The ABO Serum

Consent Ended Awhile Ago

When Braedon did not respond to texts from his parents and was missing for 24 hours, the police officially started a search for him. His parents were beside themselves. Steve Beauregard was close to his wrestlers and activated the entire team to search. He had suspicions after the way the boy questioned him about becoming an omega, but he hoped he was wrong.

Alphas got assertive, stronger, and more intelligent due to their transition, but not necessarily smarter. Especially when their mating instincts took control. As soon as the local news reported the missing boy, the admissions office receptionist called the police to let them know he'd had an appointment the day he went missing and left with the counselor at the end. She also mentioned the counselor had recently returned to work after being in alpha isolation in case that mattered. The waiter from the restaurant they'd gone to also called to report seeing him cozy in a booth with an older man.

When the police called Daryl to consult about approaching an alpha who may have kidnapped someone, he did not attempt to diminish their concerns. Instead, he told them to be ready for anything from their first approach and have a warrant to search the premises because if the alpha were hiding an omega he considered his property, he could get violent to defend his position.

In the end, the suspicious Nicholas came out of his home first, which prevented a hostage situation from developing. When the police knocked and asked to come in to ask him some questions, he closed the door with himself on the outside rather than letting them in voluntarily. They promptly served the warrant and handcuffed him before searching the house and finding the battered boy in his basement.

Steve Beauregard's earlier cooperation with the police providing support for their other search efforts, and his relationship with the boy as his coach, earned him a place in a squad car where he could watch the arrest and be on hand to help when they brought Braedon out to an ambulance. The police didn't like having parents of the victim present during these kinds of confrontations because they could be emotional wild cards. But the coach was a team player and trusted member of the community, so they figured he was okay.

Also, Daryl recommended it. If the alpha kidnapped the boy as they suspected, he was probably already transitioning to an omega, and his omega wrestling coach might be the only person in town who could help him understand and cope with what was happening to his body.

The ambulance brought Braedon directly to the hospital to stitch up his wounds and collect evidence in a rape kit. He cried and held Steve's hand the whole time, from the moment they met on Nicholas' front lawn, through the sample collection and statement making, continuing after they finished at the hospital and released him to Daryl's custody for ABO testing, through his reunion with his parents, all the way until he settled into a room at the GenLife hotel to complete his transition.

"I asked him for sex," Braedon tearfully admitted to the police. "But it hurt so much, and after, he wouldn't let me go. I just...he wouldn't let me go..."

Dr. Placer was on hand at the GenLife hotel to receive this newest and most traumatized omega. She offered a sedative and the boy accepted it. He was bruised and bandaged and could use the help to sleep without nightmares. Steve sat beside his bed, holding his hand until he nodded off and his grip relaxed.

The bandages on the back of his neck where they'd had to give him stitches to close the bite wounds were especially disturbing. He had a chat with Dr. Placer about that before she left. It seemed it was a part of an alpha's enhanced mating instinct. Daryl asked every mated alpha to give their account of how it happened, and they all said the same thing, it seemed imperative at the time they did it and all their thoughts were focused on possessing their mate.

However, when it happened during transition, the mark healed. When it happened to an already transitioned omega during heat, it scarred over and remained. The transition mark did not satisfy the alpha, so they would repeat it. The mark made in heat seemed to satisfy them and they discontinued the painful behavior. The lab noticed changes in the mated omegas' biology, but had no idea how much, if any, of it the bite caused because there were so many other factors also at work. This was new information for Steve to mull over as he considered whether or when to accept his own mate.

For Braedon, Steve was glad to know the marks would heal and the boy wasn't reciprocal with his kidnapper. That would be infinitely worse than his own situation. His alpha was completely biologically tied to him, but still managed to restrain himself. The arrested man, Nicholas, screamed how he couldn't help himself as the police carted him away.

Steve visited Braedon regularly after that and spent his own heat in the hotel room next door. Seeing his coach go through heat didn't comfort Braedon. It had been much sexier in his imagination as he thought about transitioning and belonging to an alpha for life. For an omega alone it looked like torture.

"You have a mate, why do you do this?" He finally asked when Steve arrived anticipating his second heat in quarantine since Braedon moved in.

"I have a mate, and a good one. But I'm not sure if I love him yet. And I love myself enough to hold back and restrain from doing anything with permanent consequences until I'm fully prepared to accept them." Steve answered.

"What sort of permanent consequences? Besides transitioning, of course," Braedon asked, trying to understand something he would probably need a lot more life experience to fully grasp.

"My wife divorced me after she transitioned and infected me. Marriages don't always last. The reciprocal mates all seem firmly attached so far. Our biology won't let us be apart physically. But that doesn't mean we'll always get along or that the stronger partner won't dominate the weaker. I can't help thinking that someday we'll have to figure out how to break this reciprocal attachment to rescue omegas from abusive relationships. I can't simply accept mine. I have to know it won't ever go there before I let my heart follow my biology.

"And there's a one hundred percent chance of pregnancy for mated omegas who have sex during heat, so that's a pretty permanent consequence," Steve finished.

Braedon choked on that revelation. "No shit? A hundred percent!"

"Yeah. I can endure a lot to avoid that," Steve replied.

"I wasn't even thinking about that. You don't think I'm...?" Braedon asked.

"You just started transitioning. You can't get pregnant until your first heat after your transition is complete. You don't have functional internal equipment for it yet. But you will." Steve patted the boy's shoulder. "All I can tell you is, don't let your body get ahead of your heart. Love yourself completely first, and don't accept anyone who disagrees with you on that, or whom you can't love as much. Life is too long for anything less than a completely mutual admiration society to last."

"You didn't have that with your wife?" Braedon asked.

"I was attracted to her. She was sexy and popular. She felt attracted to the me that was a star wrestler. But we rushed our relationship and never knew each other very well. I admired the person I thought she was. I couldn't tell that she didn't really want to start a family with me ever. Or that she felt disappointed I didn't have more of a wrestling career and became a teacher instead. I thought she would be happy that I was supporting her dreams even though it didn't really matter to me if she succeeded. I thought we were happy as we were. I didn't realize her dream was to be a power couple and I'd let down my end of the deal. I didn't put a high value on the successful woman she wanted to be, and she didn't put a high value on the good teacher and coach I wanted to be. So, as we grew into ourselves, we lost that mutual admiration." Steve was being more honest saying all this to his student than he'd been in his own internal reflection.

"So, what about your alpha?" The boy kept prodding. Steve grunted.

"Of course I'm attracted to him physically, but I know better than to trust that kind of surface appeal this time. Still, he's a good man. I...I trust him. And he respects my autonomy and won't use his alpha-ness as an excuse for bad behavior. When he found out about the pregnancy thing, he started working on omega birth control. I'm testing a version right now.

"He's pretty amazing actually, to do that. He's named after a villain, but he's really sweet." Steve smiled thinking about that. "He's working hard on building his physical fitness with my help and learning about wrestling so he can join me at matches and understand what's happening when he cheers on the team. Christine never came to a match where I was the coach and not the star. He's really thoughtful in the ways he looks out for me and shows me he cares for me."

"Sounds like you already admire him," Braedon observed.

"Yeah. I might love him, too," Steve conceded.