Chapter Text
You held the bundle of sticks in your arms with pride and satisfaction. They were thick and dry, perfect for the campfire. You made your way in quick, long steps back to the campsite, where Tenna was waiting for you. You got back quickly, before the Sun set. Tenna was preparing to make dinner, when he saw you.
"Golly, did you chop down the whole forest?" He asked, tilting his hat up, looking at your loot. You dropped them at the place you planned to set up the fire, before making your way to your horse, to get your hatchet.
"Would you rather have a fire that's dead in 10 minutes? These are fine fire starters." You bit back, as you were chopping up the thicker and longer sticks. Tenna waved his index finger in your direction, agreeing with you, then resumed back to peeling carrots. Every now and then, his horse came to bother him, demanding his fair share for carrying his owner’s heavy butt.
"Hey, I can't feed you with a missing hand, you donkey!" Tenna cursed. His horse, not minding the nickname, took his hat and slowly made his way back to your horse's company. "OI!" Tenna yelled. You laughed, to which Tenna gave you an annoyed look.
"And here I thought robotic horses were easier to handle." You said, trying to regain your breath. Tenna stood up, waltzed over to you, and took your hat. "EY! Your head shouldn't even be cold!" You shrieked. Tenna shrugged, as well as pointing his tongue at you.
"What can I say? Robotic darkners are not as easy to handle." With that, he returned to his own spot, continuing to prepare the ingredients. You huffed. Despite being so old, Tenna had the habit to act really childish. Good thing he only showed this side of his to you, else you'd have a much harder time catching "prey".
With one final chop, you were done preparing the firewood. Of course, you'd need to collect more later, but for now, it was enough. You built up the base of the fire, then realised that you still need something more flammable. So, you walked up to Tenna’s horse, but when you tried to reach for the saddle, he walked away. However, you had a trick in your pockets.
“Hey, stop feedin’ ‘im those!” Tenna scolded you. “He’s already way too pampered!”
You kept your gaze at the horse, cooing at him. “You’re such a good boy, ain’t ‘cha~?” You could feel Tenna shooting daggers at you with his stare. It made you feel incredibly proud.
You watched as the horse dropped Tenna's hat, then calmly licked up the dried apple slices from your hand. You gave him a nice pat on his neck, before looking through the bag on his saddle. You managed to find a big chunk of newspaper pressed on each other at the bottom.
“Save the pages that have recipes on them!” Tenna said, not even looking up from his work. Not wanting to bother with looking through all the paper, you grabbed two sheets that only had advertisements of porcelain tea sets. You picked up Tenna's hat, dusted it off a bit and switched back your hat, putting his on his head firmly.
"You're welcome." You said, with a smile. Now it was Tenna's turn to huff, which sounded more like a cut off chuckle.
Finally, you had all that's needed to light the fire. You placed your small iron stand above the pile, then with a match, you lit the paper. Slowly, but surely, the wood started to burn, allowing you to add thicker logs into the flames.
Tenna was also done with his preparations by now. He put his pot onto the metal stand, cooking with absolute precision. Eating his meals were the best way to finish the day. Sure, they may not have been the best, but for you, they were perfect.
‘His alpha will be one lucky fellow...’ You thought. You wanted to ask for his secret methods, so that when the day comes when he leaves you-
“All righty! This needs to boil still. Wanna play a few rounds of poker until then?” Tenna asked, shaking the pack of cards in front of your face. You squinted your eyes at him.
“Yeah, no way! You always cheat.”
Tenna sat down next to you, leaving a bit of space in between, already shuffling the deck.
“If I weren’t, we wouldn't have the money to eat nicer things every month, now, would we?” You knew that he was right. Even though your gigs paid pretty well, you couldn’t deny that Tenna’s hands did a bit more when it came to earning money.
Tenna put two cards in front of you, kept two for himself, then put five between you two, the first three upside. Nothing interesting. You looked at your hand. Two Aces. You tried to fight the smile creeping up on your face. Tenna was an expert at telling if his opponent had good cards, and you didn’t want to give him any clues. You looked up at him. Without eyes, it was easy for him to cover any emotion. You tried to look for clues yourself.
The gentle way he ran his thumb across his lips, deep in thought. He does this when he knows he may be in trouble.
The way the end of his cord tail wagged lightly on the ground. Nothing, he does this often. He has learnt to control it long ago.
You tried to rely on your other senses too. Hearing his breathing, it was slow, relaxed, covering any feeling well.
The light wind that came from his direction carried his smell to you. As a beta, your smell wasn't as sensitive as an alpha's; but it was still better than that of the average beta's. You took a swift, quiet sniff. Again, nothing too out of the ordinary. You remember the first time you smelled it. You two had to set up camp in the wild, and the weather was cold. To preserve heat, you agreed to cuddle. Sometimes, you do wish the nights would turn colder because of this.
Wait! His smell. Was that- It was still faint, but you caught it.
"Tenna?" You called out to him. He looked at you, humming. "Did you take your suppressant?"
His screen turned pink at what you just said. Did he not feel it?
"You... you can smell it?" He asked, surprised. You were surprised too, to be honest. It's not like you'd see Tenna go into heat for the first time, but up until now, you could never smell it on him. Which, as a beta, is normal.
"I- I guess? Do your pheromones smell like... what is it? Some kind of flower for sure." You mumbled. Tenna shuffled in his seat, you guessed he was embarrassed. "Good thing you stocked up on them today, right?"
You two shared a relived chuckle.
"You're right on that." Tenna looked back at the cards. "I'll take it after dinner. Let's finish this round!"
And so, you did. Surprise, surprise, you lost. Tenna looked at your dinner.
"Hm... I guess..." He pulled out a tiny spoon, scooped some of the food up and gave it a taste. He hummed, testing the flavour. Though, canned food, with a few added vegetables don't usually have any extraordinary taste. "It's in dire need of my little magic." He snapped a finger. He hopped onto his feet and quickly walked over to his horse, digging around in the saddle bag, until he found a tiny pouch. Some secret seasoning mix, you assumed, but damn. That thing did wonders!
Tenna peeked inside, coming into a horrible realisation.
"Oh, dang it! It's almost empty!" He whined. "Ugh." Then, his antennas flicked up. "Wait, I think I saw some of the ingredients for it nearby. I'll get them quickly."
You wanted to object, say he shouldn't go alone when he’s close to go into heat. You don’t know if you two are alone here after all. But Tenna was gone in a blink, leaving you to watch over the fire. Weirdly, it felt a bit better with him away.
For whatever reason, your heart’s yearning for him amplified when you smelled his pheromones. But, why could you smell them now? Is it because he’s an older omega? Do their smell get stronger as they age? You’d have to ask Tenna about it.
As quickly as he left, Tenna was back, with a small bouquet of herbs in his grasp.
“I found everything I need!” He cheered, with an adorable smile. Has he always looked so adorable?
‘Maybe I’m coming down with something.’ You theorized.
After washing and drying off the herbs, Tenna chopped some of them up, sprinkling them into the pot. The rest, he tied them together in a little bundle, hanging them onto his horse's saddle, to let them dry.
"There was so much of these little beauties, I had to stock up." He said, swirling the content in the pot. The smell made you feel so much more comfortable, like you were home. And yet, Tenna's pheromones were nagging at your nostrils.
"Hey, Tens!" You said, shifting your sitting position. "Do you have any ideas about why I can sme-"
"Dinner's ready!" He yelled out, pouring your share into a plate. With a proud smile, he handed it to you. "Dig in, before it gets cold!"
You took it from him, careful not to spill any onto you or him. On top, a small red flower bloomed at you. You picked it up. The gesture cracked a small smile on your face.
"Pretty, isn't it? I almost forgot it was blooming season for them." Tenna rambled, as he shoved spoonfuls into his mouth. You always wondered how he could eat with a CRT for a head...
You too started to eat. The hearty, intense flavours seemed enough to distract your senses from Tenna's scent. Speaking of it, upon finishing his portion with a satisfied sigh, he got up and walked to his horse, his spurs jingled on his heels. He opened the saddle bag here he kept medicine; small vials clanked against each other as he rummaged through. From the corner of your eye, you watched him, while eating. He was beginning to look confused.
"Oh no..." You heard him mumble. "I... I can't find it."
You quickly put your plate down and made your way to him. You also looked into the bag, careful to not break or tear anything. You looked at the labels on the vials, the paper bags, the small boxes.
Nothing.
"But... I saw you buy a pretty big vial. Did you lose it?" You asked, panic starting to rise in you.
"It... seems so. Oh my..." Tenna mumbled into his palm.
Your shoulders started to feel heavy. Out in the woods, at night, with an unmated omega in heat. Thinking it through, your heart quickened at another, more dangerous problem.
"Tenna. When was the last time you've spent your heat with someone?" You asked, shaking. Your pardner looked at you, like he didn't understand the question.
"What do you mean? For the past years I've spent them with you, dummy." Tenna answered.
"That's not what I meant." You corrected yourself. "Wait..." You started to mumble. "We've been to that town with the brothel a few months ago. You also had a heat there-" Before your worries could die down, Tenna cut you off again.
"Pal, I'd hate to tell you this but, I didn't do anything in that place, besides getting some actual sleep. The gals and lads there were very gentle and pretty, but-"
Hearing these words made your blood run cold. "YOU DIDN'T SPEND IT!?"
If Tenna had eyes, they would've been wide open. "Hey, why are you-"
You firmly grabbed his shoulders, to steady yourself. "Tenna, I'm sorry, but I'd rather not die by a feral omega."
Tenna's screen was now as pale as the waking moon up in the sky. "F-feral? No. No no no... that can't be." Tiny chuckles left his mouth. Soon though, he started shaking. "Oh no..."
You felt your throat closing up. Being near a feral omega, especially an unmated one as big as Tenna, would be the same as a death sentence. Not to mention betas were common victims to feral omega attacks. Logic tried to order you to get away from Tenna, but the thought of leaving him alone, in his heat, could be dangerous if there were other people in the woods.
"L-Look, I might not even turn feral. My heats aren't as bad now days, surely, I'm way past the age where I'd go mad just for a mate." Tenna tried to argue. Perhaps he was right. You wanted to believe him so badly, you felt the panic subside in you.
"But-" He continued. "-if we want to make sure I won't kill you, I have my lasso."
That idea seemed very dumb. Even if he doesn't go feral, what if a group of alphas find you? Ones that also seek for a mate? You started to feel sick.
Tenna assured you, that nothing should go wrong. You had your weapons, given his age his scent shouldn't be as attracting (you almost objected to that), and besides, it's not the first time he'd spend his heat out in the wild with you. You weren't fully convinced, but you decided to trust him. You figured you could wait for a while when his heat starts, and if nothing happens, you'd let him go.
Sadly, things didn't turn out that way.
Not even 5 minutes have passed when his heat started. You heard him whine, gasp and move around on the ground. And worst of all, his scent was tempting you.
10 more minutes have passed. At this point, you tried to hide your growing erection as you both stared at each other. Tenna was laying on his stomach, his screen flushed, his fangs glinting, like a silent threat.
"You want anything?" You asked, almost whispering. Tenna was still staring, as if deep in thought.
"Sit closer... please." He mumbled back. Your instincts warned you against that. At least, a big part of them. You could also feel something in you trying to get you to listen to Tenna. As a compromise, you sat close to his legs. He watched you as you sat by him. His tail slowly slithered into your lap. You caressed it gently with your hand.
For a few more minutes, nothing else happened. Tenna tried to suffer through his heat, and you tried to suffer with the thoughts that haunted you. Then, you saw Tenna... lifting his ass up. You pried your eyes away in an instant, but it was already late for your erection.
"What are you doing?" You hissed. Tenna didn't look away, in fact, he started to watch you, with amusement.
"I'm just getting comfortable." The smirk on his face felt taunting.
His pheromones were now like a noose around your neck. As a last effort, you covered your face with your handkerchief, hoping it would block out the scent. It just barely helped. On top of that, Tenna's tail slithered under your chin. You grabbed it firmly.
"Stop that!" You ordered. It sounded way harsher than intended, but it was still not enough to wipe the smile off Tenna's screen.
"You're really pretty, did anyone tell you, Y/N?" He asked, almost dreamily. The question almost made your already rapidly beating heart jump out of ribcage.
"There should be a plant that can relieve heat symptoms around here. I'll look arou-" You said, getting up from your seat only to be stopped by Tenna's tail trapping your wrist in a tight coil.
"Don't leave!" He whined. A small part of your instincts told you to listen to him.
'Stay by your omega!'
The order scared you.
"What is going on?" You asked, mumbling to yourself. A sudden groan from Tenna snapped you out of your thoughts. His fangs looked really pointy now, as he snarled. Looking at his back, you saw him flexing his fingers, showing off sharp claws.
"Fuck..." Was all you could say, as you made a bit of distance. You didn't notice Tenna's wrapping his tail around your ankle, making you fall.
"I asked you to stay." He hissed. There was no doubt in you, he was going feral. While you tried to pry his tail off you, he started to thrash against his binds. You made good knots, so you thought you'd have enough time before he'd break out.
The first snap of the rope rendered you frozen. In mere seconds, Tenna easily shook the loose rope off himself. You tried to crawl away, even stand up, but he grabbed you quickly and pinned you to the ground. You felt your tears prick your eyes. You fought to push Tenna's heavy body off you, tried to kick him, but it was all futile. His hand held your arms firmly, while the other grabbed your face, pricking it with its nails.
"Stop squirming!" He growled. You didn't listen of course. Probably having his patience running out, Tenna tied your arms together, above your head. You tried to crawl out from under him, but he simply dragged you back by your hips, securing his catch by sitting down. Right onto your growing erection. He gasped at the sensation.
"Would you look at that~" He purred, grinding into it. Confusion and fear blocked your mind from forming coherent thoughts.
"Tenna, get off!" You barked, still trying to struggle. It was still no use. He loomed over you, put his fangs right against the crook of your neck. You noticed that his screen turned pitch black, only his teeth shone bright. His nose was gone, but he was taking long, heavy sniffs, like he was drinking in your scent. He even licked the spot, tasting you.
To your luck, the sudden sound of a gunshot ripped through the air, which startled both of you. Tenna sat up, looking around to find the danger, which gave you the perfect opportunity to push him off. You wanted to run for your horse, but you quickly noticed that both your rides were gone, probably scared by either Tenna or the loud noise. Thus, you ran deep into the sea of trees.
When you thought you were far enough, you quickly shifted into your wolf form and started to chew your paws out of your shackles. Once free, you continued to make distance. In this form, you could go faster, but you remembered that there were hunters nearby. You sniffed around, in hopes that you'd smell out where the hunters could be, but Tenna's scent was dominant in the air around you. Not only that, but you could feel it getting stronger.
As you got further and further from your camp, your nose picked up on a smell, that brought you hope. It was the smell of the very plant used to make potent suppressants. You ran until you reached the patch. You shifted back into your humanoid form. But before you could tear even a leaf off, you heard growling from behind. You wished you could've mistaken it for a wolf.
But it was so obviously a lion.
"Got you~" Tenna purred right into your ear, before his mouth bit down onto the back of your shirt's collar and started to drag you. You thrashed, screamed, begged for Tenna to let you go, but he just kept taking you with him. His pheromones filled your lungs, their rumoured calming effect seemingly working. By the time you were back at the camp, you were only crying and letting out pathetic pleases. You didn't understand why he brought you back. Wouldn't it have been easier to maul you where he found you?
He pulled you deep into the cave with him, before he stopped. He didn't let go yet, not even as he shifted back into his more humanoid self. Only when his arms enveloped you tightly from behind did he opened his mouth again. He began to shush you, caressing your face with a hand, pushing his screen onto the back of your head, taking in your scent.
"It's okay, dear. It's not gonna hurt. Promise!" He whispered, almost playfully. His scent smothered the fear in you, rendering you limp like a rag doll. Your feelings were becoming a mess. Your growing arousal and the need to claim Tenna started to creep up on you.
'Claim... him?' You worded the feeling out in your mind. Betas aren't supposed to want to claim, nor to be claimed. You shouldn't feel like this. Thinking back to dinner, you began to wonder if Tenna put an aphrodisiac into your meal. But then again, it all started when his pheromones started to mess around. You had so many questions in your mind.
You peeked up at Tenna. His screen as still dark, but you swore you could see something akin to a blush blooming across the glass, above his flashing smile. His breathing was slow, but heavy.
"Please, stay still!" He mumbled, while he laid you onto the hard ground. You tried to sit up, but his looming upper body discouraged you.
"Tenna. Tenna, let me go!" You whimpered. "I feel weird. Please, I don't want to-"
His lower half found yours instinctively. He gasped in satisfaction at the feeling of your erect dick digging into him. He straightened his back and in a slow rhythm started to grind against you. It was all clear to you what his motivations were now.
"Tenna..." You choked under your breath. "We shouldn't... it's not right."
Above you, your pardner chuckled.
"Says who?" He asked; yet didn't wait for an answer. His hands unbuckled his belt, then he pushed his pants and underpants off. His cock was only a bit bigger than yours. You could only imagine how big it would be if he was an alpha. The thought made you shiver.
He ran a finger through his folds. His slick coated it generously.
"Look! I'm all wet and ready for you, but you made me wait and run after you. You should feel bad. I'm going to punish you for this."
His other hand reached for your belt. You grabbed his wrist, which made him stop.
"Enough! Tenna, stop it! I found some herbs for-" His hand pushed at your chest, and you were pinned to the ground, again.
"Why do you have to act so difficult? I can see that you're worked up. So why?" He mumbled, leaning close to you. The urge to kiss him was getting to you. "You like omegas, you like other betas, you like alphas... even if you try to hide it, I know you do."
You looked away, shame accompanying your cocktail of emotions.
"Do you... not like me?" He asked. At your silence, he began to sob. "I... I know I'm past my prime. I know I'm not acting like an omega should. But I can change! Let me prove it! I'll be a good mate! I'll give you as many pups and cubs as I can, just please!" He cried. Your insides felt like jelly at his begging.
He wants to mate? He wants to give you pups? No, it must be the heat talking in him.
"Tenna, I do like you." You gritted through your teeth. He stopped sobbing instantly. "That's why I can't let you do this." You felt tears pricking your eyes. "You deserve a decent alpha. I'm a beta. I can't make you fully happy. I may not even be able to... make you have pups." You felt silly saying this to him. But he always rambled about how he wished to have a family once he found his perfect mate. You wanted to save him from the disappointment.
"You... you like me?" He repeated. Was that all he heard? You heard his tail cut the air as it wagged. At least he was happy at your confession. "Oh gosh... look at me, being a fool." He mumbled into your neck, hugging you tightly. You hugged him back.
"I do. I love you." You added, quietly. Now, unfortunately, Tenna had pretty good hearing.
"Say that again."
You hummed.
"Say you love me, again." He tightened his hold. You did. You said you love him. He made you say it five more times, before his fangs buried themselves into your shoulder blades. It didn't hurt as much as you thought it would, maybe thanks to his pheromones. In reflex, you bit him back. Right in his scent glands.
With an amused, bloody smile, Tenna straightened his back. The realisation of what you've done settled in you harshly.
"No..." You whimpered. Tenna took the opportunity to free you from the restraints of your pants. The cold air hit your member hard, making you shiver.
"About time..." He groaned, positioning you against his hole.
"Tenna-" You tried to call out to him. You slipped into him effortlessly. You heard him hiss a little, you imagined it was probably his first time. Just like you. How romantic.
"Oh golly." He choked back the end. "You're... a bit, bigger than I thought." He said, sheepishly. He was so warm and tight inside, you thought you were about to go insane.
Before you could get yourself together, Tenna started to move. The spurs on his boots gave out a lovely jingle every time he slammed himself back onto your cock. You could feel your tip hit his cervix when his thrust started to go harder. Along with the growing pain in your pelvis.
"Te... Tenna! Tenna, slow down!" You said in between whimpers. "You're going to break by hips, you donkey."
His antennas drooped. "Sorry." He kissed your forehead. "It's just... you're so pretty and..."
You tapped a hand at his butt. "Let's switch!"
Tenna pouted. "Promise you won't run away again!" You kissed him.
"Promise."
Not needing anymore convincing, Tenna laid onto his back and opened his legs wide. You were far too horny by now to stop. You lifted a leg onto your shoulder before pushing yourself back inside him. The moan Tenna let out rang through the cave. You tried to go at the speed he left off, the spur jingled next to your ear.
Tenna threw his arms over his head, which gave a nice frame for his blushed, drooling screen. As his hunger started to subside, the light on came back, his nose stood proud. His claws dug into the dirty, leaving little, but deep lines as he dragged his hands to his head. The way he begged for you to go faster and harder did something to you. You felt like you wanted to bully him a little.
As your thrust became harder, you peppered the leg on your shoulder with kisses. You teased your teeth against the skin, even nipped at him for some extra whining.
Soon though, you felt your orgasm grasp at you. You leaned onto Tenna, pushing the leg onto his torso.
"Tenna, I'm... I'm going to come..." You moaned. Almost immediately, Tenna's legs closed around you. Before you could object, he pushed you deep into him, and you came with a loud moan. It felt like the heaviest and longest orgasm you've ever had. Tenna came just about after you, with a heavy sigh. After a few moments, Tenna put his legs down, allowing you to pull out.
Except you couldn't.
Tenna let out tiny, pained whines as you tried to get yourself out of him. You ran a few fingers along your length, and near the base you winced as you felt the outline of a knot.
Nothing made sense anymore, but you were too tired to question it now. You let your body collapse next to Tenna, who quickly scooped you into a hug.
"Thank you, dear!" He mumbled, caressing the back of your head and peppering kisses on the top. "Though, I could go for another round~"
With your spare energy, you tried your best to satisfy his hunger. You cock hurt from how much it had to pop a knot. Each time, you imagined it filling his womb up. You grabbed his belly at any chance you got. The mental image of seeing it grow round with a pup, or a cub, or even a whole litter drove you over the edge.
That’s right. You were going to give him a pup. You were going to give him a cub. Give him as many as he wanted. He doesn’t need an alpha for that. He’s yours. It was obvious from the moment he present himself to you, so eagerly. So pretty.
You feel into a deep slumber, cuddled up against Tenna's chest, as he purred loudly.
The next morning, you woke up in Tenna's tight hold, facing away from him. To say you felt bad was an understatement. The guilty crashed onto you like a bag of iron. And now, not even Tenna's pheromones could comfort you.
Speaking of which, they were gone. You knew what that meant, and it only made you feel even more horrible.
Eventually, Tenna woke up too. He must’ve thought you were asleep still, because he didn’t wish you good morning. He just rubbed circles into your arm with a thumb and pressed a chaste kiss onto your head.
“Morning.” You mumbled. Tenna yelped in surprise.
“G-good morning! Did I wake you?”
You mumbled out a weak ‘no’. He let out a content sigh.
‘I have to talk with him about this.’ you reminded yourself.
“So... last night...” Tenna said, like he was bashful. You didn’t know what to say. That you were sorry? That it was a mistake? “You made me so happy.”
You wanted to cry. Instead, you grabbed his hand and kissed his fingers. The way he held you, it made you think you two were years long lovers.
“Tenna... I...” What should you say, really? Before you could decide, your mate cut you off.
“What do you want to eat for breakfast?”
As you were packing up to leave, you came to the realization that your horse was still missing.
“I’m sure they’re fine. You can ride with me until we find ‘em.” Tenna offered, patting the spot on his saddle in front of him. Slightly annoyed, you accepted the offer. Thankfully for you and Tenna’s horse, you quickly spotted your horse, grazing peacefully at the border of the woods.
In the next town, you two restocked. In one of the shops there, you found something that piqued your interest. It was a small glass jar, filled with red pills. What caught your attention was a familiar red flower on the label.
“Ah, are you perchance struggling with... issues?” The clerk asked you. You shot your hands up, shocked.
“S-sir, I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’m performing just right for a beta!” You hit back. The man looked at you, as if he was suspicious of you.
“You’re a beta? Interesting.” He mumbled. “Though, those pills work wonders, regardless of one’s second sex.” He continued. You felt even more confused. You looked up at the top of the shelf.
In big letters was written “Fertility and Transition Aids”.
“Transition aid?” You asked. The man walked up to you showing you a few other products.
“Yes! You know how it is in our changing society. Some alphas seek other alphas. Some omegas want to sire their kids.” He coughed. “This is were these little guys come in handy. Though, you can try to do it naturally, these just make the process go faster.” He explained. You scratched your head at the... new information.
“Best thing with the one you were looking at...” He continued. “It’s perfect for both. Also, the flower it’s made from is completely tasteless, so you can put it in any dish as a supplement.”