"You have no idea how happy that makes me!"
Neither of us says more beyond that, no need.
In the room, the only sound is our breathing slowing down together. But that’s not the end. Soon, everything starts all over again. We fuck for a full two solid hours after that.
???
The next day the alphas go whining to Gomez, some of them with teeth knocked out, but the complaint goes nowhere.
A few days later they try to jump Eliano as a group. Bad move on their part.
We are walking along the promenade in the evening, hand in hand, when five of them come at us.
Eliano rips a metal rod off a nearby bench and makes it very clear he has a third dan in kendo. Even more knocked-out teeth, broken noses, and jaws that have to be wired shut follow.
After that they leave us alone and accept Eliano’s position as the top alpha in Sector C.
That's how it works with alphas, the strongest one rules the chain, no debate.
Simple.
And after that little incident, the next days just roll by.
Sometimes I watch him when he doesn't know. He spends a lot of time on his laptop, but he's also started hitting the gym the alphas use in the rec building. Usually an hour and a half a day. He invites me along, but I don't go. The gym is full of alphas, and I don't want to be around them. Maybe he dealt with them and they’re cool now, showing him respect, but I just can’t force myself to feel relaxed in their intense presence. My dislike of alphas hasn’t gone away. I just made a small exception for Eliano.
He and I keep moving forward in our relationship, getting closer, even though Eliano doesn’t have the kind of personality people often associate with Italians: talkative, open, expressive. He’s basically closed off, keeps to himself, doesn’t say much. I figure that’s probably how his life used to look, training, solitude, just him and his own head.
But every day brings little, subtle changes in him. Sometimes there are moments where we laugh together, sharing small stories from the past, just the light, harmless ones. Sometimes we watch movies, me curled up in his arms. Sometimes he leans toward me, his golden eyes warm and soft, and kisses me gently on the forehead. That space for affectionate gestures is becoming real. It’s a work in progress!
Soon a new thing emerges.
My sense of smell keeps getting sharper. Every day I catch Eliano’s natural scent more clearly, and… I love it! It honestly makes my head spin. No surprise here, it’s lemon basil, the same note that was already in his shower gel. But now I pick it up differently, more intensely, more… organically. I can smell itaround his neck glands, and as the days pass, I can catch it from farther away too.
This whole scent awakening, though… it’s affecting other things.
Other alphas are starting to smell bad to me! That’s one more reason I keep my distance even more than usual. Their scent… dear Fate. Some of them are neutral, sure, but most… it’s like a stench. It literally makes my stomach turn.
Eliano seems amused by my discovery. For him, this is just normal life, something he got used to back in his teens when his own sense of smell fully developed. He explains how he can tell who’s more or less genetically compatible. Basically, it comes down to how irritating the scent is. Neutral usually means average to low compatibility. Unpleasant means low to complete incompatibility.
Among the alphas here, there's nobody who would even be my half-mate, let alone my high mate.
Bringing it up actually creates a slightly more playful mood between us. Sometimes we sit in the cafeteria and he’ll ask what I’m picking up, and we compare observations like it’s some kind of funny theater.
And my sense of smell isn’t just getting stronger when it comes to Allure. It’s everything. The world is starting to smell more powerfully overall, and noticing when someone’s hygiene is off is not exactly fun.
I guess I’m definitely moving along the scale from a regular beta to something closer to a beta with omega traits.
And interestingly enough, other things connected to our TM status are starting to kick in too.
First of all, we have sex. A lot. All the time. It happens in the morning after breakfast, after lunch, and after dinner. That is the part of our life I cannot complain about. On top of that, we sleep at night in what is called Joining.
And what they say about sex between TMs? It has healing properties.
After the first few days of making love this intensely, I stop feeling the hard ridges on Eliano’s back where his scars used to be.
Soon, his back becomes completely smooth.
One day, I mention it to him. Eliano stands in front of the mirror and twists to look at himself. He stares for a long time.
