Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Carlos blinked sleepily, confused as to why he was awake at all. Then he felt the hard jab of cold toes in his side again and with a grumble, he looked over to see who had their little feet rearranging his organs this morning. It was Cameron, he should have known.
With a small huff of laughter, he turned his head to the other side, his smile growing when he saw his mate holding their little girl close to himself in his sleep. As he watched them dreamily, still waking up he admired the similarities in two of the three greatest loves of his life. His mate was much larger than him and older by two years. His eyes, when open, were a gorgeous brown almost black color. His long brown hair, that was in a bun as he slept, was always very soft and somehow it always smelled nice even though they lacked good soap on the Isle. His tan skin is one thing both of their children had inherited instead of Carlos’ own pale skin.
Their daughter was almost a spitting image of Jay. Josephine’s hair was the same color if not a touch darker, it was hard to tell who she got her eyes from considering Carlos and Jay had about the same color eyes. But she did have Carlos’ own full lips, and just the slightest smattering of freckles across her nose that she was sure the little alpha would grow out of. But their son, who was older than Josephine by about 2 years was a more even mix of them than anything. His hair was crazily curly like Carlos’, but dark brown like Jay’s. His eyes were lighter brown than either of theirs which was slightly odd but adorable, and unlike his sister and very much like Carlos, he was covered in freckles from head to toe.
Thinking of their pups made Carlos smile even wider, and then his small moment of serenity was broken by the shattering of something on the street below, a scream of pain or anger- Carlos couldn’t tell - and then some yelling and the sound of a scuffle.
Ah yes, I’m still on Isle. He sighed softly, the long drawn out breath moving some fallen pieces of hair on his mates face.
But, we won’t be for much longer. The optimist in him reminds him cheerfully, and for once he allows it to reassure him. Because, yes, they were leaving the Isle soon. Today actually! Today was the day Carlos was finally getting off this wretched Isle, getting away from his mother, getting his pups to safety. Today was a dream come true for Carlos and Jay, and hopefully Mal and Evie too.
Well, he was pretty sure Evie felt the same, he had noticed she had been a little down when they were first told they were being taken off the Isle for a reason she wouldn't share, but she had returned to her normal self and then some as their of departure grew closer. The usually bubbly, blue-haired girl had been pretty secretive recently, well more secretive than normal at least. Carlos had a feeling it was an alpha that she knew Mal wouldn’t approve of, but he wasn’t about to rat his fellow omega out to the pack alpha. Mostly because he knew exactly how scary Mal could be. She really was terrifying, but he hadn’t been that scared of her since he was mated, so it’s been a while. Almost four years actually, which is a long time for only being fifteen he supposed. But anyway, he noticed that she didn’t have as much jurisdiction over his emotions once he had been mated, but Evie was unmated, so she still gets the full effect of it. And he wouldn’t wish that on his worst enemies.
“What are you thinking so hard about?” The husky whisper from his mate surprised him enough to make him jump slightly, making the alpha start to chuckle softly.
“Oh, hush...but I was just thinking about how we get to leave today…” Carlos whispered in response, looking over at his alpha and meeting his eyes with a wide smile. His smile was returned with one just as big,
“Yeah, we are finally getting out of here baby, and I promise I’ll do everything in my power to make sure we never have to come back. To make sure our pups don’t have to grow up as we did.”
Carlos smiled warmly at the large alpha, trying to blink away the tears he felt pooling in his eyes.
“I believe you.”

~~~
Everyone was on edge as they sat in the limo that was taking them to Auradon. It was originally because Mal had brought up her mother’s plan again, which caused a small argument once Jay and Carlos expressed the fact that they didn’t want to do it. And then the bridge scare just added to it all, Carlos had just gotten Josephine to stop crying from the said scare.
But, now all Carlos could think about was the plan. The plan to steal the wand that Mal seemed dead set on doing, even Evie seemed to be okay with it. But Carlos and Jay knew they couldn’t and wouldn’t follow through with that plan, because it wasn’t just them choosing if they wanted to be bad like their parents wanted them to be- Not that Carlos really wanted to be bad either -this was a life or death choice for them. Not the choice of themselves living or dying, but their pups lives or deaths. They knew for a fact that with how early Josephine was born and with how small she was she wouldn’t have made it much longer without the help Auradon could provide, they had seen it happen to other babies on the Isle. And they knew that their son could have just ended up being used as some toy by alpha’s every heat. They knew because it happened to a lot of omegas on the Isle, there was no protection for them there. Carlos got very lucky that he and Jay already knew they wanted to be mates before he had presented, which seemed odd because he had only been eleven when he presented, but that was life on the Isle for you. Every child there had to grow up much faster than any child should have to.

~~~
Carlos stared in awe at how bright everything here was. How bright green trees, bushes, and grass was. At how the three people in front of him were wearing such softly looking clothes. At how gorgeous Jay’s eyes looked reflecting this new lighting. It made him smile widely.
“We only asked for four children.” The clipped tone of the older lady in front of him made Carlos’ train of thought end. He looked her up and down, sizing her up on instinct. She was rounder than any person he'd ever seen on the Isle unless they were pregnant. All her clothing was baby blue but also severe-looking, as were her eyes. Her dark brunette hair was tied up into a tight looking bun, and she looked confused and also extremely uncomfortable.
“Well, we weren’t just gonna leave our pups behind.” Jay was the one to answer her, his deep voice causing even the Alpha girl behind the first woman to shrink down slightly. And this movement caused Carlos to also size up the two people behind this woman.
One was the alpha girl, who had tan skin, dark hair, and dark eyes. She was beautiful and wore all pink. Way too much pink. The boy next to her had a soft omegan beauty, but a weirdly muted scent. It made Carlos’ nose crinkle. He wore a smart-looking blue suit, with a yellow shirt underneath. And his honey-colored and eyes practically glowed in the sunlight.
“Pups!?” The woman squeaked in surprise, “ You are much too young to be having children!” She cried, waking Josephine who had been sleeping peacefully in Carlos’ arm until then. Carlos scowled at her as he bounced the little girl, soothing her as he hummed softly to her and let his scent waft around them. He noticed that the other people around them also relaxed as his scent washed over them making him smile brightly, he loved the power omegas had sometimes.
“Well, what did you expect? There is no protection for omegas on the Isle, so most have pups very early in life.” He heard Mal explain to the blue-woman, as Carlos had dubbed her in his mind, as he finally calmed Josephine again. Now she was sitting up in his arms, staring around at the new environment with wide, curious eyes, just like her brother was doing in Jay’s arms.
A sharp gasp followed Mal’s statement, the movement of the boy behind the blue-woman following it as he stepped forward to stand next to her instead of behind,
“There is no protection for omegas on the Isle?! My father never told me that…” He whispered the last part to himself in horror.
“No, there isn’t…” Mal left the statement open, hoping the boy would fill the blank in himself.
“Oh! How incredibly rude of me, I am Prince Ben,” He started, stepping forwards the shake Mal’s hand with a sheepish smile, “The woman in blue is Fairy Godmother and the girl behind her in pink is Audrey.” He said as he continued down the line of them, going to shake Evie’s hand and then kissing the back of it with a small chuckle when she insisted. He gulped once he stood in front of Jay, extending his hand hesitantly but Jay seemed to take pity on the oddly scented boy-prince and shook his hand gently.
“Say hello to Prince Ben, Cameron.” He said softly to the boy in his arms who practically leaped forwards as soon as Jay said this, taking it as permission to hug this new, but very pretty, man.
“Hello, Pwince Ben! My name is Camewon!” The small boy giggled. Ben seemed surprised for a moment before he smiled brightly and hugged the small boy back,
“It is very nice to meet you, Cameron.” He said as he handed the boy back to Jay who was laughing softly.
“Sorry, should've warned you.”
“Nah, he’s adorable, you're very lucky.”
“Don’t I know it.” The two chuckled softly as Ben moved on to Carlos who smiled softly at the taller boy. He clasped his one extended hand with both of his own, albeit a little awkwardly because of Josephine,
“Thank you, so very much Ben. You can not even begin to understand how thankful I am that you gave my family this chance.” He felt the tears pooling in his eyes again and quickly retracted his hands to wipe at them, but was stopped by Ben’s own hands grabbing his.
“Trust me, now that I know about this, I am even more relieved I made the proclamation when I did.” The two shared a long smile before they separated. Carlos turned into his alpha’s side with a bright smile and teary eyes.
“Well, then I suppose I will have to get a larger room prepared for you two since I assume you are mated and would like to room together. I will also arrange for a child's bed and a cot for the little ones. Do you think you will need anything else?” The look on the Fairy Godmother’s face had softened as she saw how Carlos and Jay acted towards the Prince and their pups.
“Well,” Carlos cleared his throat before continuing, “We have things for them, but they are all old and dirty and such...is there any way for us to get new things for them?” he asked timidly.
“Well, of course! I will be sure to have you two fully supplied with new things for the two of them tomorrow and make sure we keep your room stocked with diapers and such. Will you need any bottle or are you able to breastfeed?” Carlos found it amusing that the two teens from Auradon both blushed at that question, but Carlos answered with ease,
“I still breastfeed Josephine, but we do need sippy cups for Cameron.” The Fairy Godmother nodded at this before smiling at them brightly.
“Well, ben and Audry will show you around before showing you to Doug, who will show you where your rooms are. And I will make sure he knows where your new one is boys.” She said before waving as she left in a slight hurry.
Ben stepped forward again, clapping his hands together and smiling brightly at them all.
“Well, welcome to Auradon.”

Chapter Text

Carlos was sitting in the cafeteria at their usual table, Josephine feeding from his breast under the puppy-print blanket that Ben had given him. Jay was sat across from him, trying to get Cameron to eat more than just the small amount of grapes he had eaten. Mal was staring down at the spellbook her mother had given her, the amount of focus on her face made Carlos slightly nervous, but Mal had yet to bring the plan back up so he was slightly optimistic. Evie was eating and working on some homework for their Algebra 2 class.
This was how most of their mornings went in the week they had been in Auradon. They woke up, got ready, went to class, and then went back to their dorms. But, he had noticed that both of his pups had gained a significant amount of weight in the week they had had access to good food and medical care. They had actually taken the pups to a doctor with FG’s help and the results were basically what they expected, both pups were slightly malnourished but with the proper food plans and such, they would be fine in a few months. The doctor had also given Carlos a weaning plan for Josephine since it was well past the time for her to be eating solids. And, really the only reason she wasn’t on solids yet was that Jay and Carlos knew nothing on the Isle would provide for her as much as his breast milk would, so he had continued to breastfeed her, thanking any god he could think that he was still producing milk. He had actually breastfed Cameron up until about a year ago when he got the idea in his mind that him also feeding would take away food from his baby sister, so his weight had declined even more after that which had scared Carlos and Jay to death. But, somehow, it had all worked out.
With a smile, Carlos pulled Josephine up from under his shirt after feeling her unlatch and pull away from his chest. Balancing her on his shoulder as he burped her and continued to eat his own food. He heard a collective gasp coming from a table full of boys that played a sport Ben had called Tourney. They were all staring at Carlos and when he looked down at himself to see why he noticed that his chest had been slightly exposed as he moved Josephine to his shoulder.
With a bright flush, he quickly righted himself, jumping slightly when he heard Jay growl. Looking up he noticed Jay had also seen the staring and had turned and glared at the group of boys who all cowered and looked away.
A little later and after most of their plates had been cleared, even Cameron’s, there was the sound of someone clearing their throat from behind Carlos, making everyone at the table turn to look at the maker of the noise, Audrey.
“I just wanted to let you all know that; one, classes end early today, and two, there is Tourney tryouts tonight if any of you were interested.” Carlos looked to Jay to see his reaction to the last part of her statement. He knew his mate had been curious about the sport ever since Ben had brought it up during their tour about a week prior.
“Thanks, Audrey. I’ll see you in history.” Mal was the one that answered as Jay and Carlos had one of their silent conversations.
“Are you sure?” Jay asked him softly, wiping Cameron’s sticky face with a wet-wipe as he did so.
“Yeah, go have some fun. I know you’ve been pent up since we got here.” Carlos answered softly, with a smile as he packed up the toys he had set on the table for Josephine.
“Okay...well, if anything changes during the day, let me know,” Jay said firmly as he stood, picking Cameron up and settling the little omega on his hip. Carlos nodded in affirmation as he also stood.
“Hey, E? Can you help me strap the harness on?” He asked as he held the baby harness up.
“Of course, Carlos.”

~~~

A little later, during Carlos’ gym class- one of the only classes that he only had Cameron in -there was a little mishap that left the omega’s blood boiling.
He had been finishing up a timed-trial with the coach when he heard a little conversation happening between his son and a few of the omega and beta girls from his class.
“Hey, little buddy, what’s your name?” A tall blonde has asked his son, crouching slightly to be eye to eye with the little omega who was drawing silently.
“My mama said I shouldn't talk to stwangas, sowwy. “ Was all Cameron said in reply, and for a split second Carlos felt a swell of pride.
“How very smart of you to listen to your Mommy, but if you don’t mind me asking, where is your Mommy, buddy?” When all she got was a finger pointed in his direction as an answer he watched as the girl's facial expression soured.
“Your Mommy is Carlos?” Cameron nodded, making the girl’s frown deepened which only caused a bit of fear to swell up inside in Carlos, overshadowing the brief pride he had felt.
“Hmm...well how about you come with me and we can get you some ice cream, yeah?” Carlos froze at that, “Let’s get him somewhere safe before Carlos is done.” He had no idea how he had heard her whisper to her friends but that sentence immediately made Carlos derail from the path he was supposed to be running. Instead, running straight towards his son on a bench by the edge of the field.
“No, I’m-Hey! Let me go, please, ma’am!!” Carlos felt the panic rise up inside of him as the panic in his son’s voice grew more apparent. His little boy’s fear scent crashing over him like a wave. He was getting closer but not close enough.
“Mommy!!!” As soon as his son called for him Carlos had leaped at the blonde grabbing his son, pinning her to the ground with a loud thump and then a snarl.
“Don’t you ever touch my son again.” He growled loudly at her before immediately scrambling towards Cameron, scooping him up and holding him close. Bouncing around as he tried to console the near-hysterical crying of his pup.

~~~

After the mishap during his gym class, Carlos had been on edge the rest of the day, not letting Cameron out of his sight and then doing the same for Josephine once she had been passed back to him by Jay.
Later, once he and Jay were both back in their room, Jay asked him what had happened that put him on edge.
"Just a scare during gym with Cameron. I mean, I know that most of the kids here don't like us, but that doesn't make us unfit parents. And it definitely does not give them the right to put their hands on our son and try to remove him from me." His soft voice had developed a growl by the end of his story, and Jay answered the growl with one of his own.
"So, do you want me to stay with you guys tonight?" Jay asked softly, after calming down.
"No, babe. It's fine. I'll just spend some quality time with the pups,” Carlos said, smiling softly at his mate as he walked over to the larger teen, “And maybe when you get back we can spend some...quality...time together too…” He whispered huskily to the alpha, a sly smirk on his face.
Carlos giggled when his alpha only growled excitedly in return, leaning down to kiss the smaller teen hungrily. After a moment he pushed Jay away, laughing as he said,
“Go, go, go. You’re gonna be late and then the coach will be mad.” Jay only growled in return, before turning away and grabbing his things.
“You’re a tease De Vil!” He called over his shoulder as he left the room, after kissing his pups and mate goodbye of course.

~~~

Jay was exhilarated after trying out for the Tourney team. It just felt so great to be running around again! Even though he wasn’t beating people up during this activity, he hadn’t really ever gotten too much joy from that anyway. But the tackling part of the game was exciting and so was dodging that had to be done in the kill zone. He actually thought that Carlos would be pretty good at this, as more of a support man than a goal scorer himself, mostly because of his slight build and how light he was on his feet. But, he knew that his omega would not enjoy playing it, no matter how good he would be at it. His adorable little omega would rather be doing math problems and science experiments than doing any kind of sport.
“Hey, Jay! You did great out there, man!” Jay turned and smiled at the Prince as he approached.
“Thanks, Ben, you’re not too bad yourself.” Ben smiled brightly in return, wiping some sweat from his forehead, and for a moment Jay got the slightest hint of a sweet omegan scent. It confused him greatly, but he shrugged it off. Ben’s scent had been odd to him and all of the other VKs since they met him, and if his inquiry to a tough beta named Lonnie meant anything he's had the weird scent for as long as anyone could remember.
“Well, I guess you better get back to your family, but I’ll see you guys tomorrow alright?” Jay nodded as he focused back onto Ben, giving the other teen a smile,
“Sure, man,” He turned to make towards the bleachers where his things were but then stopped himself as he remembers something, “Actually, wait, Ben!” He called after the Prince who was walking towards the changing rooms.
“Oh, what’s up Jay?” Ben asked as he turned back to him.
“Well, Carlos was hoping he could meet up with you and have lunch or something. He wanted to talk about giving you a list of all the kids on the Isle and their secondary genders and such, just stuff like that. He hopes it will speed up the process of bringing more kids over.” Ben smile seemed to, impossibly, grow even wider.
“That’s a great idea! Tell him I’ll swing by your guys’ dorm at noon and then we’ll have lunch in my office while we talk it out.” Jay gave another nod,
“Sure!” And then he really set off, heading back to his room with a lazy, happy smile on his face.

~~~

“So, I think that it’s best if you take over unmated omegas first. They are in the most danger.” Carlos explained as he pointed at the first section of the list he had settled on Ben’s desk.
“Yeah, that makes sense. But...what if they have plans to mate with an alpha and then leave before they can? Or mate right before we get to them?” Carlos sat in thought for a second as he ate some of his sandwich.
‘Well, maybe you send a letter to the people first, find out their plans and if these statuses have changed, and then send for the first group of provenly unmated omegas, so we aren’t separating and omegas from their alphas.” Ben nodded at this,
“Good idea...so that’s what I’ll get started first, I’ll have Lumiere take care of the letters and also have him make sure they get to the Isle. Now, the last concern, what if we receive no answer?” Carlos sighed softly at this, frowning.
“Well, if you receive no answer I suggest sending someone to look for them because it could mean they are in grave danger.” he didn’t add examples of what kind of danger, knowing from the look on Ben's face that he understood perfectly.
“So, unmated first and then what order after that?” Ben had a pretty good idea of what order they would be going in but just wanted to make sure.
“Well, then I say we get any couple that has children off, omega-alpha couples or beta-alpha couples, any that have children need to be prioritized next. Then betas who have shown they have no mate or a life partner. And then any mated pairs or just couples, since betas can’t really mate with each other. And then Alphas.” Carlos finished the long spiel with a smile, pushing the large list towards Ben fully.
“A great plan in my opinion. I’ll run it by my parents, but even if they don’t like it, it is most likely the one we will go with.: Ben chuckled softly as he said this, Carlos giggling along with him. As they finished up their lunch with some small talk, Carlos found himself wondering even more about the Prince’s muddled scent.
“Why is your scent like that?” He found himself asking without releasing. He snapped his gaze up to Ben who was smiling almost...sadly at him.
“Well, I’m an omega. But my father doesn’t think I would be fit to rule if I let my heats and such get in my way. So he had Fairy Godmother put a permanent suppressant spell on me.” His voice was quiet and embarrassed, but Carlos could only find himself becoming angry and sad.
“But...but that means you won’t ever be able to have pups…” Carlos felt his anger win over the sadness when Ben nodded, “That is the most horrible thing I have ever heard of anyone doing to anyone, much less a parent to their child!” He cried.
“Yeah, I know. But he did it when I was just a baby, and now it’s too late. I will forever be barren. I can mate but I will never be able to bear pups, even if I mate a woman because I cannot impregnate a girl as an omega.” Carlos nodded, horror settling in now. All he could think about is if his own pups would have never existed. Life without having a baby, any kind of baby to dote on and take care of. To love. He felt his heart break a little for the Prince. Without another thought Carlos stood and made his way over to Ben, engulfing the taller omega in a tight hug.
“You deserve so much more.” He whispered softly to him, and his heart only broke more when he felt tears start to stain his shirt. And he just stood there, holding this horribly lonely and sad Prince as he cried into his shoulder.

~~~

Carlos and Ben became very close after this, hanging out in their free time a lot. They actually hung out so much that Cameron had taken to calling him, Uncle Ben. He did the same with Evie and Mal, but only them, so it really showed how much he liked the Prince.
Carlos had also told the whole story to Jay who hadn’t said anything about it outright to Ben but had shown his support for the other teen in smaller ways, but he could tell Ben appreciated them just as much.
It just so happened that Carlos found his calling, or his own after school activity as Jay called it, through Ben. He had told him about a club for tech and science nerds- well that’s not exactly what he said, but that’s what Carlos heard -and Carlos had immediately known it was perfect. He looked more into it during his chemistry class and found out that the meetings were held on Thursday nights at the same time as Tourney practice, but he didn’t let that stop him. That next Thursday he walked into the room that the poster had said the meeting was in, Joe strapped to his chest and Cam holding his hand, the diaper bag slung over one shoulder while his book bag was slung over the other.
“Sorry I’m late, Josephine had a little wardrobe mishap.” He said as he went to the nearest empty seat. After he had settled himself and his pups down he looked up to find the eyes of all the kids in the room on him. He took the moment of silence to count them, there seemed to be only six other students there, four girls and two boys.
“Well, I’m Carlos De Vil, yes these are my children and sorry that I have to bring them along but my mate Jay is at Tourney practice. Anyway! I’m a huge science nerd and I thought this would be a great way to make some new friends.” He gave them all his best “Omega Smile” as Mal had dubbed it. The first person to do anything was one of the girls, another omega by her scent. She smiled softly at him, messing with the bit of black fringe in her face before introducing herself,
“Well, Carlos my name is Talia, it’s very nice to meet you. And I don’t think the little ones will be a problem, we don’t do experiments here, and any new members are welcome.” Carlos beamed at her in response.
Over the next few weeks and meetings, Carlos became a regular attendee of the ‘Beaker Geeks’ as they called themselves. He made great friends with all of them, and they all loved Josephine and Cameron. A lot of them helped him keep Cameron occupied during the meetings and some even helped him get Josephine to sleep a few times.
There was only one meeting that had any problems with it. That problem was a dog.
It was probably Carlos’ fifth time attending, and Josephine was already asleep being cradled by another omega in the group, a boy named Asher. When there was a sharp bark that rang through the room, and then a very familiar giggle that followed it.
Carlos was immediately on his feet, rushing over to his son and scooping him up and away from the brown-furred animal in front of him.
“H-how did that get here!?” He cried, backing away from the dog who only followed curiously.
“Wow! Carlos relax, it’s only Dude! He’s the campus mutt.” another member named Christian explained, picking Dude up carefully. Carlos only stared at him in horror, holding Cameron closer.
“Why would you pick it up?! What if it rips your throat out!!” He cried out, his fear scent wafting around the room.
“Carlos, Dude would never do that. Actually, most dogs wouldn’t either.” The only alpha of the group soothed him, Addison. He felt his fear subsiding slightly at her reassurance,
“You’re sure…?”
“Completely sure...who told you that?” Carlos’ face grew very red, as he set Cameron back down after kissing the young omega forehead.
“Well, my mother used to tell me that dogs would try to come after me and eat me alive…” He mumbled, embarrassed.
“Why would anyone ever say that to their child?!” Talia asked, aghast.
“My mother wasn’t really the nicest…” Carlos admitted with a shrug.
“Oh..well I mean, she loved you right? She would tell you she would never let that happen…?” When Carlos avoided eye contact with anyone after her question no one said anything more about it and the rest of the meeting was very quiet. But Dude did become a permanent fixture at his son's side, and by extension his own.

Chapter Text

“No, Mal. And that is final.” The room grew silent, Carlos and Evie staring between the two alphas in their pack. Mal had a look of complete shock and there almost seemed to be a little bit of betrayal in her eyes, staring with her mouth gaping at Jay.
“Who or what gave you the right to make things final?!” Mal suddenly snarled, lurching forward and towards the other alpha. In that moment Carlos found himself incredibly grateful for the Fairy Godmother, who had given Jay and Carlos a pack of baby monitors so they could check on the pups who were sleeping in their room while still hanging out with Mal and Evie without out fear of waking them. Because, he was sure the two pups would not have reacted well to this battle of dominance happening between their father and their pack alpha, if they had been present.
“Having pups and a mate I have to protect and take care of gave me that right!!” Jay snarled right back, “We are not helping you get the wand!! This isn’t just some silly little game we can play to get your mom to smile at you for less than a minute anymore, Mal!!” Mal recoiled at that remark as if she had been slapped. All three of them were staring at Jay with wide eyes, in complete shock. But, somewhere deep in his heart, Carlos felt warmth start to rise. Love for his wonderful mate.
“J-jay..I know-” Jay cut Mal off with another harsh look,
“No, Mal, I don’t think you do. This isn’t just us proving to Mommy that we are ‘Totally Rotten’ anymore. This isn’t just us choosing between good and bad anymore. This is me choosing the life or death of my pups, Mal. My children. I know that you saw how skinny Cameron was getting, how Josephine wasn’t growing like she was supposed to. They are healthy and happy here, I’ve never seen my babies smile and laugh as much as they have here.” Jay’s voice and gaze had softened near the end of his rant, desperation for Mal to understand where he was coming from showing plainly on his face.
“Well...well, what about the other kids on the Isle. The other babies that are still stuck over there!?” Mal’s voice had grown shrill. Carlos decided he could step in now without getting hurt in any way shape or form, so he did. Stepping between the two alphas and putting a hand on Jay’s chest to calm him as he spoke to Mal in a soft voice, letting his omega pheromones slowly drift around the room.
“Mal, I’ve already talked to Ben about that. We have a plan, he said he’s going to go through with it no matter what his parents say. So, we don’t need to worry about that anymore.” Mal stared at him, mouth opening and closing every so often as she tried to come up with a response.
“Whatever.” Was all she hissed instead, shoving past the two mates as she left the room quickly. The rest of them only stood and stared at the door she had slammed shut as she left.

~~~
The next morning, Mal talked to no one. She got ready quickly and left her and Evie’s room silently. She went through the whole day like that, the only people she talked to was Josephine and Cameron, because no matter how cold-hearted she was, how could you not love their little faces? Cameron and his big brown eyes and his chubby little freckled face, and Joe with her soft, curly, dark hair and her wide hazel eyes. They were both irresistible, and she made sure to snuggle with them both at breakfast and lunch for a little while, so they knew the tension between the four of them was in no way their fault. Not that Josephine could really understand that, but Cameron could to some extent and she didn’t want to upset him, and then by extension Josephine.
A little after lunch, Mal was waiting for classes to start after she was done eating. She was just standing in the hallway outside her next class, history when she watched a distressed-looking Jane walk into the bathroom a few lockers down the hall. After a few moments of thinking about this, a wicked smile grew on her lips and she stalked after Jane into the bathroom.
A few minutes later Mal left the bathroom, spellbook in hand and a nasty smirk on her face. The absolute vulnerability on Jane’s face had disgusted her, but she knew when to use something for her advantage and exactly how to. And, why wouldn’t she want to have the Fairy Godmother's daughter on her side for this little mission?
After all, desperate times call for desperate measures.

~~~

Evie didn’t know when Mal came back to their room last night, all she knew was that she did. She had tried to stay awake waiting for her after Carlos and Jay went back to their dorm after Mal stormed out, but she eventually fell asleep. But, when she woke up the next morning Mal had been there, getting ready silently and then leaving without even a small ‘Hello’. Mal didn’t say anything to her at all, all day. And, if Evie was being honest it made her feel really lonely. Because Carlos and Jay were usually busy with their pups, so Mal was Evie’s main source of conversation. And if Evie was being even more honest, she really, really, really missed Uma. The dark-skinned daughter of Uma was her alpha who she had had to leave on the Isle. She had been missing her horribly, and worrying every day over her.
But, with Carlos’ revelation of his deal with Ben, Evie felt as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. And, yes it could take a while, but it meant her alpha would make it off the Isle without them having to take down the Barrier and free their parents. It made her feel lighter, made it a little easier to get through her days with the new knowledge.
A few days after the argument between Jay and Mal, Mal started to converse with them again but not a lot. In the almost week that Mal had been ignoring them all, Evie had actually hung out with Carlos more often, which was nice. She missed the little omega nights they used to have and it felt nice to just be able to relax with him. Sometimes, Ben joined them, and during the few times Ben had joined them she learned a few things about the Prince. So utterly heartbreaking, others funny and some just plain interesting. During one of these hangout sessions, one where they got lucky and Jay was taking care of Joe and Cam, they somehow got onto the topic of alphas, Evie already knowing about Ben’s secret at this point.
“So, did you have any alphas you were interested in, Evie?’ Ben asked, looking up from his homework for a moment as he waited for an answer. An answer that Evie thought about for a moment before replying.
“Well, yes. I actually had an alpha that I was supposed to mate during my next heat, or my last heat technically. Since it has already passed.” Evie had had her first ‘Auradon Heat’ as she and Carlos had dubbed it about two weeks ago, and it had been heavenly. When it started, she had been in chemistry and instead of freaking out the teacher asked one of the other omegas in the class to escort her to the nurse. She had been thoroughly confused, especially since she had basically just paraded around the school, slicking all over herself and stinking up the whole school with her heat scent, and no alphas came after her. No chasing, no commands. Nothing.
And then, the best part was that when she got to the nurse she had been escorted to a special heat room that was scent blocked, told that she would be delivered three light meals a day, and then told that the box next to amazingly large bed was full of heat toys for her to use as she wished. The fives days that followed were amazing, she was never wanting for anything during it, well except for her alpha, but she would survive, she supposed. Carlos had yet to experience it, but that was because he was still breastfeeding Joe. They were slowly starting to wean the little girl, but it was hard and would take a while yet.
“Oh! I’m so sorry that we took you away from...him?” Ben finished with uncertainty,
“Her. Her name is Uma, she’s Ursula’s daughter, and I miss her a lot. But when I told her about it and how I wasn’t gonna go because I didn’t want to leave her, she basically forced me to promise her I would go.” Evie sighed sadly as she finished.
“Good,” Carlos said sternly, “It means she actually cared about you, not just having an omega.” Evie nodded at that, agreeing with a small smile.
“Well, it’s not much, but you can write her letters and I’ll make sure they get to her. You just have to tell me where she can be found to give them to her.” Evie beamed brightly at the Prince, leaping towards him and grasping his hands,
“Really!?” Ben nodded fiercely, smiling warmly down at the blue-haired girl.
“Oh, thank you, Ben!” She cried out, jumping up and hugging him tight around the neck. Evie, Ben, and Carlos hanging out became a common occurrence after that.

~~~

After that, Evie seemed to branch out more, making friends with a beta girl named Lonnie in her LA class. The daughter of Mulan was a lot like her, actually. The two covered up their more preferred traits by pretending to be pretty and dumb. Lonnie’s interest being sports and Evie’s being science and math. They started to hang out very often, Mal slowly starting to converse with them more and more. Mal always did have a hard time getting over a grudge.
Through Lonnie, she met Jane. Well, she met Jane officially, and Evie really liked her. She was an Alpha, but a very soft-spoken one, which surprised Evie greatly. There were no soft-spoken alphas on the Isle. She was also incredibly shy, which was also very surprising, not many alphas were. Even in Auradon.
A little after becoming friends with Lonnie and Jane she showed the two her designs, and them hanging out in her room while she sewed became the new ‘thing’ for the three of them. Sometimes Carlos and Ben joined, a lot of those times involved Joe and Cam as well, but it was mostly just the three of them gossiping or just enjoying the quiet.
In her Chemistry class, Evie met Doug, a beta who she also became quick friends with. It seemed that Evie was actually likable when she was just being herself, not being what her mother taught her to be. Not being ‘Perfect’.
And, soon Doug learned about her designs and clothing, and he offered to help her get some money. And, of course, she said yes. Within the next week, Evie had a steady income flow and was almost booked for customers, and she was doing her favorite thing in the world. She didn’t think she could be happier. And then she got a letter back from Uma.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Evie,

I miss you a lot doll and I’m glad that you were treated so well during your heat. A lot has happened here. Gil is pregnant again, he and Harry are ecstatic. Also, your mother ad the other three’s parents have gone suspiciously quiet, it’s put the whole Isle on edge. No one likes it’s. I really like the plan you told me about, I’m glad that Ben was so open to working with you all on it. Now, I have to end this son, I’m running out of inl. But I hope to hear from you again soon, love. And I will try to write back as often as possible.

With love,
Uma

--------------------------------------------------------------

She had been floating through her classes for days afterward, carrying the letter with her always, trying to get a whiff of as much as Uma’s scent as she could. She made sure to send over one of her shirts next time, asking Uma to send anything that had her scent on it back. And a week later she received a ratty pillow cover that was doused in Uma’s scent. She took it with her everywhere, reveling in the scent of her chosen alpha with pride. Not caring if Mal recognized the scent, just happy to have something of her alphas.

~~~

Everyone was hanging out in Evie and Mal’s room that afternoon. Carlos and Jay sat on the floor with their pups who were coloring with glee. Mal was splayed out on her own bed, working on something. Jane and Lonnie were both laying on Evie’s bed, Jane reading a book and Lonnie looking at something on her phone. Evie was sat at her work table, sewing something for her latest customer, Eliza, Elsa’s daughter.
“Hey, guys!” Ben called as he walked in, chuckling warmly when he was ‘attacked’ by the pups a moment later.
“Hi, Ben.” Was chorused back by almost all of the people in the room.
“So, are you excited for your coronation, Ben?” Jane had sat up as she asked the question, sliding a bookmark into her book before setting it on Evie’s bedside table.
“Coronation?” Mal asked at the same time Ben answered with an unsure shrug.
“Yeah, later this month I’ll be crowned King. The wand will be there and everything. All four VKs froze at that. Carlos, Jay, and Evie looking towards Mal with worry. Mal had a wicked smirk on her face for a split second, before it was hidden behind an interested smile.
“Oh really? Do tell.” Mal purred, her smile growing as Ben did tell. A lot.

Chapter Text

Carlos was kind of worried, Mal had been suspiciously quiet around them since she learned about the Coronation. He was also worried about how distant Ben had been recently. They hadn’t had an omega night in almost two weeks, Ben always having something to do instead.
But what finally made Carlos put an end to Mal’s silence, because he knew she had something to do with Ben’s distance now, was when Ben broke out into song and dance in front of the whole school after the tourney game earlier. Carlos had been really confused and concerned for the Prince, especially when it because very obvious he was singing to Mal, of all people. But the purple-haired, alpha had just stood and sang along, smiling softly. It almost seemed like she was genuinely embarrassed, trying to hide blushes and turning her face down to let her hair cover her smile when it got too wide. But, it never got evil wide, it got genuine wide. Like she was actually enjoying this, but also really embarrassed by it.
So, they all followed her back to her and Evie's room, Joe held securely in a harness strapped to Carlos' chest and Cam riding on Jay's back. Evie was walking right next to Mal, whispering rapid-fire questions at her.
"I'm not explaining it right here, E. I promise I'll tell you guys everything once we get back to our room." Jay and Carlos shared a look after Mal's hissed reassurance.
Evie just scoffed and rolled her eyes, stomping ahead of Mal and swinging open the door to the two girls’ room, disappearing inside and leaving the door open for the rest of them. After about ten minutes they all got settled in the room in complete silence. Carlos was sitting on Evie’s bed, leaned back against her headboard as he breastfed Joe. She ate regular baby food for almost all her meals, down to only one breast-feeding a day. Honestly, she probably would be fine temperament wise and health wise without the breast milk she got once a day, but Carlos knew it wasn’t hurting her and he enjoyed having this connection with his pup. He honestly missed being able to do this with his little Cameron, but he knew it would be seen as odd to do such a thing with a pup Cameron’s age, so he held himself back from offering it to his son.
Jay was sat at the small table in the middle of Mal and Evie’s room with Cameron, the little omega eating from a baggy of cereal, taking sips out of a juice box after every few mouthfuls of the colorful cereal he was partial to. And even though Carlos and Jay knew the cereal was one of the most unhealthy things on the planet, the main ingredient being pure sugar, they never could say no to their little boy.
Mal was sat on her own bad, arms crossed over her chest as she studied the wall in front of her with indifference. Carlos had a feeling she had done something very, very bad this time. He was almost scared of what her response to their questioning would be because he knew she would tell the truth. Mal never lied to them, she just didn’t tell them at all. So when she was telling them, they knew it was the truth.
Evie had sat on the seat in the bay-window, a steely glare leveled directly at Mal. She had her legs crossed elegantly, and she was rapping her nails against the wood frame impatiently...or was it angrily? Carlos didn’t think he wanted to know.
“What did you do, Mal?” Evie’s voice broke the tense silence in the room, it seemed to echo as no one answered. Then, Mal seemed to gather herself and looked straight at Evie. She said nothing, she only nodded, and instead of more anger, Evie seemed to get desperate. It almost looked like she was about to cry.
“Mal, please no…” Carlos and Jay looked between the two girls, Evie was staring at Mal imploringly, pleading her with her eyes to shake her head. To deny what Evie was accusing her of. But she didn’t she only nodded once more looking down at her lap now. Evie was quickly on her feet.
“Mal, how dare you!! You have no idea what Ben has been through!! A-and you violated him in the worst way possible!!” Evie’s outburst scared Joe away from Carlos’ chest the little alpha beginning to whimper. Carlos was quick to settle her on his shoulder, shushing and cooing to her in hopes to calm her. Cameron was staring at Evie, his eyes wide and slightly scared.
“What is it? What did she do, Evie?” Jay demanded, pulling Cameron close to him, his protective instincts kicking in strongly when his son fear scent began to spread, even though it was a very weak scent.
“A love spell, she spelled him into loving her so she could sit in the front row during the coronation. So she would be next to the wand.” Evie’s voice was cold and flat, she had turned toward the window, looking out with a blank stare. Carlos’ eyes widened and he and Jay shared a shocked look.
“Carlos-” Carlos interrupted Mal, raising a hand to stop her and shaking his head as he stood, gathering his and his family’s things.
“We’ll see you later, Mal. Our room is always open to you, Evie.” Carlos said softly before he and Jay made their way out of the room silently.

~~~

Mal didn’t try to start a conversation with Evie as the omega stared out of their window, a dainty hand covering her mouth. She stayed seated on her bed, thinking about what she had, and yes, she definitely had put a love spell on Ben. The Prince had been spelled for the last two weeks actually. She had given him a small cookie after their math class together, and then the oddly-scented bo had been putty in her hands. They had actually been on five dates in the last two weeks alone. And, at first, Mal had been, expectedly, unenthusiastic about it.
The first date had been lame, they had gone to brunch. The epitome of lame. It had been okay though, Mal supposed. The Prince had told her a lot about himself but had also asked her a lot of questions about herself. Which surprised her, for some reason.
Their second date had also been at Ben’s request and his idea as well. They had gone out to a nice dinner at a restaurant far into town, a place Mal had never been in Auradon, she realized. She had let her realization slip during an easy flow of conversation and then found herself walking around the beautiful city Auradon was, Ben’s arm linked with hers. She had gone back to her room, feeling odd...feeling light that night. It almost felt like she wanted to smile, but she held it back.
The third date had been Mal’s idea. She just wanted an easy date this time, so the time had been planned by Ben, but the date itself was all Mal’s idea. They had gone to the movies, another place Mal had never been, and then they went and ate some of the best, and greasiest pizza Mal had ever tasted. It was during the cheesy rom-com they were watching that Mal felt a warm feeling bubbling in her chest. She noticed this feeling as she watched Ben laughing at a joke that had been told on screen, watching as he brought a hand to his mouth to muffle his loud giggling, his round cheeks flushing slightly, and his nose scrunching in the cutest way she had ever seen. She knew that she had been slightly distant for the rest of the night. She would never admit it was because she was scared of this new emotion and what it meant. Not scared because she didn’t know what it was, scared because she knew exactly what it was.
The fourth date had been Mal’s design, fully this time. It had actually been kind of a surprise. Mal had knocked on Ben’s dorm room door softly at about 5:45 AM. Ben had answered, still in his pajamas and rocking a spectacular bed head. He had been really confused, and nervous about leaving his dorm this early, and then even more nervous when he noticed Mal was leading him toward the roof access door.
“Mal…? Where are we going?”
“Shhhh, Ben. It’s a surprise, a good one. I promise.”
In all honesty, Mal had been kinda nervous Ben wasn’t going to like it. Which, ugh, was disgustingly un-like her, to care if Ben liked it or not. But once she had seen the wonder and awe in Ben’s eyes as they watched the sunrise together, she knew it had been a good choice. They sat there talking in quiet voices until the sun was fully raised, and maybe a little while after that too.
The fifth date had been them just wanted to hang out, so Mal didn’t know if it could be considered a date, but what did Mal know. Definitely not dating. They had just sat cuddled together on the couch in Ben’s huge dorm room, watching movies together. Sharing small conversations and jokes here and there. And it scared Mal how happy this made her. How terrifyingly safe and loved she felt right at that moment.
And now Mal was still staring down at her knees, and a quick look over her shoulder showed her that Evie was also in the same position still. She took a deep breath before standing then she looked at the clock. With what felt like a stone in her gut Mal started getting for her sixth date with Ben, and this time she was the one who had no idea what was going to happen on the said date.

~~~

Mal stared around the forest they were walking through in awe, it was gorgeous.
“Will you tell me where we are going now?” Mal asked, turning to smile at Ben over her shoulder. Ben was wearing a baby-blue polo shirt that he looked great it, and his honey-colored hair gleamed gold in the sunlight.
“Fine…” Ben dragged the word out jokingly, smiling back at her brightly, “We are going to the enchanted lake. I’ve never been allowed here before.” Mal raised her eyebrows, turning to look at Ben again as they followed the path deeper into the forest.
‘Really? And your parents said it was okay for us to go on a date here?” She asked in surprise, but smiling again when Ben took her hand in his own, pulling her into his side. They fit together so perfectly, there’s no way they could not notice.
“No. They don’t know.” Was all Ben said, and Mal went to ask another question before she was cut off by the appearance of the enchanted lake as they turned the last corner. There was a little picnic set up on the old stone pavilion that sat on the very edge of the lake.
And after that, they ate, talked, and joked for at least an hour and a half. Mal smiling fondly at Ben the whole time. Love burning in her chest for this wonderful boy.
“Do you want to dip your feet in with me?” Ben asked her, breaking her from her mushy thoughts.
“Oh, sure, let me take my shoes off.” She realized Ben’s own shoes and socks were already off and set aside, and he put his feet in the lake before she could even start undoing her sandals. Mal jumped when Ben gasped, she looked up sharply as the other teen began whimpering in fear and confusion, a strong heat scent quickly spreading around them. In a panic, Mal clapped a hand over her nose,
“B-ben?” She quickly closed her mouth. Opening it had been a mistake, she could taste it now. As she had a slight moment of panic on what to do, she got a split second idea and knew it was her best shot at getting a handle on this situation.
“This is a stinky issue, block my nose tissue!” She chanted quickly and sighed in relief when Ben's scent was no longer overwhelming her. Then she was on her feet and rushing over to Ben, who was an omega apparently.
“Ben! What’s going on?” She asked, crouching down next to him and pulling his head onto her lap.
“W-why did you s-spell me?” Ben stuttered between groans and whimpers,
“Oh, Ben. I’m so sorry. I’ll explain it all once we get this figured out okay, I promise,” She kissed the omega’s forehead softly, warmth filling her chest when he closed his eyes and leaned into the comfort, “Let me call Carlos.”
“G-good idea,” Ben said before shuddering and moaning lowly, making Mal have to restrain herself, even without the scent the alpha in her could tell this omega was in heat, unmated, and a virgin. Everything an alpha wanted, but she refused to mate Ben without his consent and he was in no state to be giving that kind of permission to anyone right now. He would agree to any alpha as long as they helped him, she knew. She had seen it plenty of times on the Isle.
Quickly pulling out her phone, Mal dialed Carlos and then held the phone to her ear, sighing in relief when he answered on the second ring,
“Mal? What’s up?” Mal was quick to reply,
“Ben just went into heat! I have no idea what to do!” She quickly explained.
“Have you blocked his scent from you somehow, or did you just leave him there!?” The urgency in Carlos’ voice didn’t surprise her, but she was kind of offended that he thought she would just leave an omega in heat alone with no protection.
“I blocked his scent with a spell!” She cried and it wasn’t defensive at all.
“Okay, good! Bring him back to the school, quickly! I’ll meet you guys at the entrance gate. No one should bother you guys, the alphas in Auradon o not chase omegas in heat, thank Hades.” Carlos mumbled the last part to himself. Mal nodded before releasing Carlos couldn’t see that,
“Okay, I’ll be there in like ten minutes, we aren’t very far away.”
“Good. Hurry, Mal. Please.” Mal quickly hung up and then stood, picking Ben up bridal style before rushing back the way they had come.

~~~

Mal was on her way to the infirmary a week later to great Ben as he came out of his heat. The past week had been very stressful. Carlos had met them like he promised and then led Mal to the nurse who set up a room for Ben quickly and then called the Beast and Belle down to her office. Beast had been furious with Mal once she explained what had happened, leaving out the love spell thing of course, But Belle had just stared at the door her son was behind, experiencing his first heat at 16. She was relieved actually because she knew Best wouldn’t have Fairy Godmother redo the spell now that everyone knew Ben was an omega. Plenty of people had seen him being carried through the school his heat scent spreading thickly and quick.
After returning to their own rooms, Carlos had explained to Mal what Beast had done to Ben when he was a baby. Blocking his secondary gender, making it impossible for him to go into heat, smell like an omega, or have any children at all. But it seemed that the enchanted lake had broken that spell, and that was why Ben had never been allowed there before. Mal had fumed, that man had dared do something so unforgivable to her omega. And that thought made her stop at once. Ben wasn’t hers, he wasn’t property, he was a human being. But she wanted to claim him, mate him. Mal loved Ben, she had known for about a week now, but she still knew. She also knew she would never get another chance at her Happily Ever After ever again. She was lucky she even got one, villains didn’t get a Happily Ever After. Maybe Mal wasn’t a villain.
Now Mal was returning to ask Ben for his consent to mate during his next heat and to also explain everything to him. She was unaware of her friends following her.
When she entered the infirmary she felt her blood begin to boil as she found Beast yelling as a frazzled and exhausted looking, Ben.
“How dare you go against our rules! You knew why we put that spell on you! Omegas are too weak to be rulers!” Belle stood at the yelling Beast side, a sad look on her face. She obviously wanted to reach out to comfort her son, but the painful-looking grip Beast had on Belle’s wrist stopped her.
“SHUT UP!” Mal cried, rushing forward and wrapping the shivering omega in her arms, pulling him close to her chest and holding him there.
“You are sick and crazy! First of all, omegas can be leaders, all people are strong no matter their secondary gender! Second of all, only a psycho would do to their child what you did! You deserve to rot in hell for what you did to your own son!” And suddenly Mal understood why Jay wouldn’t help her before. If Jay even felt a fraction of the protectiveness, of the want to make Ben happy and make sure that he was safe for his own family, she understood why he wanted to stay here.
Before Beast could recover from his stunned silence, Mal continued, turning to Ben as she did so,
“And, I would like to mate with you, Ben. I will explain everything, I promise, and I’m so sorry that it happened like this. But I really do love you, and with your permission, and hopefully with your mothers,” She looked up at Belle, who smiled and nodded, as she said this, “I would like to mate you and become your alpha, Ben.” She noticed Ben had started crying, and she began to fret before the little omega jumped up, wrapping his arms around her neck and smashing their lips together. After a moment he pulled away and cried, ‘YES!’ before diving back in for another kiss. Ignoring his father as he tried to break them apart, and making sure to remind himself to thank his mother after this once he realized she had pulled him out.
Neither of them noticed as Carlos, Jay, and Evie watched from the doorway with large smiles, and they were gone before they pulled apart to begin talking quietly to each other.

Chapter Text

It’s been a week since Ben’s heat ended, and since Mal confessed her love to the Prince. Carlos, Jay, and Evie had rushed away after watching the two for a moment, not wanting Mal to know they had heard everything. Not yet, at least. Now Carlos and Jay were fighting their pups into unnecessarily fancy clothes, Cameron whining about how the little bowtie for his suit was itchy, and Josephine whimpering and pulling at the little red shoes that were strapped to her feet. Joe had never been a big fan of shoes, Carlos couldn’t blame her. Carlos and Jay were also in nice-looking clothes, so at least they were suffering with their pups. The dress Evie was wearing, which was so skin-tight it looked live Evie shouldn’t have been able to breathe in it, was a gorgeous blue and Evie didn’t seem to be struggling like the little family of four was.
The only reason they were dressed so nicely was for Family Day, something that was supposed to happen last week but, Ben had been a little...busy last week. So they had to postpone Family Day, and also the Coronation, which would now be happening next week instead. So, Family Day was today, and none of the VKs were very excited about it. Yeah, let's all just go and say hi to the people our parents used to terrorize. So much fun.
Carlos for one knew that Anita and Roger were going to be there, their daughter was in his LA class and she wasn’t very fond of him. He knew Jay was nervous about the fact that Aladdin and Jasmine would be there, but their son Aziz wasn’t anything like the daughter of Anita and Roger, Alyssa. Aziz was very welcoming to Jay, he and Jay had both been nervous to meet each other- once Jay found out he existed -but, they met on the Tourney team, and they hit it off great after being paired together to practice. Now, Aziz and Jay met frequently just to hang out or to do homework together, and Aziz and the pups loved each other. Carlos was happy the two had such a great relationship, it would make it that much easier for Jasmine and Aladdin to accept Jay’s presence here in Auradon.
Evie was obviously very nervous to meet her half-sister, Snow White. It showed every time she unnecessarily fixed her makeup, her hair, or her clothing. The blue dress she was wearing now was the fifth that morning, the other four having some flaw that Carlos knew made her mother’s scoldings and ‘lessons’ echo in her mind. Every time Carlos noticed this he would always wonder how far they actually had to be from their parents for their influence to actually leave them. For the haunting things, they suffered at their parents’ hands to stop showing up in their sleep. For them to remember that they were safe now. No matter how much his life had improved since coming here, sometimes Carlos would wake up from nightmares and just stare blankly at the burn marks and scars from cuts and other injuries that littered his arms and chest. Carlos had to talk Jay down from panic attacks sometimes when Jay would return back to their room with no ‘loot’ and then panic about how angry his father would be. Evie had confided in him that she still heard her mother’s voice in her head, screaming about how unworthy and ugly she was. And Carlos knew that Mal was still struggling with what to do, should she continue to try and impress her mother? Still try helplessly to make her proud of her, no matter how many times they told her and how many times Mal herself admitted she knew that it was impossible. Not that she needed her mother to be proud of her, Carlos, Jay, and Evie were plenty proud of her. He wished she could see that.
“You ready, babe?” Jay’s question broke Carlos from his more-than-depressing thoughts. He just smiled softly at his mate, standing and pulling Joe up onto his hip as he stood,
“Yeah, let’s hit the road.” Carlos did one last scan of the room before closing the door, making sure they didn’t leave any essentials behind.

~~~

Carlos, Jay, and Evie were accidentally a little late to the sorta-picnic that Family Day was. Cameron had to use the bathroom on the way down, and then he got his shirt all wet while washing his hands, and then he had whined about how itchy the water made his shirt, so Jay had to take the pup back to their room to change his clothing and then they could actually get going. Jay had brought an extra outfit for both of their pups with him to put in the diaper bag for the rest of the day, just in case.
Once they finally arrived, Ben and Mal rushed over to greet them, Mal’s arm resting across the small of Ben’s back and Ben moving to pat the hand that rested on his side with his own every few minutes.
“What took you so long? You missed the opening song!” Carlos let Cameron wander a bit now that they were in a secluded area of campus, Dude the campus mutt following his son with a yip. Joe was being held on Jay’s hip but was squirming to be set down so she could try out her new trick, walking(which was already proving to be a nightmare and a half).
“Cameron had an episode,” Jay explained, letting Joe down but keeping a firm hold on her little hands so she didn’t fall, “He got water all over himself while washing his hands so we had to change him.” Mal and Ben nodded in understanding, no matter how cute Cameron was everyone knew he was a bit of a drama queen.
“Mama!” Cameron’s call for Carlos had all of them looking over, the little boy was standing by a table that was full of food and little snacks, but that’s not what Cameron was looking at. He was staring wide-eyed at the chocolate fountain that also sat on the table, making grabby hands for it while looking back at Carlos, “I want!”
“You have to ask nicely, puppy,” Carlos chided softly, walking over to his son, not noticing the pair of adults that were standing at the table as well, “So, what do we say?”
“Please, Mama?” Carlos laughed softly as his son pulled the ‘Puppy Eyes’ out, puffing out his bottom lip as well to finish his pleading look.
“How could I ever say no to you, puppy?” He asked softly, lifting him up and letting him stick a pretzel-stick in the liquid chocolate, grimacing as he got chocolate on his shirt. They’ve only been here for five minutes and his son was already a mess.
“You can’t!” Cameron cried in glee, making the four VKs and Ben break out in loud laughter. Carlos settles his son back onto his feet, telling him to stay close to them at all times and then letting him explore a few feet away. Dude never letting him out of his sight.
“You’re very good with him,” Carlos jumped, finally noticing the two adults that had also been standing at the table with the chocolate fountain on it. The lady that had spoken had pale-red hair that was tied up in a sophisticated bun and the man next to her had blonde hair that was streaked with gray, his nose also stood out a lot but Carlos was trying not to stare.
“Oh, thank you!” Carlos smiled warmly at the couple before turning to head back to his friends and mate,
“Is he your younger brother?” The man asked, making Carlos turn back to look at them again. He smiled and shook his head softly,
“No, my son, Cameron.” He expected the widening of their eyes, but he didn’t expect the woman’s next statement.
“You are Cruella’s son.” There was no question, she knew that’s who he was. His white and black curls probably indicated to it slightly, but everyone everywhere, now, knew that Cruella De Vil’s son was a mated omega who had two kids already. It had spread like wildfire through every magazine and tabloid as soon as it was discovered. But Carlos didn’t really care, none of these people knew what his life had been like, none of them had lived where and like he’d lived. So he couldn’t care less about their opinions, honestly.
“Yes,” Carlos nodded, he knew that that would be everyone’s first impression of him no matter what, that his mother was a crazy villain, “And you are?” He honestly didn’t really care who they were, he was just trying to be polite now. As he was having this half-hearted conversation he watched his mate play with their pups out of the corner of his eyes, a smile spreading across his lips as loud laughter broke out from both of their children.
“My name is Anita and this is my husband Roger,” Carlos froze his smile vanished, and his face paled. He gulped and started to nervously rub at his left forearm, he knew that he must be emitting a very unpleasant scent full of anxiety and nerves, and maybe a touch of fear, but what was he supposed to do? His mother had terrorized these people, tried to kill their dogs for a coat. “Our Daughter had told us a bit about you.”
Carlos was fucking doomed.
After a few moments, Carlos got his feet working again and quickly turned around, rushing towards Jay. He groaned when he heard the couple following him quickly,
“Now, wait a moment.” He cried out in surprise when a hand grabbed his wrist, a skinny, cold, her hand. He shrieked and pulled away from her grip.
“Please, no!” Carlos fell to the ground in his panic to getaway. He could tell people were staring, it only made him shrink back further from the couple who were stood over him, frozen in shock. Then he felt a weight land on his lap, a familiar and comforting weight.
“Get away from my Mommy!” A familiar little voice cried, Carlos, wrapped his arms around his son and staggered to his feet, turning and heading for Jay again, not looking back at the couple. They didn’t follow this time, he didn’t want to think about why that was. As soon as he made it to Jay, who had stood up at some point, he collapsed into his arms.
“Babe, what’s wrong?” He could hear clear concern in his mates voice and whimpered softly in answer. When Carlos gave no indication he was going to give an actual answer, Cam took it upon himself to answer for him.
“Those two mean people were scaring Mommy!! The man grabbed Mommy and then he fell!!” Carlos smiled at the defiance in his little omega’s voice, looking up from Jay’s shoulder and kissing his son’s cheek softly. Then he looked at Jay, a small frown overtaking his smile once he saw the furious look on his mates face,
“He touched you?!” Carlos whined softly, trying to calm his alpha down before answering. When that didn’t work he just leaned his head on his shoulder again, looking down at his daughter who was sat between Jay’s feet, playing with toys.
“It’s them...Anita and Roger…” He explained softly and sighed in slight relief when he felt Jay slump underneath him, wrapping both arms around his mate and son.
“Well, they are walking away now, they seem really shocked ...oh. They are going over to Ben and his mom, Belle…” Jay continued to give Carlos constant commentary on the couple, making him laugh as he continued to keep an eye on their daughter at their feet. “They are talking pretty intensely with Belle. The guy, Roger? His nose keeps almost poking Belle in the face when he leans really close to whisper in her ear…” Carlos outright laughed at that.
“No, it isn’t!” He insisted, turning around in Jay’s hold and only laughing louder when he saw that it was jabbing Belle in the cheek every time he leaned in to say something to Auradon’s Queen. Ben must have noticed too because he was laughing into his fist next to his mother, his face red and tears glistening in the corner of his eyes as his shoulder shook with mirth. Carlos turned around again, smiling up at his mate,
“Thank you…” Jay just shook his head softly, then leaned down to kiss his forehead softly.
“You don’t need to thank me for anything, babe.” The two stayed wrapped up in each other, ignoring the stares they got, until Carlos looked down and noticed that Joe was making a run for it, already a few yards away. He quickly handed Cam to Jay before taking off after the little alpha.
“Joe-” Carlos’ call got cut short as a woman in a tela and gold dress lifted up his daughter, smiling and cooing down at her. She brushed her long black hair out of her amber eyes before looking straight at him. She started in his direction, Carlos also moving forward to meet her in the middle and retrieve his daughter, “Thank you so mu-”
He was cut off once more when the lady looked past him and a sharp glare formed on her face. At the same moment, she pulled Joe closer to herself, not making any move to hand Carlos his pup back. He looked over his own shoulder to see who was earning such a sharp glare and frowned when the only person he saw was Jay, who was making his way over with a thoroughly confused look on his face. Just then, another teen made his way over, his black hair making a striking contrast against the white suit he was wearing.
“Mom! I see you’ve met Jay, Carlos, and the pups!” Aziz cried, smiling warmly at them all, then easily taking Joe from his mother's arms, the little alpha squealing in delight at the sight of her favorite playmate.
“Hey there, cutie-pie!! Don’t you look just stunning today!” Aziz cooed at the little girl, kissing her nose and making her break out into another peel of laughter. Carlos automatically relaxed at the sound of his pup's laughter, a soft smile forming on his face.
“Yes, it seems I have.” Was all Aziz’s mother, apparently, offered in response. Still glaring darkly at Jay.
“Well, this little one is Joe, their youngest, and the little boy Jay has there is Cameron. They are both such good little guys ‘Umi, much better behaved than I was as a kid.” Aziz joked with a bright smile, that quickly disappeared once he noticed his mom’s dark demeanor.
“Mom, what’s wrong?” Aziz asked, handing Joe over to Carlos before turning to face his mother fully. Carlos just tucked Joe into his side and then moved into Jay’s side, watching the two cautiously.
“It’s my fault,” Jay offered, not even questioning it.
“Jay-” Aziz was cut off by his mother,
“He’s right. It is him. I just don’t understand how they could let any spawn of Jafar have kids and then let him keep them too.” Jasmine hissed, her eyes bright with anger.
“Mom, I’ve already told you! Jay is nothing like Jafar! He’s a great dad, mate, and friend!” Aziz’s defense of Jay was completely ignored by his mother who continued to glare harshly at Carlos’ mate.
“I understand why you think that, but I promise, I am nothing like the man my father was and still is. I would never treat my pups the way he treated me.” Jay said gravely. After a few moments of tense silence, Cameron starting squirming, asking Jay to be let down. Jay complied, telling him to stay close as he set him down carefully, kissing the top of his head before letting the little omega run off with Dude at his heels.
“I don’t care what you say, I don’t trust you. I don’t like that no one has even checked up on your family. I don’t like that they didn’t even question why you have an omega with kids at such an early age. I mean, for all we know, you forced him to have children! Why would someone so young even want to have children yet?!” Jasmin’s face was red and she was breathing heavy as she finished her rant. Carlos had a little trouble following the whole point of her speech, it jumping from one topic to another, but he knew it all pretty much meant the same thing. She didn’t like Jay. One thing that did stick out to him was the age thing, and how they were so young and already had pups.
“You act like we had a choice. Like there was protection for omegas on the isle. Like we got birth control of suppressants there,” Carlos said softly, “Did King Adam really not tell anyone how badly we were actually being treated?” When all Carlos got was a stunned look for an answer he frowned.
“We had no doctors, no omega protection. We had schools but none of them were good. We got a shipment of your people’s trash once every week. The half-eaten apples, rotten bananas, the stale and moldy bread you threw away was the food we were forced to live on. No one throws away birth control or suppressants, so we didn’t have any. We had very little clean water, the people that had access to it were not sharing it. We didn’t have CPS to come make sure our parents were treating us right. That island is a prison. It’s a horrible, horrible punishment that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemies.” Carlos stared straight into Jasmine’s eyes as he spoke. He wanted her to understand.
Just as he finished Carlos heard a surprised squeak and then a pained whimper. Quickly both he and Jay were turning to find where it had come from, Aziz and Jasmine forgotten. Once they saw that it was Cameron who was whimpering, trying to brush Dude away from the scrape on his knee that was steadily bleeding as the dog tried to clean it, Jay nodded at him before jogging toward their pup. Jay made it Cam and scooped him up into his arms before making his way back to them. Carlos had kneeled down, setting Joe down next to him as he rummaged through the diaper bag for bandaids and wipes to get Cam all patched up.
Carlos and Jay shushed and reassured Cameron through the whole, and very short process of cleaning him up and putting a bandaid on the scrape. By the time they were done and had turned around to apologize for their rudeness, Jasmine was just staring at them with a sad but softer look on her face.
“I am sorry for my impolite behavior. I have realized it was wrong of me to judge you both without really knowing the whole situation. I hope this altercation of ours doesn’t affect your friendship with my son.” Carlos and Jay both stared at her, shocked by her complete 180-degree turn in attitude. After a few moments, Jay recovered enough to give her a small and timid smile.
“I hope that as well, I would hate to lose your son’s friendship.” Aziz laughed softly,
“That’s impossible, you’re stuck with me now dude. Come on ‘Umi, let’s go find dad.” Aziz called goodbye to them over his shoulder as he gently led his mother away. As soon as they were gone Carlos and Jay leaned against each other. They had only been here for about an hour and they were already exhausted.

~~~

The core four and pups sat at a lunch table in the courtyard of the school. There were other students all around them, all of them watching them and whispering. Joe was fast asleep, strapped to Jay’s chest in the carrier. Cam was also asleep, exhausted from running around with Dude all morning, he was laying on the bench next to Carlos, Cam's head in Carlos’ lap.
Suddenly Mal was standing up, a fierce frown on her face, her eyes glowing with her anger as she glowered at the table of girls behind them. All of them had been helped by Mal’s hair spell, but that was all he knew. He was surprised that Jane and Lonnie were over there and laughing with all of those other girls as they no doubt made horrible comments about them, instead of over here and comforting their new bestie Evie. Carlos supposed they were just as fake ass their ‘cool’ hairstyles. He didn’t know what had been said, but Mal was furious, and before any of them knew what was happening Mal was chanting and waving her hand in the air. Suddenly Jane’s old hair was back, no longer curly and voluptuous. The whole table of girls screamed and ran, Mal just turned back to them and sat on the bench again.
“I’m not going to take the wand,” Mal whispered into the silence a few minutes later. They all nodded and then stifled their laughter at Mal’s surprised look.
“You knew? How?” Mal demanded, frowning again, but not as harshly this time. She was confused, not mad.
“Well, you basically proposed to Ben in the nurse’s office last week, so we assumed that meant you were done with all that wand business,” Evie explained with a smirk.
“You heard that!?” Mal shriek, her face becoming completely red. They all just laughed, Carlos running his fingers through Cameron’s hair in his lap as he replied,
‘Yeah, we were gonna say hi to Ben after that but you guys were a little...preoccupied…” That only made Mal blush harder, making all of them laugh at their Pack Alpha’s embarrassment. Soon she also joined in their laughter.
“Yeah, well what can I say? Ben’s a badass kisser.” Mal declared, making them all laugh once more.
“Why, thank you!” Mal shrieked as Ben’s hands came down on her shoulder shoulders, then glared at the other three teens as they continued to laugh. Once everyone had calmed down, and Ben had taken a seat next to Mal, he spoke,
“I heard what happened with Jane a minute ago...I’m not saying you were wrong, just that she’s really upset about it…” Ben trailed off cautiously, watching the alpha’s expression as he spoke.
“Yeah...I may have overreacted a bit…” Mal admitted with a soft sigh.
“Hey, it’s okay… I totally understand. Today has been stressful, for all of you guys.” Ben gave them all a small, reassuring smile.
“I know, but I want to apologize to her. I haven’t been the nicest to her at all these past weeks.” Mal admitted with a frown.
“Well, whatever you want to do, okay?” Ben squeezed the shoulder one of his hands still rested on. Mal nodded, smiling softly at the omega.
“I’ll catch her before she goes to her dorm tonight.”

~~~

Mal never did get to apologize to Jane that night. She got too distracted when Ben invited her to spend the night in his dorm after a particularly invigorating make-out session under the bleachers after Ben’s tourney practice had ended. Mal never even made it back to her own dorm that night.

Chapter Text

5 Days Until the Coronation
Carlos and Jay were laying in bed together on one lazy morning. The one bad part of Auradon, besides all the uptight people who thought they were better than them just because of where they came from, was how little time they got to spend alone together now. One of them was always at some kind of practice and when neither of them was doing that they were usually with friends and they were always with their pups.
“So...my heat is coming up…” Carlos started quietly, running a hand up and down Jay’s bicep, the other pushed underneath the pillow that both of their heads rested on.
“I know,” Jay mumbled against his neck, leaving a few small kisses there before looking up at Carlos, “And…? Are we talking about...pups? Again?” Carlos gave a soft nod, just staring down at Jay for a moment. Perfectly content with letting the conversation float for a moment while he thought about his answer.
“Now, I do love the pups we have, and I’ve never regretted them, or you, for a single moment of my life,” Jay nodded lazily, agreeing without hesitation. Cameron and Josephine were their pride and joy, their everything, “But, I don’t think I want to have any more, just not yet at least. I want to finish school first.” Carlos sighed in soft relief when Jay just nodded easily, agreeing once more.
“Yeah, I agree. I love them with everything in me, but we are so busy nowadays. We gotta get out of school, get a home, be able to provide for the two of them before worrying about providing for more little tykes running around.” Jay murmured, moving his hands up to Carlos’ chest and then resting his chin on them.
“Yeah. But, just so you know, more pups are not off the table. We are having more.” Carlos said with a short, stern look. As soon as Jay started chuckling and nodding, Carlos re-relaxed his pose, wrapping both of his arms around Jay with a smile.
“Yeah, I kno-” Jay was cut off by a yelp of surprise as a heavy form jumped up onto them, splaying across Jay’s back and hitting Carlos in the mouth.
“Good morning!!!” Cameron cried, giggling at his parents' disgruntled looks, “Come on!! Joe is awake and she’s upset because her diaper is stinky, she gonna cry if you don't fix it!” For a moment, Carlos marveled at how much their son had changed over the few, short months they had been in Auradon. He was much happier, more excitable, less scared of everything, and he lost the funny little lisp he had when it came to saying words with ‘R’s in them.
“Alright, alright, let’s go fix your sister up little man,” Jay said, standing and pulling the little omega up with him, holding his son against his chest, “I’ll clean Joe up, you get breakfast?” Carlos gave him a grateful smile and then nodded.
“Sure, babe.”

~~~

2 Days Until the Coronation
The four VKs, the pups, Ben, and Doug were all gathered in Evie and Mal’s dorm. They were just hanging out, talking about the last-minute touches Evie wanted to make to their Coronation clothing, Evie working on said touch-ups as she talked with them all. There was an obvious open spot on the floor by the end of Evie’s bed, where Jane and Lonnie usually sat. They hadn’t talked to them much since...everything. Jane had turned reclusive again after Mal had unspelled her hair, and Lonnie didn’t give them the time of day at all. Evie hoped that was because she didn’t want to upset Audrey and not because she really just didn’t like them.
“So, the next group of kids will be coming over the week after my Coronation. I tried to make it sooner, but that was the earliest I could get everyone to agree to.” Ben gave them all a small smile as he spoke, shrugging softly.
“It’s perfect, Ben. We know how hard you’ve been working on this and we really appreciate it.” Mal kissed her omega’s forehead softly, giving him a warm smile. The couple was sitting on Mal’s bed, Josephine sleeping curled up on Ben’s chest. Opposite to them, Jay, Carlos, and a sleeping Cameron were taking up Evie’s bed. Carlos looked almost asleep himself, his content purring drifting around the room lazily as Jay curled around the two omegas out of instinct more than protectiveness. Doug was sat at the large table in the center of the room, The sound of his typing drifting around with Carlos’ pur. The last sound that just added to the perfectness of this moment was the sound of Evie’s sewing machine as she did what she loved, making clothing for people she loved.
“Yeah, I’m just glad we are actually getting more people off of that wretched place,” Evie said absent-mindedly as she worked, not even looking up for the fabric she was sewing together, “Who’s apart of the next group?” She added after a few moments of almost-silence.
“Oh, well we decided to get the younger ones off first since they can’t protect themselves as well. So the next group is Anistatia Tremian’s son: Antonio, Mother Gothel’s daughter: Ginny Gother, The Boogie Man’s daughter: Bora, and finally, Drizzela Tremaine’s daughter: Dizzy. All omegas and none of them are even 12 yet.” Ben Jumped when Evie gave an excited squeak.
“Dizzy gets to come!? Oh! That’s fantastic, she’s wanted off that Isle since she could talk! I’m sooo excited!” Evie cried, immediately quieting at the harsh shushing she received from Jay and Mal, the two alphas not wanting Carlos, Cameron, or Josephine to wake up.
“Sorry, that’s just so wonderful,” Evie sighed dreamily, then stood abruptly, heading over to a desk that held a stack of clean paper and a few written on papers. Ben knew that they were the letter that Uma had sent Evie. He smiled as he watched her get to work writing on a clean piece of paper. Soon the scratch of pencil on paper replaced the sound of Evie’s sewing machine, joining Doug’s typing and Carlos’ purring in a slow drift around the room. Almost like a lullaby, the noise calmed the omega in Ben so immensely, the baby on his chest wasn’t helping he supposed, soon Ben felt his eyes slowly drifting closed. Before drifting off completely he felt a kiss fall on his forehead, and somewhere a little ways away he heard a whisper,
“Thank you, Ben.”

~~~

2 Hours Before the Coronation.
Ben fixed the tie on his suit once more, grumbling in frustration when his attempt to loosen the tie didn’t work, again. He was just about to leave his office, the ring he had come in there to pick up before the cart ride to the Coronation burning a hole in his breast-pocket, when his father entered the room. Ben was surprised at first, and his hand immediately went to the pocket the ring was in, but once he recognized his father he gave him a bright smile.
“Oh, hey dad. What’s up?” He asked, stepping back to make more room for the both of them in the doorway. King Adam just stared down at his son for a moment, a worried look on his face. Then he heaved a great sigh and pulled his son into a large hug, holding his little omega close to his chest.
“I wanted to apologise to you. For everything,” Ben froze in surprise at first, arms hanging at his side as he stared over his father’s broad shoulder, nestled deep into the hug. But then he relaxed, hugging his father back tightly, “I have wronged you in many ways, Ben. But I know you are ready for this, you have proved yourself. Especially with this plan of yours...how is that coming along anyway?”
Ben immediately pulled away from the hug, excited smile spreading across his face quickly,
“Come look!” He cried, rushing over to the desk in the middle of his office. He pulled a manila folder out of the top-right drawer, setting it on the top of his desk and opening it before pulling out a long list that was marked with various different symbols. None the King Adam recognized.
“This is the list off kids Carlos gave me. Well, it’s an updated version, this version is organized in the order that the kids will come over. Do you wanna look?” Ben asked eagerly, holding it out to his father, excited to share this with him. His smile seemed to get impossibly wider when the King nodded, taking the list when it was handed to him.
As his father read the list he nervously began shuffling papers around on his desk. As he did this he didn’t notice the hard look that came over his father’s face. It was quickly corrected into an impressed smile, and then the list was being handed back.
“Impressive work, son.” The King ruffled his son’s hair teasingly, making Ben laugh.
“Thanks, Dad,” Ben gave his dad one more warm smile before packing the list and folder up, “We should go so I’m not too late,” Ben said once he was done, turning towards the door. King Adam nodded and the two left, chatting aimlessly about small things.

~~~

30 Minutes Before the Coronation
Mal was nervous, something she had never been before, But, here she was , sitting in a carriage in a beautiful dress and she was nervous. She was more nervous about the ring she had hidden in her little handbag, the ring she had asked Carlos to make for her with his fancy 3D printer, the ring she had spent a whole week designing after Ben’s heat. It was shaped like a dragon and a beast that met in the middle, forming a heart were they met. It was copper, and Mal had found a dazzling green gem to fit into the heart shape made by the dragon and beast. She thought it looked amazing, she just hoped Ben thought the same.
“Mal?” She quickly looked over at the omega sitting next to her in the carriage, Ben. He was smiling at her softly and he was holding his hand out to her. On instinct, she set her hand, palm-up in his. When he placed a ring in her palm with the other hand she gasped, staring at the silver ring that sat in her palm. It had the Auradon crest on, yellow and blue gems inlaid into the engraving. It was gorgeous.
“Wait!” Mal cried suddenly, plunging her free hand into her bag and pulling out the ring Mal had for Ben. She quickly held it out to him, smiling sheepishly, “I guess we had the same idea…”
Ben gave her a huge smile, taking the ring she held out with extreme gentleness.
“It’s gorgeous, Mal...I love it.” Mal laughed self-consciously, rubbing the back of her neck as it started to warm up.
“Well, I just want people to know that we belong to each other since we aren’t mated yet. So, think of it as a promise ring.” Mal could feel more of her past self withering away at the complete and utter sappines of her declaration. A lot of it had disappeared the day she had declared her love to Ben in front of Belle and the Beast, but she knew it would be a while before it was completely gone.
“Well, I want you to have this ring for about the same reason. But also because you deserve respect, and I know this little ring won't fix that problem completely. But, it will help.” They shared a soft smile, sliding their new rings on and then hugging tightly.
“I love you, Ben,” Mal whispered to him as the carriage came to a stop at the doors to the castle, where Ben would be christened the new King of auradon.
“I love you too, Mal.”

Chapter Text

Jane didn’t know what to do. She was ridiculed at every turn. Her mother clucked and tsked at every little thing that she did or said. Her friends, well they weren’t her friends anymore were they? She had laughed at them, had hurt them, and now Mal had taken away the one thing that made people like her. Her beauty.
At first she had been sad. Horrible, heart broken sobs were the only thing anyone could hear when they passed her hallway of the dormitories. She didn’t leave her room for days, she rarely ate, didn’t shower. She was disgusting.
And then, she realized what she had let those dirty isle kids do to her, and then she was angry. Furious. She could only see red, and she knew what she had to do.

The first inklings of regret started to slither in when she saw her mother’s horrible betrayed expression when she snatched the wand from her hand. Swinging it around wildly, no idea what to do with it.
She pointed the wand at herself and cast blindly, and what happened after was the biggest mistake Jane had ever made in her life.

Carlos watched with wide, horrified eyes as Ben shoved Jane out of the way of her own spell. The spark of blue magic instead hit the glass dome that had held the very wand that Jane was now clutching as if it was a life-line. Instead of stopping there, the magic bounced. It flew to a window, bouncing again, and then another, facing the ocean. But instead of bouncing like before, the magic broke this window and flew off into the distance.
It was deathly silent in the lavish hall as everyone waited for some grandly horrible thing to happen in response to the loose magic, but after a moment when nothing occurred people began to relax. Until Fairy Godmother screeched loudly, “Jane!”
Everyone’s eyes all turned to the brunette who was now pointing the wand at Mal, fire in her eyes, “Fix me! You ruined everything when you took my hair! So now you’re going to fix it!”
Mal’s eyes held an immense amount of sadness and regret, but still her hand reached for the wand. Just as her hand went to bypass the wand and she instead reached for Jane, a shiver rippled down Carlos’ spine.
Maleficent.

Several minutes later the whole hall was frozen, except for Jay, Mal, Evie, and himself. Mal was trying to explain to her mother that they could be happy, if they just gave up, if she just stopped being evil. But they all knew it was in vain.

And then it was over. Maleficent was a tiny, little lizard. A dark purple color, with the intoxicating green eyes both herself and Mal had always possessed.

Jay felt as if the weight of the isle itself had been lifted from his shoulders. Maleficent couldn’t bother them any longer. His family was safe in Auradon. His pups and mate were all happy and healthy, and safe. His alpha was practically preening in the immense amount of pride he felt at finally accomplishing this for his family after so long.
Now, Jay and Carlos were sitting on a large blanket in the courtyard, their pups laughing and running around in front of them. Carlos was curled up in his lap, a slight pur rumbling in his chest as he listened raptly to Ben speak of their plan once more, going over the new developments in transportation and such.
“Jay!” He snapped out of his comfortable revier as Evie called his name, running over to the blanket the three of them rested on. When she finally made it to them, she kneeled on the edge of the blanket with a brilliant smile, “Lonnie apologised to me! Isn’t that great?” Before letting him actually form an answer to this she powered on, “Now we can go out to lunch together again, and shop for fabrics and stuff. It’s still fun to go with just Doug, but it’s not the same you know? So I’m really excited to hang out with her again-”
“Evie, take a breath,” Carlos giggled from his lap, peeking up at the other omega with a small smile, “We are all very happy for you, but you don’t need to suffocate yourself telling us about it.” Now all three of them were laughing, Evie huffing in mock annoyance but smiling all the same.
“That is great though, E.” Jay reassured the blue haired omega with a soft smile. Evie smiled back before lifting herself off the blanket,
“I’m going to go play with the pups for a bit before heading inside.” She said with a small wave, starting towards the field of grass sprawling out in front of them, where Josphine and Cameron were running back and forth.
Before she could get too far, Ben lifted himself up from his position laying down on the blanket onto his elbows and called after her, “Wait, Evie! Have you seen Mal?”
Evie turned around, continuing to walk backwards towards the pups as she called, “Yeah, she's waiting for you in the dorms!”
Ben left Jay, Carlos, and Evie in a rush at this news, leaving the three Isle kids laughing in his wake.