“It’s been a nice week, hasn’t it?” Renji sits up on the futon, pillows cushioning his back as Byakuya nuzzles against his chest. “Not a bad decision to skip your heat suppressants.”

Byakuya hums against his skin and looks up at him through sleepy eyes, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly. “I suppose not. You were a suitable heat partner and you took good care of me, and I feel very relaxed as a result. You did a very good job.”

“Had to. You’re my pack alpha.” Renji grins at him just the same, pressing a kiss to his forehead.

In the night, Byakuya’s heat finally let up on his body, and Renji has been helping him through the afterglow since then. Their last coupling had been slow and sensual and Renji had taken his time to take Byakuya apart at the seams just to listen to the small and sweet noises he makes one more time before he needs to wait for his rut cycle next month. It was well worth it, though, getting to know Byakuya’s body intimately well in their week together.

It also solidified his desire to court his pack alpha. Of course, he might need a little time to plan out his courtship to the letter so that it’s worthy of an omega like Byakuya, but he’s going to do it. Yoruichi’s words refuse to leave his mind, as do their meaning.

“I’ll have to do just as suitable a job so that I can care for you when you’re in rut.” Byakuya stifles a yawn against the palm of his hand and Renji nuzzles the top of his head, unable to help himself. He’s just so achingly fond of Byakuya, more so than when they began this.

“I’m sure you’ll do a great job.” He’s more than a little excited at the prospect of having Byakuya in his private quarters attending to him.

Byakuya sits up slowly and stretches his arms over his head, the sheet around his shoulders slipping down to show off every inch of his beautiful body. His slender torso still bears the marks of Renji’s lips and teeth, and it will take time for those to fade. “Hisana, rest her soul… I think I overwhelmed her when I was in heat. She had little experience with omegas.”

“It can be hard, you know, the scent, the need. I’ve got the experience so it wasn’t a big deal for me.” Renji doesn’t mention the fact Byakuya has been careful about mentioning Hisana this entire time until now and hopes it’s some kind of progress, however small it might be. “We figured it out, right? So it should be easier and easier. Your heats won’t be as dramatically long and they won’t take so much of a toll on your body.”

“That’s good.” Byakuya runs his fingers through his hair, gathering the heavy black mass of it and pushing it behind his shoulders. “I’ll visit Unohana later today and make sure to ask her for a post-heat drought. She reassured me that as long as it’s taken at the end of a heat, it should prevent any unwanted pregnancy. I don’t think I would ever want children.”

“Not everyone does.” Renji is hardly bothered by the prospect of not having pups with Byakuya if he manages to win him over. All he wants is Byakuya, to hold him close at night and kiss him and piece together the cracks in his heart until he can smile so freely again without the shadow of pain lingering behind him. “Just wanted to keep your options open, right?”

“Correct. Having the choice is what is important to me, not making it.” Byakuya picks up the comforter and pulls it up over himself, then settles back into Renji’s side, all warm skin and the sweet cherry blossom scent Renji is going to smell for days.

He drops another kiss on top of Byakuya’s head, stroking his thumb over the roundest part of Byakuya’s shoulder. “At least no fires cropped up that you had to put out after all.”

“I’m relieved. I could have handled them, but it’s nice to not need to expend the worry until much later.” Byakuya looks up at him again, his eyes a little brighter, a little more awake now. “It would have been simple to ask your opinion on the matter with you so close.”

“Can you imagine if they had walked in on us when I was knotting you? That’d be an awkward pack conversation to have.” Renji grins when Byakuya laughs softly, the sound musical.

“It would have been, but we would have bore the tension in order to do right by the pack. Like any good alpha and beta should.” Byakuya’s fingers creep up his chest, tracing over the dark tattoos on his skin. “This is a remnant from your former pack, is it not?”

Renji nods, watching Byakuya trace the lines on his skin. They cover various parts of his body, including his forehead. “Yes. We were a fight-heavy and hierarchy-heavy pack. Once your place was solidified, you’d get marked. I have so many because I kept climbing higher.”

Byakuya whistles softly. “Admirable. You are truly fitting as my pack beta.”

“These.” Renji takes Byakuya’s hand, pressing his fingers into the tattoos on his face, “Are because I achieved pack beta status in that pack. So you would be correct.”

“You achieved pack beta status and then left?” Byakuya hums thoughtfully, and his touch is so maddeningly light and tender. “I should be grateful, then. You are an excellent beta.”

Renji beams at him, his heart skittering off of his ribs at the compliment from the last person he expected such words from. “Thank you, Taicho. I do my best to do right by you.”

“Not Taicho, not yet.” Byakuya presses a kiss to his jaw and Renji’s eyelashes flutter just a little at the touch, his breath hitching in his chest. “Not while you’re still here with me.”

“My mistake, Byakuya.” He takes Byakuya’s wrist once more, drawing those slim fingers down to his lips, pressing soft kisses to them. “The pack is going to talk about this for days.”

“Months, probably. Especially now that we’re agreed to see each other through our heats and ruts, but I don’t mind so much. It’s the least offensive thing they could talk about.” Byakuya curls his fingers beneath Renji’s jaw, thumb brushing over his lower lip. “It could be much worse, as well. There were awful rumors about Yoruichi and I merely because we were friends.”

A little more than friends, Renji thinks, but doesn’t say. “I don’t think I’d be that upset if people thought I’d scored someone like Yoruichi-san.”

Byakuya’s cheeks pink just a little and he rolls his eyes. “You sound like Kyoraku when I complained to him about it. She is a wonderful woman and a wonderful alpha, yes, but we were truly just friends! She was interested in someone else, after all. She’s mated to him.”

“I wonder if she was ever interested in you.” Renji muses just to make Byakuya groan, laughing when Byakuya claps his hand firmly over Renji’s mouth.

“Such things don’t matter. She has a mate whom she loves very much, and I would never dare get between the two of them. Urahara is very happy with her, as well.” Byakuya gives him a warning look before removing his hand, curling it around the back of Renji’s neck.

Renji takes advantage of the position to kiss Byakuya, licking the soft whimper out of his mouth when he melts against Renji’s chest. The warmth of his body and having him so close makes Renji desperate to touch him and hold him, to show him how precious he is and how he should be treated. With time, Renji is going to prove that.

He knows that the odds of winning Byakuya’s heart may be slim, but he has to try.

Byakuya shifts fully into his lap, twisting around to sit on his thighs and Renji lets his hands slide down the bare expanse of Byakuya’s back, fingers careful over the bite marks he’s left here and the scars Byakuya has suffered in battle. Byakuya presses back into the touch like a cat desperate for attention and Renji moans softly against his mouth, holding him close.

No omega is ever going to be this perfect for him, is going to fit in his arms like this or taste this perfectly sweet, look up at him with such warm and gentle eyes. Byakuya may not even realize it or maybe— Maybe he does, and he’s just lying to himself—

Don’t, Renji tells himself, nuzzling against the side of Byakuya’s throat where his scent is strongest, running the flat of his tongue over his scent gland. Don’t talk yourself into something like that. Approach this like you have to win him over or you’ll get lazy.

“I feel like we could have been done with this hours ago, but I’m enjoying the attention just the same.” Byakuya leans into Renji’s chest. “I’m not used to being taken care of.”

The statement is throwaway at best but Renji’s heart constricts just the same. “Your parents not hug you enough as a kid or something?” he tries instead.

“Ah, no, my parents were wonderful. My father in particular was a very gentle and caring man.” Byakuya smiles fondly at the memories. Renji knows his parents have long since passed away and is relieved that his words haven’t upset Byakuya. “He raised me to be strong. My father was an omega as well, you know. My mother was an alpha. She was the alpha of this pack once.”

“So I heard.” No wonder Byakuya fights so hard to keep the pack his. “You’d make both of them proud as pack alpha, you know. You do a great job even if we don’t tell you that enough.”

“I have my regrets, of course. I think everyone does. I wish I’d known what Aizen was up to before he attacked me. I wish I could have done something about… But no matter.” Byakuya shakes his head and Renji doesn’t push it, knowing that ripping open sore wounds will not endear him to his pack alpha. “The pack seems settled and satisfied for the most part. Some are unhappy with an omega leading the pack, but none of them have challenged me.”

“They’re cowards.” Renji knows they are, had offered more than a few of them the chance to fight him so they could prove themselves capable of taking down Byakuya. They ran.

Byakuya snorts and shrugs, twirling the ends of Renji’s long red hair between his fingers. “Perhaps. I refuse to let any of it effect me or my judgment. If anything, it serves as fuel to remind me that I still have people to prove wrong in my life, so I keep going.”

“You’re too good, you know that? You look at everything head-on and don’t shy away from any of it.” Renji lets his voice slip a little soft, a little closer to true praise than mere compliments, and he sees Byakuya’s eyes glitter, the slight pink hue in his cheeks. “You’re an amazing man.”

But then Byakuya smiles and steals a kiss, letting it linger warm against Renji’s lips. “Thank you. It is nice to hear someone confident in my abilities. Could I trouble you for one thing?”

“Yeah, of course. This is the end of your heat so I’m still in your command.” Renji would do anything for Byakuya, truth be told, whether he was in heat or not, but he can’t just come out and say that… Yet. He needs to save it for the right moment for the right effect.

“I’m just a bit thirsty, so water would be nice.” Byakuya kisses him again as if bribing him and Renji kisses him back eagerly, never one to turn down anything from Byakuya. He takes advantage of the position, flipping them over so he has Byakuya pressed down into the futon, the warmth of his body keeping Byakuya in place.

“Anything for you, omega.” He noses the side of Byakuya’s throat just because he can, and a little thrill runs down his spine when Byakuya tilts his head back, baring his throat.

His clothing is on the other side of the room and he doesn’t want to pull himself out of bed to get dressed, but he does for Byakuya’s sake. The same t-shirt and sweatpants he wore on the first day, retrieved from the room at some point likely by one of the maids and washed before being returned to him. The clothes smell like the room, like Byakuya, so Renji thinks a little better of them as he puts them on, glancing over his shoulder at where Byakuya sits up in bed, pulling the comforter around his shoulders like a cloak. He looks so warm and satisfied that it hits Renji on every primal level.

Right. He promised Byakuya he’d bring him some water.

Before Renji has a chance to open the door, a knock comes on the hard wooden surface. He stills and looks over his shoulder at Byakuya, who frowns at him from the bed, sitting up slowly, hugging the comforter around his shoulders. When he’s sure that Byakuya is decent enough, Renji opens the door to find Ukitake Juushiro standing on the other side of it, the older omega looking slightly concerned as he stares at the ground. Behind him is Kyoraku Shunsui and Renji purses his lips, wondering why the two of them would have come together or why Ukitake’s scent is as off as it is.

“What is it, Ukitake?” Based on scent alone, Byakuya knows who has come to see him.

The scent on Ukitake’s skin hits Renji the moment he steps into the room and he leans back and away, his eyes widening as the realization settles in. He watches Byakuya’s expression and a moment later the omega’s eyes stretch wide, his mouth falling open. A very small whining noise leaves his throat and Renji has to brace himself to keep from bolting across the room to his side to comfort that sound away so it never comes again.

The scent of freshly-fallen snow belongs only to Kuchiki Rukia. Renji has never known another alpha in his life with a scent like hers.

“I’m sorry for not telling you sooner!” Ukitake hits his knees on the floor, his hands next, his forehead pressed to the flooring. “She’s been back for days but you were occupied and she told me to let it be, that it could wait until you were taken care of.”

Byakuya presses a hand to his mouth and Renji watches him compose himself even as he leans his back against the wall, not quite able to do that himself. “Did both of you know?”

Kyoraku sighs and drops down to his knees as well, leaning down to rest his forehead against the floor. “Yes, alpha. She came right to us so that no one else would know.”

“You both hid this from me under her request. I’ll take that into account.” Byakuya squares his shoulders and Renji stares at him, not quite sure what to say or what to do. “Is she well?”

“She is.” Ukitake’s voice quivers and Renji knows there’s more, and usually he would let Byakuya handle it but he doesn’t like the smell of this. So he rounds the two men and comes to stand in front of them, putting himself between them and Byakuya.

“You aren’t telling him something.” His voice is edged and sharp and he hears Byakuya’s slight intake of breath even as he watches Ukitake and Kyoraku’s bodies twitch in response. “You would come here and hold something back from your alpha? That’s unacceptable.”

“She didn’t come alone.” Kyoraku lifts his head slightly from the floor, looks up at Renji with an unreadable expression. “She brought back friends. She wants them to join the pack.”

A low growl begins in the back of Renji’s throat. “ Why is that worth hiding?”

“One of them.” Ukitake says slowly, carefully, “Is half-human. Isshin’s missing child.”

Byakuya’s scent burns foul and the way he snarls makes the hair on the back of Renji’s neck stand up. “Get all of them before the pack. You have fifteen minutes. I will be there to pass judgment. If you do not and choose to withhold any of them from my sight, I will know and you will be suitably punished. That is all. Dismissed. ”

The two of them leave the room and Renji locks the door, turning to glance at Byakuya over his shoulder. “I don’t think I’ve heard the name Isshin around the pack before.”

“He went into exile when he was not able to dislodge me as alpha. Humans are not allowed to live with our pack, and he challenged me on this because he wanted his wife to remain here in the pack with him.” Byakuya draws his knees up to his chest and rests his chin on top of them. He looks so tired that Renji responds automatically, dropping down on the futon to pull Byakuya into his arms. “He came back to us when his child went missing, and though we expanded our forces to search for him, he was never found. I don’t know how Rukia found him.”

“Where is Isshin now? Does he even know his son is here?” Renji, for the life of him, doesn’t quite understand what’s going on. There are not enough pieces to link together.

Byakuya shakes his head slowly, dropping the comforter from around his shoulders. “He can’t know, not yet, but I’ll have to contact him. If this is his son, he’ll have some say over this decision of Rukia’s. Come, we have to meet with the pack. This is a delicate matter and it must be handled as quickly and efficiently as possible.”

Renji still doesn’t understand but he follows Byakuya just the same as any pack beta should.