Chapter Text
A rundown of how this particular 'verse works:
Sex vs Gender: In this fic, sex is male or female, whereas gender is alpha, beta or omega, and anybody can be any combination of them. That's it.
Discrimination and stereotypes do exist and have a significant role. In theory and according to the law, all the genders are equal, but people have their opinions, and discrimination is commonplace in the same way that it is in our society against, for example, women and LGBT individuals. And this is, of course, a story about Stiles, so it is a story about defiance.
Alphas: Have red eyes. They are physically the strongest and fastest and have good senses. Biologically, both male and female alphas have knots - males have the knot on their dick that swells, whereas females have a ring of muscle that tightens and latches on. The purpose of the knot is to increase fertility and the chances of having children.
Betas: Have gold eyes. They aren't as strong or fast as alphas but they are generally much smarter and more cunning. They do not have knots. Additionally, their bodies are not really built to procreate with alphas, but they do so anyway.
Omegas: Have blue eyes. They aren't naturally strong either, but they have the best senses and are talented at reading people. They do not have knots, rather, their organs are built to work with alpha knots. Alpha knots are often uncomfortable and sometimes painful for betas, but this isn't the case for omegas.
Fertility: Alpha/omega pairings have a very good chance of producing offspring, but omegas are uncommon. Alpha/beta pairs are the next most likely, followed by beta/beta, then alpha/alpha, then omega/omega. Betas and omegas cannot produce children together at all, and don't feel any attraction towards each other. This is because omegas are nature's way of upping the overall fertility rate, which they do by being very compatible with alphas, so they're not attracted to betas at all.
Presenting: Used interchangeably with 'declaring'. Happens on a person's seventeenth birthday, not from birth. People who have not presented - that is, people under 17 - do not have heightened senses or strength, and are not attracted or attractive to people who have presented.
Mpreg: Not a thing in this 'verse. To produce a child, the parents must be male/female.
Underage: I'm not sure how to tag this for underage. The legal age for sex in this story is 17 (presenting age). All explicit sex happens between people aged 17 and over. There are also references to sex at age 16, none of which are remotely explicit.
Consent: There are the usual consent issues surrounding the A/B/O trope. Legal framework exists to prevent people from taking advantage of others during heats/ruts but it isn't always effective. The story does deal with this issue.
Sorry about that, but I'd rather put it out here in the beginning than end up with long-winded and boring exposition at daft places in the story. So. Enjoy and please do tell me what you think!