Chapter Text
A sheen of sweat covered Vi’s bare shoulders, beads of moisture trickling down the side of her face as she moved back and forth, body pumping vigorously. Her heart pounded in her ears as she focused solely on the task at hand, on a single goal. No thinking outside of pummelling harder and faster.
“Vi. Vi!” Clarity cut through her single-minded determination and her movements stilled. Shoulders heaving from exertion, she glanced up in confusion.
“You’ve been working the bag for over forty minutes. You okay?” One of the personal trainers said, a towel outstretched. Vi’s eyes flicked around her section of the gym and she realized that people had been staring at her. Now that she wasn’t pummelling a steady drumbeat of blows into the heavy bag, they quickly returned to their respective workouts, eyes focused anywhere but on her. Shit.
“Yeah— sorry. Just wanted to get some cardio in.” She said with a forced grin, before ripping the velcro of her boxing gloves off with her teeth. She tossed them back into the bottom of her gym bag before accepting the towel with a nod. She wiped her face and swore quietly to herself. Into the soft white fabric. She’d been making a scene.
“I’m gonna go finish up some paperwork and then head out. If you see Sev, let her know I’ll be meeting her and my sister at the bar.” She said. The other trainer nodded as Vi headed up the stairs to her office, swallowing as she opened the door.
Vi sank into her office chair and let out a sigh, her head falling into her hands. She hadn’t wanted to make a big deal of things, but she’d gone and done it now. Scar was a good trainer, but she knew that even the good ones couldn’t help but gossip. So, people were going to find out she was all hot and bothered at work and had spent almost an hour punching the shit out of the heavy bag. And they were gonna wonder why.
She couldn’t blame them. Part of her wondered why too.
Vi had felt... out of sorts ever since the charity gala she and Caitlyn had gone to. Something in the pit of her stomach had come unsettled that night and she’d never figured out why. It wasn’t the fact that she’d almost said the C word, that wasn’t it. Even if it probably should be.
No, it was something different. All night, she had been on her toes. She’d wanted to loosen the buttons of her shirt, but Caitlyn had said that she should look clean and presentable. She’d wanted to steal a drink from Caitlyn’s glass, but the omega had said it wasn’t proper to do something like that. She’d wanted to roll her eyes when the fancy pants lawyers talked about how good they were being with all their pro bono work, but Caitlyn had shot her a look that made her stop.
And yeah. She’d got her jollies that night, that wasn’t the problem. But the more she thought about it, the more she realized... that whole night, it felt like Caitlyn had slipped her navy collar around her neck. And while she liked it in bed, out of their apartment, it felt less like a collar and more like a noose.
Sighing, Vi glanced at the clock on her desk and let out a quiet curse. It was just after 7, she was going to be late for drinks with Powder and Sev.
~*~*~*~
“What do you mean you still haven’t claimed her yet?” Sevika choked, thumping her chest after having coughed up most of her old fashioned. Vi ducked her head in embarrassment, eyeing the other patrons at the dive bar with a furtive glance. Meanwhile, Powder snorted into her tiki drink, the paper umbrella dancing around the rim of the glass.
“Right? She drags her around like a prize puppy to some kinda fancy pants lawyer thingy like she owns her, but doesn’t even let her bite! And don’t even get me started on the—” Vi immediately planted her hand over her sister’s mouth, effectively silencing the scrawny alpha. Luckily for all of them, the Last Drop had seen far worse than some sibling squabbles, so no one paid the pair any mind in their corner of the bar.
“Shut up, Powder. And for God’s sake, are you trying to tell the entire fucking bar, Sev?” Vi groaned, before recoiling as she felt her sister slobber against her hand. She relinquished her grasp on her sister, shaking the spit from her hand. “Jesus, Pow, what the fuck.”
“I’m not the one who gets muzzled.” Powder taunted, taking a long sip from her straw with a sly expression on her face. “Ekko likes when I’m loud.”
“Powder!” Vi hissed, embarrassment making her face turn the same shade as her hair. It wasn’t like she had meant for her sister to find out about the muzzle— if Vi had her way, she’d have gone to her grave before telling Powder. But, Pow could pick locks like nobody’s business and had a penchant for stealing Caitlyn’s expensive nail polish when the omega wasn’t home. So, Vi had returned from the gym early one day to find her sister practically slip-sliding across the tile in her mismatched socks, waving the muzzle she’d found hanging on Vi’s side of the closet with glee.
“You’re her little bitch baby!” Powder had squealed, jumping around the kitchen as Vi chased her sister down, trying to grab the muzzle back.
“And you’re so fucking dead!” Vi had promised, before trying to shove the skinny girl into a headlock. Caitlyn had come home an hour later to find the two of them pressing bags of frozen vegetables to bruised faces on opposite sides of the couch, an action movie playing on the tv screen.
Back in the present, Sevika pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head in disgust at the two sisters.
“You... need to be more fucking discrete.” Sevika said, pointing at the mischievous alpha before turning her prosthetic finger to Vi, “And you, you need to knot the fuck up.”
“Oh fuck off.” Vi grumbled, taking a long drink from her beer before slumping back into the vinyl cushions of their usual booth. It had been a long standing tradition that every Thursday, the three of them would get together for drinks. Sevika had been one of the few alphas in Stillwater who Vi hadn’t violently clashed with and, when the older woman had been released, they had made a deal. Sevika would look out for Powder while Vi was locked up. And when Vi got out and found that her sister wasn’t 1) dead or 2) similarly incarcerated, she made it a personal mission to make sure she repaid her debt to the burly alpha.
So, when Caitlyn had helped Vi win her settlement case and she’d used the money to buy the space for her gym, Sevika was the first person Vi called. Ever since then, the three of them had been as thick as thieves, bonded by kinship and a strong sense of knowing when to call the others out on their bullshit.
“How long have you guys been dating? You guys started fucking during your whole bullshit trial, right?” Sevika grumbled, leaning back and lighting up a cigar as she spoke.
“Technically, you’re right. But officially, we’ve been together for two years.” And nine months, 21 days. Their official three year anniversary wasn’t that far off in the grand scheme of things. But Sevika didn’t need to know that Vi had it memorized to the day. The day she started dating Caitlyn, the day she’d been imprisoned, and the day she’d been released were three dates that would stick with her forever.
“Two fucking years. Kid, I’m starting to wonder if she’s even serious about you if she hasn’t let you bite her yet.” Sevika growled. The words stabbed Vi in the gut like a knife, sharp and icy. But, she did her best to ignore the pang of anxiety that ran through her veins as the older butch continued, “I’ve claimed girls I’ve known for three months. Didn’t work out, sure. But I claimed ‘em.” Sevika shook her head, wisps of smoke puffing from the end of her cigar.
“That’s what I’ve been saying this whole time!” Jinx said, gesturing emphatically at the other alpha. “I bit Ekko like, day 1!”
Both of the other women stared at her in mild horror. “Don’t do that. That’s fucking insane.” Sevika said, blowing a plume of smoke from her nostrils.
“Yeah, no. Pow, you lucked out on Ekko, he’s a catch, but fuck.” Vi shook her head, really wishing she hadn’t learned this fun new factoid about her sister and her beta boyfriend.
Powder blew a raspberry at the both of them. “You two are just jealous. I’m seeing one unmated alpha,” She said, levelling a finger gun at her sister, “And an alpha who’s been on a dry spell for at least eight months,” she swung her finger around to point at Sevika, “Who both have no room to be judging me. Ekko and I have been going strong for five years now and I don’t see either of you coming to me for advice.”
“If I’m going to anyone for advice, it’d be Ekko. He’s put up with you almost longer than I have,” Vi grumbled, downing the rest of her beer before snapping her fingers at the others. “Forget I said anything, okay? Next rounds on me.”
The other two nodded in agreement and Vi headed back to the bar. As she made her way through the crowd of regulars, she felt a slim arm loop into her own.
“What’s up, Pow?” She asked without looking down at the younger woman. Her sister bounced at her side, her choppy blue hair bobbing around her shoulders. The new look was taking some getting used to, given how her sister had long ass braids for most of her adult life. But, Powder seemed to like her short chop. Plus, Vi couldn’t help but recognize how it almost looked like her hair before she’d grown it out.
“Just keepin’ ya company, sis. Can’t a girl do that?” She said with a grin. Vi rolled her eyes as she leaned against an open spot at the bar, nodding at the bartender.
“Yeah, yeah. Look, I didn’t bring this up because I wanted to be made fun of. You and Ekko, you’ve got a good thing going. How does it work, you know. Given that he’s a beta?” Vi asked. Powder slipped away from her sister’s arm, fanning her face while making a scandalized expression.
“My, my, my. Don’t tell me you want all the dirty details about—” Powder said, which earned her another hand to the mouth.
Vi shook her head, instant regret filling her. “No, no. Do not tell me about your sex life, I am begging you.” Powder’s eyes lit up at the wording, her pink eyes practically glowing. Vi groaned. “Fucking shut up, dude.”
She withdrew her hand as the bartender approached them, an eyebrow quirked in an expression of nonplussed amusement. “What can I get you?”
“Another stout, an old fashioned, and a...” Before Vi could finish the order, her sister butted in.
“Sex on the beach, if you please!” Powder sang out, grinning as she nudged her sister conspiratorially. “Which is exactly what I told Ekko when we went on vacation last—”
“And what she said! Tab’s under Anderson. Thanks!” Vi interrupted, shoving her sister back. The bartender nodded impassively, moving down the bar to get the drinks started. “You’re a fucking dick, Pow.”
“I mean, I sure hope I am.” The younger woman said with a giggle, blowing a stray lock of blue hair out of her face. Vi ignored her antics and leaned against the bar, her fingers drumming restlessly against the sticky wooden surface.
Powder sat down on an empty barstool and let out a sigh. “You’re really serious about this, huh?”
“You’re just now realizing that? Yes, yes I am. Things have been going really well for us. Not that things were bad or anything, but they’ve been better ever since we decided to,” Vi shifted nervously, the collar of her leather jacket rubbing against the back of her neck as she looked around, “Switch things up a little. Don’t you fucking start again, I mean it.” She pointed threateningly at her sister.
Powder held her hands up innocently, “I didn’t say anything! But... how good is it actually going if you haven’t claimed her?” Vi’s stomach clenched at the words, but she stubbornly pushed the feeling down.
“She doesn’t want to be claimed.” Vi protested. Even so, Sevika’s words lingered in her ear like the whisps of smoke floating through the air. What if she’s not serious about you? What if she doesn’t care?
“Let’s not unpack that just yet. I wanna get back to your whole relationship dealy.” Powder said, waving a hand back at their table dismissively, “Forget Sevika for a second and think about everything outside of the claiming.”
Vi narrowed her eyes as she regarded her sister, “Yeah, ignore the thing I’ve been agonizing over, sure.”
“Shut up and listen to me, you knothead. You’re the alpha, she’s the omega, should be simple. But,” Powder held up a finger, “One. She’s the one who got you outta getting sent back to Stillwater way back when.”
“That was literally her job.” Vi reminded her sister, who held up another finger.
“Two, she won you the settlement that gave you the money to start up your new gym. Three, you moved outta your shithole apartment and into her shwanky place up town where you live rent free.”
“My apartment was fine!” Vi hissed, which was met with a fourth finger thrown in her face.
“Four, she’s some kinda dominant omega and now you’re the one rolling over and taking it like a bitch every other night.”
“That is not how our dynamic works and you know it.” Vi growled. “Cait may have been the one to suggest it but I like it too, you know.” She did like it, genuinely. She liked not thinking, she liked letting Caitlyn be the one in charge, liked not having to worry about going too far. It wasn’t cope, it wasn’t. Was it?
“Do you? Or is all of this just you feeling like you need to please her because of everything she’s done for you?” Powder persisted, her pink eyes glimmering in the low light of the bar. “You keep pouring yourself into this relationship, bending over backwards for what she wants. But are you doing that because you want to or are you doing it because you think you owe her? Sure, she’s set you up good. But the way I see it, she’s taking and taking and taking, and what is she giving back to you in the relationship?”
“Powder, you need to shut the fuck up.” Vi shot back through gritted teeth, her fingers tightening on the edge of the bar top. Her sister gaped at her, the thin woman’s hands curling into fists at her sides, her pink and blue nails bright against her white knuckles.
“I’m trying to look out for you, fathands—!” Before Powder could say another word, a heavy mass loomed behind them, the scent of acrid tobacco smoke filling the air.
“You two, get outta here. I’m closing the tab.” Sevika growled, jerking a mechanical thumb over her shoulder towards the door of the bar. Vi glanced back at her and her inner alpha whined in embarrassment. Everyone in the fucking bar was staring at them. Sevika gave them both a quick shove, jolting them in the right direction.
Powder stumbled out of the bar first, her jerky movements making her look more intoxicated than she was. Vi slouched out behind her, shoving her hands into the pockets of her jeans with a dour expression.
“You know I’m right.” Powder insisted. Between the drinks, the smoke, the doubt that was already plaguing her mind and all of the points that had been made, those four words were the goddamn straw that broke the camel’s back. They were the words that sent the alpha seeing red.
With a roar, Vi threw herself at her sister, arms swinging. She caught the skinny woman off guard, clipping her cheek, but Powder had always been quicker than her. Pow slip-and-rolled away from the furious alpha, her own hands coming up to wave infuriatingly at Vi.
“You’re a little bitch for what? An omega who won’t let you claim her? What’s that going to leave you with, if it turns out that Sevika’s right?” Powder taunted, ducking and dodging each of Vi’s punches. She danced backwards down the alleyway while Vi snarled in frustration. “She’s just using you!”
“Maybe I want to be used!” Vi spat back, the words startling Powder into stillness. “Maybe I wanna be used, because fuck, what else do I have going for me? Might as well just roll over and take it! I’m an alpha with a violent criminal record, no high school education, no name, no power, nothing. What the fuck am I if I can’t be useful to her? No wonder she doesn’t want me to claim her.” The words came out hollow and broken, but rang true.
“Violet,” Powder started but Vi turned around, angry and pissed off and scared of the words that had slipped out. She hadn’t meant to say that, but the words had come out unbidden and she couldn’t deny the truth of them. The fear. Shoving her hands into the pockets of her jacket, Vi ran down the alleyway towards the main road.
Only to be stopped by the hulking mass of muscle and machine that was Sevika.
“Kid. You can’t just run off like that.” The woman grumbled, planting her flesh and blood hand on the younger alpha’s shoulder. “Your sister is a pain in the fucking ass, but she means well. And what you just said there... that’s not something you can just run away from.”
“Sure can.” Vi growled, rolling her shoulder back to slip away from Sevika. But, an old dog couldn’t be fooled so easily— the woman merely yanked at the collar of Vi’s jacket and sent her stumbling back into the alley. Powder had moved closer to the both of them, her head tilting nervously as she watched the two butches.
“You gotta figure your shit out. So you’re in love with her. Big fucking whoop. Knot up and claim her or move on. This won’t end well for you if she keeps stringing you along like this.” Sevika growled. Powder rolled her eyes, shaking her head.
“Lil miss priss isn’t my favorite person in the world, but for fucks sake, don’t do what Sevika’s saying. Talk to her . Make her listen to you. Make her hear how much this is fucking you up. You deserve to have an equal say in your relationship, to be on even footing. And if you can’t get it with Kiramman, well. Maybe she’s not the one for you.” Powder said with a shrug. “Sorry, Vi.”
Vi kept her eyes focused stubbornly on the ground. She needed another fucking drink.
~*~*~*~
Caitlyn yawned as she shut her laptop, pleased to be done for the evening. She hadn’t intended to bring work home with her, but some things were inevitable with her job. It hadn’t been too bad, all things considered, given that Vi was out with Powder and Sevika.
Glancing at her watch, the omega frowned. It was half past midnight. Vi never went out with them past ten, not on a weeknight. She usually had clients first thing in the morning and a hungover personal trainer was not good for anyone. Caitlyn was just about to reach for her phone to call up the alpha and ask if she was spending the night at Powder and Ekko’s when she heard the lock to the apartment click open.
“Darling?” She called out from her study, waiting for a response. All that came was a muffled thud and some quiet swearing, which wasn’t alarming at all. Pulling her robe tighter around her, Caitlyn hurried out to the hallway and was startled to see Vi splayed out in the middle of the hallway, her boots flung haphazardly on the ground, her leather jacket sliding off one of her shoulders.
The alpha looked up at her and offered a bobbling nod. “Hey Cait.” Vi slurred. Caitlyn’s nose wrinkled— she smelled like she’d tripped and fallen in a vat of liquor. The front of her shirt looked like it too. Just how much had she drunk tonight?
“Hey sweet girl.” Caitlyn said quietly, comfortingly. Or at least, that was how she intended the words to be taken. Instead, Vi’s eyes narrowed and Caitlyn could have sworn she heard a faint growling rumble from the alpha’s chest. She watched as Vi stumbled to her feet, leaning against the wall for support as she slid her jacket off her shoulders and onto the ground.
“Can you hang that up, please?” Caitlyn asked, gesturing to the jacket. Vi stared at her for a moment before shaking her head.
“Why you gotta tell me what to do?” Vi asked as she took a step towards the omega. Caitlyn’s eyes widened in shock. What had gotten into Vi? Yes, she’d been drinking and Caitlyn had seen her girlfriend plastered before. But this was different. It was scary and new and she didn’t like it one bit.
“I’m just asking you to keep our home clean, darling.” Caitlyn said, soothing pheromones filtering through the air as she watched the other woman. Vi snorted and shook her head doggedly.
“Our home, huh. Yours. S’all yours.” Vi grumbled as she stepped past the omega, leaving her jacket and boots in messy piles on the floor. Caitlyn let her move past, still dumbfounded by this side of her girlfriend. Vi made her way to the kitchen and Caitlyn lagged behind, pulling her phone from her pocket and opening her texts.
CK: Vi just came home stumbling drunk. What happened tonight?
PA: whut
PA: we stopped drinkin like 3 hrs ago
PA: oh shit
PA: omw
The flurry of texts messages did nothing to ease Caitlyn’s growing sense of concern. And neither did the clinking sounds of bottles that came from the kitchen. She hurried down the hallway and found Vi was splashing whiskey into a tumbler, liquor splashing out of the glass and onto the bar cart. The alpha didn’t seem to notice her as she took a long, deep drink. Caitlyn watched in mild horror as she drained half the glass in a single gulp.
“I think that’s enough.” Caitlyn spoke up. Vi snorted, refilling her glass.
“I think I can do what I want.” She replied, capping the whiskey bottle with clumsy fingers. Caitlyn stared in dismay as her girlfriend leaned against the bar, glass in hand. Those grey eyes, usually so calm and focused and perceptive were glazed over with drunkenness and— Caitlyn resisted the urge to flinch, steeling her nerves against the impulse. Vi’s eyes were filled with barely restrained rage .
“Do you want to talk about what’s going on?” Caitlyn asked, her voice soft and quiet so as to not provoke the alpha. Her omega whined and growled and whimpered, frustrated and fearful all at the same time. She hated this situation, hated not knowing what was going on with Vi, not knowing how she could help.
“Oh!” Vi said, voice dripping with faux surprise as she paced around the kitchen island. “You, you wanna talk? You wanna talk about what’s going on? Well, color me shocked.”
Caitlyn blinked in confusion. None of what Vi was saying made any sense at all. They talked all the time— it was part of what Caitlyn prided herself on the most about their relationship. They communicated so well with one another. They respected each other. But this... this wasn’t that.
“What do you want to talk about?” Caitlyn hedged.
Vi took another slug from her glass before pressing her hands down on the countertop of the kitchen. She was standing in the exact same spot where she’d eaten Caitlyn out just two weeks ago, the night she’d let Vi dominate her. That night, Vi had been so strong and stern and powerful. But now, all Caitlyn could see was a drunken shadow of her girlfriend’s self.
“What do I wanna talk about? Les’see. Maybe we could talk about how this, alla this.” Vi waved a wobbly hand around them, “Is yours.”
Caitlyn opened her mouth to protest, but Vi continued. “Your apartment. Your kitchen. Your tv. Your pots and pans. Your furniture. Fuck, I’m even drinking your whiskey!” She snorted as she took another sip from the glass. “An’ then there’s me. I’m yours. Your fucked up little toy that you can show off to all your fancy friends at dinner parties. The alpha you got to submit to you.” Vi laughed and the sound hurt Caitlyn’s soul.
“Vi, you know that’s not true. I don’t own you, that’s not how this works—”
“I know! ‘Course you don’t own me! We’re not mated, you can’t own me. You just have me roll over and beg and plead and whine for you. And when I ask about why you don’t wanna be bitten, why I can’t claim you, you shut that shit down and don’t talk to me.” Vi’s words were like a slap on the face, the realization of what had driven her girlfriend to this point stinging like poison.
“Mating bites. That’s what this is about?” Caitlyn asked, dumbfounded.
Vi shrugged, her movements exaggerated from drunkenness. “Maybe. Could be. If you let me talk about it.”
Caitlyn bit the inside of her cheek, mentally swearing at herself. She’d shut down all talk of mating and claiming since they’d first started exploring the new dynamic out of fear. And now it was coming back to bite her. “I don’t know if now’s the time to talk about it.” She replied.
The alpha snorted into her glass. “Of course it’s not. It’s never the time to talk about it. Cuz we both know you’re never gonna let me claim you. You just wanna keep me on a leash, your eager little puppy, your shiny little toy that you get to use whenever it suits you.”
Caitlyn recoiled at the words, “That’s not fair.”
“Not fair?” Vi’s eyebrows arched, taking a step towards the omega. Caitlyn’s jaw clenched, strong alpha pheromones soaking in the air. The need to dominate, the desire to overwhelm and overpower, she could smell it radiating off Vi in waves. Her inner omega’s jaws snapped and snarled but Caitlyn also trembled with a hint of fear. She was a dominant omega, yes, but she was still an omega.
Before Vi could take another step towards her, the door to the apartment burst open and a flash of electric blue darted between them. Caitlyn jerked back in shock as she watched a tattooed elbow slam into the side of Vi’s head. Her girlfriend’s eyes rolled up into the back of her skull as she passed out into the waiting arms of her sister.
“Pow! You can’t just break into— oh.” Ekko’s head poked into the apartment from the hallway, wincing as he caught Caitlyn’s eye. “Hey Caitlyn.”
“Hello, Ekko.” She replied, still in a bit of a daze as she watched Powder manhandle her girlfriend’s limp form in the middle of her kitchen. The man hurried inside and stood next to the omega, taking in the scene.
“Jeez, Pow. Did you have to knock her out?” He asked, which earned him a glare from his mate.
“She was one wrong word away from going fucking feral, I did what I had to do. Jeeeesus, it fucking stinks of fear pheromones in here.” Powder grumbled as she hefted her sister’s arm over her shoulders, the bulky alpha’s legs still dragging on the ground. “I’m gonna take her home. I don’t think I’ve gotta argue with you on this one?” She directed the question at Caitlyn who blinked, the spell that had frozen her in place broken.
“I... No. No, that’s probably for the best. Take care of her, okay?” Caitlyn asked. Powder snorted as she trudged down the hall.
“I’ve been taking care of this lug since she got out,” The scrawny alpha grumbled before casting a pitying look at the other woman. “Look, she fucked up tonight. She’s gonna feel like shit about it and try to tell you that none of it mattered when she sobers up. But uh. I don’t know. Think about what she said, okay?”
Caitlyn watched mutely as Powder dragged her girlfriend out the door, uncertain of what had just happened.