Archive of Our Own

Ivan and Till had always been inseparable, as much as Till might deny it. As children Ivan clung to Till. Ivan found the boy immensely fascinating. Loud, creative and vicious. He was a terrible influence on the quiet, obedient boy Ivan was. That was how their teachers and parents all seemed to see it at least. No one ever listened to Till when he insisted that Ivan was the one that hit him first.

Despite Ivan’s title as a ‘pest’ in Till’s life, Till never went to any effort to rid himself of his parasite. Ivan justified them as ‘symbiotic’. That without Ivan, Till would be lost. Till scoffed at that, then was barely able to be stopped from hammering at Ivan’s door at 3 in the morning choking back tears when Ivan abruptly took a week from school sick without responding to anyone’s messages.

He had collapsed from exhaustion and was on bedrest for a week, his phone taken to ensure he rested well. Ivan shrugged it off on his return after Sua scolded him for working Till into such a state. It had simply been poor timing to go sick after making such a statement. After that, he started to receive occasional messages from Till telling him to take breaks and rest regularly. His heart had never raced the way it did when he saw those caring reminders.

When Till suddenly dropped off the map much like Ivan had, Ivan put it down to a spat of pettiness. It would be like Till to do such a thing, to try and get under Ivan’s skin the exact way Ivan had done to him. Ivan did not take the bait. He did not need to be talked down from turning up unannounced at Till’s doorstep. He knew Till would be back to school shortly, rested and calmed of his frustrations.

It turned out that Till’s leave of absence was not a way to get back at Ivan at all. His miserable expression and the addition of a scent blocker on the back of his neck gave it all away before he explained a thing. Till was an omega.

In theory, nothing should have changed. Till and Ivan were friends, and their presentations shouldn’t have affected that at all. The problem was that with puberty knocking their feelings around, Ivan had been finding himself all too often squeezing himself to the thought of said friend. With the news of his omega presentation, those thoughts only become more prevalent. Images of Till flushed, wet and whining beneath him kept him company through long nights. Such lovely thoughts that he should have been ashamed of entertaining.

Omegas had it bad enough without their friends sexualising them internally the moment their presentation was out. Heats were rough and frequent, and while medication was available, it had to be prescribed by doctors since individuals required different dosages. It took time to get right.

If being incapacitated by heats wasn’t enough, they also had the instinctual possessiveness of alphas to deal with. Alphas, who tended to think they were above all other humans because that was exactly how they were treated, felt entitled to any omega whose scent pleased their noses. If that omega refused, all an alpha had to do was shower them in pheromones and soon their minds would change. Or at least their bodies wouldn’t be able to retaliate.

That was how the two presentations were painted in stories and news articles. The strong and the weak. Those that held the rights to the other as they wanted. In reality, alpha and omega presentations were rare nowadays, with the vast majority of the population being naturally beta. The scarcity of those presentations made for bigger gossip when someone did manifest a trait, however, and Till was quickly sick of the newfound interest in his biology by their peers.

Ivan kept his own fascination with Till’s biology a guarded secret. Till came to him with such complaints because he was a safe place, and he was honoured to hold such trust. He would not destroy something so precious just because of his surging hormones. Although it hurt him to know that Till would likely never be interested in him as anything more than a friend now that he was an omega and Ivan was not an alpha, Ivan would still stand strong as an unmoving factor in Till’s life whether he wanted Ivan there or not. Just as he always had been.

‘Come over.’

The text was simple and to the point. A command for Ivan’s presence. Inseparable as always, he and Till had ended up attending university in the same city despite studying wildly different disciplines. Till had come into himself much more since moving out of his abusive home, his confidence soaring with new freedoms and the surroundings of people that appreciated his art and music.

‘Why?’

Ivan loved seeing this change in Till, watching him open up and become the person he was always meant to be. Ivan was a weight from the past. A stuffy man set in his ways that craved every ounce of Till’s attention. It was in Till’s best interest that he stepped away and let Till lead his own life. He didn’t need the judgement of Ivan’s envy any time an alpha laid eyes upon him.

‘I’m in heat.’

That text was enough to catch Ivan off-guard, a dizzying message that had him gripping his phone with white knuckles. The photo he received moments after of Till’s feverish grin, grey hair sprawled out against the backdrop of his white pillow had Ivan out the door in an instant.

Ivan hadn’t been with an omega before. One time an omega woman had flirted with him at a pub, but it had felt wrong. He knew that if he’d gone for it, he would have just been thinking about Till the whole time, and that wouldn’t be fair on her. He had never stopped thinking about Till in that way, though he knew it was a hopeless endeavour. Something he’d hoped to move on from by stepping away from Till.

He'd tried being with an alpha once, just out of curiosity. Ivan had heard many bad things about alphas, but he was skewed by looking at the world through an omega’s lens in his want to understand and protect Till. He had knocked the alpha out cold when he’d tried to bite Ivan, having refused to take ‘no’ for an answer.

Till welcomed Ivan into his flat quickly, the scent of sweet sweat thick in the air. Even to betas omegas smelled sweeter than most, while alphas had a certain musk that clung strong to them. Ivan wondered how it compared to noses that could actually pick up on pheromones.

“You really want me here?” Ivan hesitated once ushered into Till’s messy bedroom, sheets thrown around in evident desperation. Till’s fingers only gripped the collar of his shirt harder. “I’m not an alpha, so why? Can I really help you with a heat?”

“What kind of question is that?” Till snapped, though his flushed skin played down his annoyance. “I asked you to come and you did,” Till hissed as he unbuttoned Ivan’s shirt with hasty fingers.

This was everything Ivan had wanted for a long time. His fantasy from the moment his cock could get hard. Till was panting and undressing him, demanding Ivan to satisfy his lustful needs, so why was Ivan feeling so unsure? Why did his hands tremble and his gut twist? Why wasn’t he rock hard and pushing Till into his mattress with the force of his overwhelming need?

“You…” Humiliation had Ivan in its cold grasp the moment Till’s hand fondled between his legs. “You want to do this, right?”

Yes, Ivan wanted to say, along with admissions for all the times he’d imagined a scenario just like this and all the awful things he had done to Till in his mind while getting himself off. Yet, right now, with Till’s hand trying to coax him stiff, Ivan’s mind was elsewhere. It was settled on thoughts of alphas with scents and instincts he couldn’t mimic. Needs of Till’s that he wouldn’t be able to fulfil. The fear of becoming just a disappointing lay in Till’s mind and losing his secure place of close friendship.

“I don’t want to be a one-night stand.” The words that escaped Ivan’s mouth were a shock to them both. Heat rushed to Ivan’s face; a flow of blood he wished would go in the other direction.

“Then don’t be,” came Till’s simple response coupled with a firm stare up into Ivan’s eyes. His expression was serious instead of the mocking he deserved. “Are you really this dense?” He huffed at Ivan’s continued silence. “I’ve been flirting with you for, like, a year. I figured this would be enough to get it through your thick skull that I want you.”

Ivan’s world stopped spinning. Till had been flirting with him? Since when? With his mind racing, Ivan tried to put all the times he’d been around Till in the last year into perspective. While he had been trying to give Till space to grow, Till had been inviting him out for drinks, to see his small-time pub gigs, to show him his art projects. Hands clapped onto shoulders and backs, and small strokes of fingers when one too many drinks had been had. Invitations for Ivan to stay over instead of getting a taxi back home.

Had he really misread all those situations? Till had been flirting? Till had wanted those accidental soft touches? Wanted him to stay over? Wanted his praise and affections? And Ivan had missed all those signs?

“Ivan?” A small voice brought him out of his haze of thoughts, Till’s hands no longer caressing him. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything. Now I’ve messed everything up.”

“No,” Ivan’s lips moved faster than they ever had before, his hands reaching out for Till’s shoulders in haste. “I like you. I’ve liked you for the longest time.”

Falling into bed together, with their feelings in the open, Ivan found his blood flowing much more freely. Till didn’t kiss as much as he breathed and licked into Ivan’s mouth, his body writhing under every stroke of Ivan’s hands. His thighs were practically coated in slick by the time their clothes were off, his body hungrily swallowing Ivan’s fingers as quickly as he was willing to give them.

The combination of tightness, wetness and warmth as Ivan eased himself into Till’s body was unlike any he’d experienced before. It made Ivan remember something disgusting that the alpha he’d decked said before attempting to take him to bed. ‘Omegas are made to be fucked, but beta holes do the trick when there isn’t one around.’ Ivan really had been desperately curious about how alphas performed sexually to have not left there and then.

As awful as that statement from the alpha had been, he could almost see where he was coming from in this moment. Till’s overflowing wetness was a result of his heat, yet it made Ivan feel more wanted than he’d ever been. His body pinkened and sticky with sweat was like something out of a porno, and that was nothing in comparison to his sounds. Till was vocal, filling the air with whimpers and moans of Ivan’s name punctuated with half-spoken begs for more.

It made him feel like a stallion. Like an unparalleled master of the craft. Ivan thought they were both more than satisfied by the time he came, hitting the most intense orgasm of his life as Till’s body tightened with the waves of his own climax, but he underestimated an omega’s heat.

Being a beta, Ivan didn’t knot and couldn’t provide a mating bite, no matter how much Till tried to put the nape of his neck to Ivan’s teeth. That meant he couldn’t end Till’s heat early, instead just providing whatever comfort he could for the three-day long duration.

He hadn’t felt this exhausted since that one time he’d collapsed and had to go to the hospital, but this time it was for a totally different reason. Instead of tiring himself with schoolwork and high expectations, he was being continuously milked dry the second he could get it back up. It certainly wasn’t anything to complain about though, on the contrary, this was likely one of the best weeks of his life.

What followed it was one of the more stressful weeks of his life, however, when Till realised that they hadn’t even thought to use a condom. While Till tried to reassure Ivan that pregnancy was very unlikely given that he was a male omega, far less fertile than female omegas, and that beta-omega mating was much less successful than alpha-omega mating, Ivan could not settle down until the blood test results were back with a firm ‘negative’. Maybe one day they would want children, but they were much too young for anything like that yet.

It was the messy start of a long relationship. While Till chased his dreams of writing hit songs, fun performances on stages and emotional artistic displays, Ivan settled into reliable work for his family’s mining company, allowing himself a little whimsy by way of modelling for magazines. Their lives evolved into something straight from one of Ivan’s dreams, but perfection was never in their reach.

“This is exactly why betas shouldn’t be with omegas,” a particularly obnoxious alpha sneered at Ivan’s furious expression as he put his body between theirs and Till’s. Despite his large frame, the alpha felt bigger by nature. “Unmarked and in preheat? No alpha would ever let their omega out like that. He deserves better. I’d treat him right.”

Unfortunately, these sorts of interactions weren’t as few and far between as they should be. Till was having trouble getting his medication to stick, often falling into heats that should have been skipped. His insistence on not letting his presentation stop him from living his life led to situations like this, where alphas were drawn from the woodwork by the scent of his vulnerable state. Ivan couldn’t smell that Till was anywhere near his heat, nor could he mark Till as taken.

Ivan would do all he could for Till during his heats, giving him a body to fuck as much as he could for the duration, but he knew he couldn’t satisfy Till’s needs. Each time he’d have to writhe and suffer for the full length of his heat without an alpha to give him what he naturally needed. Even the plethora of toys that Ivan purchased couldn’t solve the issue, although they helped during Ivan’s refractory periods.

The times when Ivan couldn’t get it up during Till’s heats were the worst. While Till was stuck perpetually horny for days on end, Ivan did not have his arousal forced. He loved Till and found everything about him incredibly sexy, but sometimes he was just not in the mood for whatever reason. Sometimes he was stressed from work, sometimes he was tired, sometimes his mind was willing, but his body just couldn’t get it going.

During those times, Ivan could tell Till was frustrated. He would do all sorts of things that Ivan didn’t understand. He would nuzzle the crown of his head into Ivan’s chest, press the back of his neck to Ivan’s lips, nibble at spots where alphas had scent glands, but betas did not. Ivan was sure that during those times, he was absolutely drenched in Till’s needy scent, but to him it was just a series of strange rubbing and biting that really did nothing for him.

“It’s hard to be with a beta when you’re not one.”

More often lately, Ivan had been attending the same modelling shoots as another man who he had become somewhat friendly with over time. It was clear to see why this man took up modelling, he was objectively attractive, a classic beauty who could look as effeminate as he could masculine as needed.

Luka had heard every bit of Ivan’s woes as they chatted between shoots as Ivan had heard of his. It helped that he knew Luka’s on-again off-again beta girlfriend, Hyuna, who ran one of the pubs Till frequently sang in. Ivan was always shocked when he was reminded that Hyuna was not an alpha, and almost as equally shocked when he was reminded that Luka was.

Talking to Luka gave Ivan a peek at the other side of the coin. A glimpse into how it felt to be something other than beta in a relationship with one. Luka had tried just about everything, omegas, betas and even other alphas, so Ivan saw Luka as something of an expert on the topic.

“No matter how I feel about the person, my body always wants an omega. I could love that beta with all my heart, there would still be times when I’d look at an omega and think that I want them instead.”

It wasn’t what Ivan wanted to hear, but perhaps that was exactly why he needed to hear it.

“Honestly, there have been times when you’ve not been safe around me, Ivan,” Luka smirked, knowing how his words could rile Ivan up. “Whenever you’ve come to a shoot reeking of your omega in heat. I’ve nearly jumped you before now.”

“Well, thank you for not,” Ivan curtly shot back, something twisting in him at the idea of Luka having such impure and aggressive thoughts at the scent of his boyfriend.

“It must drive him crazy,” Luka continued, ignoring Ivan’s sharpness. “When you leave him during heat, I mean. Or the heats in general, it smells like he gets them a lot. I bet somewhere right in the middle of them he wishes he was with an alpha instead of you. Someone that could give him what he needs and make it stop.”

Ivan was glad to be called away for his shoot.

It turned out that Till knew Luka as well, a fact that shouldn’t have surprised Ivan given that he regularly saw Hyuna. While Ivan felt like he got on reasonably well with the man, Till hated him and Luka knew it. Till had heard all about Luka’s antics, manipulation and general ‘fuckery’ from Hyuna and scolded her fiercely every time she took him back.

It was almost a relief to Ivan to hear that Till didn’t like Luka, but he didn’t like that Luka had met Till and never told him. Especially after all he’d spouted about even Ivan not having been safe from his potential advances just for smelling like Till. And even if Till didn’t like him, did that matter? Luka had gone on about how his body didn’t care what his heart felt. Did Till feel that way as well?

“Do you ever wish you were with an alpha instead of me?” Swallowed up in feelings of inadequacy, Ivan voiced the question as he watched Till hoard blankets and pillows for a nest. His heat was imminent.

While Ivan found his omega nesting behaviour as adorable as Till found it embarrassing, Ivan couldn’t help but realise that Till didn’t use Ivan’s clothes in his nest. He knew it was because he had no pheromones of note, and in fact Till had tried to use his shirts before and complained that the colognes he used were too strong for how sensitive his nose was at the time, but it still stung a little.

“No,” Till answered instantly as he fluffed up a blanket that wasn’t doing what he wanted. “Sometimes I wish you were an alpha, but that’s it.” He finally turned to Ivan, observantly peering deep into his eyes like he could see the thoughts turning behind them. “I love you, Ivan. I don’t want to not be with you.” Sealing the statement with a kiss, Ivan felt a little more at peace with what they had.

Until his heat struck in full force. Even Ivan could tell it was a rougher heat than usual as Till tried to find some sort of relief between Ivan’s body and the drawer full of toys, his hand gravitating straight to the knotted ones. Even his medicine got thrown across the bedroom in a fit of rage along with a string of curses directed at whatever doctor had thought they would work for him.

Ivan reaching his limit and not getting hard in the morning before a modelling shoot put Till over the edge. Overwhelmed and high on emotions, Till had practically wrestled Ivan onto their bed and sobbed while grinding down against him uselessly.

“I can’t take it anymore Ivan,” he’d wept into Ivan’s neck while Ivan tried work some joy into him with his hand. Eventually, Till had pulled away, stopping Ivan’s movements as if he had barely even noticed that he was trying to help. “Just go,” he’d huffed into a pillow, body slumped in miserable resignation.

Changing after his shoot, Ivan was startled by chill hands grabbing at his bare chest, a deep inhale sounding from behind him somewhere.

“You are so lucky I know you’re a beta,” came the threatening words phrased as comfort.

Elbowing the shorter man away from his body, Ivan shrugged on his shirt before facing Luka and his smarmy expression.

“Your omega must be really desperate today, you smell amazing,” Luka emphasised his words with outright hunger, practically drooling at the second-hand scent. Ivan hated that Luka wasn’t wrong. He could tell with his nose alone exactly what was wrong with Ivan’s boyfriend. It felt invasive.

“Does Hyuna like you going around sniffing and grabbing at people?” Ivan dug spitefully as he finished redressing.

“You know,” Luka started, trailing his words in a way that made Ivan bristle in anticipation. He didn’t know what Luka was going to say, but already he didn’t like it. “Hyuna doesn’t mind if I have casual sex with omegas. She gets that alphas need to follow their instincts once in a while. So, how about this? Let me take care of your omega, no strings attached.”

“What?” Ivan barked the word before Luka’s offer even processed. Was he really suggesting he would come to Ivan’s house and sleep with his boyfriend? Like a favour?

“You smell amazing right now, but only because of how distressed your omega is. At this rate, he’s going to get you attacked by alphas, never mind his own wellbeing. It’s cruel to deny him what his body needs, isn’t it?”

Ivan tried to ignore Luka’s apparent preference for distress and take him seriously. Did he have a point? When Ivan thought back to Till that morning, he really hadn’t been right. It had felt like he was close to a breaking point, and Ivan didn’t know what would break. In front of him, he had a willing alpha, far too willing for Ivan’s liking, someone who he trusted more than a stranger at least. Was he really entertaining the idea of taking Luka to his home to fuck his boyfriend?

“I’ll get my coat,” Luka grinned before Ivan even spoke again.

“I don’t mind having an audience.”

Although Ivan hadn’t agreed to Luka’s proposal, he was still following Ivan home. He hadn’t voiced a refusal yet either. Would he rather watch or not see it at all?

“Actually, I quite like the idea of you watching me,” Luka continued while Ivan considered turning some extra corners to make it harder for the other to memorize the way to his home, “fucking your boyfriend.”

“He won’t even want to,” Ivan found himself spitting back. His defensive words were more a comfort to himself than anything else.

“No?” Luka’s unflappable confidence irked Ivan given the subject matter. He should have nipped this in the bud. Now, almost home, it was too late to turn him away without seeming shaken at the idea of Till choosing Luka.

“He loves me,” Ivan asserted, ignoring the other’s airy giggle. “He’s said before that he doesn’t care about me being a beta. He doesn’t like you. He won’t want you just because you’re an alpha.”

“You underestimate instincts,” Luka sang, unphased. “And he’s in heat. But if you really think his ‘love’ for you will keep him loyal, then let’s find out. Let him make the choice. He’ll be moaning for me in less than ten minutes.”

Ivan wasn’t sure what he got out of this now contest, but he wasn’t going to back down. His and Till’s relationship was strong, and it wasn’t about to be broken down by the advances of some alpha that Till didn’t even like.

Alphas and omegas were both naturally territorial in different ways. While alphas were territorial in a possessive way, omegas were territorial in a protective way, amplified even further during heat. The snarling when Ivan brought a strange alpha into their bedroom where Till nested was to be expected. In hindsight, it would have been a kindness to have given Till some sort of heads-up, but at least he was wearing underwear.

“Why the fuck is Luka here?” Till growled from his place on their bed, his barely dressed form damp with sweat and obscured by blankets.

“Because your Ivan is kind enough to let me have at you, should you so wish,” Luka spoke in the showy, slimy way he was best at while his slender fingers slid his shirt buttons through their loops with hasty finesse.

“What the hell does that mean, Ivan?” Till turned his wide-eyed attention to Ivan, each word still rumbled from behind his clenched jaw.

Ivan approached the bed as Luka threw his shirt in Till’s direction, letting it flutter down amongst his nest. For a moment, Till looked like he was going to shout, or fly to his feet and maul the intruder, until his eyes flicked to the shirt fully. With a twitch of his nose, he reluctantly reached towards the silky fabric, holding it close to his face with guilt. Suddenly, Ivan was less sure of the confidence he’d been filled with when he insisted that Till would hold no interest in Luka.

“Apparently you smell distressed,” Ivan started, unsure if Till was even hearing him with his nose buried in Luka’s discarded shirt. “Luka said you needed to be with an alpha, and, well, he is one,” he hated the roll of this explanation on his tongue. Till’s sharp eyes shot to Ivan; the shirt put aside in favour of Till moving to the edge of the bed closest to where Ivan stood.

“I don’t want Luka,” Till stated simply, reaching up for the front of Ivan’s collar. “The guy’s a prick,” his voice picked up in volume to speak the insult, ensuring it met Luka’s ears. “I want you,” Till punctuated his desire with a firm tug of Ivan’s clothes, pulling him down and into Till’s lips.

Their kiss was feverishly warm and careless in Till’s want. It was almost embarrassing to be kissed so deeply and so hungrily in front of another person, but Ivan didn’t mind. He wanted Luka to see. Maybe then he would understand that Till wanted Ivan, beta or not.

“Fuck off,” the kiss was interrupted by Till’s growl hot against Ivan’s face. His aggression was targeted towards Luka, who had advanced to a spot on the bed behind Till, a hand lightly placed on his exposed thigh.

Ten minutes, Ivan remembered Luka saying. In ten minutes, Till would be moaning for Luka. Ivan wondered how long it had been already.

“Tough words for someone so turned on,” Luka chimed with a sniff of the air.

Ivan wondered what this room smelled like to them. He wondered what Till’s scent was. It was something Ivan had never asked Till since they rarely talked on matters of omegas or alphas outside of what was necessary. It was something that Luka knew about Till that Ivan didn’t.

Their kiss was resumed on Till’s pull, deepening into something desperate and almost manic. Ivan waited until the kiss was broken by Till gasping to crack open his eyes. Luka’s hands trailed freely across Till’s skin, but more eye-catching was the grind of their hips against one another. Noticing Ivan’s attention, Luka made a point of unbuckling his belt under his harsh glare.

“That’s better,” Luka purred as he freed himself of his clothing, hard from the pheromones of Till’s heat alone. His thumbs dipped into the waistband of Till’s underwear, pulling the elastic from his skin in show.

With weakening grip, Till held Ivan close, letting his panting breaths crash against Ivan’s cheeks. He kissed blindly at Ivan’s face and took Ivan’s plump lips between his teeth when Luka pulled his boxers down, exposing him fully.

None spoke as Luka lined himself up. There was no need for foreplay when Till was already wet down to his thighs having spent the whole day trying to find release. The only sounds to escape any of them were sighs and gasps as Luka slid inside without resistance.

“Good boy,” Luka cooed in Till’s ear as he buried himself in the other’s wanting body. “I’m not sure I’ve ever been with an omega so wet for me before, and we’ve only just started,” he teased, darting his pale eyes up to Ivan in smug pleasure.

“Shut up,” Till hissed back despite the growing pinkening of his skin. Despite his protests, his hips moved, desperate for ecstasy. Ivan could hear the confirmation of Till’s wetness, their slick motions carried on the air.

“I barely even have to move,” Luka was apparently a talker during sex, much to everyone’s distaste but no one’s surprise. “You’re so needy that you’re doing all the work yourself.”

“Maybe you could make it better for me instead of bragging about doing nothing,” Till bit back in between pecks of Ivan’s lips. Till’s whine when Luka withdrew from him was like nothing Ivan had heard before. “What are you doing?”

“If you want me to do more then I’m going to need your full attention. Get on your back.”

Ah, Luka could be a spiteful creature. With an irate parting kiss, Till did as the alpha demanded. As much as Till might say he doesn’t like Luka, he made the decision to push away from Ivan, lay on his back and part his legs for the man. The huffs of their groans as their bodies slid back together was something Ivan would hear echoed in his mind for a long time, a sound of combined need.

“Even in this position your hips are moving like crazy,” Luka breathlessly remarked. “So desperate. Has he ever been like this for you, Ivan?”

Amid feeling unsure about what to even do with himself in this situation, Luka threw the insult without hesitation, his voice barely louder than Till’s moans. His boyfriend’s moans. There was no response he could give. Sure, he’d been with Till during heats and yes, during those times he was sexually very needy. Ivan was sure during some of those heats Till had moved against Ivan just as much as he was against Luka now. Probably.

“You’re such a dick,” Till defended, back arching.

Till was always vocal during sex, and this time was no different as much as Ivan would like to not hear it for once. Ivan recognised the meaning behind the change in his moans instantly, and the tightening of his legs around Luka. Stickiness flooded between them as Till threw his head back in bliss.

“I bet this is usually when Ivan finishes as well, then rolls over and thinks it’s a job well done,” just as Ivan thought this nightmare might be over, Luka had to speak again. “Don’t worry,” Luka nuzzled the top of his head against the crook of Till’s neck, likely some sort of scenting that Ivan couldn’t detect. “I know what you need.”

With a whimper more urgent than Ivan had heard before, Till lifted his head higher, offering his jugular to Luka in a submissive animalistic display. Luka acknowledged this action with his teeth, nibbling playfully at the exposed length of throat as he continued to thrust into Till, his rhythm undeterred by the omega’s orgasm.

Often, Ivan had heard other betas make offhanded comments towards alphas and omegas. They would compare them to animals, instinctive and impulsive. They would lament that it wasn’t fair how alphas were often treated so well, and omegas were so carnally desired when both were just glorified beasts.

Ivan had never agreed with such thoughts. Knowing Till so well, he realised that those with presentations were more than just alphas or omegas. They were just as much individuals as betas were. While they had their instincts to contend with, it didn’t define them.

Watching the pair go at it now, Ivan was beginning to rethink his stark defence of alphas and omegas. Seeing Till come so undone at the hands of an alpha he disliked, submitting in whole to the man, Ivan wondered how much of him his omega needs ruled. He wondered if Till was only letting this happen because he knew Luka at least, or if he would offer himself completely to any alpha that got close enough to him in this state.

For how long had Till wanted this? How much had he held himself back in the past to stop from giving in to any alpha that tried to feel him up preheat? And, more worryingly, Ivan couldn’t help but wonder if Till had held himself back. Could he really have resisted every alpha for the years they’d been together if he needed one this badly?

He shook himself from those thoughts. He trusted Till. He didn’t like what was happening right now, but it had been Ivan that brought Luka here in the first place. Till wouldn’t be doing this otherwise. It was Ivan’s fault. He allowed this to happen.

Till’s second orgasm came quickly after the first, running a visible shudder through his body with the spill of his release. The tremble of his thighs was the impetus for them to change position under Luka’s instruction. Till didn’t resist or spit back insults. He just shifted onto his knees and held the headboard, biting his lip until Luka pressed back into him and continued from this new angle.

“You’re so wet that even I’m soaked,” Luka rumbled having been quiet far too long. He wasn’t lying, his groin and thighs glistened with the sheen of Till’s slick.

“Fuck…” Till’s ability to speak had been hindered somewhere between his orgasms, reducing him to little more than moans and slurred expletives. High on alpha pheromones. Innate desires fulfilled for the first time in years.

Not to leave Ivan out entirely, Till reached a weak arm in his boyfriend’s direction, eager to pull him into another kiss. It was clumsy and passionate, but unfortunately Ivan understood that this passion was not stirred up by him. Still, he kissed back and hung on every shift of Till’s lips, taking whatever he could get that reminded him that Till was still his.

“Luka,” the gasp of the alpha’s name against Ivan’s lips snapped him out of the blissful trance Till’s kisses had put him in. The cause was clear when he opened his eyes. Luka’s tongue danced across the back of Till’s neck, lips and teeth grazing his glands. The omega glands that alphas bit and injected their pheromones into when they bonded and marked the omega as theirs.

Till had pushed Ivan’s mouth to his nape many times before, and Ivan had nibbled and nipped but it had never been enough to satisfy. Reasonably, Ivan felt, he feared biting too harshly into another person’s neck. The last thing he wanted was to hurt, or worse yet, kill Till in a thoughtless moment of lust. Even if he did bite in the right way, he had no pheromones to inject, making it just an act of violence rather than one of possession.

Luka certainly had no right to stake a claim on Till, yet as he teased those glands, Till made no move to shove him away. Instead, he huffed lewd sounds and repetitions of Luka’s name into Ivan’s mouth while the man in question eyed Ivan from his place on Till’s back. His gaze dripped in the knowing of Ivan’s turmoil, and the foul taste of Luka’s name breathed on his tongue.

When Till did finally move, it wasn’t to halt Luka. Tangling his fingers in thick threads of golden blonde, Till clutched Luka closer to his nape, much like he had held Ivan in the past, practically pressing Luka’s teeth into the skin himself. His desperation drew a breathy chuckle from Luka, whose words were muffled but clear enough to Ivan’s ears when he spoke.

“Wow, he wants to be marked by me,” his growled wonderment had Till loosen his grip a little, but he was not released. “I wouldn’t bond another man’s omega,” a statement that would mean something by itself, but Luka was not a man of morals. “Not without his say so, at least. If you want me to mark you, Ivan has to permit me.”

With just a single look into those conflicted teal eyes, Ivan knew what was coming. It would have been easy if Till simply opened his mouth and denied Luka himself, but he wouldn’t hesitate to do that. He was hesitating now. He didn’t want to admit his wants to Ivan.

“Do you want him to?” Ivan asked quietly, his voice weaker than he’d expected it to be. He damned the shake of his words that he knew Luka heard. If Till wanted this, he’d have to say it. Ivan wouldn’t give Luka the permission he sought without Till telling him he wanted this.

“Ivan, I,” Till fumbled over his words, panted and uncertain. With the heat of Luka’s mouth returned to the sensitive portion of his neck, his mind was made up much faster with a frantic nod. “Please,” was the only coherent word he could get through his lips as he gripped Luka’s head with one hand and the headrest with the other in desire. Well, if he changed his mind, at least he’d be able to pull at Luka’s hair and put a stop to it. Ivan didn’t like it though. Not one bit.

“Fine. Do what you want,” he couldn’t deny Till with his face as flushed and hazed in arousal as he had been in that photo he’d sent Ivan the first time he’d been invited to help during his heat. He still had it saved on his phone. He looked at it whenever he worried that he wasn’t enough for Till and reminded himself that Till had been the one to ask for his help, knowing that he’s a beta. Till had liked him. Till had wanted him. He was enough for Till. Was. A laugh bubbled in his chest. Had he really ever been enough?

Till looked like he wanted to say something, justify himself or coo words of loyalty, but anything he wanted to say died on his tongue when Luka tightened his grip on Till’s hips and bit. With their bodies flush and damp with one another’s sweat, Till’s eyes watered and closed with shaky breaths, his tight grasp of Luka’s hair unshifting as teeth dug through flesh.

Ivan had always been unsure of how hard Till wanted him to bite. He could gnaw hard enough to leave deep indents which bruised, and that seemed plenty hard enough to Ivan. Now, seeing Luka’s lips rouged red with blood, Ivan started to get an idea of the numerous ways he had disappointed Till throughout their relationship.

He didn’t leave it there. Of course he didn’t. With renewed vigour, Luka bit down on spots along Till’s shoulders, leaving dental records in his wake. Till finally released his hold of Luka, face wet with tears of enjoyment, huffing and whining with each new bite, each new surrender. The unmistakable markings would mar his skin for days, if not weeks, serving as constant reminders to Ivan as to his inabilities.

“I wouldn’t normally mark an omega on a casual hook-up,” Luka only spoke once he was satisfied with the wounds he had inflicted. “But I get a feeling I’ll be seeing you again,” his words were meant for Till, but his gaze didn’t leave Ivan’s. “A beta just doesn’t compare the real thing, does it?”

Till didn’t reply. He didn’t need to. His trembling, stuttering orgasm was more than enough of a response.

By the time Luka had Till on his back again, Till was a mess. Coated in tears, sweat and his own cum, blood weeping from sore bites, their edges bruising, he trembled and sobbed and held tightly onto Luka. Ivan had never worked Till into an overstimulated wreck like this before. He had never thought to. He didn’t know that Till wanted him to.

“You feel that?” Luka breathed down at Till, the weight of something heavy between them as Till bit at his lips and looked deep into the other. “That’s my knot starting to swell. I normally go much longer, but the omegas I’m with aren’t normally so hot for me.”

Knotting. Another thing Ivan couldn’t do for Till. A bit of alpha-only biology. They had bought toys with the bulge of knots at their base, but Till only ever used them when he was in a rough heat. He didn’t usually get on with them, said they felt weird. Although Till had been with an alpha before he and Ivan got together, there had been no biting or knotting. No signs of commitment. Knotting was for proper couples and omegas that actually had medicine that worked for them since contraceptive medication was only as effective as heat medication, which for Till was not at all.

Ivan didn’t like looking at the point they were connected, but after hearing Luka’s statement he couldn’t help letting his eyes wander. Luka had reared back, the slowly swelling portion of his cock in sight. Till’s legs wrapped harder around Luka’s middle, the heels of his feet pressing into the small of his back in retaliation.

“Don’t,” Till spoke sharply, overwhelmed in ways he craved. “Don’t leave. Put it in,” Till’s demand came in huffs, each word punctuated with pushes against Luka’s back to try and draw him back in.

“Cute,” Luka purred, not obeying but letting the bulge of his knot put a little pressure against Till in teasing. “But I need to pull out and put a condom on, unless you want me finishing inside you.”

His light words hit Ivan hard. Right, even though they changed positions a few times, at no point did Luka put on a condom. A sickness swirled in him at the thought. He should have had one on from the start. Luka had been with many partners; he knew better than this. It wasn’t ignorance, but malice. A show to Ivan that he could even do this. An alpha that needed to assert his petty dominance at every corner.

“Don’t you dare,” Till snarled, his grip on Luka firm and unwavering. Luka’s eyes glittered with something Ivan couldn’t place. Concern? Excitement? “In. Put your knot in.”

Both Ivan and Luka paused to process Till’s demand. The smile that worked its way onto Luka’s face was all the joy that was taken from Ivan.

“Sure, we can do it your way,” with a roll of his hips, the small swell of Luka’s knot was returned to Till with an ecstatic gasp. It wasn’t yet big enough to lock them together, but its increasing size made such a game of pushing and pulling dangerous. “Just tell me that you want it like this. Tell me that you want me to fill you up.”

Ivan was almost thankful for Luka’s taunts. Although his pulse quickened every second that Luka’s growing knot was buried inside Till, he knew that Till would never tell Luka what he wants to hear. Despite everything, Till didn’t like Luka. Instincts were one thing, begging Luka to fill him with seed was another.

“Please,” the small whimper that strained from Till’s throat was not what Ivan hoped would grace his ears. “Just like this. I want it just like this,” even Till’s voice trembled along with the shake of his body as he enwrapped Luka in his arms, desperate to keep their bodies together.

“You’re begging like you want me to knock you up,” Luka practically moaned his words, enjoying the risk he was taking far too much for Ivan’s liking. “Is that it?” He whispered into Till’s ear, more than loud enough for their audience to hear as well. “Is that what you want?”

Till’s tearful nodding against the side of Luka’s face was like a stab through Ivan’s heart. Why was he agreeing to that? Logically, Ivan knew it was because of Till’s heat. The purpose of a heat was breeding, it followed that in his heat-drunk state, Till might be more inclined to take a risk like this.

What hurt was that Till wasn’t like that with Ivan. He didn’t beg Ivan to finish inside him. Whenever they didn’t use a condom, it was due to forgetfulness, not desperation. Till had never shown Ivan a desire to get pregnant. Did it really make such a huge difference that Luka was an alpha and Ivan was not?

“Luka,” Ivan rumbled, a threat clear in his tone.

“But he wants it so badly, Ivan,” Luka taunted, lightly flushed with the accumulation of his own arousal. Was this what Luka liked? “Isn’t this about giving him what he needs?”

“A pregnancy scare is the last thing he needs,” Ivan snapped back, apparently the only person in the room with such concerns.

“He certainly doesn’t seem very scared.”

Ivan wanted to bite back with comments about Till not exactly being in his right mind, but as he opened his mouth, his retort was cut off by a throaty groan. When Luka’s eyes found their way back to Ivan from his momentary haze, it froze something in him.

“Well, there’s no stopping now.”

The motion of Luka’s hips had slowly reduced as the space grew tighter, and now his movements had all but stopped. Ivan understood, but he wished he didn’t. Luka’s knot had fully swollen, locking the pair together until it deflated. The point of no return.

“You’re holding me so tight,” Ivan just wanted Luka to shut up. “You’re really desperate for it, aren’t you?” He needed everyone to shut up. No more panting, no more moaning, no more talking.

“Luka,” definitely no more gasping of names. “Please,” pleading and begging, “I want to feel it inside, I want all of it,” Till would never talk like this if he wasn’t intoxicated by his heat. That’s all it was. That’s all any of this was. It could be any alpha and Till would be just the same. He was just desperate. Desperate because he was with Ivan, a beta who couldn’t give him what he needed.

As shudders rocked through their bodies, it was clear that Luka had hit his climax at last, no doubt unleashing waves upon waves of his spend into Till, every drop of it locked inside the omega thanks to the plug of Luka’s knot. Offensive as the sight was, it paled in comparison to what Ivan saw next. Lost within the ecstasy of their mating, Luka pressed his lips to Till’s, the action eagerly reciprocated.

In silence, all Ivan could hear was the rub of their bodies and the mixing of their saliva. He was an intruder on an intimate scene. One he should be the leading role of, not Luka. Instead, Till wore the indents of Luka’s teeth like a brand and arched at the feeling of Luka’s release filling his body, satisfying his instinctive needs.

But really, it was ridiculous to think that any omega would choose Ivan over Luka. He faced it regularly; Luka was just a better version of him. Sure, Ivan was bigger and had a more ‘dark and mysterious’ appeal, but it was Luka’s picture on the biggest releases. He was more beautiful, graceful and pleasing than Ivan could ever hope to be. His alpha status only made him more attractive. Perhaps an insecure alpha would pick Ivan over Luka, but certainly no omega.

Although Ivan supported Till in his desire to be himself before being an omega, in this moment he was an omega like any other. One that would rather hang off the lips of Luka than Ivan. A lifetime of feelings be damned, Luka was an alpha and that trumps anything Ivan thought they had.

Still locked deep, Luka pressed his forehead to Till’s, lips wet from kissing. One of his hands traced the shape of Till’s body, chill fingertips resting against his lower stomach. They looked every part of a married couple trying to conceive rather than a casual fuck.

“Maybe it’s the bonding, but you look perfect like this. Doing everything your body is made for has you glowing,” Luka poured out his affections, his gaze and words intended only for the man beneath him for the first time.

Ivan was no longer needed. He had been bested, and now Luka was done with him. Not even Till spared him a glance, enraptured by Luka’s focus. Who wouldn’t be?

“I want to see you round with child and know that it’s mine,” only on his growl of possession did Luka let his eyes trail away from Till, acknowledging the other person in the room with something colder and sharper than the pettiness he arrived here with. “Hyuna doesn’t want children, so maybe this is a fine compromise.”

It absolutely wasn’t. Hyuna might be able to look the other way, as it sounds like she often does with Luka’s outrageous behaviour, but Ivan wouldn’t. He might have allowed this to happen, but the decision to not do things safely laid firmly on the shoulders of the pair in bed. He was sure nothing would come of it. The contraceptives would do their job. He was sure.

Ivan saw Luka again in the living room, his nausea having mounted to a point he could no longer manage. Redressed, Ivan would have never known what Luka had been up to if he hadn’t watched. He wished he hadn’t seen it. He was probably drenched in pheromones, Till’s pheromones, so for once Ivan was glad his nose didn’t work like that.

“It’s been a pleasure,” Luka reached a hand out to shake like this had been some kind of appointment. Ivan gripped harder than professional. Luka’s grin didn’t falter. “I’m surprised he wanted me to go so far. I wouldn’t normally bond or do it raw, but I thought I’d make a special exception since he’s yours,” it was a battle of smiles, and this was Ivan’s kind of competition. “That’s what friends do.”

“Till seemed very happy,” Ivan spat, hating the taste of every syllable.

“I think he’ll want to see me again,” not if Ivan could help it. “Since we’re bonded now, after all. He’ll crave me until that bite wears away, especially if our union was fruitful,” Ivan wasn’t a violent man, but in this moment, he wanted little more than to bash Luka’s head in until he stopped moving. “You’ll keep me updated on that, won’t you?”

“Of course,” even Ivan could hear the stiffness of his own words. The flicker of fury that threatened to spill over. Luka’s smile grew wider.

“He might need some help cleaning up. I don’t think he’s been exhausted like that for a while. Well, see you next week,” Luka waved, reminding Ivan of his next scheduled photoshoot.

Till did need help cleaning up, having practically passed out after Luka’s departure. They didn’t speak much as Ivan helped him into a bath and covered the bites with whatever bandages or gauzes would fit over the awkward curves of Till’s shoulders. Out of sight, out of mind.

“Was it good?” Ivan finally found it in him to bring up the topic, bitterness sharp on his tongue.

“Really good,” apparently that bitterness was not sharp enough for Till to taste, spaced-out as he was from Luka’s visit.

The following day made the night before feel like a dream. Something unreal. Something that didn’t happen. But it did. Till’s energetic enthusiasm cemented to Ivan that it had happened. He was out of heat early, bruised in a few places Ivan’s bandaging didn’t cover.

Ivan’s body never made Till this joyous. He could fuck and fuck during Till’s heats, but they would never end early, usually ending achy and grumpy instead of buzzing with this excitement.

This was what Till was meant to be. Creative and full of life. He really had needed what Luka could provide. As much as he would deny it and say that he loved Ivan, the evidence was all there. Till needed an alpha.

As the next heat rolled around after yet another failed dosage adjustment of his medication, Luka was more than happy to attend when asked. In fact, Luka had been the one to bring up the conversation, having felt the twang of his omega’s desperation through their bond. Ivan supposed he was right. Luka had bonded and marked Till. As an alpha, Till was his omega. He was Ivan’s boyfriend though. They were in love.

“Maybe this time something will come from it,” Luka teased, his threat evident. Ivan wouldn’t be there this time. Maybe he should be there to mediate, but they were both adults. They could make their own choices. He didn’t want to watch.

Seeing Till bearing his refreshed mating bite, and no used condom in sight, Ivan accepted that this was their decision. Come what may, he loved Till. Not the omega that Till was, but the person that Till was. Dealing with what his instincts drove him to need was just a necessary evil.

It was mostly out of spite that Ivan stopped using protection as well. It wasn’t something Till could argue with. He let Luka do it bare, his long-term boyfriend should get to do the same. Although Till had more luck with contraceptives than his heat medicine, or maybe the low fertility from being a male omega helped, Till’s eventual pregnancy was a surprise to no one.

Ivan just hoped it wouldn’t be blonde.