Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Aubrey Hall was beautiful. Not just the house but the entire estate. As Kate rode her borrowed horse through the fields she could not help but admire the lands.

Of course, Kate expected the invitation. Edwina was promptly named the diamond of the season soon after arriving in London. Naturally, Kate was overjoyed. Edwina was beautiful, accomplished, and graceful. A true diamond. Kate had always known it and it warmed her to see that everyone else knew it too.

It was why the Queen chose her. It was why Lord Bridgerton began his pursuit immediately after she was granted Her Majesty's favour. The most eligible alpha of the season and the Queen's chosen beta. It was what every love story was made of.

Unfortunately, Kate knew that this was no love story. Much like her sister she had once been charmed by Lord Bridgerton too after an unchaperoned horse ride and some banter thrown back and forth. She thought him to be a handsome, goodly gentleman until she overheard his words on the terrace at the first ball of the season.

“I hear Miss Goring is on the market,” said a calm voice. 

“Strange that Lord Goring would allow his omega daughter on the marriage mart,” said another man. “That sort is not suitable for marriage.”

“And why not?” came the same, soothing voice. “Our Queen is an omega and she is the best sort.”

“The Queen is the Queen,” said the other man, dismissively. 

“Miss Goring is a lady! What say you, Bridgerton? Is your mother not an omega?”

There was a huff and then a familiar voice. One she had not heard since that very morning. “Indeed she is, Dorset.”

“You intend to marry one then?” said the jester. “Another Viscount Bridgerton who seeks a match with an omega?”

“An omega is the last thing I want. Not to wed, nor to warm my bed. The very prospect repels me. No. I seek a beta of gentle breeding with enough beauty, wit, and grace to befit a Viscountess. It is a shame that these newly debuted betas cannot keep pace.”

“Perhaps you demand too much, Bridgerton,” said Dorset.

“Is it not an alpha’s right to demand?” asked Lord Bridgerton, “And a beta’s role to obey.”

“And what is an omega’s role?” asked Dorset.

“To bend over,” said the other one, “Miss Goring is on the market you say?”

“Come now, Fife,” said Lord Bridgerton, “don't be vulgar. Dorset spoke true. No matter her deficiencies, Miss Goring is of noble lineage. We will discuss her in a manner that credits a lady.”

There was laughter between the men and, later, a quarrel between her and Lord Bridgerton. That was her second impression of him. Her third impression came when he used the deceptively kind beta named Dorset to trick her. 

Needless to say, Kate did not like him.

Nevermind that she was unusually drawn to him. Nevermind that it took everything within her not to quiver at the strength of his pheromones. Nevermind that the way he looked at her made her go warm all over her body. Nevermind any of it. A man who would speak so cruelly of an entire sex was not for her sister.

Not that Edwina listened. When she relayed Lord Bridgerton's cruel words she was immediately shut down by Lady Danbury.

“Lord Bridgerton did not say anything that is not thought by every alpha and beta alike in the Ton. Omegas are an entertaining diversion to be sure but they are more trouble than they're worth.”

Edwina frowned. “That is unkind. Kate's amma was an omega.”

Lady Danbury shot her an apologetic look. “Nevertheless, no alpha of good breeding seeks an omega to wed.”

“Is Lady Bridgerton not an omega?” asked Mama. “I remember her. She married the late Viscount despite the trouble.”

“Theirs was a True Bond,” said Lady Danbury, dismissively, “A near impossible feat.”

The Dowager was not wrong. Bonding was such an antiquated ritual. An urge that even the most foolhardy person knew to suppress. And as they lived in civilised times, True Bonds were almost unheard of. There was a reason an omega’s mating glands were protected either by the scent of the alpha who was their protector or by scent suppressing collars. 

Kate had heard of barbaric bawdy houses where alphas would bite omegas indiscriminately during their ruts. The unfortunate omegas would languish for days with fever after their bodies rejected the bond. If the omega was lucky enough to survive the infection, no future bites would affect them. Their bodies, forever altered by an alpha’s callous instinct to take what wasn't offered, would not be able to carry a child, form a bond, have anything close to a life outside of the brothel doors.

It was almost unheard of for a bond to take. And the miraculous ones that did were often one sided. 

Lady Bridgerton was a rare woman indeed.

“In our society,” Lady Danbury continued. “a True Bond is almost as rare as a love match which, as you know in the Ton, is the rarest match of all.”

Edwina's eyes widened at her pronouncement and Kate's eyes narrowed. She could not allow her sister's dreams to be crushed by their host's unflinching practicality.

“Surely it is not so rare,” said Kate.

“It is,” said Lady Danbury, leaving no room for argument. “Love is the exception when it comes to marriage, not the rule. I will allow that I have never been to India, perhaps things are different there. In England, however, a love match is a dream. Sometimes, very rarely, it is a dream realised. But more often marriage is a business arrangement agreed upon by both parties. It would do for you and Miss Edwina to remember that.”

At the time Kate tried to remind her sister to remember what she wanted, what she'd always wanted, but to no avail. Edwina's wants seemed to have changed since their arrival. Now, Edwina wanted nothing more than to be courted by Lord Bridgerton and so courted she was.

Their days in Aubrey Hall were lovely so far. Lady Bridgerton enjoyed a rather large and vibrant family.

“At least I did not birth any of them in pairs,” laughed Lady Bridgerton when Edwina remarked upon her luck as the ladies played a card game. “Can you even imagine?” her face gentled at Edwina's wide eyes. “You will not have such a problem, my dear. You needn't worry. Although I never saw it as a problem, I love my children dearly.”

“I can tell,” said Kate, trying her very best not to sound envious. 

“I hope one day to have the same joy,” said Edwina, as obsequious as ever. “Though in a lesser quantity, of course.”

Everyone laughed with a tinge of awkwardness. They had been at Aubrey Hall for days and Lord Bridgerton had yet to propose. Kate ensured her sister that he would soon but she was beginning to worry. 

Kate began to wonder if she was to blame. As much as she meant to do as she promised and be nice to the Viscount, they quarrelled yesterday during a rousing game of Pall Mall. Nevertheless, Kate was trying to do what her sister asked and be nice. To be nice to the Viscount meant that she would have to stay away from him. He inspired something in her that frightened her. It was a loss of control that she was not used to. Kate was always in control of herself and her body. She lost control once, only once, and that was enough for her to vow to never do so again. Not if she wanted to maintain the peaceful nature under which her family thrived.

Lady Bridgerton had remarked to Mary that she was fortunate to have two beta daughters. “I do envy the harmony the four of you must have experienced.”

Mama smiled, a touch sadly. “It was harmonious indeed. For the longest time.”

“I hope for my son to experience such harmony,” Lady Bridgerton sighed.

“Soon enough he will,” said Lady Danbury, decisively. “Provided we all play our roles.”

Kate ignored the dowager’s accusing eyes. She had done as she ought and given the Viscount her blessing to court her sister. Surely a simple fall into the mud wasn't enough to derail his intentions. Kate wouldn't let it.

Edwina was decided and despite Kate's opinion of their lack of suitability they seemed to be in accord. This, more than anything, was why Kate had chosen to step aside. 

After all, they were both the ideal form of their primary and secondary sex.

When Edwina presented at six and ten, Kate let out a sigh of relief. Mary's parents could broker no complaints at such a desirable presentation. While alpha women, like Lady Danbury and Lady Featherington, were well respected for the indomitable way in which they ran their households, in upper class societies, it was the beta woman who was coveted most of all. And for obvious reasons too. Beta women had moderate temperaments, no debilitating heats or ruts to incapacitate them, and most importantly, their gentle pheromones could settle both ruts and heats, preventing the respective alpha or omega from losing control.

To be an omega was something different for a woman. When all that was expected for a woman was to be a wife, omega women were, as Lady Danbury said, more trouble than they were worth. 

Behaviour that was tolerated in an omega man was derided in omega women. They were temperamental, useless to everyone for the time of their dreaded heats, and they left alphas with an excess of children that few of them had the desire or the money to manage. The heats that male omegas frequented houses of ill repute to ride out were seen as natural in a man and a sign of weakness in a woman.

Kate found it all so horribly unfair that it made her want to scream.

As she looked up at the sky, she sighed. The family would be breaking their fast about now. She should turn the horse around and return to the house. 

The wind whipped through her hair and the tight coiffure began to unravel with her speed. By the time she made it back to the stables, the house felt more alive than ever before. As she drew closer to the morning room she heard the raucous laughter of the Bridgerton family and the tinkling laughter of her sister in response. Edwina liked them; the family, the house, the alpha who ran it. 

The alpha who panicked at a mere bee sting earlier this very morning—

“Don't move,” he gasped, his hand clasped around her gloved wrist. 

Kate glared at him. They were already in the middle of a quarrel and he sought to order her about? “Who are you to tell me what to do?”

“Miss Sharma,” he said slowly, “there is a bee on your gown. If we move swiftly, we can dispel it without injury to your person.”

Her eyes fluttered rapidly as she tried to squirm away from him. “It is just a bee, my lord.”

“Listen to me, damn it!” he snarled, his hand tightening around her wrist. 

Kate ripped her hand from his grasp. She did not know what possessed him but it was clear that he had forgotten himself. She was quite ready to swear at him in a language that he didn't understand when she looked at him. Truly looked. His eyes were…panicked? She did not see the need for such a reaction as she had been stung multiple times in the past. It was never pleasant but he behaved as though she was at risk of great harm.

She batted at the offending creature. Anything to rid them of this situation, to remove his gaze from her. Naturally she was immediately stung. Kate huffed in exasperation. The insect packed a mighty sting.

When she looked up at the Viscount, who she considered at fault for this unpleasant affair, he was still looking at her with unmitigated fear in his eyes. 

Blast it! Kate hated how easily her heart softened for him but there was nothing for it. Not now. Not when there was something so helpless and anguished in his eyes. Something else too. Something she could not place. Her fury and irritation transformed into concern at the sight of it. She did not even know why he was so upset, or why he looked at her in that manner, or why his breath was coming so rapidly. All she knew was that he was in distress and she wished to calm him. 

In that moment she wished she could calm him with soothing pheromones like her appa did for her. She did not possess such capabilities, so Kate did the only thing she knew how. Lifting her hand, she took his in hers. As she did she felt a spark ignite her body. The flame did not matter, though. Only Lord Bridgerton did.

She put their joined hand to her chest, placed his palm right atop her heart and breathed. Lord Bridgerton followed her lead. He inhaled when she did and exhaled the same. The entire time he did not remove his eyes from hers. 

“I am well, my lord,” she said, keeping her tone calm and soothing. “I am unharmed.” 

With their palms pressed against each other's skin, they breathed in unison and Kate was undone.

Kate shook her head to rid her mind of the torturous memory and instead considered her options.

She could enter and explain that her morning ride went on for too long. However, if she did then she would come face to face with Lord Bridgerton. Then she would have no choice but to pretend that this morning didn't happen. That she wasn't stung by a bee, that the Viscount didn't panic unnecessarily, that she didn't put his hand to her chest, that he didn't look at her like…like... 

Kate took a deep breath.

No. Entering the morning room was not an option. If she entered she would be forced to sit and watch as Lord Bridgerton amused her sister and Edwina continued to charm him in turn while his eyes would drift to her’s numerous times before snapping back. Even worse she would be forced to ignore the prickling sense of awareness under her skin that came from his presence. The awareness that made her want to present herself before him in front of everyone and allow him to claim her. 

Kate sighed and turned away. 

It had been a very long time since she'd felt that way. Another reason to despise the Viscount. 

When Kate first presented, it was as she walked down the palace hallway with Prince Amit discussing their last hunt. He was in the early stages of his rut, which had never affected her before, but this time it made her lose her wits. Kate didn’t realise what was happening at the time, only that she needed the Prince, more than anything. It was with her petticoat rucked up around her waist and Amit buried inside her that her appa walked in on them.

Naturally, he was horrified. 

Appa had to physically drag the Prince off of her and whisk her away to their apartments swiftly. At the time Kate didn't understand what was happening, only that her father hugged her as she cried, and clawed at him, and pleaded. He forcibly poured a tonic down her throat as she sobbed. His gentle, beta pheromones were so soothing that it lulled her to sleep. When she woke it was to her appa's grim face and an unsettling understanding.

Any other daughter would be beside herself at such an unwanted presentation but even in her mortification, Kate never felt any fear. Appa was such a special man. One in a million. He did not present her before the Prince or discard her as many fathers might their despoiled, omega daughter. Instead he kept her secret. He let Prince Amit believe that he had trifled with one of his chosen omegas. He brewed her the same tonic that her amma once drank to suppress her heats and make her as scentless as any beta.

It worked. She had never felt that mad, desperate urge again. 

No one but her appa had known the truth of her presentation. He had fallen ill soon after and never got the chance to tell Mary. A fact for which she was grateful. Kate did not want Mary or Edwina to know what a burden she was. What a burden she would be to any family she married into.

Perhaps that would not be true if Edwina married into this family. Lady Bridgerton and Miss Eloise were both omegas but they were protected by an alpha. The second Bridgerton son, Mr. Bridgerton, was also an omega but did not rely on his brother for protection the way his mother and sister did. Even so, he still had it. Kate noticed the way Lord Bridgerton would press his hands on their shoulders, on the sides of their necks where their mating glands were. The Bridgertons were an unusually affectionate bunch but Kate knew the reason he did that. No alpha would dare try to claim them even when wandering around in a rut. Not when Lord Bridgerton claimed protection over them with his scent. Kate did not have that. She had only herself for protection. And she could not offer herself up for safekeeping and endure the limitations that came with it. 

It was safer this way.

Running up the stairs, she was grateful for the respite her shared rooms would provide. Edwina would join the family as they picnicked, and only return in the afternoon to prepare for supper. So eager was Kate to retreat that she did not notice anyone walking in front of her until she practically hurtled into him

A strong pair of hands rested on her shoulders to steady her. Kate wriggled out of the hold as quickly as she could. His hands fell to his sides.

“Lord Bridgerton,” she gasped. When he was so close to her he smelled like cedar, and musk, and alpha. Kate suppressed a whimper. 

“Miss Sharma,” he inclined his head, “shall you join us in the morning room?”

“I am a little faint from my morning ride,” lied Kate. “I believe I will break my fast in my room today.”

Lord Bridgerton cleared his throat. “Are you—is the—” he waved his hand at her chest and oh. He was referring to the bee sting. The one that left him out of sorts and the both of them scrambling away from one another. 

Kate observed him carefully. He did not look troubled or disheveled in any way. He looked as he always did. Tall. Proud. Sharp. Whatever drove him to that frenzy clearly troubled him no more. It was Kate who was now wrongfooted for it. 

“I am well,” she responded. “Only tired.”

An awkward silence fell over them. Just as Kate was about to make her escape from this conversation Lord Bridgerton said, “You hunt?”

“What?” asked Kate.

“In a few days when the guests arrive we will be taking a party on the grounds for a hunt. Your sister convinced us to allow you to join us. I did not know that you know how to hunt.”

Kate heard the insult for what it was. Through gritted teeth she explained, “My father was secretary to a royal family in India. Often I would join them on their hunting parties.”

The Viscount's face was aghast. “Did he not worry you would be attacked?”

“My father was a good man who trusted my instincts,” said Kate, a quiet rage simmering in her chest. “I am sorry that I cannot join you or I would have shown you how difficult it would be to catch me unawares.”

“Your sister was most insistent on you joining us,” he said, and Kate heard the reluctance in his voice.

Of course she would. Edwina was insistent about her plan to win Lord Bridgerton's heart by getting him and Kate to develop a friendship. Her sister did not understand why Kate needed to be as far away from Lord Bridgerton as possible. The man hated the very core of who Kate was in a way he did not even understand. He did not know she was an omega but his aversion to her kind seemed to bleed past everything. Even the tonic that hid her truth from him.

The best thing for Kate to do to help her sister is to stay as far away from this alpha as possible.

“My sister is a gracious host.”

“You always speak so highly of your sister's attributes.”

Kate's eyes narrowed. “She has many of them to speak of.”

“It was a simple statement, Miss Sharma,” said Lord Bridgerton. “I have been…observing.”

Kate's eyes twitched. Of course he was. He had spent their entire visit observing her sister just as Kate advised Edwina to observe him. To see how she would fit in with his family as his wife. Her anger suddenly dissipated. 

“I see,” replied Kate. “If that is all then I will retire.”

“I will have a poultice sent to your room.”

“That is very kind of you,” said Kate, reluctantly. 

“We shall see you for supper then.”

“Of course,” lied Kate. She would not be attending supper either. Instead of walking away Lord Bridgerton stepped towards her. Kate's eyes widened, “what are you doing?”

He brushed a lock of her hair that had fallen into her eye, tucking it behind her ear with a gentleness she would never have expected from him. Her heart beat quickly in her chest. She felt a warmth spreading through her body. And, as if her body was punishing her for her lie, she did begin to feel faint. With his hand lingering on her cheek. His nose flared and he inhaled deeply. The urge to present her neck to him and submit was so forceful that she had to clench her fists to prevent it. Allow the pain of her nails cutting through her palm to remind her where she was and who she was with.

Kate slapped his hand away from her. His eyes darkened and she heard a low growl emanate from his throat. This time she did whimper. His eyes widened at the sound and, almost hesitantly, he stepped towards her again. Kate slapped her hand over her mouth immediately after. All she could do was utter a shaky goodbye before abandoning her pride at his feet and running off for the second time that day.

The sight of his shocked, brown eyes stayed in her mind as she locked the door behind her. 

Kate ripped off her riding habit and fumbled with the laces on her dress. Her skin felt like it was on fire. In only a chemise she looked at herself in the mirror. Her eyes were glazed over, her cheeks flushed. Kate took a deep breath. She had an idea why she was reacting like this but it couldn't be. She drank her tonic this month just as she had every month for the past ten years. No one could smell her. If they could then surely someone would have looked at her differently. More to the point, if Lady Danbury realised both that she was an omega and on the verge of her heat then she would have taken precautions if only so as not to cast dishonour on herself as a sponsor. 

If no one could smell her then that meant her tonic worked. And if it worked then that meant that she couldn't be experiencing a heat. She had simply taken ill from her bee sting. Yes. That was it. She would keep to her rooms until this strange illness passed. 

By the time the clock struck midnight Kate could not lie to herself anymore. She had sweated through her muslin nightgown and then sweated through her sheets. As a slickness accumulated between her thighs she was forced to accept that this fever was not due to her sting. 

Memories of her first and only heat that was cut short flooded through her mind and she knew she could not stay in this house for much longer.

Kate stumbled from her bed. Thankfully Edwina had decided to sleep with Mama until Kate felt better. She hadn't the faintest idea how she could begin to explain this to her family when she was in such a state. She needed to be away from this place.

More than anything the person she needed to escape was Lord Bridgerton. There were very few alphas among the staff at Bridgerton House. Kate was sure that this was Lord Bridgerton's overzealous way of protecting the omegas of his family but Kate did not feel the urge to seek out an odd footman or groundskeeper. Of everyone here it was the Viscount who was in danger. He sang to her in ways no alpha ever had before. That was why Kate knew without a doubt that if she saw him in the state she was in now she would climb him as though he were a tree.

Shaking her head, she wandered about in a daze. It wasn't until she ended up in front of a large room that she realised she took a wrong turn. 

Standing on the threshold, she peered into the room. The library was large. 

At least Edwina will be happy here, she thought, more bitterly than she would have liked.

Kate remained frozen on the threshold. Lord Bridgerton was here recently. She could smell him. She almost ventured into the room but something stopped her. Slick had begun to drip from between her legs. Kate tugged at the collar of her nightgown. It took everything for her not to strip herself bare. She needed to get away from this place.

She fumbled about until she reached the front door. Without even thinking she picked a hairpin from her hair and fiddled with the lock. It was an old trick she had learned when she needed to get into her appa's office.

The fresh air against her damp nightgown sent a shiver through her body. Kate did not think of the dangers as she ventured out, the chill she might catch with the cool night breeze or any alphas who might be roaming outside of the estate. Nor did she think about how very soon she would be quite mindless and might welcome any attack. No. All she thought of was finding shelter. Somewhere safe where she could build a nest to cocoon herself in until her heat passed. 

This would be her first true heat. Her father had drugged her first heat out of her and helped her suppress the rest and she was thankful to him for that. He had protected her the only way he knew how. It also meant that Kate had never braved a full heat before. She knew what to expect. The pain, the desperation, the sickness that could come if she was not sedated. 

Kate did not want to think of that. She did not want to think at all. She stumbled a little on a stone, grabbing onto a tree to stop herself from falling. She gasped for breath. She needed to slow down but couldn't. When she was far away enough from the manor then she could stop for a moment.

It was then that she felt a sensation crawling over her. She was being followed. Kate ambled faster through the woods. She was not so far gone that she wanted to be caught by any alpha who came across her.

Yet. 

There was something that caused her to slow down a little. An awareness that she was in no true danger. Kate paused to take a breath. If an alpha caught her then she would fight them off if needs must. To do that she needed to keep her strength about her.

The moon kept herself curtained by grey clouds. The twinkling stars in a near black sky were her only guide. Kate looked around at the foliage around her. Large trees and wildflowers. There were hiding places everywhere she turned. Her mind raced as she thought. In her haste she had not brought food or water along with her so she would need to find a riverbank. There were berries on some of the bushes. She would not starve. 

Kate wrapped her arms around her body. She was too feverish to feel cold but somehow she knew that the night was not a chilly one. That meant that there was a possibility that she would not grow poorly as she hid. 

Lost in her planning Kate almost did not notice a presence behind her until a hand banded around her wrist like steel. In her startlement Kate tore her hand from the unnaturally strong hold and spun around. 

“Lord Bridgerton!”

“Have you lost your wits!” he glared at her, horror evident in his eyes. “Why are you out here alone? If anyone caught a whiff of you…” his jaw clenched. “What were you thinking?”

“I—I felt warm in my room,” she stammered. “I needed air.”

“You could have opened a window.”

The scent of him was so powerful, so enticing. Kate inched away from him. He trailed after her. Kate was helpless to it. He pulled her into his arms and she let herself be drawn into his current. 

“Why do you smell like that?” he whispered. “You—from the moment I met you you’ve—tell me.”

Kate went still. Her heat. Of course he could smell it. “I don't know what you mean.”

“You do,” he hissed. “You smell like—like—” he pressed his nose against her neck and took a gasping breath. Kate's body turned from ice to water in his arms. She'd never been scented before and while it was the height of impropriety that he even dared to do this, Kate could not find it in herself to care. Her entire body tingled with delight as he rubbed his nose against her neck. 

“You don't smell like any omega I've ever met,” he said, like it meant nothing that he spoke so baldly of her best kept secret. “You're sending me mad.”

“I'm—I'm not an omega,” she was not sure why she felt the need to lie. Her heat had surely given it away at this point. “Why do you think—”

“Of course you are,” he kept his nose pressed to her mating glands. “Do you think I don't know what an omega in heat smells like? I can smell it dripping down your thighs.” Lord Bridgerton clutched at the skirt of her nightgown. “I've known from the moment I saw you. You called to me that morning just as you're calling to me now.”

“Lord Bridgerton,” she whined, overcome by the onslaught of his words.

“I suspected this morning but I doubted myself,” he continued, his tone wondering as he pulled away from her neck to look at her. “I've never seen a heat come on this fast outside of a presentation.”

“You touched me,” Kate blurted out. “My hand when I—I touched you. It's—I don't understand. This has never—”

His eyes burned with something that looked too much like pride to Kate's liking. Pride and…possession. He looked possessed. He looked like he wanted to possess her. “I did this to you.”

As he said it, Kate knew it to be true. It was only after her bee sting that she began to feel like this. When she touched her bare hand to his and pressed it against her chest. It was a moment. A fleeting moment. That was all it took. One moment and she was undone.

“This has never happened to me before.”

Lord Bridgerton nuzzled his nose against her neck once more. “Good.”

“Lord Bridgerton,” she said. “I am not an omega known for begging but I need—”

“What do you need?” his breath puffed against her skin.

“I need—” she needed to begone from here. “I need—” she needed to put as much distance between him and her desperate body as she could. “I need—” she needed—

Kate threw herself into his arms and pressed her lips to his. It was not a soft or gentle thing. She kissed him with a force that was painful, clashing teeth and biting tongues. It was nothing like she expected from a first kiss. There was too much fire stored between them even without her heat. Instead of pushing her away like she half expected, Lord Bridgerton licked into her mouth, setting fire to her already overheated body.

His mouth pressed against hers insistently. He stepped forward, walking her backwards until her back was pushed up against a tree. Their mouths did not separate the entire time. Kate kissed him with a ferocity she never expected from herself, tugging at his hair, scraping her nails into his scalp.

With great difficulty she pulled away from their kiss, if only so she could gasp for air. But she soon learned air was irrelevant. She didn't need to breathe. She only needed one thing. One alpha. 

Kate tugged at his hair, pulling his head backwards. If he opposed the manhandling of his body he did not say so. Instead he hissed as she ran her nose along the line of his throat, kissing the tender skin she found. His hands dropped from her waist to her backside, pressing their bodies together. She could feel the indentation of his arousal against her skin and it was all she could do not to beg. 

“I can't stop,” Kate scraped her teeth against his jaw before remembering herself. She pushed him away from her. “Just go. Now. While you still can.”

She was not yet fully weakened but she soon would be. When she was, she would truly beg for him. And he was an alpha. It didn't matter how much he despised her. He wouldn't be able to resist her. 

“Don't give me any orders,” he snapped, his eyes dark. She could barely see the warm brown in the starlight. He stalked towards her once more, grabbing her waist tightly. “Let me take care of you.”

“Lord Bridgerton.”

“Say my name, Miss Sharma,” the sudden propriety alongside his request sounded mocking. “You do know it, don't you?”

“Anthony,” he sighed at her rare deference. “Alpha,” that caused him to shiver. “I can't help myself. I don't want to force you into this.”

“Don't help yourself,” he pressed his face right back into her neck, scenting her again. “I don't want you to help it if you can. I want to take care of you. Let me take care of you. Let me do this for you.”

“You could—your rut,” she tried as he lifted her nightgown. Noticeably, she didn't do a thing to stop him. Anthony pressed her further against a tree but Kate continued. “What if you—”

“From the moment you pressed my hand to your chest, darling.”

And as she looked into his eyes she could see the truth in it. His pupils were blown and there was something almost feral in his eyes. Something that made her want to submit. 

Kate was never very good at submission.

“Don't call me that,” she said. “I'm not your darling.”

“No? But you're mine,” he said. His hands trailed up her thighs to the space between her legs. “And your body knows it.”

Anthony toyed with her sex, dragging his fingers along her slick, swollen folds. A part of Kate wanted to slap him for playing with her like this when he knew what she needed.

“So does yours,” she challenged. Unfortunately her voice was breathy and it did not have nearly as much bite as she would've liked.

He smirked. “My body knew you were mine from the very start. Why do you think I chased after you?”

Kate wanted to protest. To call him a liar. To interrogate him on how he could possibly know she was an omega when no one else did. However, she couldn't. All she could do was gasp as he slipped a finger into her needy quim. She could not think at all except for one thing: more.

One finger wasn't enough for her need. Nor were two when he slipped another inside her quivering folds. 

He chuckled at her desperate whine. “It's not enough is it?”

At a sharp thrust Kate grunted. “I need—”

“You need my knot,” he said before she could. 

Anthony hiked her leg up around his waist and slipped another finger inside her in quick succession. Kate groaned. The change in position pushed him deeper inside her. She felt so full but it still didn't feel like enough. She whined and whimpered as he fucked her with his fingers until her slick poured into his hand. 

Kate held onto his shoulders as a wave of pleasure crashed over her. It was an odd feeling to be satisfied and dissatisfied both at once. The fever she tried to deny was upon her fully now. It felt like every nerve of hers was on fire. 

And it seemed like Anthony was determined to make her senseless because he fell to his knees. Kate winced at the sound of the crunch. Surely that was a painful fall but before she could try to help him up he pressed his nose between her thighs. He inhaled deeply, smelling her arousal. 

“Lilies,” he groaned, his voice nearly strangled. 

Kate whimpered as he kept smelling her. She almost begged but she didn't know what she would be begging for. It wasn't until his tongue darted out to taste her that she understood. 

If she felt like she was on fire before, there was no comparison to the wildfire that burned through her now. 

As he lifted her leg over one of his shoulders, Kate grabbed onto his other shoulder. Anthony groaned loudly as he licked her. He sounded so pained that Kate worried. Well. That wasn't true. But if she was in her right mind she would have worried. Possibly. She could not say for certain because his tongue flicked and suckled against her tender flesh and he pressed his fingers in her again. Her slick poured onto his face and he drank her up like he did his favoured brandy. 

Kate's hand scrambled to find purchase and find it she did. She gripped onto his hair and tugged as he devoured her. He moaned again. Kate's thighs trembled. This pleasure was making her somewhat delirious. She babbled her need to him— moremoremore— and ever the gentleman, he gave it to her. 

He worked one more finger inside her and then another. Kate gasped. It was too much. Perhaps this was it. Her limit. Four fingers and his tongue. Surely that was more than she could handle. Except it did not seem so. Waves of pleasure swelled within her, making her gasp and cry. The power of her release startled her. She had never felt anything like it before. 

Anthony guided her through it with his careful strokes until the trembling of her body subsided. 

This feeling astounded her. Suddenly the modest finger that she secretly used to probe herself at night felt inept. The breadth of pleasure she was capable of feeling clearly went beyond anything she ever knew.

When her eyes blinked open Anthony was looking up at her, eyes dark and full of promise.  “Let's get you inside. I'll take care of you. 

His words were gentler than she expected after everything they'd just done but it did not stop her from shaking her head frantically. Even in the midst of this haze she knew they could not return to Aubrey Hall. Lady Danbury would hide her away from him to stave off the scandal. His siblings would know her to be a wanton omega. Her mama would be horrified. Lady Bridgerton would condemn her as a slattern. And Edwina. Oh heavens. Edwina. They could not return. 

“I—” Kate breathed heavily. “I don't—”

Anthony rose to his feet. His eyes flickered as he stood face to face with her. “If you don't want this then I–”

“I do!” she interrupted him, shameless in her desire. “I don't want another alpha or to sit in some scent proof room and fall apart on my fingers, desperate for you,” his jaw clenched at her declaration. “But I can't go back to Aubrey Hall. Our families, my—my sister. I cannot risk their reputations. We cannot–”

Anthony cut her off with a kiss. His lips were insistent and she opened her mouth to let him in. His tongue flicked against hers and she could taste herself on his tongue. Kate moaned. Her head thunked back on the tree as Anthony trailed kisses along her jaw. 

“You don't want any other alpha but me,” he said, proudly. Apparently in her desperate plea to preserve the reputation of both of their families, all he heard was that she wanted him. In normal circumstances Kate would huff at his single mindedness. Instead she chased his lips for another kiss. 

Lost in the taste of each other's mouths, Kate sighed until the infuriating need for air required a brief separation of their lips.

Anthony circled her waist with his arms. “You want me.”

“Yes!” Kate gasped. “I need you.”

Take me. Claim me. Fill me up. Her mind was filled only with this need. 

And for once Kate did not hold back. She let her scent loose on him. His knees seemed to buckle but Kate held him up. He tucked his nose into her neck, smelling her as she let her scent waft through the woods. 

“You intoxicating vixen,” his voice was muffled against her skin. “You have driven me to madness. No omega has ever smelled like this.”

She didn't care that others would most likely smell her now. That the secret she'd kept for ten years was now out in the open due to her own carelessness. All she cared about was this. The way he scented her and made her heart flutter. 

So lost was she in the bliss of it that she didn't notice the sound of footsteps until Anthony whipped around. Kate whined at the loss. His hands still held on to her waist and he used them to push her behind him. 

“What are you doing here?” snapped Anthony.

Kate tried to step out from behind him but his grip on her was too firm. She glared at him a little before looking over his shoulders at the man in front of them. 

“I smelled—My Lord I wished to inspect the premises for any dangers that—” his eyes fell on Kate. 

“I am taking Miss Sharma to my cottage. You will have supplies sent for us. Food and clothing for the young miss.”

The footman, James she remembered, stared at them with wide eyes. His nose was still flared. Kate hid her face in Anthony's neck at the sight of the other alpha’s interest. 

This was mortifying. She had released her scent so Anthony could enjoy the full brunt of it. No one else.

Kate shut her eyes. Her discomfort was mingled with her arousal and she could face neither in front of another alpha. This alpha smelled as strongly of musk and desire as Anthony did but something about him was unappealing. Where Anthony made her ravenous, this alpha made her body cringe inwards and she shied away from him in an uncharacteristic display of timidity.

James made the mistake of inhaling deeply and Anthony snarled, lunging forward. She heard the sound of a loud blow—perhaps a punch?—and growling. There was another scuffle and Kate's mind grew fuzzy. She knew that she should let him go, allow him to defend her honour in a way that dignified him as an alpha, but she clung onto him even tighter and tried her best not to rub against him.  

Anthony staked his claim but she was also staking hers. Turning her face from the safety of his neck she saw the other alpha sprawled out on the ground, glaring up at Anthony with his hand clutching his face. There was blood flowing from his nose. 

This was the sort of behaviour that noble alphas despised displaying. Bloody fights over omegas in heat were for lesser men. Men who toiled for a living until their hands were calloused. Not men like Anthony whose fingers were unblemished by manual labour. A beta would never inflame a noble alpha's passions like this. Lady Danbury had the right of it. Kate was more trouble than she was worth. For that reason alone she knew she should apologise. However, she couldn't. Kate couldn't pretend to be appalled by his behaviour as she should be. Instead Kate's heart danced. He fought for her, and he won.

The other alpha sniffled, trying to clear his nose from the blood and Anthony stepped towards him, menacingly. Kate buried her face in his shoulder. This display might be beneath Anthony Bridgerton and were she not in the middle of her heat she would find their alpha posturing to be demeaning and barbaric, but as they were now, their fight set her body aflame and only heightened her need.

“Plug your nose!” snarled Anthony. “In fact, return to the house lest I find cause to reprimand you again.”

“My lord,” she heard before heavy footsteps shuffled away. 

“And make sure those supplies are sent by anyone other than you!” he shouted after him.

Her arousal flooded down her thighs at such a possessive display. He was an alpha and he wanted to protect her. He did not want anyone else to claim her. 

If his fingers and his mouth were enough to calm the frenzy building up in her before then it wasn't any longer. 

Kate whimpered. “Alpha, I need you.”

Anthony looked at her, his eyes burning into hers for a long moment. The world stood still as they stared at one another. There was that promise in his eyes again and Kate longed to receive the full force of his ardour. His voice was hoarse as he responded. “Likewise.”

The trip to whatever cottage he had spoken of was not an easy one. It was not that the journey was particularly perilous, only that Kate could not keep her hands off of Anthony. His body was so firm and strong against hers and it was the only thing stopping her from going mad. She attached herself to him like a limpet with her arms slung across his neck. Anthony kept his arms securely around her waist as they ventured further and further into the woods until they arrived at the front of a sizable house on the outskirts of the estate. One to which Anthony had the key.

Kate was not typically this trusting. Normally she would have questions as they entered. Why is there an abandoned cottage at the edge of the woods? Why is it well furnished with visible upkeep? Will anyone disturb us here? However the only question that held any relevance for her now was, ‘how quickly can you get inside me?’

She had been desperate for him since he came across her in the woods. Oh, blast it. Since he came across her in the park. Now after a taste, she was insatiable. It was just her heat, she told herself. A natural biological response. Whatever it was, it caused her to jump into his arms. 

Anthony caught her easily. He tugged at her nightgown until it was torn in two at her feet. The sound of ripping fabric only made her that much more desperate. In less than a moment Kate toed off her slippers and was back in his arms, kissing him with a ferocious passion that had been suppressed in her for too long.

Kate unbuttoned his shirt, tearing at his buttons in her impatience. It took far too long to divest him of his garments but soon he was as bare as she was. She took a moment to look at him in all his glory. And truly, he was glorious. Taut muscle and supple flesh. She practically drooled at the sight. Despite his lean build his shoulders were broad and his arms large. Kate knew that he could hold her down and work his knot into her without breaking a sweat. 

“Alpha,” Kate whined.

She knew what her body wanted but she hadn't the faintest idea of how to do it. The sight of his knot at the base of his cock was so alluring. It was sizable though it had yet to swell. Kate wanted it immediately. 

He shushed her. “Come here, omega. I'll give you what you want.”

That word soothed her unsteady nerves. Omega. No one had ever addressed her as such before. She did not know how much she craved it until Anthony said it.

She bolted into his arms yet again. “I want you. I want this,” she said, quickly. And then she did the one thing she promised herself not to. She presented her neck to him. 

There was a shift in the air. Something heady, sweet, and feral. Anthony attacked her neck with vigour, kissing and sucking her mating glands. Kate whined in pleasure. This was what she'd been craving. Kate never wanted to be owned by any alpha. Not truly. But to belong to this alpha—well, that was different. 

“Kate I need to,” he whispered against her neck before cutting himself off. “I can't wait. I have to do this now.”

He spun her around and pressed her against the wall. And—oh. He pushed into her slowly and all she could think was yes. The stretch of him opening her up caused her breath to catch in her throat as he eased his way inside her. He was larger than she expected and it took her a moment to even breathe. 

As it was, Anthony was determined to steal the air from her lungs. He sheathed himself inside her to the hilt. Kate's eyes bulged. “You—”

“Kate,” he panted. “I'm trying.”

It took her a while to understand what he meant. The sting of his cock stretching her open was too strange and new and delicious for her to think of anything else. His hands were bruisingly tight around her waist as he thrust into her in shallow motions. She pressed her cheek against the wall. The press of the cool brick against her fevered body did nothing to alleviate this heat. 

Kate knew, somehow, that it wasn't enough for him. Perhaps because it wasn't enough for her. “Anthony. Stop trying. Just take me. Take me however you want.”

He groaned in her ear. His breath puffed at the side of her cheek as he began thrusting into her with sharper strokes, igniting every nerve in her body. He pushed the curtain of her hair over her shoulders and his head fell onto her neck sucking harshly onto her skin. He would leave a large bruise. Kate shivered. She wanted to be marked by him all over.

“Precious omega. You just needed an alpha to fuck you the way you deserve.” Kate whined at his filthy words, at the punishing rhythm his hips had taken. 

“Yes,” she mewled. “Need you. Fill me. Fill me up.” He sucked against her glands with intent. Kate shuddered. 

He didn't listen. Instead he kept fucking her with abandon and whispering filth into her skin. “You want my pups. Is that it? Need me to breed you full.”

Not bothering to answer him, her hand reached back to grab onto his hair. 

Anthony did not hold back. He fiddled with her sex as he sucked on her neck. She knew he would knot her soon. He had to. The anticipation alone had slick wetting both of their thighs. At a particularly rough thrust Kate moaned. Her body grew rigid and she clenched around him tightly as her mind went white. She shattered around him. 

When Kate was able to think again he was still driving into her. She whined again and Anthony pulled out of her. It was so sudden that Kate almost cried. She spun around in rage, in anguish. How could he?

“No. No. No.” she shook her head. She had climaxed already but she still needed him. She needed his knot.

Anthony grabbed her wrist and sucked at one of her scenting glands. That was enough to soothe her momentarily. 

His eyes were so dark they were almost black. Kate shivered as he stared at her. His eyes, his entire bearing spoke of a feral lust. That look stole the words from her mouth. Anthony all but dragged her to a modest sitting room. 

There was a large couch and plush rug in the center of the room. Anthony walked to the fireplace to light it but Kate had no care or thought for such creature comforts. She knelt onto the rug. She could feel Anthony's eyes trailing her. Kate turned to lay on her back. The fur was soft beneath her. She looked up at Anthony as his eyes trailed over her body. 

Kate held her legs wide open for him to watch. 

His eyes were black with hunger as he stared at her slick soaked sex. Under other circumstances—if they hadn't said and done everything to each other—she would be self conscious at her wanton display. They had left self consciousness at the door. There was only room now for want as he crawled on top of her.

Anthony pressed a gentle kiss on her chest, the mild twinge of pain brought to memory the bee sting. The very thing that started it all. Kate was at a loss for words at the tender gesture.

“Anthony,” she whispered. 

His eyes flashed. He put his mouth to her breast and Kate choked back a moan. He sucked at her teat, lapping at her nipple before giving attention to her other breast. Kate ground her body against his hardness.

Anthony pressed three fingers inside of her. “Need to stretch you out so you can take my knot.”

“Yes!” she said, excitedly riding his fingers. “I need your knot. Please, alpha.”

“You beg so prettily. Have you ever done this?” he asked, his voice low enough to make her shiver. “Has an alpha ever knotted you before?”

“Yes,” she shook her head. “No. It is—when I presented I—but he didn't knot me—he just. Well. I barely remember.”

Anthony's eyes flashed with something but it was something she could not focus on. Not when he removed his fingers from between her legs. “You'll remember this.”

He nudged her legs wider before slipping inside her. She was sopping wet with slick and heat. The air was thick with the sweetness of her pheromones—lilies, jasmine, almond—and the muskiness of his—cedar, sandalwood, leather. The combination of them that swirled through the room was the headiest scent of all. 

It was with renewed vigour that he speared into the depths of her, his strokes steady and deep. 

“Do you know how long I've wanted you?” he whispered into her neck.

Kate shook her head. She wanted to remind him that he never wanted her. That he wanted someone else this entire time. That the only thing that made him feel any desire for her was this damnable heat. She should tell him. It would be the decent thing to do. But her entire body froze at the prospect of him regaining his wits and ending this. Her mind glazed over that ugly understanding. 

“I spend all day staring at your neck when you're not looking,” he admitted. Kate gasped. “Thinking of what it would feel like to sink my teeth into it.”

That startled her. She tightened around his shaft and he grunted into her skin. He wanted to bite her? She had wanted that for so long. It shamed her. A desire to bond at all was humiliating but to feel that desire for someone who despised everything she was? That was something she could not countenance. Yet she had spent nights working herself over with her hands to the thought of his bite. 

A mating bite was ownership. That was how everyone viewed it. But Kate was an omega and there was an intrinsic understanding in her that it was not just a claim. It was a vow. A promise. The oldest and most sacred promise there was. But a desire was not a guarantee. Bonds did not always take.

There was a reason decent alphas never bit with the omegas they took to bed. A bite was the most life altering choice a person could make. It was not something to be taken lightly.

“Do it,” she said. “Bite me.”

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” he hissed. “Kate I can't—I—”

Oh. The rejection made her heart fall to her stomach. It was just his rut talking. After all he'd said this was just…it was just… Kate did not want to think it. Did not want to give name to the tawdry affair. Not when he was still driving into her so deep that she gasped at every thrust. Not when her body could not stop craving him. Not when—

Oh.

He pressed his wrist to her mouth and Kate did not waste any time. She bit into his mating glands. The taste of his blood in her mouth was tangy and metallic and now it was hers. His blood, his body, his flesh. All hers. She felt a sharp pain in her neck when his teeth clamped around her flesh and she screamed. The pain, the pleasure, the sheer rightness of it all.

“You're mine now.” Anthony laved his tongue against her throat. “Mine, mine, mine.”

His thrusts picked up and her entire body felt like it was on fire. 

Things grew hazy after that.

Somehow she ended up bent over the couch with his cock slamming into her over and over. He kept building her up and letting her shatter around him so many times she stopped counting. His stamina was absurd. She knew it was his rut that drove him to such a frenzy, her heat that allowed her to not just endure it but pant for it. Beg for more. 

After she peaked yet again he manoeuvred her onto her hands and knees on the rug. He kept pounding into her with an animalistic force. The sound of their skin slapping against each other was driving her higher and higher. 

“I'm going to fill you up,” he growled. “Breed you good until you're fat and swollen with my pups. Is that what you want?”

Kate was too lost in her fevered pleasure to respond. 

“Answer me, omega,” he ordered. 

He had not used his alpha voice on her until now. Kate fought against it. She did not want to obey just for the sake of it. She moaned in response.

Anthony pulled her up so that she was plastered against his chest. He wrapped an arm around her chest, pressing her against his body so tightly she was uncertain if she could ever peel her skin from his. His hips did not slow down for a moment. Whatever thin thread of control he had earlier that night, he was no longer in possession of it. His hand slid down her abdomen before he pressed down on her pelvis. He sucked on the wound on her neck and Kate wailed her pleasure. 

“The only way I'll breed you is if you tell me you want it, omega.”

At that Kate had no choice but to tell him. She could not let him deny her what she rightfully deserved. 

“I want your babies,” she cried. “Put your pups inside me.”

“Gladly,” hissed Anthony. 

His cock felt thicker inside her at the base as he kept thrusting into her. He seemed to be stretching her wider and wider until his thrusts began to burn around her entrance. The slick gushing out of her made it somewhat easier. He pushed into her once more and he couldn't even pull his cock out. She felt so full and stretched open.

“Look at how you're swallowing me up,” he said, still rutting into her. She tried to rock back but she couldn't take him any further. He was locked inside her.

“Squeeze me,” he ordered. 

Kate shook her head. “It's too much. I can't.”

“You can,” he insisted. “If you want my pups you'll have to milk them from my knot.”

She was stuffed full with him as he released into her in spurts. He could not pull out if he tried. It was much too much but there was nothing Kate wanted more right now than for her belly to grow large with his pups. She clenched around him and it was too much. Her body shuddered as she climaxed around him again. 

Perhaps sensing her distress, Anthony lowered them onto the rug, shifting so that they were laying on their sides, her back pressed to his chest. 

“Keep going,” he urged. “I know it's strange at first but you need it as much as I do.”

Kate clenched harder this time, squeezing him tight. It was then that she understood what he meant. His seed kept spurting inside of her as if there was no end to his release. She milked his cock with determination then. She did not want to waste a single drop. 

There was something mortifying in her thought process. It was all rather omega. Something that she had buried in herself for so long. The desire, nay, the need to be bred. To be stuffed full with a knot, with seed, with children. 

He was still so large inside of her even as she clenched and clenched and clenched until tears began to spill from her eyes. Anthony kissed her tears away. 

“It will take some time for my knot to recede,” he told her, his voice low and hoarse. “You'll stay plugged full until my seed takes root.”

Kate smiled, dreamily as her eyes blinked close. Good. She wanted little else.