It's my birthday, so here's my present for all of you.
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Tori paced back and forth along the street. What was she going to do? She couldn't just let this happen. She couldn't, even if it was legal. And seriously? There was no way this could be legal. She called her dad.
"Her father's doing what?"
"It's not legal! It can't be legal, right?"
"Did she consent to it?"
Did she? "I... No! I mean, she seems resigned. But she doesn't want this, she can't!"
"Tori..." Her father's tone was not reassuring. "It's Hadrian West. What judge is going to get me a warrant against Hadrian West?"
"A warrant? I need a swat team!"
"If he procured the drugs illegally, if she didn't consent-"
"She didn't consent! She didn't."
"I'll do what I can, Tori. I'll be there as soon as I can."
A car pulled up in the drive and two men got out. Tori's fingernails dug into her palms. As soon as he could might not be soon enough. She stared at the younger man, tall, handsome, well built shoulders.
Was that him? Was that the filthy alpha who was buying her?
The rage washed over her. Tori struggled for control. But she didn't have time to lose her head. She had to get this done. Had to protect her.
She punched another number into her phone. "Doug?"
"Ten minutes."
Ten minutes was too long. She had to go in alone.
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Gavin cocked his head to the side. He sauntered toward her and slid his hand up the bare skin of her arm to the place on the back of her neck that still felt raw. "Now, how did you manage to get mated in the time between your father dosing you this morning and now?"
He was close enough so that Jade could feel his swollen knot against her leg. She thought she might be sick. He shook his head, a lock of dark hair falling in his eye.
"You know, when I spotted you for the first time, I was sure you'd be trouble. I like trouble. Omegas are boring, but I was sure you'd fight me the whole way, and then when the mating bond took hold, you'd fall limp and accepting. I'd hold back and you'd beg for it." He rubbed his thumb across her lower lip. "I want to hear you beg, darling."
Fuck oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck. What was he going to do to her? All alphas were jerks, but Gavin was turning out to be as creepy as fuck.
"I suppose we'll just have to let your father get his hands on the drugs that break a mating and then try again." He leaned in and bumped their foreheads together. "I don't suppose you'd beg if I fucked you now." His smile quirked oddly in his face. "Someone else's mate. Your body wants his knot, doesn't it? It wouldn't want mine. It might hurt. You might scream." He gently brushed a lock of hair out of her face. "I like hearing girls scream."
He pushed her down, climbing up to kneel straddling her. Jade couldn't breathe to scream, not with his foul, suffocating alpha musk. "I don't suppose your father would care if you got knotted before you were mated. And your poor little alpha husband hasn't even had a chance to get his paws on you properly, has he? Giving the first knot to a mated omega. That's like a dream." He grabbed her wrists, pinning her to the bed. "Now come on, fight me. You'll be able to fight the whole way through, even when I'm tied into you, breeding you."
The door clicked.
Jade tensed. Gavin glanced back. And then there was a crash and a whirr and a crack. Gavin half fell off of her, staggering when his feet hit the floor. Blood gushed from a cut on his forehead. And Tori was standing there, brandishing a metal lamp.
Jade shut her eyes. Fuck.
"You?" Gavin asked, his hand going to his eyebrow, wincing when it came away wet. "Who the hell are you?"
Tori was beyond speech, panting, foaming slightly, knuckles white on the lamp. Gavin's eyes flicked to the dilated pupils, the drool and slight streaks of foam.
"Hell," he said, his eyes alight. "A female alpha? Are you serious?"
He looked at Jade, pushing herself up to sit, and grinned. "This is like... cake."
"If you even try to touch her I will snip your knot off," Jade hissed. This was why she never left the house without scissors, and now here she was, scissorless. The lamp was an excellent plan though.
"How sad. An omega defending her mate." Gavin shook his head. "I know what I need." Carefully, keeping an eye on them both, he reached for his pants to unthread the belt from the loops. "Wish I had rope though. The lamp cord could do. I'll manage. I'll tie you up and make you watch."
Tori went for him with the lamp.
The belt whipped out at her and she ducked, swinging hard, knocking Gavin's knees out from under him.
The door burst open. Uniformed cops rushed in. One spotted Tori - the lamp wielding maniac, and started to go for her. Jade lunged at her, taking her down, and then crawled over her.
An alpha cop - familiar - was it Beck's friend Doug? - shouted at the other officer. "What the hell?" He gestured at Gavin. "Grab him. The girls aren't the problem!"
"Everybody calm down here!" another voice bellowed. This was an alpha not in uniform. Tori, under her, released a breath. "My dad," she whispered, and then looked up at Jade. Jade stared at her. Her eyes were less dilated, her breathing regular. She had hit Gavin with a lamp. Oh, whatever. She leaned in and captured her lips. Tori giggled giddily into it, her hands sliding up Jade's back, under the slip.
"What is going on here!"
Jade froze. Her dad. She struggled to sit up. Her father stood in the doorway, his face white with fury. She had never seen him so angry - not even when he beat her.
"This girl came in and belted me over the head and then the cops broke in like it was some sort of raid. What the hell is this?" Gavin shouted.
One of the uniform cops froze. "Mr. West."
Jade's father crossed his arms.
Jade scrambled off of Tori and got to her feet, smoothing down the slip to have it cover as much as it could, which, wasn't much. Tori looked up at her, wide eyed and obviously confused. She had probably blacked out a lot of the violence. This had gone totally out of control.
"I'm Detective David Vega," Tori's dad said, flashing his badge. "I had a report of illegally obtained mating drugs being used on an unconsenting minor. I have a warrant."
Jade's father's eyes went straight to her. He looked at her, met her eyes, which he hadn't done for years, not since she went into heat for the first time. "Did you call him?"
"No sir," Jade responded. She knew better than that. Why would her father bother with doing anything illegally when he could manipulate all the legal channels just as easily?
"Then who, may I ask, offered such a lie?"
"I don't think you're the one who should be asking questions," snapped Doug.
"It isn't a lie, father," Jade said.
"It is within my rights to give you permission to mate."
"I didn't ask permission!" Jade yelled.
"You didn't say no."
She hadn't said no. "Silence isn't consent," she said.
"It's not," agreed Tori. "There was a ruling on that pretty recently, wasn't there?"
"This is all bullshit!" Gavin yelped. "That girl came in here and assaulted me!"
Tori's eyes widened. Her father looked down at her. "I just... he was going to..."
"He was going to rape me," Jade said. "Tori hindered the process."
"You agreed," her father hissed. "You can't hold out your arm for the injection and then take it all back now."
Jade shrugged, her jaw set. "I agreed to take the drugs and go into a mating heat. I agreed to dress like a slut and come up here. I did not agree to cheating on my mate."
The room froze. Her father took a long sniff. So did David Vega.
"You've been mated," her father said, frowning. He looked over at Gavin, sniffed, and frowned again. "To whom?"
"To Tori." Jade pointed.
Tori, who was sitting leaning against the bed, went green. "What?"
"You didn't mention this on the phone," David chided his daughter.
"I-" Tori squeaked. "That can't be..."
"How do I smell?" asked Jade.
Tori stared at her for a moment. "Perfect," she said. "Like always."
The idiotic look of adoration made Jade smile involuntarially.
"What did you do!" her father took a step toward her and raised his hand as if he was about to strike her.
"I never disobeyed you!" Jade yelled at him.
"Then how did this happen?"
"It's not my fault that that nosy brat can't keep herself from falling through open windows and molesting me!"
"There was no molestation!" Tori yelped.
"And what do you call rubbing off on the back of my neck!"
Tori's face contorted in confusion and disgust. "What? It was just my wrist-"
"Be silent!" Jade's father roared. "How dare you!" He took a step toward them, raising his fist, then hesitated, as if he wasn't sure who he wanted to go for first.
"Excuse me," David Vega said. He pressed Mr. West's arm down so that it was no longer ready to swing. "I think this changes things. As Jade here had already undergone mating then the assignation you set up with your work colleague counts as procuring. And procuring omegas has very high penalties."
Mr. West jerked out of his grip and cast him a disgusted glare. "You're right," he agreed. "This does change things." His eyes turned to Jade, flicked to Tori in disgust, and then moved back to Jade. "You are no longer my daughter."
Jade felt her face go slack.
"Sir," David protested sharply.
"I am an alpha, detective," Mr. West snapped. "And because of that, she is mine, and because she is mine, I can throw her away." He glared at Jade. "You chose your alpha. Fare well with her."
Jade sank onto the ground. Oh lord, what had she done?
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"I don't know what happened," Tori said, feeling miserable. She could see Jade through the glass partition. Someone had snagged her some sweatpants and a flannel shirt and she was curled up on the bench in the interrogation room, looking like she had been crushed, and Tori couldn't focus, couldn't think, when her mate was so sad. "I don't really remember it very well. I just remember Mrs. West opening the door, taking a sniff, and letting me in, and then I remember listening at the door, and he said something about wanting her to scream, and I I hit him with a lamp. I don't actually remember hitting him with a lamp. But he was bleeding and I had a lamp, so I figured there must have been, you know, cause and effect."
There was a brief pinprick for a blood test, to make certain they were mated, but no one seemed to have any doubt, except Tori, who couldn't believe that she could be mated and feel quite so miserable.
Well, she couldn't believe it until she stepped out into the hallway where Jade was waiting, and could smell her again.
"Tori! Are your hands all right?"
Tori looked up, her mom was coming toward her, scooping her up in a hug, and then looking at her hands. "They're fine, mom." She said. "I used a lamp."
Her mom raised an eyebrow and then looked over at Jade. She paused, as if seeing something that Tori couldn't, and then stepped toward her and got on her knees in front of the bench where Jade was sitting. "Are you all right?"
Jade just looked at her, eyes hollow and confused. "Why do you care?"
Her mother smiled and ruffled Jade's already messy hair. "Because someone should. And because Tori's hopeless."
Jade smiled, huffing out a not-quite laugh, and it felt like the first time Tori had ever seen her smile like that, ever seen her smile at all. And she wanted, well, what she had always wanted. To hug Jade until she couldn't remember not touching her, and couldn't think of ever letting go. At the same time, she wanted her naked in her bed, like, really badly, but that wasn't exactly new - though a lot of the imagery was much more vivid. She sat on the thoughts. Police station. Inappropriate.
Her father ducked out of the office and came up, embracing her mother and giving her a brief kiss. "Don't worry. Neither of them are being charged with anything."
"Tori hit someone with a lamp."
"Under the circumstances, it was allowable. Can you take them home, feed them dinner, and put them to bed? - preferably not together, since the drugs are still affecting Jade's behavior, and it's better for her to make important decisions after they've worn off. I don't think I'll be done here until morning. Mr. West's called his lawyer."
"And I'll get the actual story out of the girls?" Holly inquired, half amused, half annoyed.
"And when I get home. Have to go. The prosecutor's reading Jade's statement and is getting a little angry."
He slithered out. Holly turned to the two girls. "Who wants dinner?"
Jade got into the front seat, and Tori slid into the back, feeling inexplicably lonely. Her body wanted to make small depressed noises.
"Tori! Stop whining!" her mother said.
Jade looked back at her, just looked, no expression on her face, and Tori just stared back, restrained by the seatbelt from falling forward between the front seats. Jade huffed out. "I'll hug you when we get home, you big hug-slut."
Tori's mother laughed. Tori... felt better.
On the front stoop, while her mother unlocked the door, Jade made good on her promise. Tori clung to her, burying her head into her shoulder, breathing in the scent - that had always smelled so good, and now was like cocaine. Jade's breathing quickened, roughened, and Tori felt her body rev up, electric desire hissing through her, making her let out a tiny sound that wasn't quite a gasp and wasn't exactly a moan.
"Hands where I can see them, girls!" Tori's mother announced. "And if you're going to make out on the sofa, there's a three feet on the floor rule, okay?"
Jade chuckled, and the vibration made nothing calm down in Tori's chest. "Just put your knee between my legs, baby, and I'll get off."
That made all the blood rush right to the erogenous areas, and other things happen too, and Tori squeaked.
"Try not to take my little girl's virginity on the front porch, Jade," her mother called. "It seems exciting now, but you're going to be humiliated in front of the neighbors for the next ten years. Believe me. I know."
Tori jerked back. "What?"
Jade was really laughing now. She tangled her fingers with Tori's and pulled her into the house. "Seriously, Ms. Vega. You need to explain that one!"
Holly grinned. "That's for me to know, and you to find out. Now, Tori, you're cooking dinner."
"What?" Tori looked a bit stunned. "Why me?"
"It's your usual night to cook dinner. Do you think you're going to get out of it just because of the day you've had?"
"I-" Tori pouted. "Fine."
"Think of it as an opportunity to impress your girlfriend."
This did not make it better. Tori opened her mouth, "oh, not fair!" and she whirled and headed for the kitchen.
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Jade's eyes settled on Tori's mom. "You want to talk to me."
It was funny, how she wasn't angry. This was what always made her furious and jealous. Tori got the good parents. Tori got to be an alpha. Tori got everything she even so much as thought she might want.
She even got Jade, even if she didn't actually want her.
Holly nodded. "I really don't know what happened today. As far as I can tell with my nose, you're in heat, and you've mated with my daughter. With my eyes, it looks like you've been having a really rough day."
"All true."
"Mating drugs?"
Jade nodded. "My dad injected me this morning."
"It should wear off by tomorrow then."
"I guess. I mean, it already worked, right? I'm mated, even if I haven't been knotted yet. Though that was a close thing. Gavin."
Holly caught her hand and squeezed it. "Your father threw you out?"
Jade sighed. "Understandably. I really fucked everything up. And then Tori hit the guy he wanted a merger with in the head with a lamp. If Doug and your husband hadn't burst in, he would probably have killed us."
"Has he hurt you before?"
Jade nodded.
Holly's hand rested between her shoulder blades, rubbing lightly. "I'm sorry."
"It wasn't like, frequent. I just always knew he could, if I disappointed him badly enough. I didn't think it would be worse to be kicked out, but it kind of is." Getting hurt was behavior modification, but she could fix it. She could please him. This... she was a lost cause. She hated that she still wanted his approval, even though he was a worthless son-of-a-bitch.
"You know you have a home here, whether you stay mated to Tori or not."
Jade stared at her. "Why? Why do you care about me? I'm not- I'm not any good."
"Jade, I don't have any omega daughters, and to some extent, I'm grateful for that. I'm grateful that neither of my daughters had to go through what I did. I'm glad they won't meet so many obstacles in doing what they want to do with their lives. But until they were twelve, we didn't know. So we were very careful to teach them to choose, and believe in themselves. That... may have backfired with Trina. And even though Tori turned out to be an alpha, she needed to be taught that too. You deserve to be allowed to choose what you want. And no one will blame you if that isn't Tori. Tori won't blame you for that."
"Is that why you won't let me sleep with her tonight?" She felt a little bitter at that. She was in heat, and other alphas were suddenly invisible to her. Tori had kept casting her small glances and smiling, and it was enough to keep the desire sated and warm in her belly, but no contact at all? The thought made her sick. "I feel, almost human now, even though I'm in heat."
"And if you got knotted, you'd be able to control your heats even more. You'd feel great."
"Exactly." WHy shouldn't she want this? Why didn't she deserve this? After everything...
"And tell me what would happen if you slept with Tori tonight, and then, when the heat was gone, you decided that this mating thing was stupid, broke it and left."
Jade flinched. That did sound like her. And she would be fine. But Tori was such a mess already. "I wouldn't... necessarily break it."
"You're sixteen. You may not want or be ready for a mate. But if Tori has her first time with you - the in heat omega she's just mated with, the one she's been obsessed with since she started at your school - and then you walk away, do you think she's going to let herself open up again? You'll break her. Wait. Think. Date, if you want. Make yourself feel comfortable about her feelings, and be sure about yours. And then you can have proper heat sex for the full three days. Mated or not."
Slightly shocked, Jade snorted. "Why are you okay with this?"
"I like you. And honestly, I'd rather she be with someone I think is responsible and trustworthy than with the beta boys she hangs out with."
"I'm not."
"Not what?"
"Responsible and trustworthy."
Holly stood and shrugged. "You haven't done anything irresponsible or anything to break my trust to me yet. Keep it up."
"I outed her to the school!"
"Why?"
Jade dropped her head. "So... this wouldn't happen. So my dad wouldn't kill her."
"If you can do that, to protect her, you can keep your hands to yourself for one night."
Jade sank into the couch. She could, but that didn't mean she wanted to. Maybe if she promised to stay mated to Tori for ever and ever and always make her happy... She laughed to herself. Yeah, that was the mating heat talking.
Tomorrow, tomorrow she would have her mind back, mostly.
Tomorrow she could make a decision.
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Tori couldn't sleep. She rolled around in bed, knowing Jade was in her living room, on the couch, and found it unbearable. Finally, around three, she snuck down the stairs and went to her. Jade was sleeping, so Tori curled up on the floor, leaning against the couch next to her, and shut her eyes.
Listening to Jade breathe, sleep came quickly.
"What are you doing here?" Jade muttered.
Tori blinked. Jade's hand was on her shoulder, and she looked up. Sleepy and mussed, Jade was gorgeous. "I love you."
Jade smacked her. "Shut up." She grabbed Tori's arm and jerked her onto the couch. "Get up here." Tori curled around her, pulling her into her arms, and felt Jade let out a breath.
"God, I hate this," she muttered. "I hate how it feels so... so fake."
Tori's stomach twisted around. "It doesn't, really," she said. "I mean, I don't feel all that differently about you than I did before. I really don't."
Jade gave her an eyebrow. "You're being serious?"
"Well, I never went into a blackout rage before, but I did punch through Robbie's locker. And, you know... we are what we are. I can't split being an alpha from being Tori, and I can't split my feelings for you from my feelings for you."
Jade sighed. "You suck. Stop being reasonable. A week ago you were flipping out about being so alpha around me."
"It's worth it, for you." She leaned in and kissed Jade's cheek.
Jade struggled. "You don't have me! Not yet!" she snapped.
Tori sat up, wide eyed, scared. "I know - I don't own you. I'm never going to think I own you."
Jade's hands clenched into fists. "Look. If we do this, if we stay mated, you have to give me what I want. There are going to be rules."
"Okay." Tori felt hesitant. But she had to consider this. She had what she wanted, the question was whether it was worth keeping. She knew it was worth keeping. "What are they?"
"You said the first one. You don't own me. You don't control me. I make decisions for myself, okay?"
"Of course."
"And if I do something stupid, or get into trouble, you don't interfere. I don't want you to protect me!"
Tori closed her eyes and took a breath. "I can't promise that. I don't want to. If you're in trouble, I will protect you."
Jade bared her teeth.
"But, I'd want the same thing from you. Is that okay? We protect each other."
Jade sank. "Fine. But no protecting me from myself. You can't protect me from making my own idiot choices."
Tori nodded. "I'll talk to you. I won't make you do anything."
Jade swallowed and slowly leaned into her chest. "You don't own me," she said softly.
Tori pulled her in. "One rule for me."
"Oh really?"
"I can hug you whenever."
"I get to measure the duration."
"Deal."
Finally the tension slipped out of Jade. She leaned back into Tori, pressing her head into the crook of her shoulder. "Okay," she said. "Okay. I kind of love you too."
FIN
This is the end of the story. I may follow it up with a few timestamps, especially if people request certain scenes. I already have a couple plans, but let me know!