Kintsukuroi_ Prologue
PROLOGUE
Jayna had heard stories about traditional packs since she had been a child. Some of it had been in her school curriculum, but most had come in the form of precautionary tales from friends and relatives. As she had grown- and presented-, so had the ‘fear factor’ in these tales- some outright horrifying and embellished with the sole purpose of scaring the freshly presented omega.
Having grown up an independent, self-reliant omega in the city, she never anticipated falling for an alpha from a traditional pack. … but that was exactly how it happened. Adam made no secret about his origins, but was ‘modern’ enough to appreciate Jayna’s independent streak. What endeared him the most to Jayna was his frank confession that he had grown up around submissive omegas and may occasionally behave in a way that would offend Jayna, but that he was- and always would be- open to critique and amenable to changing his ways.
Their romance was a whirlwind of dates and expansive romantic gestures- Adam learning to cook so he could prove to Jayna that he didn’t want a ‘traditional’ omega and Jayna trying to learn Adam’s native tongue so that he wouldn’t miss his mother-tongue; and within a year of meeting each-other, the two were mated. Jayna was still in her final year of her studies, so they waited out the year before trying for kids and Adam preened about having successfully knocked her up at their very first attempt till Jayna started suffering from morning sickness and began refusing his overtures. Still, the two were very much in love and when Jayna felt better in her third trimester, it made the wait even better.
It was when Ben- their son, was five years old that Adam first expressed the desire to return to the Fahlmer pack. Jayna was wary about actually going to a traditional pack but the alpha explained that he was homesick and when Jayna was still reluctant, promised that it would only be temporary and that he wanted his parents to meet their grandson atleast once. After a strife-filled week, Jayna eventually conceded and the three went to visit Adam’s old pack that summer during the school- break.
Traditional packs, Jayna found, were as bad as she had always heard. Adam had explained to her that she would have to curb her independent streak while on pack grounds and that she would have to refrain from mouthing off at some of the more absurd customs because not everybody would appreciate an outspoken omega the way did; and Jayna had agreed... but once at the pack, she found omegas were only meant to be seen, not heard and for all hers qualifications, she was all but invisible to her in-laws.
Her alpha-in-law had insisted that she be collared ‘for her own safety’ for the duration of their stay when Adam introduced them and while Jayna hated the heavy chafing ring ‘round her neck, she didn’t protest once she realised that the collar was a sign of being mated.
She was –obviously- not allowed to interact freely with the alphas, and on the rare occasions that they did, most tried to avoid her because of her foreignness. She had hoped omegas would be different but soon realized that the packs’ omegas had been forbidden from interacting with her because she was a ‘bad influence’ due to the way she questioned their quaint practices. It didn’t help matters that while she was familiar with the language, her pronunciation of the words was heavily accented and she had trouble following or joining the conversation due to the dialect. At least Adam’s family spoke English, and she could communicate with them a little, but the other pack members only spoke broken English and she had to resort to hand-gestures to make herself understood with that handful of people who allowed her to join them. To make matters worse, Ben didn’t speak the language at all and everyone seemed to judge her for not teaching the boy their language- it was on the tip of her tongue to demand why Adam couldn’t have done it since it was actually his native tongue, but child-rearing was considered an omega’s task and of course it was Jayna’s fault that she had failed to teach Adam’s son a language that she himself barely knew how to speak. To their credit, they tried pampering Ben in their own way; plying him with traditional sweets and hand sewn toys, but it was a complete culture-shock for the youngster and it made him cranky which in turn soured Jayna’s mood. Consequently, she found herself sequestered in her room for long hours, bored to tears because of the unavailability of both the internet and books (in english). The only bright spots in the day were when Ben was with her- omega and child bonding quietly in an alien environment and both eager to return home to their familiar surroundings... but Adam was obviously happy here and she could see how much reconnecting with everyone meant to her alpha. And so she held her tongue.
One night she ended up loudly countering his alpha-in-law at the dinner table and it was only when she saw her husband’s wide eyes and the appalled expression on her Omega-in-law’s face that she realized her faux-pas. Fortunately, the alpha had been in a good mood and instead of being offended, the man burst into loud guffaws, relaxing the atmosphere. Her words were obviously treated as a joke instead of the sound argument they had been intended as, but much to Adam's relief, it wasn't seen as anything worse.
However, it wasn’t the isolation or the restrictive atmosphere that got to her; it was the casual violence in traditional pack-life. Having been brought up in the city, corporal punishments were an alien concept to Jayna; but here children of all ages frequently found themselves over their elders’ laps. And horrifyingly, it wasn’t just the children alone who were disciplined, omegas were also ‘shown their place’ in a similar manner with startling frequency. In a memorable instance, Jayna had accompanied her husband and in-laws to visit one of Adam’s childhood friends. The man’s omega tripped while serving them refreshments and consequently, the liquid ended up on the plush carpet. The alpha rebuking the poor omega publicly was bad enough, but then the man backhanded the poor, trembling creature and Jayna felt her gorge rise at the spectacle. A protest was at the tip of her tongue but the rest of the family continued enjoying the refreshments served as though a poor omega was not being disciplined right before their eyes. And so she grudgingly held her silence till they got into their car for the journey home, but her protests died when her alpha-in-law announced that it was a miracle that Jayna hadn’t met a similar fate. She glanced at her mate for support but Adam explained that his friend would have been within his rights to discipline Jayna since Jayna had simply sat there and waited for the omega to finish getting disciplined instead of clearing away the glass and other debris like a proper omega. For the first time, Jayna found herself afraid of her mate as she wondered if she was going to end up being punished the moment they reached ‘home’.
Nothing happened, but that was the night Jayna finally broke and begged Adam to take her home, even going as far as to kneel before the alpha- something she’d always found too submissive and debasing- hoping that the servile action would help persuade him. Taken aback by her desperate plea and unexpected subservience, her mate had agreed; promising that he would go the very next day to procure tickets for their return trip back home. True to his words, Adam returned to their room the next night clutching three tickets for the day after tomorrow.
So the morning found Jayna humming to herself, relaxed slightly now that her hours in this traditional pack were numbered. She grinned as she gathered Ben’s scattered toys from around the room: she had to survive in this weirdly cruel world for just forty-eight more hours... and was shaken away from (happily) packing up their stuff for the journey home by a loud boom. She hurried out of the room at the sound and found panic-stricken alphas and omegas rushing around. She stepped out uncertainly and spotted her omega-in-law in the melee. Hurrying over, she offered her aid to sort through whatever had caused the loud sound. Instead of allowing her to accompany and help them, her omega-in-law demanded she stay inside the guest-quarters ‘for safety’ while she investigated- the older woman assuring her that she would summon Jayna once she determined what had happened... and it was at her loud cry that Jayna finally left the guest-quarters she’d been sharing with her mate and Ben to find her world shattered: The Pack office where her alpha-in-law conducted his business lay in shambles, the man himself bleeding from a wound to his head; and numerous others were being helped up as they clutched at their wounds and injuries... but those were only things Jayna noticed in an abstract sort of way, her entire focus narrowed on the twisted and blood-smeared body of her mate amidst the strewn debris and smouldering documents.
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