It was days later when Finn awoke to the pale, burnish light of dawn caressing his skin, his mate’s breath gentle against his neck where the omega dozed on his chest, as Finn realized, slowly as his drowsy mind awakened, that his rut was over. 

The aching, heated weight to his bones was gone-- no longer was there a smoldering fire in his gut, awaiting the moment it would take over his every breath with the force of instinct's might. And it was a realization Finn couldn't quite decide whether to be glad for or not, as he shifted slightly to draw Luan further into his arms, nuzzling those dark curls gently. 

For, twined within the scent of his slumbering mate was an ever so faint thread of heated sweetness that told Finn quite easily that Luan's instincts were not quite yet on the same page as Finn's own. 

It wasn't uncommon for an alpha's rut to break first, especially at the tail end of their mate's own heat, and a slow inhalation of Luan's pheromones told Finn that the omega had, perhaps, one more flare left. Finn guessed that his heat would break come the following dawn, and couldn't help the small smile that curved his lips where they pressed to his omega’s warm brown skin. He was so dizzyingly excited to be with his mate, to learn him as a person beyond their instinctual draw to one another, that he couldn't help the shuddering urge beating through his veins to slip easily, slowly, from beneath Luan, settling the omega gently atop the pillow and nearly whimpering with affectionate adoration as those dark brows furrowed, Luan nuzzling into Finn's pillow as if searching for his scent. 

Reaching out to gently soothe that wrinkle from between Luan's dark brows, Finn couldn't help his own bent brows as a soft, dripping smile shaped his lips and, perhaps, he found a whole new way to fall. 

It was a Herculean effort to convince himself to pull away from his mate, to stride towards those massive double doors leading to his bathroom, and wash the scent of Luan from his skin beneath the shower’s frigid spray. Despite the fact Finn's own rut had broken, he knew the last dregs of Luan's heat was likely to draw out another triggered cycle, to tumble down alongside Luan's own instinct until the omega's heat was spent, until they were exhausted and panting in each other’s arms as that fire faded, and that knowledge is all that kept his own instinct at bay as the cool, sweet, coffee-and-autumn scent of Luan bled down the drain. Finn's instincts screamed displeasure, snarling at their bars, but did nothing more than send a panging, agonized discontent thundering through Finn's veins in response. 

For Finn needed to go get supplies, and nothing was more important to those instincts than ensuring his mate's safety and happiness. 

But that didn't stop those caged emotions from sending a throb of vision blackening agony through Finn's canines, dizzying him to the point of needing to brace against the cold tiles to keep himself upright, as instinct reminded him that a simple bite, a mere bond, would ease the ache. Would keep those instincts from screaming at the thought of rinsing his mate from his skin. 

For that scent would be twined through Finn's at a level that could never be removed-- if only Finn would just bite down. 

A shaky growl shook Finn's chest as his teeth gritted, grinding together as if it would ease the body-quaking need to bond Luan to him forever more. 

When it did nothing but worsen that ache throbbing through the gland beneath his canines, Finn shook his head hard enough to dizzy himself even further, shoving away from the wall to scrub himself clean. 

He had to get his shit together, to get this done before Luan woke, before his heat awoke, after all. 

So, with a snarling sigh, the alpha got to work. 

A series of soft, barely there touches against Luan’s temple had him rousing, delving through the layers of exhaustion and unconsciousness that consumed him. The first thing that registered as he began to wake was the way his very bones ached with a weighted soreness, as if he had been torn apart at the joints, only to be put back together not quite right-- the feeling was as if his bones were in backwards, lopsided and misshapen, throbbing with each breath. 

The second thing, however, was the way those soft touches became firmer, clearer, as Finn’s breath brushed the skin of Luan’s cheek a mere moment before a tender, open-mouth kiss did the same.

“Sweetheart,” Finn whispered into his skin, repeating the affectionate word with every gentle, adoring kiss peppered along the planes of Luan’s face. 

A disgruntled, sighing sort of sound left Luan in the same instant that Finn's teeth scraped the curve of the omega's ear slowly, gently, whispering a sing-song “Baaaby~” into the sensitive shell as he did. 

Luan's eyes unwillingly opened to find his mate braced on one hand above him, blond hair lined golden, haloed by the burnish, early morning light peeking through the windows above them. There was a soft, almost meltingly adoring smile curving the corners of Finn's lips, lining his face in shades of devotion and admiration so profound a flush heated the tops of Luan's ears in response. 

A sensation only worsened as, gently, Finn traced a finger over the full curve of Luan's lower lip, inquiring, “Can I have the pin to your phone, sweetheart? Or if you'd just be willing to unlock your phone for me? Just for a moment?”

Perhaps Luan should have questioned the alpha's motive, or maybe even hesitated a moment to think about the implications of the request, but in truth there wasn't a single part of Luan that had any reservations, nor a single, tiny doubt in his mate. Perhaps it could be attributed to his own exhaustion, to the way sleep still clung to him, holding him half in the world of slumber and dreams, but Luan merely settled into the bedding once more, gently nuzzling into his mate's wrist as he did. 

“Two, twenty-eight, forty-eight,” Luan murmured into his alpha's skin, his heart at once constricting with the memory of the love he'd lost, memorialized in that pin number, and eased with the soothing scent of his mate's pheromones filling his nose. Some faint part of Luan murmured importance in the lack of the sweet, heated tang that had been present in the alpha's scent so far, but it wasn't able to register before the omega drifted once more, tugged fully into the realm he'd been straddling. 

Luan wasn't sure how long he'd been out, dozing easily with his mate's scent filling his lungs, but it was the soft, barely-there click of his phone being set onto the table beside his head that roused him once more. 

Bleary emerald eyes peeled open, blinking away the haze of sleep to find Finn bracing one hand to the headboard with that molten, sweet smile still on his lips as he ducked to press a firm, tender kiss to Luan's brow. 

“I'm gonna run to the store real quick, sweetheart,” the alpha explained gently as he nuzzled into Luan's temple. “My rut broke this morning, but your heat isn't quite gone so once your break ends you'll trigger another short rut in me. So I'm gonna go grab some food and stuff while I can. I put my number into your phone, so call me if you need anything, okay? I'll be back before you know it.” 

Another soft kiss pressed into Luan's forehead, but before the alpha could withdraw, thin arms twined about his neck, pulling him back down and into a tender, slow kiss. 

A low groan escaped Finn as their mouths moved in tandem, tongues teasing. The kiss ended far quicker than he would have liked, a disappointed sort of whine barrelling up his throat, only to be choked down as Luan smiled sleepily up at him. 

Lovingly, drowsily, murmuring, “Be safe.” 

It took everything within Finn, every ounce of will and self control he possessed, to pull away from his sleepy, adorable mate. To leave him there in order to do the things he needed to do, knowing he'd count every moment that passed until he could have the omega in his arms once more. 

But twenty minutes later, as he browsed the shelves of his local grocer and his phone let out a soft chime, accompanied by the simple request of get some barritas, please Finn decided time couldn't possibly pass quickly enough. 

Not as the plain desire had him melting, an utterly adoring, devoted smile curving his lips in time. 

The house was silent when Finn returned, his arms laden with plastic bags that crinkled incessantly with each movement. 

The cold food was blessedly shelved, and Finn was halfway through the rest when the creak of the staircase sounded, announcing Luan's arrival with each slow step taken. 

“I hope I got the right thing,” Finn began, smiling as he dug through the bag before him, hunting down the barritas his mate had requested. “I asked Camilla and she suggested a bodega on ninth. I got a couple of extra things that looked interesting as well. Figured maybe we could try them togeth-”

The alpha froze, the word drying up upon his tongue, forgotten and shoved aside as a verifiable flood of sweet, heated pheromones consumed him, growing ever stronger in time with the soft padding of Luan's feet approaching. 

“I missed you,” the omega rasped, thin arms coming around Finn's waist from behind, clinging to his mate as he nuzzled into his back gently. “You were gone so long.” 

A shudder raced down Finn's spine, shaking him in his mate's embrace an instant before he turned to face the omega, an apology and a smile alike on his lips. 

Only for both to die the same forgotten, tossed aside death as Finn spun to find Luan clothed in one of Finn's own shirts, the fabric absolutely consuming the small omega. He was practically swimming in excess material, the shirt nearly hanging to his knees, yet there was no amusement, no humor, in the sight. Rather it twined with the overwhelming deluge of heated pheromones pouring off of the omega, wrapped about the way Luan's small hands slipped beneath the hem of Finn's own shirt to dance along his belly, and ignited that fire, low in Finn's gut, once more. 

Finn's gaze flashed golden, burnish and bright, as he drew Luan into him, only to heave the omega into his arms, prompting those lithe legs around his waist. 

“Let me make it up to you,” Finn whispered, lips barely brushing Luan's in the barest idea of a kiss as he began toward the staircase once more. 

****

Luan lay spooned, cradled in the curve of Finn's body, as the alpha thrust slowly, steadily, into him. Finn cupped Luan's thigh in one hand, fingers firm around the flesh just above his knee as he held the limb aloft, keeping the omega spread for him as his other hand cradled Luan's throat in its palm, holding him still as Finn's teeth scraped, ever so gentle and careful, over that precious, vulnerable gland at the nape of Luan's neck. 

The first graze had been an accident, an uncontrollable instinctive urge Finn hadn't even realized he'd succumb to until Luan shuddered roughly in his embrace, a desperate, frantic sort of noise falling from those full, plush lips. 

The rest? The tender gnawing and steady laps? 

Not so much. 

It was driving them both wild, moans and needy, wild noises escaping panting lips with each graze of those sharp, sharp teeth. 

They were toeing a line they couldn't undo, one whose crossing would change everything, yet neither seemed willing to stop, to question if it was the right decision. 

Finn shifted, pulling out right before he reached the edge of his completion, withdrawing from his mate before he could be shoved over the edge of his climax, instinct drawing his movements in a different direction.

“C’mere,” he requested gently, the words huffed and harsh through the panted breaths that escaped him. 

Luan, however, barely had the time to release that soft, squeaking noise of inquiry before Finn was tugging him carefully, pulling the omega onto his hands and knees. 

“Is this okay?” Finn asked tenderly, pressing a hot, open mouth kiss to the blade of Luan's shoulder. 

The omega nodded, hips swaying as if in a silent plea to continue, one Finn had no qualms in obliging. One massive hand ran up the length of Luan's arched back, pressing down ever so gently an instant before the alpha sheathed within his mate once more. 

The pair quaked in time, shivers racing their spines as they connected with a desperate moan shared, and Finn's hips immediately began to move. 

However it did not take long for Finn to realize the reason behind his instinct's insistence to tug his mate into this position. 

He stared down at the bare skin of his omega's nape before him, unblinking as a sharp, stinging pain laced his canines, throbbing through the gland beneath the pointed teeth with an insistent agony. 

One that sang, that screamed, instinct demanding he bite, mark, claim.

Make him yours.

Finn huffed harshly as he unwittingly drew closer to that tempting, precious gland, fingers tightening about Luan's hips, drawing that dizzying, arousing little mmm from Luan's lips once more. 

Perhaps it was that sound, or maybe it was the fact that there was still some rational, some human, part of Finn left to rattle against the confines of his mind, but Finn froze. Realizing how close he'd come to making a decision that would change them both forever, Finn pulled away. 

His cock slipped from Luan with a wet, arousing sort of noise, one that had a panicked, protesting kind of sound escaping Luan in time. But one he wasn't able to repeat before Finn was flipping the omega onto his back and sheathing his aching cock within the omega's dripping wetness once more. 

A single, throbbing, taut moment before Finn's teeth sheathed into the side of Luan's neck in turn. 

Finn's brows bent, back shuddering as he bit, his instincts screaming that this wasn't right. That he wasn't meant to bite there. 

And Luan shuddered, quaking in turn, as sparks detonated in his vision, flooding his sight gold and silver and kaleidoscopic coloring that shaded him in forever at the glimpse of what could have been. 

Even as his own instincts wailed in time, the gland in his nape throbbing with a sort of fiery agony the omega had never experienced before. 

Not right, not right, not right.