They took over half the tables in a pub across town known for its student-friendly prices and the captains and coaches got sharing platters in for the fencers to pick from, plus a round of beverages. River sipped at an Amaretto and cola through a straw that was far too long for her glass. She was wedged between Reed and the submissive beta that had been talking tactics to her earlier. Although the captain was making absolutely sure not to touch her. He was more subtle than most, but River could still tell. The scent of Elliott had made him overly conscious of her. 

“You’re brave for an omega.”

Reed winced into his beer. Beside him, a dominant beta was leaning around to speak to her, clearly tipsy.

River drained her own glass before retorting, “If volunteering to get pretend-stabbed is so brave, how come you couldn’t find a beta to take the spot?”

The beta chuckled without a good answer for her. She grinned back, victorious in yet another social interaction that could have been uncomfortable. It was her super power: the approachable omega.

“I can see how you bagged an alpha, you look sweet but you got a little kick to you, huh?”

And there he went, making it uncomfortable again. River wanted to tell him that she doesn’t kick, she bites, but even with a couple of drinks in her she knew that could easily be taken the wrong way by a dominant that wanted to find flirtations in her words.

"And is that what you look for in fencers?" she asked, pushing the topic back to common ground. She didn't want to use Elliott's tactic to get him to back off. She didn't want to lose out on a friend. She didn't want to be left out for being an omega.

"Anyone can learn!" Reed announced, jumping his face forward between them.

The beta groaned beside him. "Here he goes with the sales pitch. They should be paying him a commission for how hard he works to get people in the club."

River laughed. "Go on then, Reed, give me the full spiel." There was no way she had time to join anything else full-time, but she let him and the beta argue over what made fencing fun. The submissive beside her piped up occasionally with her own anecdotes and tips, and River nodded along with all of them as though genuinely considering the proposition.

A couple of rounds later, it was time to slip away. River thanked the team for having her and attempted to make a swift exit from the bench she had been balanced on, but Reed followed her out.

“Wait, River, I’ve arranged a ride for you," he said. The cold air shocked him, he was in only a t-shirt and shorts after the competition. A laugh caught in his throat and he wrapped his arms around himself.

River giggled, too, clutching her cardigan tight. “You didn’t need to do that-”

“Don’t worry, it’s none of those idiots,” Reed assured her, there was a nervous tinge to his voice.

River smiled, letting her relief show. “Yeah, I do prefer my chauffeurs to be sober.”

The rumble of an engine approaching drew Reed’s gaze from her to the road beside them. A car rolled to a stop at River’s back. She turned to see an imposing figure rising from the open driver door. Elliott. River snapped her face back to Reed, but he was giving Elliott a handshake that turned into a one-armed hug.

“Appreciate you looking out, man,” Elliott said warmly.

Reed was pleased with the praise. “Always.”

“Still not signing up for swashbuckling.”

Reed laughed and clapped him on the back. “One day!” He walked backwards towards the door of the pub. “Catch you later, River.”

River waved. “See ya.” When she turned back to the car, Elliott was on the opposite side, holding the passenger door open. She hesitated and he nodded to the interior, as though she was too dumb to know what he was waiting for.

“I want an apology,” she called to him, keeping her feet planted on the pavement. “Please.”

He pushed the door to and strode around the front of the car, it was sleek and black and definitely not an old banger like most students with cars drove.

“For what?” He was incredulous.

Well, River was incredulous at having to remind him. “You called me little and weak!”

He stepped up the curb, closing the space between them. Without it, he towered over her. “You are little.” She staggered back a step, seeking breathing room. He followed. “And if you don’t get your little butt in the car, I’ll have to show you how weak you are, too.”

River swallowed. Her eyes stung, the hurt of the original insult smacking her a second time, and it upset her even more that he had managed to make her feel this way. Why did she care what some alpha thought of her? She stood still. “Apologise, or I’ll scream,” she whispered, followed by a sniff.

His face split into a feral smile. He dropped to a crouch to coo into her ear, “Save the screams for the bedroom, petal.” The pet name stroked the back of her neck, a tingle of two syllables.

“Eugh!” River spun away and didn’t get two full steps from him before she was snatched up at the waist and carried like a plant pot to the passenger side of the car. She sucked in an enormous breath, ready for the heavens to hear her-

The car door slammed and locked in her face. She deflated.

Elliott glided into his seat and switched the engine on. “What’s your address?”

“Is it safe to give that information to a dominant?” River asked, petulant.

His smile turned dark. The overhead light gave him a villainous vibe that both unsettled River and unfortunately turned her on. Just a bit. It definitely wasn’t noticeable, though. He practically purred, “Is it safe to let me choose the destination instead?”

River gave him the door number and post code and buckled her belt with as much attitude as could be shown without much room in the leather interior. Elliott snapped his in with less fuss and the car pulled away smoothly. His phone dictated the route, showing only ten minutes till arrival at River’s house share. By bus, she wouldn’t have been home for forty minutes.

“How much have you had to drink?” Elliott chuckled, interrupting her daydreams of life with a car to dart about with. “Fireball got you feisty?”

“How much have you had to drink?” she mimicked childishly.

He glanced over at her, his eyes surprisingly soft. Maybe it was the street light glow, or the liquor filter. “I don’t drink.” His gaze returned to the road and his smile turned sly. “Anymore.”

River slumped in her seat, uninterested in hearing tales of past drinking glories. He didn’t offer any without her asking, so they sat in silence as he drove for a while.

“I didn’t know you fenced.” The words pierced the heavy air - thick with his scent.

River cleared her throat. “We’re strangers, remember?” Throwing back his own words from the bowling alley.

“Is that what we are?” he mused.

We’re not mates, her brain answered immediately. “I-”

“Here you are, safe and sound.” The car stopped, and she could see her front door out the passenger window.

“That was so fast.” She was embarrassed by the wonderment in her own voice. Those two… maybe three… drinks must have been doubles…

“Are you accusing me of speeding?” Before she could deny it, he added, “with an omega in the car?”

River rolled her eyes. “Thanks f-” She snatched at the door handle by her, but it remained locked. Turning back to Elliott, she gave him a wary look.

“Give me your phone.”

“If you wanted petrol money, you could just ask,” River grumbled. “You don’t need to rob me.”

“Keep your coppers and give me your phone.”

She handed it over and watched him call himself. His phone, clipped to the dashboard, lit up with River’s number over a lock screen with two young women posing in long dresses, one on each of Elliott’s arms. They were beautiful, full of elegance and charm. And visibly submissive.

Her phone was offered back to her. “Next time you’re stuck, message me yourself.”

River pouted despite saving his number to her contacts. “I wasn’t stuck, I was planning to take the bus,” she said sulkily.

Elliott’s head rocked back, eyes disbelieving. “While wearing my scent?”

An awkward laugh bubbled out of River, she genuinely couldn’t tell if he was joking. “Please be serious.”

“Next time, message me.” Blunt, firm, eyes unwavering. He was serious.

The door unlocked and she grabbed the handle before he could change his mind. “Thanks for the lift, but I won’t be needing another.” She could make do with the bus and her two feet. If she could survive the winter on public transport, she could make it work the rest of the year.

She shut the door on his scoff of a laugh and hurried up the path to home. Cold and jittery and riddled with unwanted attraction to a rude alpha.