The Scent of Love

Chapter 6

She knows her heat, when it hits. Knows it in the marrow of her bones; the itch across her skin, the tiredness, the ache in her muscles, the way her skin feels too tight and too hot for her body. 

It’s not exactly a surprise, but it comes with a certain dread. Something ingrained into her mind, that she’s about to lose control, to lose herself. 

“We can get through this,” she tells herself after a miserable day at work, splashing cool water on herself. It stings her skin, doing nothing to cool her off. 

Honestly, calling Sean isn’t even her choice. She calls Josh, as though another Omega might be able to see her through it.

“Hey, Sweetie, what’s happening?”

“I’m going into heat!” She hates how whiny she sounds, how miserable. It’s the Omega side of her, of course, which fluctuates her hormones and makes her want to die, to be cuddled and coddled until she feels safe and loved. A happy Omega is a fertile Omega, and all that.

Josh snorts. “Why’d you call me for that? I’m an Omega. I can’t help.”

“What am I supposed to do?” Beth cries, clutching her phone. She’s on her couch in a ball, trying desperately not to address how itchy and warm her skin is, or the mild cramps in her lower abdomen.

“Call your Alpha.”

“I don’t have—”

“Beth.” Josh’s voice may not hold any of the alpha weight she needs, but his tone is still stern, no nonsense, a little commanding. It shuts her up. “You smelled like the same Alpha for a week. Call that guy. He’ll help you.”

“What if he’s busy?” she asks. The anxiety— it’s another factor, just another symptom of her hormones running rampant through her. “What if—”

“Call him. And good luck.”

Beth hangs up with a huff after her goodbye. She doesn’t want to call Sean— she does, actually, but the thought of it has her shaking like a leaf, while another, deeper part of her purrs and wails for her to do so. 

It will be good, her Omega voice promises. It will be so good. You will be taken care of. He’s a good Alpha.

Call him.

So, of course, she does. Because f**k heat, honestly. Even though Sean hasn’t spoken to her in— a month? Maybe longer? Except the two times she’s seen him at work, he’s barely spoken to her since that one really uncomfortable time at the bar that she absolutely does not think about. 

It hits the fourth ring— she blows out a breath and stares into her fridge, not hungry but knowing she’s going to need the stamina to last four to five days in excruciating pain— and she’s about to hang up when he answers. 

“Hello?”

“Sean?” Of course it’s Sean, she realizes, after the fact. She sounds panicked even to her own ears, and feels a little shaky, her skin itching and tight and this is awful— 

“Beth? Are you okay?” She can hear someone in the background, but asking where he is or who he’s with doesn’t even cross her mind. 

“I— no, not really,” she admits. “Look, I already called Josh, and he convinced me to call you, and I should have just found a heat app honestly, I’m so sorry for bothering you—“

“Whoa— Beth, hang on, slow down. You’re not making any sense.” She swallows and lays her head against the cool freezer door, letting the air from the fridge wash over her. “Where are you right now?”

“Home.” It’s still too hot, and she closes the fridge door, and just stands there, too tired and uncomfortable to move. 

“Why did Josh tell you to call me?” A pause, then, lightly, “Is it because he’s too short to help you? Did your fan chain break again?” 

“What?” Her Alpha— his voice. It sounds so good. “No— nothing broke, I need—“ 

It hits her, a ripple over her skin, and she knows. It’s faster than ever, probably from years of suppressants keeping it at bay. She groans, and her knees buckle. 

Silence. Then— “Omega.” She moans, her eyes squeezing shut, kneeling on the ground as her skin seems to contract, as her mind clouds with fever. “Are you in heat?” 

She can’t speak, can barely breathe, but her Alpha has asked her a question, and— “Please. Alpha, please, I’ll be so good for you, I promise, I’ll—“ 

“Omega.” She falls silent instantly, listening to her Alpha, waiting for his instructions. “Unlock your door, then go lay down. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.” 

She’s on her feet, but she doesn’t remember standing. In fact, she’s already stripping out of her sweats and camisole, in her bedroom, and moving on autopilot to close the bedroom door. And look at that— her front door is unlocked. 

A miracle.

“Are you laying down, Omega?” His voice. He could see her through her heat just like this; she’s sure of it. 

“Yes, Alpha,” she breathes, stretching out on her bed. Her bones feel like putty, softening against her mattress. 

“Good girl.” She barely swallows a whimper— he’s not even here yet, she should show a modicum of decency. “Sleep, Omega.” 

It almost puts her out instantly, except— except she should really stay awake for when her Alpha gets here. “Alpha, wait—“ 

“I’ll be there soon, Omega.” The words are a purr, and she melts into them, closing her eyes against the itch across her skin and the hot cloud in her head. “Get some rest. I’ll see you through this.” 

She falls asleep before the line goes dead.

***

Someone’s at her door. 

She hears them come in, but— but that’s not possible, no one else has a key, she doesn’t have a roommate anymore, she— 

“Beth?”

It’s so hot, and dark, and every single inch of her aches. It’s worse than ever, worse than she remembers. It’s awful. It’s agonizing. 

Beth groans, trying to— she has to get up, to find out who came in. It’s a man, she can hear that much, and he knows her— wait, didn’t she call Josh earlier? Everything’s so fuzzy. 

It’s probably Josh, he’s been known to show up at odd times, whenever she needs him. She wouldn’t put picking her lock past him either.

Right, getting up. She has to get up and go to the living room, and maybe tell Josh that he can go home, he’ll be absolutely no help to her after all. Not with her heat this bad. Her muscles are so tense. She can barely make her way to the edge of her own bed, her skin tight and flushed. Even inside, she’s hot, her womb clenching, cramping. She’s so dizzy. She doesn’t want to stand,

“Omega?”

She leaps to her feet so fast she almost trips, yanking a blanket around her body as she scrambles to the door. It’s definitely not Josh out there. It sounds like— but that’s impossible, why would he even come here, how could he know she needed—

It comes back to her as she opens the door and sees him, sees Sean, sees her Alpha, coming out of the kitchen and leaving something in a bag on the counter. His voice on the phone, and just how close she was to coming, just from him telling her to take a nap— it all floods her brain at once. 

His eyes. They’re green, usually, but right now, his pupils have blown so wide that they’ve taken over most of the color. And Beth— she’s soaking, clenching around nothing, her blood boiling under her skin, just at the sight of him. 

His scent spikes, and he swallows. Her eyes track the bob of his Adam’s apple hungrily. “Beth. Omega. You’re—” she doesn’t know what she is, only that he’s suddenly right there, crowding her against the doorframe, and he’s so hard against her. Hard and huge and wonderful. She moans, arching against him. He smells so good. Her Alpha, here to take care of her. 

“Please,” she begs. His hands close on her waist, his lips at her gland, licking her neck and moaning. She’s well past caring that she’s a disaster, desperate to touch him, to feel him. She’s too busy actively attempting to climb him like a tree, the blanket around her only held up by his hands now. “Please Alpha, I’ll be so good, you smell so good.” The blanket falls and she presses her chest against him, the stimulation almost too much to bear. “Oh god, please Alpha.” He’s trembling beneath her fingers, panting against her neck. His scent spikes— Alpha alpha alpha— and he presses his face against her scent gland, like maybe he wants to drown in it. She wishes he would just pick her up and take her, but he’s too busy touching her, stroking her breasts and nibbling on her neck, her jaw, her ear. 

“You smell so ready, Omega.” It’s too raspy to be a compliment, edged with something that sounds like desperation. Beth moans, and he visibly swallows, his shaft twitching against her. “I’m going to take care of you, Omega—” she whimpers as his hands slide around her waist, one at the small of her back, the other— oh, god, the other one moving up, up, until it’s against her mating gland, buckling her knees instantly. He’s holding her up with one deliciously large leg wedged between her thighs, his fingers clutching her hip. “Just relax, I’ve got you.” 

He doesn’t sound relaxed. He sounds like he’s struggling to keep control, like he’s ready to f**k her. He said he was going to f**k her. 

“Sean, please,” she almost sobs, as his fingers drift across her gland again. “Please, Sean, I want you— I need you to—”

She never finishes the sentence. 

Sean goes absolutely still against her. Completely rigid. And the noise he makes, like some kind of animal— like he’s— 

His scent is so overwhelming she almost comes against him, just standing there. 

“Did you—” stupid question. Even through the fog of heat, she knows what just happened. She just can’t figure out why. 

“f**k,” he rasps, right against her scent gland. He seems a little obsessed with it, right now. 

She swallows, and then reaches down, trying to find— god, he’s still throbbing, hard as diamond against his fly as she undoes it. It’s a little sticky, and for some reason, the fact that he got off just from her begging him, just from necking her— it’s staggering. 

She strokes him, and his hips jerk forward against her. “Let me up,” she says, against the hot cloud in her brain begging for him to just get inside her. “I want to—“ she slides her hand down him, and he grunts, his face still pressed against her neck. 

“Beth—” another grunt, as she circles the head of him. “Omega, I am going to come again if you don’t stop.”

That sounds spectacular. She’s pulsing and ready herself, and if he keeps saying things like that, she’ll be a puddle of writhing goo at his feet in no time. 

“Good,” she manages, stroking her thumb back and forth over his leaking slit. He practically whimpers. “I want you to—”

It feels like boiling water crashes down over her head. She cries out, recoiling, suddenly beyond desperate for something to relieve the ache pulsating between her legs. It’s so much, so fast, and it hurts—

Sean presses her into the bed— where did her bed even come from, they were against the wall— his lips against hers in a bruising kiss. He only leans back long enough to rip his clothing off, and even that is agony, leaving her writhing as she waits for him. “I’ve got you,” he rasps, sliding his hands up her thighs, pushing her open. Even the cool air stings her skin. “I’ve got you,” he murmurs again, against her lips. And then. 

And then. 

The relief is instantaneous as he pushes in. His name is forced from her lips in a rush as he makes room for himself inside her, his knot already swelling and maybe— god, maybe he won’t be able to get inside her, oh god, she needs him inside her, his knot locking them together— 

“Sweetheart.” The word is strained. “I’m not going to—“ she writhes against him, both blissfully full and not full enough. “Sweetheart, I need to turn you over.” 

She tenses. If she turns over, he’ll be right at her gland, with nothing stopping him from— 

But he promised, she reminds herself. He promised not to mate her, no matter how much she might beg during heat. And he’s considerably more coherent than she is. 

Trust your Alpha, the Omega voice in the back of her mind insists. Let him take care of you. 

Beth nods, and a moment later, she’s on her tummy, her hips arched up and he’s— 

“Oh, thank f**k,” she breathes, feeling his knot slip in and lock them into place.

Sean grunts, the sound nearly feral. “This is better than I imagined.” She gasps at the words, her walls fluttering around his knot. He slides a hand into her hair, right at the base of her skull, and grips it. She gasps and bucks back against him, trying to brace herself and failing miserably. “You’re a perfect Omega,” he says, thrusting even though he’s got nowhere to go. 

“Alpha, please—“ she’s back to begging and she doesn’t even care. For a split second, she opens her eyes, raises them up just a little, so that she can see him in the mirror on her headboard. 

He’s looking down at her, an expression of pure awe on his face. One arm holds him up, and the other is slowly sliding down from her hair, tracing her shoulder, her ribs, coming to rest on her waist. Already, his hair is damp with sweat, his skin glistening with it, his muscles straining. He’s beautiful. The perfect specimen of Alpha strength. She feels herself tighten dangerously, on the edge of something—

Sean lifts his eyes to meet hers in the mirror. 

She screams as she comes, burying her face in her pillow, waves and waves and waves of pleasure wracking her body. Sean’s bent over her seconds later, his c**k pulsing inside her as he fills her up, finally, finally dousing the fire in her womb. 

He wraps himself around her when he’s done, tucking her against him like a stuffed animal. Her heart is still hammering wildly, but her entire body feels pliant and relaxed. She’s never felt more content in her life, except that something’s still— there’s something missing, something she can’t place—

“Good,” Sean murmurs, his voice deeper, heavy with that Alpha tone. Beth melts, and— god, is she purring? That’s new. “Good little Omega. You did—” she pulses with aftershocks, and he sucks a breath through his nose. His words come out as a groan. “You did good. You did… good.” 

The fog in her head starts to clear a little. She’s just coherent enough, the last hour or so clearing up in her mind. Calling Josh, then that basically-phone-s*x conversation with Sean, and then… yeah. The rest. 

“Thank you,” she breathes. “Thank you, Alpha.” 

His arms tighten around her. “I will see you through all of your heats,” he says, still in that Alpha tone. It’s not a request. It’s not even a promise. It’s a command. And Beth— she loves it. 

“Yes,” she breathes. She’s already hot again, already trembling against him. “Yes, Alpha.” 

“Good girl,” he growls, and then rolls her back onto her stomach.