Chapter Text
He heard the stairs creak, and he already knew it was her. He'd had plenty of time to memorize the sound of her footsteps.
Her scent preceded her. The reek of salt water that filled the air belowdecks deepened, somehow, filled out with the tang of iron and something floral, darkly sweet and seductive. Abijah let his mouth fall open, breathing in the scent, thick like opium fumes, lingering in the back of his mouth, seeping between his fangs as he finally let out the breath.
Mizu's feet landed on the creaking wooden floor. Her eyes met his through the bars of his cage, wide and pale, like a deer in the sights of a rifle. Then she turned away, walking across the brig as if he wasn't even there.
"Not going to say hello, Little Miss?"
That floral scent of hers, jasmine-deep as midsummer nights, had been slowly growing sweeter these last few days. Oh, the irony - Abijah hadn't even realized she was an omega at first, but there was no mistaking the heavy stink of heat. He could only imagine how much better she'd smell once she shed those dirty rags. The silken softness of her flesh against his, sharp ribs and strong thighs, perfect for digging his fingers into, until violet bruises blossomed over her fragile, porcelain skin.
Of course, she had to be entirely out of his reach, even as that scent of hers stung his nose like needles.
By all rights, she should be throwing herself at him. Omegas in heat were always so easy.
Instead, she barely looked at him as she laid out a blanket on the damp wooden floor and took a seat. "I'll be sleeping in here tonight", she said.
Abijah scoffed. "With whose permission?"
Only teasing, of course - he'd be a liar if he said he didn't enjoy her company.
"My own. I could always share quarters with the sailors, but..." Her voice dropped, almost to a whisper, as she added, "They haven't caught my scent yet, and if they did... I don't want to think about what they might do."
Abijah couldn't stifle the hoarse growl that rose in his throat at the thought of them getting a taste of this sweet creature before he could - something the Little Miss must've taken as a victory, because she finally looked his way, and he saw the flash of fangs in the low evening light as she grinned. "Good. I figured you wouldn't mind."
Brat.
"Oh, I suppose I'll live", Abijah said, playing along with a melodramatic sigh. "Though I'd mind far less if there wasn't this cage door in between us. It's very cramped in here, you see."
"I'm sure it is."
Abijah had expected fire, a sweet, burning venom - to be met with nothing made frustration flash through him, a painful itch deep beneath his skin. To sit face to face with an omega who filled him with want and to get nothing?
He couldn't tell what he wanted to do more - fuck her or kill her.
"You know, you don't smell much like an omega", Abijah said. "Sure don't act like one, either. What is wrong with you?"
There it was - the twitch of her clawed fingers, her narrowed eyes, her lips drawn back in disgust. She looked so pretty when she was mad, Abijah couldn't help but prod her for weak spots, see where her scars lay open and bleeding, all for his amusement.
She was a fascinating little thing. Abijah didn't think he'd ever grow bored of taunting her.
He got to his feet, walking slowly up to the door of his cage, wrapping his fingers around the damp surface of the bars to lean in closer. Mizu's pale eyes were locked on him, and as he halted by the door, she stood up, as if to meet the challenge his gaze posed.
"Let's not play coy, Little Miss", he murmured. "Unlock the cage. Let me show you how a pretty little omega like you should be treated. After all, why else would you come here, to be alone with me, stinkin' of heat?"
For a moment, he really thought she'd do it. Her eyes were wide and wild, her mouth agape, and he swore he could see her lovely pale skin was flushed with need.
It was a funny thing about omegas. Sometimes, their fear and their desire looked just the same.
Then it vanished, all at once, replaced with something icy and hard.
"You just said it. To be alone."
She shot him a final glare before she turned around and returned to the meager blanket pile that passed for her nest, wrapping herself up in it until all he could see was her silhouette, pathetically small where it lay on the floor.
He could pin her down, easy as anything. He wondered how much fight she had in her, at what point she'd realize that he was simply putting her to use for the purpose she'd been made for.
He needed to break her. He wanted to sink his teeth into her neck - maybe to claim her. Maybe to simply not let go, to feel her slowly grow limp as the life bled out of her.
The little minx dared to trigger his rut, leaving him aching, restless, and untouched.
In the privacy of his own mind, Abijah Fowler started to plan.
* * *
The quarters of the tiny ship were cramped and cloying. Mizu couldn't stand them even on a good day. Scents tended to get stuck inside.
No one came down here unless they had to. With Mizu lurking in the brig, the sailors all wordlessly assumed they'd taken on the role of the white devil's guard, and were all too happy to stay out of their way. Mizu let them draw their own conclusions about what they might be doing belowdecks.
Right now - as strange as it was - their nebulous connection to Abijah kept them safe. They doubted it would be the same once they reached their destination, especially with the way they could feel Fowler's eyes digging into the back of their neck.
His scent was repulsive. Whatever he'd once smelled like - if he'd ever been innocent - before turning into the monster Mizu saw before them had been drowned in gunpowder, opium, and the iron tang of blood. Right now, it was overpowering, overwhelming, an impotent and wordless shout, This place is mine, you are mine, and anyone who comes too close will come to regret it.
Pathetic.
As long as he was behind bars. Mizu didn't have any doubt that if he was free, he would've tried to overpower them already.
Mizu wasn't going to reach out. They wouldn't.
But his scent was so familiar - comforting in all the wrong ways. He smelled like the only home Mizu had ever known, and it would be so easy to unlock his cage, bare their neck, and let him do as he pleased to them.
They shifted where they lay so they could bite down on their arm, fangs digging painfully into their skin, refusing to let out the whine that rose in their throat.
Mizu had always known they weren't quite like other omegas, and they were grateful for that. They had never experienced the overwhelming heats they had heard others talk about, the sort that rips you out of your right mind and makes it impossible to think of anything but sex.
That didn't mean Mizu felt nothing.
A certain curiosity, directed at people Mizu wouldn't have spared a second thought otherwise. A restless, wordless, painful hunger. More than anything, a need to be held and loved, to be vulnerable in ways they'd never allowed themself to be. Even when Mizu had been married, they'd been more likely to growl at their husband than let him touch them when he came too close.
They weren't going to reach out now.
They closed their eyes, praying that the sound of the waves outside would wash their traitorous soul clean.