If there was anything more awkward and uncomfortable than listening in on your omega-lover getting fucked by an alpha, Palani would like to learn what. He froze when the roar reverberated through the apartment, but Enar shot him a calming look. “It’s okay. That’s a good sign, actually.”

“He sounds like he’s about to rip him in two,” Palani protested.

“He is, in a way. That’s his alpha roar. Haven’t you ever heard one before?”

He shook his head. Palani had learned about them, but he’d never experienced one in person. His brother Rhene was an alpha, but Palani had never thought of asking him to demonstrate one. He’d imagined it as a kind of scream, a loud yell. The reality was that it had sounded way more animalistic than that. It reminded him of howling, which made sense considering their ancestors, but it was a tad eerie.

“Why is it a good sign?”

“It means Lidon’s alpha is accepting Vieno as omega right now. That means he’ll be able to knot and fulfill him.”

Knot him. That’s what it all came down to. The one thing Vieno needed that Palani could never give him. Sounds were audible from the bedroom. The subtle creaking of the bed. Grunts. Slaps of flesh against flash. Then Vieno’s crystal-clear voice, praising the alpha who was taking him. Damn, biology sucked. 

Palani lowered himself on the couch and closed his eyes. He was so tired and yet so fucking hard at the same time. Vieno’s heat might not affect him the way it did alphas, but he wasn’t immune. He smelled him now, too, probably because Vieno’s heat was starting for real, triggered by the released alpha pheromones and hormones. 

“Do all alphas let out a roar like that when they fuck?” he asked, his eyes still closed.

It was easier to speak when he didn’t have to watch Enar, who undoubtedly struggled with being horny as much as Palani. Palani had watched him like a hawk with Vieno, and despite the blockers the doctor had shot himself with, he was anything but unaffected. He’d kept himself in check, though, and so had Lidon. Palani would have had no qualms about knocking the cop out as well if he’d not been able to control himself around Vieno.

“No. Younger ones usually don’t. It’s triggered by the alpha’s urge to release hormones, and younger alphas don’t have that urge yet ‘cause they fuck around enough to keep their levels steady.”

“Why are Lidon’s levels so high? You told him fucking would help him, bring his levels down.”

When Enar didn’t answer right away, Palani opened his eyes. He caught Enar adjusting himself, his rock-hard cock visible in his jeans, and quickly closed his eyes again. He shared the alpha’s predicament. His own dick was hard enough to hammer nails with. 

The doctor was hot as fuck, which didn’t help his erection. Palani pictured him easily with his eyes closed, courtesy of his photographic memory. He was less muscled than Lidon but still built like an alpha, with smooth golden skin showing under his T-shirt. His hair was short on the sides but styled into a faux hawk in the middle, which suited his face. His blue eyes were razor-sharp, betraying his intelligence and street smarts.

“He chose not to have sex for a while, for personal reasons I can’t divulge. But it affects him and he was at a breaking point.”

Palani's eyes shot open and he raised his eyebrows. “I didn’t think anything affected alphas.”

Enar scoffed. “You have no idea. Being an alpha is not all it’s jacked up to be.”

“Neither is being a beta.”

“True. And I think omegas don’t exactly have it easy, either. We all need each other in some way.”

Now it was Palani’s time to scoff. “Yeah, right. Said the alpha-doctor. You guys get whatever you want and need while the rest of us are second and third-class citizens.”

“I know.”

The calm answer surprised Palani.

Enar sighed. “Why do you think I try to help omegas as much as I can? I’m well aware they have few options.”

“Try none,” Palani said, but without venom. 

“I’m familiar with the injustice, Palani, trust me, maybe even more than you. I’ve seen heartbreaking shit over the years.”

“It’s so unfair, you know? Some of it may be biology and that sucks, but the rest is rules and norms and laws, and they suck even worse.”

“Wanna tell me what happened to Vieno three years ago?”

Palani swallowed. He’d known Enar would ask at some point, but it was still the hardest thing for him to talk about. “His parents had arranged an alpha match for Vieno, the middle son of a befriended family. He was the only alpha in his family, and they pressured on him to start a family, since he was the heir-apparent for his wealthy grandfather. He was a major asshole, but that didn't matter to Vieno’s parents. Neither did the fact Vieno didn’t want this match. Then his first heat started, weeks before the wedding. They didn’t want to move it up, but neither did Aloysius, his alpha, want to risk Vieno getting pregnant already. So he agreed to fuck with a condom.”

He clenched his fists as memories assaulted him. Vieno had been a wreck, physically and emotionally. It had taken a year before he’d somewhat resembled his old self again, but he’d never gotten the gleam in his eye back, that happy twinkle he used to have. 

“And then the gene manifested itself…” Enar guessed.

“Yeah. Vieno told me what he could remember and his alpha was quite…detailed when he broke off their engagement. He called Vieno a slut and a whore…” He swallowed, struggling to keep his composure. “Said there was no way he’d been a virgin, not with how wanton he’d been, how vocal and desperate. He’d brought in two of his friends, since he’d concluded Vieno had fucked around anyway. They took turns. Vieno was…”

He wiped away an angry tear that had escaped. 

“Raped,” Enar said, anger simmering in his voice. “They raped Vieno.”

“Not according to Aloysius or his friends. They claimed Vieno had begged them to fuck him.” Palani couldn’t keep the bitterness out of his voice.

“Sure, in the throes of his heat, made worse by the Melloni gene, at a point when he wasn’t able to give consent anymore.”

Palani pushed out a slow breath, relieved and comforted by Enar’s passionate words. The fact that an alpha defended Vieno meant more than Palani had expected. 

“Aloysius broke off the engagement and blamed Vieno to anyone to would listen. They shattered Vieno’s reputation. No one wanted him anymore. Plus, he refused to even come out of his room, too traumatized. After a few months of that, his parents disowned him and he moved in with me.”

Enar’s eyebrows raised. “His parents approved that?”

“They disowned him, literally. Filed a court petition and everything. They pretend he doesn’t even exist anymore. His sister sneaks over every now and then to see him, but he hasn’t seen his parents since he moved in with me.”

“And you’ve helped him with his heats ever since.”

“Yeah. As best as I could.”

Enar stayed silent for a little bit. “That can’t be easy for you.”

“What do you mean?”

Enar leaned forward, his blue eyes focused on Palani. “His behavior during heat hasn’t changed from that first time, I assume, which means he’s still quite desperate. As a beta, you have no means of quenching his thirst, which is an impossible situation for you both, but especially for you.”

Palani broke off eye contact to stare at the floor. “Biology sucks,” he mumbled.

“It does,” Enar confirmed. “But it’s an honorable thing you do, taking care of him when everyone’s deserted him.”

“I love him,” Palani said, then clamped his mouth shut. Why was he telling all this to a virtual stranger? He’d never said those words out loud, not even to Vieno himself. Not in the way he meant it and felt it, as way more than mere friends. There was no sense, since they could never be together. Vieno deserved an alpha who could meet his needs, truly fulfill him.

“Are you alpha-compelling me?” he asked, suspicious.

“No, I promise. I rarely use it, only when I have to calm patients down.”

“Why? It seems like a mighty handy thing to have.”

“I hate it. How can you ever trust anything anyone says when you know you have the ability to make them say it? How would you know you didn’t accidentally compel them, even just a little?”

Huh, he’d never looked at it that way, but that made sense. His first thought had been that Enar was using his alpha powers to make Palani share his feelings about Vieno. It had triggered his suspicions, and he wouldn’t be the only one. The constant mistrust from betas and omegas had to be hard for alphas to deal with.

“Other alphas can’t compel you, right?” he asked. That’s what they had learned in school in biology, but he might as well check. He’d been taught more that turned out to be absolute bullshit.

Enar hesitated for a second. “Usually not.”

“That’s an interesting answer. That means you're aware of cases or circumstances where it’s possible.”

Another slight delay before Enar responded. “In certain situations, it’s possible for one alpha to influence another. It’s rare, but it can happen.”

A loud cry from the bedroom startled Palani. Vieno, shouting out Lidon’s name with abandonment. Palani cursed his walls that were so fucking thin, he could even detect the passion and lust in his friend’s voice. 

“I’m sorry.”

Palani looked up at Enar. “For what?”

“For having to listen in while another man fucks your omega.”

“He’s not mine,” Palani said automatically, as he had done million times before when people remarked on his friendship with Vieno.

“Yes, he is. Not in the traditional way, but he is yours. And I’m sorry for all of this. You can leave and I’ll stay here to keep an eye on them.”

Palani’s jaw set. “I’m not leaving him. Not ever again.”

Enar sent him a smile. “I didn’t think you would, but I wanted to offer just in case.”

“You can nap for a bit,” Palani suggested. “I’ll stay awake.”

Enar shook his head. “I couldn’t sleep right now if I tried. Not even with all the suppressants in my system. I’m too jacked up.”

Yeah, Palani recognized that feeling. His cock had been hard for hours, relentless in its urges to fuck. Or be fucked. God, he hadn’t been fucked in ages, what with Vieno being a bottom-only. He craved a good pounding, anything to get these hormones out of his system. Maybe he could ask Enar?

He stilled at the unexpected thought. Where had that come from? Ever since Vieno had moved in, Palani had been faithful to him, even if they didn’t have sex in between heats. He made do with a variety of toys, which wasn’t ideal, but he refused to betray Vieno. Their relationship was complicated as fuck, but they were still together. Vieno might need an alpha right now, but that didn’t mean Palani could abuse that need for his own pleasure and have Enar fuck him, no matter how much he wanted him to. 

“Palani, I hate to say this, but you need to excuse yourself and jack off, because the pheromones you’re throwing off are getting too much for me in combination with what Vieno is still emitting. Even with the suppressants, I’m at the end of my self-control,” Enar said quietly. His voice was steady and calm, and yet Palani detected the shimmer underneath, the tiny slivers that betrayed the man’s state. 

“Sorry. I wasn’t aware,” he said, his cheeks growing warm. He got up from the couch.

“I know. But…please, go.”

He didn’t spare Enar another look as he hurried into his bedroom. His cock was in his hands even before the door closed, and his first orgasm didn’t take more than ten seconds.

He leaned against the door, panting, when sounds from the living room drifted in. It seemed Enar had taken matters into his own hands as well. Literally.

Palani sighed, then kicked off his pants and underwear and went to work on round two.