Chapter Text
Red and blue lights flashed brightly behind Peter as he looked in the rearview mirror. He had both hands tightly wrapped around the steering wheel, knuckles white from the strain, teeth clenched so tightly his jaw was already starting to feel sore. Fantastic. Fucking fantastic. He had just had one of the most infuriating dinners of his entire life with his dumb alpha sister and now he’s going to get a lecture from an even dumber alpha cop about how being out this late as an omega was dangerous and unproper. Peter wanted to rip the steering wheel off and chuck it out the window in his frustration.
At 35 years old, Peter was still unmated and well past his “prime” as an omega, something just about every alpha and too many omegas told him these days. Unsolicited he should add. Peter never wanted to mate. He was very happy with his successful, well-established career as a prestigious editor. He was able to work mainly from his home in Arietta, New York in his dream home by Ferris Lake, leading to peaceful days ripping apart people’s writing. His sister had always been the loudest in her opinions of his unmated status, and after his birthday back in late October, this past month had been a nightmare. He knew that Talia meant well. She loved him and wanted him to be happy. As an alpha herself, she always preached how her omega had found true happiness in mated life, and of course Simon always sat there and nodded along, obediently agreeing with his alpha.
It always made Peter want to hit his head on the table.
Or scream.
Or both.
Which is what he did this evening when Talia had practically forced him to attend family dinner but had conveniently forgotten to mention that she had invited Deucalion along as well. Deuc had been shamelessly pursuing Peter for years now, never listening to his clear refusals and always, always insisting that he knew best. He always told Peter that Peter would change his mind, he’d come running to Deuc the minute he realized that he was never meant to have a career, that what he really wanted was a litter of pups to care for at home.
Peter had very fond memories of the broken nose he had given Deuc that night, still remembering the satisfying crunch that stopped Deuc’s sexist speech in its track
But Talia was even worse at taking hints than Deuc, so that was how Peter found himself sitting at dinner, listening to the two idiot alphas talk about Peter like he wasn’t even there, trying to plan a future he did not want to be a part of. This evening had been particularly infuriating, as Talia had officially decided that she would no longer be signing off for Peter to buy both his suppressants and his birth control. Despite being well into adulthood, Peter still needed a familial Alpha or mate’s signature to purchase them from the pharmacy, even if he had a prescription. In the past, Talia had no problem doing so, but she seemed to think that if she took away that crutch, Peter would suddenly decide to mate with Deuc.
He had left halfway through dinner, not being able to stand anymore of that evening, vowing to never return if his sister wanted to act like that.
A knock on the window made Peter jump so hard he almost hit his head on the roof of the car. He hadn’t realized that he had zoned out that intensely, but apparently, he had. He rolled down his window, getting a glimpse of the black uniform signifying that he had been pulled over by someone from the Hamilton County’s Sheriff Department. A closer look at the uniform showed that he hadn’t been pulled over by a deputy, but, in fact, Peter had been pulled over by THE Sheriff.
Even better.
Peter put on his best charming smile, getting ready to use every advantage he had as an Omega over an Alpha, but found himself hesitating when actually faced with the Alpha. Sheriff John Stilinski had a reputation for being relatively progressive, something that gained the man just as many enemies as it did supporters. Peter himself had always admired the mans values, especially the freedom he gave his own Omega son, who had gained a little bit of a reputation for being an adventurous, mouthy, extremely unconventional Omega, one who his Alpha father adored and had gone to bat for more than once (particularly that time said son found a dead body in the middle of the woods, in the middle of the night, with his Alpha friend. Peter remembers those rumors quite well).
The Sheriff was also a very attractive man. He was older than Peter with sandy blonde hair that seemed to have just started greying, only a few silver flecks through the strands. He had pale blue eyes, which did not lack in warmth despite the light color. The Alpha was also well muscled, his years in the Army, as a Deputy, and then finally his current position as Sheriff contributing to his physique, proving that the man was no slacker and took his positions seriously. Peter had actually never interacted with the man, had only seen him around town passingly, his only knowledge of the man based on his campaign promises and rumors throughout town.
“License and registration, please,” the Sheriff requested firmly in his deep voice, tone still kind though.
“Oh, of course,” Peter responded, grabbing the papers from his glove box and wallet. The Sheriff took both, using his flashlight to look at both.
“Heading home, Mr. Hale?” The Sheriff asked, still looking at Peter’s license.
“Yessir,” Peter muttered.
He couldn’t seem to find the effort to charm the Sheriff, despite being very successful with several of the man’s deputies. Getting pulled over was just the icing on the cake of what this evening was. Despite the strong front he normally wore and the scathing words he left Talia with, the lack of support of his choices had been weighing on him for a while. Tonight, that had just been the final nail in the coffin. Peter had always thought that maybe Talia’s protests were laced with concern, maybe had even been token protests to deter Laura, her only Omega child, from following Peter’s example, but he had never realized that they had been rooted in absolute belief that Peter was doing something wrong. Her refusal to continue to sign as his familial Alpha had really… broken Peter’s heart honestly. He thought she loved him and supported him, but apparently, she only saw Peter as an Omega. Someone she needed to control. The whole evening had felt manipulative, which was exactly what it was. He supposes he should just be lucky that he was well into maturity, as the only things he couldn’t get access to were his birth control and suppressants, he wasn’t at risk of losing his job, home, or financial independence. He could also count his blessings that Talia had no authority to force Peter into a mating, which after this evening, he would not put past her.
Peter hadn’t noticed the moisture gathering in his eyes until full tears trailed down his cheeks. He quickly wiped them away, hoping the Sheriff wouldn’t notice. He wasn’t a fan of crying in front of others, and he didn’t want the Sheriff to see him as an Omega that would try crying to get out of a simple traffic ticket. But with his luck this evening, his prayers remained unheard, and the Alpha took notice of the tears.
“You alright? I promise I wasn’t going to write you that harsh of a ticket,” The Sheriff asked, leaning against Peter’s open car window, tone light and joking
“No, no. I knew I was getting a ticket, I was going about 40 over. I’ve just had a long night,” Peter replied, letting out a wet sounding laugh since he seemed unable to stop his tears.
“You know, my usual piece of advice is to not admit what you’ve done wrong to the person who is writing the ticket,” The Sheriff whispered, smiling and winking at Peter, pulling another laugh from him.
“Yes well, I’m clearly not at my best right now. I normally don’t get tickets form your deputies, I’m usually able to talk my way out of them.”
“Ah yes, well I understand completely, I know most Alphas are relatively helpless when faced with handsome Omegas such as yourself,” The Sheriff replied, toothy grin stretched across his face, the corner of his eyes crinkling in an unfairly attractive way.
Peter was left a little speechless at that. Peter knew he was an attractive man, having many past lovers to confirm that, but he knew he was not the conventional omega. Peter was tall and broad, taking pride in his body and working to stay strong rather than the lean ideal many omegas went for. He also kept some stubble with a neatly trimmed goatee and a decent amount of body hair that no amount of sexist, patronizing razor commercials could convince him to shave off. He knew that alphas did not typically find him attractive. In fact, he always had a feeling that Deuc wasn’t particularly attracted to him, he simply liked the chase of it all.
“Oh well… thank you Sheriff,” Peter finally forced out, which only seemed to make the Sheriff grin more.
“Listen, seems like you’ve had a hard night,” The Sheriff started, handing Peter back his license and registration. “I’m going to let you off with a warning again, so please just try to follow the speed limit for the rest of your drive home. I hope your night improves a little bit.”
Peter watched the Sheriff walk back to his car and switch the lights off, plunging the two cars back into relative darkness. He did actually listen to the Sheriff and stuck to the speed limit, still reeling from that disastrous dinner. Peter had always been a planner. Some would say he was downright conniving, manipulative even. It was one of the many nontraditional omega-like traits he was proud of.
He had decided to relax that evening, so while he sat by his fireplace with a glass of wine, he considered his… limited options. Talia was no longer someone he could expect support from. He had a fleeting thought of asking Derek, his alpha nephew, to sign for him, but he didn’t want to cause a rift between him and his mother. That means that his first alternative was to get his suppressants and birth control from illegal distributors, which presented a long list of dangers, including, but not limited to, death. So… that idea was immediately thrown out. He briefly considered trying to convince his doctor that he needed them, which was the only way to get them without a familial alpha or mate’s signature. If an omega needed suppressants and birth control in order to save their life, doctors and pharmacies filled those prescriptions no questions asked. Peter did not fall into that category. His heats were bound to be painful after having been on suppressants so long, but not to the point where he would be able to convince a doctor to override the alpha signature.
That seemed to leave him with one option.
He had to find an alpha mate.
Omegas who married betas still needed to rely on familial alpha’s signatures for suppressants and birth control, yet again another example of how archaic the laws surrounding omega reproductive rights were, as partnerships between betas and alphas or omegas were not considered traditional "matings." Peter knew that Talia would not approve of a beta partner, meaning even if Peter convinced one of his many beta friends to marry him, he would still be stuck with the same problem. The few alphas that had attempted to court him in the past were also not options, especially Deuc. Peter also didn’t want kids, despite what everyone seemed to think, and he didn’t know many alphas that would be okay with that, so he needed a progressive alpha.
A progressive, widower alpha that already had an almost grown child of his own and seemed to find Peter attractive. Peter grinned into his wine glass, feeling particularly pleased with himself with this idea. He’s almost positive he’ll be able to convince the Sheriff to mate with him. He’s charming. He’s convincing.