Chapter Text
Art by Alantieislander
Wilmington, Delaware
1993
“Impossible,” the larger man grunted from down the aisle, flipping through the CDs, seemingly reorganizing them. “There is no merit in that opinion. Doggystyle is not any better than 36 Chambers. Musically, lyrically, and beat style, Wu-Tang wins. You’re wrong Poe.”
“That is just your East Coast Hip Hop snobbery right there,” the man named Poe said as he shook his head at the large man. “The G-funk sound from Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg coming out of the west coast is fresh as shit Ben. Don’t be an old fogey about this!”
“You’re being seduced by production!” Ben shouted back.
Rey gasped and tried not to jump like the others in the record store did. She stopped what she was doing and watched Ben leap from the aisle and behind the cash register to the large stereo. He quickly thumbed through a stack of CDs and pushed it into the slot as he turned knobs up. The harsh, raw, rhythm of “Bring da Ruckus” blasted through the store. Poe sighed and threw his hands up to his face when Ben turned on the loudspeaker.
“Ladies and gentlemen, shoppers of Rebel Records, you are currently listening to what is arguably the most influential records of our time, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) by the Wu-Tang Clan,” his low voice was passionate, commanding. He was imposing, standing over six feet tall. Rey squirmed her skinny little legs together, watching him speak.
Every word he spoke was marinated in passion, like the music was his own cherished child. Rey was supposed to be in and out of the store, but the antsy feeling in her toes melted away as she watched Ben speak.
“Gritty. Stripped down. Dark,” he breathed into the loud speaker. She ached for that kind of passion, “Sloppy jungle drum beats, bizarre song structures, and low quality production. All this scares commercial purists. But listen, only for a second, and there is undeniable charisma and talent. This pass-the-mike flavor brings us to the real underground of hip hop culture in a way we’ve never seen.”
Rey’s young mind was racing and she whined as she watched him hop onto the counter. Her panties were wet in a way she never felt and she shifted in her pants. She had seen him before, Ben, the boss at Rebel Records. His size and demeanor scared her. He was usually scowling and grumpy behind his long hair, growling at the employees to get back to work or blatantly telling customers that their choice in music was bad. His dark hair was normally disheveled and he almost looked out of place in the record store. While the employees were obvious record-store workers in grunge wear and flannel, Ben wore a uniform of fitted black slacks and black hoodies, no matter the weather. She knew he was a music snob and a grump, and normally avoided him when she went to the store. But now that he was in full view, demanding attention, she saw his over-the-top hugeness, his fluffy hair, that long nose, passionate eyes and beauty marks across his cheeks… she started to drip from her core.
And something was distinctly different about Ben today. He was maybe 20 feet away from her, but she was sure she could smell him. He smelled like wet earth in the morning. It was overwhelming. It made her dizzy. She was pretty sure he was an Alpha before, just because of his stature and demeanor. And even though everything she learned about Alphas was gossip on the street, she was sure now that he must be one.
She clenched herself, hoping it would stop her body from reacting so strongly. It worked for exactly one second.
“Oh God, here he goes,” Poe said from under his breath.
“Ghostface, catch the blast of a hype verse
My glock bursts, leave in a hearse, I did worse
I come rough, tough like an elephant tusk
Ya head rush, fly like Egyptian musk
Aw shit, Wu-Tang Clan spark the wicks an'
However, I master the trick just like Nixon
Causin' terror, quick damage ya whole era
Hardrocks is locked the fuck up, or found shot
P.L.O. style, hazardous, cause I wreck this dangerous
I blow sparks like Waco, Texas.”
Rey’s knees buckled and her mouth went slack. He was rapping and it was the sexiest thing she’d ever seen in her young life. She suddenly understood when women would tear off their shirts and show their tits off at the performers during concerts. She knew what panty dropping meant. Her body was so wrecked that her jeans were starting to sop. Rey sobbed quietly and panted.
And then Ben pointed at her.
“You,” he said away from the loudspeaker, “You with the three buns,” he was definitely speaking to Rey, “Lift up your shirt.”
She froze. Lift up my shirt? Her heart pounded out of her chest and face flooded with blood. She squirmed again in her jeans and felt it brush her center. She shivered.
“Ladies and Gentleman,” Ben said into the loudspeaker once again, “We have a shoplifter here in Rebel Records and as per our policy, we will be detaining this shoplifter and calling the cops.”
He threw the loudspeaker at Poe and then jumped down from the counter towards Rey.
“You’ve got six CDs shoved inside your shirt sweetheart,” he said gently as he approached her.
Rey, finally remembering herself, jerked herself away from him and started to sprint out of the store. She didn’t take more than two steps when she felt Ben’s enormous long arms encase her. His body was warm and his scent was choking her. She wriggled and struggled to get out of his grasp, but it was impossible.
“No, no, no… please!” Rey begged, “Please let me go! I’m sorry!”
She sobbed when she felt the familiar wetness of tears falling down her cheeks. Rey was embarrassed. Embarrassed because of what was happening in her jeans, embarrassed that she was caught stealing, embarrassed that she was crying. But mostly embarrassed because was displeasing Ben.
“How old are you sweetheart?” Ben asked as he motioned for the girl to hold up the CDs she was trying to steal.
She scowled at him, her sad dirty face streaked from tears. He felt sorry for her. She was so tiny, so young. What was she doing stealing CDs? He snapped a picture and the Poloroid slid out of the camera. He pinned the forming picture to the wall of shame, dozens of pictures of shoplifters pinned to the wall. Her little white face formed on the photo and he frowned at it when he noticed how matted her hair was.
“What like thirteen?” Ben said purposefully stern.
“Sixteen,” she barked, “And I’m not your sweetheart.” She whined the last word with a scrunch in her face.
Ben chuckled to himself.
“Well, sweetheart,” he said pointedly, “What is your name, I wonder…”
“Kira,” she said quickly as she shifted in her pants again. She kept doing that.
Ben had a headache as soon as this kid walked into his store. The only reason he knew she was stealing was because of her scent. It was the most raw Omega scent he had ever smelled in his life. The last time he smelled something close to this was when he was a freshman in high school and a girl went into heat in the middle of finals and refused to take her tests at home. Her scent was making him crazy, so he kept an eye on her and watched her slip the CDs into her clothes.
“Kira,” he said slowly, “Ok Kira. How can I get a hold of your parents?”
“Fuck if I know,” she spat at him.
He sighed slowly and rolled his eyes.
“Come over here in my office,” Ben said gently, hoping it would calm her down. It did and she followed him into the large room.
Rey always wondered what it looked like in the back of Rebel Records. She guessed it was full of CDs, tapes and records, but it wasn’t. It was big, open, and colorful. There was a lounge area for the employees and lockers where they put their stuff. Old posters of bands papered the walls. She guessed that it might have been really boring in Ben’s office, but she was wrong.
He had a drumset. A nice, shiny, expensive one. His desk was sparse and behind it was a tiny fridge. He sat down behind his desk and she sat on the other side.
“You want a soda or something?” Ben asked as he rummaged in the fridge.
“Y-yes,” she stammered.
He brought out a cold Sprite for her and a beer for himself. He opened his beer and drank it, not taking his eyes away from her. It intimidated her, but she was no stranger to strange men staring her down. He opened a drawer in his desk and took out a small pill bottle and slid it towards her.
“You need to take some of these,” He said gently.
Rey picked up the bottle and turned it over in her hands.
“Heat suppressants?” she wrinkled her nose at him. “I don’t think-”
“I’m fairly certain you’re going into heat,” Ben cut her off, “You really need to take these, I smelled you as soon as you came into the store.”
What he was saying was so silly, she snorted.
“Heat?” Rey laughed, “I’ve never gone into heat!”
Ben’s eyes darkened, almost going completely black when she said that. He stood up and quickly walked across the office and shut the door. She whimpered quietly, feeling her panties stick to her body again.
“This is your first heat?” Ben growled.
“I told you that I’ve never-”
“How do you feel?” He asked suddenly, “Do you feel sick or faint? Do you…" he paused as he rolled his tongue on the inside of his lip. "Is something happening to you that you’re not used to?”
Rey looked down, thinking about the mess in her jeans.
“N-no… not really…”
“Don’t lie to me,” Ben hissed, voice raised. His tone. It was hard to resist, “Tell me now. Are you cramping? Is there a mess in your pants?”
“I’m not cramping!” Rey wailed, “But yes, my pants are messy. I just. Don’t talk about it ok?”
He leaned back and frowned at her.
“What about…” Ben sighed and rubbed his eyes, “What about me. Do I smell funny to you?”
“I think…” Rey started as she took a full inhale of his scent, “I think you need a shower.”
“OK,” Ben said slowly, “Ok, we’re early. You’re presenting. Do you know what that means?”
“I… I thought I was a beta,” Rey said meekly. “I thought that I would have presented by now…”
“You are an omega, for sure,” Ben said through his tight jaw, “It’s ok. You’re going to be ok. First, you need to take those suppressants. I need you to take these. Do you understand?”
“I won’t,” Rey barked at him, “I’m not taking drugs from a stranger!”
“KIRA,” Ben said sharply and Rey shut her mouth, eyes widening. That tone again. “Open that pill bottle.”
She felt her hands limply twist the pill bottle open, Rey’s eyes trained on Ben’s face.
“Take out four of those pills and put them in your mouth,” he commanded again. She complied and shut her full mouth with a pout. Ben stalked to his desk and pushed the can of soda in front of her. She lifted it to her mouth and drank the sticky drink whole, eyes still on Ben.
He sat down at his desk again and pulled out another pill bottle from his desk, opened it and watched him pour probably a dozen pills in his mouth then down it with his beer.
She sat silently staring at his dark eyes as they went back to normal. It was at least a full three minutes until he finally spoke again.
“Ok,” He pursed his lips at her, “That will hold me over for a bit.” He raked his huge hand through his hair.
“You live on the streets, don’t you?” Ben said, fiddling with the phone on his desk.
“It’s better than the places I’ve been,” she said quickly.
Ben looked up at her and his eyes burned. He didn’t speak as his eyes roved up and down her. She broke away from the stare, panting.
“You’re on the streets in the middle of winter?” He sat back in his chair and she held her breath as he crossed his long legs. He rested his face on his hand. His handsome face on his huge hand.
“Wow,” she made a dumb face at him, “Nothing gets by you boss.”
He huffed an exasperated sigh and then picked up the phone and dialed.
“What are you doing? Are you calling the cops?” Rey asked with annoyance. She threw her hands up and sat back. “Good good, call the cops. Tell them I said hi.”
He put a finger to his lips (his plush gorgeous lips) and shushed her.
“Hello Maz,” he spoke into the phone, eyes set on Rey, “You still have my old room open yeah? Good good… hey, I have a favor to ask, I have a girl that needs a place to stay for awhile. She’s been staying on the street… And, I think she’s going through her first heat. Oh. Oh, ok. I’ll drop her off tonight. I’ll be fine. It’s early and I just swallowed a million suppressants. You’re one of the sweetest women in the whole world, thank you. Please tell Chewie I said hello.”
“I’m not staying at your weird friends house,” Rey said when he put down the phone.
“Kira,” Ben barked at Rey so harshly that she stilled by instinct. That tone! She felt it in her heart. “You are going to be a good girl and stay at Maz and Chewie’s house. You’re doing this because I could call the cops on you, but I’m not going to.”
Good girl… oh. She shook herself from her daze and stood up suddenly.
“Fuck you boss! I’m not doing that!”
“I think you are,” Ben said standing up.
He took two long strides towards her and Rey cowered at his hulking mass above her. She trembled and shifted when she felt her pants wet again. Rey sat back down, peeking through her eyelashes, just on the other side of afraid.
“Wh-How d-do you know that?”
“Listen,” Ben said harshly, “I know what it’s like to be on the streets in the dead of winter. A warm bed with nice people is better than any shitty overhang you got fitted for yourself. You are presenting as an Omega and that is a very dangerous thing to do alone. Not only that, look at you, you’re filthy and skinny and sickly-”
“Hey man, I can take care of myself…” Rey murmured.
Ben sat on the edge of his desk and sighed as he crossed his arms on his chest. He looked her up and down again and Rey winced at his stare. Filthy. Skinny. Sickly. He was disgusted with her. She felt the familiar feeling of shame wash over her.
“My weird friends or the cops,” Ben said, his eyes like daggers on her heart.
“Weird friends,” Rey choked out.
“Good,” Ben placed a warm hand on her tiny shoulder. It felt like an anvil. “Good girl Kira.”
She mumbled something, and it was then she noticed she was crying, her hot tears streaking her dirty face.
“What?” Ben asked, crouching down to get a better look, a better hear.
“Rey. My name is Rey.”