Chapter Text
Charles could feel his heart pounding in his chest with the intensity of 1000 horsepower. The engine of Max’s Aston Martin Valkyrie roared through the streets as the alpha pressed the accelerator even harder.
The needle climbed even higher.
Charles wanted to vomit.
"Relax. They're fine."
Maybe if Charles hadn’t seen how tightly his alpha was clenching his jaw, he would have believed him. Maybe if their bond didn’t make Charles’ nerves tingle with Max’s suppressed tension, he might have believed it.
Maybe if he had called Ollie to accompany them, they wouldn’t be speeding through the streets of Baku at this late hour.
“Max!” the omega screamed as a white blur passed in front of the car.
“Fuck!” Max slammed the brakes, causing the car to skid. Charles trembled as the momentum threw his body forward. He felt bile rising in his throat. “Are you okay, schat?” Max asked, his voice tight, reaching out to place a hand on the omega’s thigh. Charles nodded shakily, focusing on the stray cat walking across the street with its tail held high, imperiously. “We’re almost there.”
“Oscar is texting me; he’s arriving at the warehouse,” Charles remarked, glancing briefly at the message from their eldest pup.
“I don’t even want to think about how many tickets we’ll get tomorrow,” Max muttered as he floored the accelerator again once they exited the tunnel. Charles scoffed in disdain. They were all millionaires; a few hundred euros wouldn’t change that. “Show-off.”
“Tease me, and I’ll leave you with Oscar’s fines too.”
Max snorted. “As if that wasn’t going to happen anyway, love.” Charles couldn’t help but smile at his fiancé’s resigned but playful tone. Max’s hand squeezed the inside of his thigh. “Do you want to talk about what we’re going to do when we get there? How we’ll handle the pups?”
“I’m going to tan Ollie’s ass, that’s what I’m going to do,” Charles hissed, crossing his arms. Max pressed his lips together to keep from laughing. Charles was becoming more like Seb every day, just as Kimi had always said. “And the other pups… we’ll see if their parents agree with us about the seriousness of this little escapade.”
“You know what Georgie thinks.”
“Yes, I do,” Charles chuckled quietly, remembering how the blond omega had turned several shades of yellow and then red when they saw the fan-recorded video. Between his Dam’s fury and his Sire’s silent severity, Charles was certain little Kimi would deeply regret his antics by tomorrow. “Do you think he’ll drink… cheap alcohol?” He wrinkled his nose in disgust at the thought.
“I’m sure he will, love.”
“How gross! My pup should know better than to drink something that tastes like… piss.”
“We’re here,” Max announced, turning off the GPS and pulling the car to the side of the road. Charles hissed softly in distaste and slight apprehension. The dark street with rusted gates gave the high-class omega chills. “Come on, love. Wear my jacket.” Max opened the passenger door, already pushing his leather jacket onto Charles’ shoulders. “Better?”
“Better… but don’t act like you’re not doing this to calm your possessive alpha instincts,” Charles quickly added, linking his arm with the Dutchman’s. Max chuckled, shaking his head. A quiet whimper escaped Charles when his foot stepped on something squishy. “Maxie…”
“I know, love,” the alpha murmured, encouraging him to keep moving despite the omega’s growing discomfort. Max wasn’t surprised by the type of place the pups had ended up in. He remembered being Ollie’s age and chasing the same kind of thrill alongside Pierre, with Daniel trailing behind them to keep them “safe.”
Charles hadn’t had the same experiences. The omega had spent his early years being pampered and indulged with nights in expensive clubs—subconsciously, everyone had always treated him as a refined omega even before his presentation. “It stinks,” he coughed into the alpha’s arm.
“It’s cheap weed,” Max growled, pushing harder against the warehouse door. “Don’t you dare leave my side,” he commanded in a low voice, rare for him. Charles nodded, twisting his slender fingers into the fabric of the blond’s shirt.
All eyes were on them. Max felt a growl building in his throat at the whistles and catcalls directed at his omega. His instincts screamed to attack. Only the sweet scent of his omega kept him grounded. “Alpha, let’s go,” Charles whispered softly.
Max nodded, wrapping an arm around his companion’s slim waist. He strode purposefully toward the bar. Maybe at another time, Charles’ squeak of disgust when his elbows touched the dirty counter would have made him laugh. “You have pups in here. Where are they?"
"Which one of them do you want to fuck, man?"
Terrible idea, man. Charles didn’t even blink as his alpha grabbed the bartender by the collar. His own instincts were screaming at him to rip the creep apart. “I won’t repeat the question. Try acting smart again, and I’ll break your teeth,” Max growled menacingly near the thin man’s ear. Charles scoffed as the smell of cheap beer soured with fear. Coward.
“In the basement,” the beta muttered through gritted teeth, breathing heavily.
“Alone?”
“An alpha kid just went down.”
“Oscar,” Charles murmured, relieved. Max nodded. He abruptly stood up, patting the bartender’s shoulder before grabbing Charles’ hand and leading him down a urine-smelling corridor. “Max? Where? How do you know? When were you here?”
“Last time was 2019,” Max replied absentmindedly. Charles wrinkled his nose. “You weren’t there. It was me, Pierre, Carlos, and Daniel. Nothing’s changed.”
Charles bit his tongue as old jealousy resurfaced in his mouth. Instead, he replied sarcastically, “At least our pup takes after someone.”
Max didn’t respond. He kept his cool. The grotesque sound of the metal door creaking open sent a chill down Charles’ spine. How easy would it have been to trap the pups? They wouldn’t have been able to open the door from the inside… They…
“Oliver Bearman!” Max’s authoritative voice cut through the spiral of Charles’ thoughts.
A sharp hiss left him as his eyes landed on their pup. Disheveled, with clear beer stains on his clothes and glassy eyes, Ollie looked devastated. “Sire…” the pup stumbled toward them like a magnet, “...Da…Dam,” he stammered, glancing nervously at Charles. The omega stayed behind Max.
“Keys, now,” the alpha ignored the pup’s gaze. Ollie didn’t argue. He just grabbed Charles’ Ferrari keys, holding them hesitantly. The omega didn’t move. “Give me the keys, Oliver,” Max ordered. Ollie gulped, obeying and stepping back, his eyes fixed on the ground.
“Sire!” Ollie choked when Max gripped his chin firmly. His sire’s blue eyes were anything but amused. Ollie felt his stomach churn.
“How many cigarettes did you have, Ollie?”
Charles shivered.
“None.”
“Ollie…” Max lowered his voice to that familiar tone that always made both his pups and his omega shiver, “...how many cigarettes?”
“Four,” the pup whimpered.
“Oscar,” Max called without breaking his tough demeanor. The younger alpha approached. Charles stepped forward, brushing the hair from his eldest pup’s forehead and pressing his lips to the warm skin. Oscar melted slightly under the affection. Ollie averted his gaze. “You can go home, dear. Go recover. Dam and I will take over from here.”
“Your sire is right, my Oscie,” Charles purred softly, massaging the back of the feverish Australian’s neck. “All this smoke isn’t good for you.”
Ollie sniffled. Dam was ignoring him. Dam only liked Oscar. He wanted Dam to look at him. He made a move to approach Dam, but Sire stopped him. A sad whimper escaped the pup. “Please. Dam,” he called softly.
Charles couldn’t do it. He couldn’t look at Ollie right now. His sweet Ollie wasn’t this messy, dirty boy. His baby pup smelled like sweet milk, not beer and weed. His Ollie wouldn’t steal his keys and run off like a rebel in the middle of the night.
“Charles,” Max called, worried. The alpha was concerned by the omega’s pale and apathetic expression. Charles blinked. “Are you okay, love?” the omega nodded, coughing slightly to rid himself of the heavy smells. The metal door opened again.
George’s hiss cut through the room. Charles relaxed. He was surprised to smell Lando next to him. His tension spiked when he saw how uncomfortable his brother seemed around him. How worried Carlos looked. They seemed like…
“Lando,” Charles sighed as a blur of brown hair and bright blue eyes flung itself at the Brit. “Lando, you came,” the pup whispered emotionally. Charles blinked, incredulous.
“Of course I did,” Lando returned the hug just as fiercely. “Are you okay?”
“I…”
Charles no longer felt comfortable listening, especially since Carlos joined the embrace, and his scent seemed to merge with Lando’s, forming a protective barrier around the young Argentine. They seemed… By the look on Max’s face, Charles’ mate was having exactly the same thoughts.
“Go take care of your pups. We’ll take over.”
“Are you sure, Kimi?”
The Prime Alpha raised an eyebrow at Max’s question. Lewis smirked at his eldest pup’s posture. “Are you implying we’re too old to handle a few unruly pups, pup?” the Finn retorted good-naturedly.
“Just checking,” Verstappen replied with a smirk. He let Lewis hug him, nodding when the alpha asked if he was okay. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kimi rubbing his wrists against Charles’ neck. The way the omega relaxed, enveloped by his sire’s scent, made Max mentally kick himself. He should have thought to scent Charles earlier.
From the look Lewis gave George as he pulled him closer, Alex didn’t fare much better.
Only Lando seemed comfortable.
Max had no doubt that Carlos had scented him beforehand. Or that the omega himself had reminded the alpha to do so before they entered. Lando had always been the rebellious pup of the Vettel-Raikkonen family. The one who mingled with the younger pack alphas.
How many times had one of them—alphas—had to scent Lando so Seb and Kimi wouldn’t find out that their "video game nights" were actually spent at shady pubs?
“Dam?” Ollie called hopefully as they left the pub. Max felt a little bad for the pup when he saw how Charles delicately ignored him and got into his Ferrari. The speed with which Charles drove off made Max’s chest tighten.
“Sire… Ollie… I’m going after Dam,” Oscar announced, scratching the back of his neck.
“Come here, Oscie,” Max called, opening his arms. The Australian melted into him. Max hated himself for asking the pup to leave Charles’ comforting nest. The pup was trembling. “Thank you, pup. Thank you so much.”
“It was Ollie, Sire. It’s not like I could’ve said no,” Oscar murmured, making Max smile. Loyalty. His loyal, brave pups. It didn’t take long for Oscar’s McLaren to disappear in the same direction as Charles’ Ferrari.
“Let’s go to the hotel, pup.” Max gently nudged Ollie toward the car. The pup had a lost look in his eyes. A sad, remorseful scent clung to him. Max turned on the heat as soon as he got into the car. “There’s a hoodie of Charles’ in the backseat,” he subtly suggested.
The pup didn’t hesitate, pulling off his stained shirt and putting on Dam’s hoodie. Max turned on the radio. “You worried us, Ollie. Charles was… terrified,” the alpha said with his usual brutal honesty. Ollie whimpered, rubbing his eyes. “Why, pup? I’m not judging you. I just want to understand.”
“Because… because you guys always leave us out. Oscar and Logan are always welcome at your parties. But there’s always someone watching us. We can never have fun like you do.”
“You pups are always welcome at our parties, Ollie,” Max objected. Ollie opened his mouth to protest, but the alpha raised a hand, silencing him. “But I understand that you feel like you can’t experience things freely around us.”
“How do you…”
“I was the youngest in the pack for years, pup,” Max laughed, slowing down. He felt half the tension leave him now that his pup was close. Ollie’s eyes sparkled. “We’re not even half as controlling as our sires and dams were.”
“Georgie said Kimi grounded you and Charles when he caught you smoking on the roof before a Grand Prix.”
“Georgie doesn’t know how to smoke,” Max scoffed disdainfully. The cheek of his little brother, trying to act tough. “He’s too fancy for cheap cigarettes.”
“Does Dam know?” Ollie dared to ask. Max glanced at him from the corner of his eye with a sly smile. The way the pup played with his sleeves was almost identical to Charles.
“What do you think?” Ollie shrugged. “Charles has never touched a cigarette or illegal drugs, if you’re wondering.”
“Dam was always perfect…”
“But…” Max objected with a mischievous grin, “he was our excellent bartender.”
“Dam made your drinks? But Carlos said…”
“If Charles could cook as well as he makes new drinks, we’d be as fat as barrels,” Max snorted in amusement. “But don’t tell him I told you.”
“Our secret, Sire.”
“Good pup.” Max stopped at a red light. Ollie had a soft smile on his face, his scent sweet once again. “Remember that we love you, okay? He’s angry, but he could never hate you.”
“I know, Sire… I just… I was stupid.”
“No harsh words about yourself,” Max reprimanded gently.
“I stole Dam’s favorite car,” Ollie whined in embarrassment. “And… and I didn’t even like Bartoleto’s cigarettes that much,” he grumbled. “Not to mention how much my nose hurt from all that weed…”
“And the beer?”
“Ewww… cheap alcohol, Sire. It tastes like piss!”
Max laughed. Like Dam, like pup.