Animal

6

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The house was huge, and Greco-Roman in style. Marble pillars reached three stories high. He paused when he saw them, before looking at the door. His entire body was on edge. Matthew didn't speak to him the entire car ride, and he returned the favor. Francis held a handkerchief that he occasionally blew into. Arthur drove.

No other cars besides Gilbert and Ludwig's were in the driveway, which meant that either Berwald and Matthias weren't here yet, or weren't coming. It made his stomach twist to know he would be in the same home as Ludwig, so close to him. In truth, at one point he would have called what he was feeling fear- but no, fear had adrenaline. This feeling was only dry and cold.

Gilbert opened the door, his face solemn. His normally energetic personality was pulled away by the loss of his father, although Alfred knew that his father was one who beat and drank. He didn't understand, either, why there was sadness for the loss of an abuser.

Gilbert hugged him. They had been friends since they were young, although Gilbert was two years older. Ludwig wasn't in the entry hall. Gilbert made excuses for him that were all obvious lies.

"He's tutoring right now," he would say, and then when Francis would ask who he was tutoring he'd switch it to, "What do you mean, tutoring, he's hanging out with his friends," to, "You know his boyfriend, Feliciano, right?"

Alfred found it sketchy, sure, but he sat them down for dinner and brought out the alcohol- something that Arthur was almost too quick to take. They ate in silence, besides the consistent sobbing of Francis that hung heavy in the room. Arthur began to babble after a few glasses, but he was easy for the teenagers to ignore.

Since both of their parents ended up drunk, Gilbert gave them two rooms, before wandering off through the hallways of the mansion.

Alfred was sleepless. He found a balcony, not attached to any room, and leaned over the edge. Below him rested the perfectly manicured brush of the Beilschmidt garden, something that made him completely uncomfortable. Above him, the moon shone like an eye. He loved the way she looked at him, even though it made him feel bare.

Without thinking about it, his hands came to rest upon his belly. He didn't feel any different, and nothing particularly showed, but there was a chance that he was pregnant all the less. He still didn't know how to feel. He wanted so much, and he was unsure having a child right now is one of the things. Yet, he also loved the idea. He wanted to hold a little baby in his arms and be able to call them 'his'. He also wanted the benefits of becoming a Consort. Having a child would also make Chestibor more likely to find his family.

"What are you doing in my house, killer?"

He took his hands off his stomach, spinning around. He would always know that voice.

"Being civil," Alfred said, "I'm not sorry about your father dying. He should know better than to be in Braginski territory past sundown."

"Civility. Is that what you call murdering the child of your alpha?" Ludwig snarled, and Alfred gulped, trying to get his stomach out of his throat.

"You are not my alpha," he said, "my alpha is sweet and kind. You're going after Feliciano, aren't you? Well then, stay with him. I am not yours."

"You were going to be."

"Key word: going. I didn't want your children and you tried to force me to have them," he frowned, "no alpha of mine would do that."

"And yet you carry a Braginski," Ludwig said, stepping closer. Alfred looked back at the balcony warily. It wasn't a death drop, but it was a major injury/spontaneous abortion drop.

"Because I chose to. Ivan gave me the choice. You didn't even tell me you weren't wearing a condom."

Ludwig scowled, "it was a need to know basis; you didn't need to know."

He took a step forward. Alfred pressed further back.

"Stay away from me," Alfred warned, "a crime against me is a crime against the family."

"You aren't wearing a ring," Ludwig said, taking another two steps forward. Alfred threw one arm over his face, the other wrapping around his lower body. Ludwig never hit him, like he was going to.

Gilbert was holding his shoulder.

"Excuse me?" Gilbert said. Alfred noticed that Arthur and Francis were behind him, Francis looking horrified and Arthur looking angry, "Ludwig, what are you doing to this fine omega?"

Ludwig was silent.

"He aborted my baby without my knowledge."

Gilbert slapped him across the face, "You fucking... who the fuck- you disgust me!"

Ludwig looked at his brother, another alpha, in shock. Alfred continued to stay pressed against the railing, eyeing his adoptive parents.

"You got pregnant?" Arthur howled.

"He tricked me!" Alfred exclaimed, "He said he-"

"Oh I don't want to hear your excuses, you'd be lucky if you ever see the light of day-"

"Then I'll be lucky!" Alfred exclaimed, knowing that Arthur was serious, knowing that he'd lock him in the basement whenever he was angry. He pushed past the brothers and ran past his parents, moving through the halls until he slipped out the door and into the night. The house was surrounded by crawling woods. A miles trek through them before the town was visible.

"Hey, Ivan," he said, when his fiancé finally answered.

"Hello, Fedya- it's late. Are you okay?"

"I'm- no, I'm not. Can you come pick me up? I'll send my location."

"Where are you?"

Ivan was there so quickly that Alfred knew he was speeding. He jumped out of the car, rushing over to Alfred and hugging him so tightly he was lifted from the ground. Alfred let out a small, sniveling noise, before breaking into sobs. He tried to tell him everything, but his mouth broke words, and his tongue mixed the syllables, reducing him to a babbling baby. Ivan pressed a firm kiss to his face, whispering to him that he was okay now.

Alfred smashed his phone in the gutter so he couldn't be tracked, and got into his lover's car. He didn't look back at the corner he'd been picked up from. He knew, then, that now he was free, and his parents would never find him again.