Alpha Izuku Midoriya

Izuku had never wanted to attend an Omega auction.

Not once.

The entire concept made something crawl beneath his skin.

Technically, everything happening inside the lavish building was legal. Contracts were checked. Omegas were supposedly consenting. Buyers were screened. There were laws and regulations designed to keep the entire system from becoming exactly what Izuku feared it could become.

Supposedly.

That word was doing a lot of work.

Which was exactly why Izuku had turned Hitoshi down three times before finally agreeing to accompany him.

“You owe me,” Hitoshi had said.

“I don't remember owing you anything.”

“You made me attend that Hero Commission fundraiser.”

“That was for charity.”

“There were six speeches.”

And somehow, that argument had ended with Izuku sitting beside him in one of the private upper-level boxes overlooking the auction floor.

Izuku hadn't bid once.

He'd barely even touched his drink.

His green eyes continually wandered around the room instead, studying exits, security personnel, bidders, attendants, and the Omegas brought across the stage.

Occupational hazard.

Hero instinct.

Alpha instinct.

Probably both.

Then you walked onto the stage.

And Izuku stopped breathing.

The auctioneer was speaking, introducing you to the room, but the words became distant noise.

You looked healthy.

Almost suspiciously healthy.

Your hair had been carefully done. Your skin looked freshly cared for. You wore expensive clothing selected specifically to flatter you beneath the stage lights.

But Izuku had spent years rescuing people.

He knew the difference between someone who was safe and someone who had merely been made presentable.

His eyes narrowed.

“Midoriya?”

Hitoshi's voice barely registered.

Izuku leaned forward.

Something was wrong.

Your shoulders were too stiff.

Your fingers kept curling against your palms.

You weren't looking at anyone.

And your scent...

Izuku inhaled slowly.

Alpha.

You were absolutely drenched in another Alpha's pheromones.

Enough that several Alphas in the room visibly lost interest immediately.

Taken Omega.

That was the message the scent communicated.

Except...

Izuku's brows pulled together.

Something wasn't adding up.

There wasn't a claim mark.

His eyes automatically went toward your neck.

Nothing.

Yet whoever scented you had practically drowned you in their pheromones.

Why?

“Opening bid, fifty thousand.”

A paddle immediately lifted.

“Sixty.”

“Seventy-five.”

“One hundred thousand.”

The numbers began flying through the room.

Izuku barely heard them.

His attention had dropped lower.

Your wrists.

His stomach twisted.

There were marks around them.

Faded, but not faded enough.

Thin reddish-purple bruising circled both wrists, partially hidden beneath bracelets that suddenly looked far less decorative to him.

Restraints.

Izuku knew restraint injuries.

He'd seen them on hostages.

Kidnapping victims.

People who had fought desperately enough against cuffs that the metal had bitten into their skin.

His fingers tightened around the railing. “Hitoshi.”

His voice had changed.

Hitoshi immediately looked toward him. “What?”

“Look at their wrists.”

Hitoshi did.

The bored expression vanished from his face. “...Shit.”

“Two hundred thousand!”

“Two-twenty!”

“Two-fifty!”

The auctioneer was practically glowing.

Izuku wasn't listening anymore.

He was studying you.

There was makeup near one wrist.

Concealer.

Someone had tried covering the bruising.

His mind began moving faster.

No claim mark.

Heavy Alpha scent.

Recent restraint injuries.

Avoiding eye contact.

Possible forced presentation.

His gaze swept toward the side of the stage.

And found him.

A young Alpha standing beside a blonde woman.

The Alpha's scent.

Izuku's pupils narrowed.

That's him.

Even from this distance, Izuku could match it.

The scent coating you belonged to that man.

The blonde woman beside him had her arm linked through his.

Odd.

Very odd.

“Three hundred thousand!”

The man smiled.

The woman whispered something into his ear.

He laughed.

Izuku's stomach dropped. “They know them.”

Hitoshi followed his stare. “Looks like it.”

“No. He scented them.”

That got Hitoshi's full attention.

Izuku was already standing.

The auctioneer called again.

“Three hundred fifty thousand!”

Another paddle.

“Four hundred!”

“Four-fifty!”

Izuku's thoughts collided faster and faster.

Maybe there was an explanation.

Maybe you had agreed to this.

Maybe the restraints were unrelated.

Maybe...

Then you finally looked toward the man.

Izuku saw your expression.

Fear.

Every rationalization disappeared.

Izuku reached for his bidding paddle.

Hitoshi looked at him. “Oh no.”

“Five hundred thousand!”

Izuku raised his paddle. “One million.”

The entire room went silent.

Even the auctioneer froze.

Hitoshi slowly turned his head. “Izuku.”

Izuku didn't look at him.

The man beside the stage had gone pale.

The blonde woman wasn't smiling anymore.

Good.

“One... million,” the auctioneer repeated, recovering quickly. “We have one million. Do I hear one-point-one?”

The fiancé's paddle shot upward. “One-point-one!”

Izuku's jaw tightened.

So he was willing to buy you back.

Interesting.

The woman grabbed his arm and whispered frantically.

Izuku could practically see the argument happening.

The man shook her off.

“One-point-two million!”

Another bidder joined.

“One-point-three!”

Izuku raised his paddle. “Two million.”

Gasps rolled through the room.

Hitoshi covered his face. “You're insane.”

“I can afford it.”

“That isn't the concerning part.”

The fiancé was staring directly at Izuku now.

Izuku stared back.

He recognized him.

Riku Hayashi.

He'd seen his name somewhere.

Izuku's memory dug backward.

Business pages.

A minor corporate family.

Engagement announcement.

Izuku's eyes widened slightly.

Engagement.

He looked at you.

Then Riku.

Then the blonde woman beside him.

His stomach sank.

“Oh....You're engaged to him.”

Hitoshi frowned. “What?”

“I remember seeing them together. Riku Hayashi. That's their fiancé.”

Hitoshi's expression darkened instantly. “Then why the hell is his fiancé on an auction stage?”

That was an excellent question.

“Two-point-one!” Riku's voice cracked through the room.

Izuku lifted his paddle. “Three million.”

The auctioneer nearly choked. “Three million?!”

Riku went white.

The blonde woman grabbed his arm. “Riku, stop!”

Her voice carried farther than she'd probably intended.

“This wasn't supposed to happen!”

Izuku heard it.

So did Hitoshi.

The two heroes exchanged a look.

There.

The first crack.

Riku hissed something at her.

She answered louder. “You were supposed to scare them, not bankrupt yourself getting them back!”

Izuku went completely still.

Hitoshi's eyes sharpened. “Oh, they are unbelievably stupid.”

Izuku's heart hammered.

Scare them.

His eyes went back to your wrists.

The restraints.

The scent.

Your fear.

His grip tightened around the paddle until his knuckles whitened.

“Three million going once!”

Riku lifted his paddle. “Three-point-one!”

The blonde woman yanked it downward. “Stop!”

“Naomi!”

“You said this would teach them a lesson! You said nobody would seriously bid because they smell like you!”

Izuku felt something inside him snap.

Not loudly.

That was the terrifying part.

There was no explosion.

No shouting.

His expression simply changed.

Hitoshi noticed immediately. “Izuku.”

“Four million.”

The room erupted.

“Four million!”

Riku stared upward.

Izuku stood at the balcony railing, green eyes locked onto him.

“Do I hear four-point-one?”

Riku's hand shook.

Naomi grabbed his wrist. “Don't.”

“But they're mine!”

Izuku's Alpha instincts surged so violently at those words that several nearby Omegas instinctively turned toward him.

Yours?

No.

Not after this.

Not after covering you in scent specifically to discourage buyers while publicly humiliating you.

Not after apparently locking you away long enough to force a signature onto a contract.

Because Izuku suddenly understood exactly what those bruises meant.

He didn't know every detail yet.

But he knew enough.

“Four million going once!”

Riku looked at you.

Then Izuku.

“Going twice!”

Riku's hand twitched toward his paddle.

Naomi held him back. “Think about the money!”

The gavel slammed.

“Sold!”

The room burst into applause.

Izuku heard none of it.

He was already moving.

“Izuku!”

“Hitoshi, call Tsukauchi.”

That stopped him.

“You think it's criminal?”

“I think those bruises weren't voluntary.”

Hitoshi immediately pulled out his phone.

Izuku descended the stairs two at a time.

Staff members were approaching you.

Riku was moving too.

So was Naomi.

Izuku's pulse jumped.

He moved faster.

Riku reached you first. “What the hell were you thinking?!”

You flinched.

Izuku saw it.

That tiny reaction was enough.

He stepped between you before Riku could touch you.

Riku stumbled backward. “What the hell?! They're my fiancé!”

Izuku's voice remained frighteningly calm. “Then explain their wrists.”

Riku froze.

Naomi did too.

Izuku watched both reactions.

Confirmation.

His Alpha scent slipped into the air, controlled but powerful. Not directed at you.

At them.

Riku swallowed.

“They... they agreed to this.”

Izuku glanced toward you.

He didn't ask.

Not yet.

Because he saw how overwhelmed you already were.

Instead, he slowly removed his jacket.

He approached carefully enough that you could see every movement.

Then he draped it around your shoulders.

His scent settled around you.

Not claiming.

Just protection.

Riku stepped forward. “Get your scent off them!”

Izuku's head snapped toward him. “They're terrified of you.”

Riku stopped.

Naomi tugged his sleeve. “We should go.”

Izuku's eyes shifted toward her. “You're Naomi Sato, aren't you?”

Her face drained. “You're the friend who's like a sister.”

Silence.

Izuku remembered that too.

Articles.

Photos.

Social posts.

Riku constantly defending Naomi.

His supposedly innocent childhood friend.

Pieces clicked together.

Izuku looked between them. “You convinced him they were hurting you.”

Naomi's lips parted.

“And you convinced him this would teach them a lesson.”

“I didn't...”

“You expected nobody to bid because he covered them in his scent.”

Neither answered.

Izuku's hands trembled.

From the sheer effort required to control himself.

Sirens sounded faintly outside.

Hitoshi.

Good.

Riku heard them too.

His face changed.

“You called the police?!”

“You restrained your fiancé.”

“They signed the contract!”

“Under what circumstances?”

Riku said nothing.

Izuku stepped closer. “Were they free to leave when they signed it?”

Silence.

That was enough.

Riku suddenly moved around him. “You're coming home.”

His hand reached toward you.

Izuku caught his wrist. “No.”

Riku stared at him.

Izuku released him with a small shove backward.

Then something unexpected happened.

Riku's anger disappeared.

Panic replaced it.

Because apparently, only now was reality sinking in.

He looked at you.

Really looked at you.

The bruises.

The fear.

Izuku's jacket around your shoulders.

Police lights flashing beyond the entrance.

“Wait.” Riku pushed past Naomi. “Wait, please.”

Naomi followed immediately, grabbing his arm.

“Riku, don't!”

“I didn't think anybody would actually buy you.”

Izuku's jaw clenched.

“That doesn't make this better.”

“I was going to bring you home!”

Izuku stepped beside you.

Riku looked desperate now. “Please. Come home with me. Naomi was wrong, okay? I was wrong. We can fix this.”

Naomi stared at you too. “You weren't supposed to leave with somebody else.”

Izuku's Alpha instincts screamed at him to pull you away.

To decide for you.

To protect you.

But doing that would make him no better than them.

So he forced himself still.

Then Izuku looked at you.

His expression softened completely.

The fury disappeared from his face when his eyes met yours.

He carefully held out his hand.

Open palm.

An invitation.

Nothing more.

Riku immediately held his hand out too.

Two choices.

The Alpha who had been your fiancé.

The man who had supposedly loved you, yet believed someone else's accusations, imprisoned you, forced your signature, and put you onto that stage to teach you a lesson.

And Izuku.

A stranger who had just spent four million to get you off it.