Chapter Text
The thrum of a first rate ventilation was a comforting sound despite the fact that it barely made a dent in the cloying scent of pre-heat pheromones. Shannon Boxx shivered at the clinical room that medical had set aside for the Omegas and wondered how many times Alex had had to endure sitting in this place alone.
“The coaching staff is going to put you on profile, Alex.” The Alpha turned her attention to the Omega. “They can’t ignore this any longer.”
The Omega, for her part, pulled her knees up to her chest, trying to make herself as small as possible. She had never meant for anyone to find out about this, but here she was in a situation that felt so much worse than she could have imagined. Heats were a bitch to deal with normally. A heat after being on suppressants was a thousand times worse. Shannon paused as she took in the sight of the Omega.
Clad in plaid pajama bottoms and a ‘Property of US Soccer’ shirt, curled up around her knees, Alex looked even younger than she actually was. It didn’t help that Shannon could see the signs of exhaustion already setting in; she cursed herself for not noticing the bags under the Omega’s eyes earlier She wondered how the Omega had managed to hide her condition from them for so long. She wondered, not for the first time, how many times Alex had been in similar situations, her stomach aching, her body turning against her as she refused to let an Alpha take care of her heat.
“Alex,” Shannon softened her voice, trying a different tack. The Alpha settled on the bed next to the Omega, sliding an arm around her shoulders and pulling her close. “You’ve had several heats since the qualifying tournament in February. It’s May, Sweetie. We just need to get you through this.”
Alex let out a low pitched whimper and Shannon pulled her in tighter.
“I don’t know what to do.” Tears pricked the Omega’s eyes as her body shook, another wave of pain coursing through her.
Shannon wasn’t sure what the admission had cost the Omega, but she wasn’t going to squander the opportunity. Not when something needed to give for the Omega. Alex was on the verge of self-destruction. She needed an alpha, and she needed one several months ago.
“Alex,” Shannon slid a finger under the Omega’s chin, tilting her head up. “You don’t have to know how to do anything. Your Alpha would take care of you. It’s their job.”
The Omega shook her head in stubborn denial, and Shannon almost groaned aloud. She had thought that she had been making progress, had hoped that she was making progress, but the Omega seemed to be right in the same mindset that sent her into this horrible situation.
“Sweetie,” Shannon tried to explain. “It’s as simple as finding a compatible Alpha, and them agreeing to take care of you. You don’t have to know anything. It will be easy; I promise.”
Alex shook her head in denial. “You don’t understand. I can’t go, I won’t.”
“Alex, if you go on profile, they’re going to take you out of the World Cup roster pool.” Shannon tried again. The Alpha wondered, not for the first time, what the deciding factor was behind Alex not giving into her heats.
“I won’t hurt them,” Alex muttered more to herself than to Shannon. Already the Omega was falling into an exhausted sleep, soothed somewhat by the scent of an Alpha and unaware of the secrets that she was sharing. “I won’t come between Tobin and Christen.”
Shannon murmured softly into the Omega’s ear, trying to soothe her all the way into sleep. As the Omega settled down, Shannon’s mind turned the information that she had gotten from younger woman in circles over and over again.
Christen and Tobin.
Shannon sighed, wondering how exactly she was going to approach the situation. She settled Alex back against the bed, covered her up, and watched the Omega shiver despite the thick blanket she was gripping against her chest much like a drowning person might a life preserver. Shannon knew that the chills and fever and sweats were accompanied by aching joints and bones during pre-heats; all of which had affected Alex’s performance this camp. Alex needed to take care of herself and that meant that she needed to take an Alpha to bed. That the Alphas that she was compatible with were on the team was a hurdle that would have to be discussed before it was approached.
Shannon tucked the blanket in extra tight around the Omega and exited the room, closing, and locking the door firmly. The room was airtight, keeping the Omega’s scent locked in the room with the forward.
As she wandered upstairs she wondered how it was that Alex had talked to her instead of Abby or Christie or even Tobin (whom she was supposed to best friends with) or Christen (whom she checked on frequently, making sure that she was comfortable with her ever changing situation on the NT).
Most people had chalked it up as an Omega wanting to take care of her territory. The other Omegas on the team – Kelley, Amy, Whitney and Ali – had all done it as well. Now Shannon saw it as something else. An Omega trying to prove to her inner submissive that she was a good Omega, that she could be a good mate.
Shannon stepped into the elevator and leaned her head back against the wall. Omegas like Alex had a fragile biology. Heats did exactly what they sounded like – they burned the Omega from the inside out with a feverish body temperature and arousal. It was torture for them to not have sex with an Alpha. The more that an Omega denied their heat, the more frequent they became. Shannon wasn’t quite sure what Alex’s methods of enduring heats were, but she would guess that no one on the team would approve. And considering the she was on her fourth heat in two months, she wasn’t very confident that Alex had been taking care of them properly at all.
Shannon knew that being on the national team and playing professionally only stressed the Omega’s already fragile system. When you added in all of the travel, the training, and the fact that Alex didn’t have a mate to help stabilize her, she had no option but to scrape by the only way that she felt she could. It said something about Alex’s character when she chose to barely survive heat to heat rather than going to the ones she needed.
Shannon walked through the propped door of the room that she shared with Christie and did a mental headcount. Of the thirty players called into the final camp before the final World Cup roster was announced, only the veterans were aware of the Alex’s situation along with a special certain few. Ashlyn Harris was an obvious one – mated to Ali and good friends with several of the other players. Tobin was another obvious one, she had been the Omega’s bus body from day one. Morgan Brian was another; as an Omega, she had become very distressed at what was happening with the other Omega. And of course, Christen, one of the younger alphas on the team knew because Tobin, her mate, told her pretty much everything.
“Did she say anything?” Abby asked as soon as she saw the older woman.
“She said enough,” Shannon sighed. She glanced around the room thoughtfully. “Everyone but Cap, Abby, Hope, and Carli needs to get out. Tobin and Christen you might as well stay close we’ll need to talk to you in a minute.”
There was grumbling as the younger players moved to comply. Kelley uncurled from around her mates and, with a parting kiss to both Hope and Carli, joined everyone, including Tobin and Christen, in the exodus from the room. Shannon closed the door firmly before turning back to the teammates that had been on the team the longest.
“Alex knows of two dominants that she’s compatible with.” Shannon cut right to the chase. There was an immediate upswing in talking from the others.
“Then why won’t she go to one of them?” Hope asked, Carli who had been resting in her arms before was suddenly thrown to the side as the keeper sat forward, her anger visible. Shannon knew where she was coming from. Kelley was close friends with Alex, both Omegas had come onto the team at roughly the same time, both younger and less established than the other players on the team. Their friendship was inevitable. There had been an edge to Hope’s voice. She knew that her and Carli’s Omega was feeling the effects of Alex’s instability.
“Because it’s Tobin and Christen.” Shannon wasn’t sure how she felt about revealing something that Alex obviously felt very strongly about. She honestly felt like she was taking some of the choice away from the Omega, and it didn’t sit right with her. But more important, at least to her and the rest of the team, was Alex’s health.
“Shit,” Abby muttered to herself.
And that was the crux of the problem.
Tobin and Christen were a pair of bonded Alphas, one of two that was a part the US Women’s National Team. It wasn’t unusual, especially because both of them were relatively laid back, despite being very dominant. Mated Alphas were far more common among professional athletes, not in the least bit due to most professional athletes being Alphas. They could share a burden that others just wouldn’t understand.
“Alex is, of course, being very stubborn.” Shannon said wryly. “She doesn’t want to hurt them or come between them.”
Carli snorted in disbelief. “You mean she doesn’t want to come between two Alphas who adore her.”
“Love,” Christie informed. When everyone looked at her she shrugged. “Tobin doodles on her game notes, and Christen is always very adamant about making sure that one of us checks on Alex. They don’t want to push her.”
“Well now would be the time to push,” Shannon muttered darkly. “Alex is about to go into heat for the sixth time in four months. Her body can’t take much more of this.”
Abby swung a hand out, tapping Shannon on the arm. “Tag, you’re it, no givesy backsies.”
Shannon glanced around, but all of the other veterans had put a finger to their noses. “Assholes.”
Abby gave a jaunty wave as she led the other veterans outside of the room, sending in another pair of worried Alphas.
“What’s going on?”
The door had barely shut before Tobin was asking questions that Shannon didn’t really want to answer. The older Alpha kept the image of an exhausted Alex in her mind to push her through the last of her reservations. “I need one or the both of you to knot Alex.”