Chapter Text
Ciel Phantomhive did not anticipate that this was where his life would lead him. He kept his hands on his thighs, his face titled downwards. The alpha walked towards him, smirk quirking up the corners of his lips. Ciel didn't have to look up to see that. He knew this truth just as deeply as he knew the birthmark on his lift hip, a small smattering that looked like it could be a constellation if you tilted your head just right. He used to hate that birthmark, he mused. He used to think that it would mark him as ugly, as unusable. As an unsuitable omega.
He had been wrong.
The things that marked him as unsuitable went much deeper than a birthmark that was near constantly hidden under his clothes.
"When we're mated." the alpha was standing in front of him. Ciel forced himself to focus on his shoes. They shone like the Mary Jane's a little girl would wear, he thought. They had that fakey, thin leather look to him. They looked cheap, and he wanted to recoil from them.
"This is how you will greet me every night. On your knees, head down, waiting for me. And if you don't, it's easy enough to alpha command you."
Ciel cringed. That was not the purpose of an alpha command. They were meant to keep an omega out of imminent danger, to protect pups, to keep the nest a safe place. But of course, you couldn't expect an alpha to understand something like that, could you? And the thought of pups made Ciel want to puke. This alpha had made it clear immediately that he expected pups, and he wanted them as soon as it was physically possible. Ciel's heat wasn't going to come fast enough for him.
He was likely to get his way, too. It was no secret that omegas were extremely fertile.
"And remember," the alpha squatted down, caught Ciel's chin and forced him to look up. "If you so much as breathe a word of this to your aunt, you're going to regret it."
"Yes, alpha." he breathed. That was what he wanted to be called, he wanted to be called alpha. He barely met the qualifications, really, Ciel thought. He smell was weak. He didn't have the strength, the muscles, that were so characteristic of alphas. If you didn't catch him just right, it was easy to consider Claude a beta. At least if he was a beta, Ciel would have had a chance.
"Good. You and your money belong to me." He stood up quickly, leaving Ciel. "Release," he murmured, allowing Ciel to stand up. The omega stepped towards him, cheeks red, teeth clenched together. Claude only laughed and put on a mock sad face.
"Things not to your liking, little omega?"
"I'm going to fuck you up." he hissed.
"You wish you could." he straightened his clothes. "Wouldn't want to upset your aunt, would you?"
Ciel wilted at that. His aunt. The only reason he was going through with this. He just glowered as Claude waved and nearly danced his way out of the house. Ciel sank onto the couch and buried his face in his hands. The door opened and Aunt Ann walked in, red hair gleaming, a tired smile on her face.
"Hello, darling."
"Hello, Auntie," he greeted duly.
"Whatever is the matter? You look tired to death. Is it your heat?" she frowned and scurried over to him, his hand to his forehead, scenting the air.
"No," he gently moved her hand from him. "Claude left. He said to give you his best."
"Ah, I see." she smiled knowingly. "Heartsick then, is it? Well, just you go up and lay down for awhile. Things will move fast enough. We meet with the matchmaker tomorrow."
"Why do we have to see the matchmaker?" he groaned as he stood up. "I want to marry him, I already said yes."
"Because the matchmaker is making sure that the marriage contract is secure for both of you. Besides, it's tradition." she smiled at him. "And I know that your parents would want us to keep with tradition."
He just hummed and headed up the stairs to his room. How much longer would this really be his room, he wondered. How much longer would he have a place of his own to fling himself down? With the posters of the bands he liked, with his books in a messy pile on the nightstand? With the blankets and towels and pillows twisted into his nest just so?
Ciel shuddered at the thought of nesting for such an alpha as Claude. He nearly whimpered, that sad, soft omega sound that would send any alpha and most betas scrambling. Such things didn't have the effect he wanted on Claude, though. The first time he'd tried it with him, because he'd wanted the blanket Claude was sitting on, the alpha snarled and stood up, chucking the fabric at him. And then he stepped towards him until the omega was backing himself into a corner.
"Don't you ever think for one second just because my biology demands I give into your puny, pathetic whines that you have any power over me." he growled. "I am in charge. I always will be."
"Y-yes, okay." Ciel gulped. Claude had swung away from him, beaming that sweet smile that he had first shown to Ciel. When their time together was over, Ciel was left wondering if he had imagined the whole thing. It was easy enough to write it off, perhaps it was just something that he didn't like. After all, Ciel had things that he didn't like, and boundaries were a healthy thing.
But those boundaries had spread, and soon he found himself under alpha commands, and subjecting himself to being kissed, and heavy fingers digging into his skin. He supposed, he thought as he burrowed deeper into his nest, that he should be grateful he hadn't been violated. Claude seemed just as interested as he was in keeping his virginity intact. He pulled his favorite blanket over his head, happy that he was able to nest here.
He had the feeling that Claude didn't appreciate nesting, and if he did, it certainly wouldn't be with materials as nice as this. Auntie had spared no expense getting him the materials that he desired. He craved soft blankets to be pulled over his body. For the structure, he liked heavier ones, with pillows and scarves shoved in the holes.
Every omega made a nest a little bit different. Some liked high walls, some liked to have a corner to help form a wall of the nest. Ciel liked his round, and just perfect for him to curl into. He had not considered that eventually he'd have to make a nest big enough for two. Although many omegas only really liked to nest when they were in heat. He liked it all the time, craved the comfort of it.
Likely due to the death of his parents when he was so young, he mused. Still, he didn't see the point in trying to figure it out. He liked to nest, he liked to feel comfortable in a nest. That was really all there was to it.
***
"Well, you look lovely." Auntie Ann was fussing with the jacket he was wearing. Ciel sighed and caught her hands in his. He brought them to his lips, kissed her sweetly.
"You won't have to worry once I'm married."
"Darling, I will always worry about you." she shook her head. "It's my job."
"But it shouldn't be." he argued.
"Maybe you'll understand when you have children." she just sighed and walked him out to the car. She was wearing one of her smarter suits, Ciel thought. He loved the way the red matched her hair. It was hard to find clothes that matched so well, and she did a great job. She was so striking, and every head turned to look at her. It was a shame she was a beta, she would have made a formidable alpha or omega.
"Are you scared, darling?"
"No," he leaned against the window, relishing in the cool of it against his heated skin. He wasn't scared at all. He was resigned. This was his fate, and he would meet it gladly.
"You know you don't have to do this if you don't want to." she glanced at him as she drove them towards the matchmaker's. He just shrugged and sighed. He did have to. He was in too deep now. If he tried and backed out now, if he told the truth, Claude had promised to destroy him. It was either marry Claude and do it soon, or marry no one and live the rest of his life in disgrace.
That wasn't an option. He couldn't do that to Auntie, not after she'd put her whole life on hold to take care of him. Her work at the hospital and taking care of Ciel, that was all that mattered. When she had heard of Claude, how smart and kind he was, she thought he was the perfect match for her beloved nephew. And at first, he had even agreed.
And now he was in too deep to ever get out.
Maybe once the children came, Claude would be satisfied. Or he'd hate them, a tiny voice said in his head. He'd be jealous and mean to the babies, and you'll spend your whole life trying to protect them, and they'll know the truth. And they'll resent you because you failed. They aren't even born yet, and you're already failing them.
"You know that you can have any stipulations you want into the contract." she said as they parked in front of a nondescript building. The window said Matchmaker in peeling gold letters. There were dark drapes at the windows. Nausea built in Ciel's stomach. He climbed out of the car, listening to the loose gravel underneath his sneakers.
He hesitated at the door, glancing back at Aunt Ann, gleaming like a beacon. He opened the door and stepped in. Claude was already sitting there, in one of the rickety looking chairs. The room was so plain, with a long heavy desk, and a curtain separating it from another back room. When he stepped in, Claude jumped up and reached out for him.
"Ah, love, you're here!" his voice sounded so happy, so genuinely pleased that Ciel was there, in that building with him. Like waiting without him had been painful, and now it wasn't.
"Hello," he gave a soft smile. He did like these moments when Claude could be sweet. He sought them out and relished them, horded these moments in his heart. When Claude was cruel, when he was harsh, he would take the moments out and examine them like gemstones, reminding himself why he had fallen in love with him in the first place.
"Sit here, sit here. Hello, Auntie!" he gave Ann a kiss on the cheek, then same next to Ciel, draping his arm around his shoulders. "So good to see you. I can't wait until we can sign then, get it on the road."
"Are you that eager to bond with me?" it caused a fluttering in his heart, his inner omega preened.
"Of course I am. I can't wait until I know that you're all mine forever." his hand tightened on Ciel's shoulders. Icy fingers of fear reached out and wrapped around his heart at roughly the same time. Forever was such a wretchedly long time, when someone thought about it. It was both too long and not nearly long enough, in the right circumstances.
"Phantomhive?" a voice said from behind the curtain. Ciel swallowed and rose, smoothing down his jacket.
"I should go with you!" Claude jumped up.
"Only Phantomhive. I speak with the omega, then the alpha. This is the way that things are done."
"Fine," Claude seemed to melt, but that look in his eye told the omega how unhappy he was. He tried to give a kind smile, only met with a glare, and walked back behind the curtain.