Chapter 29

Law

It took effort to stretch his arms above his head and all it had earned him was another pinch, this time on his biceps. He knew that the armor he had on was only for testing but it still caused an annoyed growl to slip past his lips, when would he find a good armor? Surely it wasn't supposed to be this difficult. He gave the muscled alpha next to him a strained smile and shook his head; Zoro huffed and placed a hand on the thick steel across his breastbone. The man studied the armor with a longing look before setting to work on removing it.

"We do not have time to personalize nor make armor perfectly suited to you but it is also not an option to go without. If you do not like this one, we shall try another." Zoro turned to the table beside them; another knight took the duty of removing his current armor while Zoro looked over the other options. He would rather be anywhere else, even training but Zoro had already stressed on how important it was to start training with armor on so he remained silent and warily watched as Zoro picked up a smaller piece of steel, not that it looked any more comfortable then the last. "It has to fit like a second skin." Zoro tsked, placing the plate down and tapping at his chin.

"I think this one is too tight." He offered, hoping that would help Zoro make his choice.

The smell of another alpha filled the room and he turned to look at Kaku who was bowing in respect, he must have been passing by and heard the conversation, "Pardon me, your highness. I do not mean to eavesdrop, however if you'd like you can have my armor, we are similar builds and I have extra." It was surprising that knight would offer something like this, armor was no small matter, it takes months to craft and Kaku's looked well used, it must have aided him in many battles. It took a moment for him to figure out Kaku must be speaking of different armor, something from his past perhaps.

"Aye, I'll have a servant gather it right away, it is in your quarters, I assume?"

An amused smile lifted the corners of Kaku's lips and he shook his head, "Nay, take the one I have on, it is the best of the lot."

"But.."

Zoro stepped between them, patting Kaku's shoulder just before he started to unlatch the armor, "Thank you."

There was no conversation as the armor was removed but the air was filled with gratitude and it wasn't until Kaku stepped out of the room that Zoro spoke up, "You struck gold with this one, it is very fine work, even the leather is worn in for you, a good general you have to give this up for his king. It has to be a prized piece of his, as any armor is to a knight. This would have taken weeks, months even to forge, that knight, he holds you in high regards, best to not forget that. Loyalty is rare these days." Zoro was rambling but Law wasn't so sure he agreed, it was hard to trust anyone these days, even his generals. He wanted to believe Kaku had faith in him as a king, though right now he could not, even if he longed to.

Once the armor was placed on him, he sighed in relief. It fit much better than any of the others he'd tried on. "It is a little loose." He murmured, more to himself but Zoro spoke up anyway, "Aye but by the time we are done training, you will have filled out." He hoped that was true, all this training was bound to do something even if all that was, was give him larger muscles. His eyes scanned over Zoro, it was hard to not be self-conscious around the beast of an alpha Zoro was, there didn't seem to be an ounce of fat on the man's body.

"What are we doing today?" He asked, ready to move forward with his training.

Zoro's longing gaze shifted from his armor to his face, the small smile on the alpha's face pulled down into its usual scowl, "Today we will focus on defense."

..

Marco

Ace paced in front of him, the training grounds around them faded into the background as he focused in on Ace's body language. It was a deadly dance they were trapped in, there were no weapons involved, but that was what made this so exciting. He'd always relied on whatever was in his possession to help defend him but Ace stressed how important it was to practice without any weapons. Not that he didn't know how to defend himself without; though it had always been easier to fight with, so he did not take as much time as he should have to practice hand to hand combat. He could admit that. So it wasn't exactly surprising that Ace was a tough alpha to compete against, he'd already lost a few times and frustration was making him fight dirtier, his instincts were reverting back to the days when he lived on the streets. It was this problem that caused his focus to dim just enough that when he went for a punch, he put way to much force into it and Ace's head snapped back as his fist collided with his cheek. Blood sprayed into the air and horror seized him.

"Ace!"

Without even a slight pause, the black haired alpha whirled around, leg lifting into the air to kick him hard in the side, so hard that he fell back, skidding across the ground. Pain was blossoming across his side and back, all he could manage was a single groan before Ace descended on him, fury etched across his handsome, bloody face. "Do not ever let your guard down! Even if the other opponent gets hurt! Sabo would have killed you if you'd done that in battle!" Ace's voice was at full volume, knights across the grounds, turned to stare at them.

He raised his hands in surrender but his lover was having none of it, his hands were knocked aside, "Do not get distracted! Even for me! Focus on yourself, dammit.." Ace's voice broke and shaky hands grabbed at his shirt. Blood was still steadily dripping from his lover's nose and he reached up, his side bursting with a wave of pain so intense that he had to choke back another groan. "We need to get you to the infirmary; we are done for the day." Ace's face had gone blank and the emotion was gone from his voice, which was usually a very bad sign. He wanted to complain, he really wanted to talk about this and assure Ace that he was going to be fine. That they were going to be fine but in the end he just grunted and let Ace lift him onto his feet, he was in a lot of pain right now, that conversation was just going to have to wait; his lover sure knew how to kick him where it hurts, literally.

As they limped towards the infirmary he did gather the courage to ask Ace if his nose was okay, that earned him a murderous glare and no answer so he remained silent the rest of the trip. When they finally arrived, the medic in the infirmary was hustling around the room, looking at different patients, "Back for more healing balm? You know where it is." The medic, Penguin, he believed they called him, said over his shoulder. Ace gave an annoyed huff and shuffled them over to a bed, "No balm, we need your assistance."

Penguin paused and turned to look, actually look at them, "Are you dying?"

"No." He hissed out, his side throbbed in protest.

"Wait on the bed then, I will tend to you in a moment."

Ace growled softly but sat next to him on the bed to wait, a possessive hand was placed on his thigh. "You are lucky I did not break your rib." His lover was obviously still upset but the hand was a reassuring sign that the worst of Ace's emotions had passed. He turned his face just enough to bury his nose into Ace's temple; he inhaled the alpha's scent for a long moment before letting out a chuckle that caused another ache, "You say, I feel like you've broken two." He kept his voice light and playful, gaining him an affectionate eye roll from Ace.

Waiting proved to be too much of a hassle for his lover and it wasn't long before Ace was pulling at his clothes, "Remove your shirt, I don't expect you to tend to yourself." The strong smell of herbs assaulted his nose; even Ace's nose was wrinkled in disgust, where exactly Ace found this revolting mixture, he had no idea. It smelled nothing like the regular balm they used for minor injuries. Penguin was still paying them no attention, too focused on a servant with a broken arm, and before he could call for any help, Ace was shoving his hands into the mixture, at least he could recognize a few of the herbs, so he knew that this was indeed a healing solution.

He was bullied onto his side once the shirt was removed, his good side, and the cool mixture was applied in generous amounts. It was impossible not to wince when Ace applied too much pressure on an especially sensitive area, "Careful." He complained, which only seemed to cause Ace to press down with renewed vigor.

"It is your own damn fault, suck it up." Still in a bad mood, it seemed.

"I kicked myself, did I?" There was an inhale and then more pressure on his side. Squirming away wasn't going to work so he just went limp instead, accepting Ace's unusually cruel treatment. "Is there a specific reason you've decided to punish me today? Will you at least tell me what I have done to deserve your wrath?" He was half joking but Ace's hands froze, "I'm stressed is all."

That was an understatement, Ace looked horrible and not because of the black eye caused from his punch. This situation was taking a toll on his lover, instead of answering verbally; he simply turned his head to give Ace's forearm a gentle kiss. The alpha was much gentler with him after that and they remained in silence until Ace gasped softly, "What is this?" It took more effort to swivel around and look at the scar on his hip then he'd like to admit. Ace was tracing it softly, and he shrugged, he had no idea how he'd gotten it. "Don't know, just a scar, always been there since I was a babe." He couldn't say he was surprised that Ace had never noticed the scar before; when they were without clothes they were usually pretty occupied.

That was supposed to be that, only it wasn't because suddenly his face was in both of Ace's hands and he was being forced to look into the alpha's eyes. Ace was searching him for a lie, but why? When Ace spoke again, it was slow and factual, "This is no scar; it is a brand." He scrambled up, knocked Ace's hands away and looked down at the sideways V on his hip; it was still as thick as ever, not as thick as the line slashed across it though.

His head was shaking in denial, that wasn't possible, he wasn't lying, he'd had this since he could remember, and he'd never been branded. There was no way he would forget something like that. "What? You are crazy, nobody would brand a child." He poked at the raised skin, refusing to accept the fact that yes; it was a little too strange of a shape to be a scar. Ace placed a hand over the scar, blocking his view, "It is a brand, I tell you. It is far too precise to be a simple scar," Ace's fingers traced over the raised lines. His skin crawled in disgust at Ace's touch and he could feel his pulse quickening, he felt the urge to escape which was something he rarely felt, the pain in his side was forgotten but he couldn't pinpoint why talking of some old scar, was causing this reaction.

"Do tell me why a child from the slums would be branded?" His voice was sharp with disbelief.

Ace was just as quick to respond, "You tell me, looks very similar to the Germa Kingdom's sigil." And there is was, suspicion laced within his lover's voice, it made his blood boil. His alpha was coming forward and not in a good way, how could Ace even start to question his loyalties.

Frustration caused his hands to shake and he grabbed at the bed sheets in an attempt to hide them, "I do not know of that place! I am telling you, it is a scar!"

Instead of acceptance, Ace's eyes grew darker, "How could you not know? You are a merchant." The raised eyebrow the alpha gave him did not help in calming him down.

"Well, I have heard of it." He admitted, which even in his eyes made him look bad, "But I never felt the need to visit a Kingdom rumored to harm omegas, my dad being one, the thought did not appeal to me." He amended, Ace opened his mouth in an obvious retort but he covered the alpha's lips before he could speak. "Ace, what are you doing?" Stop before you ruin what we have, was unspoken; "I have not warranted such suspicion from you. I have not lied, you know of my past. If it is a brand, I do not remember receiving it." He tried to remember his dad, but all he could pick up was a blurry face and a comforting smell. No memories of pain or branding or anything of that sort.

To his credit, Ace actually looked ashamed of his actions; he even lowered his head in a slight display of submission. "I trust you, perhaps it was given to you by your dad's alpha; you never met him after all."

And suddenly his anger was back with a vengeance, "Good riddance to that! My father abandoned us and if he is sick enough to brand a child then I am glad he is not a part of my life!" Before he could stop himself he was jumping to his feet, yanking his shirt on and ignoring Ace's protest and the pain that wracked through his body. "I do not wish to speak of this any longer!" He snarled, storming out of the room.

The medic watched them with wide, confused eyes.

..

Luffy

The water sloshed around them, warm and comforting, the tub they were in may be small but he did not mind, not when his back was pressed so tightly against his mate's chest and kisses were being peppered across his neck and shoulders. "Is the water helping with the tension?" Law whispered sensually, his breath tickled the back of his neck. He could not help it if his eyes fluttered closed at the alpha's voice, "I do not think it is the water." He replied breathily.

A hand slid over his thigh and Law hummed in appreciation, the fingers pressed small circles into his sensitive skin and his head rolled back until it was resting on Law's shoulder. It was all very suggestive and he had no energy or will to fight Law's advances, hell, they needed this after everything they'd been through these last few months. He ran a hand over Law's forearm, encouraging the exploring, he did not miss how much more defined his mate was, Law was growing stronger.

When Law finally entered him, he was relaxed and pliant. The sex was slow, there was something different about it this time and it scared him to think about it. Not because he did not know what was changing between them but because he did.

..

Time skip- 1 week

Zoro

He stumbled, he actually almost lost his footing as Law lunged for him, if not for his training, he'd have been flat on his back. It was an eye-opening moment because until then he hadn't realized exactly how much Law had been improving. Of course it wasn't all skill; a lot of it had to do with the fact that they'd moved their training to the sand where Law was not fazed at all. That would be a good advantage in the coming battle; Amphiptere was not used to sand, aside from Alabasta. "Nice, Law." He jumped forward, knocking the sword from Law's hands.

Instead of frustration, Law simply smiled and shrugged, bending down to pick up the sword. They started again and he could admit that he was proud of the progress they'd made, not only was Law more talented and lasting longer in their sessions but he was confident now, more so than in the past at least. Of course they still had hurtles to overcome, such as the alpha training, they hadn't even approached that situation yet.

As he danced around Law his eyes darted over to the dragons who all, with the exception of Ceto were watching them. He may be going crazy because it looked like the dragons were having an actual conversation, heads together, tails twitching. It made him pause just long enough for Law to nick his arm with the tip of his sword.

..

Athena

Law reached for her, blood soaked fingers twitching in an attempt to touch her one last time.

Law's head rolled across the sand, eyes wide open, staring at nothing.

Law's victorious shout as his sword pierced another human.

Law's eyes blinked slowly with betrayal, blood poured from his mouth as he took his last breath.

Law's huge smile as he pulled his mate into his arms, battle over.

Law cried, stumbled towards her, asked her to stay.

Law.. Law.. Law..

"Athena!" Attis yanked her from the constantly changing future she'd been viewing, her head throbbed, and she knew that she'd been overexerting herself. She had thought that she would see a definite future but that was not so, it was constantly changing and she did not know which future to believe. "What are you seeing?" Attis chirped, bumping his snout against hers, worry hung heavy in the air.

"I was watching my human's future, it is changing constantly." She replied, warily.

Attis perked up at that, "What of mine? Check!"

Usually she would turn down such a request but this was Attis and instead she chuffed fondly and looked into the blonde man's future, the one called Marco. It was not like her rider's that was constantly changing, it was very solid, the probability of it happening high, as soon as the vision started to come into focus, she wish she hadn't viewed it at all. There was blood, a pool of it, on the sand in front of him, she could feel his emotions so clearly, the anguish, pain, the absolute hatred. Attis was close by, she could see her friend but he was not right, he was.. the humans had swords everywhere, the black haired human, Caerus's rider was on his knees, face buried in his hands, wailing, long and loud screams of distress interlaced with moans so heartbreaking that even though it had yet to happen, even though she was not present, it caused her to still just like the human's in the vision.

It was not often she experienced a vision so clearly and upsetting as that one and she was shaking her head long after she'd escaped the future.

"What did you see?" Attis's playful voice was gone, it had gone colder.

"We must train." She could not tell Attis what the future could hold, there was still a chance they could change it, but not when they were so weak. Their greatest asset was Caerus as of now and that would not do, they would be going up against strong dragons who trained constantly. Attis nodded slowly, "I agree, shall I ask Caerus? He and Gaia have trained before."

She flicked her tail in approval, "Yes, can you convince Hypnos to help? He knows more than any of war." Not that he was an asset; the emerald dragon had not been very forthcoming when it came to the war approaching.

"I will try."

They approached Hypnos and Caerus, connecting their mind links with the two, they did not pause in their conversation, though they both nodded in acknowledgment that they had been joined. "You cannot even spare a glance at your rider, do you not care?" Caerus was asking. Hypnos snorted loudly, "There is no need to watch my human, there is no other that can match his skills, I once saw him take down a dragon single handedly. Since then no humans have come to worry me, well aside from his fathers. Now those two humans are a force to be reckoned with and their dragons, not even I stand a chance against them."

Caerus's head tilted with interest, "Who may they be, the dragons?"

Hypnos huffed, "I doubt you have met them, their names are-."

"We need to talk." Attis interrupted, not interested in this mysterious dragons, the little dragon must have met them already. Gaia linked up with them, "About?" She asked. Caerus and Hypnos both shuffled, not happy with the interruption but they did remain silent and it gave her the opportunity to speak up. "We must train for battle."

Hypnos snorted, "I could have told you that."

Gaia may be a fire dragon but the glare she gave Hypnos was icy, "I was thinking the same thing, there is room enough here." The she-dragon lashed her tail around. Attis spoke up timidly, "Hypnos.."

Hypnos cut the tinier dragon off with a snarl, "No. This is not my war, why should I waste my time training this lot."

She paused, looked into the future, then spoke, "Because your human's future has changed its course more than once. I have seen him fighting alongside our humans, if he does join the war; you would want skilled dragons on your side, would you not?"

The green dragon bared his teeth at her, "You lie, my human is too selfish to-."

Attis lunged forward, snapping his teeth viscously, "Do not call Athena a liar! Have some respect!"

Hypnos slunk back into a less defensive pose but his anger did not diminish, "I do not mean to offend your skills as the beholder, my apologies but you do not know my human, he would not join a war without good cause."

She could argue with words but instead she simply stepped forward and placed her tail on Hypnos's flank, showing him the future.

The green haired man was standing, holding a sword in each hand, a third was gripped tightly between his teeth and blood dripped from his chin, Law was not far behind him, cutting soldiers down.

The vision was short but only because she willed it so, it would not do for Hypnos to see the vision change, the human's future was much like Law's, not absolute but it was enough. Hypnos was panting loudly, eyes flickering with an excitement she could not comprehend. "Show me again! It cannot be! My rider had three swords!" She did not understand the significance but it did not matter because Hypnos continued speaking, "I will help, on one condition, if his future changes, you will tell me."

"Deal."

..

Sanji

"They hate us, I'm sure." He laughed breathlessly; they'd given the guards the slip again.

"Aye but they have yet to tell our alphas so who cares?" Luffy grinned, walking into the stall they'd been sneaking into for the last week. The horses snickered happily at the sight of them and a mare stuck her head over the side of the stall next to him, he pulled a carrot from his pocket, feeding the brown animal. She was soft and he gave her a few pats before returning his attention to Luffy who was mumbling softly and tapping his fingers across his stomach.

When Luffy noticed that he had an audience he straightened up, "Get over here." It was full of command but instead of cowering, he simply let one eyebrow rise, he had his omega under control, at least around Luffy. The other omega shrugged, a sheepish smile on his face, "Just making sure. Now really come here, today we will finally start physical training." He was still timid when it came to anger but he was confident that he was ready for this next step and he skipped over to Luffy without complaint, not that he didn't have his doubts but that was because Luffy was pregnant and he didn't know how this was going to work without harming the twins.

"Yes, my Queen." He bowed, holding in his laugh until Luffy snorted and pushed him over. It was nice to not be scared of such contact, he could say that he trust Luffy now, it was nice to finally have a person aside from Zoro who he could let his guard down around. "So where do we start?" He asked once he straightened up.

"Punch me." Luffy said, eyes full of determination.

His mouth fell open, he'd never punched a day in his life and Luffy was pregnant for god's sake. "Are you crazy?! No!" Luffy sighed at his response and lifted his hands, "Not on my face Sanji, I'm not dumb enough for that, a bruise would alert our alphas of our activities." Luffy's logic didn't make much sense but he could do with hands so he sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, "I don't know how to punch." His words were hardly more than a whisper.

"Start with making your hands into fist."

He did as he was told and when Luffy nodded, he swung at Luffy's exposed palm. Luffy couldn't exactly contain his giggle as he nearly fell over at the action, he glared at the omega and Luffy coughed, raising his hands in surrender. "Sanji, you have to put some force into it and take your thumb out of your fist, you'll hurt yourself that way." Luffy helped fix his form and then got back into position, "Put some body behind it, and don't just swing at me."

The second attempt was better, but he did stumble and fall, his cheeks were red with embarrassment but this time Luffy didn't laugh. "Maybe less body behind it next time and do not close your eyes. Come on, try again; look at where you are aiming." The next time he swung, he nearly hit Luffy's stomach; actually he would have if Luffy hadn't caught his wrist in an iron grasp, "Focus." Luffy growled.

He took a step back, horrified by what had almost happened, "Luffy, maybe we shouldn't do this."

"I don't want to hear it, try again."

He groaned in defeat and tried to punch again.

"No, you do it like this." He was forced to raise his hands, "Brace yourself." Luffy warned before taking a swing at his open hand, he did as he was told but it did not stop the pain from shooting up his wrist. "Ow!" He shouted, yanking his hand back, cradling it against his chest. It was throbbing and he rubbed at it, how was Luffy able to punch so hard? He was an omega and pregnant. It just did not make sense.

"Yeah, it hurts. That is what punching is now come on, I can take it." Luffy lifted his hands into the air once again. He punched Luffy's hands twice more with no affect, Luffy didn't even flinch, he did sigh though. "I'm doing my best!" He snapped defensively, it was not his fault that he sucked at punching. He kicked angrily at a stack of hay, causing it to shake and fall over. If only his family hadn't sucked and had taught him how to defend himself, then he'd be able to-.

"That's it!" Luffy yelled, cutting off his thought process. "Try again, with your legs!"

It took a moment for him to process what Luffy was asking him to do and it seemed absolutely ridiculous, "What if I kick you.."

Luffy rolled his eyes, "That is the point!" excitement was rolling off Luffy so he decided to appease the other omega and pivoted on one leg, his other leg lifted into the air, he focused on Luffy's hand and then spun quickly, hitting the palm with deadly accuracy. Adrenaline rushed through him; that had felt good, much better than punching. Luffy on the other hand was biting his lip, shaking his hand in an attempt to dissipate the pain. "What a kick! What the hell have you been doing?" Luffy laughed, eyes screwed in pain.

"Swimming?" He walked forward, "Are you okay?" He asked, looking at Luffy's forearm, it was already starting to blossom with bruises.

Luffy looked down at the arm, "Eh! Ah! Yep, no, heh, no this is bruising, shit our alphas."

They both paled and stared at the bruising, "Maybe we should not have practiced with our body parts." Luffy finally concluded, "I will tell Law that I fell."

He shook his head, taking Luffy's arm into his hold and examining it. "You can't. That will worry him more, you are pregnant, remember? Just tell him you bumped it." Luffy sighed and he bounced on his feet.

His legs? Really?

..

Marco

Their alphas were out and all he could do was wait behind the scenes and watch everything go down, everyone was being very standoffish. He had to remind himself that this alpha training was for Law, even if his alpha was not paying Law any attention, no his alpha was dead on staring at Ace like he was a piece of meat. Ace's alpha was ignoring him and Law was clinging to Zoro, going so far as to have a hand on the green haired man's shoulder. It made him jealous and his alpha fed off that emotion, he mentally face palmed when his alpha turned to look at Law, My friend! His alpha was not discreet with his thoughts and he watched in horror as a growl tore from his throat and he took a step toward Zoro threateningly.

No! He thought, Stop!

His alpha paused and Law's alpha stepped behind Zoro, eyes narrowed, it was a stark difference from how Law acted when he was in actual control. Zoro took the liberty to step even further in front of the smaller alpha, obscuring him almost completely and they all came to a standstill once again.

As the minutes passed, Zoro's alpha finally stepped forward and that was when Ace moved, stepping in front of him protectively. His own alpha was pleased by the show of possessiveness and placed a hand on Ace's hip, it was slapped off immediately. "Do not touch me! Ever! We are not mates! I do not protect you of my own will." Ace's alpha snarled.

He was amused and his alpha was confused at the display, Zoro on the other hand simply raised a hand to get their attention, clearly not interested in Ace's inner battle. "Enough, we are here to help Law, not bicker." Zoro grabbed Law's arm, tugging him into view. Law growled, eyes darting all over but he remained where Zoro placed him which was a good sign, but the alpha did flinch when the dragons who were nearby crashed into each other, they'd been fighting recently and he wasn't sure why.

"Okay we have met, now what?" Ace started to pace.

"We go nowhere; this is only to gain familiarity with each other." Zoro's alpha was very calm, it was unnerving.

His own alpha did not like that answer, "Familiarity? I have already met this alpha." He watched his own body walk forward, past Ace. He was quickly grabbed by the wrist, Ace was not letting him go too far it seemed. Law on the other hand took a step back, going so far as to crouch, ready to attack. It was disheartening to say the least.

"No." Zoro ordered; a hand grabbed Law's shoulder, calming the alpha.

Ace growled, "We have no time to coddle, training is of the up most importance. Get a grip, my omega depends on you." The freckled alpha crossed his arms. "Your omega?" He heard himself bark and suddenly he was whirling around to full on glare at Ace and ah, there it was, his alpha was angry now. Ace did not seem fazed, "Yes, his mate is of my blood, I have watched him grow, protected him, so he is therefore, MY omega. He is not my mate, I accept that and I now must trust this new alpha to take my place," Ace snorted offensively, eyes scanning Law, "This excuse of an alpha is pathetic, he gets knocked around a little and turns into a submission milksop."

He was stunned by Ace's words, was this how Ace truly felt or was it just his alpha?

On the other hand, his own alpha was only focused on one aspect of that little speech. "You are mine!" He was grabbing at Ace's wrist and then a muted pain shot through him as Ace's alpha punched him hard in the stomach, he was suddenly very happy he was not in control right now, he knew how hard Ace could punch. "Not. Right. Now." Ace hissed, eyes burning with resentment. He bet Ace was enjoying this in some kind of sadistic way.

"Again! Enough!" Zoro shouted, clearly annoyed.

Law was hovering close to Zoro's side again but the alpha did speak up to defend himself, "I will protect my mate with all I have. Do not doubt me!"

Ace sneered, "Says the one getting comfort from another alpha, you are a weak excuse of an alpha."

And that was where he drew the line; he took control of his body back, elbowing Ace hard in the side. He was getting upset, he did not know Ace's alpha was such an asshole, "Come on, Ace." He snapped, "Back off." Law's alpha was red faced, staring at the ground and he walked forward, scolding his alpha as he did, We know him! Stop focusing on Ace! Once he was close enough to Law, he gave control back to his alpha but continued chastising himself. We are the same person and just because you are the primal part of me does not mean that we don't have the same memories; that is your best friend! Your brother!

And finally his alpha got with the program, he continued to walk toward Law, Ace growled softly and Zoro tilted his head, watching carefully. Law didn't back away but his scent gave away how nervous he was, he watched in amazement as his alpha lowered his head in submission, this caused Law to calm just enough for him to close enough distance that he was actually able to place a hand on Law's upper arm.

"Do you remember when we got caught stealing that devil fruit, eh, Traffy?"

It was strange to see himself; talk of memories but to not be in control of what he was going to say.

"What?" Law whispered.

"You pulled her knickers down to distract her while I took the fruit from the stand, you stood there, blushing and stuttering while the old hag scolded you." His alpha spoke seriously which was weird to witness because if he'd had control, he'd be laughing his ass off while telling this story. It seemed to be doing the trick though since Law's alpha's eyes were lighting up with recognition.

"The guard caught up to us as we snuck away." Law deadpanned.

"Aye that is how I discovered you were a prince."

Law's head tilted slowly, "Pineapple?"

Zoro was grinning now and his alpha was nodding. Ace snorted, "You are all pathetic." And there it went, moment ruined. What was Ace's problem anyway? His alpha had way too much attitude and he wasn't surprised to see Ace's alpha walking away toward Caerus. He allowed a few more moments of bonding to occur between Law and his alpha before the training session ended and he went in search of Ace to find out exactly what had happened.

He was in control again as he approached Ace who was staring off into the distance, his eyes glazed over. It took multiple times of calling the alpha before Ace came back to himself, eyes questioning. "What was that about?" He couldn't help but be frustrated even though it wasn't exactly Ace's fault.

"I'm not sure." Ace mumbled; eyes still unfocused. He was pushed aside as Ace walked off toward the castle and all he could think was, what now?

..

Time skip- 2 weeks

Luffy

"Get back here!" Johnny all but yelled.

"Damn princes!" Yosaku huffed.

He held his hand over his mouth, smothering his laughter as he pressed against Sanji; they were both hiding in a crook, waiting for their guards to move on with their search. They'd given them the slip once again and it was just getting too easy, they'd done it so much that is was almost second nature. Sanji was plastered against his side, hiding his belly from view and the twins were not missing out on the excitement, both were kicking energetically and when the guards finally drifted away they fell out into the hall, laughing until they were breathless.

"That was great." Sanji cackled into his shoulder. The omega touched him almost constantly these days, they saw each other more than their alphas who were constantly training, he rarely saw Law actually, they only ever spent time together at dinner and at night and usually Law was too exhausted to hold a proper conversation, it was lonely but Sanji helped greatly, he liked to think he helped Sanji as well.

As they started to walk down the hallway and toward the stalls Sanji bumped their hips together, "We should eat more fruit for our breakfast tomorrow." He paused in his walking to look at Sanji with distaste, the omega could dream but that was not happening. "You know I love meat, you can get more fruit if you'd like, I on the other hand-."

"For the babies' sake, you need the nutrients." Sanji argued while placing a hand on his rounded stomach, the traitorous twins started to kick, noticing Sanji's presence and Sanji who was sensitive to this kind of thing started to coo, "That's right, tell your dad to give you fruit." Not even Law was able to feel the babies, not this much at least. "Traitors." He grumbled at his stomach, "I take my herbs every day, they are fine."

Sanji scowled and dropped to his knees, pressing his ear against his stomach, "Aha, that is not what they are telling me!" He gave the blonde a long suffering look, the man was worse than Law and Bepo combined, he swore it. "Fine! We shall have some fruit!" He threw his hands in the air, surrendering to the ultimate mother hen, Sanji. "I give up." Sanji chuckled but stood without another word, "Can we go now, before we get caught?" Sanji nodded with a smug smile on his face, the brat.

As they neared the end of the castle halls, Sanji spoke up, a distant look in his eyes, "Hey Luffy, I have been feeling a little strange lately." He glanced at the blonde, "How so?" Sanji bit his lip, bringing a hand up to tap at his lower stomach nervously, "I just-." They turned a corner and the conversation was cut short as they ran into a body that had been blocking the hallway, Sanji flat out fell onto his backside while he was caught by the arm, the grip was firm and he was about to thank his savior, that was until the smell of alpha assaulted his senses and the man spoke, "Careful now."

He yanked his arm away as if he'd been burned.

"You should be thanking me; a fall would not bid well for you in that state." Doflamingo's eyes roamed over his body, lingering on his very pregnant stomach. The alpha's eyes were absolutely sinister and he didn't doubt for a second that Doflamingo would push him down a set of stairs if he could get away with it. "Where are your manners?"

He wanted to spit at the alpha but his survival instincts kicked in and instead he pushed down his pride, nothing good would come of challenging Doflamingo right now, he was pregnant and while normally he'd never let an alpha push him around, right now he had to think of the twins. "Thank you. We must be on our way." He looked down at Sanji who was frozen; absolute horror was etched across Sanji's handsome face as he stared up at Doflamingo. "Sanji, come now." He begged, praying Doflamingo would just leave.

To his dismay, his words caused Doflamingo's attention to shift to the other omega, the alpha's gaze slid slowly down to Sanji like he was a bug that needed to be stepped on, their luck had finally ran out, they'd been avoiding Doflamingo like he was the plague for weeks now. Sanji swallowed as Doflamingo extended a hand, "Excuse my manners, I did not notice you, omega." Sanji paled and looked about to have a full blown panic attack at the thought of touching Doflamingo.

The gods must have heard his prayers because it was at this moment that Drake turned the corner, breaking the tension. "Prince Sanji, it is not a good look to be on the floor." Drake gathered Sanji in his arms, lifting the blonde onto his feet, Drake gave him a very disappointed look before speaking up, "I am glad to have found you so quickly, my Queen, the King has asked me to escort you to the training grounds, he has asked for your presence."

Doflamingo sniffed loudly and stalked away, he was too relieved to question Drake as he ushered them through the halls, they did not stop walking until they were closer to their rooms, "Now off you go, it'd be best if you avoided those halls from now on."

"You said Law.."

"A lie, my Queen."

Sanji blinked up at the alpha, "Why did you help us?"

Drake shifted, eyes cold. "Luffy is my Queen now and I know how a distressed omega smells. I will be on my way now." With a nod the alpha walked off, leaving both of them speechless.

Sanji remained silent even when they were back in front of the door to his room, Sanji was trying to control his emotions, he could tell but his scent was anything but relaxed. "Sanji.." He raised a hand and Sanji jumped, there was really no point in training today with Sanji so anxious. "Let us take it easy today, we have worked hard until now."

With a relieved nod, Sanji turned to open his door. "Do you want to watch our mates train?" He asked, not quite ready to be alone yet. The blonde stilled in thought and then shook his head, "No, I would like to take a bath if that is okay." He shrugged, if a bath was what Sanji needed to calm then fine, he turned to head toward the training grounds and paused, he couldn't leave Sanji when he felt this way. He would be a horrible friend if he did, so he instead caught the door to Sanji's room just as it was closing and slipped inside.

It was obvious that Sanji had no idea he was in the room and he felt like an intruder as he watched Sanji's shoulders hunch in defeat, "Dammit." Sanji choked out and slid to the ground, "Why am I like this?" This was something that he shouldn't be witnessing but it was too late to go back now so he instead walked past Sanji and into the bathroom, the blonde looked up in embarrassment as he passed and if he noticed tears in Sanji's eyes, he wasn't going to mention it.

Luckily the bath water was still warm, it hadn't been drained from this morning and he added some oil, making the water more suitable. Sanji came in just as he was spreading the oil with his fingertips, "Seriously?" Sanji sniffed, the omega was still wiping at his eyes.

"Bath time."

The blonde's eyebrows furrowed and he shook his head, "You are ridiculous." That didn't stop the omega from unlacing the top of his shirt, "A little privacy please?"

"Why?" It was just bodies, nothing either of them hadn't seen before.

Sanji's lips pressed into a thin line, "Never mind." And then the omega started to remove his clothes, he decided not to question the scars but he did notice that Sanji was thinner than he should be. It made his omega start to fret, he pushed his instincts away and waiting until Sanji was fully seated in the bath before he started to remove his own clothes. "What are you doing?!" Sanji squeaked, face red.

"I am joining you, of course." Wasn't that obvious? He couldn't understand why Sanji looked so shocked, he used to bathe with Ace and Sabo all of the time. As he slipped into the water, his nose wrinkled in distaste, it was obvious that Zoro had bathed in this and the alphas scent was very off-putting, he pushed the thoughts away and instead grabbed a rag from the side of the tub. "Need help washing your back?"

"No! Get out!" Sanji shrieked, completely flushed red, even his ears were turning in color.

"Stop being so dramatic." He argued. They were friends and Sanji was going to let him help. With that thought in mind, he scooted closer and grabbed Sanji by the shoulder, trying to turn the blonde and get at his back. "You are insane!" Sanji started to pull away from him, water sloshed over the side of the tub as they struggled. "Let me help!" He yelped as Sanji slipped backwards, leg flying out of the water. "Luffy this is-!" And then they were both slipping, luckily he landed on top of Sanji but it didn't stop either of them from going under the water.

When they emerged, they were both coughing up mouthfuls of water, and then they were laughing and leaning into each other, because seriously, what were they doing right now? "You made me drop the rag." He complained when their laughing finally subsided, Sanji did not look like that bothering him one bit and they both settled back down, letting a comfortable silence fall over them. The water really was relaxing, even if it did smell like Sanji's mate.

It was Sanji who spoke first, breaking the silence, "Do you ever miss home?"

A strange question to ask and he thought about it seriously before responding, "This is my home but yes, do you?" Surely Sanji couldn't miss a place that treated him so horribly. Sanji looked at him with longing eyes, "I miss the land, the ocean, the food."

"I miss my family." He said before he could catch himself.

Sanji didn't seem to mind though; he just smiled softly, "You need not feel bad on my account, just because my family situation is not ideal does not mean I would loathe another for loving their family." And he could understand that but that did not mean they should have this conversation so he changed the topic.

"Do you feel any better?"

The blonde's knees were pulled up to his chest, "Aye."

..

Ace

He had both daggers in his hands; Law was facing him with narrowed eyes, his own sword raised. Zoro had asked them to train together today and even though Law had gotten better, he knew this was going to be an easy win. They both lunged forward, met halfway, Law swung at him forcefully but his body was too fluid and all he had to do was give himself over to his instincts, block, twist and his dagger was pressed to Law's throat. "You need to do better." He huffed before stepping back.

They started again and this time he simply had to wait for Law before sidestepping him and disappearing behind the other alpha, when Law turned to look for him, he already had the dagger pressing into Law's exposed back. Zoro tsked from the sidelines and he thought again about how this wasn't even a challenge. He knew this was for training but annoyance was starting to overcome him, his head was growing fuzzy and he couldn't tell if it was his alpha causing this or simply him. He could never tell where his alpha began and he ended anymore, not these days.

He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. "Let us try again."

It was the same result as the first time, his anger was starting to simmer and he shook his head again, why was it so hard to concentrate? Advice, he needed to give Law advice, this was training. Not a real battle, why did he have to remind himself of that? "Stop watching my hands, you need to pay attention to all of me. Look for cues on what I plan to do next, anticipate my moves." He stepped back, rolling his neck, fuck why couldn't he just be better; he was nearly an adult already, come on.

Did he say that out loud? Why did Law look so uneasy?

When he once again disarmed Law, he couldn't stop himself from pressing the hilt of his dagger into Law's chest, "Weak." He growled. The darker skinned alpha's eyes were growing darker by the minute and the next time they clashed, Law was actually able to knock a dagger from his hand, but the alpha was distracted by the fallen dagger and he took the opening to swing upwards, punching just below Law's chin. It knocked the alpha onto his ass, "I told you to pay attention." He snapped.

"Ace! Watch it!" Marco hissed in warning.

Zoro looked about to intervene and for some reason that made his anger start to boil, he couldn't control it anymore, why was everyone coddling Law?! "Get up!" He shouted while grabbing his dagger, Law scrambled to his feet, "Come on, weakling." He taunted and Law bared his teeth before charging at him, a fist was swung at him and he pulled back, Law was leaving himself open but the sword in Law's hand glinted dangerously and he knew if he went for an opening, he'd lose a leg. Instead he threw one of his daggers to the ground and waited for confusion to cross Law's face before jumping forward and redirecting Law's sword away from him, it did the trick of disarming both of them but while they were stumbling and trying to regain their balance, the other alpha took the opportunity to tackle him.

They grappled with each other before falling into the sand, punches were thrown and on instinct, he reached for his dagger. He was already in the process of slamming the sword upward with deadly accuracy, when his forearm was stepped on, halting his action. "Ace, drop it." Marco's voice was pure ice, and as he was doing what he was told; Law was being dragged off of him by Zoro. The alpha spit blood onto the ground and they both let out a growl when their eyes met.

He slowly sat up, his actions catching up with him.

"Are you insane?! That was a death strike!" Zoro screamed, he'd never seen the alpha lose his composure like this. Zoro looked one moment away from murdering him. The anger was still boiling inside of him and even if he did feel regret for almost killing Law, he couldn't stop himself from standing and spitting out, "He started it!" It was like a stranger was in control and he wasn't surprised that Marco punched him hard enough to split his cheek open.

"Get out of my sight!" Marco grabbed his daggers, slamming them into his chest, "Get the fuck away from us." He met his lover's eyes and he wanted to apologize but he was so hurt and angry and he couldn't reign in his emotions, he debated stabbing Marco, his fingers twitched in want. That was when the dragons stepped in, Caerus was nudging him away from the other people, as if he could sense what was happening, Attis, Hypnos, and Athena blocked off his path to the other alphas. It cleared the fog in his mind just enough for him to make the decision to leave but it didn't stop him from seeing Marco checking Law over for injuries and it didn't stop the anger. He did not think anything could stop the anger.

..

Hey everyone, I know it has been a long time and I think some explanation is needed. First off, this story is in no way abandoned. Life hit my cowriter and I. Big time. I not only moved to a new town (where I had to live with my aunt for a month before moving to my own place) but I started a new job so that was a huge adjustment for me and while this was happening, my cowriter had to go into surgery and while she was in recovery we hardly spoke and when we did, it was not about fanfiction but her health and life.

When life finally did settle down for both of us, it was hard to come back to this story. The reason being that Chev and I used to spend almost every single day together and when I moved, we went from seeing each other all the time to seeing each other maybe 3 times in a 4-5 month period. We did speak about Unwanted and both agree that we want to finish it, we spent so much time on this story and we still love it dearly. So we will figure out how to continue this, even if it takes a little more time to get chapters out then it used to.

Thank you all for reading and commenting. You and this story are not forgotten.