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Gossip flies in a small, packed environment like the ED. So it’s no surprise when even the most intimate stuff gets to reach ears that are not supposed to. This is exactly how Jack Abbot comes to know that Samira Mohan is planning to join Pittsburgh’s seasonal mating chase set in Hays Wood.
The notion feels wrong. It feels wrong the idea itself, and it feels wrong that he got to know it. He should not be a part of such a personal matter about one of his Omega residents. Especially when it concerns her.
The following days, his stare keeps scanning for her through the ED, in that brief time frame that’s the shift handoff. Head turning every time he catches her jasmine scent. He studies her from afar, fingers fidgeting with his wedding band, wondering. How her swan neck would appear with a claiming bite over it. How her scent would change after she’d be bonded. Sure she’d stop pouring lonely – a desperate cry for being seen.
I see you, Samira. If only I was twenty years younger and whole…
Again, the thought is weird – no, worse, it’s painful. Leaves a bittersweet taste in his tongue, a frustrated, low growl raising from his throat.
He won’t dwell into the meaning of all of it, or he might do something very stupid. Like signing himself off to the mating chase as well.
The following days, Jack finds himself proving how fucking weak he is.
~
On the starting line, 500 yards ahead of the Alphas, Samira is warming up along with the other Omegas. In front of them, the wild expanse of Hays Wood, where she knows the Alphas had already set their dens, scattered around the thick vegetation.
By the end of this day, Samira will probably be dragged into one of them, and claimed. That’s how mating chases work. An old, barbaric relic.
It wasn't a decision made lightly. Despite being a proudly independent Omega with a brilliant career, she never stopped dreaming about settling. At the right moment, a good Alpha would have shown up to court the hell out of her, she would have fallen for him, they would have bonded, and have 1.6 pups – happily ever after.
All her life was carefully planned out – and you can bet a mating chase wasn't part of.
But you know, apparently even the most carefully designed plan can blow up. That’s what it did hers: blowing up in her face, leaving on her own, approaching 30. No suitor, no bonding prospective. Her biological clock is ticking like a fucking bomb, and she’s not even out on the courting scene.
Not the only one with his particular struggle, though. This year the mating chase is packed. Hundreds of people, just as desperate as Samira. Scents bursting with expectation, clogging the air all around, spiking each other adrenaline for what’s coming.
Her own body is thrumming in anticipation.
Let’s get this straight: she may be desperate but she won’t settle for some brute whose smell she finds repulsive. They might have fangs and growls, but she can fight back if she wants. And she will for sure. She’s not going to make it easy for those Alphas.
Whoever will be her future mate, they will have to really earn her. Samira can’t wait to find out who, among those Alphas, will be smart enough to catch her.
Samira is lost in her own thoughts between one stretch and another, when the breeze brings to her a familiar scent.
Earthy, warm, safe.
Her head turns abruptly towards the Alphas lined up behind them. She scans the crowd, heart pounding. Then she spots him: at the far corner of the group, crouched down, securing his prosthetic. And a shiver runs down her spine.
Jack Abbot. Alpha, attending at PTMC ED. The last person she’d expect – hope – to find here.
Like he’s sensed her staring, he lifts his head and locks eyes with her. Slowly raises back to full height without breaking eye contact. Nods at her, a small smirk pulling at his lips.
The fucking audacity.
Samira’s whole body prickles with anticipation. She nods back at him, then turns again to hide her own smile, her trembling fingers tying her long hair into a braid. Denying feeling flattered would be a blatant lie. She never even dared to hope to be on his radar. Too young, not to mention the power imbalance. Her hopeless infatuation was bound to remain that way.
This very day they can prove to each other how both were so wrong.
~
They are barely minutes into the chase, and Jack’s already stumbled upon couples mating around. Not even the grace of reaching the den. Good heavens. Jack can’t claim to be an expert in the matter, but sure there’s a better way to deal with it.
He calmly crosses the starting line and lets the rush of the chase surpass him in waves, taking away all the stranger scents, as well as the ruckus of growls and hisses and frantic feet on the ground.
If he’d read that smile right, Samira wasn’t upset at all to find him here too. But he knows her well enough: this is not going to be easy peasy. At the starting whistle, the Omega sprinted like a gazelle, and soon disappeared, swallowed by the thick vegetation. The last glimpse of her was a flicker of her dark braid behind a tree. He reaches it, whiffing around. She left a trace here – clearly on purpose. But that could be misleading. He rests his back on the tree trunk, arm crossed, and waits again, scanning the surroundings.
Closes his eyes to focus on his prey’s scent.
It hits him from south-east, coming with the breeze, and that’s where Jack heads, slowly searching the woods.
When he finds another trace left on a tree, this time stronger, he knows he’s close. Which doesn’t mean it’s any more easy.
“I can’t tell if you want to be found or not.” he says out loud.
“It largely depends on who wants to find me.” she says back after a moment.
Oh come on, it can’t be so easy…
Jack follows the voice, boots creaking on the ground covered in leaves and twigs.
“Well, I would like to find you.”
A rustle, and then, in a mocking tone: “Feel free to try.”
“It’s a challenge, Mohan?” he tuts.
"Challenging an old, disabled man? I’d never dare…”
That would hurt if he didn’t spot want in her scent. Teasing is part of the game, after all, and she’s trying her best. Too bad for her she’s also leading him exactly where he wants.
Jack finally assesses her position, and he quickly grabs a rock to throw it far from them. As expected, she moves to sneak away in the opposite direction. He’s on her in a beat, caging her against a tree, whole body pressed over hers.
“Gotcha!”
Samira struggles under his hold to no avail, scent spiking thrill. Jack’s stare zeroes over her pulsing point.
“Bare your neck.” he orders, not bothering to push much command in his voice.
“Fuck you!” she hisses back.
Jack hums, cocks an eyebrow at her: “Maybe later?”
She frowns at him, drops her mouth open in an outraged: “Huh!” and a moment later he finds himself landing hard on his ass. She used his prosthetic to fucking trip him!
Samira towers over him, panting, hands on her hips.
“Try again. With manners, next time.”
Jack eyeballs at her as she climbs over him.
“Okay.” he just says, and before she could sprint away again, he grabs at her ankle, causing her to trip as well with a yelp.
“Samira, would you please…” he grunts, pulling at her leg while dodging a kick from the other, “...bare your neck…” he rolls over to crawl over her and trap her again, “...for me?”
She squirms under him, even going to the length of slapping him in the face. Which only fuels Jack to go harder and pin her on the ground.
“Get the fuck out of me!” she spits through the teeth, braid unraveling. She’s dirty with soil, and covered in sweat, and feral – he never wanted her so much.
“Now now…” Jack grounds her more with his weight, “I used my ‘pleases’ and ‘thank yous’. Is that any way to talk back to me?”
“Hey!” comes a voice, “She said–”
“Get lost!” Samira all but snarls at the unknown Alpha interrupting them.
As they hear some steps fading away, Jack blinks down at her, a little headlighted by such a territorial display. She looks back at him, apparently shocked as well. It’s a moment of weakness he soon regrets, because Samira takes advantage of it to punch him in the guts and sneak away once more.
Jack scrambles on the ground to get up and run after her. And now it’s a real chase. Dancing between trees to catch her, heart pounding loud in his ears, lungs burning with her tantalizing scent, fangs throbbing with the need to claim.
Next time he’ll have her in his hands, he’s not gonna let her slip away again.
~
When Samira stops to catch her breath, hidden behind a fallen trunk, she already knows she’s at her last rope. They both are. And it’s not just the exhaustion from the chase. She can feel it simmering under her skin: a heat. He triggered her into a heat. And she can bet he can smell it.
“You going to drag me into your den and claim me?”
Jack’s answer comes halfway apologetic halfway warning: “That’s how mating chases work, Samira.”
Oh shit.
It’s like a train hitting her. The reality of what’s happening. This may seem like a funny game, but it’s not.
“Then you should know I’m not on birth control.” she informs him, forcing her voice to a calmness she doesn’t feel in the slightest.
A beat of silence, and then: “Is this supposed to be a deterrent?”
Hidden under the usual flirtatious teasing, there’s such a sureness in his sentence, than Samira just knows. She’s not going to end this mating chase without being claimed and bred.
“I want a litter of three.” she blurts out, just so he knows what he’s dealing with.
Fuck it! If she really is going to mate with him, she’s better set the record straight.
“Three?!” comes Jack’s incredulous voice.
“What?” she teases him, “Afraid you’re too old to deal with three pups?”
“Nuh-uh. Just…” a pause, then Samira feels suddenly grabbed and shoved on the grown, belly down. “...a bit surprised.”
Samira is surprised as well, but for an entirely other reason. Jack is straddling her to prevent any further escape, her hands roughly pulled into a firm grasp and hold on her back. What the fuck?!
“I’m an only child. Always wanted a big family.” she says as he rummages in his cargo pockets, until something flexible is going around her wrists, “What are you doing?”
“Handcuffing you.” he curtly explains.
Then he gets up, and lifts her with a grunt, hoisting her onto one shoulder. Samira gasps at the sudden change of position. As for the display of strength, well, let's just say it’s not doing any good to her impending heat.
“Jack?” she weakly calls while he carries her away – to his den?
His only answer is a gruffed “What?”.
“Can you put me down, please?” she tries.
“Sure thing, sweetheart. When we’ll reach my den.”
Her core throbs in expectation, slick drenching her shorts. Jack doesn’t say a word, though his hand placed over her thigh squeezes the meat possessively, and he picks up the pace.
Samira doesn’t know how far they go through the woods, but at some point she hears water running, and they come to an alt. Jack gingerly places back down on her feet, and she has the time to notice he set up his den near a creek, before he roughly pushes her inside and zip it close.
She turns around, eyes quickly adjusting to the dim light of the only lamp lit inside. It’s more cozy than she thought a veteran den would be. There are a lot of covers and pillows and some boxes containing food. It’s all very practical, but also nice. Like he’d really put effort into it.
There’s an awkward clear throat. Samira turns again to face the most apologetic man ever.
“That’s– it’s not how I was picturing it.” he says, out of the blue.
Samira’s eyebrows shoot up.
“You were picturing us in a mating chase?”
He brings a hand to his face, rubbing at his eyes.
“I was hoping to court you. Properly. Not–” he vaguely gestures around, "Handcuff you and drag you in my den to– to–”
If possible, Samira’s eyebrows go even further.
“Why you didn’t ask me out?”
The question seems to frustrate him even more. He pulls out a knife and reaches to cut the cable tie, freeing her.
She stares at him as he carefully holds her wrists, rubbing at her reddened skin. He seems unable to look back at her.
“Why would you want me?”
Oh, this idiot of an Alpha…
Samira cups his face, forcing him to stop averting her gaze. He’s trying to give her a way out. Like he didn’t just trigger a damn heat on her.
“One day we are going to have a thorough conversation about this. But right now, if you don’t mind… I’d like for my Alpha to take care of me.”
Jack’s breath hitches, pupils swallowing the hazel, scent dipping hungry.
“Samira…”
Still hesitating? After all of this? Hell, no… she’s having none of it!
“I won’t beg you.” she warns him, “So you either take care of me, or I get out of here and look for another Alpha. I’m sure there’s plenty–”
Samira doesn’t have a chance to finish that sentence. Jack’s hold at her wrist has turned from gentle to steel, his eyes darkening in warning, scent spiking mine. It’s enough to cut everything out – doubt, reasoning, questions – and leave just them. Raw and primal with need.
She doesn’t dare to speak nor move as he slowly takes one more step, a hand threading through her disheveled hair to grab at her nape. Samira goes still in his scruffing.
“Three, huh?” he breathes in her, mouth ghosting over the sweated skin of his neck, “I’ll see what I can do.”
He seals his promise with a harsh kiss, tongue slipping inside, hot and demanding. Samira whines in his mouth, whole body shivering, and finally bares her neck.
~
They strip each other in frantic, graceless moves. Hands groping and noses pressing, stealing sharp kisses and heated glances. Falling on the cot together, sweated bodies tangling and rubbing.
Jack feels drunk. Her scent is everywhere, drowning his last functioning brain cell into a haze of hormones he’d already surrendered to.
He set himself the delicious task to explore every single inch of her, senses focused on the sole purpose to know her body and how to bring pleasure to her. Mapping and studying her reactions. He’ll be damned if he claims and knots her right away. This moment will never come back, and it’s his duty to build a good memory around it. To make her feel loved and cherished. Adored like she deserves.
“You smell incredible…” he whispers on her collarbone, fingers gently exploring between her legs, following her little clues to know how to touch her. How to make her feel good.
Samira bucks her hips, muffling a whine on his shoulder, scent blooming under the praise.
“I've wanted to do this since forever.” he sheepishly confesses, “Wanted you… for so long.”
The little gasp it tears from her is so endearing.
He sucks at her bonding spot, slips two fingers inside her, slowly pups them until her thighs start to tremble. Until she’s on the brink of climaxing. Only then he stops, pulls out his finger, shushing her protest.
“Alpha…” she sobs.
“I know, Omega… I know.” he murmurs, kissing her tears streaked cheek.
It’s all for the best. One must trust the process. Even when he’s hanging by a fine thread, all of his instincts screaming at him to just take take take.
But Jack he’s huge. He won’t brag about it – it’s a matter of fact. The stares his partners give him – the one Samira gave him shortly before, mouth agape – are enough. He has to thoroughly prepare her for him. No matter how long it takes.
Besides, it’s not an unpleasant process.
If it wasn’t for his impending rut, he’d gladly spend hours worshipping her like that. Licking and biting down her body. Nipping at her breasts, nipples turning swollen inside his mouth. Leaving little hickies on her flanks to mark his passage. By the time Jack reaches her pubic mounds, Samira is trembling again.
He rubs his face there, mouth slack open to inhale her scent, thick and cloying like honey.
“Jack…” she breathes, fingers knitting in his locks.
He grabs at her legs to spread them more, places a kiss on her inner thigh, marvels at the beautiful sight. And then dives straight into the banquet.
~
Samira is on fire. Blood rushing hot like lava and setting her alight as Jack’s mouth keeps ravishing her. Groaning between laps like a starved man. She tightens her grip at his curls, hips rolling. He answers holding her thighs with his strong arms and pulling her over his face even more, tongue pushing inside her.
She throws her head back, heat coiling in her belly. Building fast and strong and – and then it’s gone.
Samira lets out a frustrated snarl. Pulls at his curls to push him to keep going. She was so close!
From between her legs, Jack murmurs an apology, then rises up to kiss the crest of her hip, whole bottom half of his face absolutely ruined with her slick, dripping dense from his chin.
He kisses his way back up, and presses his lips to hers. The taste is almost too sweet – ripe. Samira licks at him until he’s clean. Until she can trace his fangs, sharp points dangerously prickling at her tongue.
“Samira…” he rumbles, rubbing his face under her jaw, fangs grazing over her bonding spot.
His cock twitches in the hollow of her hip. She reaches down to wrap a hand around it, gently strokes the length, tip to base. Squeezes at the swelling knot. This is going to soon fit inside her.
“Samira…”
And isn't it hilarious how deranged he sounds, after all the filth he subjected her in the past hour? Almost spilling in her hand just for a tentative touch…
God, he’s such a loser. Veteran, doctor, SWAT – loser. The counterpoint is insane. She’s sold for this man.
“I can’t believe you made me fall for you…”
Jack chokes out: “What?”
Samira chuckles. Cups his face, traces the fine lines around his eyes.
“You heard me, Alpha.” she smiles at him, “Now… you gonna claim me or what?”
~
Jack needs a grand total of two seconds to think about it. Then he’s manhandling her on her side – he doesn't know what he'd give to be able to mount her, but his leg won’t allow it, so side it is. He grabs her thigh to spread her for him, guiding his cock inside her, face pressed in the crook of her neck to drink her scent as he slowly sinks inside.
Samira grabs at his nape and pushes back at him, warm body yielding and welcoming him without any resistance. The feeling is burning. He needs a long moment before actually doing anything but feel her around him. They both need it. Hands caressing and lips kissing and noses rubbing. A soothing rumble that is soon matched with the sweetest purr.
Jack wraps a hand around her throat, feels the vibration under his palm. Samira tips her head back, rolls her hips to give him the hint. And Jack doesn’t miss it. He thrusts back, dragging his cock out until just the tip stays inside, and then bottoms out again, hips flushed with her ass.
They set a slow, maddening rhythm. Loins burning with liquid desire. Breathes on hold at every pull and quivering sighs at every push. And soon the den is filled with the obscene, wonderful sounds of their mating.
Their moans and hums, the slapping of their sweaty skin, their hushed voices saying nonsense. Loving praises mixed with filthy jabs, often inexplicably entwined.
“You're taking it so good… gorgeous…” Jack huskily encourages her.
“Alpha… ‘M so full…” she garbles.
“Yeah? Gonna make you feel even more full.” he promises, picking up the pace, “Wait and see.”
Samira arches, whole body yielding under the way his cock is hitting her just the right way. Her full surrender is more than Jack can endure.
The need of claim burning down any other residual decency and leaving them primal. Jack’s grasp turns possessive, his thrusts now coming hard and fast and ruthless. And he knows it’s just a matter of time.
“You ready for my knot, Omega?”
All Samira can do is nod her consent, which, given how deep into the sauce they both are, in Jack’s opinion is more than enough.
The next thrust doesn’t leave space between them.
“There…” he grunts, knot slotting inside.
And if before was good, now, with Samira locking and clamping down on him, it’s heaven.
“Fucking perfect. I love you. God… you’re a miracle.” Jack blurts as he comes.
~
It feels endless. Coming like this, with his cock fully sheated and locked inside her.
Samira never took a knot, so she didn’t know what to expect. She knows, of course, that heat with a knotted partner is way better than alone. That a good knot can solve the heat in a row. She has known since puberty, and of course she got to know these matters even better because of her anatomy study.
But between theory and practice there’s a huge gap she’s lacking.
Was lacking.
Because she’s currently stuck on Jack Abbot’s knot, milking him dry, basking into the feeling of being full of him. His seed, his scent, his voice.
“That's what you needed, huh?” the Alpha is caressing her stomach, leaving small kisses on her neck, nipping at her bonding spot, “Feels good?”
Fingers lazily grazing at his scalp, Samira nods, humming in contentment. Even so, she feels like something is missing. An itch that’s right here.
She turns to gaze up at him, eyes searching his. There are speckles of gold in the hazel, and she can’t believe she’s noticing them only now.
“Think you missed something.” she says, baring her neck once more.
Jack’s breath catches. He brushed a thumb over the intact skin – as if he were asking for forgiveness in advance. Then places his mouth over it, lips parted. And bites down.
The pain is ecstasy. Samira’s whole being goes tense and then shakes in the aftermath of the bonding settling between them. She floats in it, lost in the feeling. When she comes down to her body, she finds she’s clamping down at him once more. The feeling of his loads filling her, sending her in a blissful haze.
It’s a long road to come down from such a mating. And they have no intention to rush things. So, even when Jack’s knot deflates, he stays inside, keeps her close, nuzzles her down her cheek and neck to make sure she’s okay. She let him, basking in the feeling of being doted on in such a tender way. Nuzzling him as well, purring soothingly at him.
“This doesn’t mean I’m not gonna court you.” Jack mumbles at some point, almost angrily.
Samira snorts: “You’re talking like I’d trapped you into this.”
“That’s exactly what you did, my mate.” he states, propping his head on his hand, and frowning down at her, “Signing yourself to a mating chase? I didn’t have any choice. You've backed me into a corner!”
Samira would like to come out with some witty remarks, but she’s stuck on that first sentence.
“Say that again.”
Jack looks curiously at her: “You've backed me into a corner?”
“No…” she licks her lips, feels her cheeks heat up, like admitting that little thing could be more embarrassing than what they just did in the past hours.
Jack’s eyes lit up.
“Ah.” he just says, one of his stupidly flirty smirks pulling at his face.
“My mate.” he rumbles, tipping down his head to bump their noses together.
“My mate.” he repeats, pecking at her lips.
“My mate.” he says once more, his hand slipping down to caress her belly.
His mate.
She places her hands over his, heart thumping wildly. There is a lot of news coming for her this year. And seems to be all good.