I've heard "bite guards" mentioned as a way to keep alpha and omega partners safe during heats/ruts when they aren't ready to bond/mark yet but it was only mentioned in passing. does your universe have this? could you please explain more about what they are and how they work if you know? thanks so much!!
Yes! My verse does have them, but they're something affected by some other factors. Mainly religion, customs and time period.
A bite guard is nothing more than a piece of resistant material (be that metal, leather, kevlar, or other) that goes around one's neck (along wrists in some verses) to protect them during heats and ruts, or really even on a daily basis, as to ensure that they are not attacked and forcibly mated by one of the three dynamics.
While not gender specific, bite guards in my universe can be and are worn by by both males and females, it just depends on the context and circumstances, for exemple: Time period.
Pharaohs, Czars, Kings and Queens (males and females alike) would all use bite guards pretty much from the moment of presentation til the moment they get bonded. That is because for royalty and high mobility bonding was not just an act of love and compromise, it was a matter of business and a matter of purity. They couldn't risk someone attacking or drugging them and forcibly using that to climb up the social latter. Therefore a bite guard was mandatory.
There is also religion. The religions that exist on my verse exist a bit differently from their real world counterparts, but what remains true about them is that many, some in the past, some to this day, require a bite guard as part of the religious identity. Whether males or females, Omegas or Betas, maidens or mated people use them varies from religion to religion, but the bite guard is still a symbol of modesty and devotion to the doctrine in the eyes of many religious sects.
To a lesser extent there's also customs. Tribes and small villages around the world sometimes have bite guards as part of tradition and aesthetics, not so much for protection or religious reasons.
Overall they're useful, but in my verse they may be a little unnecessary to the measure that society gets less violent and civilized in modernity. And they may even become a way to ostracize certain people for using it once they're out of the norm and no one wears them. For exemple an overly religious kid in school may be made fun of for wearing one.
I hope this helps you understand it a bit more, cheers.








