Archive of Our Own ^beta

"You've been avoiding me," Malcolm snarled.

Tobias just looked away. The alpha had dragged him to a corner for some modicum of privacy and slammed him against the wall, which had prompted their friends to evacuate the room, fast. The assholes probably thought they were going to fuck, but that hadn't happened in weeks.

"I haven't-"

"BULLSHIT! Who is it? I'll rip his fucking head off and make you watch it!"

"Mal-"

"Don't Malcolm me! You wanna end things with me, fine! But don't go behind my back like that, you fucking slut! Who is it?" He grabbed the omega's arm and shook him hard.

Tobias slid out of his grip, but made no move to further protect himself. Malcolm had never hurt him.

"There's no one. No one else."

"Then why the fuck have you been avoiding me?"

"I haven't-"

"Yes, you have! Stop protecting the bastard. Is it a beta? I can't smell anyone on you."

"That's cuz there's no one."

"BULLSHIT! Who did you sneak off to on the last full moon?"

"I didn't sneak-"

"Like fuck you didn't! You avoided me, so you had to go to someone!"

"I didn't get some-"

"STOP LYING TO ME, YOU SNAKE!" Malcolm  snarled, slamming his fist into the wall, somewhere next to his mate.

His mate who didn't want him and had been denying him any sort of intimacy for weeks. This was a desperate attempt to fix things before their big hit. If this failed... well, at least Malcolm would know exactly where they stood. Apart.

"I'm not-"

"Yes, you are! Why the fuck are you avoiding me?"

Tobias stood silent, squeezing his eyes closed.

"Who is it?"

No answer.

"Why won't you talk to me? You aren't even trying to lie, what the shit is going on with you?"

No answer, but the scent of fear was growing in the air around them. Fear? No, that was never his intention. Even when he would rage and rage, he would never... Tobias never genuinely feared him. Now, his mate was afraid of him. Malcolm felt sick. He slowly stepped away, realising that he'd just made things so much worse. If Tobias didn't talk and avoided him and now feared him...

"What did I do? You won't even tell me what I did, so how the hell can I fix it?"

Nothing.

"Do you even wanna fix it?"

He could at least answer that. Because if the omega didn't even want to make things better, if Malcolm had failed him so utterly and completely, albeit unknowingly, what was the point?

Tobias muttered something that might have been an answer.

"What?"

"I'm pregnant," the omega admitted, voice breaking off. "I didn't get my heat, but I didn't want you to worry about that."

"The hell? No, you can't-" Omegas were mostly infertile. Mostly. Some of them could have kids, but those were very rare. "Are you sure?"

Tobias nodded, bitting on his bottom lip. His scent shifted to distress.

"About a month and a half now."

"Shit."

Malcolm would need a few minutes just to unpack all that. He never wanted a baby and he was pretty sure Tobias didn't either. They both assumed it wasn't even possible. It seemed like it wasn't up to them.

"I didn't- I couldn't- had no idea how to tell you... or when... or..." Tobias closed his mouth and just leaned against the wall, giving his mate time.

Malcolm needed all the time in the world to understand what had happened and how it would change their lives.

"You've been sneaking off to go see a doctor," was what he ended up saying.

"Yeah. I kept hoping he'd be wrong."

"Are you- do you wanna do the big hit on Priggs?"

"Yeah. I'm not... incapacitated yet." He winced at the wording.

"But you will be. Fuck."

The anger was gone now. All that was left was shock, though concern was quickly joining in. Malcolm pressed a hand to his mate's belly. It was too early to feel or even see any changes, but he couldn't be blamed for trying. It all felt surreal. The contact seemed to breach some sort of barrier between them. Tobias wrapped his arms around his mate, squeezing desperately. Malcolm welcomed him, getting a stronger whiff of his scent. Distress. Distress. Distress. His mate was in pain. He hadn't hidden his pregnancy out of any sort of malevolence, but rather out of fear, maybe even denial.

"We're not doing it. It's too dangerous."

"No, I'm fine. I can do it."

"You for sure ain't doing it and without you there's no point. So shut up and sit down."

"No, we need the money."

"And I need you safe. Both of you." His instincts had zero problems adapting to the change. Tobias was his mate and his mate now needed more care because he was pregnant. Shit.

Malcolm had to sit down as more implications about their lifestyle sank in.

"Can't have a kid here. Gonna grow up with filth and danger."

"Not a choice at this point," Tobias replied, his hands coming to his stomach. "Well, not a choice for me..."

"You thought I'd ditch you? 'S that why you didn't tell me?"

The omega stood silent. More distress. Malcolm had never smelled such fear from his mate. Even before they'd bonded, Tobias was independent and confident, even during arguments with alphas. He'd actually been the one who told Malcolm to mark him so he'd have an easier time (though he probably hadn't planned on getting so deeply involved).

"The fuck?"

"You don't have to stick around. That's the truth. We didn't think I could even get pregnant. So now that I did, well..."

"So what, you thought I'd just up and run or make everyone kick you out?!"

Tobias just looked sad.

"I'll be useless to the others. I just- figured I'd tell you when that happened. Carry on as usual until then." For as long as he could.

"Useless?"

"I'm an omega. Pretty sure the only reason they agreed to work with me is cuz I was already bonded. And now this..." Tobias closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Please make up your mind quickly so I can start making some reasonable plans."

Malcolm pulled his dumbass into his lap and hugged him tightly. Tobias was fucking miserable and had been so for days, avoiding Malcolm so his scent wouldn't betray him or something. He was a terrible alpha, hadn't even noticed how fucking sad the other was, too focused on what he'd thought was wrong. Too drunk on his own growing pain and rage as Tobias sank deeper and deeper into isolation and misery.

"Change of scenery."

He stood up and carried his omega to his bedroom, then gently laid him on his alpha's bed. Malcolm cuddled the dumbass, thinking. This was so complicated...

"I did consider getting rid of it," Tobias admitted quietly. "You'd never know and all that... Still seems easier that way."

"No. We're keeping the runt even if we raise him badly."

"How can we even raise him?" Tobias asked.  Malcolm hated hearing him so defeated. "How? What the hell can we even do?"

"Well, you could shack up with my ma until you have the kid then she can help."

"Guess so..."

"You'd be close enough."

"Would she be alright with that?" the omega asked with a sigh.

"Fuck yeah, she's always wanted a grandkid. 'S why she doesn't like you. Thought you can't give her one."

"Oh... alright then."

"And we're telling the others."

Tobias' scent shifted to fear.

"It's too soon."

"Like fuck it is. We're telling them or I'm telling them, your choice."

"How about neither? I don't think they need to know."

"Yeah, they do. They're our friends- hey, they won't shun you."

Tobias seemed to curl in on himself a bit.

"You can't know that. Malcolm, I'm an omega. I'm not genuinely welcome anywhere, much less when I'm useless."

"You're not useless. Get that stupid thought outta your head."

"I will be."

So Malcolm spent the next ten minutes telling his idiot how useful he could be without actually getting physical. When he was done, his mate's scent had shifted to mostly normal and he was smiling at him.

"Thank you. I'm sorry I've been keeping you in the dark."

"Hmph, make this a lesson. Your shit is my shit, ain't no reason to hide anything."

He got a reaffirming mutter in return, which was a win.

"Tobias is pregnant," was the first thing out of Malcolm's mouth when they rejoined the others.

"Really?"

"Wow!"

"That's why you've been acting so strange?"

"You nesting already?"

The reactions were mostly what the alpha had expected and he laughed when his mate blushed to the tips of his ears.

"I ain't nesting, what the hell?"

"Then why have you been acting so weird?" Kolt asked. "It's a baby, not a death sentence. We'll ditch it in a basket on a church's doorsteps and call it a day."

"No," Malcolm replied.

"No?"

"No, we're keeping it," Malcolm told her.

"Huh. Then I guess it is a bit of a death sentence."

"My ma will help us," Malcolm added.

"Yeah, but still."

"We'll make it work," Tobias said. 

"Gonna have a baby around," Wallach said with wonder. "Cute."

"Guess so."

"I wanna help," the kid added.

"Sure."

"We're not doing the hit on Priggs," Brick finally said.

"Duh."

"I want to do it," Tobias said. "And we can do it during the full moon. Should be better that way."

"No," Malcolm told him. "No way."

"He has a point," Kolt admitted. "A full moon would be distracting to the guards and if TF ain't affected by it, we should use that to our advantage."

The others agreed.

That night, Malcolm dragged his mate to bed with himself. Tobias had always insisted on them having separate bedrooms, which made a lick of sense, but now Malcolm wanted him close. He couldn't protect his mate if he wasn't near, could he? The omega barely put up any protest, which is how Malcolm knew he wasn't the only one who needed the proximity.

As usual, Tobias curled up under the blanket, but he looked smaller now. Malcolm didn't comment on it, knowing how the day had shaken his partner.

"Your smell changed," he noticed when he joined the other. It was subtle, but undeniable now that they were so close to each other.

"Yeah?"

"Mhm-hmm, it's a bit sweeter. I like it."

The omega just hummed in thought.

"Do you think it'll keep changing?" the alpha pressed.

"I don't know. The doctor's never seen a pregnant omega before."

"You wanna find another doc?"

"No. He's fine."

"And you? You're fine?"

"I'm fine. Didn't expect everyone to be so relaxed about this." Tobias sighed. "Just having a bit of trouble coming to terms with everything, that's all."

"That's cuz you're one of us and this kid will belong to our pack too."

Pack. Archaic concept, part of the "instincts" package Tobias was so keen on rejecting. Always dismissing stereotypes, always acting like he was above such trivial things.

This time, he didn't reject the idea. He simply snuggled closer to his alpha and began purring.

"Thanks. For everything. And I'm sorry I've been keeping you in the dark."

"Well, at least you've learned not to hide shit from me, right?"

Tobias didn't answer until Malcolm growled and his reaction was a chuckle.

"Whatever you say, hotshot."

They ended up not doing the big hit, despite TF's protests. The others voted it too dangerous and when his magic became unreliable when his pregnancy reached 2 months, he had no more arguments.

Their son was born healthy and grew up a veritable thief.