Tiza woke up feeling like someone had just used his head as a basketball. The morning light poured into his room and he regretted not getting those blackout curtains he saw on their last trip to the store. Screw saving some money, it felt like he was actually inches away from the sun. Tiza rolled over to try and cover his head with his comforter only to find that he was laying on top of it.
He was also half-dressed. And there was an uncomfortable wet feeling between his legs. Immediately he bolted straight up...which was a mistake. The quick motion made him feel nauseous and dizzy. Tiza's face took on a deep shade of red as he tried to recall what had happened last night.
Finding that he couldn't remember much, made his head pound harder.
Let's see, he remembered drinking more than he probably should, riding in a car, being carried up to his apartment,...being pressed onto his bed,... and finally touching Aosh like his stupid drunk brain rationalized that he should.
He remembered distinctly asking himself what he was afraid of because at that point touching Aosh had become easy. Drunk Tiza didn't acknowledge the fact that the alcohol had a sole role in that being possible. Tiza's skin got goosebumps just thinking about it.
Emerald eyes swept his room and saw no one there. Putting on his jeans from the night before, that were half hanging off the bed, he ventured out into the rest of the apartment and saw no one there. He racked his brain to find any semblance of evidence that anything happened. He woke up half-naked after all.
Going into the bathroom he was about to strip down to take a shower when he noticed an odd yet familiar smell. He sniffed the air a few times and couldn't place where it was coming from until he took the hem of his shirt and pulled in over his head.
"!"
It was his collar!
His neck bent awkwardly so he could catch a whiff of the smell and tried to place where he'd smelt it before.
It smelt of bergamot and patchouli. Tiza flushed again for the umpteenth time that morning. He really hoped nothing had happened.
While he washed himself he noticed bruises around his wrists, the purple and blue hues a stark contrast on his skin. An image of Aosh's large hands around his own played in his mind. Hopefully, the marks would fade by the time Sean and Momo returned tomorrow. Or else he'd have to figure out some way to cover them up or come up with a bogus excuse.
In the warmth of the shower, as people tended to do, he did some thinking; or as much thinking as his hangover would allow him. And from his thinking, he couldn't recall anything too explicit happening last night. He dug deep in the fog of his mind and pulled out images of Aosh above him, looking distraught and looking hot as hell.
'...'
Ok, that was a totally inappropriate thought, let's just not address that right now.
Aosh's rut must've started, Tiza concludes, that was the only way his pheromones would still be sticking around for so long and why Tiza acted the way he did last night. What kind of idiot Alpha took two Omegas out drinking when he knew his rut was about to begin?! If the man were here right now Tiza would sock him right in his pretty face.
'...'
Anyway, at the end of….whatever happened between them the Alpha still left. That was commendable at the very least. Tiza tended to get a little...uncontrollable if he was around an Alpha in their rut, he was even worse when he was having his heat. To put it bluntly, Tiza acted like a whore in those situations. Or at least he thought so.
He thinks at some point last night he gave in and thought it would be like all the other times he had given himself to an Alpha, for money or other reasons, and accepted that whatever happens happened.
Not that he wanted anything to happen but to fight it, he had learned from the past, had consequences. Not that when he was drenched in Alpha pheromones he fought it much, but at that point, he was acting purely on instinct and that didn't reflect his consent to such acts.
Getting out of the shower Tiza opted to not go on his morning jog, one because it was already mid-morning and two this hangover would surely do him in if he tried to do any physical activity. Luckily it was Saturday and he had no lessons and ample time to himself. So instead he opted to walk to Highland Brews to get a much-needed cup of coffee, maybe even two.
Comforted by the fact that nothing happened between the two of them last night Tiza didn't feel weird about the whole thing. So he sent Aosh a text saying a thank you for taking him home and if he was awake and nursing a hangover as well, then the Alpha could join him for some coffee.
....................................…..
Sweat dripped down Aosh's, focused, face. The weights were heavy, almost more than he could lift, but he pushed on determined. His muscles quivered as he brought the weight up entirely holding it there for mere seconds before he dropped it back onto the stand that held them. Slow breaths came out of his parted lips as he laid there for a moment; alongside the burn he felt in his arms, the burning need inside him had yet to be put out yet.
A towel was offered to him. Hunter, who was spotting him, urged him to take it. Which the Alpha did. There was a ten-foot radius of empty space around Aosh. The intense aura he was emitting along with his pheromones negating any other gym goer from entering it. All except Hunter.
Since that day the Beta confronted him in the parking lot, the man had taken Aosh's lack of rejection as a sign he could come back into his friend circle. At this point, Aosh had little to no energy to fight him on this. One reason was that he honestly didn't want to. Against his better judgment, he wanted to mend things with Hunter even though he was the reason things fell apart.
It was the first time he tried to protect himself from getting hurt, and as a result, Aosh had hurt someone else. It's not like the Alpha had not warranted such an act considering how many times he'd been wronged in the past, but Aosh didn't hold any grudges per se. Hunter even forgave him and was determined to remain his friend.
It was hard for Aosh not to think that the other wasn't still wanting something from him. At this point, he really had little to offer. And this comes to the second reason why he hadn't run the other away with his intimidating aura. Aosh was horny and angry as hell. This was by far the worst rut he'd ever had. He had called his doctor and they had suggested that he up his suppressant dosage, but not even that quelled the incessant flames that wracked his body constantly.
Along with the constant heat under his skin, he was more irritable, and he's honestly surprised Hunter is still hanging around him with how many times he's snapped at him today alone. Maybe the Beta knew this change in behavior was a result of his rut, or maybe he was so used to being a punching bag that the Beta didn't care.
At this point, Aosh didn't care if the man stayed or left. Since he stayed Aosh would use him as a spotter while he lifted. Usually, when he was in his rut it was enough for him to take his suppressants and do some extra workouts here and there to counteract the heat and the hormones, but something had changed.
As much as he tried not to rationalize it he could only think of one thing that had drastically changed in his life, and that was a certain cute blonde that consumed his thoughts even now. Ever since that night a few days ago things had changed and his rut had become unmanageable. It was even hard for him to go out in public, he had to call into work once already. He was just lucky his manager was so understanding.
If Tiza was the cause of his distress, and who was he kidding Tiza was the cause of all of his distress just look at the man, then that would be a problem. Since that day Tiza has texted him a few times, once to say thank you for bringing him home and invite him for coffee, another asking why he hasn't shown up for their daily jog, then another just making idle conversation.
Now it was day four of Aosh, kinda but not really, ignoring the Omega. It's not like Aosh wanted to ignore the man, he greatly enjoyed talking to him. It was one of the things that he looked forward to every day, but at this point, Aosh didn't really trust himself. That's why he was distancing himself even from Daniella until his rut subsided, and was staying at his parents' house until then.
Things that occurred that night had gotten a bit hazy, and it was a real close call. When he got to his parents' house he was filled with shame. How could he have lost himself so easily? For years he had the utmost self-control. He was a dedicated virgin still! He handled his ruts alone but when Tiza was sprawled out under him, emitting the intoxicating smell that was unique to him and him alone, Aosh's resolve packed it's fucking bags and peaced out. He didn't know what he would do if he even let himself talk to Tiza. How could he even have a conversation with him after what he did? The Alpha felt terrible and now he felt horny thinking about that night again.
Vigorously he rubbed the scratchy material of the towel on his face, trying to erase the flush that wanted to spread there.
"You doing ok, man?"
Aosh moved the cloth down just enough to shoot Hunter a look.
"Does it look like I'm doing ok," Aosh said curtly before snatching up his water bottle and leaving the bench.
He didn't have the energy to feel bad about being short with the Beta and thought that maybe some running would help calm him down. This did not deter Hunter and he followed the Alpha like a puppy.
"Look I've just never seen you like this before, excuse me for being a little worried. Are your ruts always this bad?"
He picked the treadmill furthest away from other gym-goers and Hunter chose the one beside it. Dropping his water bottle into the built-in cupholder, he began at a light jog. He sighed answering him.
"No," and on the spur of the moment decided to confide in Hunter since the Beta wanted to follow him around then he would at least use him as a void to vent into, "Not since I met my fated mate they haven't."
"The ballet instructor right?"
"Mmn...Let me ask you a question."
"Ok?"
"Say you had the urge to...have sex with someone you liked and you had the opportunity to do so, what would you do?"
"Do it obviously, I mean if she already said yes then nothing is stopping me." Hunter grinned.
"What if the other person didn't say yes but.. didn't necessarily say no?"
"Then no. At that point it's non-consensual."
"Mmn."
"Wait...you didn't…"
"NO! No no no no I didn't! Listen you don't know how ruts and heats work-"
"What makes you think I don't?"
Aosh eyed him curiously.
The other huffed while he jogged.
"My cousin is an Alpha I think I know at least a little, we grew up together after all. That's why I asked. I've seen her in her rut before more times than I can count, and it was never as...strong as yours. I didn't know if you had an underlying condition or if something was wrong, but if you're saying it's because of your fated mate then that makes sense."
"How does it make sense?"
"Well, you know the old saying that fated mates were made for each other, that they are like opposites that attract? It makes sense that your rut would change after meeting them. If you believe in all this fate mumbo jumbo then it makes sense that your body is reacting to them."
Aosh's eyebrows knit together as he thinks on that statement. It wasn't a farfetched notion. Maybe his body did know that it was supposed to be with Tiza during its rut. Maybe his body could tell that Tiza was his fated mate and was trying to get Aosh to mate with him. Was that why Aosh had little to no self-control that night? Was that why against all his better judgment he was overwhelmed by his instincts and pushed Tiza into his mattress.
Is that why the only thing going through his mind since that moment was how much he wanted Tiza spread out under him again, and how much he wanted to squeeze those milky white thighs between his fingers and trail them up until they came to Tiza's-
Suddenly feeling how hard he was becoming due to his nasty thoughts Aosh hiked the speed up to 6 and ran. This was getting ridiculous! He still had a few more days of this new form of torture until everything went back to normal. The Alpha didn't know how he was going to make it! Every single thought that ran across his rut stricken mind was of Tiza, how was he ever supposed to calm down?!
"Maybe you should stay home, man. You need to give yourself some time to adjust. It probably won't be like this forever, your body might just be in shock from his pheromones."
"I can't stay at home."
He can't even go home. He had to stay at his parents' house in fear of him doing something to Daniella while he was going mad in a rut. Aosh also didn't want to stay at home, it felt too much like he was a teenager again.
Rubbing one out while his Pops was watching tv down the hall made his skin crawl, it was like he was in highschool again. He missed the pseudo privacy of his apartment, and the less than comfortable couch he'd been sleeping on since Daniella moved in. He missed seeing Daniella every day and shooting the shit, sure she was texting him every day to check up on him but it wasn't the same.
At this point, Aosh was running so hard his breathing was erratic and Hunter took the liberty to hit the cool down button on the Alpha's treadmill. The machine dropped to a level 4 and it took him a moment to return to a light jog, too consumed in his thoughts to notice the change in speed.
"Ok I know you think you can handle this on your own, but seriously you just need to go home. Cool down, take a cold shower and go get some rest. You haven't been getting much sleep either huh?"
Hunter wasn't going to say anything at first, but he also didn't know how badly this was hitting Apsh until a while ago. When he first saw the Alpha this morning his eyes were sunken in and his usually bright complexion looked a little too pale to be considered healthy. It was counterproductive to be killing himself at the gym, lifting weights, and running his boners away like a mad man.
If Aosh's brain wasn't currently fried in a million different ways he would be touched at the Beta's concern. But he just grunted and nodded his head in response.
After Hunter made sure Aosh got showered and was doing ok the two parted ways in the fitness complex's lobby. With his duffle bag slung over his shoulder Aosh walked towards the west side of the building, where he usually parked. Hunter had urged him to go home, but the Alpha had work soon. He was tired but work was a great distraction, he hoped that his job would take his mind off of Tiza. Walking past the dance studio and glancing in the window for just a second, he continued down the hall.
'Wait was that-' Aosh stopped dead in his tracks and backpedaled to the window.
It was Tiza.