You reclaimed your position standing at the head of the table. Confident, though your outfit currently consisted of sexy lingerie and Loki's cloak. Loki stood protectively behind you, a reassuring presence. He didn't know what you were going to say, but he would support your decisions.

You turned your attention to Samuel and Fenrir, though you addressed the room at large. "Though I killed Jareth, I have no intentions of taking over as Alpha myself," you heard the sighs of relief from the others. While it was your right to take over the pack, and could definitely do it with Loki at your side and defend your position, you had no intentions of living in this hell or staying here a moment longer than you had to. "Samuel, will you make the announcement that anyone wishing to be considered to be the new Alpha is to meet in the courtyard in an hour's time?" Samuel was technically in charge until the next Alpha was chosen. He had been sent here by Fenrir to watch over the pack while they decided if Jareth could be left in charge.

"I will. Rachel and I have been staying in the Alpha's house. You are welcome to make your preparations there," Samuel replied. He really meant 'please put on real clothes before your boyfriend kills us all for seeing a single centimeter more of your skin than he deems acceptable'

You nodded and took Loki's hand. "I will see you in an hour's time," you told the room. You turned, grabbed your combat boots from where they'd landed when you'd shifted forms.

"Are you sure I should not just kill them, darling?" Loki asked mournfully, reminding the group at large that you were protected very well from moronic overgrown dogs.

"I'm sure. The sooner I pick one of them, the sooner we can go home to our family," you replied and kissed his cheek.

"Your family is here bitch," the third snarled. You whirled to face him, to face his accusation. "You're the one who turned your back on us, on your duty to the pack. Now you come back here with this... false mate and claim rights to dictate our lives?" He was complaining you weren't married to Loki too, but that wasn't the part that pissed you off at the moment.

"I turned my back on you?" you snarled at him in indignation. "I didn't do my duty? You all have failed in your duty to those weaker than you. You have all failed as dominants. I left to escape blatant physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, which you all turned a blind eye to. My only crime to deserve that abuse, those correction as Ferris like to call them was not being able to give peace to the pack. You all know damn well that a tortured Omega has no peace to share and none of you did anything. I saved my life by leaving this hellhole and now you have the audacity to claim that I turned my back on you?" you growled.

He opened his mouth to speak again, his eyes narrowed in challenge, when you realized his fatal error, and fatal it would be. He had questioned your relationship with Loki. He didn't realize yet that he was a dead man. Loki turned calmly to you, tucked his cloak more firmly around you protectively and kissed your forehead. "One moment, my darling," he told you warmly, but too courteously, too pleasantly. Before you could do anything, Loki had moved from your side and was holding the wolf by the throat against the wall. He didn't even say anything to the terrified wolf, just killed him viciously, splattering his blood all over the walls. He dropped the body to the ground, disgusted.

"You had all been warned," he told the horrified wolves in the room as he returned to you and wrapped an arm around you, tucking you safely against his side. "Allow me to make the warning explicitly clear so no more mistakes are made. Y/N is mine. She is under my protection, under my care, and my love. Official marriage or no. She. Is. Mine," he growled the words at the wolves with such deep malice in his words that you'd never heard before. "I have the power and training to kill you all without breaking a sweat and you all, Samuel and Fenrir excluded obviously, deserve it for your crimes against my lady. The only reason any of you are still breathing is because she believes your actions were due to a corrupt leader and has too big of a heart. I do not and I shall not allow insults upon my lady to go unchallenged. Do I make myself clear?" he demanded of the room at large.

The wolves, dominants all of them, and all the strongest in the pack bowed their heads to him and muttered "Yes, sir," like obedient puppies.

You leaned up to kiss his cheek. "Come along, love, let's let them get this mess cleaned up. We'll see them and the others who wish to petition to be Alpha in an hour," you told him warmly. Dominance challenges and displays of violence had been your life for 18 years. His display didn't affect you.

"As you wish, darling," he replied and kissed the top of your head. His arm still around you, he walked out of the room with you. There was an audible sigh of relief from the occupants of the conference room as the tension and danger left the room. Loki stopped you a few steps outside of the room. He gestured to your outfit. "Allow me, little wolf," you nodded and he kissed your forehead. You sneezed as his magic shimmered around you and you were dressed again in your outfit from earlier, including all of your daggers.

"Thank you," you told him warmly and kissed him.

"Are you sure you would not like for me to just kill them for you?" he asked again.

"Not yet. They get a chance," you reminded him. He sighed and pouted.

"Very well," he grumbled.

"C'mon, we have an hour. Let me show you around." He didn't want to see any more of this place than he had to, and you didn't want to really show him either, but he needed to see the hell you grew up in.

So you gave him the tour of the compound, showed him the cafeteria, the school which was empty at this time of day, training room, the bachelorette wing where the unwed females lived, and finally stopped in front of an apartment. You hesitated, staring at the familiar door. "What's in here, love?" Loki asked softly. His anger and temper had been rising throughout the tour. He couldn't believe that anyone had been raised here and he hated that you had.

"The closest thing I had to home," you finally said and raised a hand to knock on the door. You waited, fidgeting with nerves for the door to open. You relaxed and actually smiled when Dan opened the door.

"Y/N!" he exclaimed and wrapped you in a hug. Loki stiffened behind you, but didn't kill your brother on sight. "Come in! I heard you were back! Samuel told us you came for the Choosing. Hey, Loki!" he called over your shoulder. "Come in! You're looking a lot better than last time I saw you. Knew sis could fix you up," he grinned. Loki actually gave him a small smile, the first to anyone besides you since he'd been here.

You walked into your old home with Dan and realized how...small it was. You hadn't noticed compared to a dorm room, but the apartment was tiny, dingy, old. Ethan came running in from their shared room and nearly tackled you in a hug. You grinned and returned the hug. "I missed you," you told him. "You grew," you accused. He laughed.

"It's been four years, sis, of course I did," he teased.

"I'm sorry I had to leave, kiddo,"

He growled. "I'm not a kid anymore." You rolled your eyes.

"Sure you're not,"

"Dan said you had to leave, but..." his eyes were sad, haunted. You pulled him to you in a hug.

"I did have to leave. Jareth was just going to keep hurting me if I didn't," you told him softly.

He nodded against your shoulder. "That's what Dan said. Mom... wasn't as nice,"

"She kept your room the way you left it," Dan said, drawing your attention away from Ethan and painful memories. "She kept insisting you'd be back. If there's anything you want to take with you..."

"You're not staying?" Ethan asked.

You shook your head and pointed to the Avengers magazine on the coffee table. "You know I'm working with the Avengers. Loki and I can't live here. We have a lot of things to do on the outside. And work for Fenrir too," you told him. Plus, you couldn't live in this hellhole again, but you wouldn't tell Ethan that. For all that he was a teen now, he was still your kid brother and didn't need to know about that. "So you can have my room," you told him. He jumped for joy at that. You gave him a small smile and took Loki's hand, leading him to your old room.

"You lived here?" Loki asked, horrified still. You nodded. The room was smaller than your dorm room, the tiny window was barred, the walls undecorated gray concrete. The room was nearly barren besides the small bed and the belongings you'd left behind in your haste to leave.

"Yep, this was home," you told him sadly, looking around the small sad room that had been your refuge.

"Never again," he snarled, pulling you into his arms and holding you too tightly. "Never," he growled. "Whatever it takes, whatever I have to do, you are never living like this ever again," he swore, anger and sorrow in his tone.

"I won't ever have to," you reminded him. "I'll have earned my degree in a couple months. I have a good job with Stark Industries, a place in the Avengers, I have a place to live, and more importantly, family and home," you reminded him. He relaxed and kissed the top of your head. He finally let you go and you gathered up a few belongings you'd had to leave behind the night you left, digging under your bed for trinkets and a couple old well-loved books. You'd chosen clothes over anything sentimental the night you left. You packed a small bag of sentimental things you'd had to leave behind. "Would you do me a favor?" you asked softly, hesitantly. He inclined his head. You handed him the bag. "Mind sending that home for me?" you didn't want to carry it around the compound, didn't want anything to happen to it.

"Of course, love," he replied and the bag vanished. You sighed in relief.

"Thank you." You hated asking him to use magic on your behalf and avoided it as much as possible. The fact that you had told him how much it had meant to you. You knew he appreciated that you didn't use him for his abilities. "That's everything in here," you took his hand and dragged him from the room before he could blow it up out of anger that you'd lived here. "We need to get going to the Choosing," you told Dan and Ethan when you left your room.

"We'll see you there," Dan replied. You hugged them again, they shook hands with Loki, and you and Loki left the tiny apartment. You opened the door to leave the apartment anyway, and saw your mom about to open the door to come in. You stepped back into the living room, thinking optimistically that she'd want to see you.

She looked shocked for an instant before she glared at you. "You dare show your face here after what you did?" she demanded, stepping into the room after you. She slapped you hard across the face. "You ruined all of our chances!" she shrieked. Loki swept between you and grabbed her wrist when she raised her hand to slap you again.

"You get one pass because you're Y/N's mother," he snarled at her, squeezing her wrist so the muscles creaked in protest and she cried out. "And that is only because she cares. You have never cared for her beyond using her as a pawn for your own schemes. You ignored her pain for years and I will not forgive you for that. She killed Jareth, yes, and he deserved it many times over. If you harm her in any way, shape, or form, again, I will kill you despite the fact that you are her mother. Are we clear?" he growled. She whimpered a protest. His hand squeezed on her wrist and you heard the bones shatter. Loki moved, turning so she was in the room and you were backed through the door. He pushed your mom toward Dan. "Do not let me catch sight of her again," he told Dan, who nodded his agreement.

Loki swept you both through the door in the next instant. He placed a cold hand against your cheek. "Are you alright?" he asked, using a touch of power to heal the bruise before it could even form.

"I'm fine," you told him with tears in your eyes. He snarled at your tears and took a step back toward the apartment to kill your mom. "Leave her be, Lo. She's never going to change and I never have to see her again after today." He growled, but kissed your forehead.

"This is her only pass, love," he told you softly.

"I understand that. I'm sure Dan will press that information upon her too. We'll never see her again," you reassured him. He nodded and you took his hand to finish the tour. You showed him the Alpha's house and Rachel greeted you both warmly. The Alpha's house was basically a mansion in the middle of the compound, at the edge of the outdoor training yard/park that was in the middle of the compound, surrounded like the prison-like building. Loki's temper was on edge again that the Alpha lived here while the pack was in the prison.

"Children, come along. The dominates are going to be playing out here soon," the pack nanny called across the park. You grinned and stepped away from the Alpha's house into the park proper and howled a greeting to the pups.

They howled back and ran over to you, swarming you and Loki in happy wagging tails. Some of them had been running in human form. "Mega! Omega!" they called happily. Most were boys of course, but there were a couple of girls in this puppy pack. You grinned and petted and greeted all of the puppies. Loki was right there beside you, happy around the children.

One of the guard wolves announced the hour with a howl. Your time was up. "Puppies, go with Nanny now. We have to play with the dominates," you told them kindly, but firmly. There were sad puppy noises, but they obeyed and ran over to the nanny. You waved to her and went to go face the applicants for the position of Alpha. You kept your hand in Loki's. His temper was too volatile right now to be left to his own devices.

You saw the assembled men waiting for you. Fenrir, Samuel, and most of the pack were there as well. They wanted to see who would be chosen for the new Alpha. Your brothers were there too, though thankfully no sign of your mom. You stepped up onto the platform set up for outdoor meetings. Loki followed, a threatening dominant presence. Plus you still weren't letting him go to slaughter all of the wolves. The crowd in front of you silence at once. "You all know me. I am Y/N, Omega, formerly of this pack, now of the Alpha pack. Samuel has told you the tale, leading to why I'm standing in front of you on this day, but I retell it now. Hear the truth in my words. Jareth challenged me to a dominance battle. I won the challenge. Afterward, he attacked my mate in wolf form, and infected him against his will. As was my duty and right, I killed him for breaking our laws. Our laws are clear now. Either I must take up the mantle of Alpha myself, or choose someone worthy to rule the pack," there were murmurs, surprise that a tiny Omega had won a dominance challenge against an Alpha, surprise he had even been dumb enough to challenge when it wouldn't benefit him, surprise that you had killed him for hurting your mate. There were more whispers about old myths of the Omega's rage. You raised a hand to silence them. "Would any who wish to be considered for the position of Alpha of this pack, please step forward now?"

The men who had been in the conference room all stepped forward (besides the one Loki had killed of course), a couple other ambitions young men, and... Dan. You hadn't expected Dan to submit himself for consideration, he wasn't one of the most dominates, but... that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. You glanced over at Samuel, who nodded. Your decision was made, but you had to pretend to give them a fair shot. You leapt lightly down from the stage, waving to Loki to wait up there for you, and went to question each man on his motivations, intentions with the pack.

You stepped back to the stage when you had finished. Loki reached a hand down and lifted you easily back up onto the stage. You kissed his cheek in thanks. "My decision is made," you announced to the crowd. "The next Alpha will be under the guidance of Samuel and his mate Rachel, as they have agreed to remain here until he is trained and ready to rule on his own. He wants to lead the pack into a new era that aligns with Fenrir's plans and goals for the wolves and is the best man for the job, caring not only for the pack as a whole and power, but also for her people. With that said, my decision is that the next Alpha is Daniel," you gestured to your shocked brother.

There were some surprised whispers, but the proper applause came. You leapt lightly from the stage again to hug Dan. "Congratulations," you told him.

"Just because I'm your brother?" he asked softly so the others wouldn't hear.

"You heard my speech. It's because you're the best man for the job. Do me one favor, though. Move Ethan into the Alpha's house with you and not mom,"

"Done," he told you firmly.

You kissed his cheek. "Then my work here is done." You hugged Ethan, Samuel, Fenrir, and Rachel goodbye. Loki said his goodbyes as well and actually congratulated your brother. You took his hand to leave and escape this place for good.

"I'll invite you home once we get this place in proper order!" Dan called after you. You waved in reply.

"So, where would you like to get ice cream from?" you asked Loki after you'd climbed back in Tony's car.

"The little place near the tower," he replied automatically. You grinned and drove straight there. That shop knew you both and were no longer surprised when Loki turned Jotun while he ate his ice cream. They were polite and didn't pressure you because you were famous. You stopped in front of the ice cream place and told the car to drive itself home. You could walk back to the tower from here.

"The usual dearies?" the lady behind the counter asked when you walked in.

"How about the Bad Day Special instead?" you asked as you stepped up to the counter with the still emotionally compromised Loki. He kept a step back, his arm wrapped around you to reassure himself that you were ok.

"Coming right up. Go find a table. I'll bring it over to you," the lady told you kindly. She would add it to your tab. You smiled, thanked her, and took Loki's hand to lead him to your usual table. You frequented this place a lot.

"Calm down, Lo. The pack business is over. We never have to go back there again," you reminded him once you were both seated.

"You were raised in a prison worse than the dungeons on Asgard, you were insulted by those...men, and your mother hit you, and you expect me to be calm?" he growled, frustrated, angry, sorrowed by your life before you'd escaped.

"Yes, I was raised there. Yes it was awful. I ran away from that life. The man who insulted me is very much dead. I'll never see the woman who birthed me again," even you growled at that.

"When I take you to Asgard, I'm sure Mother will adopt you as her own," Loki said, a fond smile appearing when he thought of Frigga. "It's what she does. She's gentle and kind and loves everyone, and she will love you, my darling,"

"I'd love to meet her someday," you told him warmly. "I love my life now. I love every minute that I get to spend with you. I love my work, I love the team and the weird, crazy family we've built together. I love my life, but more importantly, I love you," you told him firmly. He smiled truly then, relaxing since you were properly happy, safe, and out of that hell.

He was still smiling when the ice cream lady brought you two overflowing bowls of the chocolatyest ice cream she had. Loki turned Jotun the second the ice cream touched his tongue, but no one commented on it. It embarrassed him, but if no one said anything, he could ignore it. Plus he loved ice cream, desserts in general, but most especially ice cream.

"I love you as well, little wolf."