Chapter Text
The sterile scent of antiseptic filled the small exam room, but Caitlyn could hardly focus on it. Her mind was buzzing with uncertainty, and she couldn't stop my fingers from tapping nervously against the cold edge of the exam table. Dr. Harper was kind, more so than she'd expected, but it didn’t ease the growing knot in her stomach.
"You're at the age now, Caitlyn. Seventeen is the threshold for most alphas," Dr. Harper said, smiling through the thick lenses of her glasses. She sat across from Caitlyn, her voice soft and reassuring, though the words themselves were anything but. "Your first rut should be arriving soon, and it's likely that when it does, your internal reproductive organ will appear for the first time and you will be able to ejaculate. Your fangs will eventually contract and descent as well."
Caitlyn tried to swallow, but her throat felt dry, the air heavy with the weight of those words. She shifted uncomfortably in my seat, pulling the hem of her sweater lower over my hands. Rut. First rut. The thing every alpha girl dreaded. The first time your body betrays you in front of everyone.
“And it may be uncomfortable.” Dr. Harper added.
"Uncomfortable? Is it… painful?" Caitlyn asked, her voice barely above a whisper. She hadn't meant to sound so vulnerable, but it slipped out before she could stop herself. Dr. Harper’s eyes softened, but her response was more clinical than comforting.
"It’s not necessarily painful, but it’s intense. Your pheromones will become... much stronger," she explained, tapping a pen against the desk as she glanced at the chart. "The people around you will may able to smell it. It’s your body preparing for reproduction, Caitlyn. That’s when your reproductive organ will most likely emerge, and that can be very... embarrassing."
Caitlyn could feel her face flushing. The thought of anyone seeing it—of anyone noticing—made her skin crawl. She never saw it herself. She would probably be creepy out of it. Having an erection. Ugh.
"What should I do?" Caitlyn asked, her voice cracking slightly. "I don’t want to go to school and have everyone—"
"You will take a few days off at home, nesting until your rut passes, like every adult alpha or omega. It's normal to feel embarrassed, especially when it’s your first time. No one should expect you to deal with it in public." She smiled gently, though it felt empty. "I’ll give you a sick note for when the time comes. Okay?"
A sick note. Like a permission slip, a way to make sure Caitlyn would escape the inevitable embarrassment that awaited. Her breath hitched.
"Will I be... noticeable?" She asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
Dr. Harper nodded. "The pheromones are impossible to miss. And if your reproductive organ emerges... Well, that’s something that’s often hard to hide. But I’m pretty sure that it won’t come in the next two months, so you have time to prepare for it." She paused, letting the weight of her words hang in the air. "You may feel embarrassed about it, Caitlyn. But remember, it’s a part of who you are."
A part of who I am.
Caitlyn’s heartbeat quickened. As if she needed another thing to make her stand out—another thing that could make her the subject of gossip, of whispers behind her back. Being an alpha girl in this world was already hard enough without ruts.
“Don’t worry, Caitlyn,” Dr. Harper said, as though she could sense the girl’s distress. “You’ll adjust to it. It’s just a matter of time.”
But Caitlyn wasn’t sure she’d ever adjust to it. The idea of being exposed to herself, of facing a new part of her body she always pretended it didn’t exist...
She wasn’t ready.
The bell rang, signaling the start of recess, and Caitlyn headed toward the group of popular girls huddled together near the courtyard. Stella and Evelyn were waiting for her, both smiling in that polished, practiced way that always made her feel like she didn’t belong.
"Hey, Cait! You look amazing as always," Evelyn said, her voice dripping with sweet flattery. Like almost every girl in school, she was an omega. A stunning one.
Caitlyn smiled back. "Hey, guys."
Stella was the first to speak up, her voice laced with excitement. "I think I'm about to go into heat any day now!" She grinned widely, with a gold sparkle in her eyes. "My family’s already planning a party afterwards.”
“Oh. Really?” It was almost impossible for Caitlyn to understand how someone would feel good about having a first-heat-party. “You must be so happy.”
“Sure, but guess what: they want me to nest alone. They said it’s important to have the first one only by myself, even though I said I want to spend it with Josh."
Caitlyn suppressed a groan. Stella was ALWAYS talking about Josh, her boyfriend - who was, of course, an alpha, like the majority of the boys at school. It was one of the many things that had come to define her—always about the attention, always about being the center of something. She seemed to thrive on it.
"I thought that should be supposed to be a private thing, right?" Caitlyn asked, half-teasing. “Everyone says that. It's better to pass through it alone in the first time.”
"It is!" Evelyn laughed, flicking her hair over her shoulder. "But you know Stella, right? She doesn’t care about the rules. Josh will be there, in a way or another." She shrugged, leaning back casually on the bench.
Caitlyn nodded, though she wasn’t listening as closely anymore. Her attention was drawn to something—or rather, someone. A figure walking down the hallway near the courtyard.
Vi.
She didn’t seem to notice them at first, her head down, walking with her siblings—Mylo and Claggor. Powder, the younger girl, trailed behind them, her small frame looking frail. Powder was one of the few female alphas in school. The two boys were beta, and the whole family was poor, so everyone of them should be the target of bullying.
But Vi was the only one everyone picked on, the only one they whispered about. It was as if she was a kind of shield for the other siblings, taking all the hit for them.
And there was the fact that she liked girls, even being one. More than that, omega girls. Despite being one.
Evelyn sneered, her voice carrying across the open space. "What about you, Vi? Who was the lady you spent your first heat with?"
The question was laced with venom, and Caitlyn could feel it hitting her before Vi even turned her head.
That was a jab at something the girl had already endured for years until now.
But she didn’t even flinch. She just kept walking, eyes straight ahead, completely unfazed.
Caitlyn swallowed hard, feeling her cheeks flush. The thought of being attracted to girls unsettled her more than she wanted to admit. She’d spent so much time trying to conform to the role she was supposed to play—being the perfect daughter, the girl who had it all despite being an alpha—but now, her attraction to girls was growing, and it terrified her.
Surely it was because she was about to present as an alpha. She couldn't be normal like the omega's ones, since she was an alpha female. It was natural that she would have the most strange feelings.
A natural abomination.
Caitlyn cleared her throat, shifting uncomfortably. "It’s none of your business, Evelyn." She tried to smirk, though she wasn’t sure if it would be wise to defend Vi.
“Whoa girl. Relax.” Evelyn snapped back, laughing.
(for Caitlyn's luck)
The sound of chatter and laughter echoed around Caitlyn as she sat at the edge of the courtyard, trying to focus on something—anything—to distract from the growing unease in her chest. She’d never been good at silencing her thoughts, and it was intrusive as ever.
The way Vi had walked past earlier, without flinching at Evelyn’s jab, stuck with her. She was such a contrast to the polished omegas Caitlyn used to spend her time with.
Vi was unbothered, like she’d already made peace with the world’s cruelty, with that sharp, aggressive look that never softened for anyone except her siblings. It was like she had built up this impenetrable armor around her, and despite everything—despite the bullying, the whispers behind her back—she wore it like a badge of honor.
Caitlyn couldn’t help but admire her for it.
Vi sexuality, something so private and so hers , had never been a secret. She’d kissed another omega girl before, something that had only worsened the ridicule she faced, but she didn’t let it break her or tried to hide herself. And Caitlyn very much admired that, indeed.
But the truth was, Caitlyn didn’t know if she’d ever have the guts to admit that she was attracted to girls.
A long, irritated breath left her lips.
The idea that she would likely be forced into an arranged marriage with some alpha man chosen by her mother was maddening. In this world, a match between two alphas would be the best prospect for her. She could just impregnate from an alpha male, and pretend she was an omega, like 90% of females.
But Caitlyn didn’t want it.
She found myself lost in thought, wondering what it would be like to have that kind of confidence Vi had, that kind of... freedom.
And to think Vi had a very typical omega body.
She wasn’t tall, not by any means. She was actually short, with wide hips, but there was a fire to her that made her stand out in any room she walked into. Her features were soft, with a rounded face and freckles that dotted across her nose, but her eyes—her big gray eyes—had a ferocity that could cut through anyone.
Her hairstyle was pretty wild as well, red locks falling on the right and a side cut on the left, with no interest in being tamed. There was something (obviously) rebellious about her style too. Vi was always wearing ripped jeans, faded tank tops, and those worn-in Converse sneakers that made it look like she’d never been afraid to get her hands dirty.
There were the small details as well. The black nails, the heavy eyeliner she wore, the way it accentuated the intensity in her gaze.
And she loved to skateboard. Caitlyn had seen her glide down the sidewalk a few times, effortlessly. It suited her energy—the energy Caitlyn envied and feared at the same time.
There were rumors that Vi had her first heat last year. It made sense.
Her scent was subtle, floral—like jasmine—delicate despite its intensity, the typical intensity of a developed omega. When she passed by, Caitlyn could smell it for a fleeting moment. It was an almost gentle fragrance - which was ironic really, because Vi looked everything but gentle.
A heat passed through Caitlyn core and she instantly felt embarrassed. Vi’s scent was just… so her —and it was always filling the air in a way that was good in a very strange sense.
Damn.
If anyone knew how Caitlyn was feeling —if anyone knew that she was thinking about Vi like this—she’d be ruined. Even if it was something deep inside of her that wouldn’t let go, it didn’t matter.
She had to keep it hidden.
The gymnasium was buzzing with energy, the bright lights illuminating the excited faces of students as they poured in for the annual school sports event. There was a lot of pressure on Caitlyn today—after all, she was the one in charge of the entire event.
She had been assigned to lead the opening ceremony, deliver the acceptance speech, and kick off the day’s events. The crowd expected nothing less than grace and pose. She was Caitlyn, the daughter of senator Cassandra Kiramman, the one everyone looked up to.
But as she walked onto the stage, microphone in hand, everything felt different. She had been feeling strange all morning, a quiet discomfort settling in the pit of her chest, but she brushed it off. The butterflies fluttered, but nothing Cailtyn couldn’t control. Or so she thought.
As the alpha girl began to speak, the words felt like they were slipping through her fingers, and she found it hard to concentrate. Her vision swam, the lights too bright, the buzzing too loud. She wiped the back of my neck, and her fingers came away slick with sweat. Her skin, already sensitive, seemed to burn under the heat of the stage lights.
Caitlyn forced herself to continue, but the weight in the chest grew. Something was wrong. The air suddenly felt thick, heavy, as though it was pressing against her lungs, restricting her breathing.
And then-----
She felt it before she saw it—a strange pulling sensation low in the abdomen, deep within her body, like a pressure building up from the inside. The involuntary shift as her body responded to its overwhelming biological urge.
Caitlyn froze mid-sentence, the words stuck in her throat. She could feel it—the unmistakable, unwanted sensation of the erection starting to emerge.
It was a rut. Her first rut.
It hadn't been two months. But it was there.
The sudden realization hit her like a freight train. No. Not now. Not here.
Not in front of all these people.
Cailtyn swallowed hard, her throat dry and constricted:
“Uh… excuse me,” She said, my voice cracking slightly, betraying her panic. “I need to step down for a moment. Something... urgent has come up. Please, enjoy the event. I’ll be right back.”
Caitlyn hurried off the stage, stumbling slightly as her legs threatened to give out beneath me. The hum of confused whispers from the audience echoed in her ears.
“Excuse me. It’s alright. Everything is alright. It’s just a family urgency.” She kept repeating, doing her best to escape the situation earlier as possible.
As the alpha girl walked briskly through the corridors of the gymnasium, the heat kept spreading through her like wildfire. Her heart raced, both palms clammy as sweat continued to trickle down her skin. Caitlyn pushed open the nearest door, desperate to get away from the crowd, but it was the bathroom, and it was already crowded with people.
She did her best to think about an alternative:
The dormitory.
But as she started to head in that direction, she saw a group of students heading into the dorms, and the last thing Caitlyn needed was to run into someone now—someone who would notice her scent, her pheromones, her... condition.
After a tortuous time searching for somewhere to be alone, Caitlyn found a storage room (inside a kitchen basement) as a refuge.
But even there, hidden away from prying eyes, she couldn’t escape the pain, the heat. The fever was climbing, her reproductive organ fully out now, swollen with the pressure, throbbing painfully with her pulse. Caitlyn didn't have the courage to pull down her pants and see it, but maybe the pain would force her to be naked below.
The pain eventually got so intense that Caitlyn curled up on the cold floor of the storage room, her body trembling uncontrollably, tears streaming down her face, an endless flow she couldn’t stop.
They will know. They smell it. Maybe they even saw it.
The idea was maddening, so she started thinking about solutions:
It’s okay. I can move to another school. It’s not the end of the world.
I don’t have to look these people in the eyes. I can just go and never come back.
It will be fine. I will be fine.
“Are you okay?” A soft voice broke through the haze of her panic.
Caitlyn froze. Her body tensed up, and for a moment, the pain and anxiety receded just enough for her to hear clearly. The voice was unmistakable.
And not only the voice. The scent of jasmine was there, sweet and youthful, as comforting as a cup of hot tea with honey.
It was her.
Vi.
“You---” The alpha girl wiped her eyes quickly, trying to hide the tears, but her breathing was still ragged, sharp gasps coming too quickly for her to control. "You---"
Just fucking TALK, goddamn it!
“How—how did you know I was here?” Caitlyn finally managed to ask, hoarse.
“I could tell you were in trouble before you started to speak.” Vi said matter-of-factly.
“What?”
“Your scent changed the moment you stepped up there. It’s... hard to miss.”
Caitlyn’s heart hammered in her chest at Vi’s words, panic bubbling up once again.
She smelled it.
Everyone did.
“I—I didn’t want anyone to notice,” Caitlyn whispered, more to herself than to the omega girl, wiping her face again in a futile attempt to look poised. “And now…”
Vi paused for a moment, her brow furrowing with concern:
“Hey. It’s okay. I don’t think no one else noticed actually. At least it didn’t seem like that.” She informed, gently. “Everyone says my sense of smell is like, super sharp, so…”
Is she lying to comfort me?
If it was true it was indeed a relief, but at this point Caitlyn couldn't care so much to that matter anymore:
“It hurts.” She whimpered, unable to hide the desperation in her voice. The words tumbled out before she could stop them. “I feel like I’m on fire... everything hurts.”
“Right.” Vi started, her voice soft but steady. “Alphas feel more at ease when they’re close to an omega. I mean... as you know Powder is an alpha. She loves to sleep curled up next to me. It calms her down. Sometimes you just need to nest with an omega, know whatta mean?”
Caitlyn looked at her in disbelief:
“Are you proposing to nest with me now?”
Her alpha inside was screaming at her pleasepleasepleaseplease.
You want it.
You need her.
To survive.
“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Vi added quickly, as if sensing something wrong. “But maybe... maybe we can just relax a little. Sit down, you can nuzzle my glands, I can roll a joint. That might help you calm down.”
Caitlyn stiffened at the suggestion.
Really? Vi would let her do that? Nuzzle her glands? Why?
The idea of… getting close to Vi, and then feeling her scent…the jasmine scent, feeling it so close, so raw, and maybe licking… and…
If the pain in her chest was already starting to ease with just the possibility of hugging Vi, the idea of nuzzling her scent glands made Caitlyn’s... organ shiver with excitement.
And no. Caitlyn didn’t want that. She didn’t want Vi to notice how she was feeling —how her body was reacting with the proposal.
Vi suddenly interrupted her thoughts:
“I can also leave. If you want.” She offered, her voice soft.
Leave?
“No,” Caitlyn blurted out, her words coming faster than she could control. “No, don’t go. Please stay with me. Please.”
The words hung in the air between them for a moment, heavy and desperate.
Vi seemed to take a while to process it, and then nodded. She sat down beside Caitlyn, her movements slow and measured, sliding her arm around the alpha’s shoulders.
Caitlyn leaned into it instinctively, nuzzling in her neck, the contact soothing her in an instantaneous way she hadn’t anticipated.
So good.
Leaning closer, Caitlyn settled into the crook of the omega’s neck and shoulder. Luckily for her, Vi was wearing a long, striped shirt with an open neckline.
So SO good.
The omega wrapped her arms tighter around her, and Caitlyn could feel the heartbeat against her chest, steady and calm.
Vi seemed unbothered by the closeness:
“Here, here.” She opened a smirk. “It helps, doesn’t it?”
Caitlyn just nodded, still taking her time to enjoy the contact.
“How about some weed? It always helps during my heats.” Vi proposed, but Caitlyn was thinking about something else:
“Sorry.” She suddenly whispered against the warm skin.
Vi looked surprised:
“Uh? Sorry for what?”
“For being mean to you.” Caitlyn had no way to know Vi's expression right now. She let herself shut both eyes, floating in the omega's scent.
“Pfff. You were never mean to me.” Vi gave a little chuckle, lighting the joint. “But yeah, you have some VERY shitty friends, Cupcake.”
“Cupcake?”
“Yeah. Since you smell like, y’know. A cupcake.” The redhead girl explained, a caustic smirk on her face.
“I do not!” Caitlyn protested.
“You do.” Vi laughed, taking a deep drag. The smell of marijuana was beginning to infest the air. “It's like baked bread, but in a sweet way. A cupcake.“
“It can’t be. An alpha's scent is rarely sweet.”
“Yeah, but you're not a typical alpha, are you Cupcake?” She said with confidence, offering her the joint. “Here. It will help.”
“It’s illegal.”
“And...?” Vi replied, clearly not taking her too seriously. “You’re in pain, aren’t you?”
Caitlyn gave in, lifting the joint to her mouth and taking a deep breath.
Obviously, she coughed a lot.
“Why are you doing this?” Caitlyn questioned, nuzzling in Vi's neck again, doing her best to not lick it. “Why are you helping me?”
Vi's semblance become suddenly weirdly serene. Warm, but somewhat distant.
“When Powder had that psychotic episode in the middle of lab class. You were the one who called the ambulance, weren't you? And helped her and stuff.”
What?
“Yes,” Was Vi being so nice at her because of that? “but I was literally the class monitor. And I had a child under my care having a mental breakdown. If I didn't do that, I would be a monster.”
A stretch of silence.
“It counts.” Vi said finally, thick pungent smoke between them.
The omega girl was wearing short jeans and black tights, exposing her thick legs. If Caitlyn could just slide her hands up and...
Stop. Behave yourself.
Caitlyn took another drag, holding the smoke in her lungs.
Damn, that was intense.
“How's she doing? Powder?” It was a genuine question.
“She’s good.” Vi cleared her throat. “At least she likes it. To study. Unlike the rest of us.”
“She was very proactive in class.”
A cute grin opened in Vi's face:
“Really? Tell me about it.”
And so she did.
Caitlyn had some funny stories to tell. Powder was a very peculiar girl. She used to fill her exams with funny, cartoonish drawings with the answers. She would also draw in the walls and on the school's desks sometimes. Jayce, the teacher, would be mad at her in these occasions.
After some time of talking, smoking and laughing, Vi blurted out, with a melancholy smile:
“I’m glad she can be, y'know. Someone.”
“No. Don’t say that.” With uncharacteristic courage, Caitlyn found herself running her fingers through her crimson hair.
She was feeling SO comfortable. At ease.
Maybe it was the weed’s effect?
“It’s just different skills." She added. "You're an athlete, not a scholar. And there’s no problem with it.”
Another stretch of silence.
“Feeling better, Cupcake?” Vi's voice was suddenly strange, a little hoarse. It sounded like a purr.
No. It was actually a purr. She was purring.
As pathetic as it was, Caitlyn only then realized that she was also purring, for who knows how long.
Probably since the beginning.
“Yes. Much better.” The alpha girl sighed, taking a deep breath on Vi's neck. “God. You smell so good.”
“Yeah. You too.” Vi’s voice sounded shaky, like she had to concentrate to speak. And her scent. Damn. Her scent had only gotten stronger as time went on, but now it felt almost viscous. A little milky on the side.
If pornography had a scent, that would be it.
The truth was: yes, Vi's scent eased all of Caitlyn's rut symptoms EXCEPT the arousal.
Despite the comfort, there was something else there. A shift in the air between them. A tension.
Vi’s scent, rich and powerful, was too much to handle - and soon Caitlyn saw herself kissing and sucking the omega's neck. Trying to taste her scent with her lips and tongue.
She heard Vi’s breath hitch, her skin crawling at the touch. The girl took a moment and then leaned in and started nuzzling Caitlyn’s glands as well.
Oh, Vi. Yes. You can feel it too. The pull.
Suddenly something escaped Caitlyn's throat, a bizarre sound that sounded like a growl.
“Oh. I---Sorry.” She started to excuse, but Vi didn't seem to care: instead she just wrapped her arms around her waist tighter. Her purring getting more and more intense.
And then… somehow… they were both on the floor, with both faces buried in each other's scent glands. Kissing and licking and sucking.
Caitlyn felt an urge to kiss Vi on the mouth, but something told her it would be way too intimate.
Which didn’t make sense, of course. They were practically making out with each other's necks and Caitlyn actually wasn’t so far from coming just with that.
But nothing in that situation was making sense, really.
Few minutes later and Caitlyn was getting desperate again, her hardness aching with it. Without thinking, she started pressing herself against Vi, trying to find some relief through the friction---
"Ah---" Vi let out a low moan, and only then did Caitlyn realize that she was indeed brushing her erection against her.
So embarrassing!
“Shit. I---” She tried to apologize, but the omega just responded with a hickey just below her jaw.
Oh. Damn. That was so good---
Why is it so good?
And then it happened.
The sudden, sharp sensation as Caitlyn’s fangs erupted, her body responding with a sharp, instinctual need to mark her omega.
Without thinking, she bit into Vi’s neck, her teeth sinking into the delicate skin of her scent glands.
Vi’s hand went instantaneously to the bite, her eyes wide, the lips parted in surprise.
Caitlyn froze, her own shock setting in. The taste of blood on her tongue.
What had I just done?
She jumped back, as if it would help someway, but it was too late.
The damage was done.
“What... what just happened?” Vi stuttered, her hand still covering the place Caitlyn had just bit.
“Oh God, I’m sorry,” Caitlyn blurted out, still horrified by her own actions. “I didn’t mean—”
Creeeeeec.
The door to the storage room suddenly opened, the noise interrupting her. A functionary, dressed in a faded uniform, stepped in, his eyes immediately widening at the sight of the two of them.
“Uh… What’s going on here?” He asked, his tone surprised and a little confused.
Of all people, the one who caught the two in that situation...
It was Vander.
Vi’s father.
At that moment, Caitlyn wished the earth would swallow her whole.