I hadn't seen an A/B/O story in this fandom so I decided to take a chance. Reviews are appreciated to let me know what you think.

He couldn't breathe. He could barely think. It was a worst case scenario. He was without Merle, and he was going into fucking heat. Daryl Dixon groaned. He dug frantically through his backpack again. He'd just misplaced them ... that had to be it. He'd just put the stupid fucking suppressants in the wrong pocket. The wrong place. Merle was always after him about keeping his shit orderly. Not that Merle's stuff had much rhyme or reason, but Daryl didn't have a choice. Keeping his act together was the only way he had to survive and Merle had thumped his skull more than once driving that fact home. Daryl winced. If Merle was here, Daryl would be getting his shit ripped apart for this. When - when, not if - Merle returned, Daryl would hear about it.

Daryl blinked back sudden tears. He was a man and he didn't cry over a brother that was just lost ... just late. Daryl made a strangled sound ... Merle was all he had in the world. His brother would not be grateful to see his little brother bawling over nothing. Nope ... Daryl needed to butch up and stop acting like a fucking pussy. His brother was not dead and that was that ... Daryl threw things haphazardly out of his pack, cursing louder and louder as the burning in his body grew with each breath. Finally, Daryl slumped, shoulders shaking. He wiped angrily at his eyes.

"Fuck fuck fuck fuck ..." Daryl mouthed.

The biker wished he'd picked a different word because that one brought to mind images he desperately did not want going though his head. Images that haunted him every month even with the suppressants ... images of an alpha bending him over and claiming him. Daryl moaned and dragged a well-worn and dented belt from his pack. It was folded over twice and held together by plastic click ties. Daryl bit down on it and fought back the whimpers threatening in the back of his throat. Pain began to build in his gut as he fought a drive as old as the human race - the biological imperative to mate. Daryl heard the echo of his older brother's voice over years gone past. He doubled over and wrapped his arms around his mid-section.

"You keep it together, little brother ... you keep your shit together ... Dad finds out you got a cunt and he'll sell you off for his next bottle, you got me?"

Daryl remembered Merle's frantic whispered warning when his younger brother came to him, confused as to why his ass was soaking his jeans and terrified at the insane need to get fucked by a guy - any guy. Daryl had been twelve and that had been the day he learned he was an omega.

"M-merle ... it ... hurts ...God ... I want it so bad ..."

Merle had clamped his hand over Daryl's mouth, praying their father was dead to the world. The elder Dixon brother had presented as an alpha, same as their useless father. Their mother had been a beta. Merle had no idea how Daryl caught out as an omega, but it didn't matter. Their asshole dad would never accept that he sired a fag-boy omega. Merle knew he sure as shit wouldn't let anyone else find out about it. Daryl had to hide it or Merle's warning would probably be the least of what happened to him.

So began Merle's pattern of guarding Daryl's secret until he was old enough to take care of himself. They lit out to the woods and Merle sat watch while Daryl suffered through the agony of a heat with no alpha to slake the overwhelming need to be bred. The following week, Merle broke into a pharmacy and stole enough suppressants to see his brother out through several months. When those were gone, he did it again. Each month, the two brothers disappeared into the wild for a week. Schoolwork was forgotten ... they dealt with their father's rage ... in short, they handled it. When Daryl was fifteen, he started stealing his own. And so it went.

Now, Daryl breathed through his mouth and pushed up from the ground. He was quickly losing himself in the instinctual need to seek out an alpha. He was grateful walkers lost their designation scents. Of course, if he wasn't paying attention because he was busy humping a fucking tree, it really wouldn't make a difference. He had to find a place to shelter ... a place to suffer out his heat. Clutching the belt, Daryl staggered off through the underbrush.

Rick Grimes moved through the woods like one of the walkers he was supposed to be avoiding. He could only focus on one thing, smell one thing ... an omega in heat. While having spent time in the company of omegas before, even some in heat, Rick had never felt a pull like this one. He'd mated early to Lori – a beta – and once Carl had been born, Rick had bonded to his family. Omegas, in heat or otherwise, didn't affect him as strongly. It had been a blessing but he'd been away from his family ... from Lori and Carl ... for so long he couldn't even remember their scents. Rick was adrift and fighting years of evolved instincts with no experience. He was sliding into a single thought - claim. Claim the omega. Claim his mate. Claim the biological right to take the omega's heat. It was unsettling ... Rick was a man driven to do the right thing. He did not rut like other alphas. He did not push his needs on those who shared his bed. But the unbelievable fire surging through his veins was threatening to do away with all his prinicples ... all his control. Rick groaned. He had to be more than his instincts. Then the wind shifted and the scent he was following came back stronger than ever.

Good God ... it smells so good ... Rick thought to himself.

Every step he took, the smell dug itself into his consciousness. It was overwhelming. It was heaven and hell in a single odor. Rick knew he should be keeping an eye out for walkers but he couldn't focus on anything beyond the delicious vapor drawing him farther and farther into the wood. Then he heard it ... a harsh breathing punctuated by soft curses, desperate pleas ... a deep voice ... male.

"Fuck ... fuck ... fuck ... Merle shut the hell up ... I didn't mean to forget ... didn't mean to ... shut up ... I'll find a place ... no fucking alpha is gonna take me ... I'll find it. I swear ... oh god ... Merle ... it hurts hurts ... fucking forgot it hurt so much ..."

Rick stepped into a tiny break in the trees and was confronted by the vision of a man with short-cropped hair and a sleeveless shirt kneeling on the ground pounding his fists into the dirt. The omega. Rick swallowed hard. The man froze and turned his head sideways slowly. Dark blue eyes settled on Rick's which were a lighter shade. Rick couldn't remember the last time he'd been so caught by anyone's gaze. Not even Lori's the first time he'd kissed her had been so bright ... so full of heat and desire.

"Alpha ..." Daryl breathed, standing unsteadily.

Rick blinked, cocking his head to one side slightly. Any hope he'd had of maintaining control over his instincts was gone. He'd never been with a male omega ... but right now his body didn't seem to realize the difference. All he knew was he wanted to trace that sweet smell to its source ... wanted to devour the thin-set lips on the man in front of him. He wanted to bury his teeth in the sweat-shined skin until he tasted blood. Lori was a beta ... Rick had never known the urge to mark a mate. Only omegas got marked. Only omegas were claimed into a relationship. Only omegas belonged to whatever alpha took them. Only omegas were denied a choice. And this omega ... this omega was his.

Daryl looked at the man in front of him. Dressed in some sort of cop uniform ... sheriff by the badge ... the man's eyes were light blue. They reminded him of the sky first thing in the morning. His hair was dark brown ... clean-cut ... his frame was tall and straight. Daryl wanted to be disgusted by the sight of the man. He was no gay ... no flaming homo chasing after ass ... he was strictly a woman's man. At least that's what he let everyone believe ... Merle had beat it into his head often enough that he had to keep what he was a secret. And Daryl had done just that ... he'd hidden what he was from the world ... he'd stayed in the shadows and blustered around like his alpha brother until no one suspected the faint omega scent Daryl constantly carried was anything but a succession of one-night stands. Right now, however, Daryl didn't want to hide it. He wanted this man ... this alpha ... to know exactly what he was ... wanted to present to him and feel teeth closing in on his neck. It didn't seem perverted or wrong right now ... in fact, it seemed like the most natural thing in the entire world. Daryl couldn't imagine how he'd ever thought otherwise. Submit and be claimed - Daryl groaned as the thought settled in his mind. It refused to leave. It sat in his brain and burned there ... submit. Submit. Submit. Daryl vaguely noticed he was growing wetter ... getting ready to be taken. He blinked and shook his head but the realization that he was going to give himself to this apha stayed put ... and Daryl didn't mind anymore.

Rick could smell the omega's arousal growing. He growled, low and dark. He smiled and it was almost predatory. The man paled and Rick scented a hot spike of desire.

"Oh god ..." Daryl groaned.

"Name's Rick Grimes ..." Rick said, walking up slowly.

"Da-Daryl Dixon ..."

Rick closed the last bit of distance between them. He leaned in close to the omega's neck and thrilled when the man tilted his head back to expose it to him. Rick inhaled deeply and sighed at the blessed rush. He sniffed along the man's jawline and paused at his mouth. His breath ghosted over Daryl's lips. "Well, Daryl Dixon ... pleasure to make your acquaintance."