The ABO Serum

It's Not My Fault

Lance Rosenfeld didn't give a rat's ass about Nicholas Crenshaw as a person. As a second wave victim, GenLife quarantined him with the alphas on campus, not in the lab facility where they kept Lance, so they'd never met before Lance showed up at the prison to offer his legal services. What Lance did care about was the precedent this case would set for how much an alpha's heightened instincts could excuse their behavior. For the sake of all alphas to come, he intended to see that gauge set as high as possible.

The fact that Nicholas kidnapped his partner after sex was irrefutable. But the initial sex was consensual, and everything that came after could be blamed on the new, barely understood, alpha/omega mating instincts. Nicholas Crenshaw lived 38 years on the planet and had numerous sexual partners before becoming an alpha, and he was never compelled to imprison or harm any of them. Why would he start now if GenLife's experiment hadn't altered his biology? That was the gist of Lance's argument and to back it up he began collecting depositions from prior partners, other alphas who had encountered omegas in any capacity, and GenLife researchers.

He got Nicholas out of prison but remanded to GenLife for quarantine at the lab this time, until the trial. This was strategic. He instructed Nicholas to record every interaction with GenLife personnel and try to get them talking about aspects of their research they might not think is relevant or be forthcoming with.

He made himself a pain in Daryl's ass. Which Daryl complained about to Carey. Which resulted in Carey having a little chat with his old friend Lance about respecting boundaries if he liked his coffee without any extraneous DNA in it. Which made Lance laugh because Carey's threats were always toothless. But the look that passed between Carey and his manager, Ryan, gave him pause. Ryan was another alpha, and not above subtly punishing his enemies. Lance cared more about his comfortable morning coffee routine than his client, so he promised to back off.

He didn't actually back off, but he went about his work in a way that was less agitating to the GenLife lab General Manager. They didn't know much about how mating instincts affected alphas in the presence of omegas. All the meetings thus far were tightly controlled. And there weren't many of them. Mostly just the reciprocal pairs from the matchmaking experiment. That lack of knowledge was better for his case than clear results. How could a jury convict a man when GenLife couldn't assure them that man was in control of himself at the time he kidnapped the victim.

In the meantime, the local prosecutor was trying to coax a timid victim, Braedon, to testify, while he was also receiving regular packets of "shared evidence" from the defendant's attorney that made his plans abundantly clear. Lance was intimidating in a courtroom. The DA usually preferred to settle cases assigned to Lance. He got the picture that Lance wanted to set a liberal precedent for alpha assault cases, and the best way to prevent him from doing it would be to keep him out of a courtroom altogether. From all the "shared evidence," it was clear GenLife was not in a position to declare the defendant of sound mind at the time of the kidnapping.

If the DA could prevent Lance from having the opportunity to make his case in court, GenLife would get more time to conduct research and understand what happened, and how to prevent it, before another case arose. And if they were lucky, a less skilled and tenacious lawyer would take on that case. But that also meant Braedon would not get the justice he deserved. Lance was confident. If he believed this case was his cause, he wouldn't settle. They'd have to decline to prosecute.

The GenLife hotel had newly renovated supervised meeting spaces. Since they had to quarantine the omegas indefinitely, they made accommodations for visiting friends and family. Braedon asked if his coach could be present when he met with the DA. That's how the three of them ended up in a meeting room on a Friday morning talking about all these things.

Steve was livid. How could the DA decline to prosecute‽ How could the legal system be so fucked up that that was the better choice here?

Braedon, on the other hand, quietly listened to everything and agreed to it. He felt partly to blame, having tempted a sleeping lion. Nobody knew everything that was going on in their new bodies. He'd rushed to expose himself without fully understanding what could happen.

He had only one concern. "I don't want him coming back for me, thinking that he can have me. We know that alphas get possessive, so now that we're apart and he's back in control of himself, he must be accountable for the choice he has now and stay away from me. He's got to keep far away. He's not my reciprocal pair so he has no excuse. Other alphas can restrain themselves."

"Wait a minute," Steve interrupted. "Other alphas can restrain themselves. Lex IS my reciprocal pair, and he hasn't touched me or restrained me in any way. Not just 'without my consent,' but at all."

"Was he with you during your initial transition?" The DA asked.

"Well, no."

"During your heat?" The DA was too sharp. Steve pressed his lips together and shook his head. "The alphas all describe the draw of an omega during their initial transition phase as having a similar intensity to when they're in heat. Even the General Manager's deposition said this. It can't be compared," the DA argued.

"Fuck," was all Steve had left to say.

An arm wrapped around his shoulders and squeezed. "Thank you for trying so hard for me," Braedon said. "I always felt alone before, but I don't now. I didn't get a mate, but I did get to know you better, and my community, and myself better. I'll finish healing and get on with my life.

"I don't want to be at the center of a landmark trial, Wilson vs. Crenshaw, the outcome of which is referred to every time an alpha assaults an omega. I want to give them more time so whatever trial sets the standard is more favorable to all future omegas. Right now, it'd be like wrestling way out of our weight class. There's no way we don't get pinned in the first minute. We gotta prepare a better fighter for our team before we schedule a match."

"Brat," Steve accused shaking his head, but he was smiling again, however wryly. "Who's the coach here?"

"That's settled then. I can ask for a lifetime restraining order based on what happened, without filing criminal charges. Lance would be hard pressed to argue against it with this pile of depositions he's collected all agreeing that alphas lose control around omegas. Especially when they feel possessive toward a certain omega. We'll get this settled quickly." The DA shuffled his papers together and slipped them back into his briefcase. "I'm sorry I can't do more for you," he added as he rose to leave.

"You can," Braedon responded. "Don't wait for the next victim to start building your case. Be ready next time."