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The match was going to start in less than ten minutes. There was nothing that could be done. At least, he thought, this was only pre-heat. Entering a match with stakes this high during a full heat would surely be seen as an interference with the match and an attempt at manipulation.
As the game commenced, Judes nerves betrayed his will to pour every gram of remaining focus into the match. The ball was farther down the field and his pace slowed for just a few moments. It was in one of these moments that Erling overtook him. He continued to walk and then, abruptly, his head snapped around. Jude could practically see the cogs in his brain turning. He saw the exact moment the realisation hit and the look that Erling gave him now was one of sheer perplexity. Fuck. He had smelled him.
—————
Their friendship hadn’t been without its hardships. Having omegas on any major football team was already a great achievement but an alpha and an omega being seen together privately, that was a whole other story. Media outlets were simply too old fashioned. They could never be seen without some major magazine starting rumours about their relationship. An alpha and an omega hanging out without hooking up? Impossible, according to them.
But they made it work. Erling had always been supportive, enough to not care that many people would start conspiring. They had a lot in common. Football, of course, and then much more. Gender had never played a role. Jude knew all to well that there were still players on his team who didn’t want him to look at them in the changing room and who went out of their way to avoid touching him. He had gotten used to it.
In reality, everyone had friends of another gender. Alphas and betas were seen together everywhere, as were omegas and betas. Only when it came to an alpha and an omega being friends did people suddenly revert to their old fashioned ways.
Them being famous didn’t help, of course. Back in the day, when Erling and him had been playing on the same team, they’d spend their free time just watching the telly, playing video games and talking. Their friendship was virtually indistinguishable from that between two betas. They were just lads together. They’d sometimes have deep conversations too, usually accompanied by a beer, if their schedule allowed.
Physically though, they did look quite different. Not only was Erling a good bit taller than him, his limbs were also more laden with muscle. He was simply more physically imposing. His hands and feet were slightly larger, his jaw was wider and so were his shoulders, as was typical. Even for an alpha, Erling was big and even with 90% of all players on the Norwegian Team being alphas, he still towered somewhat above them all.
Hormonal topics had never been relevant to their friendship. Their jobs required ruts and heats to be strictly monitored, with every omega receiving weekly shots to suppress their heats and every alpha taking daily supplements to keep their hormones in check and suppress their ruts. The team’s betas really got off easy by comparison. The players used any time off to get off their meds and enjoy their ruts with their partners or whoever was available. The alphas did, at least.
Missing a hormone shot could have any omega player running risk of entering heat within hours of the missed shot. Once missed, the damage was often done and having the shot a few hours late only worked most of the time. The athletes bodies that had been denied a heat for months or years would sometimes bring one on at any chance at all.
Now, Jude had been given his Monday shot five hours late. His doctor had had a familial incident that lead to him appearing at the England Team’s training site late. And here he was, the next morning, and his head was hurting. His palms were also unusually sweaty. Jude tried his very best not to freak out. They had a game that afternoon that he couldn’t possibly miss. Not only was it a world cup game, it was also against Norway, whose star striker Erling (this, he knew for certain) would not halt at anything to score his country some goals. Jude knew that his team relied on him to score on Norway. So no, he would not just stay away from it.
But maybe it wasn’t a heat coming in, maybe he was just starting to get sick. But the warmth that rushed to his face a minute later laid all his hope to rest. He was going into heat. Fuck. Knowing himself, he probably had a good twenty four hours before he would be a sobbing, leaking mess. Jude was becoming increasingly nervous. What was the right course of action here? He would have to let his teammates know. He would have to let his coach know. As he got up to go looking for them, he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. It was a text from Erling.
sorry in advance for winning the game btw
Jude could only scoff at that.
nah mate we’ll destroy you
good luck though, you’ll need it
Jude was suddenly overcome with anxiety. Would he even be able to perform to his usual standard? Would he get distracted by the scent of alphas running past him? His phone buzzed again.
good luck to you too mate, I’m sure you’ll smash it
Jude doubted that. He took another deep breath before making his way towards the catering area where most of his teammates would be by now. It would be embarrassing to bring up but it had to be done.
Two hours later, he left an urgent meeting with his doctor, who agreed that based on how Jude was presenting now, he wouldn’t be in full heat until tomorrow. Seeing as all alphas on both teams were also on suppressants and wouldn’t be able to detect his scent, Jude was given the green light. He would be playing the match. Most of his teammates had taken it surprisingly well. They had been ordered to apply a small dot of additional pheromone masking gel under their noses, on top of they suppressants, just in case, and the issue would be sorted.
—————
As the match continued, Jude could tell that Erling, who he had been exchanging amused glances with in the beginning, as one does when competing against one’s friend, was avoiding his eyes. After he had smelled him, given him an unreadable look and then turned away just as quickly as he had turned around to him, they hadn’t locked eyes once. Judes mind was reeling. He had no idea how their next private interaction would go down. It would probably be awkward and he would need to apologise.
Erling, who always did his best to defend those weaker than him and didn’t have a bad bone in his body was ignoring him. The situation didn’t look very promising right now.
Why had he even been able to smell him? Would this change their friendship? In all these years, gender had never played a role, they hadn’t really discussed it much, either. Apart from that one time some fuck ass journalist had written a piece about him, blaming a match lost against Spain on him, the “weakest link in the chain” and a “liability to his team”. He had been furious and Erling was, of course, on his side. So of course, Jude didn’t want to make Erling uncomfortable. All he could do now was hope it would all turn out okay.
A few minutes later though, the problem only worsened. Erling was in possession of the ball and Jude was trying to take it off him when it happened. He tripped slightly, which forced him to take a sidestep that had him bumping into Erling with considerable momentum. Until now, he hadn’t had a physical struggle with anyone this game, seeing as he had been avoiding it best he could. But this, as it turned out, was a problem. Not even the scent blocker gel that Jude had dotted under his nostrils could keep out the effect of his friend’s pheromones that swept through his airways now.
The moment lasted no longer than one or two seconds but Jude, who had been about to take the ball off Erling, had to take a moment and was forced to watch him run off with it. He hadn’t meant to smell him but now that he had, his body was working against him. In any other scenario, he would spend this phase of his heat alone and at home to prepare for what was going to come. He wouldn’t be on the playing field and definitely not around any alphas if the stakes weren’t so high.
Jude could feel his heart rate spike against his will, his cheeks were heating up again. Deep breaths. His mind was trying to force him places he did not want to go and he had to use all his might to will away the images his brain was supplying. If he dwelled on them even for a moment, his body would catch up within moments. But fuck, he could not keep his focus on the game. Erlings scent had been thick, absolutely brimming with alpha pheromones. Jude had never smelled him before and he hadn’t had any idea how overwhelmingly full and heavy his scent was. Right now, all he wanted was to forget this information. Well, actually, all his body wanted right now was to be bent over and fucked senseless by the other man. Jude shook his head in an attempt to shake off the images. Focus.
The stadium erupted with noise. Erling had scored, Jude realised. He kept running and just for a moment, he caught the other mans gaze. For a man who had just scored a goal in a world cup match, his facial expression seemed surprisingly disinterested. Their eyes only met for a brief moment but Jude knew Erlings too well to not notice. There was a strained look in his eyes, almost pained. His jaw was clenched ever so slightly.
The more socially and biologically dominant an alpha was, the more susceptible they’d be to an omegas scent. This was common knowledge. Jude had of course known that Erlings status was down to more than just his exceptional performance on the field. It was without a doubt heightened by his biochemistry. It had never been relevant to him. Judes scent was always masked by his shots and he had not realised that an alpha with as much chemical influence as Erling could still perceive the scent of an omega in pre-heat, even when on suppressants.
None of the other players had noticed Judes scent, he could tell, it was just him. His stomach lurched a little. Having his best mate smell him during a heat was weird at best and an attempt at manipulation at worst. And worst of all, Erling had to know he’d been smelled by Jude as well. This type of thing worked both ways.
The match took forever. By the last third, Jude had been put on the bench and another teammate had taken his place on the pitch. Once on the bench, he had been able to calm down a little. Still, when the whistle sounded and the match ended, he could not wait to get back to his hotel room. With every hour that passed, being in public became more strenuous. On top of everything, his team had lost after all. He would deal with the guilt later. He just needed to get home.
An hour later, the team took the bus back to the hotel. Jude, who had skipped the shower at the facility for obvious reasons, headed straight for the shower once in his room. As a he dried off, his thoughts were going into overdrive. He had half the mind to text Erling and apologise but what would he even say?
The silence was killing him. Maybe Erling had decided they would just ignore what had happened. Maybe he‘d see Jude and pretend he'd never found out what Jude smelled like when he was fertile. But there was another pressing issue. Jude knew that his body would latch on to the scent of whatever alpha he had smelled last and he also knew that Erling knew that. He did not want to make it any harder to look at his friend than it was already going to be. But he could not help the increasingly pressing heat in his abdomen or his slightly accelerated breathing as he laid in his bed.
He should probably start nesting. He sighed as he began to collect all available pillows and blankets to create a nest-like mould on the bed.
Jude had not gone into heat for a good year and he had not gone into heat with an alphas smell clinging to his mind in god knew how long. However, not a single time had he ever gone into heat after scenting a friend. It had been so strong. Jude had always had a thing for alphas with scents so thick they took your breath for a second. What he had realised now was not only that Erlings scent did just that, but that his friend was an apex alpha. Apex alphas had a higher hormone and pheromone concentration, which meant for one, that their own scent was stronger than a regular alphas, although that could be suppressed with meds. On the other hand though, it meant that their ability to detect was more highly developed and tine tuned. As far as Jude had been concerned, that could be taken care of with pills as well but it appeared not. Great. He groaned. His thoughts were full of rigid muscle, broad shoulders and blond hair in a bun. He would just have to accept his fate.
His phone buzzed. Erling had texted him.
What is going on?
Jude hesitated. He had not expected this right now. But this was his chance.
i missed my shot yesterday and i had it too late. i’m sorry
Jude waited a good five minutes for an answer. Then
you’re back in your room now?
yeah why?
Erling didn’t respond. Jude had trouble decoding his responses. Was he mad at him? Why did he not acknowledge what he had explained. Fifteen minutes later there was a knock on the door and Jude froze. There was no way.
As he got up from the bed his made sure the persistent bulge in his joggers wasn’t as visible. He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. His eyes were slightly glazed. When he looked through the peephole, he couldn’t believe what he saw. He opened the door before he could think too much about it and was met with a concerned looking Erling.
“What-“
“I brought you some stuff. Don’t know what you need but I figured anything was better than nothing, so..” With that, he held out the bag he was carrying.
“Mostly just food and hydration stuff.” Erling cleared his throat. He did look strained again and Jude noticed that the other man had taken a step back, bringing some distance between the two of them. Jude couldn’t believe this. He looked into the bag and saw electrolyte pouches, some protein bars and some fruit. He looked at Erling, who held his gaze.
“Thank you mate, I didn’t expect this” he really hadn’t.
“No problem. Anything else you need?” He was clearly trying be supportive.
“No, no thank you” Jude managed. He didn’t really know what to say. This had to be hard for Erling too. He could smell him without a doubt. The fact he he stood here, had brought him snacks and was not mad at him was more than Jude would have dared to hope for. At the same time, he shouldn’t have opened the damn door. He could smell Erling now, and he could tell that he was loosing the fight to keep a neutral face. The smell the alpha was radiating was almost too much.
He didn’t know what to say, so he just said “I think I have to close the door”. This seemed to surprise Erling. He nodded slowly, clearly understanding what Jude was trying to communicate. He leaned against the doorframe.
“Sure you don’t need help getting your room ready or anything?”
Jude managed a strained laugh.
“I-“ he caught himself. He would like some help was the thing, but it would be more than reckless to let an alpha, let alone an apex alpha into his room right now. “I don’t think that would be a good idea”
Erling hummed in response. “Right.”
Suddenly, Jude was overcome with the need to explain, to make amends. If he was being honest, his body probably just wanted him to submit. “I really am sorry. I had no idea you’d be able to smell me.”
Erling didn’t move a muscle. He only looked at him, seemingly considering his answer. Then, after a long moment, he said “The suppressants we get only work up to a certain hormone concentration. They take most scents away but… anyway, i’m the only one on the team that can still detect after taking them. Not just anyone, of course, but you’re in heat, so..”
Heat rushed to Judes face. He had never heard him use these words and it was so strange, so humiliating and so, so hot. He could only nod. Erling had a knowing look on his face, and he nodded back.
There was a silence, and then “I can smell that.”
Jude looked at him, eyes wide. “You can smell what?”
“The heat rushes you’re getting, I can tell when they roll in. Makes your scent sharper for a moment.”
What was Jude supposed to do with this information. He shouldn’t have opened the goddamn door. His friend was smelling his heat rolling in and with the embarrassment of it all came another wave that spread to his face and boiled in his abdomen. Erling made it a thousand times worse by adding
“There you go.” Jude closed his eyes for a brief moment. He could not take it anymore. “You need to leave”.
Erling leaned back from where he was leaning against the doorframe and looked down the hotel corridor to both sides as if to check if anyone was around. Why was he so fucking tall? Then, his eyes settled back on Jude. He examined his face for a moment and it looked like he was considering his reply.
“I don’t think that’s what you want.”
Jude was too stunned to speak. What was going on here? His attempt at forming a quick response failed miserably and Erling had to be aware that he did not have it in him to fight him on this right now.
“Let me come in.”
Before Jude could protest, Erling had pushed his way past him and into his room. He took the snack bag from Judes hand in the process and placed it on the desk. Jude could hear him take a deep breath in and he could hear his breath catch. The room had to be full of his scent. The door swung shut behind him.
He did not know what to say. Why had Erling come in, what did he want? Was he just here to taunt him? Erling turned to him a moment later and his voice had changed slightly but after clearing his throat, he spoke slowly and calmly and with staggering composure.
“It’s very hard for me to stay in control of myself right now.” He said. And now, Jude was mad. “I told you to leave!” His voice was threatening to become pathetically desperate. “Why the fuck did you come in here? I can’t take it and you know that!”
Erlings eyes darted down to the obvious tent in his joggers. He nodded. “If I leave now, you’re going to spend all night crying for a knot. Isn’t that right? And because you’ve scented me, you’re going to be hoping it was mine.”
Jude pressed his eyes shut. “Fuck.” But it was barely more than a whisper. And with that, he dropped to his knees. He heard the alpha inhale sharply. The humiliation only made his body burn more and now, his heat was coming on fast and hard. He opened his eyes again and looked up through heavy lids. Erlings lips were slightly parted as he watched Jude closely.
Kneeling in front of an alpha was the most well known indication for an omegas submission during intimacy and Erling knew what it meant; He was being handed the responsibility for what followed. Any decent and experienced alpha knew how to go about this. He knew what Jude needed and how much power he held over him right now. This was not the first time he had been with an omega during their heat. He took two steps forward until he stood directly in front of Jude, still holding eye contact.
“Go on, smell me.” His voice was so deep and raspy, Jude had never heard him sound like this. He leaned forward and before he could stop himself, not that he would have been able to, he pressed his nose into Erlings crotch. The intensity of the scent that hit him had him gasping for air. Immediately, he felt himself start to leak slick. The next thing he registered was that Erling was so, so hard.
Jude couldn’t stop the little whine that came out as he brought one hand up to feel its size. Unsurprisingly, Erlings dick was proportional to his body, which meant that it was long and thick and Jude could feel himself pulsate. He needed this alphas knot and he needed it now.
“You needed that, didn’t you. I can smell how wet you’re getting.” His tone was still impossibly composed and it made Jude feral. This alpha knew how to demonstrate his self control and when he looked up to meet Erlings eyes again, he felt so small and so completely at his mercy. Erling was huge, looming over him and from this angle, his shoulders looked insanely broad. Jude wanted him to loose his composure.
“Please,” he whined. “Please, please”.
And Erling hummed approvingly. He knew what Jude was pleading for “You need my knot, don’t you? Get up and undress for me, come on.” It was a demand and Jude obeyed instantly.
He stood and began taking his clothes off in such a hurry, that he almost tripped on his joggers when he pushed them down. Within seconds, he was standing before Erling who was still dressed and the imbalance made Jude shiver. But the alpha made no move to take his clothes off. Instead, he let his yes roam over Judes naked body.
They had showered together while on the same team but it had been nothing like this. Jude was hard, and his dick hurt from being left untouched for so long. Erling was still wearing his black t-shirt along with his joggers and shoes and after he had taken in the sight in front of him, he said “Come here.”
Jude had barely stepped forward when the taller man leaned forward and pressed his nose to his neck, directly over his scent gland. On instinct, Erlings hands came up and gripped the flesh of Judes hips with enough strength Jude was sure he would be left with bruises. He gasped. Erling was getting working up and as he scented him, he could smell the alphas scent getting impossibly thicker. It almost burnt in his nose. This was the smell of an alpha feeling increasingly possessive, on the edges of his self control. Jude was leaking so bad.
When Erling pulled back, Jude’s breath caught in his throat. Erlings eyes had darkened and he looked dazed, more out of it than Jude had imagined he could look. His mouth hung open and he was breathing heavily. It occurred to him that Erling had probably gone without a rut for many many months, too. He briefly wondered what he could look like in a rut if this was how he got without one.
His thoughts stopped when Erlings hands left his hips and landed on his shoulders instead. With an aggressive push, he spun Jude so that his back was turned to him. Then, he pressed himself against Judes naked back and began crowding him forward until Judes knees hit the edge of the bed. Without another word, Erlings hand was between his shoulder blades and with another forceful push, Jude was bent over the edge of the bed.
He looked over his shoulder just in time to see Erling reach into his own trousers and pull his dick out. Jude moaned at the sight of it. He was so big. Not even a second later, he felt something against his hole and he got no further warning before Erling pushed what had to be two fingers into him in one go.
Jude wasn’t only dripping from his hole, his cock had begun leaking onto the sheet underneath him and his body began rocking back on the alphas fingers on its own accord. He heard a slick noise and he knew that Erling was touching himself.
Suddenly, Jude didn’t care if he still needed to be stretched, he was going to cry if he didn’t get that cock right now.
“Fuck me,” he whimpered as he fucked himself on Erlings fingers, “fuck me, please, please…” he trailed off and moaned feebly. He half expected the alpha to continue to make him wait but within seconds, he felt Erlings clothed thighs press against the backs of his own and then, he felt that fat cock push into him.
He heard Erling make a sound that was somewhere between a heavy exhale, a groan and a growl and then he bottomed out. Jude had never felt so full. He had trouble controlling his breathing as his body worked to adjust to the sudden intrusion. His efforts were cut short when Erling began to move and Jude could tell that the alpha was loosing all his remaining composure.
Right away, the pace his hips set was brutal. He fucked him harder than anything Jude had ever experienced and he could not breathe properly. He jolted violently with every thrust and forming words would have been impossible. It was perfect. Erling had a vice grip on him and his hands felt massive, his long fingers splayed over Judes hips as he pounded into him.
Jude was making sounds he had never heard himself make and he could hear Erling breathe ruggedly. When Jude turned his head slightly to get a better look at him, he was met with the most erotically contorted face he had ever seen. The tight grip he had on the omega made the muscles of his arms bulge as he pulled him on and off his cock.
Jude was going to come. It was too good. He felt tears brimming in his eyes from the intensity and he could not help it as he started crying. He was shaking and trembling and Erling must have sensed the change in his scent because suddenly, one hand left his hip and came to his chest instead and the next second, he was being hauled up until he was standing with his back pressed to the alphas clothed chest.
At this angle, he had to get on his tiptoes to be at the proper height for the cock inside him not to slip out. Erling had never stopped moving. The hand left his chest and suddenly, his head was pulled back by his hair until his head was resting on Erlings shoulder.
He could hear the alphas heavy breathing and could feel his chest heaving against his back. Then, Erling brought his nose down to Judes neck and when he breathed him in, his pace picked up as he groaned. Jude turned his neck further to look him in the eyes, his cheeks still tear streaked and when Erling looked down at him and met his eyes, that was it.
Judes cock pulsed as it shot cum all over the mattress in front of him and he whimpered pathetically. Then, he felt the base of the alphas cock begin to swell. Erling brought both hands back to his hips and a few moments later, after he had slammed himself into Jude a few more times, he stilled and pressed his hips against Judes ass. Jude groaned. He had never felt anyone so deep.
He pressed his eyes shut as he felt the alphas knot expand within him and he knew that Erling was coming when his heavy breathing was interrupted by a strangled, throaty groan.
Everything had slowed and the only noise filling the otherwise silent room was their panting. When Jude looked up at Erling again, the difference was night and day. The daze behind his eyes had cleared and now, he looked attentive again, watchful, despite his disheveled look and flushed face. He then did the best thing he could have done in that moment by pressing a gentle kiss to Judes teary cheek.
Erling cleared his throat but even then, his voice sounded raspier than ever when he said
“Let’s lay down. We have about half an hour until it deflates.” Jude hummed in agreement, he did not trust his vocal cords right now.
They manoeuvred their way onto the bed with Erlings knot still stuck inside him, until they were lying on their side with Judes head resting on Erlings bicep. He was going to fall asleep.
“Are you okay?” Erling asked a minute later, his voice had gone back to normal. “Yeah”, Jude nodded, before he added “That was so good.”
The fog in his head had cleared up a lot and he knew he had to enjoy it before his heat would flare up again, probably within one or two hours.
He considered his words before he added “never knew you were an apex”.
He felt Erlings breath puffing against his neck “I thought you had figured that out mate.”
“How could I have?” Jude replied, only pretending to be offended.
He could practically hear Erling grinning when he said “Well, you know now."
Jude hummed but he felt too tired to discuss this any further right now.
“Do you want to sleep?” Erling asked.
“Mhm”
“Alright” he sounded amused.
Not even a minute later, he felt Judes breathing even out and he knew he had dozed off. Erling adjusted his hips against the other mans sleeping frame before closing his eyes. Before long, he had drifted off, too.