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Stelle Lotor, captain of the infamous Astral Express, sailed through the skies with her merry crew of sky pirates she'd picked up over the years from all sorts of havens and kingdoms, ransacking and pillaging left and right whenever they felt like it. Or, specifically, when either they were paid to or felt like the person deserved it.
Most of the time, the people deserved it.
Nobility, scoundrel guardsmen, and, for the first time as of tonight, royalty. They aren't noble by any means, but they aren't villains. That wouldn't be nearly as fun.
The crew readied themselves for docking. Caelus with his lock picking kit, Dan Heng with his spear at the ready, and Stelle with her undeniable charm (and baseball bat, but she didn't typically whip that out until after they were being chased). Himeko, the navigator and a highly respected alpha, stayed behind as always to watch the ship. Welt, one of the only betas in the crew, simply kept her company, even though there were a handful of others that weren’t involved in the mission tonight.
“Right, plan is easy,” Stelle said as she pulled at her gloves. “We’re docking at the northwestern tower, which means we need to go downstairs, hang a left, avoid about twelve guards because most of them are at the party, aaaand get into this room.” Her finger thudded against the table where the map was laid out.
“The party should be a big enough distraction to allow us to get in and out without being detected,” Dan Heng solemnly added.
“Unless Stelle decides to flirt with another guard.” Caelus grinned as he, too, pulled at his gloves to ensure they were on properly. The grin quickly dropped when his mate stared at him unimpressed.
“It was one time,” Stelle mirthfully groaned.
“Twice,” the boys echoed.
“Okay, twice,” Stelle resigned as she smiled.
The ship came to a steady halt and steam hissed as the plank extended until it reached the castle walls. The trio exited the cabin and met with Himeko on the main deck for one last check.
“You have twenty minutes,” Himeko gently reminded them. “Be safe.”
“We always are,” Stelle and Caelus said at the same time. Dan Heng sighed as he followed behind.
Thankfully, they didn't have to dodge many guards, just like Stelle said. The castle was dark compared to the night-brightness of the party going on in the main hall and the courtyard, which meant it was a whole lot easier to sneak in and out, even if the twins didn't know the meaning of sneaking. It usually devolved into messy combat as they both swung their baseball bats with wild strength, but hey, it worked out in the end.
Once Caelus broke into the treasure room, it didn't take long for Dan Heng to locate the scroll that they were paid to find. It was older than the rest, dusty, and set apart from the rest of the parchment. He secured it to his belt and they beelined back to the ship, but not before picking up a few strays.
“I told you I'm too sexy to go unnoticed,” Stelle said as they sprinted up the stairs with guards on their tail.
“It's definitely me they want!” Caelus jested.
“You already have an alpha, you greedy bastard,” Stelle gritted with a grin. It was always so thrilling to be on the run.
Himeko departed immediately after they clambered back aboard, treasure intact, and guards shouting at them as they made their escape.
“Score for team,” Stelle cheered.
But then she smelled it—vanilla, with a hint of citrus—and she had the feeling that the others did as well given how Dan Heng looked around for it.
The crew didn't have anyone that wasn't already mated except Stelle. It made it exceptionally easier to keep track of everyone that way. Himeko’s mate was a part of another crew and the rest were either betas or mated to each other, which meant one thing.
A stowaway.
—
March Leporida, princess of the famous Kingdom of Snows, frantically searched her room for any excuse to throw at the suitor charmingly knocking at her door and asking if she was feeling ill and if that's why she fled from the party. She isn't ill, she simply doesn't want anything to do with the alpha that her parents set her up with tonight—not that there's anything wrong with him, it’s just…complicated.
Besides, the party was a bore from the moment she was thrust onto the dance floor with people that kept stepping on her toes. A pity, too, because her dress was gorgeous for the occasion and shall thus be ruined when she escapes into the night with nary a note detailing her whereabouts.
A sky ship. How miraculous that there's one docked near her room. Why it was docked there was a question she could ask herself after she left this unwanted suitor behind her door, so she tied together what sheets she could and geronimo’d her way down to the castle walls that were level with the walkway.
There was a group of people sitting and laughing at a table in the far corner, their grinning faces and deck of cards lit up by the lucent flame of a lantern. A woman with fiery hair was at the helm with a book in one hand and a mug in the other.
March tiptoed her way onto the ship, careful not to make any noise as she stayed low and prayed to whatever god could hear her that no one picked up her scent. It'd be fine if they did after they took off, but until then, it was safer for her this way. She didn't know who these people were but it had to be better than that castle, right?
It took her a few minutes of scrounging around in the dark, but she managed to find a spot behind a stack of crates that she could squeeze in and out of if she needed to. She pulled her knees to her chest, her dress bunching up, and tugged at the bite collar around her neck.
One stop, then she's free.
Just one stop.
—
“It's everywhere,” Stelle murmured as she sniffed at the air.
Dan Heng and Caelus shared a look of it really isn't, but you do you while they followed close behind. There weren't many places to hide on the ship unless the stowaway somehow managed to find every spot Stelle had purposely left broken so she could hide snacks in, which was a long shot, so it wouldn't take them too long.
Besides, with how it practically attacked Stelle’s nose, the stowaway had little hope of staying hidden.
They eventually tracked it to a stack of crates and, once Stelle moved the top one away, saw a wisp of pink hair. Stelle motioned for the boys to still and leaned on her forearms over the crate to peer into the hiding spot.
Shit, she's gorgeous.
“It's a little rude of me not to welcome my guests,” Stelle sighed. She smiled when the girl squeaked. “Can you come out?”
“No?”
“You sound unsure.” Stelle gave it another moment before she moved the next crate and got an actual look at her. “You're—the princess, aren't you? Mmmarch, right?”
If it were any quieter, Dan Heng’s facepalm would've been audible.
“I am,” March huffed and stood, though she didn't look unhappy, only slightly uneasy. “I was trying to escape and your ship was right there so I…climbed aboard.”
“Escape? You're a princess,” Caelus stated as he all but scratched his head.
“Arranged marriage?” Stelle questioned. She immediately backtracked and waved her hand. “Doesn't matter. Did anyone see you?”
“They probably saw that I climbed out my window, but I don't think anyone saw your ship.”
“Oh, they saw us, alright.”
Stelle elbowed Caelus for that. “But not you. We've never accidentally kidnapped a princess before, so I'm sorry about our manners.”
“What exactly are you guys?”
“We’re sky pirates.” Stelle grinned and laid both of her arms around Dan Heng and Caelus’s shoulders. “The Astral Express, actually.”
March’s eyes went wide for a second. “The Astral Express? I've heard so many stories about you!”
Stelle whined when the boys wormed out of her grip, but she smiled and put her fists on her hips in a rather goofy way. “You could hear more stories about us over dinner because I am starving and really don't want to keep talking in the cargo hold.”
“Fair point,” Caelus agreed as he ushered Dan Heng out.
Stelle offered a hand for March to take. It was graciously accepted as March stepped from behind the crates and Stelle finally got a good look at her. She already knew exactly what she smelled like and god did seeing what she looked like make it so much worse.
That corset was doing Stelle’s eyes a favor. Multiple favors. Then, her eyes flicked up.
“You're an omega,” Stelle pointed out. They could tell by the scent, but it was muddled somehow. Even standing right next to her, despite how intoxicating it is, it's almost as if it doesn't belong to her, not entirely.
“Y…eah,” March nervously agreed.
“I am too, don't be shy. Not all of us are lucky enough to be mated this young, know what I mean?”
March only hummed as the grey hair led her back up to the main deck. The way was lit now, and she was able to see every detail she missed before. Stelle seemed dangerously uncautious of a stowaway being on her ship, but it only snuck beneath March’s skin and warmed her bones in ways she couldn't explain. Stelle’s voice was like honey to her as she was given a tour—passenger cabin, cargo hold, the galley, and so on.
When they got back to the main deck, Stelle put her arms up and the crew cheered despite her not having said anything yet.
Maybe her charm isn't only working on March. Maybe she's just built like that.
“We found the stowaway,” she announced. Another cheer followed and then she gestured to March. “It was the princess.”
A confused cheer swept over the crew that time.
“The floor is yours, my Lady.” With a mock bow that made March nearly snort, Stelle gave her room to explain as the crew gathered in front of them.
March cleared her throat. She was taught public speaking—she can do this.
“Hello. My name is March. I snuck aboard to avoid a suitor my parents wanted me to marry—” a groan from the crowd—”which probably sounds super petty.”
“Ain't petty enough, girl.”
“Should've dumped their ass in the ocean first.”
“Yeah!”
March couldn't help but laugh a little (partly in fear, the other part out of sheer bewilderment). Stelle stepped back in.
“How long will you be staying with us?” Stelle asked, her voice loud enough so the crew could hear her.
“Just until the next stop.” March anxiously tugged at her collar again and Stelle’s eyes lingered for a moment.
“Two days!”
The crowd cheered again and March could barely keep up. All the tales she'd heard of the Astral Express were about how cutthroat they were. Take no prisoners sort of deal, but this? It seemed like a family more than anything.
And from what March could tell, it was a close family. They were all mated or betas—from what she could tell, Stelle was the only one without a mate.
Which just caused the panic to rise higher in March, even when Stelle took her by the hand, sat her down at a table, and handed her a tankard with unidentifiable liquid (“It’s cider,” she said) and a plate stacked with food. A few members of the crew played the night away on an assortment of instruments and, as the moon slipped higher and higher into the sky, so too did March’s worries slip into the night.
The crew was wonderful. They welcomed her as one of their own without hesitation, immediately telling her embarrassing stories about Stelle from over the years. How she claimed she was a sky pirate all the way back when she was fifteen, but Himeko didn't pick her up by the scruff of her neck and give her the Astral Express until three years later, or how she's managed to screw up two separate heists by flirting with a guard on duty. That one made March laugh, but it also sent a spike of jealousy beneath her skin for some reason.
“Come on, initiation rite,” Stelle said. Three hours had passed already and while some of the crew retired, Stelle was practically wide awake when she held her hand out for March to take.
It was the second time they touched and March swore she felt a zap. A charge of some kind, something connecting them, but she shook that thought free and let Stelle lead her to the upper deck.
“Before we had tech, we used the stars to navigate,” Stelle said, letting go of March’s hands when they came to the railing. They both leaned against it and looked up at the sky. “Which, you definitely know, but let me sound cool for a second.”
March tittered. “You're the captain here. Teach me.”
Stelle’s head tilted at March, the stars forgotten. “What on earth could I teach a princess?”
Said princess scoffed into a small smile. “What's the world like?”
“Horrible,” Stelle deadpanned. She let the word hang in the air before she continued. “Nah. It isn't all bad.”
“Tell me about the good parts?”
“Halovian burgers. Trash cans—”
“Trash cans?”
“Different everywhere you go. It's incredible,” Stelle confirmed with sincerity. March simply looked at her with a confused expression before they both laughed.
“What's your favorite spot?”
A long exhale came from Stelle before she straightened up and swept her gaze over the main deck. “It sounds cheesy, but this ship. These people are my home.”
“It's a little cheesy, but it doesn't make it less true,” the princess hummed. “In all honesty, I'm a little jealous that you have something like that. You have a family.”
Stelle’s gaze was heavy on March. “I might be jumping the gun, but it could be your family too. Long as you aren't planning on returning home, I mean.”
“Prooobably not in the cards.” March’s smile melted into something warm and familiar. “It would be nice to…have the freedom to explore.”
Stelle didn't reply immediately, instead allowing the possibility to come to fruition in the air between them. “Sleep on it. It's not like I'm kicking you off anytime soon. Come on, I'll show you to your room.”
Even though March followed, she looked back at the stars. “What about the initiation rite?”
“Doesn't exist. I just wanted an excuse to talk to you,” Stelle casually replied with all the confidence of a charging bull.
For how she acts, surprised may be the understatement of the century whenever March reminds herself that Stelle is an omega. With that aura, how could she not be an alpha?
“Here I was hoping you had something exciting planned.”
Stelle rolled her neck and barked out a laugh. “Demanding things already. You'll fit in, princess.”
Princess. She said it like it was a nickname, not a title. It nearly made March blush.
“This one's been vacant ever since she found her mate,” Stelle sighed as she pushed the button to open the door and let March go in first. “Coincidentally, her mate ended up being a princess. You'll fit right in.”
“A princess?” March sniffed the room, but it smelled of nothing but a very faint omega, like they didn't air the room out completely. But if the crewmate was an omega, that meant—
“Yup. An alpha, too. Crazy strong, but she's queen now and we get free food whenever we stop by, so I can't complain.”
An alpha princess.
March absentmindedly tugged at the collar around her neck.
“There should be clothes,” Stelle said as she walked over to the dresser, “in here, yeah. We…don't really have dresses, if you prefer those. I think that'd be a Himeko question..? Her mate loves fashion, so she's kinda dragged us into it when she wants to find a gift.”
“Pants are okay,” March assured. Her head spun as Stelle’s information barreled into it. An alpha princess. Unheard of. It's unnatural. Princesses are meant to be submissive and that's the complete opposite of everything March was taught to be.
She was taught to be the opposite of everything that she is.
“Awesome. I'm down the hall, last one on the right if you need anything. Night, March.”
“Goodnight!”
When the door hissed shut, March collapsed on the bed and nearly combusted right then and there. She hastily tore the damned collar off and practiced her breathing.
One, two, three, four—it's all Stelle, stuck in her room and her nose and her fucking head like a fog.
Exhale, two, three, four—two days and then she's gone, that's all she has to survive.
Except, with the way Stelle’s unapologetic scent creeped beneath March’s skin, March wasn't sure how long the suppressants were going to last anymore.
Not after learning that an alpha princess could exist freely somewhere in the world.
Especially not after Stelle looked and smelled that delicious.
March didn't take anything with her in her hasty retreat, so the blockers she'd been taking for years were left in her room along with all of her belongings. The collar was only there at her parents' behest to trick an alpha into thinking she was breeding stock.
Little did they know.
Another breath in and March nearly growled at how Stelle’s scent hasn't left. She could feel her body getting restless, but she thought about something, anything else, to distract from it. The suppressants have to last until she can depart or she may just go insane.
They have to last.
—
Stelle woke up with a pounding headache, flagged down Dan Heng to let him know she’ll be out for the day, and promptly headed back to bed with a bit of food in hand to hopefully distract from it. Once she ate, she fell back asleep, but it didn't last long.
The sheets had been kicked off by the time she woke back up again. Sweat stuck to her skin like frost on glass and she groaned as she tossed and turned in an attempt to fall back asleep. The headache had, somewhere along the way, turned into something of a higher severity. Her body ached as her eyes squeezed shut in a desperate attempt to find a release, to no avail.
It was dark by the time she finally found the strength to leave her bed, restless as ever. Even the cold water she splashed on her face couldn't cool her down in the slightest; it felt like her blood was boiling her from the inside out. The fever she had was body-wide and she nearly whacked herself for not remembering.
She's in heat.
But when she does the math, it doesn't add up. She shouldn't be in heat for at least another week, give or take a few days. Which meant—Stelle caught a whiff and saw her pupils dilate in the mirror.
Alpha.
The scent was familiar somehow, but as if she had only sampled it the first time around and is now being served the entire dish. It didn't matter the logistics, she needed to find them now.
Her legs trembled as she mindlessly followed the scent, sniffing every few seconds and feeling her eyes roll to the back of her head as it washed over her. She had to scale the wall with her hand to ensure she didn't topple over from how powerful it was. Thick, heavy, and everywhere. Inside Stelle’s mouth, her nose, her head, stuck to her skin like a vice.
A small cry sounded from her as she felt her legs rub together when she turned the corner. She held herself up against the wall and tried to steady her breathing, but it was so hard with how shamelessly wet she was as she tried to track down this damn alpha. It didn’t matter if they had another stowaway, she was going to find them and fuck them and deal with the consequences later.
The scent disappeared behind a door and she whined when it took her three tries to find the button to open it. When it finally did, she choked on her own spit when she saw March pacing a scorch mark into the floor, collarless and growling to herself.
Stelle couldn't help but admire even if she was two seconds short of collapsing in the doorway from how turned on she was. The way March paced back and forth, the aura she carried? The way Stelle could see that she was trying to hold back with every clench of her fists and growl from her chest?
Stelle desperately needed this woman to fuck her, consequences be damned.
She stumbled into the room and broke March from her trance. The second their eyes met, Stelle gulped. March’s eyes zeroed in on every part of Stelle she could see and by the time she met Stelle’s eyes again, she was nearly all pupils.
And the smell of Stelle this close, fuck, she didn't even have a chance to stop from shifting. Stelle saw it, too—her brows shot up as she practically salivated at the bulge begging to be released from March’s borrowed pants.
The door hissed shut as March’s chest rumbled with another growl, but this one sounded…focused. Territorial. Stelle’s.
Stelle opened her mouth to say something (what, she wasn't sure), but all that came out was a pathetic moan. Two soft hands landed on her waist and back of her neck and roughly pulled her flush against March’s scalding body. There's too much heat—it's too much.
When March finally kissed her, Stelle swore she could've cum right then and there without any further help and wouldn't have even felt bad for it. The throbbing between her legs gets worse by the millisecond and if the alpha handling her wasn't as intimidating as she was (how? March was innocent hours ago), then she'd unapologetically drop to her knees and finish the job herself.
The kiss was messy. It was teeth and bruised lips clashing together in desperate attempts while March ripped Stelle’s shirt from her back without blinking an eye. Her pants and soaked underwear didn't last long either, to no surprise, and March only pulled back when they both tasted blood.
“Mine.”
Stelle would do anything to be March’s. Anything, anything. She trembled beneath March’s touch, clung to her neck like a horny leech, and shuddered when March grabbed her jaw to force her to look at her. Stelle’s eyes were completely glazed over and March’s growl turned into satisfaction.
“Yours,” Stelle whimpered. She doesn't remember thinking it or even trying to speak, but it doesn't matter. Nothing matters but feeling that cock inside of her.
A cock that March is notably keeping from her.
Stelle whined as the blood smeared over both of their lips and bucked her hips forward to grind against March’s shifted cock. It feels fucking huge even through her pants and Stelle needs it, just give it to me.
This time, March’s growl mixed with a groan as she felt Stelle grind against her. She kissed Stelle with force, drowning in the feeling of Stelle’s hands in her hair, as she unfastened her belt and let the pants drop to the ground. The borrowed drawers practically beg to release the cock straining against it with all its might.
Stelle felt it before she saw it.
Thick, leaking, and long.
Holy fuck.
It wasn't even unbecoming on March—even after she was left naked, it felt like it belonged; it felt like it was Stelle’s and only Stelle’s as it twitched in the hot air between them, pleading to be milked already.
March, thankfully, got the memo.
She grabbed Stelle by the throat and held the cock with her other hand to line herself up with Stelle’s cunt, foreplay be damned. Stelle was wet with enough slick that a beaver would mistake her for a running current.
Drool slipped from the corner of Stelle’s mouth as the top of the cock rubbed back and forth through her folds and March swiped it across Stelle’s cheek with her thumb like a coating. Saliva on her finger, precum on her cock—it sounded almost poetic.
March growled when she pushed her cock further in and felt Stelle’s blunt nails dig into her shoulders. She lifted Stelle’s leg and hooked it over her hip for a better angle, moaning in tandem with Stelle when she sunk even further. What little resistance she was met with was gone within seconds and March was able to spear Stelle completely with her cock, her growl turning into a low rumble in her chest as she felt more connected to her omega than ever.
Her omega. She’ll breed her and mate with her until neither of them can take it anymore. Stelle belongs to her and she doesn't even know it yet.
She will.
March drives her hips forward at a blinding pace, knocking over anything that was previously standing on the dresser as Stelle holds onto her for dear life. Stelle’s wanton moans fill the air and it only spurs her alpha in more—that desire to breed grows only stronger with every sound from Stelle’s body. The squelching of March’s cock disappearing inside of Stelle’s cunt, the sound of Stelle’s moaning and whining falling from her lips, the stickiness of their skin slapping together with every thrust, it all drove March fucking insane.
“M…”
An arm was hooked beneath Stelle’s other leg and she was lifted quite effortlessly into the air. Her legs frantically grasped March’s waist as March’s hands grabbed at her muscular thighs and ass, her pace never once slowing.
Their scents mixing, the thickness of March’s cock ravaging Stelle, it all felt mindlessly perfect.
“Quiet,” March growled, but Stelle couldn't help the sounds she made, especially not when March’s hips thrusted at an impossible angle that managed to hit every spot that felt good. She wasn't too big or uncomfortable—like she was made to fuck Stelle and Stelle alone.
Her personal breeding stock.
“Take it,” March grunted. Her cock throbbed as she struggled to keep pace and Stelle didn't have anything in her head but to beg.
“Please,” she whined. “Ple…e—ase.”
March pressed her body flush against Stelle and pushed her against the dresser as she pumped load after load of hot seed into Stelle’s greedy cunt. March’s growl mixed with Stelle’s cry of pleasure as she held Stelle in place and forced her to take every last drop. Stelle only wished there was more.
More.
As if reading her mind, March shot forward and sunk her teeth into Stelle’s neck. It's a dizzying mix of delicious pain and confusing pleasure; it’s the greatest feeling that Stelle’s ever felt.
Mine.
Stelle didn't think twice. She bit back, lost in the cum still squirting inside of her, and climaxed when the mating bites took. She felt her pussy clamp down on the forming knot and nearly cried at the heat of the cum, the grip of March’s hands on her ass, the sting of the bite on her neck. If overwhelmed could be used in a positive way, she'd use it only for this.
After a few minutes, March’s raspy voice broke the pleasure-induced silence.
“I should've asked first.”
“The—fucking me or the mating part?” Stelle breathlessly asked.
“Both?”
Stelle chuckled and placed a kiss on March’s head, sated now that she's been knotted. “You smelled addicting before I found out that you're an alpha. I would've begged you to bite me either way.”
“You drove me insane,” March growled, though it lacked the former bite. “I've never been around an omega that did that to me.”
“See? Meant to be.” Stelle yawned and cupped March’s cheeks. “Can you move to the bed? I don't need your arms dying.”
March shook her head. “My arms are fine.” Yeah, yeah, alpha strength and all that, cheater. “This knot is staying right here.”
Stelle shivered the second the words hit their mark. She leaned down to kiss her mate and smiled despite the taste of blood.
On the other side of the wall, half the crew quietly listened in and cheered for their captain when they scuttled onto the main deck.