Short chapter – but I'm progressing onward! Maybe, sometime, something will actually happen in this story.

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Things I hate about being an omega - Jade West

1) My body.

Now don't get me wrong here. I have great tits and nice hips, and even though they're 'traditionally omega' I don't give a shit. They do their job. What I hate is the lack of control. Why should my body get to decide what I do? Sometimes I try to fight my heat for as long as possible, hands off, clenching the sheets, not giving in. Sometimes I can last a couple of hours before I feel like I'm going to explode and I just roll over and shove my fingers into me.

The other thing I hate about my body is how people think it gives them the right to tell me what to do. My dad's the worst of the lot, but he's not the only one. The school nurse, telling me to stay home for at least three days whenever 'I need it,' Mr. Alexander, gathering 'the omega girls' into his office and telling us about personal safety. How much bullshit can you get about 'Don't stay out at night. Avoid mind altering substances. Stay ten feet away from alphas at all times.' "You wouldn't want to tempt them, would you? It's not like they can control themselves around omegas." That's total crock. If I'm in high heat I'm not going to go up to an alpha and climb in his lap and expect him to not take that as an invitation to knot me, but during the rest of the month, I shouldn't have to watch myself. They should watch themselves. And yet everyone's all so sensitive about how alphas have such a hard time controlling their urges. Everyone knows that they can control themselves as well as anyone, but why should they bother, when they always get off scot-free? It's always the omega's fault, because omegas are so tempting, even if she wasn't in heat, even if she was totally sober.

It's fucking hard to control your body when you're an omega. But we're the ones who get blamed for alphas not being able to keep their knots to themselves.

2) Being a belonging.

Omegas get blamed for everything, and they always spin it in the name of 'protection.' "Omegas need taking care of, because they're so tempting and they can't help it, oh no." It makes me sick. It's blatant hypocrisy. Omegas were born to be victims, but who's hurt if an omega gets raped? Not the omega. You know your laws are shitty if the rape statute for omegas includes a note about the violent retribution that the rights-bearing alpha is legally allowed to take. First of all, rights-bearing alpha? For me, that's my dad. If he were dead and I had an alpha brother, it would be him. If I were mated, it would be my alpha husband. They have rights, and one of their rights is to fuck up anyone who touches me. Oh wait, and, if they think I led him on, they can beat me as well.

There's a movement to get that shit repealed from the books, but alphas like it. They think it's the way things ought to be, so the government is whimpering some bullshit about states' rights.

Until I turn eighteen, I'm legally a possession, and if I get mated before I turn eighteen - which is totally legal with my rights-bearing alpha's permission - I will always be one.

I will always be a slave to my body, but one day when I get knotted and mated I'll be able to handle it better. I'll want sex, but it won't be the fuck or die imperative it is right now. But even when that day comes, I will still be a slave.

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"Hey," Beck said. He settled onto the bed.

Jade sat next to him and leaned against his shoulder. She was so tired. Getting home on Friday night, her father had actually sniffed at her, and looked disgusted. "I can't tell what's worse - the alpha scent on you or the... onion dip? You know I told you to stay away from them!" The next night he had forced her to come out and have dinner with a bunch of his business cronies. He had chosen her food for her, and glared at her if she even looked away from her plate. He had also gotten her a shrimp pasta - with the horrible revolting tails on - and she had just glared at it for nearly the whole dinner. Sunday was the first time she could escape and she headed straight for Beck's RV.

She felt the early twinges of heat coming on - breasts tender, sore muscles, tightening in her gut. It was early this month. She had a couple days, a week tops before it would become apparent to every alpha within scenting distance. The pills were doing shit to keep it down. It felt like it would be bad too.

Fucking alphas.

Beck sensed her exhaustion and squeezed her arm. "Sucky weekend?"

"No kidding. How was the party?"

"Pretty cool. Tori showed up, said you had broken her out of detention."

Jade rolled her eyes. She would blab. "Can you believe that she was just going to take it? She is such a doormat."

"She's a pretty cute doormat."

Jade pulled away slightly and raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

Beck shrugged. "I kissed her."

Jade froze, her lips curling back from her teeth, her fingers clenching into the mattress. "You did what?"

"Hey, it's our deal, right? I was just going to make out with her a little."

It was their deal. Beta boys didn't have the endurance to maintain for a full heat, but they were horny in the interim too. Jade didn't really like sex when she wasn't in heat, and she refused to do it when she didn't have to. She had considered it, even sat across the room once while Beck macked on a Northridge beta girl and watched. She had wondered whether it would turn her on. It hadn't. It had, however, terrified the Northridge girl to such an extent that she had fled with her shirt half off.

"She seemed into it, but she made me stop because of you. She said it was cheating even if we had a deal."

Jade blinked.

"I figured she might be right. I mean, usually it's girls you don't know and who don't go to our school. But Tori's our friend, kinda, so I wanted to double check that you'd be cool with it."

"No."

Beck blinked, jerking slightly away from her. "What?"

"You deaf? I said no. I'm not cool with it."

"Why not?"

"I don't have to explain myself," Jade snapped. "I said no. Hook up with all the beta girls you want, but Tori's off limits!"

"That's not fair, Jade. I know you guys have issues, but this isn't about you! She's cute, and she's a beta, and I really kind of like her."

Jade considered clawing his eyes out. Then she considered scarring Tori's face with acid. That would solve the problem of everyone finding her cute. Dammit. "We made a deal," Jade said. "We said you would take care of me until the end of high school or until my dad finally makes good on his threat to give me to one of his douchebag cronies, and I said that you could put your lips all over any beta girl you pleased in between my heats, as long as they were aware that I came first, right?"

"Yeah. I don't see what the problem is. Tori knows about the deal, so if you just reassure her that she has permission, it'll be good. She already is all, 'but Jade, Jade, Jade,' so that knowing that you come first isn't a problem."

Jade laughed, but it was as bitter a laugh as she had ever laughed. "Oh, yeah, so it's no problem. Jade has given you permission to service her boyfriend when she's not interested. You'd really say that to her? You don't think that's degrading?"

Beck made a face. "Well..."

"And what are you going to do when she tosses her hair over her shoulder and says, 'oh, sugarplum, you know I love your cock, but cain't you just take me to a picture show this weekend. I know Jadey's supposed to have you, but if you really liked me, you'd do me this one tiny little favor.'"

Beck made a confused face. "She really doesn't talk like that."

"I don't care."

"Are you worried that she'd try to mess up our deal? Because I really don't think-"

Jade could not give a damn what he thought. If it had been Tori instead of that Northridge girl she would have just shoved Beck off the sofa and climbed into her lap. But there was no way she was telling Beck that. She was sick of Tori taking her things, Cat and now Beck, and she was even more sick of other people trying to take Tori. Being Beck's slut on the side was totally degrading, and Tori might be a doormat, but she wasn't that much of a doormat. Beck was an idiot if he thought she'd go for it. But if Beck wanted her enough to try, he just might want her enough to break their deal and offer her a real relationship. And that was not okay on any level.

Jade's hand slammed into Beck's chest and she shoved him back onto the bed. She jerked her scissors out of her bag and spread the blades, pressing the cold metal up against Beck's head. "You don't touch Tori. If you get your filthy little paws anywhere near her, I'm giving you a buzz cut without a razor, got it?"

Beck gulped. "Got it."

He hardened under her, the slut. He'd kissed Tori. She leaned down, wondering if the faint scent that still clung to his clothing was hers. His lips were pursed in a slightly worried expression. The thought of him kissing her, the memory of it from Tori's first day at school, it was infuriating. It had been disgustingly sweet, and Beck had been nothing but sweet back. Tori didn't need sweet. She needed something better than that. Jade kissed Beck, kissed him properly. There wasn't any goddamn need for sweet. And she wasn't in heat yet, but it was probably close enough for her to get off. She ground down on Beck's hips.

Maybe, she thought, getting off today will make school tomorrow less hellish. But somehow, she doubted that would be the case.

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Jade was pulling her boots back over her leggings. Beck was laying back naked in bed, half covered by a blanket. He groaned. "God Jade, you sure you're not in heat yet?"

Jade snorted. "I'm sure."

It hadn't been great, but it had been good enough. It had taken the edge off, and her body wasn't aching pathetically, wondering why she wasn't being filled. That would come with the real heat.

"You know," Beck mumbled, "at the party, Cat kissed Tori too."

"What!"

Beck grinned. "Just... don't do to Cat what you did to me for it. I don't think she'd ever recover."

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"What's this I hear about you kissing Tori?"

Cat grinned and bounced up and down, clearly unthreatened by Jade's number six glare of death. "Don't worry! It was just one, and I just totally had to. It was so hot, her going all violent alpha like that."

Jade stopped. "What? What happened?"

Cat pointed.

Tori was coming in through the main doors. Jade's eyes were instantly drawn to the entirely season-unsuitable fingerless gloves, clearly there to hide the athletic tape and bandages that peeked out from underneath. Item two was the black eye, concealed ineptly by what was clearly Trina's handiwork.

"Oh god," Jade groaned. "What did she do?"

"She and Doug and two beta girls from out of town fought a pack of alphas. They won."

"So, does everyone know now?" If that cat was out of the bag it would probably be good to let Tori see the other cat so she didn't try to drag Jade down with her. Jade frowned as she considered her earlier conversation with Beck. Did he know? Was he seriously considering going after an alpha?

"I think we're good," said Cat. "I told everyone that the beta girls were Tori's friends, so she had to get involved when they were hassled. And one of them was kind of crazy angry. If anyone's wondering about a female alpha, they're probably wondering about her."

Jade nodded, considering this, still watching Tori as she made her way to her locker, and then winced while she tried to open it. "God," Jade muttered. "She looks like such a victim."

"I know, right!" Cat grinned at her.

Jade raised an eyebrow. "Why are you happy about that?"

"It's an awesome disguise. And really, the awesomest part is that it's only kind of a disguise."

Jade didn't think that was awesome at all. It was just weak.

Cat cocked her head and considered Jade. "You know, I always thought you would make a good alpha."

"I happen to agree."

"And if she were your omega, there wouldn't be any of this…" she waved her hands wildly and completely incomprehensibly. "You would just be like, bam! 'Stay away Jackoffs!'"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean!"

Cat, surprised at having her line thrown back at her, stuck out her lower lip and widened her eyes. "Nothing. Just, you know, you'd protect her, and she'd like it."

Jade took at deep breath, through her mouth, (the nose was dangerous these days). "No," she said. "She wouldn't like it. And if she did, she shouldn't. I can't say I wouldn't try to look after her, but if she had any guts at all, she'd hate it."

"What's wrong with being protected?"

"It's not the protection," Jade said. "It's everything that comes with it. It's the way that people who think they're protecting you are controlling your life."

"You wouldn't do that."

Jade smiled. "Of course I would."

Cat chewed her lip, clearly realizing the truth of that statement.

"I would boss her better than any of the bullshit alphas trying to do it to me." It was a pleasant thought, really. And she wouldn't subscribe to any of the omega crap that they mostly got put through. She would make Tori do much more interesting things. She might even make her a star, just to see if she could, and then at home she'd make her a pet. Those thoughts made her squirm slightly, and it was time to change the subject.

"Hey guys." Tori had come up to them, and Jade jerked back. What the hell! If this was what the result of the truce was going to be - her acting like they were all friends now - it had been a worse idea than she thought.

"Hi Tori!" Cat squeaked.

Jade glared at her and then turned it on Tori. "What's this I hear about you macking on my boyfriend and my best friend on Friday night?"

Tori gulped.

A rather bitter voice in Jade's head decided to take Tori's part. "Jealous?" it asked, and Jade told it to shut up.