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hybridshadeback to Part One
Sebastian had forbidden him from leaving the apartment – no doubt concerned about his state of mind – but Jared decided his need for a moment of reprieve won out, he couldn't stay in that place a moment longer.
Thus Jared had waited for a moment when no one was looking and snuck out.
It was late afternoon and there were people milling about as expected, but not enough to call it crowded. Jared ambled along with no direction in mind, sensing the eyes of other Weres looking at him, likely trying to figure out why he had the general appearance of an alpha, yet didn't even smell like a Were. Not that it was uncommon for a human to be seen inside the Districts, but it was unwritten law that in D9 they were to be accompanied by a Were, else they were considered suspicious. Jared didn't care about the attention though, just kept his head down and kept walking.
All the voices of the past forty-eight hours kept surging through his head like they were a tape on continuous replay. Everyone's advice and pity and well wishes and needless optimism and whatever the fuck else they had to say. It was emotionally draining more than anything. Dr Morgan had tried to explain that such a thing as Jensen's current state couldn't possibly have been foreseen, since a reaction so intense only happened to couples with an exceptionally strong bond – science said that Jared and Jensen really hadn't known each other for long enough. Yet here they were – an omega still on the verge of death and an alpha not all that far behind. Yes, the doctor apparently had a lot of things to say.
Of course, Misha had needed to have his shot as well. He'd tried to rile Jared up, get him angry, thinking that maybe he could coax his Were side into re-existence. But it was the other omega's most calmly spoken words that had angered Jared the most. Misha – upon realising that his 'anger' approach probably wasn't going to work – turned to Jared's mental state, asking probing questions with the underlying notion that Jared was either doing something wrong or somehow preventing his own body's changes. Intentionally.
Jared, if there's something you're holding back… This is your last chance…
Jared had nearly punched the guy's lights out. But Misha was usually smarter than all that, so he'd chalked it up to all the highly-charged emotions floating around the apartment, and luckily he'd growled and stalked off before he'd done something stupid to the omega.
The words haunted him now, though. Jared couldn't help but wonder if maybe there was something he was doing wrong, if maybe his inner fears were somehow jamming the signal that would tell his body to start reverting back to being a Were. If only he knew. Perhaps he should have been trying harder – not that he had any idea what it was he should be trying harder to do – or maybe he should have been asking more questions of the doctor or Sebastian, figuring out if he was just bad at being an alpha, or if growing up under D2 standards had somehow sold him short on the whole 'how to be a good alpha' thing. It wouldn't be the first time they'd steered him wrong.
Jared looked up when he suddenly came to an open area and it took him a moment to realise it was the town square. Where he'd first seen Jensen all those months ago.
There was a reasonably-sized crowd gathered, and plenty of noise and cheering to go with it. It wasn't until he moved around the side and got a little closer to the stage that he recognised the day's spectacle as another Omega Rally. The omega was on all fours facing the crowd, one alpha brutally fucking him from behind while a string of hypnotised-looking alphas were lined up in the back, hard cocks in hand while they waited their turn. He looked older than Jensen, this omega, and considerably smaller in size, though he still seemed healthy physically, so clearly he hadn't been up there too long. He was covered in splatters of come, over his legs and back and face, but he was panting for more, and Jared could hear the omega moan when another alpha suddenly appeared, forcefully shoving his dick down his throat.
It still made him cringe a little to see such a ruthless act so publicly, but he'd come to accept things enough now that he could also see the appeal of it, the allure of an omega begging so desperately that he couldn't care less who was watching. After all, he'd seen something in Jensen, hadn't he? Jared hadn't known at first that the niggling pull he'd felt in his gut had meant Jensen was his mate, but as soon as he'd stepped on that stage he'd realised something was different, and after that he'd been so gone he barely even remembered the act but for the need of getting his cock so deep inside…
Jared was startled out of his thoughts when a great cheer went up, and he looked up to see the alpha withdrawing himself from the omega's ass, strings of come still clinging to the man's cock. Without warning someone bumped into him from behind and Jared had to take a couple of steps forward to rebalance himself, landing him in the outer edge of the betting crowd.
The smell hit him like a freight train, the cloying scent of alpha spice, mixed with the sugar-sweetness of omega in heat; overwhelming him and making his head spin like he'd just inhaled some human street drug. Jared hadn't smelled Jensen's scent for nearly four weeks, and the sudden yearning for it nearly brought him to his knees. It made his skin itch and there was a hollow roiling in his chest that made him feel like he hadn't eaten in weeks.
Another loud cheer rose up and Jared tried to bring his hands up to cover his ears, the noise piercing his head and throbbing in the space behind his eyes. Except that his hands didn't seem to want to move. He looked down to find them shaking by his sides, and the motion made his view of the ground swoop up to meet him. He thought he heard someone say 'hey man, are you alright?' even amongst all the surrounding commotion, but it sounded far away so he figured it couldn't have been directed at himself.
As it went, that was the last thing he heard before the world turned black, his legs finally giving out beneath him.
=////=
Jared had no idea how long it was before he came back to himself. But when he did, the first thing he noticed was that he wasn't where he had been – gone were the roaring sounds and the overpowering smells, gone were the dozens of alphas standing around encroaching on his personal space. Wherever he was, it was quiet, empty and dark. He was lying on something soft – sheets, a bed. There was a vaguely familiar smell about it, but he couldn't think of it right away.
Rather, the act of thinking just made him hurt. And goddamn, but he hurt all over. From the roots of his hair to the tips of his toes, everything ached like a motherfucker. His skin felt like it was pulled too tight over his bones, and it itched like mad. Each shallow breath he took made his chest burn, and his stomach felt as though someone had wrapped their hand around it and squeezed. Fucking hell, he'd never in his life felt so hungry. Even his dick – which was somehow half-hard between his legs – ached as if someone had taken a fist to it and bruised it up good. Fuck, but it hurt.
Jared inhaled deeply to try and breathe through the pain and the sudden rush of cool air made his throat tickle and he coughed. Of course, once he started he couldn't seem to stop, and next thing the door of whatever room he was in was flung open and two pairs of feet tramped inside, moving up beside the bed.
"Here, take a sip."
A cup was pushed into his hand and Jared was able to swallow down a mouthful of water, easing his coughing bout enough that he could get a proper lungful of air in.
"If you hadn't done it to yourself, I really would've bloody well knocked you out," came the voice of the man beside him, "It's a good thing I'm no fool. I realised you'd left as soon as Jensen started going manic, and he'd been drugged to the gills and fast asleep only moments before. Lucky I knew that Omega Rally started today, and with you being such a glutton for punishment… well. You really are an idiot, you know?"
The words passed through one of Jared's ears and out the other. The only one that stuck with him was Jensen.
A surge of possessiveness soared up through his body and he immediately flung away the hand that had been resting on his shoulder, weighing him down. Jared forced himself up from the bed, growling and striking at whatever or whoever tried to get in his way. The sheets fell away from his body exposing him to the cool air of the room, though his apparent nakedness was a mere passing thought as stumbled out of the room and into the hallway, stalking through the apartment until he came to another dimly lit bedroom with the door partly closed.
He didn't even have to push the door open to know that his prize was inside – it occurred to him that he'd been able to smell the syrupy-sweet scent since the door had been opened back in the other room, and he'd followed it all the way there like a trail of breadcrumbs, tempting him onward.
Ignoring the protesting aches of his body, Jared slipped into the bedroom without a sound and immediately pressed himself back against the wall, such was the strength of the smells and sights and sounds that greeted him. He remained where he was and lapped up the fragrant air permeating the space, inhaling it greedily like it was the most delectable perfume. After a moment he forced his eyes back open, not realising he'd had them closed, and gasped at the sight of his omega on the bed, curled into a ball beneath the covers and shaking incessantly. Jared took a single step closer and suddenly noticed the faintest trace of chemicals tainting the scent of the air – the omega was drugged, and it clouded his awareness of the other male. He could have been asleep or in pain and Jared wouldn't know.
A whimper came from the bed, and Jared decided it didn't matter. His omega needed him no matter what. He growled to vocalise his desire, taking his hard cock in hand and stroking it fiercely, but the omega didn't move, gave no sign that he'd noticed Jared at all.
Prowling closer to the bed, Jared tugged back the quilt and sheets and was pleased to see the omega was already unclothed. He slid onto the bed and crawled atop the other male, skimming his nose just above the surface of his skin, getting drunk on the scent of pure omega. Jared's dick was hard as nails and curling up toward his stomach, painfully desperate and ready to go. It still throbbed and ached like he'd been kicked between the legs, but knowing he was this close soothed the hurt just a little, kept him enduring.
At last he put his large hands on the omega's smaller waist, heaving him up and all but throwing him onto his knees. The omega whimpered again and started to wake, his limbs shuddering even more severely as he tried to push himself up, barely able to keep control of his movements. Jared merely pressed the other male's head back to the mattress and hitched his hips up to an acceptable height, pulling his ass cheeks apart to get a good look as his entrance. He gave one long lick to the pucker of skin and shoved both thumbs inside; pulling the edges of the ring apart to make sure it would stretch. The hole appeared tight but it would have to do, and Jared took his cock in hand, lining it up and thrusting forward without a thought.
The omega cried out beneath him and seemed to struggle for a moment, but Jared took his hips in hand and pulled the omega back onto his length, growling at the intensity of the tight squeeze of muscle around his alpha-proportioned cock, still attempting to widen enough to accommodate him. Jared let himself fall forward so he was pressed over the omega's back, and he began to rut forward in earnest, pulling back quickly before plunging in again, his hips driving forth with great force in order to get the whole of his dick inside the omega.
It felt like liquid bliss when the first trickles of slick began to seep into the omega's channel, coating him and easing the friction of their coupling. It was smooth and silky and wet, and once the fluid had flowed adequately through the omega's ass it began to squeeze itself out of his entrance, leaking down over his inner thighs and clinging to Jared's balls each time they swung forward with a 'slap'.
Jared could feel his knot beginning to swell and he growled deep in his chest with the agony that accompanied it. As it grew so did the pain, so much so that Jared nearly contemplated stopping, such was the discomfort of that physical part which made him uniquely alpha. But he kept going, letting the pleasure and need pull him through, eagerly ramming his bulging knot into the omega's hole. He clutched the omega's body against his chest and feeling the ongoing cry of his hunger rise up, he latched his teeth onto the omega's neck, biting down until he tasted blood.
The omega tensed and fought against him for a moment until abruptly going still again, and Jared gave one final thrust into the omega's body, his knot locking inside and tying them together. Jared's balls throbbed with pain and suddenly he started to come, his cock pulsating as it shot copious loads of his seed into the omega's ass, the muscles clamping down on him as they worked to milk him dry.
Jared unlatched his teeth from the omega's throat, sucking and licking at the angry red wound. Something deep inside him swelled with pride at the bite, and he yowled happily as he nuzzled the omega everywhere he could reach – through his hair, behind his ears, over the knob at the top of his spine…
Finally the hunger had sated itself, and the hollow pain in Jared's stomach abated, the veil of his alpha-side's desperate rage falling away. He could see and sense things clearly suddenly, without being influenced by his need to dominate and feed and claim what was his. His eyes blinked heavily as if he'd just opened them, and the air he breathed felt clearer. The aches of his body were still present, but they were lessening by the moment, his muscles and bones relaxing into their rightful state.
Beneath him his mate groaned and dropped down on the mattress in a heap, his chest expanding with each exhausted breath he struggled to suck in. Jared smoothed a palm over the expanse of Jensen's back, attempting to soothe away the hurt. Jensen purred with pleasure, the vibrations tickling Jared's hand, but he made no sound, enjoying the contentment in their silence.
It wasn't until Jensen's ass clamped down on his knot again that certain details came back to him. Looking down he saw that the slick still leaking out around his knot was tinged with pink, and it made him feel ill to think that he'd hurt his mate like this under any circumstance, that he'd lost control so badly that he'd forced himself into the omega's completely unprepared body.
"Oh, fuck, Jen," he whimpered, cutting through the quiet, "I'm so—"
"Don't you dare," his mate hissed, turning his head just enough to look Jared in the eye. There were tears gathering along the edges of his eyelids, but Jensen's expression was one of fury. "Don't you dare apologise for claiming me like the alpha you're supposed to be. I've suffered through two days of undiluted pain just waiting for you, and you have no right to take that from me and distort it into something bad."
Jared wound his arms around his mate's waist and held tight. "I didn't mean to."
Jensen sighed and clung on to Jared's arms, fingers digging into the flesh of his wrists. "Why did you make me wait?"
"I- I really don't -," Jared stuttered as he searched for an answer he didn't think he knew, "I don't know for sure. I think I… I just needed to pull away for a minute. I needed to get far enough away that I could feel that longing, and let my body remember why you were mine and what was at stake."
He felt Jensen's nod as his head brushed against him.
"Seb was really mad, y'know." Jared could sense the smile on Jensen's lips. "I have a vague recollection of him yelling that when he found you he was gonna gut you like a fish."
"Well, he can be mad all he likes," he scoffed, "'Cause if I didn't go out like I did, I'm pretty sure we wouldn't be in this position right now."
Jensen sighed again. "That's a possibility I don't even wanna imagine."
Holding his mate in his arms felt even more right than it had before, and for Jared it brought to a head just how close they had come to the proverbial 'end'. The mere thought sent shivers down his spine. Of course, now they'd found the light at the end of the tunnel, and that presented a whole new lot of things they would have to work through, not the least of which was finishing their treatments and getting back to a normal state of mind and body. After that… well, they couldn't stay at Seb and Misha's forever, could they?
"Do you have a home, Jen?"
"Not anymore." Jensen burrowed his face into the pillow below his head, his voice muffled against the fabric. "When I got Seb to go get my clothes 'n' stuff back at the beginning, I asked him to cancel my lease with the landlord as well. At that point I wasn't holding out much hope, so…"
"Do you want to find a new place, then? Seb and Misha told me they'd help. Apparently there's a new complex being built just a few blocks away—"
"No," his mate interrupted, "I can't stay here anymore. Not after living through that Omega Rally. It's… I need to start fresh. As soon as we can I wanna get outta here."
"Fair enough…" Jared wasn't particularly keen on staying in the District either. Not only were there too many memories but he'd spent so much time out in the human world, he'd simply grown to prefer it, and hoped Jensen might grow to like it out there as well. Misha and Seb would accommodate them as long as they needed, of course, but there was a certain gratification to being able to actually think of the future for once. "If you're interested… I, um, have a small apartment in a human city not far from D9. It's barely big enough for one, so we'd have to look for somewhere else together, but at least we wouldn't be out in the cold, y'know?"
"Jay?" Jensen breathed, reaching a hand around to cup Jared's face and lure him down to his lips, "That sounds like the best fuckin' thing I've heard all day."
=////=
They'd survived nearly three months in Jared's tiny apartment and were finally moving in to their own place, a brand new home more than big enough for the two of them.
It had been more than six months since they'd found their way back to each other as alpha and omega, as mates. Jared had found a new sense of comfort in being an alpha, and Jensen took every opportunity to show off the pale scar on his neck, solid proof of his status as a claimed omega.
After their 'secondary mating' – as they liked to refer to it – they'd remained at Seb and Misha's apartment until they were sure everything was okay and they had sussed out all the changes their bodies had succumbed to. On the negative side Jensen's body had officially burnt itself out and no longer went into heat four times a year, though he did occasionally get a little feverish and weak when his heat would otherwise have been due, and sometimes he had trouble controlling his body's lubrication, where sometimes it would be excessive, other times it took time to coax it out. Jared had infrequent bursts of changing mood, his easy-going disposition sometimes dropping into pseudo-depression, and sometimes if tired or stressed he would be overtaken by his alpha side again, getting overexcited and riled-up until Jensen could talk him down.
On the positive side though, they'd discovered the true strength of their bond, and had found that they could say just about anything to each other with a mere touch or a shared look. Their sense of each other's mood and needs and wants was as easy as knowing their own, and being able to accurately know where their mate was at any time made things less tense all round.
They caught up with Seb and Misha at least every few weeks, and checked in with Dr Morgan on occasion too, both to make sure they were okay and to help the doctor out if he ever had an alpha-omega medical issue similar to theirs. Jared had also talked to his mother on the phone thought he hadn't gotten around to visiting yet. She and his father were slowly coming around to the idea of Jared being mated to an omega, though seemingly she wasn't too sure how to deal with her newly alpha-charged son – she thought his confidence was 'surprising' and hoped he might cool down a little before he did come to visit with Jensen.
Jared had also been accepted back to his job with a minimum of fuss – in fact, Mr Kripke had been ridiculously happy to see his return, and was excited about the prospect of taking over the publishing rights of his mate's books and articles. Jensen, on the other hand, had taken off his 'sci-fi/fantasy' hat and was trying his hand at a novel of the more dramatic persuasion. He'd told Jared he was going to attempt to dramatize the ups and downs of their mating. He wanted to explore in-depth into everything from their gratifying highs to their ominous and depressive lows, and look into what drives an alpha and what makes an omega tick. He wanted to expose the ever-strengthening threads of their bond to the world – even in fictional fashion – and show that despite the threat of impeding death they could overcome anything. Jensen was going to call it 'The Right Kind of Medicine' and he bragged that it was going to be a masterpiece.
Jared thought it terribly overdramatic and had earned himself a beating for his honesty, but secretly it made him stupidly happy that his mate was so proud of their bond, and he was pretty sure Jensen knew it, too.
"You know that the answer is sex, right?"
Jensen turned to look at him with a quizzical look on his face. "The answer to what is what?"
Jared smirked. His mate was so adorable. "The answer to your book. The right kind of medicine is sex. Really hard, vicious, painful-but-pleasurable sex."
He didn't even realise what had happened until the side of his face started to sting and he looked down at Jensen's hand, still at the ready. "What the fuck, Jen?"
"You're right."
"…Say again?"
Jensen rolled his eyes impatiently. "The answer is sex."
"Then why the hell—" Jared choked.
"I am not fucking adorable you douchebag. Just see if you get any ass tonight."
"Aww, Jen," he whined, pouting at his mate and pulling teasingly at his sleeve. Jensen always gave up in the end, but it was fun to annoy him all the same. "You shouldn't deny me, y'know? I might get depressed."
"Oh, puh-lease. I've heard that one before."
Jared couldn't hold back anymore and laughed until his eyes watered. He pulled Jensen in close and pressed their lips together, drinking in the sweetness of his mate's mouth and feeling a satisfied growl rumble deep in his stomach. They'd been through so much together in such a short time, but the trauma only made the pleasure feel more significant, not a day went by that Jared didn't feel grateful for his mate and the endurance of both their lives. They still touched and held hands at every given opportunity, and every single time Jared felt those sparks of want, that mantra of Mine, echo through his body.
Once upon a time he'd thought he'd never need one, had thought having one probably wasn't for him, but now that Jared had a mate it was everything. It excited him. Comforted him. Taught him love and patience and compromise. It touched him and healed him. Jensen was his cure-all. Nothing could hurt him any more.
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A/N: Thanks for reading! This wasn't meant to be a long sequel by any means, yet it grew like a weed and ended up over 18k in length D: Regardless, I'm pretty pleased with how this turned out. I got everything in there that I wanted to and didn't cut anything out. So I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it :D
Sebastian had forbidden him from leaving the apartment – no doubt concerned about his state of mind – but Jared decided his need for a moment of reprieve won out, he couldn't stay in that place a moment longer.
Thus Jared had waited for a moment when no one was looking and snuck out.
It was late afternoon and there were people milling about as expected, but not enough to call it crowded. Jared ambled along with no direction in mind, sensing the eyes of other Weres looking at him, likely trying to figure out why he had the general appearance of an alpha, yet didn't even smell like a Were. Not that it was uncommon for a human to be seen inside the Districts, but it was unwritten law that in D9 they were to be accompanied by a Were, else they were considered suspicious. Jared didn't care about the attention though, just kept his head down and kept walking.
All the voices of the past forty-eight hours kept surging through his head like they were a tape on continuous replay. Everyone's advice and pity and well wishes and needless optimism and whatever the fuck else they had to say. It was emotionally draining more than anything. Dr Morgan had tried to explain that such a thing as Jensen's current state couldn't possibly have been foreseen, since a reaction so intense only happened to couples with an exceptionally strong bond – science said that Jared and Jensen really hadn't known each other for long enough. Yet here they were – an omega still on the verge of death and an alpha not all that far behind. Yes, the doctor apparently had a lot of things to say.
Of course, Misha had needed to have his shot as well. He'd tried to rile Jared up, get him angry, thinking that maybe he could coax his Were side into re-existence. But it was the other omega's most calmly spoken words that had angered Jared the most. Misha – upon realising that his 'anger' approach probably wasn't going to work – turned to Jared's mental state, asking probing questions with the underlying notion that Jared was either doing something wrong or somehow preventing his own body's changes. Intentionally.
Jared, if there's something you're holding back… This is your last chance…
Jared had nearly punched the guy's lights out. But Misha was usually smarter than all that, so he'd chalked it up to all the highly-charged emotions floating around the apartment, and luckily he'd growled and stalked off before he'd done something stupid to the omega.
The words haunted him now, though. Jared couldn't help but wonder if maybe there was something he was doing wrong, if maybe his inner fears were somehow jamming the signal that would tell his body to start reverting back to being a Were. If only he knew. Perhaps he should have been trying harder – not that he had any idea what it was he should be trying harder to do – or maybe he should have been asking more questions of the doctor or Sebastian, figuring out if he was just bad at being an alpha, or if growing up under D2 standards had somehow sold him short on the whole 'how to be a good alpha' thing. It wouldn't be the first time they'd steered him wrong.
Jared looked up when he suddenly came to an open area and it took him a moment to realise it was the town square. Where he'd first seen Jensen all those months ago.
There was a reasonably-sized crowd gathered, and plenty of noise and cheering to go with it. It wasn't until he moved around the side and got a little closer to the stage that he recognised the day's spectacle as another Omega Rally. The omega was on all fours facing the crowd, one alpha brutally fucking him from behind while a string of hypnotised-looking alphas were lined up in the back, hard cocks in hand while they waited their turn. He looked older than Jensen, this omega, and considerably smaller in size, though he still seemed healthy physically, so clearly he hadn't been up there too long. He was covered in splatters of come, over his legs and back and face, but he was panting for more, and Jared could hear the omega moan when another alpha suddenly appeared, forcefully shoving his dick down his throat.
It still made him cringe a little to see such a ruthless act so publicly, but he'd come to accept things enough now that he could also see the appeal of it, the allure of an omega begging so desperately that he couldn't care less who was watching. After all, he'd seen something in Jensen, hadn't he? Jared hadn't known at first that the niggling pull he'd felt in his gut had meant Jensen was his mate, but as soon as he'd stepped on that stage he'd realised something was different, and after that he'd been so gone he barely even remembered the act but for the need of getting his cock so deep inside…
Jared was startled out of his thoughts when a great cheer went up, and he looked up to see the alpha withdrawing himself from the omega's ass, strings of come still clinging to the man's cock. Without warning someone bumped into him from behind and Jared had to take a couple of steps forward to rebalance himself, landing him in the outer edge of the betting crowd.
The smell hit him like a freight train, the cloying scent of alpha spice, mixed with the sugar-sweetness of omega in heat; overwhelming him and making his head spin like he'd just inhaled some human street drug. Jared hadn't smelled Jensen's scent for nearly four weeks, and the sudden yearning for it nearly brought him to his knees. It made his skin itch and there was a hollow roiling in his chest that made him feel like he hadn't eaten in weeks.
Another loud cheer rose up and Jared tried to bring his hands up to cover his ears, the noise piercing his head and throbbing in the space behind his eyes. Except that his hands didn't seem to want to move. He looked down to find them shaking by his sides, and the motion made his view of the ground swoop up to meet him. He thought he heard someone say 'hey man, are you alright?' even amongst all the surrounding commotion, but it sounded far away so he figured it couldn't have been directed at himself.
As it went, that was the last thing he heard before the world turned black, his legs finally giving out beneath him.
=////=
Jared had no idea how long it was before he came back to himself. But when he did, the first thing he noticed was that he wasn't where he had been – gone were the roaring sounds and the overpowering smells, gone were the dozens of alphas standing around encroaching on his personal space. Wherever he was, it was quiet, empty and dark. He was lying on something soft – sheets, a bed. There was a vaguely familiar smell about it, but he couldn't think of it right away.
Rather, the act of thinking just made him hurt. And goddamn, but he hurt all over. From the roots of his hair to the tips of his toes, everything ached like a motherfucker. His skin felt like it was pulled too tight over his bones, and it itched like mad. Each shallow breath he took made his chest burn, and his stomach felt as though someone had wrapped their hand around it and squeezed. Fucking hell, he'd never in his life felt so hungry. Even his dick – which was somehow half-hard between his legs – ached as if someone had taken a fist to it and bruised it up good. Fuck, but it hurt.
Jared inhaled deeply to try and breathe through the pain and the sudden rush of cool air made his throat tickle and he coughed. Of course, once he started he couldn't seem to stop, and next thing the door of whatever room he was in was flung open and two pairs of feet tramped inside, moving up beside the bed.
"Here, take a sip."
A cup was pushed into his hand and Jared was able to swallow down a mouthful of water, easing his coughing bout enough that he could get a proper lungful of air in.
"If you hadn't done it to yourself, I really would've bloody well knocked you out," came the voice of the man beside him, "It's a good thing I'm no fool. I realised you'd left as soon as Jensen started going manic, and he'd been drugged to the gills and fast asleep only moments before. Lucky I knew that Omega Rally started today, and with you being such a glutton for punishment… well. You really are an idiot, you know?"
The words passed through one of Jared's ears and out the other. The only one that stuck with him was Jensen.
A surge of possessiveness soared up through his body and he immediately flung away the hand that had been resting on his shoulder, weighing him down. Jared forced himself up from the bed, growling and striking at whatever or whoever tried to get in his way. The sheets fell away from his body exposing him to the cool air of the room, though his apparent nakedness was a mere passing thought as stumbled out of the room and into the hallway, stalking through the apartment until he came to another dimly lit bedroom with the door partly closed.
He didn't even have to push the door open to know that his prize was inside – it occurred to him that he'd been able to smell the syrupy-sweet scent since the door had been opened back in the other room, and he'd followed it all the way there like a trail of breadcrumbs, tempting him onward.
Ignoring the protesting aches of his body, Jared slipped into the bedroom without a sound and immediately pressed himself back against the wall, such was the strength of the smells and sights and sounds that greeted him. He remained where he was and lapped up the fragrant air permeating the space, inhaling it greedily like it was the most delectable perfume. After a moment he forced his eyes back open, not realising he'd had them closed, and gasped at the sight of his omega on the bed, curled into a ball beneath the covers and shaking incessantly. Jared took a single step closer and suddenly noticed the faintest trace of chemicals tainting the scent of the air – the omega was drugged, and it clouded his awareness of the other male. He could have been asleep or in pain and Jared wouldn't know.
A whimper came from the bed, and Jared decided it didn't matter. His omega needed him no matter what. He growled to vocalise his desire, taking his hard cock in hand and stroking it fiercely, but the omega didn't move, gave no sign that he'd noticed Jared at all.
Prowling closer to the bed, Jared tugged back the quilt and sheets and was pleased to see the omega was already unclothed. He slid onto the bed and crawled atop the other male, skimming his nose just above the surface of his skin, getting drunk on the scent of pure omega. Jared's dick was hard as nails and curling up toward his stomach, painfully desperate and ready to go. It still throbbed and ached like he'd been kicked between the legs, but knowing he was this close soothed the hurt just a little, kept him enduring.
At last he put his large hands on the omega's smaller waist, heaving him up and all but throwing him onto his knees. The omega whimpered again and started to wake, his limbs shuddering even more severely as he tried to push himself up, barely able to keep control of his movements. Jared merely pressed the other male's head back to the mattress and hitched his hips up to an acceptable height, pulling his ass cheeks apart to get a good look as his entrance. He gave one long lick to the pucker of skin and shoved both thumbs inside; pulling the edges of the ring apart to make sure it would stretch. The hole appeared tight but it would have to do, and Jared took his cock in hand, lining it up and thrusting forward without a thought.
The omega cried out beneath him and seemed to struggle for a moment, but Jared took his hips in hand and pulled the omega back onto his length, growling at the intensity of the tight squeeze of muscle around his alpha-proportioned cock, still attempting to widen enough to accommodate him. Jared let himself fall forward so he was pressed over the omega's back, and he began to rut forward in earnest, pulling back quickly before plunging in again, his hips driving forth with great force in order to get the whole of his dick inside the omega.
It felt like liquid bliss when the first trickles of slick began to seep into the omega's channel, coating him and easing the friction of their coupling. It was smooth and silky and wet, and once the fluid had flowed adequately through the omega's ass it began to squeeze itself out of his entrance, leaking down over his inner thighs and clinging to Jared's balls each time they swung forward with a 'slap'.
Jared could feel his knot beginning to swell and he growled deep in his chest with the agony that accompanied it. As it grew so did the pain, so much so that Jared nearly contemplated stopping, such was the discomfort of that physical part which made him uniquely alpha. But he kept going, letting the pleasure and need pull him through, eagerly ramming his bulging knot into the omega's hole. He clutched the omega's body against his chest and feeling the ongoing cry of his hunger rise up, he latched his teeth onto the omega's neck, biting down until he tasted blood.
The omega tensed and fought against him for a moment until abruptly going still again, and Jared gave one final thrust into the omega's body, his knot locking inside and tying them together. Jared's balls throbbed with pain and suddenly he started to come, his cock pulsating as it shot copious loads of his seed into the omega's ass, the muscles clamping down on him as they worked to milk him dry.
Jared unlatched his teeth from the omega's throat, sucking and licking at the angry red wound. Something deep inside him swelled with pride at the bite, and he yowled happily as he nuzzled the omega everywhere he could reach – through his hair, behind his ears, over the knob at the top of his spine…
Finally the hunger had sated itself, and the hollow pain in Jared's stomach abated, the veil of his alpha-side's desperate rage falling away. He could see and sense things clearly suddenly, without being influenced by his need to dominate and feed and claim what was his. His eyes blinked heavily as if he'd just opened them, and the air he breathed felt clearer. The aches of his body were still present, but they were lessening by the moment, his muscles and bones relaxing into their rightful state.
Beneath him his mate groaned and dropped down on the mattress in a heap, his chest expanding with each exhausted breath he struggled to suck in. Jared smoothed a palm over the expanse of Jensen's back, attempting to soothe away the hurt. Jensen purred with pleasure, the vibrations tickling Jared's hand, but he made no sound, enjoying the contentment in their silence.
It wasn't until Jensen's ass clamped down on his knot again that certain details came back to him. Looking down he saw that the slick still leaking out around his knot was tinged with pink, and it made him feel ill to think that he'd hurt his mate like this under any circumstance, that he'd lost control so badly that he'd forced himself into the omega's completely unprepared body.
"Oh, fuck, Jen," he whimpered, cutting through the quiet, "I'm so—"
"Don't you dare," his mate hissed, turning his head just enough to look Jared in the eye. There were tears gathering along the edges of his eyelids, but Jensen's expression was one of fury. "Don't you dare apologise for claiming me like the alpha you're supposed to be. I've suffered through two days of undiluted pain just waiting for you, and you have no right to take that from me and distort it into something bad."
Jared wound his arms around his mate's waist and held tight. "I didn't mean to."
Jensen sighed and clung on to Jared's arms, fingers digging into the flesh of his wrists. "Why did you make me wait?"
"I- I really don't -," Jared stuttered as he searched for an answer he didn't think he knew, "I don't know for sure. I think I… I just needed to pull away for a minute. I needed to get far enough away that I could feel that longing, and let my body remember why you were mine and what was at stake."
He felt Jensen's nod as his head brushed against him.
"Seb was really mad, y'know." Jared could sense the smile on Jensen's lips. "I have a vague recollection of him yelling that when he found you he was gonna gut you like a fish."
"Well, he can be mad all he likes," he scoffed, "'Cause if I didn't go out like I did, I'm pretty sure we wouldn't be in this position right now."
Jensen sighed again. "That's a possibility I don't even wanna imagine."
Holding his mate in his arms felt even more right than it had before, and for Jared it brought to a head just how close they had come to the proverbial 'end'. The mere thought sent shivers down his spine. Of course, now they'd found the light at the end of the tunnel, and that presented a whole new lot of things they would have to work through, not the least of which was finishing their treatments and getting back to a normal state of mind and body. After that… well, they couldn't stay at Seb and Misha's forever, could they?
"Do you have a home, Jen?"
"Not anymore." Jensen burrowed his face into the pillow below his head, his voice muffled against the fabric. "When I got Seb to go get my clothes 'n' stuff back at the beginning, I asked him to cancel my lease with the landlord as well. At that point I wasn't holding out much hope, so…"
"Do you want to find a new place, then? Seb and Misha told me they'd help. Apparently there's a new complex being built just a few blocks away—"
"No," his mate interrupted, "I can't stay here anymore. Not after living through that Omega Rally. It's… I need to start fresh. As soon as we can I wanna get outta here."
"Fair enough…" Jared wasn't particularly keen on staying in the District either. Not only were there too many memories but he'd spent so much time out in the human world, he'd simply grown to prefer it, and hoped Jensen might grow to like it out there as well. Misha and Seb would accommodate them as long as they needed, of course, but there was a certain gratification to being able to actually think of the future for once. "If you're interested… I, um, have a small apartment in a human city not far from D9. It's barely big enough for one, so we'd have to look for somewhere else together, but at least we wouldn't be out in the cold, y'know?"
"Jay?" Jensen breathed, reaching a hand around to cup Jared's face and lure him down to his lips, "That sounds like the best fuckin' thing I've heard all day."
=////=
They'd survived nearly three months in Jared's tiny apartment and were finally moving in to their own place, a brand new home more than big enough for the two of them.
It had been more than six months since they'd found their way back to each other as alpha and omega, as mates. Jared had found a new sense of comfort in being an alpha, and Jensen took every opportunity to show off the pale scar on his neck, solid proof of his status as a claimed omega.
After their 'secondary mating' – as they liked to refer to it – they'd remained at Seb and Misha's apartment until they were sure everything was okay and they had sussed out all the changes their bodies had succumbed to. On the negative side Jensen's body had officially burnt itself out and no longer went into heat four times a year, though he did occasionally get a little feverish and weak when his heat would otherwise have been due, and sometimes he had trouble controlling his body's lubrication, where sometimes it would be excessive, other times it took time to coax it out. Jared had infrequent bursts of changing mood, his easy-going disposition sometimes dropping into pseudo-depression, and sometimes if tired or stressed he would be overtaken by his alpha side again, getting overexcited and riled-up until Jensen could talk him down.
On the positive side though, they'd discovered the true strength of their bond, and had found that they could say just about anything to each other with a mere touch or a shared look. Their sense of each other's mood and needs and wants was as easy as knowing their own, and being able to accurately know where their mate was at any time made things less tense all round.
They caught up with Seb and Misha at least every few weeks, and checked in with Dr Morgan on occasion too, both to make sure they were okay and to help the doctor out if he ever had an alpha-omega medical issue similar to theirs. Jared had also talked to his mother on the phone thought he hadn't gotten around to visiting yet. She and his father were slowly coming around to the idea of Jared being mated to an omega, though seemingly she wasn't too sure how to deal with her newly alpha-charged son – she thought his confidence was 'surprising' and hoped he might cool down a little before he did come to visit with Jensen.
Jared had also been accepted back to his job with a minimum of fuss – in fact, Mr Kripke had been ridiculously happy to see his return, and was excited about the prospect of taking over the publishing rights of his mate's books and articles. Jensen, on the other hand, had taken off his 'sci-fi/fantasy' hat and was trying his hand at a novel of the more dramatic persuasion. He'd told Jared he was going to attempt to dramatize the ups and downs of their mating. He wanted to explore in-depth into everything from their gratifying highs to their ominous and depressive lows, and look into what drives an alpha and what makes an omega tick. He wanted to expose the ever-strengthening threads of their bond to the world – even in fictional fashion – and show that despite the threat of impeding death they could overcome anything. Jensen was going to call it 'The Right Kind of Medicine' and he bragged that it was going to be a masterpiece.
Jared thought it terribly overdramatic and had earned himself a beating for his honesty, but secretly it made him stupidly happy that his mate was so proud of their bond, and he was pretty sure Jensen knew it, too.
"You know that the answer is sex, right?"
Jensen turned to look at him with a quizzical look on his face. "The answer to what is what?"
Jared smirked. His mate was so adorable. "The answer to your book. The right kind of medicine is sex. Really hard, vicious, painful-but-pleasurable sex."
He didn't even realise what had happened until the side of his face started to sting and he looked down at Jensen's hand, still at the ready. "What the fuck, Jen?"
"You're right."
"…Say again?"
Jensen rolled his eyes impatiently. "The answer is sex."
"Then why the hell—" Jared choked.
"I am not fucking adorable you douchebag. Just see if you get any ass tonight."
"Aww, Jen," he whined, pouting at his mate and pulling teasingly at his sleeve. Jensen always gave up in the end, but it was fun to annoy him all the same. "You shouldn't deny me, y'know? I might get depressed."
"Oh, puh-lease. I've heard that one before."
Jared couldn't hold back anymore and laughed until his eyes watered. He pulled Jensen in close and pressed their lips together, drinking in the sweetness of his mate's mouth and feeling a satisfied growl rumble deep in his stomach. They'd been through so much together in such a short time, but the trauma only made the pleasure feel more significant, not a day went by that Jared didn't feel grateful for his mate and the endurance of both their lives. They still touched and held hands at every given opportunity, and every single time Jared felt those sparks of want, that mantra of Mine, echo through his body.
Once upon a time he'd thought he'd never need one, had thought having one probably wasn't for him, but now that Jared had a mate it was everything. It excited him. Comforted him. Taught him love and patience and compromise. It touched him and healed him. Jensen was his cure-all. Nothing could hurt him any more.
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A/N: Thanks for reading! This wasn't meant to be a long sequel by any means, yet it grew like a weed and ended up over 18k in length D: Regardless, I'm pretty pleased with how this turned out. I got everything in there that I wanted to and didn't cut anything out. So I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it :D
