The morning started with him panting into his pillow, hips rutting into his mattress as he came in his pajama pants. This wasn't the first time he woke up like this, he was a teenage boy, after all. But it was the first time he felt the urge to continue despite his ruined underwear.

A small, flipper-like paw brushed his face, and he whined as he lifted his head to look at his kwami. "Plagg," he whimpered. "What's going on?"

The cat-like god of destruction continued to pet his holder, an uncommon look of affection on his face. "Looks like you're presenting as an alpha, kid."

Adrien froze, gripping his pillow as he trembled. " No ," he groaned, face falling back into the pillow.

"Afraid so," Plagg said, floating to land on his hair. The kwami nestled into the golden locks and, once he was settled, started purring. And although Adrien could purr because of the influence of the cat miraculous, his chest rumbled in a deeper, more primal response to Plagg's. An alpha's rumble. "That's it, kid. You're okay."

"No, I'm not," he moaned into the pillow, thankful that his body seemed to be… calming down from his earlier excitement.

"Yes, you are ," the kwami pressed. "There's nothing wrong with being an alpha. Plenty of my kittens were alphas."

"But not all of them!" Adrien cried. His knuckles turned white as his grip on his pillow increased, and if he was transformed into Chat Noir he would be down one pillow, shredded by his claws. The newly presented alpha inhaled deeply, trying to calm himself before continuing. "Father expected a beta son, not an alpha. He and Mother are betas. I should be a beta. Not some sex-crazed alpha who wants to fuck the closest omega," he spat.

"Kid, no," Plagg growled, tearing from his spot and shoving on his holder's face so the other could look at him. "Not all alphas are like that! I don't know what your father told you before you became my kitten, but that's some second gender, sexist bullshit if I ever heard one. None of my previous alpha holders were ever like that, and you won't be like that either because you're my best kitten, you hear me?"

Tears welled in Adrien's eyes, and he couldn't help but nuzzle into Plagg's hold. "You think so?"

"I know so," the black kwami puffed out his chest. "Sure, alphas could have some wonderful sex with an omega, but that's not all they're good for. Alphas were made to protect their pack, and isn't that what you do as Chat Noir?"

Adrien's breath caught in his throat at the comparison. "Yeah," he breathed, eyes growing big.

"Then I think you're being a pretty good alpha already, even before you presented."

A happy purr grew in his chest as he looked at Plagg. Internally, his alpha preened at the thought that he was a good alpha, that he was already doing his job properly, and the joy and pride he felt made him feel a bit better about the situation.

Until there was a knock at the door.

Plagg quickly hid, tucking himself under the covers as he pressed against Adrien's side. The teen sighed quietly before tucking his face into his elbow. "Come in," he said, loud enough for the person on the other side of the door to hear him. He didn't even try to move as his father's assistant opened the door. Even though a beta's sense of smell wasn't as good as an alpha's or omega's, he knew that Nathalie would be able to smell both his new scent and his previous actions.

"Adrien, it's-" the woman paused, and the alpha knew she was scenting the room. Thankful that his burning face wasn't visible, he awaited her next words. "I see," she said, finger tapping on her tablet. His heart plummeted at the words, and he knew his father would be told about this. "I suppose I can reschedule the photoshoot and lessons you have today and tomorrow. I assume you would want to spend time with your pack now that you presented, so I can squeeze these in for later next week."

Adrien jumped, head jolting upwards so he was staring at Nathalie with wide eyes. "Pack?" he echoed.

"Yes, your pack," she stated, tucking her tablet to herself so she could properly look at him. "I assumed you found someone - or someones - to pack bond with after you started attending school. Although, if that's incorrect, I could alert your father and we could find some alternative methods to get you accustomed to your new secondary gender."

A sudden sense of panic overcame as he realized that he wouldn't be able to see his friends. "No!" he cried, slightly sitting up while still being aware of his messy situation in his pants. "I have a pack," he said quickly.

Nathalie nodded, turning towards the door. "Very well. I'll make sure your bodyguard is ready to take you to their residency after you freshen up."

"O-of course!" he said, letting out a sigh of relief when she left. Plagg phased through his comforter and nuzzled him.

"Well, that went better than I thought," the kwami said. "I take you're heading to Pigtail's then?"

Adrien sputtered, nearly falling on the floor as he moved to head to the shower. "Plagg!"

"What? I'm not wrong, she is your pack."

"And so is Alya and Nino," Adrien snapped back, face growing red.

"But they're betas. No offense, but you really need your omega right now. And not for sex, she'll help you get used to your new senses and needs. Betas don't really get how different your body reacts to things, they just get the ability to smell a bit better than the unpresented. Trust me, they're not going to like it if you go to them before seeing her."

The teen sent a hurt look towards Plagg, shoulders dropping. "Really?"

"Pfft, yeah," Plagg said, waving a paw. "Alphas only head to betas first when there's no omegas in their pack. Otherwise, they hole up with their omega until they settle, with their betas visiting after a day or two. You're really lucky you presented overnight before the weekend. It would've been overwhelming if you had to go to school today without getting accustomed." Plagg then made a shooing motion with his paws. "Alright, enough chit-chat. I'm getting hungry and you have an omega to clean up for."

This jolted Adrien back into action, finding a slice of Camembert and tossing it to Plagg. Grabbing some clean clothes, he hastily made his way into his private bathroom and jumped in the shower.

With his newly enhanced sense of smell, he was pleasantly surprised to find out that his body care products didn't smell abhorrent to him. In fact, he was glad that they didn't smell any different from what they normally did. Perhaps it was only a human thing, but he was relieved that some things stayed constant.

In decent time, the teen left the bathroom, only to see Plagg tugging on his backpack.

"What are you doing?"

"What does it look like?" The kwami snarked back. "Getting your stuff together to last you a few days. You heard your father's assistant, she rescheduled everything so your weekend's free. You won't want to head back here when you're at Pigtail's."

"Oh," Adrien blinked, a bit surprised. "You don't have to, I can get it myself."

"I'm just making sure you bring enough cheese for me," the kwami huffed, crossing his arms.

Adrien chuckled, moving over to take the backpack's strap from him. "Don't worry, I'll pack plenty for you," he said, scratching Plagg under his chin.

Plagg purred at the affection. "Good."

With a final scratch, Adrien focused on packing. Another two sets of clean clothes, his comfiest Ladybug pajama pants, a couple of wheels of Camembert in a small cooler and his schoolwork. He probably wasn't going to get any of that done, but he wanted to at least make sure he was ready for class on Monday. Throwing a few other miscellaneous things in his bag, he threw it over his shoulder and left his room, Plagg heading to his usual spot under his button-down shirt.