Chapter Text
Will doesn't remember much of what happened at Muskrat Farm, he knows that Mason intended to have his face removed and then wear it while eating Hannibal. He knows that Hannibal got free and saved him but he doesn't know what happened next. He doesn't remember Hannibal bringing him home to Wolf Trap. He doesn't remember Hannibal taking care of him, cleaning and bandaging his wounds, putting him into bed and then watching over him. He remembers waking up and being in heat - he had to stop taking his suppressants when he chased Hannibal to Florence, no doctor would give him a long enough supply. He remembers flashes of whining and whimpering and purring. But his heat didn't last very long, a day at most, it couldn't have been a true heat, just stress induced.
He remembers clearly telling Hannibal, "I miss my dogs. I'm not going to miss you. I'm not going to find you. I'm not going to look for you. I don't want to know where you are or what you do. I don't want to think about you anymore."
He remembers the pain that crossed Hannibal's expression and he remembers Jack showing up. He remembers Hannibal kneeling in the snow, surrendering. But most of all he remembers the words Hannibal spoke, "I want you to know exactly where I am. That way, you can always find me."
He doesn't want to know where Hannibal is, he will never try to find him - Will Graham wants nothing to do with Hannibal Lecter, not anymore.
--
Will packs up his clothes and other essential items - canned ready-to-eat food for himself, bottles of water and instant coffee mix. He packs the dogs beds, bowls, blankets and toys and then despite wanting to give them fresh food, he grabs the couple bags of dry kibble he keeps on hand just in-case and puts it into the backseat of his car. There are very few items in his home that he wants to bring with him; he leaves all things related to creating lures - he doesn't need to be a fisherman any longer. He loads the things he's bringing into the trunk of his car and immediately regrets not having something bigger - it doesn't all fit and so he dumps some of his own things, leaving them inside the Wolf Trap home.
He drives to a car lot, makes a trade, fills out paperwork and leaves with a brand new Yukon XL. He lays all the seats down for maximum space, transfers all of his belongings into the back and heads to the kennel where his dogs are being housed.
It's a tight fit, Winston and Buster end up in the front seat with him, but eventually all seven dogs are inside the car. He knows how dangerous it is to drive without them harnessed so he tries his best to get them all hooked up at least by their leashes. They're all so excited to see him, it takes a while for him to get them calmed down and settled into the car. They've got a long drive ahead of them - roughly thirty two hours not including stops for food and bathroom breaks. But Will is determined to get as far from Wolf Trap as he can. He'll be forever grateful to his daddy for buying a cabin in the middle of nowhere in Montana.
Daddy updated the cabin, putting in air-conditioning and heating - Will always wondered why he bothered when the cabin was only used for fishing trips when Will was young, but he's not about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Besides, he doesn't intend on fishing there anymore.
He'll be away from Hannibal, away from all the memories. It'll just be him, his dogs, fresh air and the mountains around him.
--
It takes Will four days, having to stop more than he would like; lots of bathroom breaks and leg stretches for restless dogs. Will consumes ridiculous amounts of caffeine and takes short naps in the driver's seat at rest stations - he considered motels but he didn't want to get too comfortable and take even longer.
Finally they pull up to the cabin late at night on the fourth day, he's immediately glad he had the sense to call and make sure the water and electricity were turned back on before arriving - he's not sure he'd have made it through the night without the central heating, he is just too exhausted to stand out front and chop wood for the fireplace.
He carries his belongings inside, places the dog beds wherever they fit, he fills their bowls with food and water before bringing them inside. Once all seven of his pack are inside, he locks the door, pops the top off of a can of cheap chicken noodle soup and proceeds to eat it cold, straight from the can. Once he's done and his belly stops growling he collapses onto the dusty sofa and passes out.
--
It doesn't take long for Will to meet his new neighbor; three days after settling in he lets the dogs out in the morning, they're slowly acclimating to their new surroundings. He's still working on teaching them their new boundaries and how to be careful and not chase every small creature they see scurry by.
Ellie, Zoe, Max, Winston, Jack and even Harley are doing exceptionally well. Buster, however, keeps running off. He's always been a curious boy. He chased after Randall Tier and got hurt because of it, but that hasn't stopped him and so when he darts off after something. Will tells the rest of the pack to stay and trusts they will before he takes off running after Buster through the thick snow. The terrier is quick but easy to track through the snow and Will catches up to him rather fast, and what he thought was a rabbit that Buster had been trying to catch in-fact is not a rabbit, but a small cowering cream colored Frenchie.
"Buster, stop." He commands, followed by a sharp whistle. Buster barks once and stops in place - finally he listens. Will steps closer to the Frenchie, holds his hand out for the dog to smell. "Hey, buddy. Buster was just trying to play, you don't have to be scared."
The dog cautiously sniffs at Will's hand, finally allowing him to pet the dog's head. He checks the dog's collar for a tag, it says his name is Rusty and that he lives in the cabin next door. He picks the dog up and walks back towards his own house, hoping the dogs have actually listened to him. Will checks that Buster is following him - thankfully he is.
Upon reaching his own cabin, all six of his dogs that he left behind are lounging on his front porch, waiting for him. He ushers them inside, leaving his boots by the door. He carries the Frenchie with him and lets him drink some water out of a bowl in the bathroom - away from the rest of the dogs to not distress him even more. He shrugs off his thick winter coat and hangs it on the back of the bathroom door. Will isn't exactly sure why he's freshening up to meet the neighbor and return their dog, but he is. He splashes his face with water, and runs his wet hands through his hair. He refreshes his deodorant and applies cologne - the bottle with the ship on it as a fuck you to Hannibal.
Once the dog has finished drinking, Will picks him up, cleans up and dries his paws from running through the snow. Will pulls his coat back on, carries the dog with him and puts his boots back on - his pack swarms him trying to see the new dog. "Lay down." He tells them before walking out the door, he doesn't bother locking it behind him.
The walk to his neighbor's cabin isn't overly long, but the heavy snow on the ground makes it difficult and he considers going back and driving but decides it's not worth wasting the gas.
He knocks on the door and waits. The door opens and there is a large surly man standing there staring at him. He has a mustache and stubble, grey hair, and he's big, like broad and tall and the scent of alpha hits Will so hard he almost falls down.
"Why do you have my dog?" The man's voice is gruff and Will stands there frozen for far longer than he should be.
But finally he says, "He must've wandered off, my dog, Buster, chased him when he came near my cabin."
"Your dog chased him?"
"Yeah, I stopped him before he could accidently hurt Rusty. He's not a particularly big dog, but Rusty is pretty small and Buster's used to playing with my bigger dogs."
"Thanks for returning him." The man takes Rusty from Will's arms.
"Did you uh-" The door is closed in Will's face before he can even find out the man's name.
Rude, he thinks. The man was incredibly rude.
Will trudges back through the snow to his cabin, he kicks his boots off inside the door, drops his cost on to the armchair and heads for bed. It's barely noon but he's not in the mood to do anything and the dogs don't need to be fed again til dinner time.
--
The next time Will runs into his neighbor it's maybe a week later, he's on his way back from going into town for groceries, he hits a patch of ice and skids off the road, he's fine and the car is fine, other than the flat tire he ends up with. He's trying to change it, freezing his ass off, snow falling around him quickly when someone pulls up to help.
It's his neighbor, he wants to tell him to leave, that he can handle it, but something stops him.
"Get into my car and get warmed up. I'll change the tire."
"I can change it, I'm not some dainty omega that can't take care of himself."
"You're freezing, get in my car and I'll change it." He repeats.
Will is in no mood to argue, he's tired and hasn't felt good all week, and he is cold. Will huffs and rolls his eyes and climbs into the man's car - it's warm and comfortable, but the scent of alpha is overwhelming. He breathes in through his mouth and out of his nose, trying not to inhale the scent, but instead he can taste it on his tongue. He can feel the prickles of heat beneath his skin the longer he sits in the warm car waiting for the man to change his damned tire. His belly aches, his cock throbs and slick begins to gather wetly between his cheeks.
He hopes the man hurries up, he needs to get home before he does something completely unlike him and beg the strange alpha to mount him.
Will begins to breathe deeply through his nose, inhaling the alpha scent, letting himself be affected by it - he doesn't remember the last time he'd let himself scent an alpha so fully without suppressants. He has an appointment at the local clinic for next month, it was the soonest they could get him in. He won't get pregnant, he's not in heat, preheat at best.
Maybe he's making a mistake, he doesn't even know the man's name, but the desire to be taken by the alpha is so intense. Maybe he should just go home and jerk off, maybe dig out one of the knotted toys he'd shoved into the bag with his clothes; he hasn't used one in a very long time but something told him he might need it.
The car door opens, a gust of sharply cold air comes with it. "Tire's all fixed."
"Thank you." Will murmurs.
"Better get on home, snow storm's moving in fast."
"I can handle the snow."
The alpha's nose twitches and Will wonders if the scent of his slick is the cause. "We're going the same way, I'll follow you to be sure."
"Guess I can't stop you."
"No, little omega, you can't."
"Don't call me little omega." Will snarls.
"Calm down, I didn't mean it in a bad way."
"Little omega is condescending." Will heard it often when he was in high school and then college from rude alpha's who thought they were better than everyone.
"Sorry, sweetheart. Don't know your name, don't know what else to call you."
Will pushes his way past the alpha, ignoring his thrumming arousal, "You don't need to know my name." Will gets into his car, turns the key and drives off. He doesn't care if the alpha has gotten in his car and is following him; they're going in the same direction, they're neighbors for fucks sake, Will isn't going to be able to escape him.
When he gets home, he grabs the bags from the back of the car, stomps up the steps, unlocks the door and slams it behind him. He leaves his boots by the door and throws his coat towards the chair - it hits the floor - he puts the groceries away and fills the dogs bowls. He should let them outside, let them run for a while but it's cold and snowing harder than before and he's in no mood to chase after Buster again.
He strips out of his jeans and flannel shirt. He walks to his bed in just a white t-shirt, socks and boxers, he should change them, because despite his anger, he's still leaking. He's still horny, he still wants to be knotted but he barely has the energy left to even jerk off.
Will slips his hand beneath his boxers and manages a dozen or so half-hearted strokes before he comes far too quickly and falls asleep.