the Omega’s curved hips. God help me. The Alpha was having an existential crisis when Jayce noticed how the Omega was adorably trying and failing to wrap his long coat around the Alpha. Jayce’s height seemed to be the main obstacle here, for the Omega kept taking small jumps, hoping to reach the Alpha’s tall and broad shoulders.
Jayce shook away those indecent thoughts and offered a helping hand by lowering himself, and letting the Omega throw the coat across his shoulders. Of course, the Omega was much smaller in size and although his long coat was overtly stretched out and the idea of buttoning up the coat against the Alpha’s large chest was extremely impossible, at least it covered Jayce’s back and provided some warmth.
The Omega nodded in victory, proceeding to removing his woolen scarf and tightly wrapping it around the Alpha’s neck. A slight gust of wind blew past them, making the Omega shiver. Fuck. Jayce felt fucking awful for leaving the Omega vulnerable against the chilly weather but damn, the Alpha hasn’t felt this warm in a really long time.
Jayce buried his nose against the scarf, instantly smelling the clean fragrance of smooth and oval leaves prettily shimmering against the sweetness of ripe oranges. The Alpha lost himself amongst the citrusy aroma, perhaps it was selfish of him but Jayce wanted to remain this close to the Omega. If it were up to him, the Alpha would carve himself into everything owned by the Omega, to the point where Jayce couldn’t tell where the Omega started and where he ended.
The Alpha returned the handkerchief to his wound, unsure what to do with himself, when the Omega took a few steps away from him.
Jayce fell into a state of panic.
Is the Omega abandoning me?
The Omega held onto his cane, the wind softly blew against the Omega’s wavy hair, when he gently looked back at the Alpha, offering his hand to Jayce. “Take my hand. You don’t have to be lonely anymore. Come with me and I promise, I’ll protect you from yourself again.”
The Alpha looked down at the open palm before him, Jayce could have honestly cried right then and there. For two months, the Alpha has been stripped away from a future thrown off course. Now, the Omega was offering him an opportunity to live, but this time, the continuation of his life would be deeply rooted in having the Omega by his side.
It’ll take time but Jayce will spend every waking moment of his new life in making the Omega his. If the Alpha was doomed to wait an eternity for the Omega, then he’ll gladly wait. Jayce knew, one day, the Omega’s heart would eventually catch up to his own and when that happens, he’ll never let the Omega go.
That’s a sacred promise.
With slight hesitance, the Alpha tenderly intertwined his fingers with the Omega’s. Jayce shyly met the Omega’s soft gaze, immediately letting himself be drawn into the morphing design of an unbreakable bond, a fabrication of fate. There was no way in Hell, the Alpha would ever dream of escaping the Omega’s hold over him.
Yeah.
Without a doubt, I’m yours.