Chapter Text
Twilight was lucky.
He was aware luck played a huge role in his efficiency as a spy.
In a world where most people were imprisoned by the biologic lottery of being Alpha, Beta or Omega, he’d gotten a golden ticket to freedom: he was a rare kind of human called Shifter.
Twilight was neither and was all. He could switch and release the necessary hormones to appear Alpha, Beta or Omega according to his target’s needs. Thanks to this, he was successful in plenty of missions.
It was also the reason why he was recruited by WISE as a young man. Someone with that special ability was meant to be a spy.
On the outside, Twilight was every bit of an Alpha—handsome, tall, strong, driven, and well-endowed in other parts of his body.
And if he was honest with himself, even though he could switch, he always felt more comfortable as Alpha. The spy thought maybe that’s what he was meant to be, but in the end nature couldn’t decide.
One of the best advantages was that Twilight had never experienced a rut. He considered himself lucky. He’d seen what happened to Alpha men during a rut and he didn’t envy them.
For him, it was strangely fascinating seeing Alphas and Omegas succumb to the biological imperative to breed. During his career as a spy, he’d seen people drop everything to go mate as if it was a matter of life and death.
It was almost comical. Had people so little control over their actions? Was the need for sex that pressing?
Hopefully, he would never know.
He’d had sex plenty of times as part of his work, but since he’d never experienced a rut, he’d never claimed or mated with anyone. That also meant he had never had a partner.
Twilight thought about this while looking at the information Franky had stolen from City Hall. He was in desperate need of a fake wife for the interview at Eden.
That night he couldn’t sleep but that was nothing new. He suffered from severe insomnia, and it only aggravated during important missions like this one.
Yet, that night a very different thought invaded his mind and filled him with something strangely similar to longing:
How would it be to have a true mate?
It was the night before he met Yor.
***
Yor considered herself lucky she was a Beta.
Most people thought being a Beta was a curse; Betas were rare and, in most cases sentenced to be alone, without a true match for the rest of their lives. Betas lacked the ability to attract Alphas or Omegas, and only paired with other Betas (if they could find one). Nevertheless, for Yor it had been a blessing. It had allowed her to work without having to worry about going into a heat or a rut.
Most assassins at the Garden were Beta, like her. It was easier to train them, scentless while on the job, and deadly efficient.
However, being a Beta had its downsides. In addition to people ostracizing and discriminating Betas, they were also seen as untrustworthy. And the most alarming part…
“Did you know an unmarried Beta woman is more likely to get arrested by the SSS under suspicion of being a spy? Camilla told Yor that morning.
The words of her co-worker weighed heavily on her. There was no need for them to say anything else. It was obvious they suspected her, and it was only a matter of time before they called the SSS.
Yor needed a date for Camilla’s party. It was the only way she would be able to appease her and her gang.
“What am I going to do?” she thought on her way home after an assignment.
It wasn’t just that.
Yor was grateful for having this job and being able to provide for his brother when their parents died.
Nevertheless, on days like this, when the moon shined so bright in the middle of the night, she couldn’t help wondering how it would be to have someone to rely on so completely as those Alpha/Omega couples.
Maybe, deep down inside, her heart was full of longing.
It was the night before she met Loid.
***
A few months later…
Today had been a nightmare.
The situation with the mole, the confrontation with the SSS—everything played on repeat in his mind. For a moment, he even thought Operation Strix was doomed, and he wouldn’t be able to return to his family.
But there he was, against all odds, by the door of his apartment.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Twilight hadn’t forgotten for a minute that fight he had with Yor earlier that day. On top of the stress of the urgent mission, he had also carried the stress of seeing his wife unhappy.
So, the nightmarish day wasn’t over, after all. He still had to deal with his marital problems.
Twilight slowly put the keys in the lock. He was so tired.
It was late. With a little luck maybe Yor was already asleep, and he could deal with this situation in the morning.
“Hi Loid!”
No such luck.
“Hi Yor, I’m home,” he said tiredly.
She was in the kitchen, making a sandwich. A quick observation of her told him she didn’t seem angry.
Good.
“How was work?” she asked, putting more things into her sandwich.
“Tough,” that’s all he could manage to say.
“Sorry to hear that,” she answered back. “You look exhausted.”
He barely made it to a chair in the dining room. Twilight was not sure he would be able to get up.
“Have you eaten anything?” she asked. “I can make you a sandwich.”
His stomach growled right at that moment.
“Would you? I’d really appreciate it,” he replied. “I haven’t eaten all day.”
“Absolutely!” she cheered. “Coming right up.”
Twilight couldn’t help smiling and felt relief. He was so hungry, but he didn’t have the energy to make anything.
The spy grabbed that sandwich with trembling hands; as if he hadn’t eaten for a whole week.
He knew Yor couldn’t cook to save her life, but that sandwich was the most delicious thing he’d ever eaten. Maybe he was just that hungry.
“Mmmmm!” he couldn’t help making that noise. “Yor, what did you put in this sandwich? It’s delicious!”
“Pickles!” she beamed, amazed at her husband’s praise.
“From now on, I’m putting pickles on everything,” he joked and gave the sandwich another hearty bite.
Both laughed.
He felt much better and not dead tired anymore.
“So, this morning…” he began cleaning his mouth with a napkin. “Are you really that unhappy here?”
Somehow it hurt to ask her that.
Yor took a second to respond. Her head moved gently to the side and her eyes sweetened.
“No, I’m actually very happy here,” her voice was so soft when she said that.
Twilight felt confused.
“Then, what happened, Yor?”
His wife let out a defeated sigh and proceeded to tell him everything about her outing with the office girls the night before.
The spy listened half horrified, half amused the tale of female bonding through gripes with their partners.
As it turned out, Yor’s only gripe was that she didn’t have any gripes. Twilight wanted to cry from relief. This issue was eating him away during his urgent mission.
“I think they’re right. This isn’t normal,” she said. “You do too much.”
“Huh?” he asked. “What do you mean?”
“Loid, you do everything for us and won’t ask for help or let me contribute to our marriage at all,” she continued. “I feel completely useless.”
So, this was the real gripe.
He made a pause before speaking because he wanted the right words to make Yor understand how important she was for him.
“That’s not true. You’re not useless. You do the most important thing: you’re the one who takes care of Anya,” he told her. “What you said this morning is true. Ever since we got married, I’ve been given work priority and that’s not right, but please take it as a compliment about how much I trust you.”
“You trust me?”
“Yes, with the most important thing for me, my daughter,” he replied. “If I’m able to work so much is because I know Anya is in good hands.”
Her husband liked to pay her compliments often; Yor thought he was just a kind man. Nevertheless, this felt like the highest compliment she had ever received. Loid trusted her with the most precious thing for him.
“And also, I feel at peace knowing that if something ever happens to me, Anya would be taken care of and loved,” he added. “She wouldn’t be alone in the world. She would have you.”
“Don’t say that, please!” Yor begged anguished.
“I’m sorry,” he chuckled. “I didn’t mean to sound so gloomy. I’m just a practical man and I like feeling prepared for anything, even if there’s no danger.”
That was a lie. His life was in constant danger and even if he survived until the end of the mission, Loid Forger had to die at some point.
But he didn’t want to think about that.
Not today…
“In any case, I’m glad things are okay between us,” he smiled at her genuinely.
“Me too, but, Loid,” she called again. “I don’t want to feel useless in this marriage,” she declared. “You said you trusted me with your most precious thing, can you trust me to help you when you need it?”
He smiled.
“It’s a tough request. I’m so used to doing everything on my own,” he admitted. “But I’ll try my best to ask you for help.”
Yor smiled triumphantly. Her smile was so sunny.
And he was lucky to have her as his wife. Yor was the perfect partner and the perfect wife for Operation Strix. She was a Beta, which meant she didn’t have heat periods.
Without ruts or heats, this marriage could remain fake without any problems.
They both got up to take the dirty dishes to the kitchen. While washing them side by side, a thought popped into Twilight’s mind.
“Yor?”
“Hrmm?”
“Last night you kept saying the word ‘kish’. What does that mean?”
Yor’s face suddenly turned bright red.
“Well, last night, the conversation with the girls somehow shifted into other things,” she mumbled. “They think our marriage is a…what did they say? Oh yes, a never-ending love fest and that I can’t wait to get home to smear my lips all over you.”
By then, they had finished washing the dishes and were now drying them. As soon as those words came out of Yor’s mouth, they stared at each other and immediately started laughing.
It was simply ridiculous, but it also spoke volumes about how genuine their marriage seemed to others.
“At the end, they even tried to convince me to give you a welcome home kiss by saying it was the most normal thing to do,” she kept talking and laughing. “And when I got home, I was so drunk and so confused that I somehow thought you were going to kiss me.”
That would explain her behavior the night before.
“Oh gosh, Yor! I would never do such a thing without your consent,” he reassured her.
Twilight felt so relieved they had completely cleared up this dumb misunderstanding about gripes and welcome home kisses. Next time Yor went out with his friends, he’d be prepared instead of making assumptions.
Yor was still giggling while putting the dishes away.
But then, Twilight thought about something kind of serious. This wasn’t the first time someone brought up that issue.
Everyone in Yor’s life knew she was a Beta and Betas rarely married people other than Betas. The usual pair was Alpha/Omega. An Alpha/Beta pair was very rare and the only reason why it even happened was love.
That’s why Yor’s co-workers thought their marriage was a never-ending lovefest. They probably thought they were crazy about each other.
“Yor?” he called again. “About that welcome home kiss… I think we should do it.”
Yor almost dropped the cup she was holding.
“Whaaa-what di-did you say?” she stuttered.
“Don’t be alarmed,” he started. “Of course, we won’t do anything you don’t want to, but I’d like you to at least think about it.”
Yor was squeezing one of the teacups and he could see her knuckles were white.
“This isn’t the first time someone brings up the kissing issue,” he stated. “Yuri and now your friends have mentioned it,” he continued. “At some point, probably someone will mention it while we’re together in public and I think it’s better to be prepared.”
So far, they had been able to fool everyone, but they also didn’t go out a lot as a couple. Twilight thought about the near future, when they had to attend Eden events together.
“Loid, I don’t know…”
“Maybe we should practice,” he suggested. “The way I see it, it’s better to do it in a controlled environment the first few times. That way, if something goes wrong, we can correct it.”
Yor was still holding on to the teacup, thinking about Loid’s words.
“People see it as a part of a normal marriage,” he continued. “And if for some reason, we’re in that situation and things end up like they did yesterday…”
“Everyone would know our marriage is a sham,” Yor completed.
He was right, of course. Kissing was part of a normal marriage.
She put the teacup down and made two fists, full of determination. “Okay, let’s do it!”
They were still in the kitchen. They had already put all the clean dishes away and had their hands free.
Twilight was thinking about the best way to help his wife remain calm during this odd exercise. If this was a good old-fashioned honeytrap, all he had to do was release an Alpha or Omega scent depending on his target. But Yor was a Beta, so even if he did that, she wouldn’t be able to perceive it. Maybe he could use a different method with her—a more honest approach.
“Okay, the thing with welcome home kisses is that they’re easy, quick, and done almost automatically,” he explained.
Sure, for Twilight there was nothing to it, but for his wife, it was as if he had asked her to climb Mount Everest while hopping on one foot. Just by listening to his explanation, Yor was about to hyperventilate and if this continued, it would probably end up with him flying out the balcony if he even tried to get his lips near hers.
“But, we don’t have to start with a welcome home kiss on the lips right away,” he reassured her. “We can build up to it.”
Yor sighed relieved. A kiss on the lips was too advanced for her.
“Give me your hand,” he requested.
Yor offered him her hand not sure what was going to happen.
“I’m going to kiss your hand,” he warned her. “Is that okay?”
Yor blushed but nodded.
Her husband brought her hand to his lips and gave her a tiny kiss.
She didn’t hit him.
Great.
“See? Was that bad?” he asked calmly.
“No, it wasn’t” Yor sounded relieved.
“Shall we keep going?” he suggested. “How about I kiss your forehead now? Would that be okay?”
Yor’s face was once again red, but she nodded. He hated pushing her like this, but it needed to be done for the mission, of course.
He leaned towards her, brushed some hair off her forehead and placed a chaste kiss on her. Her skin was soft.
“All done!” he beamed as if instead of a kiss, he had put on a band-aid. “How are you feeling?”
Yor let out a big breath. “I think I’m okay.”
“Great!” he told her. “We’re halfway there. Do you want to keep going?”
“Yes, before I lose all my courage,” she determined.
“For the next one I’m going to kiss your nose,” he announced. “May I touch your face to do that?”
Yor hesitated and, for a second, Twilight thought kissing practice was done. Maybe they would manage to fool people with a forehead kiss—not the optimal choice, but still acceptable.
But then Yor nodded while letting out a tiny whimper.
“I’ll be very quick, but if at some point you feel uncomfortable, let me know,” he told her.
Yor nodded briefly before he gently grabbed her face. He felt her flinch (just a little), before he kissed her nose.
“You’re doing great!” he encouraged her.
Never mind she looked like she was about to combust. Maybe he was pushing her too hard.
“All right let’s finish this!” she said.
That was a surprising statement, but Yor seemed determined to get to the end.
“Are you sure?” he asked. “We don’t have to do anything you don’t feel comfortable with.”
It was strange for him to consider other people’s comfort and feelings when a mission was a stake, but in this case…
“Loid, I want to stay married to you,” she told him and, despite the furious blushing on her face, he could also see the emotion in her eyes. “I want this. If this is what I need to do for our family to stay together, then that’s what I’ll do.”
“Yor…” he smiled at her genuinely and without announcing what he was about to do, he gently put both hands on each side of her face, pulled her towards him, and pressed his lips on hers.
It was over in a second, but he did have time to close his eyes.
When he pulled away from her, he expected her to be a blushing mess, but he was wrong.
Yor was smiling big.
“I did it!!” she beamed so full of joy. “We had a welcome home kiss, and I didn’t hit you!”
He, on the other hand, felt like his face was burning all the way to his ears.
“You did great, Yor!” he smiled, desperate to hide his blush.
“Do you want to try again?” she asked full of confidence and enthusiasm. “I’ll kiss you this time.”
“Sure, why not?” he chuckled.
“Give me your hand,” she asked.
“You don’t have to kiss my hand, Yor,” he clarified. “We could just…”
But Yor had already taken his hand and in a quick move placed her lips on it.
It felt amazing…
“Now, I’m going to kiss your forehead,” she announced as if she was following some steps.
His wife stood on her tiptoes to reach his forehead, and just kissed him.
Her lips were warm…
That did not help his growing blush.
“I’m going to kiss your nose next,” she told him smiling.
When he felt her lips on his nose it tickled and he couldn’t help giggling.
Yor smiled and giggled when she heard him and for a moment, they just looked at each other.
A kiss on the lips was next.
“Yor?” he called before she kissed him. “I also want our family to stay together. I want to be married to you.”
Her eyes filled with emotion when he said that. And when she grabbed his face, he felt himself trembling, as if something big was about to happen.
Yor pressed her lips against his, just like he had done, but somehow it felt different; maybe because this time she was the one who kissed him.
They both closed their eyes for a moment. The kiss was just as brief as the first one, but this time, when it was over, they stayed looking into each other’s eyes for what seemed a long time. Twilight almost felt intoxicated. She smelled so good.
He couldn’t help rubbing his nose with hers in a playful way before finally separating.
“I think we can consider this kissing practice very successful,” he assessed. “What do you think?”
“I feel confident I can give you a welcome kiss if it’s necessary,” she smiled. “Thank you…I’m glad it was you.”
It was after midnight, so they just went to bed.
Alone in his room, Twilight kept feeling the sensation of Yor’s lips on his.
“I’m glad it was you too,” he said to no one while thinking about his wife.