Blindfolds and Boldness

Aralia pulled the shutters of the windows closed to keep the smell in. It had happened. The Omega heat. She had always known she was going to be one, despite her friends and family insisting that she had no way of knowing until she came of age. They told her that she was being a silly worry wart, that omegas are exceedingly rare, and that there hadn’t been an Omega born to the family for many generations. For the last 10 years or so she had been filled with a sense of foreboding and fear. Being hyperaware of her surroundings at all times, she always had a back-up plan in her head. Though truth be told, there would be nothing that she could do should the heat hit her while she was in the middle of a large crowd. Still, she had made preparations “just in case”.
She was blessedly lucky that she was at home, and alone when it happened. Her father and brother were at the tavern taking in a delivery of mead. Her mother was out shopping. She knew it would not be long before her overwhelming scent leaked out of the house to the noses of her neighbors. It was many of her alpha neighbors that she feared being claimed by. For all the talk about only the most worthy alphas claiming omegas, the truth is luck and proximity are just as important factors as brute strength. The men in this part of the city are of the low born and less civilized variety, and Aralia did have aspirations to be more than just a tavern wench.
The best warriors, the wealthiest and most successful nobles always gather this time of day at the sparing arena to hone their fighting skills and hobnob with the royal family. Omegas have no say in who will be their alpha. They are fought over like a prize, a piece of property. In this way Aralia knows that ultimately she has no control over this situation. By the end of the day today, her maidenhead will be taken by a complete stranger, she will be his property, and she will be pregnant. However, this does not stop Aralia from trying to at least sway the odds in her favor.
Quickly Aralia bathes her body, and puts braids in her hair. She goes to her hope chest and pulls out the simple white gown that was supposed to be her wedding dress. This will be her only chance to wear it as Omegas don’t wear white for bonding ceremonies. White wedding dresses are reserved for virginal non-omega brides. Omegas wear a deep red burgundy color to formal bonding ceremonies, which always take place after the claim has been made and the omega is already beset with a child. Thinking on it now, she did not understand what the point was of even having a formal bonding ceremony. Her long dark brown (almost black) hair reaches her waist. Her crystal blue eyes are stark and stunning. She looks exotic for an Aesir, with her oval face, milky skin, and Rose petal lips. She is tall with pleasing curves. Quite simply, a remarkable beauty worthy of a noble.
She has to hurry. Voices outside her home tell her that her scent is starting to attract attention. She quickly stuffs plugs into her ears to deafen herself. Omegas cannot refuse an order from an Alpha, but technically she is not disobeying if she can’t hear them. The last thing she wants to happen is to hear someone order her to stop running. She ties a sash around her waist. She will need this later. She runs through the breezeway between her home and the stall where her horse is located, and she is spotted. Damn! No time to saddle up. Several lusty alphas shout and point at the stable as she runs by. There is a crowd forming in the street.
As she feared, she recognizes many of the men from her street, several of whom she knew to be possessive, abusive drunkards that would make her life a living hell if any one of them claimed her. She dares to hope that she will find someone loving today. She opens the stall for her beautiful brown mare and quickly jumps onto its back. Just then the front doors of the stable burst open to a lustful angry mob and Aralia charges her mare forward.
The crowd is stunned and darts out of the way as they are almost trampled by Aralia and her mare, and within seconds she passes the mob and is flying down the street towards the arena. She doesn’t stop for anything, bulldozing her way through the city streets past people, carts, and various obstacles. It’s only after she has passed them that people catch her scent and realize what she is. An unclaimed Omega in heat is riding through the city streets in broad daylight advertising her scent for every Alpha of Asgard. Though Aralia did not look behind her she can feel the growing crowd chasing after her and is grateful that she can’t hear a thing. Her panic would be overwhelming her now if she could.
The Arena is one of the few places near the palace that doesn’t have guards regularly posted at the entrance, as this is where all the guards and noblemen come to do their training anyway. She rides her horse through the gate leading to the sparing field. It is full today. She pushes the horse to a full gallop, running towards the far end of the field near where the royal box is located. Running headlong into a crowd of alphas would be about the most suicidal and dangerous thing an unclaimed omega can do, practically begging to be gang raped. Unless the royal family is present. Even this though, is a terrible risk, and no guarantee of her safety. But Aralia decided long ago that she would wield what little control she could over her future, even if it backfired badly. She’s in luck, the King, Odin himself is seated in the royal box and Prince Thor is on the field showing off for his father.
She brings her horse to a stop just a few feet away from the prince and jumps off. She smacks her horse’s hindquarter and the beast trots away to feed on some grass. All sparing on the field comes to a dead stop and all eyes are on her. For a moment all is still, as Alphas from all corners of the field slowly gather in a semi-circle around her. The only people behind her are Prince Thor, his sparring partner, and the King. It is in this moment that Aralia takes the sash from about her waist and blindfolds herself. She kneels down to the ground, her white dress billowing out around her, folds her hands into her lap, and waits. She looks like a prisoner about to face a firing squad, minus the lit cigarette dangling from her lips.
The scent in the air is heavy. Notes of honeysuckle, ocean air, lilac, and arousal all mixed together to form that sweet smell that is Aralia. The shock wears off and the crowd of Alphas suddenly start shouting at Aralia and arguing with each other. Every man in the arena is stiff with arousal from her scent. A riot is about to break out.
Thor is amazed. He has never seen an Omega so bold, or stupid, that would willingly bring itself out in the open, so completely vulnerable and exposed. Omegas usually cower in fear until a handful of nearby alphas sniff them out, and then fight each other with the victor claiming the omega. Judging by the size of the crowd, every Alpha in the city has followed her here in the hopes of claiming her.
Thor breathes her scent in deep. She is lovely to behold and her scent is beautiful. But the more Thor breathes in her scent the less he likes it. Thor has had many Omegas throw themselves at him over the years, but none smelled “right” to him. This one was no exception. Being a Prince of Asgard and heir to the throne having many omegas throw themselves at him, and for him to turn them all down; well that was a luxury no other Alpha in the Realm Eternal could boast of. To be honest, he just wasn’t ready to settled down and have children yet. Claiming an Omega would mean exactly that. Her scent was arousing to him but he had learned over the years to control this urge. What he could not control was the hoard of alphas breaking out in fights to claim her. Odin recognizes the danger as well. The entire army of Asgard is about to destroy itself over one little Omega.
Odin comes down from the royal box, raises his staff and pounds it into the ground. The loud noise quiets the crowd and all alphas stop to listen to their king. “This Arena is not big enough to accommodate every Alpha in the city; therefore, only Alphas of noble birth may compete for this Omega. All others must leave. Those of you that remain, will pair off to do battle with each other.”
Aralia’s heart is pounding in her chest. She can neither see nor hear what going on around her. Her remaining senses are heightened and for the first time today she is aware of the growing arousal pooling between her legs. Through the plugs in her ears she can hear the dull roar of the crowd around her. She is surprised no one has laid a hand on her yet. She feels the sweat of her brow trickle into her blindfold. She feels a large thud through the ground behind her. Someone is speaking but she cannot make out what is being said. The roar and commotion around her seems to dissipate somewhat, though she can sense that she is still surrounded by many men. Several minutes goes by and still no one has laid a hand on her. She had expected to be thrown over someone shoulders by now, to have unwanted hands all over her body, for her dress to be ripped from her body. At the very least she would have thought someone would have taken away her blindfold and earplugs by now. None of these things have happened. Yet. Now her sense of smell comes into focus. She can smell the sea of Alphas laid out before her. The smell of blood, sweat, arousal, metal, and all the individual variances for each. The wetness between her legs intensifies and she realizes that when she is finally brought to her feet her dress will be soaked with her desire.
Prince Loki has never seen so many people enter and leave the arena like this before. What is going on? Almost the entire population of the city charges into the arena, only to turn around and leave moments later. Curiosity gets the better of him. Like fish going up stream, Loki makes his way through the crowd towards the other side of the arena where his father and brother will surely be. He hears angry men muttering around him “….damn nobles always get the omegas….I saw her first… she smells like Valhalla...” Ah, an unclaimed Omega in heat. She must be something special to have garnered this much attention.
Aralia’s heart beat starts to slow. Several more minutes have gone by. She can feel men around her fighting, battling. She is tempted to remove her blindfold, curiosity building inside of her. She leaves it in place though, knowing she may not like what she sees. Then something gets her attention. A smell. It is faint at first, far away. Like lemons and sunshine, musk and ice, metal and…..Loving. She moves to stand, her dress sticking to the back of her thighs from her wetness. Her movements stir her scent in the air, doubling its intensity and thickness.
All alphas cease fighting each other and watch. She starts sniffing the air. Gingerly, she walks forward towards the crowd. Normally in this situation the Alphas would start hurling taunts and insults and dirty leers at the omega, but none of them do, knowing they would be wasted on her. Someone moves to remove her blindfold. “Stop!” Shouts Odin. “No one touches her. Leave her be.” Everyone is surprised by this command, including Odin. He has never seen an omega behave like this before. Odin would think her rash and/or insane for purposefully bringing herself to such a dangerous place, if not for the blindfold and ear plugs. She knew exactly what she was doing. Knew how cruel and traumatic her claiming would be, but instead of cowering she came out in the open for all to see. She is brave, this one. Without her blindfold she probably wouldn’t have had the spine to face these people this way. Why doesn’t Thor take an interest in her? She is very beautiful.
Aralia feels the bodies of alphas all around her. She bumps into them as she sniffs the air. One by one ruling out undesirable scents. The beautiful loving one is moving. It was stronger here a moment ago. Following her nose she wades through the warriors. Perhaps it is better this way, Odin muses. She has caught scent of someone SHE wants. Even with all the commoners cleared out, there are still so many nobles vying for her, it would take days to declare a victor.
Loki made his way around the outer edges of the arena towards the back where Odin and Thor are. He sees Thor first. “So what is all this?” “I tell you, Loki, I’ve never seen anything like it. An Omega came riding into the arena, full gallop while in heat. She has earplugs in her ears, and when she got off her horse she blindfolded herself and knelt down.” Says Thor. “Is she insane or just stupid? And where is she now? Is that her in the white? What is she doing?” Says Loki. “I think she caught scent of an alpha she likes.” Thor says. “That ridiculous! Omegas don’t choose their Alphas!” “It would appear that father is letting her.” Says Thor.
Aralia follows the scent until she bumps into the curving wall of the arena. The smell is strongest here. She follows it, feeling a bit lost. Everyone is watching with rapt attention, the arena silent but for the sound of her sniffing the air. She’s getting close. The smell is getting stronger.
Loki watches as the Omega makes her way towards the edge of the arena, sniffing as she goes. As she doubles back towards the front where he and his brother are standing, Loki realizes, she is following the path he took walking into the arena. He can see her fully now, not obscured by the crowds of alphas. He breaks into a cold sweat. Her scent is…overpowering! She does smell like Valhalla, and her beauty and grace! Loki’s breath hitches as she makes her way closer and closer to him, arms slightly outstretched to keep from bumping or tripping into things.
At this moment, Thor takes a couple of steps forward. Loki narrows his eyes at his brother. The big oaf thinks she is coming for him! Aralia walks right into Thor. She breathes in. Loki holds his breathe for a moment. Is it him she wants? Why does he suddenly care? Of course she wants HIM! Even blindfolded, women prefer his brother over him.
Aralia feels leather and metal beneath her palm. An alpha. She breathes him in and….ewww. The scent is reminiscent of old gym socks and lavender mixed with garlic. Her lips curl and nose scrunches in disgust. Definitely not the one she wants. She wonders for a second, if she pushes this one to the side, will he actually move? Is this one about to claim her? She moves to step to the side and walk passed this one, whoever he is.
Loki eyes widen in shock! Never! Never in his entire lifetime has a woman openly displayed disgust for Thor! Thor is shocked as well. He expected she would choose him and he was going to have to embarrass her and turn her down in front of everyone. Even though he did not want her, the alpha in him now feels rage. His ego and wounded pride smoldering. His relief at avoiding an awkward conversation the only thing keeping him in place.
Aralia walks toward Loki, only a few feet behind Thor. The scent she smells is strong now! She is almost there. Loki doesn’t move. Convincing himself this one couldn’t possibly want him. She’s too beautiful, too graceful, and damn it if her smell isn’t the most intoxicating he has ever experienced. Her hands still slightly outstretched, searching, Loki takes one of them and guides it to his chest. For a moment they are still. She leans in a takes a deep breath. Lemons, Lilac, and Loving. She reaches up and pulls off her blindfold.
She blinks for a moment. The brightness of the sun briefly blinding her eyes. Then she sees green. Beautiful green eyes, sculpted cheekbones, and raven hair. His face is both intense and kind. A combination she thought not possible. Loki reaches up and plucks the plugs from her ears and tosses them to the ground.
Thor looks upon them both. They look like matching book ends.
Aralia finally speaks, “Are you my Alpha?”
“It would seem so my lady.”

Notes