#classroom settings

“Hey,” he greeted as he walked past her and dropped his bags on his bed. “Jack Morrison.”

“Vanessa McCree,” she replied. “Don’t try to be friendly, okay? I don’t even want to be in this dorm.”

“Sorry, that’s just the way I am,” he replied. “And I hear ya; I tried to get into one of the houses, but they’re only available to students in their second-year and up. And, you know, all the other housing blocks are for everyone but Omegas.”

“Tell me about it,” Vanessa rolled her eyes. “‘Oh, I can’t be assed to teach my little angel manners, so you have to teach your Omega brat to keep their nasty whore legs shut’.”

“I know!” Jack cackled as he started unpacking. “Like, yes, I totally want liquid leaking out of my ass once every few months and have to watch my back to make sure some Alpha douchebag doesn’t rape me and claim I wanted it because I was in heat.”

“Oh, Betas are just as bad,” Vanessa said. “Most of my schoolmates were Betas and they were constantly grindin’ on me and the other Omegas. Teachers didn’t do sweet shit because ‘oh, yer in heat’. Like I want some fuckin’ jackass dry humpin’ me when my insides feel like they’re getting’ shanked with a rusted spoon.”

Jack laughed and nodded his head. “You sure you don’t want to be friends?” he teased.

“Sorry,” she apologized as she dropped onto her bed and crossed her legs elegantly over one another. “I’m so used to other Omegas being so submissive that I want to throw up. Yer a cool guy, not at all like the other people I’ve run into. It’s a wonderful change.”

“Thanks,” he said. “I’m taking Agricultural Science; you?”

“Criminal Psychology,” she said. “I have my work cut out for me. It’s a predominantly Alpha-oriented field. Somethin’ about criminals takin’ advantage of ya if yer anything less than king douchebag. You know, because Omegas never wind up in jail for anything other than uncontrollable jaywalkin’.”

“People only see what they want to see,” Jack said. “I’m sure you’ll do fine.”

“You too,” Vanessa smiled. “Ground rules; please leave some way to identify that yer having sexual intercourse in this room if you get here first.”

“Don’t worry, I will,” Jack laughed. “Not that I have that much of a desire to have sex with anyone. Not a fan of being treated like a fetish.”

“Something else we agree on,” she smirked. “This is the start of somethin’ beautiful, Jack.”

                                                       ***

Jack walked into his first class of the semester and almost gagged. All the Alphas in the class snapped their heads towards him as he leaned against the wall and coughed into his arm. His eyes were watering and his gut was clenching painfully at the scent. He’d never smelt anything so horrible in his life and he knew how to field dress a deer.

“Holy fuck; you guys ever hear of a shower?” he demanded as he stumbled towards the front of the class where there was a free seat. “Holy shit!”

“What’s the matter, little sweetie; can’t stand the scent of a real Alpha?” one woman grinned at him.

“You smell like my dog after it rolled in bear shit,” Jack coughed again. “Oh my god, how can you stand to be in the same room as yourself?”

The two other Omegas hiding in the front of the class let out snickers. The Betas just rolled their eyes and grumbled about Omegas looking to start shit. The Alphas were too stunned to say anything as Jack hiked his shirt up over his nose so he only had to smell his own cologne. Mmm, winter-fresh had never smelt so good. So much better than whatever it was that the Alphas were trying to pull off.

There was no way to properly describe the smell. He’d smelt lots of Alphas go into rut over the years, but nothing had ever smelt this bad. It was like the Alphas had never washed in their lives and then went and found the most weak-bladdered cat in existence and rolled wherever they pissed. It was unbelievable and disgusting.

The professor walked into the classroom ahead of the last student and looked straight at him. “Is there a problem?” he demanded.

What the hell? He hadn’t done anything but point out the obvious!

“The Alphas in this room smell like shit and it’s insulting to my delicate nose,” Jack replied through his shirt.

The professor let out a snort and quickly cleared his throat. “Ah, very well. I apologize for that,” he said as he hurried towards the podium. “You know how young Alphas are; nothing can be done about the smell, I’m afraid. Reyes, please have a seat.”

Like hell nothing could be done about the smell! No, the professor clearly didn’t want to interfere. Might cost him precious research money or some other idiotic bullshit. God-damn useless Alphas and their refusal to actually get anything done in this world. Fucking. Hell.

The student that had walked in with the professor sat down beside Jack and started setting his things on the table. Jack blinked and tucked his nose deeper into his shirt, hoping that the blush slowly creeping across his face wasn’t noticeable. Holy shit, did this man smell good. Better than any Alpha he’d ever met that wasn’t related to him. He swallowed thickly, trying to focus on the professor even as the man beside him shifted forward.

The scent wafted over him and Jack tried to hold his tremble in. He smelt cinnamon and a scent of Old Spice he wasn’t familiar with, but it was amazing. He felt his pants already growing slick and he bit his lip. He was reacting to the scent; he was fucking reacting to the God-damn scent of a complete stranger! Oh fuck, this wasn’t good. This wasn’t good and he had to get the other guy to move. There was no way he could concentrate between that amazing smell and the stench all around him.

“Could you move?” he asked softly.

“Hmm?” the man glanced at him.

“Could you move?” he repeated, feeling his blush deepen. “You’re distracting me.”

Jack felt worse the minute that nasty smirk spread across the man’s face. He wanted to scream and cry and hide his whole face in his shirt. Why did Alphas have to do this? He was expected to have a plug in his ass when he was in heat and take their feelings into consideration, but the instant he asked one of them to move because their scent was overpowering, it turned into a massive joke. Why? Why couldn’t they be nice to Omegas?

“And why should I move?” the Alpha asked. “You’re the one with the problem.”

“I was here first,” Jack snarled. “You stuck-up prick! I bet you think this is hilarious, don’t you?”

“Excuse me,” the professor called. “Is there a problem.”

“No,” the Alpha called.

“Yes there is! Don’t you brush this aside, you fucking jackass! I asked you nicely to move! So move your ass down two seats and leave me the fuck alone!” Jack shrieked.

“Ooh, little sweetie must be close to his heat,” the Alpha from earlier snickered.

“Calm down,” the dark-skinned, sweet smelling Alpha smiled. “It’s not that big….”

“Fuck you,” Jack snarled as he got to his feet. “Fuck you and fuck every fucking Alpha in this fucking school! You think you own the fucking universe, don’t you?”

“You’re making a scene,” the Alpha smirked.

Jack lashed out and clawed the Alpha’s face open. It turned into a bloodbath as he leaped on the Alpha and started beating him to a pulp and….

“Hey,” a soft voice whispered in his ear. “You okay?”

Jack jumped and turned to look at the Alpha. His brown eyes were soft and kind, open and inviting. Jack nodded his head carefully, but the Alpha didn’t look convinced. What a moment to have one of his vivid daydreams and let a potential situation spiral out of control like that. The guy hadn’t even done anything to him and Jack wanted to beat him up. What was wrong with him?

“You’re shaking,” the Alpha said as he set a huge hand on the nape of Jack’s neck and started kneading. “You sure you’re okay?”

Jack was torn between pushing the hand away and letting those fingers continue kneading. The nape was incredibly sensitive and it was usually considered rude to just grab someone without permission. Only his father and Sarah had ever touched his nape without him saying so and that was just because they were his caretakers and were only touching him to ground him back in reality. This though, this was as non-aggressive as it got. The Alpha’s fingers were moving slowly, kneading the flesh and the glands under the skin. He could almost feel the endorphins drooling down his spine and calming down his racing heart.

“Your scent,” Jack whispered after a few moments. “It’s…really strong.”

“Oh,” the Alpha pulled away immediately. Jack almost felt bad for saying anything. “I’m sorry. I thought I had it masked properly. Here, I’ll move down a seat or two.”

Jack snapped his head around and gawked at the Alpha. Had...had he just openly offered to move because his scent was driving Jack crazy? The Alpha smiled kindly at him as he gathered his things.

“It’s no problem; my scent is really powerful and I’ve learned that Omegas don’t like it when I’m close,” he said. “Hell,” he chuckled, “most Alphas hate me being around.”

“Thank you,” Jack whispered in awe.

The Alpha smiled. “Like I said; no problem,” he said.

In that moment, Jack knew he was fucked. The sexual desire was still burning in the pit of his stomach, but it was overshadowed with the burning desire to just snuggle. To tuck his head under this Alpha’s jaw and bury himself in that scent. He wanted that strong arm around his shoulders and just holding him as they listened to the professor.

He was so fucked. He was so, so fucked.

“I think you’re in the wrong class,” the Alpha gave her a funny look as they stopped on the stairs.

Nice safety hazard there, asshole. As if your backpack wasn’t big enough to knock out a small child, now you’re taking up the entire aisle so that no one could get past you.

“No, I’m not,” Vanessa replied as she twirled her pen between her fingers. Keep yourself occupied, Van; don’t kill the nice Alpha just because they talked to you. That was rude and your Pa taught you better than that. “Unless this isn’t ‘Introduction to the Criminal Mind’, in which case, yer right.”

“But you’re an Omega,” the Alpha snorted.

“And?” Vanessa raised an eyebrow at her.

“You’re an Omega,” she repeated.

Why did people think that was a good reason? Seriously, all ‘Omega’ meant was that her scent glands released different chemicals. And the gland just inside her anus leaked a special fluid once every three months. And made her uterus cramp up at the same time as her ovaries decided that now was the time to spit out fertile eggs. It did nothing to affect her rational capabilities, her physical prowess, or her abilities to have conversations. Everything it affected was extremely personal. Why did they think that reminding her that she was an Omega justified their douchebaggery?

“Don’t get into Debate Club,” Vanessa advised as she pulled her cellphone out. “Or Law school fer that matter. It really ain’t yer strong suit.”

“Excuse me?” the Alpha demanded.

“Yer excused, you may leave,” Vanessa replied as she typed out ‘urge to kill, riSING’ to her older brother and sent the text.

“Who do you…?!”

“Honey, I do not have the patience to deal with yer indignity right now,” she sighed and looked at the woman. “Go sit down and leave me alone. Yer the only one in a room full-a Alphas to take offence. I think the problem here is you, not me.”

The Alpha worked her jaw back and forth before she stomped off. Yah, yah; go act indignant with the rest of your strange little group of like-minded friends. She didn’t give two shits. Vanessa rolled her eyes as her cellphone vibrated. She looked down at it and smirked.

‘I ain’t bailin u outta jail,’ Tom replied. ‘Calm urself.’

‘You’re lack of proper spelling is offensive,’ she teased, adding the emoji with the tongue sticking out to make sure it came across properly.

‘Got ya to smile, didnit?’

She shook her head as the professor walked into the class. She pocketed her cellphone and straightened out her notebook. Time to start learning some shit; hells to the yes! The professor squinted at her from the podium and she tilted her head to the side.

“Ms. McCree,” the professor called. “Why don’t you sit closer to the front?”

Oh fuck her; the professor knew her name?! Great. Here she was hoping she would just coast along known only as “that weird Omega” and never have anyone know her actual name. There goes that dream right out the fucking window. God fucking damnit!

“I’m fine where I am, thanks,” she replied. “This class don’t scare me.”

“Well, I wouldn’t want you distracting the other students,” the professor smiled.

“Huh, you hear that?” she asked as she looked at the Alpha sitting beside her. “He thinks you can’t concentrate cuz I’m too pretty.”

The Alpha let out a snort and grinned. “Don’t think that’s what he’s getting at, belle.”

“Oh, yer right,” she playfully slapped her forehead. “It’s because I’m too smart and will just make y’all nervous!”

The class started snickering. She knew it was because they honestly thought she was being dumb. She shot the professor a smirk before she leaned forward.

“Or are you implyin’ that somehow me sittin’ here doin’ my work is goin’ to be distractin’ because all your Alpha-wannabe students will think about is fuckin’ me over the desk,” she said. “Which, naturally, will be my fault, right? How dare I step into an Alpha-dominated classroom and not expect to be raped? I mean, it’s not like y’all should know what common human decency is, yah? It’s always the Omega’s fault fer not knowin’ their place.”

The whole class squirmed, including the professor. Vanessa smirked before she leaned back in her seat and started spinning her pen again. How nice of her to point out their stupidity, wasn’t it? Not that any of these bastards would see it as that. No, no; she was going to be known as the class bitch because she didn’t bow down and worship their feet like a good little brow-beaten Omega. From a nobody to the class star in less than five minutes; that had to be a world-record of some sort. Why did she always manage to do that?

The professor cleared his throat before he started talking quickly about the syllabus. Vanessa started scribbling dates and information down in her notebook, but stopped to spin around and painfully squeeze the hand of the Alpha that had been reaching for the nape of her neck.

“Don’t,” she growled. “Unless you want me to tie yer eyelashes to yer asshairs and sell ya to a museum as an abstract artpiece.”

The Alpha gawked at her but nodded when she tightened her grip. She snorted and released their hand, returning to her notebook. Someone had scribbled a phone number on the corner of her work while she was turned around. She rolled her eyes before x-ing the number out.

This was going to be a long class.

Gabriel stared at the ceiling of his dorm room. His chest was painfully tight and he kept thinking back to the Omega he had sat beside in ‘Basic Chemistry’. They were unclaimed; his nose had known that the instant he’d sat down. He’d wanted nothing more than to bury his nose into that golden hair and drink in that sweet scent.

He licked his lips. Fuck, he’d never known that winter-fresh and peppermint could smell so sweet. It was an intoxicating smell and he wanted to figure out which scent of cologne and which was the Omega’s. It could take hours and he’d get to have that adorable little man on his lap the whole time.

His cock hardened at the thought of the blond on his lap squirming as Gabriel scented him. He reached down to squeeze it painfully, growling unhappily. He wasn’t going to jerk it over a complete stranger! What the hell, dick? Stop that! He was just thinking about the blond, not wanting to claim…okay, that was a dirty lie.

He wanted to claim the Omega. He’d never felt anything that powerful and demanding in his life. He’d gone to high school with loads of Omegas, had smelt them go into heat, had fucked more than his fair-share of ones that needed the release with someone they knew wasn’t going to abuse them, and none of them had ever made his head spin quite like this. They’d never woken this primal desire in him before.

He wanted that blond Omega under him. He wanted to feel them squirm, to hear them whimper and moan and beg for him. He wanted to bury his face in their nape and mouth over the sensitive anatomy, keeping his teeth blunt as he aroused the smaller man. Not that he was really that much smaller than him; a few inches at most. Hell, he was average for a white boy. Then, when they were both properly aroused and saturated in each other scents, he would work their pants off and….

“Whoa,” he heard his neighbour whistle, “you thinking of someone special there, big guy?”

Gabriel cracked an eye open and growled at Gregory. “You ever hear of knocking?” he demanded.

“Hey, door wasn’t locked; figured it was all good,” the other Alpha laughed as he pranced into the room.

Gabriel growled as he tucked his throbbing length back into his pants. For fuck sake, why did he have to interrupt him now? He had just been getting to the good part of his fantasies.

“You still should knock,” he growled. “Next time I might be in the middle of something and tear your throat out for disturbing me.”

“What, you got someone you planning on claiming?” Gregory grinned.

“Maybe,” Gabriel shrugged. “I only just met them. Maybe we aren’t compatible.”

“Who cares?” Gregory cackled. “Fuck them anyways!”

Gabriel rolled his eyes as he flopped backwards on his bed. “You’re disgusting,” he said.

“Oh please; I know a promiscuous man when I see them,” Gregory licked his lips. “And you scream ‘breeder’.”

Gabriel flipped the other Alpha off. “I’ll have you know I haven’t sired a single child, thank you,” he said.

“Maybe not, but you’ve been in a lot of asses,” Gregory cackled before he tried to straddle Gabriel’s hips. “Even a few Alphas with a scent like yours.”

“Get off,” Gabriel laughed as he shoved Gregory to the ground. “I chose my partners carefully. If I do pursue this Omega, I want it to be because we’re compatible and could be great mates, not because I’m looking for unconquered territory.”

Never, ever let Maria hear him talk about an Omega like that. It was wrong and he felt dirty for saying it, but he was surrounded by Alphas that spoke like that. None of them seemed to understand his refined speech; not that it was refined or anything. He just didn’t call Omegas ‘toys’ and ‘playthings’ every other word. Maria would skin him alive if she ever caught wind of his less than polite language concerning Omegas.

“Well, virgins are fun,” Gregory agreed.

Gabriel grimaced at the word. “Okay, you have to stop,” he said. “You’re starting to make me sick.”

“This from the guy that was jerking it to a guy he just met,” Gregory climbed to his feet.

Gabriel snorted and got to his feet, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “Can it, Greg,” he said. “I’m getting food. You in?”

“Hell yah,” Gregory grinned before he threw his arm over Gabriel’s shoulder. “So, tell me more about this sweet little Omega that caught your eye. Think he’s a freak in the sheets?”

“No,” Gabriel said flatly. “And I don’t want any more discussion about that, got it?”

Gregory rolled his eyes. “Fuck, you’re so…straight-edge,” he grimaced.

“Like that’s the worst thing I could be,” Gabriel smirked as he continued walking. “Keep up.”