Chapter Text
Chapter 1
“Come on, this is going to be amazing!” Rose called over her shoulder to Rey, leading the way into the crowded bar. They were meeting two girls in Rose’s program here for one last big night out before they were back in class on Monday.
While Rey wasn’t as close to Kay or Jannah as Rose was, they four of them had been out together a few times and Rey really liked them. She’d never made friends easily, but Rose made it possible for Rey to trust people in a way she wouldn’t have when she was younger. Rose was one of the nicest people Rey had ever met and was one of the few people Rey felt like she could trust enough to let into her life. It was Rose who helped create the little bit of social life that made Rey feel like she hadn’t completely failed at building something for herself at Chandrilla University.
Part of building something for herself meant going out of her comfort zone. That meant going out with friends in a new town, in a new bar about an hour from the university, near Kay’s parent’s house.
When they drove into Hosnia, Rey had been amazed at the size of the houses here. Rose had pointed out to her that Kay’s family had money. That was something neither of their families had ever had. When they had first met and discovered that they were both orphans the two of them had instantly bonded over it. Their stories weren’t quite the same, but that feeling of missing a family you didn’t remember was familiar to both of them. Rose and her sister Paige had lost their parents when they were children but had been raised by their aunt whereas Rey had bounced around from foster home to foster home until she’d finally been old enough to strike out on her own.
She’d worked hard at school, knowing that was her only chance at building something for herself. Fortunately, she’d won a scholarship to Chandrilla University and had been excited to make a go of it somewhere where she could try and have a fresh start without being known as the poor orphan kid. She’d been nervous the first day, during the meet and greet. While Chandrilla was one of the most omega friendly campus in the country, omegas were still rare, and as far as Rey could scent, she was one of only a handful present.
There had been slightly more alphas at the meet and greet but when she thought about it, it made sense to Rey. Omegas tended to avoid large social groups, especially when there were alphas present. You never knew when one of them would take a liking to your scent and make an issue out of your designation. So, while there were about equal numbers of alphas and omegas in the general population, alphas tended to take up more space and were always more visable. It was the gift of being an alpha, Rey thought, that you could still be considered the most important designation even when Betas were 60 percent of the population.
Rey had her own apartment even though by rights she should have been in the dorms. It would have been fun to be with Rose and she thought it would have made it easier to pretend she was just like everyone else, but as an Omega she wasn’t permitted to stay in the cramped dorm rooms where her scent would be too strong and she couldn’t have the privacy needed when she had a heat. The university’s solution was to provide Omega’s with an apartment close to the school instead. They also used the apartment buildings as cheap housing for staff as well, as Rey had discovered the first time she had a run in with her Intro to English Literature Professor in the Laundry room.
She shook her head. She thought getting ready to finish her last year at Chandrilla must be making her nostalgic. She was going to miss her friends when they graduated.
Rey decided to focus on their night out, as she spotted Kay and Jannah at a small table near the front. The two girls had already ordered a pitcher and were half way through. Their bright eyes told Rey they’d been having a good time while they waited for her and Rose.
“It’s crazy in here,” Rey said sliding into her seat, adjusting the three neat buns she’d done her hair up in, brushing a stray wisp of hair from her cheek.
“Yep. It’s wild. Lots of hot guys though.” Said Jannah with a giggle.
As Jannah never giggled Rey had to smile at her high spirits. She’d definitely had a few drinks.
“As I was just saying,” Kay interrupted with a gesture towards Jannah, indicating the conversation they’d been having before the other two girls had arrived, “school starts on Monday and that means there won’t be enough time for any more of this, so…”
“Oh Lord!” Jannah interrupted, clearly already knowing where Kay was going with this,
“This is my last chance to get some before the school term madness starts again.”
“Kay,” Rose groaned.
Rose had been in a friends-with-benefits situation with a guy named Finn all summer, so she didn’t have the same pent up feelings the other girls seemed to have.
“I’m just saying, when I look around this room, I have a good feeling about tonight.” Kay told her, laughing.
Rey tried not to show it, but she was always a little uncomfortable when they talked about sex. It was so different for her. Her friends were all Betas so sex was sex. For her it was so much more. Being so sensitive to smell meant that even a nice, good looking guy was a no go if his smell didn’t work for her. She’d managed to find one Beta she’d dated in her first year who didn’t repulse her. They had dated for a couple of months and it had been alright. They’d had sex and Rey had been glad to get that experience over with, but while she wasn’t a virgin she was by for the least experienced of her group.
She let the girls jokingly argue amongst themselves about finding a fling to celebrate the end of summer, smiling along with the conversation, when Kay suddenly turned to Rey with a glint in her eye. While she was a Beta, Kay was currently studying Chemistry and had taken a few extra biology classes, making her the next closest expert to Alpha/Omega dynamics to Rey. When she drank, she tended to become even more confident that she knew more about Rey’s own biology then she did.
“Rey,” the blonde girl said with a smile, “You need to find yourself an Alpha to celebrate the end of summer.”
Rey looked at her blankly,
“Why would I want that?”
“Come on,” Kay said, “I know Snap was your only time and he was a Beta. If I need a dick after a summer drought, you need a knot.”
“I do not need a knot.” She told her friend, tripping over the words and feeling the blush that was spreading over her cheeks.
“You do. For experience. You had to take a biology class for your degree, right? Think of it the same way. If you understand it better, you’ll do better in your classes.”
“That seems like a bit of a stretch.” she told her.
“That’s what she said,” Kay replied with a laugh and Rey rolled her eyes at how drunk Kay must be to actually say that. Rey watched her expression turn serious.
“Come on Rey, I can’t smell them but looking around, this place definitely has a few alphas.”
Rey glanced around. Kay was right about the alphas, she could smell the underlying scent in the air that screamed alpha, and just by looking, she could see there was a group of guys over near the bar that had to be alphas. She took a deep drink from her glass. If she was honest, she was curious what all the fuss was about.
She’d spent three years studying Omegas in history and every description of sex between Alphas and Omegas was intriguing. She understood knotting in a technical way and she understood how her body craved it during her heats, but there was something intimidating about trusting someone enough to let them lock themselves inside your body and come inside you for half an hour. It made her heart race, and not in a good way.
“Those guys are definitely Alphas,” Kay said, discretely gesturing to a table of guys across the bar, “and they’re hot. Let’s go try our luck.”
“It’s not that easy.” She told her friends. “No matter how attractive I find someone, if they don’t smell right, I can’t do it.”
“Well let’s go do a sniff test then,” Kay said, standing up. “Even if you don’t find one you want, I’m definitely interested.”
Rey stood up to follow, torn between a reluctance to put herself out there and curiosity. In the end curiosity won out.
“Good Luck!” Rose and Jannah called after them, laughing.
Rey followed Kay through the crowd but hung back slightly when Kay bounded up to the table. Yep, from here she could clearly smell them. Of the three guys at the table two were Alphas.
They were regarding Kay with mild interest as she walked up to the table and joined them. She watched as both Alphas predictably slide their attention from Kay to her, both sets of nostrils flaring as they took in her scent. The one was an immediate no. His scent wasn’t bad per se. No Alpha smelled truly terrible, but her instincts knew that he was not compatible. The other one was slightly better. It wasn’t amazing but it was definitely pleasant and Rey had to admit that she could definitely enjoy it enough for what she was supposed to be looking for.
She smiled a tiny smile in the pleasant scented Alpha’s direction and he immediately smiled back. Realizing she didn’t want to be rude she gave the other alpha a quick nod hello. He was scowling at her and she had a feeling he’d realized that she’d made her preference known. Her attention was drawn back to the beta who was giving introductions.
“I’m Beau, this is Klaud,” he gestured towards the one alpha, “and this is Paul.” He motioned towards the better smelling alpha. She waved a hello at all the men.
Beau looked back at Kay, “Do you want to dance?” he asked her, gesturing to the dance floor.
“Absolutely!” She replied with a wiggle of her eyebrows at Rey although Rey had no idea what she was trying to communicate to her.
Rey watched them make their way away from the table towards the dance floor.
“Would you like to join us?” Paul asked her.
Rey hesitated. She knew this was her chance, but at the same time the idea of sitting between the two alphas was horribly unappealing. It would be uncomfortable. If it had just been Paul she might have been able to muster the courage but with Klaud there too, her nerves got the better of her.
“I’m just going to run to the restroom.” She told the men. “I’ll see you in a bit.”
That was vague enough, she reflected to herself as she wove through the crowd to the back of the bar to the hallway where the restrooms were. She slowed as she reached the hall, a scent tickling the back of her nose.
Alpha.
It was much quieter back here, but there were still people at all the tables so she didn’t know where that smell was coming from. She popped into the restroom, pausing in the mirror to fix her hair. Rose was always telling her she should try wearing her hair down, but Rey thought the three buns looked cute. She touched up her lip gloss and smiled to herself. She could do this.
Exiting the hallway, Rey again hesitated. That smell. It was like standing in the forest in winter, sipping hot chocolate. Crisp and fresh yet warm and intoxicating. She stopped to look around, curious as to the source of such deliciousness.
She glanced around again and her eyes met a pair of warm brown ones. He was watching her closely and Rey was suddenly sure he was the source of the smell she was looking for.
His face was interesting, sharp plains and angles with thick full lips. His hair was thick, dark and wavy, kissing the collar of his black Henley. It was easy to find the courage to approach him with his scent teasing her nose and almost drawing her towards him without thought.
He was sitting alone on a stool in the corner, looking for all the world like he didn’t want to be there and Rey wondered what he was even doing at the bar if he found it so miserable.
“Hi,” she said almost shyly when she neared him.
He nodded in greeting, but Rey could see the way he was holding his jaw tense. She watched as he took a deep breath through his nose, eyes widening as he took in her scent up close.
“Wow.” He said, with a light shake of his head.
“Yeah,” she laughed a little, knowing exactly what he meant.
“I’m Rey.” She told him.
“Ben.”
Rey instinctively took a step closer to him, daring in a way she never was, putting herself almost between his legs. Ben was still sitting on the stool and their faces were almost perfectly lined up.
“May I?” he asked her.
Rey had absolutely no idea what he was asking permission to do, but she was absolutely intoxicated by his smell. She hadn’t even finished her first drink but standing near Ben she felt drunk. She would happily give him permission to do anything so long as she could keep smelling him. He waited for her to nod in consent before he moved towards her.
Ben leaned his head next to hers and pressed his lips against her neck gland. She tensed when she felt his lips against her skin, but when he moaned with pleasure the sound caused Rey’s eyes to roll back in her head as she felt slick begin pooling in her underwear. He let out a growl as he picked up the scent of her arousal.
“Fuck.” He told her. “You smell so good.”
“You do too.” She whispered breathlessly. She pressed her neck against his mouth while he resumed sucking on her gland. She felt an urge to grind herself against his body. She leaned into his chest, her breasts begging for friction. She felt her mouth water as she imagined taking his cock…
She was startled from the fantasies her brain had been concocting by a group of girls heading to the restrooms giggling. She started to pull away from Ben needing space, but his arms circled her with a low growl.
“Do you want to get out of here?” she heard herself ask, surprising herself with her boldness.
He nodded.
“Absolutely.”
Don’t think about it. I can do this. I can. I’m strong and confident and I am getting knotted tonight. She chanted to herself.
“I just need to text my friends,” she told him pulling out her phone. “Are you here with anyone?”
“No.” he said as he started pulling her towards the back door that lead directly to the parking lot.
Rey followed with a mixture of nerves and excitement.
<Rey> I’m leaving. I met an Alpha who smells amazing. I’ll text when I get home. Wish me luck?”
<Rose> OMG! Good luck getting knotted I guess? BE SAFE &TEXT ME SO I KNOW YOU GET HOME!
<Rey> I will. Luv u
<Rose> heart
Rey could feel her heart racing in her chest as Ben opened the passenger side of his car for her. As she buckled herself into the seat she was pretty sure in was racing in a good way.