Mate // DNF

Chapter 3

Four days later, George was through the most miserable heat of his adult life. It reminded him of his teenage years when he'd had no idea what to do with himself or anyone to teach him, but as an adult, that kind of helplessness felt worse. Taking a shower and washing all the dried sweat and slick and semen off his skin felt heavenly, as did the fresh clothes on his clean skin. While he was at it, he changed his sheets, got the washing machine running, emptied his trash bin and went to the bathroom.

After finishing his business, George stared into the mirror. The mating bite had healed over and now looked like a scar. It was still noticeable and everyone who saw it would know that George was mated, and he still wasn't ready to answer any questions or receive congratulations from anyone. He finished washing his hands and walked through his room to the living room, where Wilbur sat with his aptop and pushed a cup of coffee towards him. George sat down.

"I did some research. Not the youtube kind, but I read actual academic articles about mating and omegas and such. Interested?"

George, who was still feeling the aftereffects of his heat, wrapped a blanket around himself and sipped his tea.

"Let's hear it then."

"Successful mating led to heat in the majority of the omega subjects (>75%). In some cases, (<20%) the mating also triggered a rut in the alpha partner. More often, only the omega partner's heat triggered the alpha's rut (>50%). Reported higher compatibility correlated positively with the changes in subjects' usual mating cycle," Wilbur read from his screen.

"Then there are some other things, but I'm looking for a specific spot... Aha, here! In cases where subjects reported very high compatibility (colloquially, the phenomenon is known as true mates), there's a citation to another article from the same scholars, successful mating led to heat and rut in all of the subjects of this study. Some studies, here's a bunch of citations again, have suggested other symptoms that may have a link with the mating, especially in cases where the compatible mating partners are forced to spend time apart right after mating. Temporary amnesia has been observed in the omega partner after they have been forced to spend time apart with their compatible alpha partner within 24 hours after mating. (Studies have speculated that this could be an evolutionary mechanism to protect the mind from suffering a trauma from being abandoned at such a vulnerable point of pair bonding. However, this phenomenon still needs more research.) The heat and rut have also, in some cases, been triggered again after the partners have been brought back together. And a lot more citations to studies that have looked into it more. What do you think?"

"Do those scholarly types actually say that true mates is a real phenomenon?"

"I actually looked into that too, and as I understand it, it's more about the physical compatibility of the couple. There is no one particular person for each individual, but there could be multiple people anyone could find to be their true mate. The smell of the partner reflects the compatibility and triggers a strong neurochemical reaction that sometimes makes the subjects mate even despite their earlier thoughts on mating. But don't you see? Maybe your mate is your true mate, so to say."

"I don't know, Wilbur. I mean, it sounds good with all the citations and everything, but do you really think I would have a true mate? I doubt that. Maybe the asshole is just some rich douche who accidentally, in the middle of the action, bit me and then ran when they realized what they had done. Seems much more straightforward and likely to me."

"Gogy, you would be an awesome mate for anyone."

"Then why did he leave me?" George said angrily. It was one of the things that had bothered him the most whenever he'd had time to think during his heat. Someone had clearly thought he was worth spending a small fortune on a hotel room just to spend one night with him, and yet wanted to leave without any explanation before George woke up. It made George feel cheap and used. He wiped his tears from his face. "Why did they leave me, Wilbur, if they thought I'd be an good mate?"

"Oh, gogy," Wilbur pulled George into a hug. "Maybe they didn't have a choice? Maybe they had an emergency or... I don't know."

"Their other secret family would miss them if they didn't go home?" George suggested sarcastically.

"They had to flee the country because the FBI is looking for them," Wilbur shot back.

"Maybe they got kidnapped, and now the criminals are looking for their family, so they can send a ransom note."

"Maybe they had a bad allergic reaction to your slick and had to go to the hospital."

George and Wilbur kept inventing more and more ridiculous scenarios for George's mate, and laughing helped George relax a little. After Wilbur suggested that George's mate was running a successful minecraft campaign as a cover-up for his drug smuggling operation and he had to leave early to prepare for that day's game, George gave up and declared Wilbur the winner in their game of ridiculous scenarios.

"What will I do, Wilbur? I could seek annulment or try to get the mark removed, but you know as well as I do that they usually ask for agreement of the alpha unless it's forced mating or domestic violence."

"I could look into it? Or you could ask  what to do?"

"Oh shit, I haven't yet told sap. Fuck my life," George rubbed his face with his hands. "He will be absolutely delighted about this. I can already imagine the specific bitchface."

"Then you just have to tell it on the phone to avoid seeing the bitchface," Wilbur said, googling something on her phone while speaking.

"Yeah, he has the most expressive silences. Maybe I could take a page out of my mate's book and just move out of the country."

"Gogy, none of this is necessarily your fault at all," Wilbur said.

"Try to tell that to the assholes on the street who think all omegas are good for is breeding and every omega is a slut that just wants to trap a mate. Or my co-workers who already talk shit about me behind my back," George sighed.

Wilbur raised his eyes from his phone.

"Speaking of your work, how conservative would you say your employers are? Specifically, how forward-thinking are they about omega rights?"

"Umm," George said. "They're not that bad usually. They don't let alphabros get away with harassment and don't separate people's jobs based on their secondary genders, but I wouldn't say they are exactly rallying for more rights for omegas. Why do you ask?"

"Think, George. You're a mated omega who has a job."

"Yeah...?"

"And who can't ask for permission from their alpha."

"Fuck."

"Right you are."

It was ridiculous really. The ancient law that had been legislated before gender equality had even been thought of and stated that an omega needed permission from their alpha parent,guardian, or mate to join the workforce. The law had since been changed in a way that permitted an unmated omega to work, but congress still had not managed to nullify the need for a mated omega to be granted permission. Employers technically had a legal right to fire any mated omega who didn't have permission to work from their mate. It wasn't carried out too often in this day and age when alphas could legally mate alphas and omegas other omegas, but the law still existed.

And with George's luck he could be let go as soon as anyone at work found out about his mating bite.

"I need to start wearing high-collared shirts to work. Or scarves Or turtleneck?"

"Gogy, you know what we have to do, don't you?"

"What?"

"We need to find your mate. Somehow. You said they left you a note, right? Do you still have it?"

George gave the note to Wilbur and waited anxiously for him to try and interpret it.

"Yeah, so it's definitely someone you have met before your mating."

"That's what I think too."

"Okay," Wilbur got up from her chair. "We're going to go and meet someone."