Archive of Our Own ^beta

The kid was skinny, all gangly limbs, big doe eyes, and a growling stomach.  Just another half-starved Omega that had been living on the streets for too long.  Who had failed to adapt.  But then, Jensen wasn’t exactly the picture-perfect model of fitting into society.  But it was fine, suited him to hover on the edges.  It was just, there was something about the Omega that was trailing behind him.  Not even trying to camouflage his presence.  Being bold and brazen as he stalked after Jensen. 

He turned down a dark alley and ducked behind the pile of garbage that had accumulated.  Crouched down as he waited, to see if the kid would follow after.  Jensen saw legs come into view and was shocked when the Omega turned directly towards him.  And waited. 

Jensen stood in one fluid motion and took a step forward.  He watched as those big eyes went even wider and stilled as he drew in a deep breath.  Clearly attempt to scent the Alpha who stood not a foot in front of him.  The Alpha with the character defects that had helped to banish him to the edges of society.  Jensen could hardly believe what he was witnessing with his own two eyes.  It was beyond laughably absurd. 

A thin hand reached out, trembling as it closed the distance that separated them, and with the first soft touch of an extended finger against his cheek, Jensen felt a jolt shoot through him.  Like lightening in a bottle.  Judging by the expression on the Omega’s face, he had felt it as well.  He was gasping and shaking, trying to speak as his eyes rolled back in his head, and he began to fall. 

Jensen may have been an outcast, but he wasn’t a complete and total bastard.  He reached out and caught the young Omega, was shocked as he found out how thin he truly was, how light the Omega felt in his arms, and how easily Jensen could lift him, even without his Alpha strength being a relevant factor. 

He stared down at the gaunt face, and in that moment, he knew this wasn’t a battle he was going to win.  Even unconscious he could feel the irresistible attraction, the driving biological imperative that was demanding he do whatever was required of him to protect the Omega he found in his care.  Even though no words had been spoken between them, Jensen couldn’t deny the powerful urge that was coursing through him, as he realized that he had to keep this Omega for his own.  Fuck!

Jensen lifted the Omega, and heaved him up and over his shoulder, before he turned and began to trudge back to his home.  Wondering what would happen when the Omega awoke, because he could already feel the fire building in his blood, as the pheromones surged, leaving a hollow feeling in the pit of his stomach.  As he prayed for mercy from a deity that he wasn’t certain he even believed in anymore. 

*****

It had been three hours, and the Omega still wasn’t waking up.  Jensen had brought him home, laid him out on the pallet that was his bed, and covered him with a blanket.  He had prepared the stew, tried to coax a response out of the Omega by waving the bowl under his nose.  But nothing had come of it. 

Jensen was at his wits end.  Because this shouldn’t be happening.  He should be alone, in his home, enjoying the peace and solitude that his secluded dwelling afforded him.  But no!  He was trapped in his sanctuary with an Omega that was smelling better and better by the minute.  That was causing the blood to course heavy in his veins, his cock to ache as it tried to work its way free of his breeches, the urge to claw at his skin when it felt like ants were crawling underneath, driving him into a frenzy that had only one potential answer. 

Think!  Jensen stopped to consider what he had learned, prior to his time far from the rest of polite society.  What had been taught about the special bonds that could form, between Alphas and Omegas.  How it was beyond their control.  How it was determined by the great Omega Goddess herself, and everyone else was simply a helpless pawn who needed to do her bidding or suffer horrible agony and die in terrible misery. 

Jensen approached the pallet, knelt down beside it, and reached out with a trembling hand.  He gently lifted one eyelid, and gasped when he saw the glowing golden ring.  That meant only one thing.  A true mate had found their other half, and nothing would snap them out of it. 

Nothing other than being claimed by their Alpha.  Jensen reared back, shook his hand, to alleviate the tingling that had surged through it at the barest touch.  Knew now what he had to do.  He simply wasn’t certain that he could. 

To bind himself to another, without even having spoken a single word to him.  But if he didn’t, he was condemning the young man to certain death.  As he would linger until he starved or dehydrated.  Either way, it was a brutal death to suffer while trapped within your own body. 

Jensen leaned in close, tried to control the surge of pheromones as his cheek glided against the Omegas, and spoke softly against his ear. 

“I’m so sorry for what I have to do.  I hope that you can find it within yourself to forgive me one day.”  There was the softest murmur of sound, nothing that could be thought of as actual communication, but Jensen took it as acknowledgement, that the Omega had heard and understood. 

Jensen began to strip off the young Omega’s clothes, eyes growing wider as he took in every single inch that was slowly revealed.  While he may not know the specifics of what had been done to him previously, Jensen could now understand why he would choose a life on the streets, rather than the comforts of a home.  Scars littered his thin frame, and Jensen found himself tracing over delineated ribs, prominent hipbones, and knobby knees as he laid his Omega bare. 

His Omega?  Jensen smiled softly, as he realized that yes, this young man, whoever he was, belonged to Jensen, as decreed by the great Omega Goddess herself, and he would do whatever was required to keep him safe. 

Jensen rose, and moved about his home, gathering some steaming water from the cast iron pan hanging above the fire, pouring it into a bowl, before he grabbed a cloth, and knelt by the Omega’s side once more.  He dipped the rag into the water, wrung it out, and then began to wash all of the dirt off of the hurt body before him.  He repeated the process, ceaselessly, until every single inch of skin was now clean.  Including the soft pink pucker that he would be making use of, when he joined them for all time. 

Jensen stripped quickly and stood with his back to his soon-to-be mate.  Washing himself as efficiently as possible.  Until he was purified, as the mating ritual demanded.  Jensen hadn’t looked at himself in a mirror in a fair number of years, not since he had been outcast.  He wondered what the young man had thought, as he had followed the strange Alpha.  He must have seen his face, must have some clue as to what he was going to be getting himself into. 

Did the Omega want to be allowed to linger and die?  Rather than face a life with an Alpha that hid away from the rest of society?  Would it be a mercy to just let him go?  No sooner had the thought crossed his mind, that Jensen heard an angry voice echo within his mind. 

“No!”  Jensen turned, saw that the still form of the Omega had tensed, as if fighting to try to break the paralysis that kept him hostage. 

Jensen crossed over to him, knelt down, and laid a hand on the Omega’s cheek.  Stiffened as he felt a flood of strange emotions try to overwhelm him.  As images began to flood his mind.  All pertaining to one specific moment, that would happen in the very near future.  As he carefully arranged the body of his Omega and fucked him until his knot was locked in place, and they were bound. 

That was disturbing enough, to see actions that clearly had not taken place, play out within his mind.  But what distressed him more, was his own image.  One that had not been his own since many years past.  A handsome and attractive Alpha, whose face was not scarred, whose eyes were clear and bright, and who held a well-fed and fully formed Omega close as they did what came so naturally. 

Jensen pulled his hand back, and looked at the Omega, who’s entire being seemed to be screaming for Jensen to just get on with it already.  As if he were tired of waiting.  Because he could see what Jensen truly was, and it wasn’t a broken monster, but rather a strong Alpha worthy of a mateship. 

He looked down at the Omega once more, drew in a deep breath, and laid down beside him.  Pulled him close as his hands began to run over all of the bare skin, that was a soft golden color, as if the young man cavorted about in the wild wearing nothing but a smile.  Jensen pressed a chaste kiss against the full lips that had held a fragile smile earlier, for just a moment, before everything had gone so terribly wrong.

Jensen helped to roll the Omega over, turning his head to the side, so that he would be able to breathe as the Alpha by his side, carried through on a vision that it should not have been possible for him to have seen.  Jensen helped to spread the young man’s legs, before he leaned in and licked out with his tongue.  Felt shock as he could taste the slick that was already flowing, seemingly indicating that this was something the Omega wanted. 

He placed his hands on the firm cheeks and pulled them apart, savoring not only the sweet taste, but the intoxicating scent that was wafting up from his mate.  A complex mixture of spices and sweetness, that Jensen had taken in when he had still visited the market in his youth, before he was shunned. 

After the first swipe of his tongue, he found that the slick was beginning to flow on its own, as if it recognized the Alpha seeking it out, and wanted him to partake of it.  Jensen smiled, and he kept right on licking around the soft pink pucker.  As it softened and loosened under his careful attention.  He had latched on with his entire mouth, and was savoring the delicious treat, when he heard the soft moan.  He looked up, but the Omega’s eyes were still closed, and his breathing was still steady.  But Jensen knew what he had heard.  He may not have been with an Omega in years, but he could still remember. 

He began to gently ease one finger in and was shocked to find that it met no resistance, that the body below him was completely receptive.  But Jensen wasn’t going to rush this mating, so he continued to carefully work the Omega open, as his other hand slid lower, and stroked the cock that was now thick and rigid. 

Jensen knew that he could be fooling himself, but his Omega’s body had no reason to engage in such deceptive behavior.  It was clearly enjoying the attention that Jensen was giving to it, and based on the visions from earlier, the mind trapped within the body was amenable to the solution as well.  Jensen just wished that he had more definitive proof. 

“Please, Alpha.” 

The softly whispered words floated across his mind, spoken in a voice he had never heard before.  It was then that Jensen decided enough was enough.  The Omega’s body was clearly ready, and given the nature of their true mate status, the mental bond had already begun to form.  They only needed to finish with the actual mating. 

It was then that Jensen realized his cock was aching, throbbing as it demanded the attention it so desperately required.  Jensen raised himself up, positioned himself over the Omega, and began to ease the head of his cock into the tight velvet clench of a slick soaked channel.  Jensen shuddered as each inch sank in, was welcomed with no cry of pain, or tremble of revulsion. 

Jensen paused, once he was flush with his Omega’s pert ass, and tried to gather himself.  Gently asking the still form below him, “Are you alright?” 

“Yes, please, Alpha.  Don’t stop.” 

Jensen slowly rolled his hips, felt the delirious pleasure that surged through his body, and smiled as he did it again.  There was no cry to stop, nothing to indicate that the Omega wasn’t savoring the incredible pleasure just as much as Jensen was.  He shifted his weight, slid his arms under the thin torso, and leaned in closer, blanketing the young Omega. 

“Jared.  Please, Alpha.  My name is Jared.” 

Jensen paused as he stared down at the side of a smooth face, before he leaned in to place a kiss on the corner of the mouth that he could see.  “My name is Jensen.”  He felt the barest twitch of the lips, before he heard the soft sigh in his mind. 

“Nice to meet you, Jensen.”  A pause, before he spoke again, “Please, Alpha, please.” 

Jensen rolled his hips, and then set a steady pace as he felt the sensations building, reared up to examine his Omega’s neck, and found the pulsing mating gland.  Knew that he would need to join them before the Omega would be released and the paralysis banished. 

He kept on gently thrusting as he pulled the long, shaggy brown hair to the side, felt his teeth extend, and broke the thin skin of his Omega’s neck.  Felt the surge of pheromones as it hit his blood, was dizzy with it, as he tried to contain his impulses, the ones that demanded he pound into the body below him.  Jensen knew his own strength, and he knew the state of the Omega, knew it would end badly if he let go.  If he gave his instincts free reign. 

He arched his back, as his hips continued to work, slid a hand underneath, and caught the cock that was begging to its Alpha’s approval.  “Come for me.”  He whispered it against Jared’s ear, and with one stroke, the room was filled with a fresh bloom of scent.  Jensen kept going, helping to milk his Omega dry.  Hips moving harder now, as the fluttering channel was squeezing him tighter. 

With a roar, Jensen came.  Shooting his release deep inside the Omega who was still laying unmoving beneath him.  But who was babbling in his mind. 

“Please… yes… great Goddess… fuck yeah… don’t stop… Jensen… I love you…” 

Jensen shivered as the words flowed across to him, as his knot expanded, and he was bound in more ways than one to the Omega in his arms.  He rolled them to their sides, arms wrapped around the mate he had never expected to have.  Felt a surge of power flow through him, and then he heard the gasping exhalation as Jared was freed from the paralysis. 

Trembling hands moved to cover his own, to draw one up, and then he felt a tender kiss being placed against his knuckles. 

“Thank you, Alpha.”  The soft words drifted back to Jensen, and he raised his hand to cup Jared’s jaw and turn his face.  So that the Omega could see exactly what he had just bound himself to. 

“Even now?”  Jensen watched as hazel eyes took in his appearance.  The scars, the red blotchy skin, the patches of missing hair.  And found himself shocked when he saw nothing other than the purest love reflected back.  Blazing in its intensity, glorious and sure in its devotion. 

“Yes, for this is transitory.  Your soul is beautiful and can never be diminished.”  Jared leaned back, pressed a soft kiss to the corner of Jensen’s mouth.  “But if it makes you feel any better, I can fix it.” 

Jensen scoffed, would have rolled away had he not been physically bound to the Omega by his knot, when he heard the soft words being chanted.  Felt the tingle wash over him.  Raised a trembling hand to find perfect, unblemished skin. 

“But how?” 

“As I said, your Highness.  Transitory.”