A Fever You Can't Sweat Out - Part 1

Rating: Explicit, ABO, Alpha Emma, Omega Regina.

Description: Emma Swan has seen her fair share of magical mishaps, but a new curse spreading through town brings a whole new meaning to being horny on main (get it, Maine?)

Tags: Comedy, absurd situations, Robin-bashing/violence against Robin, adjusting to new ABO anatomy, Emma POV, medieval style tournament events in modern Storybrooke, uncontrollable urges abound. 

Word count: 6,783




At the stroke of midnight, it was almost a guarantee that everyone in Storybrooke was tucked away in bed, or otherwise stuck at work wishing to be anywhere else.

Most nights were slow when there wasn’t a curse in need of breaking, which was why Emma was wrapped up in her blankets, blissfully unaware of the fact that a hooded figure had just dropped a small pouch into the magic well out in the middle of the forest.

The person stood there waiting for a long while, but when nothing happened, they skulked off into the shadows.

The thing about magic, especially the kind dropped into that particular well, was that it always proved unpredictable.

It wasn’t until the early hours of the morning that the spell at last took effect.

The harsh ringing of Emma’s phone snatched her out of slumber, and she groaned when she saw the time.

“It’s not even seven yet,” Emma grumbled in lieu of a greeting.

“Very observant, Sheriff. Why don’t I ask the epidemic to slow down so you can get another hour of sleep?” Whale drawled sarcastically down the line.

Emma felt sluggish as she forced herself to sit up, frowning as she brushed the hair out of her eyes. “Wait. What’s going on?”

Whale snorted before he spoke. “That’s why I’m calling. Something is happening in town, and it’s spreading quickly. Patient zero called at five this morning, and since then we’ve had over a hundred reported cases.”

“Patient Zero?” Emma sighed heavily and stood up, her tone acerbic as she snapped, “We’re not in a movie, Whale, just tell me what the hell is going on. Cases of what?”

There was a long pause on the other end of the line.

“Hysteria,” Whale finally stated, his voice lacking conviction.

“This isn’t the eighteenth century. Nobody suffers from hysteria anymore.” Pulling on her jeans, Emma flicked on the light and hurriedly grabbed her shirt. “I mean, right? Wasn’t that just their way of rationalizing that women had urges?”

“I don’t know what else to call it,” Whale conceded. “I’ve never seen anything like this, in my land or in yours. People are exhibiting a host of different symptoms. Some are even…”

Caught in the middle of zipping up her boots, Emma huffed in exasperation, “Some are what?”

Whale cleared his throat in obvious discomfort. “Experiencing anatomical changes. We need to try and contain this, whatever it is, before it spreads through the whole town. You need to inform the Mayor that I’m requesting a town wide quarantine and you had better be ready to enforce it.”

“Do you even know how this is spreading?” Emma asked, her throat dry as panic began to wrap around her ribcage.

“No. Some of my staff have succumbed. Others haven’t, but in the three hours since the first call, every case has affected someone between the ages of twenty and fifty. Children, teens, and the elderly appear to be immune, which is a phenomenon all on its own,” Whale excitedly reported.

“Stop enjoying this,” Emma spat, grabbing her keys as she slipped into autopilot.

“I’m not enjoying it, per se, but it is a remarkable opportunity to study—”

“Keep me updated,” Emma sharply cut him off. “I’ll be in touch once I’m with Regina.” She hung up with a cringe and ran out the door.


She drove fast, gunning the squad car down the street until she saw Ariel on the sidewalk, barefoot and wearing only pajama bottoms and a bra.

Emma screeched to a halt and jumped out, reaching Ariel before she managed to unclasp the garment.

“Whoa, hey, hey, you can’t walk around half naked,” Emma sputtered. “This isn’t the Little Mermaid. Where are you going?”

“I’m so warm.” Ariel whined, her pupils wide and face flushed. “Like I’m baking in my own skin and I can’t… I can’t take it. I had to get out, I had to breathe.”

Emma raised her eyebrows and guided Ariel back into her house by the elbow. “Why don’t you take a nice cold shower, and stay inside, okay?”

She didn’t wait for an answer. Slamming the door closed behind Ariel, Emma abandoned her car and with a flick of her wrist appeared on Regina’s doorstep by use of magic. She knocked roughly, and impatiently tried the handle before she yelled, “Regina! We need to talk. Something’s happening to the people in town!”

From where she must have been hunched on the floor of the living room, Regina managed a feeble reply, “Go away, Miss Swan!”


Regina downright refused to meet Emma at the door and whimpered out a pathetic sounding, “Please.”

It took several minutes before Regina seemed to get her bearings and appeared at the door.

As she swung it back, Emma noticed a change in the atmosphere around them. The wind shifted as Regina stepped outdoors.


“Whatever is happening, it’s affecting me,” Regina announced with a paranoid glance around the neighborhood. Her pupils dilated at the sight of Emma and she took a sharp breath.


“It’s strange,” Regina rasped, then lowered her voice a register and then took another tiny step towards Emma. “It’s like someone cast a horrible love spell, only with much more sinister effects.”

Continuing to stare at Emma in open appreciation of her muscular arms, Regina lingered on the porch long enough for the town mechanic, Ruby, and several of the merry men to appear.

Robin brought up the rear of the group, and gazed at Regina in clear longing as he called out, “Regina, do you happen to know what’s going on?”

Regina hadn’t spoken to Robin for months and it looked like she could barely stand the sight of him now. The longer Robin stood in front of Regina, however, the more appealing he seemed to become, and it was obvious her mind had somehow been seriously compromised.

When Emma glanced over at the other faces in the crowd, she noticed that they were all collectively staring. They watched Regina like starved animals eager for a meal.

Ruby boldly cut to the front of the crowd and approached Emma with something like deference. “You both… smell different. It’s hard to describe. We need to get to the bottom of whatever this is.”

The distraction of Robin and the small crowd apparently delayed Emma from noticing the subtle and insidious reactions within her own body. The slight increase of her own heart rate was surely just from the hatred she felt for Robin – a man who proclaimed to have honor while displaying none of the traits that went with it.


Regina backed away as more friends and acquaintances made their way up her path. She dodged around Emma and stood behind her in the doorway.

Emma side-eyed Ruby questioningly and responded to Regina ducking behind her without hesitation.

Straightening to her full height, Emma squared her shoulders and created a barricade between Regina and everyone that approached with a look in their eyes that she sure as hell didn’t like.


“We don’t know what’s happening,” Emma announced. “Under Whale’s recommendation, the town is under quarantine. Effective immediately. We’ll let you know more the second we can.”

“You can’t be serious,” Robin scoffed, his face pained as he craned his neck to peer at Regina. “Regina? What would youhave us do? We deserve to know what’s happening.”

Emma felt it then.

Like a mist falling over her body, her skin prickled and the scent in the air was thick and hung heavy like the most decadent aroma. She knew, inexplicably, that everyone else smelled it too.


“Go home and stay there,” Emma snarled, stepping forward with a glare that dared someone to test her. “We can’t have infected people roaming the streets and infecting others. Do you really want this to spread through the whole town?”

Robin looked agitated, his face screwing up as he sputtered, “Well no, but I need to talk to Regina. I insist you—”

Emma’s anger built up inside of her, irrational and scorching. “We’re busy trying to save the town from an epidemic, so unless you want to be personally sent to Whale, you’re gonna back off.”

Robin sneered, taking a step forward before he suddenly faltered and grimaced. “Look, we all know this is serious. I just need a few... a few seconds—”

“I bet,” Emma smirked, raising her chin. “Everybody, go home, or I’m gonna start sticking people in the jail cells. Got it?” She asked rhetorically, surveying the crowd’s quiet discontent as they backed off. “Ruby, consider yourself a temporary deputy and make sure everyone actually leaves. Then call me when you get back to the diner.”

Ruby kept her eyes on the crowd and nodded in understanding. “You heard the Sheriff. Let’s go.”

Emma watched for a moment, then stepped into Regina’s foyer and bolted the door. She needed to share the only information she had from her morning conversation about the epidemic. “According to Whale, so far only people in their twenties to fifties have shown symptoms, and some people are experiencing anatomical changes, whatever the hell that means. I wasn’t about to tell them that yet—”

She turned to face Regina and inhaled deeply.


Only then did Emma feel a flux in her body temperature, her pulse beating out a tune that said she was in trouble. The scent was stronger now, potent in a way that made it tangible, and she realized all of the sudden that it was coming from Regina.

“Fuck…” Emma whispered, a low throbbing starting in her groin that spread like wildfire through her. Suddenly she understood Ariel’s predicament. Her own skin felt like a restricting suit, simultaneously too hot and too tight.

Wait, tight?


Emma groaned as a peculiar and unpleasant dull ache spread from the apex of her sex, and she felt something trying to happen in the confines of her jeans.

Grimacing, she blurted out, “I need a drink,” and used the excuse to flee to the kitchen as her panic began to manifest.

Regina faltered in the foyer and rubbed her soft, kissable lips together. The strong scent of her pheromones only grew more potent as she stalked into the kitchen and all but collapsed into a chair.


“May I recommend a strong drink? You’ll need it if we’re going to work on finding a way to cope with whatever fresh new hell this is. The locked cabinet in my study – it’s where I keep my spell books. There’s a key in my desk if you want to rummage around in it. You can also help yourself to a glass of my cider.”

The sounds of banging on the door and Ruby attempting to control the crowd drew Regina to the window.

She peered out the window at the townspeople that were slow to follow Emma’s order. With a sigh that became more of a moan, she turned in Emma’s direction. “You know what, I’ll be back. I just need – I don’t know what I need, but I’ll be in my bedroom.”

“Rest and I’ll see what I can find,” Emma agreed much too easily.

She needed Regina’s help, but she also needed space to come to terms with what was happening to her, and the scent that clung to Regina only seemed to awaken things caged within Emma that she didn’t understand. It pained her to watch Regina walk away, and she found herself blindly following after her—or at least, she had been following until the battering on the door dragged her attention back to the issue at hand.


Whatever was going on obviously made people more aggressive and less willing to follow direction. Robin led the mob, and shoved Ruby out of his way with a total disregard for where she would land in the bushes.

Wrenching the door open hard enough to rattle the hinges, Emma drew her clenched fist back and launched it at Robin’s face. It connected solidly with a resounding crack that sent him staggering down two steps.

“‘My face! You’ve broken something,” Robin whimpered through his hand, blood dripping from his nose in a satisfying, steady flow.

“You’re goddamn right I did,” Emma growled, marching out of the house towards him. He had the sense to scuttle backwards, the rest of the crowd running off as Emma yelled, “Come back here again and I’ll break something else!”

“You handled that nicely,” Ruby remarked, with a faint trace of humor in her tone as she stopped by Emma. “My advice? Magic barricade. Robin’s a lot of things, but he sure isn’t smart.”

Emma laughed, rubbing the bloodied knuckles of her hand to ease the sting. “Not gonna lie, I’ve wanted to do that for a long time. Kinda seized the opportunity when it arrived. You should get back to Granny’s and make sure everyone there is safe. We’ll figure this out. We just need some time.”

“I know the drill. This isn’t our first town crisis.” Ruby shrugged, and before she left, she reiterated seriously, “Put the barrier up. I’ll call you later to check in.”

Emma nodded and slipped back inside with a pained wince.

Whatever was happening, it hurt, and it was getting worse. Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to focus and channeled the fierce desire to protect Regina. Magic unfurled from her, shimmering and warm as it surrounded the property and shielded them from the rest of the town.

“Did you just deck Robin?” Regina called from the top of the staircase, her brows furrowed as she stuck out her chin in askance. She started to walk down the stairs and then paused two steps from the bottom. Her face flushed as she yanked up her blouse, which had fallen down far enough to reveal a brief flash of swollen nipple.

Emma struggled to keep her eyes on Regina’s face, especially after she saw something she absolutely shouldn’t have.

“Emma, what is going on?” Regina asked.

“Yeah, I broke his face.”


Emma’s belated, blunt response did nothing to stop the pride she felt as she stood before Regina, as unfounded and unwarranted as it was to feel like that. The second question, though – that helped to clear the fog of her mind, and she frowned, the corners of her mouth tugging downward as she raised her shoulders. “Whale called this hysteria and I’m uhhh — l’m starting to grasp why.”

The thick scents radiating from Emma had a simultaneously intoxicating and weakening effect on Regina, and she stumbled in her heels as she tried to take the last two steps.

Emma caught her before she twisted an ankle and gently lifted her up.

It seemed to tax Regina to be in close proximity to Emma, and she whined, soft and throaty from the physical contact.

“I should have stayed upstairs. My body is succumbing to this sickness. Everyone has needs of course, but this is different. Do you feel different?” Regina paused, raking her eyes over Emma and then whispered harshly, “It’s like… an energy, an urge to… to engage in se — certain pleasurable activities  – but this state I’m in…  it’s like I’ll never have fulfillment. Like nothing will ever be enough to soothe this ache—”

It seemed to cause her discomfort to withdraw from Emma, especially with the way Emma stared hard at her, so lustfully and curiously.

“I’m going to be useless to you like this,” Regina grunted out in aggravation. “I have to get myself back upstairs and into bed. Maybe all of this will pass if I rest, and then we can work together like we always do.”

Every short breath Emma took only enhanced the strange and painful throb at her crotch.

Fear gripped Emma, and she stepped back with a wince, covering herself as she doubled over for a moment. “I don’t know. This is bad, Regina.” She hissed through clenched teeth, feeling a bulge that had no right being there. The panic that rose up felt suffocating and she straightened up, refusing to acknowledge the changes as she persisted, “This isn’t just some kind of virus. It must be magic, or something. Right? It’s not from here, and the way everyone else is acting, it’s not from the Enchanted Forest either, but if it’s magic, we can reverse it. We always find a way.”

Emma clung to that hope as she moved in to place her hand on Regina’s arm. “I’ll help you back to your room and then I’m going to go through all the spell books. If I find something I’ll bring it to you.”

She ushered Regina up the stairs and along the hallway with urgency. Regina moved helplessly, letting Emma guide her by the arm. As they reached her bedroom, she pouted pathetically and all but fell on the mattress.

Eye level with Emma’s zipper, Regina took a long moment to ogle the thick length hidden underneath the pair of jeans. Emma’s aroma affected her with dizzying potency and her hands appeared to twitch with the impulse to reach out and grab the unexpected bulge. In the end, Regina’s better sense clearly prevailed.

Their dynamic had always been intense and charged with fire from the beginning, but over the years, as Emma became more aware of their feelings, the nature of their relationship changed. Regina had grown more subdued in their interactions, more sensitive towards Emma.

The strange new feelings in her body made Emma somehow more protective—ready to defend Regina, and yet still reluctant to act on her own extreme attraction.


Emma backed out of the room before she acted on any of the urges that took hold inside of her. They needed information and they needed to break this curse.

The second that Emma entered the living room, her phone started to ring with townspeople informing her about this new disruption in their lives. As sheriff, it was her duty to handle the brawls, escapades and all of the trouble that the town experienced as a result of this strange magic.

Fights began to break out on a daily basis, and the citizens of Storybrooke chipped away at the magical barrier around Regina’s house, all seeking answers and ways to alleviate their discomfort.

Despite the way everyone was suffering, Emma managed to organize the town’s elderly and magically sealed them away with all of the youths in special shelters located within Storybrooke high and primary schools. As far as all of the children knew, this was like any other town emergency and that meant long days spent doing fun activities and playing with friends.

Meanwhile, Ruby took the lead on crowd-control, as her animal side seemed to have an advantage in the face of the odd curse. She coordinated with Belle and Whale, who took it upon themselves to study the issue at the library and hospital.

On the fifth day, Ruby reported back to the group that they would need to meet to discuss what they learned.

“Just phone me,” Regina gritted out when Emma insisted that she attend the meeting. “I can’t leave the house. For some reason, the townspeople keep showing up here. I’m not sure if they expect me to handle their problems, or if I am the problem, given how they’ve all been looking at me. I’m staying in my bedroom. I’ll participate at a distance.”

Emma scheduled the meeting in the town hall for two o’clock, a later time in the day when she assumed both of her parents would be capable of showing up. Since all of this started, they had been practically unreachable.


Snow and Charming were the first to appear at the meeting location and they continued to kiss well after Emma arrived without even noticing her presence.

“Oh!” Snow gasped when Ruby walked into the boardroom. “We were just—preparing for the meeting.”

Ruby smirked and gave Emma a sidelong glance, then greeted Whale and Belle as they showed up.

The other attendees were Grumpy and Blue, who both seemed on edge and angry for their own reasons.


There was an empty seat for Archie, but he must not have gotten the invitation, or might have decided to stay home to cope with his own transformation. Marco and Granny, who normally would have partaken in such counsel discussions, were both declared immune to the problem, and had been sequestered away to help with the children.

In the small space of the conference room, the attendees all took several moments getting accustomed to the wafting smells of each other.

Snow and Charming seemed to be more closed off from the rest somehow, and Ruby also had a less accessible scent—but they all seemed to have an implicit awareness of the pecking order among them, with Emma at the top and Grumpy irritably at the bottom.

“As far as curses go, this is the WORST one we’ve ever faced,” Grumpy spat, flecks of saliva flying in all different directions as he gestured wildly. “It’s like someone gave us all love potions, but it’s not even fun!”

“I’ll be quite honest, I’ve really been enjoying myself,” Whale announced with a gleaming white smile and a smug blink. “There are a lot of fringe benefits to this situation, and I for one know how to take advantage – ”

“Shut up.” Regina cleared her voice to remind everyone she was on the phone. “Let’s just hear your report Whale and then we’ll hear from Belle. Please tell me you have some valuable information to share.”

Whale coughed and straightened up in his seat to present the information he gathered. “While I’ve spent many years now as a medical professional, I’ve never seen anything quite like this. It’s really quite extraordinary the way people have lost their inhibition. They’re either happily partnering up, engaging in carefree sex, or otherwise committing themselves to sad, lonely lives of seclusion.” He emphasized the last option on purpose, making himself louder for the benefit of Regina.


“It seems like this is some kind of hormonal sickness,” Whale continued. “And there are two different types of patients we’ve encountered so far. There are those who have experienced significant anatomical changes, especially surrounding sexual activity. They are the most aggressive and dominant sort. We’ll call them Type A. Then there are others, who may or may not show changes anatomically. They exhibit both sexually dominate and submissive behavior. We’ll call this Type B.”

“We can refer to them as Alphas and Betas,” Belle chimed in and lifted a big book onto the table. “I believe this is what’s affecting all of the people in Storybrooke. I’m not sure how or why it’s happening, but I’m almost certain that what this book describes is what we’re experiencing here. There are very specific roles that each person takes on in their romantic encounters. They’re based on their hormone profile. Whale and I have been working together to chronicle this issue, and so far we’ve been able to fit all of our patients into these two categories. There is a third type, the Omega, which potently attracts both Alphas and Betas.  Fortunately no one in town seems to fit that profile.”

Emma’s jaw tensed imperceptibly and she felt Ruby’s eyes on her. The rest of them seemed oblivious to what was glaringly obvious to both of them, and the silence on the other end of the phone lingered.

“Yeah about that,” Ruby piped up, offering an apologetic glance to Emma. “There is one person in town that I’ve encountered that has a different scent.”

“There is?” Snow asked, her face suspiciously flushed as she leaned into David.

“Can you guys sit in opposite seats or something,” Emma suddenly snapped, her voice thunderous as she glared at her parents. “We’re trying to have a meeting, not an orgy, and I shouldn’t have to say that because I’m your daughter.”

David cleared his throat and untangled himself from Snow with a properly chastised look. “Sorry everyone. We’re uhm—we’re coping the best we can.”

“Yeah we can all see that.” Grumpy spat out bitterly, folding his arms with a glower to the happy couple.

Belle smirked, her eyes catching Ruby’s as she suppressed the urge to laugh.

“You said you found someone you think is an omega?” Belle prompted to get them back on track.

Ruby confirmed with a serious nod. “I know she’s an omega. I could smell it the first day and I haven’t caught the scent on anyone else.”

“Well, who is it?” Whale’s excitement was palpable, and he shrugged when Emma glared angrily at him. “Scientific curiosity,” he added, far too late.


Emma could see Ruby preparing to say who it was, and jumped in hurriedly with a bark of, “Wait. What’s the difference between this one and the others? We need to know that first.”

Ruby lowered her head with a smirk but stayed silent as Belle wet her lips and nervously tapped at the pages of the book.

“Well?” Emma asked impatiently.

Belle flipped the book around so that Ruby and Emma could see. The pictures seemed clinical enough, but revealed a depiction of a sexual act: a massive swollen erection trapped within the tight space of an omega’s cunt, the tip firmly lodged against the cervix.

“Along with the anatomical changes that Dr. Whale has noted, many couples are experiencing this,” Belle quietly divulged. “According to the book, it’s called knotting. If this occurs during sex, the couples can’t separate until the alpha’s swelling subsides. There’s even been one case that lasted over an hour.”

Blushing furiously, Belle pulled the book back and closed it before Snow saw the images. “It is standard for betas to experience heats, or weeks during which their scent is much more sexually alluring. While this is going on, the Betas are especially fertile. Alphas and even other Betas can become aggressive in competing over the fertile betas. But an Omegahas a much more tempting scent. They’re considered more sexually desirable for a number of reasons. For alphas and more dominant Betas, sleeping with an Omega would grant an almost divine pleasure. Knotting with an Omega could last hours. The book gives more details if you’d like to borrow it. But if there was an Omega in this town, the Alphas and Betas would pursue that person. We might even have riots in the streets. I truly doubt—”

A loud crash came from the speakerphone and Regina shouted furiously, “Someone just broke my window! Emma!”

“Regina!” Emma called frantically, already on her feet. More smashing echoed through the line and Emma reacted instinctively. Her magic billowed out and swallowed up everyone at the table, relocating them to Regina’s garden in an instant.

Emma stumbled, disoriented by the overwhelming scent in the air, and she groaned as her body responded. The blood in her veins scorched through her like liquid fire and her senses seemed heightened. Regina was like a drug and everyone could feel the effects.

“David…oh my goodness...” Snow exhaled, her jaw going slack as she turned to her husband.

“I feel it,” David muttered, his voice thick with horror and his hands shaking. “God, do I feel it.”

Belle sucked in a stuttered breath and reached out to clutch Ruby for support. “This is beyond… it’s so...strong.” A slow, dawning horror fell across her features as she took in their surroundings and she gasped, “It’s Regina. Oh, this must be torture for her!”

“If it’s torture, I can’t think of anyone who deserves it more,” The Blue Fairy sniffed, obviously offended by the arousal that coursed through her own body. She clutched her stomach, her face flushed as she glared at the crowd in Regina’s garden.

“We don’t have time for this. Stop them!” Emma bellowed and took off up the path where a crowd of merry men were using a branch from one of Regina’s trees as a battering ram against the front door. She snarled, viciously wrenching one man off his feet to throw him on his ass. Swinging wildly, she crunched her fist against faces, and snared shirts to fling all of the men forcefully away. “Put that down! Get the hell away from the mansion!”

“Or what? You can’t throw us all in cells!” A burly man sneered and threw a punch recklessly in her direction.

Emma grabbed his thick wrist, and with a sickening twist and pop, dislocated his shoulder and used his own hand to strike him square across the face. He let out a howl of pain that broke through the frenzied crowd as he dropped to his knees.

“Or that,” Emma bit out sharply.

The man screamed and cradled his injured arm. Several others that witnessed the brutality backed off, their wild eyes avoiding their town leaders.

“Move your ass, Emma! Someone’s in there!” Ruby called out, dragging Tillman across the grass by the back of his shirt while he thrashed wildly.

Emma rushed to the shattered window. She could see feet on the stairs and without thought, rammed her shoulder into the broken door and busted straight through it.

Racing up the stairs two at a time, she barreled straight into Robin before he could reach Regina’s bedroom door, smashing him into the wall.

“Get off. She needs me!” Robin screeched, scrambling to get out from Emma’s vice-like hold.

“Nobody needs you!” Emma growled ferociously, grunting as Robin elbowed her twice in the ribs. She fleetingly lost her grip and he lunged for the door to Regina’s bedroom, but she grabbed him by the belt and they tumbled to the ground roughly.

“Regina!” Robin yelled, grasping at the carpet with his fingers in an attempt to drag himself along. “Regina please, you need me! You know you do! I’m right here!”

“God you’re fucking pathetic.” Emma rammed her point home by gesturing to Regina’s bedroom and hissing, “She knows you’re here. She called me to get rid of you, you fucking idiot.”

She grabbed him by the collar, then ripped the tape off his already damaged nose.

He must have saw the gleam in her eyes because he suddenly whined, “No wait, don’t do th-aaaarhhhhh!”

“Sorry, I can’t hear you over the screaming,” Emma yelled back, tightening her fingers around his nose until fresh blood began to pour from it. She squeezed harder, until he surrendered fully, and then she sneered coldly down at him. “If you, or any of your men come back here, you’ll wish Rumple skinned you all those years ago. Last warning.”

The finality in her tone wasn’t lost on him, and he crawled towards the stairs, all but flinging himself down them to get away from Emma.

Emma finally stood up with wild hair to match her eyes—sweating, panting, and smeared in blood, wearing an aggressive scowl that dared anyone else to ascend the stairs.

The entire small group of town leaders entered the home and gathered in the vestibule to stare up at Emma.

Not a single face showed any emotion other than shellshock from how Emma singlehandedly cleared out the crowd. As Regina appeared behind Emma, they all doubled over and groaned, except for Whale, who did his damnedest to remain upright in her presence.

“This is a real problem,” Whale stated succinctly. “Someone needs to take care of this right away.”

“Not you,” David snorted and smacked his hand into Whale’s chest to prevent him from even attempting to ascend the stairs. “Emma will knock your head off if you go up there, and I won’t stop her if you try it.”

“We have to do something, David,” Snow hissed, focused entirely on their daughter and how she shook from fury and from Regina’s proximity. She glanced meaningfully up at Emma and then stared into her husband’s eyes. “This can’t be allowed to continue.”

“Look at the state of Regina’s home,” Ruby observed, taking stock of all the broken furniture and the trampled lawn outside. “To say nothing of the fact that if a mob assembles, we could fend them off for only so long.”

“This is unnatural,” Blue complained with a pale face and a desirous glance towards Regina. “How do we fight this?”

“As far as I know, there is only one way to solve this problem while we try to bring a greater end to this curse or spell,” Belle nervously considered aloud and clutched her book to her chest. “If we don’t act soon, we’ll have a public crisis on our hands.” She bent down to right the overturned table that usually sat by the front door.

“Regina will need to find a mate,” Belle blurted out and then peered towards the staircase, towards the source of their collective problems.

Regina still wore her light silk night gown, and through the teal fabric that covered her frame like a sheet of water, her breasts begged for Emma’s attention.

“Emma,” Regina breathed raggedly and took a long step towards her, which made her hands tremble enough to force her to immediately back away again. “Thank you for coming.”

If Regina heard the whisperings and plotting that went on down in her foyer, she ignored it. She seemed too overwhelmed by Emma’s presence and retreated from the stairwell back into her bedroom.

Ruby waited until Emma’s labored breathing returned to normal and then she ascended the stairs. “Emma, the consensus downstairs is that this problem would be solved if Regina had a mate. Everyone would still be able to smell Regina, but they wouldn’t be breaking down her door. She needs an alpha. Someone strong. Someone protective.” She waited for some sign that Emma understood her implied suggestion, but Emma was too busy watching Regina’s ass.

Belle braved the stairs next, and the rest of the group followed, half of them hunched over from the strength of their lust.

Grumpy got down on his knees and pressed his palms into his eye sockets. “My Queen, I know I haven’t been a good and loyal follower, but please accept my apologies and go out on a date with me. Christ, I’m so desperate. What am I saying? Someone, please help me! I can’t control myself.”

Regina stared open-mouthed at the group, unable to even respond to Grumpy, and then hurried off to grab her robe so she could shield herself from all of their heated stares.

“I see now. I’m the Omega,” Regina concluded as she fastened the belt on her robe, inspiring a whimper of protest from Whale. “And I’m alone in this. I don’t have a partner.” Her eyes flew to Emma and lingered on her muscular arms and defensive stance. “Given that, how do I stop all of this from affecting how others react to me? There must be a way to suppress it.”

“We really don’t have the resources at our disposal,” Belle softly informed the group. “We could try to concoct some type of suppressant. It might take weeks or months and Regina’s heat could last that long.”

“Why are we talking about suppressants? Regina, there’s an easy answer to this problem,” Whale insisted with a sweeping wave in the direction of the town. “Suitors are lining up at your door. Take your pick. I personally volunteer to help you. There’s still room for you on my roster. How does Thursday sound to you? I’d clear the full day.”

“Not interested,” Regina snapped with a deadly glare and a last ditch glance at Emma. “No, I’d rather endure this than give myself to anyone less than worthy. This is not just an itch I need to scratch. It has to feel right or my body won’t be satisfied. All of my instincts are screaming at me right now, and they all demand something perfect or nothing at all. I need someone who’s heroic and strong. I need someone who can prove they’re deserving.”

Snow screwed her face up in thought and then jumped as an idea must have hit her. “A tournament! We’ll host a tournament. That would give potential suitors the opportunity to show off their strength. The most noble and powerful among them will be your mate!”

Regina pursed her parched lips together and shot a disgusted look at Snow. “I don’t think—”

“—you have the right to decide this?” Blue chimed in, stepping closer into Regina’s radius and sucking in a deep breath that visibly repulsed her. “Because you don’t. You don’t get a say. Your reek is having an impact on everyone’s lives and something needs to be done about you. Snow is being generous by suggesting the tournament. If it was up to me, I’d appoint someone to aid you as soon as possible.”

Regina glowered at the fairy and tiny sparks sizzled at her fingertips, threatening to become full-on magical flame.

“Hey, hey now,” David interrupted, wedging himself between Blue and his daughter, who appeared to be even more menacing than Regina with a fireball. “Our hormones and emotions are getting the best of us right now, but we need to try to be rational. I think Snow has come up with a solid plan, all things considered. Maybe someone will come along and Regina will fall in love.”


David stared for a moment at Emma and cleared his throat. “But… failing that, the tournament could be a great way to find a suitable partner for Regina. I think we can all agree that keeping everyone safe is our top priority here.”

“I can’t believe all of you,” Regina husked softly, not even attempting to hide her hurt. “Of course I want to keep Storybrooke safe, but are we really going to settle on a solution from the Dark Ages? From the Enchanted Forest, where women had fewer rights? We’re all better than that.”

“Are we, though?” Whale questioned with a shrug. He loosened his doctor’s coat and slipped a hand into his pocket for his business card.

Regina blocked him from handing it off to her.

“Fine, we’ll do the tournament,” Regina decided in an instant as Emma continued to remain silent. “Schedule it for tomorrow, if you must, to keep everyone happy.” She eyed Blue hatefully and then stormed back into her bedroom, dramatically slamming the door behind her.

It was the slam of the door, and the very mild difference in intensity that broke the trance-like state Emma had been stuck in. The tendons in her neck strained as she sucked in air greedily, her heart thundering in her chest so hard that she could barely make a word out. Every muscle in her body felt as though it were straining.

Adrenaline pulsed like battery acid through Emma’s system and her nerves burned from it. She stood awkwardly, unwilling to acknowledge her raging hard-on that somehow felt much larger, judging by the amount of pain she experienced from having it restricted in such tight fitting jeans.

For the most part everyone kept their eyes off of each other, but she caught Whale eyeing her up only to frown down at his own pants.

“So now what?” Grumpy asked, mortified at his own actions. “What do we do?”

Belatedly, all the talk of a tournament began to hit Emma and she felt the rage from earlier boiling up inside her. “Do what you do best and get out there and yell about it.” Her tone was nothing short of acerbic as she turned to Blue, “Go with him since you like to run your mouth. Inform the masses that you’re just as barbaric here as you were in the Enchanted Forest.”

“Emma,” Snow began, but that was as far as she got.

“The rest of you can surround the perimeter and get ready to be on watch for the rest of the night. With the barrier down, I’m not risking another ambush.”

Whale looked as though he was about to protest, then thought better of it. “And while we’re out there waiting to be jumped, where are you going to be?”

“Right here guarding Regina’s door,” Emma snapped. “So if anyone gets past you, I can stop them.”

Belle shared a look with Ruby, and then they both turned to the others and ushered them back down the stairs. “Okay you heard the Sheriff, you two spread the word and the rest of us will surround the property.”

When they were gone, Emma fell back against the wall with a shaky breath. This was a nightmare. Nobody who showed up to compete would be worthy of Regina, and she deserved a hell of a lot better than some moron who thought they could win her as a prize.


[Let me know if you like this and want to read the other parts].