Chapter Text
Adora had never felt like this before.
Her skin felt hot and clammy.
Everything suddenly smelled 100x stronger.
Her whole body ached with need.
Need for what? Adora didn't know.
She groaned and rolled over in bed, her arm probing around for Catra who usually lay next to her, but she found nothing. Adora sat up and looked around blearily, a stab of pain wracked Adora's body as she sat up and she fell back to the bed with a whimper.
Something was very wrong with her, maybe a virus? A parasite? But didn't your nose get stuffy when you were sick? Not stronger. Unless it was something she picked up in space.
Adora pressed the palms of her hands to her eyes and groaned as another shudder of painful need wracked through her.
Just her luck, only she would manage to pick up a space parasite or virus or whatever this was, that's what she got for jumping around in an asteroid field with no helmet as She-Ra.
Adora carefully sat up again and fixed her gaze on the door. If she was sick, she had to tell someone, this wasn't like the Horde. Surely Bow would know what to do at least. She took a weary step toward the door and stumbled, she caught herself on the frame. Adora took another deep breath and pushed the door open. Brightmoon’s hallways had always been, well, bright, but as she pushed the door open she had to close her eyes against the searing light assaulting her eyes. As she pulled back from the door, she spied Catra’s discarded jacket from the ball the previous night. Even from here, Adora could smell the waves of pure Catra rolling off the jacket and she grabbed it, slipping it on over her sleep shorts and tank top. It felt right.
Come on, she could do this. Adora squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath of Catra’s jacket. She was She-Ra for crying out loud.
She-Ra or not, Adora still had to lean against the wall as she shuffled down the hall. Everything stunk like it had been dipped in the perfume of itself a hundred times over and Adora found herself edging away from the flowers in the windows more than once. A new smell hit her nose like a tidal wave and she pressed herself against the wall. The smell was vile, it was like nothing she ever smelled before, it surrounded her and she gagged against it. Closing her eyes made it worse, it felt like she was suffocating. Adora opened her eyes just in time to see a guard pass by.
The guard wrinkled her nose as she walked, she stole a confused glance in Adora’s direction before shaking her head and continuing to walk down the hall. As the guard disappeared, the smell faded and Adora could breathe again, her head was feeling more cloudy by the minute and she grabbed the collar of Catra’s jacket and inhaled deeply. It smelled like smoke, but the good kind from a fire, and it smelled like a meadow in the spring. The scent mixed with the sweet smells of Brightmoon’s shampoo and the flowery body wash that Adora herself used. The idea of her and Catra’s scents mixing sent another shudder through her, the shudder centralized at her core and she felt a wave of wetness flood her underwear under her sleep shorts.
Oh.
Adora shook her head free of the scent and tried to ignore the throbbing between her legs as she walked. Bow would know what to do. She hoped.
Adora leaned against the door to the War Room. Why did all the doors have to be pull? The cool material of the door felt nice against her forehead though, maybe she could just stay here for a little while-Just as the thought crossed her mind, the door was pushed open from the other side, sending her crumpling to the floor. Oh wow, the tile felt even colder, that was nice. Adora’s whole body felt red hot, but the tile was soothing. Catra’s jacket draped around her shoulders smelled nice too, it almost overpowered the new scent hovering over her.
“Adora?” Bow’s voice. Oh good, she found Bow. She cracked her eyes open and looked up at him. Bow sure had gotten tall, or maybe it was because she was still laying on the floor where she had landed.
“Hey, Bow.” Adora drawled.
“Adora what are yo-” Bow stopped mid-sentence with a gasp.
“I think-” Adora shuddered, forcing herself to her feet. “I think I’m sick.”
Adora stumbled and fell forward, but Bow caught her. Bow smelled nice too, but he smelled different than Catra’s jacket, he smelled like worn leather and a hint of machine oil, something about his scent said safe, refuge. Adora closed her eyes and leaned against him, unconsciously rubbing her face against his wrist as he raised his hand to her forehead to check her temperature. His scent was stronger there.
“Sick?” Bow questioned. He pushed her away at arm’s length, but still offering his wrist for her to rub against. “Adora, how much do you know about designations?” His words were apprehensive, and through her haze, Adora recognized a new tang in his scent. Worry.
“Designations?” She stopped rubbing against his wrist and shook her head, both in denial and to try and clear the haze surrounding her brain. It partly worked.
“Yes,” Bow rubbed the back of his neck, withdrawing his wrist from nuzzling range and she unconsciously whimpered at the loss. “Like, alphas, omegas…”
Adora knew vague stuff about that, the Horde said that they were above such primal urges like Alphas and Omegas, as all Horde cadets were betas. Of course, that was wrong, most of what the Horde said was, after all. Alphas and Omegas weren’t slaves to their anatomy, they were just people. Adora remembered vaguely that Bow was an Omega, and Glimmer was an Alpha and that they were mated with a mark on their necks, which happened during Bow’s last heat. Heats were a period in which the Omega was flushed and needy, they needed an Alpha to help by…
Oh no.
Adora was flushed. Adora was needy. Adora needed Catra.
“But…” Adora lolled her head against Bow’s chest. “I’m a beta…”
Bow offered his wrist back up for her to nuzzle against and she gladly did without even thinking.
“Adora, back in the Horde, did you take any pills or anything?” He asked. “This is important, please try to remember.”
“Uhhh,” Adora wracked her brain. Thankfully, it felt less hazy now, Bow’s scent was calming. “Yeah, we had to take vitamins with our ration bars, they said it was for the stuff the bars didn’t provide.”
“Those were suppressants, Adora.” Bow said gravely.
“But…” Adora furrowed her brow. “I left the Horde two years ago…”
Adora’s brain was starting to feel hazy again. Bow helped her into the War Room, where she was pushed into a chair. Bow crouched down in front of her and took her hand, rubbing their wrists together.
“Adora, I need you to focus,” Bow insisted. “Listen, sometimes omegas start their heats only when they feel safe, and since the war is finally over, I think your body finally relaxed enough to start.”
“But…” Adora furrowed her brow again. “I’m a beta…”
“No, Adora,” Bow sighed. “You’re an omega like I am.”
“Bow!” Glimmer burst into the War Room in a flurry of sparkling magic that made Adora squint. “Have you seen Adora, I heard one of the guards say that they saw her acting weird in the hallway and I’m worried about her-”
Glimmer spotted them and rushed over, embracing them in her arms. Glimmer smelled like cotton candy and the Whispering Woods at night, distinctly magical, but she also smelled like worn leather and machine oil. The more Adora smelled of Glimmer, the more she recognized how her and Bow’s scents mixed together. The mixture smelled nice, and she rubbed her face against Glimmer’s hand on her shoulder, trying to get to her wrist. Something inside her screamed at her to mix her scent with theirs, they were her family, and they needed to smell like it too.
“Oh good, you foun-” Glimmer’s eyes went wide and she stepped back.
“Glimmer,” Bow said carefully. “Adora is going into her first heat.”
“I can smell that, Bow.” Glimmer stepped back toward them and smelled cautiously. “But, I thought Adora was a beta.”
“I thought so too…” Adora shuddered as another wave of pain hit her (good to know that was back.) and went back to rubbing her face against Bow’s wrist, which he had offered up to her.
“Should I leave?” Glimmer stepped back again. “I mean, it’s probably not good for me to be around her, right?”
“No!” Adora cried out. Her own voice shocked her, she sounded so desperate. But she needed to scent Glimmer. Everyone needed to know that Glimmer was her family. The need ached in a different way than when she had smelled Catra’s jacket. When she smelled Catra’s jacket, it was pulsing arousal that made more slick leak from her, but scenting Bow was different, it was like a pull that made her feel safe and protected.
Pack. Her brain supplied. It was her pack bond, she remembered Bow himself mentioning something like this with him and his Dads. “Please, Glimmer...Stay.”
Glimmer stepped back into their space apprehensively and Adora sighed with relief as Glimmer offered up her wrist and Adora took to the task of nuzzling against it with gusto. She vaguely remembered that the scent glands were located on the wrists and the necks, which explained why she had to rub against them.
“Where’s Catra?” Glimmer whispered. At the mention of Catra, Adora stopped and pulled back, smelling the scent of Catra lingering on her jacket.
“Come on, Adora,” Bow insistently pressed his wrist against Adora’s face to distract her. “Glimmer, I really don’t think we should mention...You know who right now, the last thing we need is for Adora’s heat to fully trigger.” He whispered back.
Adora barely registered their words, she was conflicted between smelling the smoky scent of Catra that made her tremble with need and more slick flood into her already ruined underwear, or continue marking Glimmer, who still didn’t smell anything like her. She mewled in frustration and went back to nuzzling against Glimmer’s wrist, which had been offered back up to her.
“-Late for that,” Glimmer’s voice cut back in. “We should get her back to her room, the last thing we want is for her heat to fully trigger here.”
The idea of her nice bed made Adora smile. Her bed smelled like her and Catra. The haze in her brain was getting worse and the pulsing need was coming back as she thought of her girlfriend. Catra wasn’t here, where was Catra? Adora shuddered with pain again, she vaguely registered that she had been teleported back to her room and the overwhelming scent of Catra reminded Adora of her absence.
“Where’s Catra?” She looked up at Bow who was carefully putting her down on her bed.
“Catra is coming,” Bow winced at his poor choice of words, Glimmer lightly hit his arm. “She went to Thaymor today, remember?”
Adora did kind of remember Catra saying something about going to Thaymor yesterday. But that didn’t make sense.
“But…” Adora sniffled despite herself. “Why would she leave?”
“Oh,” Glimmer drew in a breath through her teeth and sat next to Adora on the bed. “Catra probably didn’t know you would be like this today…”
The thought jarred Adora and she shirked back.
“Does she...Not like omegas?” Tears threatened to fall from Adora’s eyes. Catra hated her, just like...Just like before and she couldn’t even…
“No!” Bow sat down on the other side of Adora and pulled her into an embrace. “I’m sure an alpha like Catra loves omegas.”
Blearily, Adora buried her face in Bow’s neck, inhaling his comforting scent. It was stronger here than his wrist, and more mixed with Glimmer’s.
“She likes other omegas?” Adora asked. She knew her thought was stupid, but she couldn’t stop the jealousy growing in her chest.
“No!” Glimmer insisted. She joined the embrace and let Adora sink into the crux of their two necks with a sigh of relief. Finally, Adora’s scent was mixing into theirs, as it should be. They were her pack, and everyone needed to know. “Catra only has eyes for you, Adora, I promise.”
Deep down, the rational part of Adora’s mind knew that. But the reassurance felt nice.
Finally, Adora’s breathing evened out and she pulled back, examining the area around her for the first time. Their nest was in disarray. Nest. That was a new word, but Adora liked it, it said Home.
“Off.” She insisted, pushing Bow and Glimmer off of the bed unceremoniously.
“He-!” Glimmer protested but Bow put his hand up.
“Glimmer, she’s nesting!” He cooed. “It’s so cute…”
Bow was right, Adora was nesting. And she needed to make the nest right for her pack, they deserved the best and she was determined to give them the best nest they’d ever seen.
She started by pushing all the blankets to the edges and nudging the pillows to the center, she took off Catra’s jacket and draped it over the edge of the nest for her head to rest on after she was done. She looked over the edge of the bed at Glimmer and Bow who looked back with kind smiles.
She needed pieces of all her pack, otherwise, it wouldn’t be right. Adora’s eyes zeroed in Bow’s newly acquired cape as well as Glimmer’s.
“Adora!” Bow whined, clutching it. “I just got it, can’t yo-”
“Bow, give her the cape.” Glimmer argued. She had already taken off hers and was offering it to Adora, Bow reluctantly followed suit. Adora snatched them up with a mewl of delight. She laid the capes on either side of Catra’s jacket and fell against them with another happy whine.
Her nest was almost done, but her pack was still missing. Adora sat up and beckoned them forward.
“Uh!” Bow made a noise of surprise as Adora pulled him in the nest behind her. Good, that was a good spot for him...Now, where was...
She looked around and locked eyes with Glimmer.
“Okay, okay,” Glimmer shed her boots and let Adora situate her on the other side.
Adora sighed in relief as she lay between them. She buried her face in Glimmer’s neck. Glimmer didn’t smell nearly enough like Adora for her taste, but as she nuzzled into the cotton candy scent of her friend’s neck she finally felt their scents start to mix and her brain start to calm down into peaceful sleep, surrounded by her pack’s scents that were mingling with hers beautifully.