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Shane never really had a problem with being an omega. Sure, he got picked on a bit in school and sure, other hockey players could be a bit dickish about his presentation, but Shane never really took it to heart. There were many benefits to being an omega, after all– he was lithe and quick and easy to underestimate which made him dangerous on the ice. It wasn’t until he met Ilya Rozanov that Shane found a problem with being an omega.
Ilya Rozanov– like so many hockey players– was an alpha. And a bit of an asshole. And Shane’s rival. Shane’s omega, however, didn’t seem to get that. No, his inner omega was constantly falling over itself trying to impress Rozanov, trying to get the alpha to notice him not just as a competitor, but as a potential mate. This, too, had its benefits; it made Shane push himself even harder when he knew Rozanov was around and if anyone asked, it would be easy to say it was because of their rivalry. Shane knew it wasn’t, though. And it seemed like Ilya Rozanov did too.
“Will be some time before we see each other,” Rozanov said after another night of mind-blowing sex. Shane was surprised to hear him mention this– usually Rozanov was quick to leave, just a text or two letting Shane know that they would be meeting again after their next game. His confusion must’ve been clear on his face, because Rozanov rolled his eyes before throwing a shirt– Rozanov’s shirt– at him.
“What’s this?” Shane asked stupidly. He could see Rozanov gearing up to tell him it was a shirt, so Shane cut him off. “I know it’s a shirt, Rozanov. Why are you giving it to me?”
Rozanov shrugged. “It will be some time until we see each other,” he repeated. “Thought you might like something to remember me by in the mean time.”
“Fuck you,” Shane snapped. His omega, however, was causing him to hold the shirt in a death grip. He wanted more than anything to throw the shirt back in Rozanov’s face, especially when seeing the smug look the alpha was giving him. “I don’t need your scent while you’re gone.”
“Your omega seems to disagree,” Rozanov said smugly. “Is fine, Hollander. I would not offer shirt if I did not want you to have, da?”
Something about that caused Shane’s omega to melt. Alpha is contributing to our nest! the stupid omega in him screamed, fraying his already weak self control. He wants to have his scent on us. Give our scent back– give him shirt!
Against Shane’s better judgment, he found himself giving his shirt to Rozanov.
“Hollander–” Rozanov seemed confused and– if Shane wasn’t reading things wrong– touched by this gesture. “I did not give expecting in return–”
“Just take the shirt, Rozanov,” Shane snapped, blushing as he continued to hold his shirt out to the alpha. His inner omega jumped happily when Rozanov finally took the shirt from him. “It’s only fair, right?”
A flash of something crossed Rozanov’s face– gone as quickly as it came. “Thank you, Hollander.” Rozanov sounded remarkably sincere. “I will take care of it.”
Shane couldn’t find anything to say to that, standing there in shock as Rozanov came and kissed him on the cheek before heading out the door. The condo felt far too large now that Rozanov was gone, Shane’s nesting urges kicking into full gear now that he had the alpha’s shirt in his hands and clear permission to keep it. Before he could over think it, Shane grabbed his things and headed back to his Montreal apartment, heading right to the nest in the center of his bed; he wove Rozanov’s shirt into the top, next to his mother’s scarf and his father’s old tie. Seeing and smelling the shirt– smelling Rozanov– among the comforting scents of his family was soothing something deep in Shane’s chest. At the same time, his omega ached, wishing his alpha was here.
Not that Rozanov was his alpha.
***
Ilya had been surprised when Hollander took the shirt from him. His alpha was preening– his omega had accepted a gift!– but Ilya himself was surprised. Hollander was always closed off, at least from his omega. Where Ilya’s alpha bled into everything he did, Hollander giving him a shirt in return was the first action that Ilya had seen Hollander’s omega do. And he knew it was Hollander’s omega that was holding the shirt out to him, Hollander’s jasmine scent blooming under Ilya’s shocked expression. Part of Ilya was worried that his alpha was getting too attached to Hollander, but that part of him fizzled out when Hollander reciprocated his gesture.
Perhaps Ilya could court Hollander.
It had seemed like such a ridiculous thought at first– a wish beyond wishing for since it was so unlikely. Ilya wasn’t even sure what prompted him to try offering his shirt to Hollander; it looked like a recipe for rejection, in hindsight. The fact that it wasn’t a rejection had his alpha yipping excitedly in his chest. He brought Hollander’s shirt to his nose, breathing in the jasmine and smoke scent of his omega. Not yours, Ilya snapped at his alpha. We’re not anything to him.
But Ilya desperately wanted to be, that was the problem. He wanted to do more than fuck Hollander– he wanted to hold the omega and kiss him softly and spoil him during his heat. He wanted to lay in Hollander’s nest, have it become their nest, safe away from the world. He wanted and wanted and wanted– and for the first time it felt like maybe he wasn’t foolish to want. For the first time it felt possible for Hollander to return his affections.
Hollander’s scent had started to fade from the shirt by the time they saw each other again. Ilya had been hiding the shirt in a plastic bag at the bottom of his road bag, only taking the shirt out when he knew for certain he was alone. Even without the potent scent of Hollander, the softness of the shirt brought Ilya’s alpha comfort; wearing it felt like having his omega wrapped around him, even briefly. He settled the shirt under his pillow before heading to the rink, for practice, wanting it nearby afterward for when Hollander came over. They were in Boston this time and Hollander was finally coming to his home; he already knew he was going to ask Hollander to stay the night, and he hoped with all of him that Hollander would say yes.
“This place is beautiful,” Hollander said somewhat awkwardly when he entered. Ilya could feel the nervousness radiating off of the omega– mirroring the nervousness radiating off of himself, he was sure. His omega was in his home, bringing his beautiful jasmine scent into Ilya’s space and letting it mix with his amber scent; the lack of scent blockers on either of them making their mixed scent palpable in the air. Ilya couldn’t help but pick Hollander up, kissing him slowly as he set the omega on the counter.
“I’m glad you like it, Mr. Real Estate,” Ilya teased before peppering further kisses on the omega’s skin. He could feel Hollander relaxing under his ministrations, his alpha howling excitedly in his chest at the prospect of having his omega so near. “Did you want tour? Because I was originally going to take you to nest to fuck, but it can wait if you’d rather see the rest of the house.”
Hollander stilled, causing Ilya to pull back, suddenly nervous once again. There was an unfamiliar look on Hollander’s face– not quite confusion, but not quite understanding either. “You built us a nest?” Hollander asked, sounding almost hopefully to Ilya’s ears.
“Of course,” he replied, somewhat sheepishly. “I… I was hoping you’d stay tonight. Late game tomorrow, neither of us have practice in the morning… Could be nice.”
The stillness between them melted away, Hollander’s scent becoming warm and happy in a way Ilya hadn’t experienced before. “I’d like that,” Hollander said softly. “Show me the nest?”
***
The nest in the center of Rozanov’s bed was an amalgam of pillows and blankets that were woven together much more messily than Shane would’ve done– and he loved it for that. It looked and felt like Rozanov– like a tornado that somehow brought comfort along with the chaos to Shane’s life. There was a small stack of sheets off to the side that Rozanov gestured to without his usual confidence. “I thought maybe you would like to scent them? We could add them to the nest after.” Shane must’ve been quiet for a moment too long, as Rozanov started to back track. “Or not. Whatever makes you most comfortable–”
Rozanov’s mouth snapped shut as Shane picked up one of the sheets, rubbing it against his neck and letting his scent leak onto the fabric.
His omega was running circles around his chest, desperately excited that his alpha wanted their scent in the nest. Shane didn’t even have the strength to try and curb his omega’s enthusiasm, his own heart and mind racing with warring desire and nervousness over the whole ordeal. This kind of thing was usually reserved for people who were something more than what Rozanov and Shane were. To play into this fantasy of alpha and omega– of mates– was dangerous; not just for Shane’s mind, but for his heart. If this meant more to him than it meant to Rozanov…
He shook the thought from his mind, starting to weave the sheet into the nest and straightening it a bit as he went. He could feel Rozanov’s eyes on him the entire time, not passing judgment but something softer than that. In fact, when Shane turned around, he saw nothing but open fondness in the alpha’s gaze, like this was making him just as happy as it was making Shane. Feeling embolden by this, Shane removed his clothes, weaving them into the nest as well; he gestured for Rozanov to do the same, preening when he did. “I think it’s ready,” Shane said softly, gesturing to the nest. “Can I, uh…”
“I build for you,” Rozanov said gently, pushing Shane towards the nest. “Of course you can enter.”
Shane’s omega practically purred at that, settling into the nest with a content sigh and grabbing for Rozanov, pulling him in and letting the alpha settle on top of him. With Rozanov propped above him, eyes shining even with the light to his back, Shane felt his omega fully take over, all fear and hesitation melting away. He rolled over, presenting himself to the alpha, his cunt starting to slick as he breathed in the scent of the two of them together. Rozanov let out a low growl, nipping playfully at Shane’s neck as he lined his cock up with Shane’s cunt and slowly pushed in. Shane moaned– the feeling of fullness almost overwhelming when combined with the feeling of being in their nest. Rozanov started to fuck him slowly, gentle rocking of the hips until Shane couldn’t take it anymore. “Please, alpha, please!”
That seemed to be enough to shatter Rozanov’s self control, hips starting to pound into Shane’s cunt, the movement forcing Shane’s dick to rub against the soft base of the nest. They had had sex plenty of times before, but not like this. This was still gentle, caring– not animalistic and aggressive like their post-game fucks usually were. Even with the speed that Rozanov was fucking Shane at, Shane could still feel the affection of it all; maybe it was because of the nest, maybe it was because Rozanov actually cared, who knew? All Shane knew was that he was getting closer and closer, cock and pussy both leaking all over the nest as Rozanov slammed into him again and again and again.
“You are so beautiful, my omega,” Rozanov grunted out. “So beautiful, begging for my cock. So beautiful in my nest– in our nest– making it all messy as you leak all over the place.” Shane could feel Rozanov’s knot starting to bump at his entrance, his omega keening as he babbled uncontrollably, begging for his alpha’s knot. “I will give you what you need, moya lyubov. I want you to cum on my knot like a good little omega slut, can you do that for me?”
Rozanov barely had to ask before Shane was cumming, cunt squeezing around Rozanov’s knot as it finally locked them together. He could feel Rozanov nibbling at his neck again– not hard enough to force a bond, but still enough to make Shane’s omega go haywire with want. Pulse after pulse of cum coated Shane’s inside– both of them too excited to remember a condom. Shane knew he should probably be freaking out about that– even though he was outside of heat and on birth control, so the likelihood of getting pregnant was practically zero– but he found that his omega was too happy to care. His alpha was cumming inside him, something Shane had always wanted but was afraid to admit, even to himself.
“Fuck, Shane,” Rozanov gasped, face falling into the crook of his neck as he shuffled them both onto their sides and laying down.
“Ilya,” Shane replied softly, loving the feel of his alpha’s name on his tongue.
***
They fell asleep, still knotted. Waking up with Shane in his arms was even better than Ilya had ever allowed himself to dream– even with the mix of dried cum and sweat clinging to their bodies. His alpha was preening, proud of how well he had satiated his omega and how his omega had stayed; Ilya couldn’t even bring himself to be anything other than overjoyed. Yes, they would need to talk about things, but for now his omega was asleep in their nest, smelling like Ilya, with no prying eyes around. He slipped carefully from the nest, going to grab a washcloth; he gently cleaned his omega, the soft touches enough to wake Shane up. “Good morning,” Shane said groggily.
“Good morning, Shane.” Ilya loved the way Shane’s name felt coming from his mouth. He could see Shane tense beneath the washcloth. “Are you alright, moya lyubov?” Much to Ilya’s surprise, Shane started to cry. “Woah, hey, is okay, Hollander–”
“I shouldn’t have done this,” Shane whispered, half to himself, but Ilya heard it clear as day. He could feel his own scent starting to sour, despair leaking into the air around them. “This– I–” Tears were falling faster and faster down Shane’s face, breaking Ilya’s heart in the process.
“Hollander–”
“I should go.” Shane started to scramble from the nest, a pained noise leaving both of their throats as he did. This seemed to startle Shane enough that he stopped trying to get away from Ilya, looking at him with clear confusion on his face. “Why… Why are you sad?”
Now it was Ilya’s turn to be confused. “Because my omega is trying to leave me?” he all but snapped. “Is pretty good reason to be upset, yes?”
Anger and sadness and loathing crashed into Ilya’s chest in waves. He had pushed too far– that much was clear. Just because Shane had accepted his scent and given his own in return, just because Shane scented their nest and presented himself so beautifully for Ilya, just because Ilya wanted Shane to be his omega didn’t mean that was the case. He pushed too far, took too much, and now Shane was leaving.
“You see me as your omega?” Shane asked softly, hesitantly. There was disbelief in his voice alongside something that Ilya almost thought was hope. Hope fluttered in his own chest in return– a dangerous thing threatening to leave Ilya unmoored.
“I clearly should not have,” he tried to snap, but even to his own ears he just sounded sad. “You should go, Sh– Hollander.”
But Shane didn’t leave. Instead, he sat back down in the nest next to Ilya, eyes shining with tears again. “I don’t want to leave, alpha.”
***
Shane could hardly believe this was happening. Ilya Rozanov– alpha of literally every omega’s dreams– was referring to Shane as his omega. Ilya Rozanov had built them a nest and knotted Shane in it. Ilya Rozanov was putting out distressed pheromones at the mere thought of Shane leaving.
It wasn’t just Shane. Ilya felt it too.
“I’m sorry,” Shane said, tentatively reaching for Ilya’s hand and sighing in relief when the alpha let him take it. “I was confused when I woke up and you were calling me Shane and– and I thought I had taken too much. I thought it was all going to be snatched away from me, so I was going to run. To leave before you could realize you made a mistake.”
“You are not mistake, moya lyubov,” Ilya said softly, bringing Shane’s hand to his mouth and pressing a kiss to it. “You are… You are everything. I thought you knew.”
Shane shook his head. “I thought I wanted this more than you did.”
“I think I have wanted you for long time, omega,” Ilya admitted. “And I think I’m finally ready to let myself have. If you still want.”
“I still want,” Shane said, wrapping his arms around his alpha and squeezing him close. “God, Ilya– alpha– I want so bad.”
Ilya pressed a kiss to Shane’s forehead. “So take,” he said, like it was the simplest thing in the world. “I give myself to you, only if you do the same in return.” He could feel Ilya nibbling at his scent gland again, pressing kisses to the sensitive skin. “And one day, when we are ready, I will bite you here. And you will do same to me.”
“You want that?” It wasn’t necessarily uncommon nowadays for omegas to bite their alphas in return, but it was certainly uncommon to see a hockey playing alpha sporting a mating bite.
“I want you, Shane. However you will have me.”
Tears pricked at Shane’s eyes again as he leaned in and pressed his own kiss to Ilya’s scent gland. He could feel his alpha’s breath stutter in his chest as he did. “I want you to be my alpha.”
“Then you are mine, omega,” Ilya replied, scenting Shane and letting Shane scent him in return. “And I am yours. Always.”
Shane let their combined scents wash over him again, the calm from when he first woke up finally returning to him as he pulled his alpha in for a kiss. There would be a lot more to discuss– and some intense scent blockers to apply before the game– but for now, Shane allowed himself to be held by his alpha, his omega purring away contentedly in his chest.