A Fever You Can't Sweat Out - Part 3

Part 1: https://www.patreon.com/posts/fever-you-cant-1-71720422

Part 2: https://www.patreon.com/posts/73022113

Word count: 3,911

Storming out of the bedroom was a contradiction. The smallest sense of relief meant Emma could breathe easier, but the intense need to be close to Regina felt like a chain tightening around Emma’s waist with every step she took.

She staggered into the hallway, closing the door behind her, and stuffed her hand into her pocket to get her cell phone—except her fingers found the soaked panties instead, and the scent of them made her mouth water.

She was going crazy, she had to be, because she brought the slip of fabric up to her nose and huffed the intoxicating scent like a bouquet of flowers.

It was all too much, and before she could think, she was undoing her jeans and pushing down the boxers beneath them.

Freeing her swollen cock, Emma stared down at herself in shock and concern. Her erection was bigger than before, and so purple it looked almost bruised. As she wrapped the wet panties around her pulsing shaft, the pain ebbed for the first time in days.

Like a soothing balm, Emma stroked Regina’s arousal along her thick shaft and shuddered at the desire that gripped her. The panties barely covered the thick head of her cock, and she pumped her fist over it, coming undone in seconds with a guttural moan. She shot jet after jet of her seed into the fabric and embarrassingly over the wall outside of Regina’s bedroom.

The release didn’t soften her erection. If anything, it made it worse, and Emma whimpered, hurriedly stuffing herself back into her too-tight jeans as she scrambled to wipe up her mess with the drenched fabric in her hand.

That night turned out to be one of the worst forms of torture.

If the night wasn’t brutal enough, the true frenzy began in the morning: the crowd that pitched in the day before had started to rally for the Queen to make an appearance.

At sunrise, the stadium filled with couples dying to get-off to this barbaric tradition. Some of them found the bloodshed invigorating, while others wished to live vicariously through the winner. Each person had one reason or another to be interested in seeing the Queen bedded.

Regina showed her scorn by reminding them all who she was: she altered her appearance to serve as a visual warning of her past. In a tight-fitting blue velvet gown with tiny diamonds that covered the neckline, she strutted around in front of her mirror. A little shimmer of magic was all it took to grow her hair and put on make-up, but when Emma compared her to the illustrations in Henry’s storybook, Regina looked strikingly more like the pathetic young thing who was about to be paraded in front of suitors again.

It must have taken a certain amount of effort for Regina to glare intimidatingly at her constituents when she opened the window in her bedroom.

“I will come down when I please,” Regina called out bitterly. “Now stop arguing. This is going to be as organized as any town affair, and I expect anyone who wishes to participate in the tournament to sign up. If anyone is disorderly, that person will be immediately disqualified.”

Ruby, who seemed to be the least affected by her sleeplessness, put Regina’s plan into action: she grabbed a notebook and began jotting down the names of all the people who wanted to compete.


The line extended through the field and Emma knew they would have to use the first challenge to dismiss some of them.

Regina shut the window and curtains when she saw some of them whispering and pointing at her.

Emma trembled like a drug addict as Regina came closer and struck a regal pose. “I trust you feel up to working crowd control at today’s event? Unless you secretly want to participate.”

Emma refused to be baited, even if her body utterly betrayed her. Her skinny jeans looked absurd with her erection so vividly outlined by the tight fabric and her breaths were labored. “So you’re just going to let them auction you off like this?” She gestured towards the stairs where voices could be heard from outside. “You’re better than that. So are they, when they want to be.”

She felt peculiar, and sick from the idea of Regina being with anyone who dared sign up for such a degrading event.

“I don’t know if you remember, but I wasn’t exactly given a choice,” Regina spat with a glower of warning.

Emma shook her head and stomped heavily down the stairs to barge into the back garden, all but shoving people out of the way in the pursuit of her parents.

The place was swarming with people. Half of the town had crammed itself into Regina’s yard and the atmosphere was charged. Thick with pheromones, it felt almost toxic just to breathe it in.

Emma caught sight of Snow and began to stalk after her, but she never had the chance to reach her as Ruby stepped into her path.

“There you are!” Ruby announced and grabbed Emma by the shoulder, “You need to change.” She pointedly looked at the skinny jeans. “You can barely walk in those, how do you expect to fight?”

Unamused, Emma tore her arm back and leaned into Ruby’s space. “I’m not participating in this twisted game.”

“Oh yes you are,” Ruby growled back, “Take a look around you. Do you see anyone Regina would even want here?”

“How would I know what she wants?” Emma barked, her jaw jutting out as adrenaline and desire raged inside her.

Ruby’s mouth opened, then shut, then opened again as the shock on her face turned to a perplexed crease across her forehead. “You can’t be serious.” She pushed Emma back into the mansion to privately rip into her. “You’re covered in her scent! Her arousal is all over your pants, and you’re going to stand here and tell me you don’t know who she wants?”

Realization brightened Emma’s eyes and she sucked in a stuttered breath, “But she never said she wanted me.”

“Just like you never said you wanted her, but we all saw the longing glances and the way you beat down an entire mob yesterday to protect her.” Ruby narrowed her eyes and slapped Emma roughly on the arm. “You’re an idiot, Emma Swan, but thankfully you’re a strong idiot. Hurry up and put these on.”

Ruby shoved a bag into her hands. “Now get your ass outside before the tournament starts without you.”

Emma knew that Ruby was right, but pride prevented her from admitting it out loud. She pulled her clothes off, leaving them in a crumpled heap on the kitchen floor, and tugged on the loose cargo shorts and a tank top Ruby had given her. They were infinitely more comfortable than what she had been wearing, and now that she wasn’t practically crippled and her blood flow was unrestricted, she felt her body expand in ways that no longer bothered her.

She flung herself back outside and eyed up the crowd. Everyone who was participating was tying either a red or blue cloth around their wrist, and she frowned when she saw just how many were planning on taking part.

Snow ran like an awkward penguin across the field and cornered her daughter when she found her. “Emma! You’ll be needing this.”

Brandishing a blue cloth, Snow did the honors of securing it around Emma’s wrist.

“This is insane,” Emma deadpanned, though her blood was buzzing and adrenaline pumped through her like jet fuel.

“What’s insane is that you didn’t take a chance with Regina sooner,” Snow softly admonished, putting a hand on Emma’s back and guiding her though the crowd. “Didn’t you see how she was looking at you yesterday, just waiting for you to admit your true feelings for her?” Her tender, pitying look turned encouraging as David approach with one of his own suits of armor to pass on to Emma.

“Here, this should help you out for some of the events,” David explained while running his hand over the lightest-looking set of chainmail in all of the realms. “It will allow you to be quick on your toes, but also protect you. Besides, I always looked dashing in it, and you take after me.”

Snow rolled her eyes, but her criticism of David was short lived, because Regina chose that moment to exit the mansion.

The deafening uproar of the crowd would have been enough to frighten anyone back inside, and yet Regina glided in her long skirt, showing off the curve of her hips with every step she took. It might have been safer to make her entrance later, if only to avoid the clamor of her admirers, except Regina seemed prouder and more fearless than ever. She never let anyone see her agony or neediness, though many physically stronger men and women fell to the ground at her knees while she swaggered on by.

“This is going to be a blood bath,” David solemnly announced as alphas began tackling and pummeling each other, giving into their aggression.

Little John and other merry men dog-piled on top of Robin while he whined in Regina’s general direction. It was pathetic how Robin still thought he had an advantage with her or some grounds for special treatment.

Ruby flew towards the pavilion where Regina headed, and Belle followed close behind her. Belle clutched the heavy book from yesterday against her chest and spread it on a table in front of Regina.

Even at a distance, it was possible to see the pages that provided information about omegas, their sexual desirability and other details of their role. Regina sat down in a high-backed chair and gazed at the pages, her face inscrutable as she read. In a gentle show of comfort, Ruby placed a hand on her shoulder and Regina shut the book.

Regina then glared directly at Emma, only to visibly inhale in shock at the sight of the blue wristband. She attempted to beckon Emma over and Little John yelped, “Favoritism! Since when is Sheriff Swan participating?”

“She was always going to participate,” Snow insisted and began to usher the more violent of the participants towards the first challenge. “Once you all have wristbands, please go ahead and ready yourselves. You’ll have thirty minutes to prepare before every round. There are only five rounds, and just ten people will progress beyond the second round. Use your time wisely to prepare.”

“Besides, the rules say anyone can participate,” Archie piped up, shutting Little John up and startling Emma in the process. He stopped beside her and tipped his head to the side in greeting, a bashful, though intense look on his face.

Even surrounded by so many people, Emma could detect his scent.

“You’re an Alpha?” Emma whispered, then frowned as she spotted the red band around his wrist. “We’ve been trying to contact you for days to get help, but you never returned our calls.” Her aggression swelled within her chest until she stood to her full height challengingly.

“I wasn’t ready to face anyone.” Archie shrugged, a lopsided cringe the only apology he offered.

“Sure,” Emma smiled, her tone far too light and cheerful to be anything other than fake. “Why bother helping out your friends when the town’s falling to pieces when you can just show up to try to win the mayor like a fucking candy apple at the fair?”


The caged anger left Emma vibrating where she stood.


“Good luck, Sheriff Swan.” Archie calmly replied and excused himself before she could fully comprehend the change in him. Stewing indignantly, Emma pushed through the crowd as if to chase after him and collided with Mulan. “You’vegotta be fucking joking.”

“Nobody deserves to go through this alone, let alone with a brute,” Mulan stated, her eyes darting around to land on The Sheriff of Nottingham, then some of Robin’s men.

Growling low in her throat, Emma spun around, feeling a frenetic and overwhelming urge to rip the limbs off everyone in her sight. By another misstep, she bumped straight into Merida.

“Seriously?” Emma uttered, wondering just how many people she knew would be battling it out in an effort to claim Regina as theirs.

“Don’t be daft,” Merida spat, raising her chin to look intently into Emma’s eyes. The wildness was no doubt reflected in her own gaze, but Merida seemed free in it, not quite as tortured. “I’m taking part to protest this atrocious event. Nobody has the right to Regina. I plan to win so she can choose for herself.” She gave Emma a long, hard look before leaning in and whispering, “It’s your turn to be brave. If I don’t win, you better make sure that you do, or she’s going to be left to these beasts.”

Emma pressed her lips together and swallowed thickly. A newfound respect for Merida burst through her and she nodded sharply.

Regina did her rounds on the field with Ruby and Belle in tow as her guards. With constant vigilance, Regina stood separate from the practicing alphas, although her scent preceded her. Every competitor became distracted when she came near and a few men even groveled for her mercy, begging her to deliver them all to peace.

“Your Majesty, oh please your Majesty!” Doc whimpered, yanking at his bowtie as if to strangle himself and end his own misery.

Regina swallowed and ignored him, no doubt because all of this pitiful whining could shift in an instant.

The masses could easily turn on her, gang up together and demand use of her. Regina moved away from the strongest and no doubt virulent alphas. The Sheriff of Nottingham refused to practice and instead spent all of his time eyeing her up.

Her path brought her to Emma’s side, where she would be safest in close proximity of Mulan and Merida.

“May I sit here and watch you practice?” Regina politely asked, and Mulan supplied her with a chair that she cleaned with a rag before gesturing for her to sit.

Regina nodded in gratitude and perched in the chair, while Snow and David approached in protest.


“You shouldn’t be out here, Regina,” Snow argued and pointed back to the pavilion where she would be well out of harm’s way. “Some of these people have already proven themselves very unpredictable.”

“I know, Snow,” Regina replied with a squint that might have been more of a wince. She reached for Snow’s arm and pulled her down into the chair beside her. “Stay with me. I don’t want to sit alone in the pavilion for the next half hour.”

Snow faltered and then took the seat. “If you have to move to the pavilion, I’ll come with you.”

David hovered near his daughter to observe her practicing with a sword and frowned as she swung it like a baseball bat.

“Let me help you with your technique,” David requested, and then showed her the proper way to handle the weapon. “You’ll need this for the second to last round. I’m absolutely sure you’re scrappy enough to make it through the first round. All you’ll have to do is remove the wristbands from the other contestants. You’re good with sleight of hand. You should have no trouble pulling them off and getting away. The second and third rounds shouldn’t give you any problems, either. You’re strong enough to lift a log and your mother will help with archery.”

“What makes you so sure?” Emma asked, uncomfortable with the fact that her father was standing next to her when all she could think about was Regina.


The energy that surrounded them all continued to grow restless and charged with aggression.

Emma focused as best she could on the lesson, but she found herself with an intense urge to break someone’s face and learned hardly anything. Especially with Regina so close to her, and all the murmurs that her presence elicited.

She could feel Regina’s eyes on her and Emma found herself wanting to destroy everyone else for being near Regina.

Emma turned abruptly from David and strode over to the sidelines, reiterating what her mother had been saying for ten minutes. “You can’t sit here. It isn’t safe.”

“Safer than over there,” Mulan pointed out, and cast her eyes towards the pavilion where a group of alphas had begun to pace, flexing in an attempt to try and catch Regina’s eye.

A beta made a sudden lunge to get closer to Regina, pushing Merida out of the way, his eyes manic and his hands grasping. He looked like the guy who made deliveries for Game of Thorns, and Emma let out a roar as she grabbed him by the neck and slammed him into the grass viciously.


“Fuck off!” Emma yelled into his flinching face.

Mulan took a fistful of his shirt and dragged him to his feet with a cold scowl, and he ran off without a glance backwards.

Emma moved to go after him, but David caught her arm, stopping her before she
did something stupid. “You can’t. You’ll be disqualified.”

“He should be disqualified,” Emma growled in frustration, her muscles straining under her shirt with unleashed power.

Regina sat transfixed by the sight of Emma’s ripped arm muscles and the fierce way she defended her. She pushed back her chair and side-eyed the alphas that tracked her every move. “If anyone lays a hand on another person before the tournament begins, I will personally come over and rip the cloth from your wrist. It will be last scrap of fabric anyone ever removes from your body, because I can and will put you down. Make no mistake about it: I am still the most powerful person in this town. Save your anger and your energy for the actual competition.”

Regina tossed a glare in Emma’s direction that expressed disappointment in her.

“I need to speak with you, Miss Swan. Ruby and Snow can be my chaperones,” Regina demanded and then stalked back towards the pavilion. With a sweep of her arms and touch of magic, she knocked the show-offs out of the way.

Snow flashed her daughter a troubled frown as she hurried after Regina while Ruby bounded ahead.

The fallen alphas got back to their feet and threatened to barge into the pavilion after Regina.

“Not a great way to win her over!” Ruby hollered. “All competitors should remain at least twenty feet from the pavilion at all times. Show some respect.”


The alphas refused to follow Ruby’s directive and defended their right to stay put. If Regina felt even the slightest fear in the face of these threats, she never showed it.

Regina stood with her hands on her hips and her back to Emma, who followed her across the field.

“I won’t allow you to endanger yourself,” Regina stated sharply, not hesitant to speak as Snow and Ruby had stepped into the pavilion.

“Any of you,” Regina clarified as she turned around, then lowered herself onto a soft cushioned bench. “Emma, some of these people are just looking for an excuse to act out. Don’t give them one.” She squared her chin and swallowed, folding her hands in her lap as she glanced between all three faces. “Beyond that, if there’s some kind of insurrection before the day is through, I want you all to leave me. There are more alphas here than I would have expected us to have in this town, and if any of you risk yourselves on my behalf, I’m going to be more worried about you than I am about getting away. If it happens, you will all heed my word and go. I won’t debate it.”

Ruby opened her mouth and lifted her arms in silent protest, her eyes conveying fire and sympathy.

Snow stared straight ahead at Regina, unflinching even as she put out a hand to stop Emma from engaging in an argument. “Emma, don’t.”

They all tacitly agreed that no one would be abandoning Regina, although they all seemed ready to dispute the issue if necessary.

Regina peered up at Emma through long eyelashes, unblinking as she lifted her skirt and ripped her slip. She offered the torn fabric to Emma, heavy with her scent. “Use this to distract your toughest competition.”

Emma was already on the verge of an outburst, so it was no real surprise that she grabbed the fabric with an indignant hiss. “I’m not cheating!”

She tucked material into her pocket as if it were a hanky and not something akin to crack that she couldn’t wait to huff in private. It didn’t even cross her mind that there were entirely too many people to even try that. She just knew that she desperately wanted to press her nose into the torn slip and inhale until her lungs burned and the only thing left in the world was Regina.

“It’s not worth the risk,” Emma huffed, as if that accounted for pocketing the heavily scented material.

Ruby quirked an eyebrow, a slight flicker of amusement shining in her eyes as she looked to where Emma’s hand was still in her pocket, clutching the fabric possessively.

Emma blatantly ignored the look from Ruby, and when she did pull her hand free, she not so subtly wiped her nose, inhaling deeply to get a fix of Regina.

“She’s right, Regina,” Snow pressed, actively looking anywhere but at Emma. “What if someone saw, or she dropped it? It would start a riot and you know it.”

“I’m with them on this,” Ruby declared, side eyeing Emma and the proud way she stood at attention in all sense of the word. “There might be more alphas than we anticipated, but none of them are saviors. Emma’s got this.”

Emma tipped her head back and raised her chin with an arrogant smirk on her
face.

Regina held her hand out with her palm up to claim back her gift, and when Emma failed to turn it over, she strode over to take it herself. Her hand remained in Emma’s pocket longer than necessary and she leaned in fully, close enough for her soft exhale to fall on Emma’s neck.

“And what if she doesn’t?” Regina asked and pushed her hand against her diaphragm as though pained and unable to breathe. She returned to her bench with downcast eyes. “It’s no matter. I agreed to this. There isn’t much time left.  Emma, you should go prepare somewhere away from me. I appreciate you trying to win this to protect me. But all of this new and very different sexual chemistry might be affecting your brain—”

“New?” Ruby laughed in disbelief, and then froze up when she realized Regina was still straight-faced. “You know what, nevermind. Emma’s going to go practice. Right, Emma?” She placed a hand on Emma’s shoulder and gave her an encouraging shove towards the door.

Emma grunted in response, her throat constricted. All the blood in her veins was pumping furiously to her cock and she had to restrain herself from demanding the fabric back. It was irrational and ridiculous, but she wanted to flip the closest table and, if not for Ruby pushing her away, she would have done it.


“She thinks I can’t win,” Emma complained, furious that Regina would doubt her right before the tournament. “I’ll show her. I’ll show everyone.”