Instinct Hijacking, as science put it, was the ability the human race acquired with time to completely ignoring the pull of one's second gender, being Alpha, Beta, or Omega. What started with some babies being born with an atypical lack of second gender traits, slowly developed to a capability of changing what their inner animal wanted, or at least cheating it. The instincts that were used for centuries to justify behaviors, were slowly replaced by human will and their needs. As pharmacology evolved as a science, suppressors and scent blockers made it almost impossible to determine whether someone was a Beta or an Omega, so it began the journey of Omegas taking over places that once were said to belong to Alphas and Betas. Law-Enforcement jobs, especially, saw a burst of Omega identifying themselves with a second gender that was not theirs until the United States government had no choice but to review the Omega Act that forced every governmental agency to test their officers for their second gender to prevent them from entering the force. While managing roles and jobs higher in the hierarchy still went to Alphas, for their instinctive leading nature, Omegas and Betas, who could no longer be distinguished from one another, were getting there.
The CBI happened to be one of the places where if you were good at doing your job and deserved the top spot, you'd get it. And Patrick Jane was the poster boy for Instinct Hijacking. He was too laid back and tried to avoid getting physical as a plague. If one saw him hiding behind tiny Lisbon whenever gigantic perps find out they had been tricked they'd never peg him as an Alpha, but then again, she was the one with a gun, no need for his pretty face to get hurt.
It wasn't like the blonde man was purposefully trying to hide his second gender and more like he didn't care for it. Never had, way before CBI offered him a consultant job it just felt stupid. Why would he beat other people into submission or use his pheromones to shock others into following him? His mind was cunning enough and his smarts knew no boundaries, any day, all day he'd simply outsmart everyone and get his way. In the end, things would go according to his will no matter what and he was right ninety-nine percent of the time.
"You're not foolproof, Jane. You Alpha boys are a pain in the ass."
His boss' voice was the only constant reminder Patrick still committed mistakes.
That and the haunting memories of the only time that pull had mattered to him. His family, his pack, wife, and baby, gone. It took the blonde man three months in Alpha lockdown, not seeing another single soul and being heavily medicated, and another three being treated by Betas and Omegas for him to be around other Alphas without exploding. Six months to act like a human being again and find his purpose. Usually, his brains would have found that out pretty quickly, but it had shut down and for those months he operated solely on instincts. A period of his life he would rather not relive.
In all honesty, Patrick wasn't entirely himself when he found the CBI, scared of his instincts and ignoring it, making himself look small, less threatening, less of an Alpha, even if he still smelled like it, to appeal to the emotional side of whoever was in charge.
That was almost eight years ago; when he found himself a new pack without even trying. The group didn't try to threaten him, nor bowed to his every wish, he liked a bit of a challenge. Cho was the bulky, short Alpha type who packed a mean punch, but otherwise kept to himself. He was the oldest of the agents in the group besides their boss and his sweet/pepperish scent, cardamom, pink pepper, and mandarin scent should've annoyed Patrick who wasn't one for that kind of combination, but it kept there in the back of his mind as a reminder of the man's quiet nature. Rigsby was the second oldest, added to the team before the consultant himself, and he was the stereotypical Alpha, always resorting to his size and violence, even if he was a Beta. It was quite common among Beta men in law enforcement, turning to roughness trying to compensate for something they didn't have to, but society was still evolving. The thing was, he smelled so neutral that it wouldn't matter how hard he tried, it would never work. To the consultant, the agent's scent was kinda soothing, like the sea but way less distinctive.
Grace, their IT specialist, had come along the fourth year of Patrick with the CBI and as soon as she walked in it was obvious she was Rigsby's mate, cause the man's fragrance changed noticeably the day after they got together. Another Beta that sometimes acted like an Alpha and others like an Omega. A little bit of bitch inside the nice and a little bit of nice inside the bitch. Still, it took him another four years to find out she smelled vaguely of cedarwood and that only happened when he went to his friends' wedding, for society was even more sexist than they were prejudiced against second genders. They had to hide their scents in order not to disturb "good" men who were trying to work, it didn't matter which was their second gender. Bullshit, if you asked Jane.
Scents, if they were pack like their team was, usually worked to soothe a person. It felt like a piece was missing, for he missed Grace's Atlantic forest fragrance. Then there was the fact he still didn't know what his boss smelled like.
Teresa Lisbon was your uptight, strict, bossy Alpha. Well, Patrick wasn't sure if she was an Alpha or not. She sure as hell acted like it. Her posture and leadership screamed Alpha, but every once in a while she acted like a mother hen to the pack, seeing to everyone's need, baring her teeth whenever someone threatened one of hers and even in his fugue state, his con-self had asked her, "why such a beautiful omega is at my bed taking care of me if we're not sleeping together?" He wouldn't have blamed himself for she did nestle on the chair beside his bed and was holding his hand when he woke up. He never once caught a whiff of her scent, so no one could be sure of her gender. Lisbon was always on heavy blockers and it wasn't his place, or no one's, to ask her about it, but it sure would help to feel like there wasn't just one puzzle piece gone.
At the very beginning, that little bit of missing knowledge used to annoy him as much as it terrified him, but as the years went by it turned into a mystery that was part of what Lisbon was. It had never been an issue between them; until it was.
Lisbon and Patrick had shared the car drive to Norwalk to investigate a murder, they were just a few minutes away from Mendota, driving past an enormous wood ranch when it started, slowly at first, just enough for the man to wrinkle his nose, trying to make sense of this new aroma that was still very indistinctive. Then suddenly, like a punch to his face, his calm and collected scent, peppermint, amber wood, and lemon drops with a faint whiff of chamomile and honey - thanks to his deceased wife -, was not the only aroma in the car. With the windows down, it felt like out of nowhere, that rich, refreshing perfume invaded the space, and not even Lisbon's blockers were capable of stopping it.
"Can you feel it?" Patrick asked sticking his nose in the air, doing his best to grasp where that alluring scent was coming from and failing miserably. It was ripe… an Omega in distress and almost in heat, the consultant realized as his inner self began to get restless.
The consultant hadn't felt that pull in years, like losing his mind and finding himself at the same time, as if he needed to run and find whoever they were to keep them satisfied and safe. It had been so long and it was completely unwanted, as it clouded his better judgment and took him back to times he wouldn't have back. He didn't deserve to feel that way towards anyone and even less acting on those feelings after what he had done to his family.
"Lisbon," He muttered when his boss didn't answer, a few minutes later, they had just entered the city and the scent kept getting stronger, as if somewhere in that small town, an Omega, made to fit his tastes was going crazy to find him. Not trusting himself not to do something he'd regret later, the blonde man did all he could to hold on tight to the seat, his nostrils flaring despite the effort he was putting in not inhaling the amazing perfume. "I think we better stop."
"Are you ok, Jane?" Lisbon asked and Patrick could hear in her tone she was under stress just like him. Her voice came from gritted teeth and restrained, showing it was affecting her as much as it was affecting her consultant, though her eyes never left the road. His boss probably felt it too, no Alpha wouldn't; and considering she pretty much acted like one all the time, Patrick's inner self was starting to growl at her.
"Oh yes, absolutely," By then Patrick was fully turned to the window trying to decipher where that omega was. "But if you don't lock me in a room in the next ten minutes, I might do something I won't be proud of."
Like taking this Omega to bed with me for the next week, delaying all my plans and Red John investigation to stay in.
The moment they reached the first motel, the blonde man's palms had permanent indents where his nails bit his skin and his jaw was shut tight. He wasn't about to be ruled by his inner Alpha, never again. But he'd need some time under the spray of a cold shower to keep himself in check. That type of control was inherent to all humans, but some still choose to ignore it, saying they were going against their instincts and that it was the Omega's fault for seducing them with their scents.
Of course, it wasn't true, that wouldn't justify anything, and the victim was never the one to blame. It was impossible to lose its mind due to a scent, unless they belonged to one's mate and both of them were going through heat and rut together. That was a fact Patrick had learned first-hand with his wife, years of being a couple and going through cycles together, and still, some wanted to force their will by ignoring all science had proven so far. That damned scent, however, was the closest he had been to those years he had held his wife in his arms, even if it was worlds away from Angela's calming nature. It was as infuriating as it was alluring.
The potential match was there, fresh pine, crisp fir needle, and coffee combined to create an aroma like no other. Oh, he couldn't wait to learn how it would mingle with his. The closest the consultant could summon was Christmas morning excitement sitting under the tree while opening gifts and having tea and coffee, and well, he really shouldn't be going there.
It didn't make him feel relaxed like his wife did and he didn't even like coffee, to be honest, but it reenergized the blonde man, washing over him and giving the man new energy. He wanted to run a marathon and fight someone at the same time, which was fairly new to him. For someone who had been surviving day after day, feeling alive for the first time, in who knows how long, was something new.
He didn't even say a word to Lisbon when they parked, just left the car, running to get a room and then proceeding to lock himself in. Not even when the walls muted the scent's pull on his body, the consultant stopped trying to estimate how far its source was. He'd have to stay in, for there was no way he wasn't doing something stupid if he didn't.
It was only when Patrick was under the shower spray, his body burning from the inside even as the cold water tried to diminish his fever, that the scent-induced fog on his mind cleared a bit and allowed it hit him. The combined perfume was driving him crazy because he had been on the verge of his rut, and this pine with coffee Omega triggered it faster. It wasn't supposed to happen for another week and a half, or the consultant thought so, he wasn't as good at tracking it anymore. Still, when he came in touch with this potential match his body craved.
The CBI policy stated that every ruts and heats had to be spent away from headquarters. Three days before their six months cycle began Alphas were conceded medical absence and were only expected ten days later. Heats being more frequent and shorter gave three days each month to those omegas who weren't on suppressants. Patrick had never used more than six days of his rut leave, his mate was gone, so it didn't affect him that much.
That experience was something the consultant didn't enjoy anymore. At first, it had been just what a horny teenager expected, but then Angela had come along and it was an almost holy experience, to have the urge for someone who was made for you and was also craving to be there with you, just losing themselves in each other. Patrick had no idea how he'd ever top that and he didn't want to, so ruts were spent missing his wife and jacking off until his need to mate disappeared, - which happened quickly with each passing year. The need to have someone was still there throughout those days even though the consultant wouldn't act on it, knowing well he deserved to suffer.
Patrick tried to use one of the motel's towels, but his skin was having none of it, so sensitive that the fluffy cloth had the same texture of sandpaper, scratching him unpleasantly. Clothes were a no-go, especially considering how hot he felt.
Leave it to his luck to find a perfectly valid match in the middle of nowhere when he didn't want it. In what world a guy like him would find a second mate, because yes, he was fairly convinced this Omega could be his mate. No one would put his body into overdrive with his inner self restless to reach and debauch if it weren't a match.
Mates were a deep, complicated scent-related bond. It involved personal traits and likes. One was shaped into their grown form and their inner self – or wolf – would seek someone who would fit perfectly into their life, not complimenting, but getting the best of them. A potential match could be spotted by its scent, given that the extent of each particular characteristic would combine to create a particular perfume. With exposure, one's inner self would analyze each nuance to determine if that match was the perfect mate. Once recognized, one would mate for life. After consummating the union, their scents would mingle forever even if one of the parts died. The moment one's mate died, Patrick knew that quite well, their inner self would go crazy with mourning and if they managed to stay alive, which was becoming more and more common, they would begin searching for a new mate.
At first, it happened in order to secure procreation, the defenseless group of weak animals that evolved from actual wolves acting solely on their instincts that ended up creating a highly active inner self that commanded them. It worked to assure a being found someone with whom they would spend the rest of their lives, copulating as often as possible and keeping their numbers high enough that they went from prey to predators. As humanity proliferated it became about making the ever-evolving creature happy and couples of the same sex started to become a regular thing since it wasn't that important to bear children anymore. It was still frowned upon by some, mainly by those who still viewed relationships as a way of conceiving, but those a very small part of society. Somewhere along with the acceptance, same second gender mating also became a thing. Instinct Hijacking kicking in and Alphas finding in other Alphas what they needed, Omegas loving someone that understood them better than others, and Betas, who had never had a problem being couples supported them.
That was a sore topic to this day. Where omegas doubled their calm nature, creating beings who were so passive they were compared to beagles, Alphas started having kids who were so violent they weren't fit to live in society. Some of the biggest psychopaths the word had seen were offspring of Alpha mates, the manipulative side of the second gender reinforced and meeting cruelty, turning them into a hazard.
That thought, in particular, had haunted Patrick for a long while until that Omega. He wasn't the most conventional Alphas, but still an Alpha nonetheless, and he had been fairly sure if he could scent Lisbon, she'd be his new mate. The brunette was just what he needed to remember he was still human, demanding that picked the rest of his spirits together and getting the most out of the new him. She wasn't afraid of calling him out on his manners or punching his face when he crossed the line, being compassionate where others had pitied him and optimistic where he was jaded. That was not even taking into account she was so sexy and didn't even know. Teresa Lisbon was truly beautiful. That was the main reason behind him being scared of finding out what she smelled like, not want to stray away from his vengeance.
Now the pine with coffee scent proved him wrong for the first time and he usually got those things right. He could still taste Lisbon blockers in the air, so it couldn't be her, and judging by her distress she also felt something for the Omega. It shouldn't bother him that much, especially considering he wasn't fully gone yet and that he didn't want a new mate. Even if he did, his inner self was screaming mate, there was no way it would if this Omega weren't, no one would touch an Omega who found their mate. They smelled different, almost sickeningly sweet. However, it was troubling him more than he'd care to admit. The thought it wasn't Lisbon, but someone else irked him.
With his naked back on the mattress, blankets on the floor, Patrick tried to focus on everything else but those thoughts, which lead to him realize two different things: One, his body was starting to physically answer to the desire running through him, his erection standing tall and angry red, aching for a faceless someone's touch. Two, instead of duller, the fresh pine, fir needle, and coffee perfume was getting stronger as if the Omega was getting closer.
For a second Patrick closed his eyes.
They were here just outside the door, so close… he just needed to open the door.
"Jane, are you ok?"