This is just a companion post for one of my A/B/O fics because the bulleted list of 'essential world-building rules to know b4 reading' got a bit too long for the pre-chapter notes lol sob.
There is no such thing as an unwanted birth/baby for alpha–omega pairs in my A/B/O-verse. If the alpha doesn't do a good enough job taking care of the omega and/or the omega gets too stressed, their body makes an executive decision to try again later. Early miscarriages are common, even among bonded pairs, since it requires both of them to be 1,000% ready for pups.
Mobians go through the stages of pregnancy a lot faster than humans. After insemination, the “symptoms” of pregnancy begin at implantation about 1–2 weeks later, and the full pregnancy only lasts about 6–8 weeks.
The distinction between “mating” and “breeding” is mostly whether or not the omega is likely to get pregnant from it. Partners can still mate without trying to breed (e.g., not during an omega’s heat). There’s also a distinction between knotting/tying and “locking,” where the omega’s cervix allows the alpha to penetrate and ejaculate inside the uterus, which almost guarantees pregnancy. Normally, this happens during an omega’s heat, but it can also happen out-of-season with very closely bonded pairs.
When an omega mates, their body absorbs some of the organic, biological chemicals from the alpha/beta’s ejaculate and temporarily mimics the alpha/beta’s pheromones, adding them to the omega’s scent. The intensity and duration (months to years) depends on various factors, like how much, how deep, their partner’s dominance level, etc.
During mating, if an alpha bites an omega/beta hard enough to make them bleed (specifically, if their blood is on the roof of the alpha’s mouth during the alpha’s orgasm), their body will mimic some of the omega/beta’s scent temporarily. Unlike omegas, the duration is much shorter (days to months) and it's a bit weaker.
When it comes to sense of smell, the ability-ranking from strongest to weakest is: alpha, omega, beta. Alphas are particularly good at sensing (smelling) an omega’s emotions and identifying exactly who they’ve mated/pair-bonded with. Omegas are typically only able to sense anger and sexual arousal. Betas are mostly limited to identifying someone’s secondary gender, but can still perceive very strong scents.
When an alpha bites an omega, their saliva causes the bite to scar badly. (This only happens to omegas.) Some of the alpha’s scent also becomes permanently infused into the scar. Mating bites are specifically given on the crook of the neck, typically right before and during the alpha’s orgasm. The urge/instinct to give a mating bite mostly goes away once the omega is marked, although re-marking during yearly heats isn't unusual for bonded pairs. Hence, when a pairbonded alpha “has their partner’s scent,” it's typically because they mate often (i.e., due to frequent, close physical contact), not because the alpha keeps biting their partner during sex.
Alphas can technically give a mate-mark without mating, since it only requires a deep bite to the omega’s neck/shoulder. However, marking an omega they’re not interested in (or one who’s already marked) is normally revolting to alphas on an instinctual level.
An alpha biting their omega partner for other reasons -- not during mating and not on the crook of the neck -- is an archaic and traditional form of punishment (or abuse). Legally/socially speaking, once an alpha marks an omega, they become the alpha’s property, and nothing an alpha does to their omega can be considered criminal or illegal. Some alphas (the very bad ones) might go through multiple omegas in their lifetime. This is generally frowned-on by other alphas as “wasteful,” i.e., for reducing the breeding pool, but is not usually punished unless done excessively.
Packs are typically one alpha, multiple betas, and one to a few omegas. It is not unusual for single/unpaired omegas to be part of a pack, although most omegas are claimed in early adulthood. (In Sonic’s friend-pack, Knuckles is the alpha and Sonic is the only omega.)
An alpha’s dominance level is mostly instinctual and innate, rather than something determined by personality, experiences, or upbringing. It also generally stays the same throughout their entire life, with few exceptions (like being continually dominated by a stronger alpha, permanent injury, trauma, etc.).
Holding hands is the Mobian A/O equivalent of wrapping your legs around someone’s waist, since hand-clasping is part of the traditional / biologically instinctual mating position where an alpha holds an omega down and breeds them in missionary. That's my in-universe explanation for why they’re all wearing gloves.
