Work Text:
Gabrielle knew she should have stayed behind.
Xena had made it abundantly clear that under no circumstances was she to follow or try to help her, regardless of what she heard the people around the tavern whisper (‘she’s back, have you heard?’ ‘decimated a village!’ ‘they say the only ones who survived are women and children…’) or how anxious she was to run after her and make sure she was safe and still the noble woman Gabby had…-
That she was still the friend she knew.
So yes, she knew she should have listened, but acknowledging her own faulty reasoning did not make the shackles around her wrists chafe against her skin any less or the presence of the thugs around her any less threatening.
They were all Betas, thank god.
Gabrielle could take care of herself in most instances, but even she recognized that Xena had left her in a tavern that took great care to offer a safe space to any Omegas passing by for a reason.
Their world wasn’t safe for people like her, for Omegas, and even less so without Xena to jump in when she was needed.
“Listen, uh,” She took a look at the grimey faces and greasy hair the men around her sported. “Friends. You don’t have to do this. You see, Xena knows me and she won’t be pleased to see you-“
“Shut up, girl,” one of them snarled and yanked at the chain around her throat, though she could see a sliver of doubt worm its way into the Betas’ expressions. They’d probably heard that Xena used to travel with another woman before she grew tired of her life as a thankless hero and returned to the fold of warlords and murderers – or so they thought, anyway.
They just didn’t know it was her.
“Hey, I’m doing this to help you,” she babbled on. They didn’t have to believe her, but they might get insecure enough to allow her to flee while they were distracted. “I mean, I know what life for a Beta can be like. Always trying to get the recognition you deserve, while those Alphas don’t even have to work for it.”
Some of them nodded in agreement.
“Sure, bringing your boss an Omega might get her to see your worth, but capturing a friend of hers? Putting her in chains? Now how do you think she’s gonna react to that?”
The Betas seemed to slow down for a moment and Gabrielle thought she might have finally gotten through to them, but then one of them laughed.
The shackle around her neck tightened.
“Don’t play us for a fool. We know who you are.” He increased his pace, forcing her to walk faster in order not to stumble and fall into the dirt. She could see the entrance of a cave up ahead and, mentally calculating the distance and direction of their journey, recognized it as the hideout Xena had claimed for herself while trying to reintegrate into the warlord scene.
“Xena told us all about the little Omega bitch that wouldn’t leave her alone.” The Beta scoffed, scanning her up and down in a way that made the hairs on the back of Gabby’s neck stand up. “Like fungus, she said. Though I suppose there’s some good in having a willing hole around, even if your kind is too damn needy for my tastes.”
He grinned as her face grew pale at his words. “She’ll be more than happy to get a chance to put you in your place.”
Like fungus.
Gabrielle suddenly lost the will to try and talk to these men. She was used to people assuming (some more loudly than others) that Xena only kept her around for one thing, to being thought of as little more than a walking sex toy or a burden regardless of how hard she tried to keep up, but the insults had never come from Xena herself.
She was shoved roughly into the dim interior of the cave, going deeper and deeper until they reached what she assumed was the central chamber.
The air was stale, chock-full of the pheromones the various Alphas lounging on the ground were pumping out and Gabby nearly gagged – more from disgust than arousal, as the enticing scent of Alpha was almost overtaken by the sour stench of sweat and alcohol.
So pungent was the odour to her sensitive nose that she didn’t notice another, far more pleasant scent (trees and spices and the ever-present tinge of Argo) until a sharp kick to the back of her knees sent her tumbling to the ground and she looked up to find ice-blue eyes watching her.
Xena sat on a throne that dwarved anything Gabrielle had ever seen and Gabby should have been relieved to see her. She wanted to be relieved.
But Xena’s eyes weren’t warm like they usually were. They didn’t express the affection Gabrielle was used to. They weren’t Xena.
She shivered.
Those were the eyes of an Alpha warlord who had just had a new piece of prey brought before her.
“And what is this supposed to be?” Xena drawled lazily, raising her chin to peer down at them. Gabrielle breathed in deeply when those eyes left her to focus on the man holding her chains. “Don’t tell me a little Omega tried to attack us.”
The words stung, though not as much as the fact that Xena wasn’t even looking at her as she spoke them.
Her captor flinched. “No, Xena, we found her sneaking around in the woods. She says she knows you and we thought you’d appreciate having her-“
“I do know her.” The Beta shut his mouth at her acidic tone. “Though I wonder what made you think I’d need another useless Omega cluttering up the place.”
Gabrielle hadn’t noticed before, but there was a cage placed in a shadowy corner of the chamber where a group of shivering men and women huddled together fearfully. They emitted the kind of terror Gabrielle knew she could smell so vividly because they were all Omegas like her, terrified of the fate that awaited them. Among them was the farmer’s daughter Xena had set out to rescue in the first place.
The lot of them was dirty and panicked, but she saw no obvious signs of violence. She just hoped it meant Xena had kept them as safe as she could, even if the way she spoke about them suggested she couldn’t care less what happened.
“Maybe they wouldn’t be useless if you’d just let us breed them already,” a dark voice spoke up from the gaggle of Alphas that had formed at the edge of her peripheral vision. Her was a tall and broad man, obviously the kind of warrior Xena had told her about often – skilled and ruthless, but likely to stab you in the back the moment he perceived a weakness.
“My boys are getting restless.” He gestured to the warriors around him, some of whom nodded enthusiastically.
Xena focused her gaze on him and even from her vantage point on the ground, Gabby could see the flicker of fear in his eyes.
“They are not your boys. They’re my warriors.” She turned to adress the rest of them. “And this is no time to indulge in your base needs. The moment you give in to it is the moment you become vulnerable – remember that an enemy too busy knotting is as good as dead. And an ally who thinks only with his cock is useless to me.”
Most of the dissenters grew still at the implicit threat, except for one. The tall Alpha stepped forward and Gabrielle flinched back when his eyes came to rest on her.
“I think you’re just not Alpha enough to take what’s yours by right,” he snarled, grabbing Gabby by the collar and hoisting her up. She gasped. “And hell, if you don’t want her, fine. I’ll take her.”
His grin was sleazy and Gabrielle tried to ignore the increase in pheromones around them.
“A bit scrappy, but she’ll do.”
Xena was on him in a second. Her hand closed around his throat, causing him to let Gabrielle sink to the floor, and her grin was as terrifying as Gabby had ever seen it.
A low pulse in her belly at the glimmer of aggression in her cold eyes, at the smell (god, the smell) of her, made Gabrielle bite her lip.
Xena had always been attractive to her, more than just how an Alpha was attractive to an Omega, and a part of her had wondered if – when – something would happen between them, but the few instances of Xena’s dark side she’d seen rear up had always kicked that attraction into overdrive.
A part of her hated to see her best friend struggle so strongly against her inner demons, but another part of her couldn’t help but see the strength, the dominance, the danger and want to see what Xena would do to her if she ever slipped up.
“You don’t want her,” the Alpha hissed, a mocking smile curling the corners of her mouth. “I already bred her, understand?”
There was the tiniest of pauses before she continued.
“She’s mine.”
The words made Gabrielle blink and swallow. She knew it was a lie meant to protect her, but that didn’t matter to the basic, primal part of her brain. Her body was aware of only the implications of being seen as an Alpha’s property.
An Alpha who now squeezed a man’s throat between her fingers like she wanted to crush his neck into dust.
He attempted to talk, but all that left his throat were desperate gasps for air and wheezing, unintelligible words.
“Xena?” Gabrielle tried to catch her eyes. She couldn’t stop her by physical means and she couldn’t treat her as she usually would, not here, but she wouldn’t watch her lose herself in her instincts.
Xena showed no signs of having heard her and the humourless smile on her face widened into a bare-toothed grin. The man in her grip grew quieter, his struggles becoming less vigorous by the minute.
“Please,” she tried again, quieter and more submissive than she was used to. She’d found that Xena responded to it more than she usually would in those times when her dark side, the undeniably Alpha side of her, threatened to become louder than her sense of justice.
Xena blinked, her shoulders twitching. She’d heard her this time, at the very least.
The fingers around the man’s throat loosened one by one and when he finally drew in a blessed breath, Xena shoved him away from the both to the hard floor, where he quickly scrambled to crawl behind the safety of a rock with his tail between his legs.
Gabrielle was about to sigh in relief when her upper arm was grasped harshly and she was pulled to her feet.
“This Omega is marked,” Xena shouted to the crowd of warriors around them, her vice grip both painful and intruiging as she yanked at Gabby’s arm. “And anyone who touches her answers to me.”
Defiantly – or perhaps stupidly – one of the remaining Alphas decided to speak up. “Why are you so hung up on that one? She’s just a-”
Xena’s glare could have burned down entire villages and the warrior wisely decided to duck his head and change his tone.
“She doesn’t smell claimed, is all,” he mumbled, trying very hard to disappear into the crowd. Despite their obvious fear, the men around him murmured in agreement, the Betas sniffing at the air in a vain attempt to ascertain his claim.
Xena looked at her, then, and Gabrielle thought she saw a hint of an apology behind the wall of ice, before her train of thought ground to a halt.
A warm palm slid around the back of her neck to keep her in place and she blinked when, suddenly, Xena’s lips covered hers.
The kiss was harsh and unforgiving, meant to mark and possess rather than bring pleasure, but Gabrielle moaned into it anyway. She couldn't not respond, not with the softness of Xena's lips claiming her and the warm hum in her belly rising - not with her body jubilating at having an Alpha (this Alpha) so close.
Xena's hand took a hold of her jaw to keep her in place and Gabrielle couldn't care less about the sting of nails against her suddenly over-sensitive skin.
She'd only ever been with Perdicus and she'd loved him, but him being a Beta meant that she was now wholly unprepared for what it was like to be under the thrall of an Alpha who knew what she was doing, whose dominance was so clear in everything she did no matter how she tried to tone it down.
Gabby pushed back against her, uncaring of the eyes watching them. She was about to open her mouth and beg for more when the warm presence against her vanished and she was left feeling cold and bereft.
It took her a moment to realize what had happened and when she did, she blinked blearily and shook her head, watching silently as Xena Gabrielle to her full height and focused on her warriors.
“Claimed enough for you?” the Alpha growled.
Gabrielle couldn’t tear her eyes away long enough to see whether they agreed, but she supposed it didn’t matter when her wrist was seized in a vice grip and Xena pulled her further into the cave, away from the Alphas leering at her and the caged Omegas staring on in sympathy.
They ended up in what Gabrielle assumed were Xena’s personal quarters, although they didn’t contain much more than a bed and a table. The sudden privacy made her heart beat faster and the heat in her belly stir – they were alone and Gabby had never been quite as ready to drop everything and let her friend take her than she was right now.
Xena stopped and blew out a harsh breath.
“What were you thinking?” she growled, giving her arm a harsh pull until Gabrielle was forced to face her.
Her eyes were cold and angry and Gabrielle flinched, despite the pulse of arousal flaring in her lower stomach. She’d seen her rage before, even directed at herself, but something was different this time around.
This time, she wasn’t sure just how far gone her best friend was.
The fingers on her arm disappeared suddenly, only to take a hold of her chin and turn her head back towards her. They were warm and gentle, at odds with the aggressive Alpha demeanour she’d displayed before.
“Gabrielle.” Xena’s eyes softened and Gabrielle shivered at the way she said her name. “Were you…are you scared of me?”
Gabrielle shook her head rapidly and covered the hand on her face with her own. “No, no. That’s not it.”
If fear was the issue, traveling with Xena would not pose a problem. If she was afraid of her Alpha side, it wouldn’t cause her heart to hammer against her ribcage or her knees to shake. Or her wetness to trickle down her thighs at even the slightest of touches.
“Then why won’t you look at me?”
Gabrielle wasn’t in heat, but her smell should be answer enough. Just like she could smell the muted hunger on the edges of Xena’s limbs, covered by worry and trepidation, but not hidden completely.
She saw the exact moment Xena realized what her smell meant – the widening of her pupils, the fluttering of her nostrils, even the sudden backwards-jerk of her shoulders.
A part of Gabrielle was afraid of how she’d react. Alpha or not, they’d been friends first and no matter how often she’d wished that Xena would give in and make the first move, it had never happened.
She turned away, starting on the first topic she could think of in hopes of talking away the issue as she usually did. “So, how are things going?” Oppressive silence descended over them and she stubbornly continued. “With the mission. They’re obviously afraid of you and the rumours are-“
Before she could finish her sentence, arms wrapped around her torso and pushed. She fell against the table, a heavy weight pressing into her back and forcing her down. Xena’s body was hot underneath her armour, hot enough to make Gabrielle’s skin burn, and the pressure of it made it utterly impossible to move.
Gabrielle couldn’t get away.
“F-Xena?”
Her only answer was a snarl close to her ear and the intoxicating scent of Alpha arousal clouding her mind. Hips pushed into the curve of her ass and she sucked in a breath at the obvious hardness rubbing against her – even through the armour and clothes, it seemed as intimidating as it was intruiging.
“If you want me to stop,” Xena ground out huskily, her arms shaking violently where they supported her body on either side of Gabrielle’s head. “Tell me. Right now.”
Even if she’d wanted to protest, Gabrielle couldn’t. She was dizzy from the pheromones in the air, the heat of another body enveloping her and the arousal thrumming in her belly. She was grateful for the table underneath her, because she wasn’t sure her legs could have carried her.
When no objection came, Xena expelled a harsh breath. Her nails dug into the rough wood before her weight vanished, causing Gabrielle to stifle a whimper of disappointment.
There was the clink of armour, the sliding of fabric, and Gabrielle wanted to turn around and look, but she hadn’t been given permission to move and a primal instinct kept her rooted in position.
Strong, slim hands appeared on her legs. Gabrielle groaned as they slid up, taking her skirt with them until it bunched up around her waist. The cool cavern air brushed against the sensitive flesh between her thighs, making goosebumps rise along her back.
She was wet, incredibly wet, and probably had been the moment she’d seen Xena lounge upon her throne.
When Xena finally returned to her original position, Gabrielle realized that she was naked from the waist-down. Her cock pressed insistently between her buttocks and Gabrielle hissed quietly, raising her ass higher in invitation.
It was warm, leaving wet traces around her skin, and even though she couldn’t see it, Gabrielle knew taking it would be difficult. She gasped inaudibly as the prospect amplified the pulsing between her legs.
The tip of Xena’s cock slid against her opening and Gabrielle held her breath, anticipating the sharp pain of penetration. Experience told her it would hurt, especially since Xena was no doubt larger than Perdicus.
But Xena didn’t push in, not yet.
Gabrielle bit her lip to stop herself from protesting as the hard, hot flesh instead slid between her lower lips and against her clit.
“I would have killed them, you know.” Xena growled and gave a shallow thrust, causing Gabrielle’s whole body to stiffen at the flare of pleasure running up her spine and the protective quality in her voice. “If they’d touched you.”
Her hips rocked, first jerky then smooth and quick, and the sensation of the length sliding through her wetness was exquisite – but not enough. Gabrielle could come from this, she knew she could, but it wouldn’t satisfy her.
“Xena,” she groaned, her nails scrabbling against the surface of the table. “I’m ready. I need more.”
The Alpha sucked in a breath and her hesitation was clear from the sudden hitch in her movements. “I could hurt you.”
“I don’t care.”
The silence was all-encompassing. For a terrible second, Gabrielle thought she’d been too forward, that Xena had changed her mind, but then shaking knuckles brushed against the back of her thighs and she felt the head of her cock slot neatly against her entrance.
Both of them held their breath as the pressure increased, ever more insistent until finally, the tip pushed inside.
Xena stopped to let her adjust and Gabrielle could have screamed. She didn’t need her to stop, not now.
“Are you alright, Gabrielle?”
Gabrielle took a deep breath, squeezed her eyes shut in preparation, and rocked backwards with a gasp.
The length slid inside her fully, easily due to her wetness, but also close to being painful, and Xena sucked in a sharp breath at being sheathed inside her so suddenly.
“Gabrielle-“
“Please, Xena,” Gabrielle whimpered, breathing through the discomfort and forcing herself to stay still even as pleasure ran up her spine and her instincts implored her to move. “I need you.”
The sentence made the Alpha stiffen for a second and Gabrielle wondered if she’d been too insistent, until large hands came to rest against her hips. Strong fingers curled and dug sharply into her skin.
“Don’t bite your lip.”
Gabrielle recognized the meaning of her warning the moment Xena drew back to give her first thrust. Hips slammed against her buttocks and her whole body rocked forward, her teeth slamming together in shock and pleasure.
Had she been biting her lip, her teeth would have pierced it.
Xena gave no pause. She drew back before Gabrielle had a chance to adjust and repeated the motion, pulling Gabrielle back to meet her.
The speed and harshness of her pumps was dizzying and Gabrielle’s mind went blank as every nerve in her body fired, as the muscles inside her tightened vainly around the cock rubbing across her inner walls. The pain of penetration didn’t vanish entirely, but was easily overshadowed by the sensation of being filled the way Gabby’s body knew she wanted to be. The burn drove her higher, made the pulsing between her legs more pronounced and desperate.
She didn’t notice the sting of her thighs bumping against the edge of the table everytime she was pushed forward or the ache in her tense fists – all she could feel was the hot body behind her and the ever-growing tension in her belly.
“More,” she keened, unaware what she was asking for. All she knew was that she needed to feel more of Xena, that she needed her to knot her and bind them together.
Xena grunted and reached around with one arm to lay a warm palm between her legs, grinding harshly against her sensitive clit.
The sensation was almost too much, but Gabrielle found herself tensing in spite of it. She wasn’t prepared for it - for the hard movements inside of her and the palm circling her clit, for the sudden influx of pleasure.
Her climax came unexpected and crashed into her like a wave, her inner walls tightening around Xena’s cock in an effort to keep her trapped through the ripples of pleasure.
Despite her body’s intentions, Xena kept up her movements. She kept pumping, kept up the rhythm and a part of Gabrielle wanted to scream for her to stop and let her breathe, to allow the mounting tension in her gut to abbate and her orgasm to ebb away.
But the Omega in her wasn’t satisfied yet.
As soon as she regained control of her limbs, she reached down absentmindedly, past Xena’s own hand, to close around the base of her cock. Xena growled at the hindrance to her thrusts.
“Knot me,” Gabrielle breathed, ordered, and squeezed to underline her point. “Please, Xena.”
“You’ll-“ Xena swallowed to hide the raspiness of her voice. “What if you-“
“I don’t care.”
She didn’t. They would have to deal with the aftermath of this sooner or later, but she needed this right now. She needed Xena’s knot.
Underneath her grip, the knot began to bulge even as Xena hesitated and stilled her hips.
“Are you sure?” Gabrielle could hear the worry in her voice, could hear the raw tenderness that made her heart swell. “I need to know if you are absolutely sure.”
“Xena…”
“I need to hear you say it.”
Gabrielle breathed in deeply and tightened her grip. “I am absolutely sure. I want this, Xena.”
Her words garnered no verbal response, but she didn’t need one. The pleased grunt and the twitch of the cock in her hand was answer enough.
Xena relaxed and picked up right where she’d left off – thrusting and pumping as though she’d never stopped. Gabrielle’s hand fell away and her forehead bumped against the surface of the table as tears squeezed from the corners of her eyes, her mouth wide open in a silent scream and her thighs trembling violently.
The cock inside her swelled and twitched and she knew it wouldn’t be long now.
“Faster,” she gasped, feeling the heat in her lower stomach rise anew in anticipation of receiving the one thing every Omega craved. Even though her last climax had just ebbed away, her hormones fired off an automatic reaction and she found herself on the brink of orgasm again.
“Now. Do it now.”
Whether by coincidence or due to her words, Xena’s knot expanded further and ground against her. She was momentarily worried that it was too big already, that it wouldn’t fit, and she willed her body to accept it even as the mere try stretched her painfully.
Pain that burned pleasantly in her gut and made her push back eagerly.
Inch by torturous inch, the knot worked its way past her entrance. Just when she thought she couldn’t take anymore, that taking it was impossible, she slipped past the widest point with a wet, obscene noise, and they were tied.
Gabrielle had never felt so full.
No big movements were needed. Xena humped against her backside once, twice, and then her knot popped to it’s full size, her cock grew impossibly larger, and she screamed horsely as she came.
It only took the first jet of cum for Gabrielle’s muscles to clamp down on the knot inside her, shivers wrecking her frame as another orgasm triggered and her core opened greedily to milk the Alpha’s length.
She could barely concentrate on her own climax, her entire being focused on the pulsing of Xena’s knot and the copious amounts of cum that filled her in hot streams. It was almost too much, but she had no choice but to take it all as the swollen flesh plucked her up tight and stopped any fluid from escaping.
It didn’t stop.
For long minutes, Xena jerked as she pumped load after load into her waiting womb and caused Gabrielle’s body to errupt into a slew of muted peaks until, eventually, Gabrielle was too exhausted to hold herself up and slumped down onto the table, happy with letting Xena spend herself.
A strained breath was all the warning she got before Xena’s frame fell forward to rest atop her back. Her knot still quivered, but the jets of cum were now mere trickles that soothed more than they excited.
“You’re heavy,” Gabrielle muttered, teeth clicking together as she became aware of the exhaustion in her bones.
Xena hummed. “Do you want me to move?”
“Not really.”
They were silent for a while as their breathing stabilized, whisps of Xena’s hair tickling at Gabrielle’s shoulder blades. The Alpha breathed in deeply.
“You know things will get more complicated now.”
Gabrielle made a noise of acknowledgement in the back of her throat. “I know.”
“Are you still alright with this?”
Gabrielle was temped to chuckle, but opted instead for turning her head to the side and giving her best friend – her mate – a reassuring smile.
“Xena, whatever happens, I know you won’t let me down. And I will always be here with you.”
Xena slung an arm around her stomach and pressed a soft kiss against the back of her neck, mumbling something Gabby didn’t understand. They led a harsh life, with humans and gods alike who wanted them dead around every corner, but being in Xena’s arms made her feel safe. Protected.
And as long as they were together, things would be alright.