Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Izzy feels like he’s dying. His hands and fingers and even the toy he’s dug out of a bin at the back of his bed have done absolutely nothing to help the heat and desperation rolling through him. He’s sobbing, desperate, his mind chanting alpha, alpha, please . He knows he must smell so strongly that the entire crew can tell what’s happening. They’re not going to touch him, though. Not with Blackbeard like this.

Izzy doesn’t know why Ed hasn’t come out of his room since Izzy started smelling of heat, but he can make a guess. With how strongly he smells, how hard this heat had come on—it makes sense, it’s been ages —Ed must really not want him to be able to ignore it.

The crew are understanding enough. They let him lock himself away, manage the ship even as Ed is avoiding the deck as well. Izzy keeps thinking Ed’s going to show up. He knows they haven’t been close. He knows that what Ed did to him isn’t what an alpha is supposed to do to his omega. He still thinks Ed’s going to come and help him. He has to, right? Izzy is Ed’s. He’s got the wounded foot to prove it, even if his bonding mark faded ages back. Ed can do anything he wants to Izzy, forever.

Maybe he wants Izzy to suffer his heat alone. 

The thought tears another wretched sob from him. He wants to be good, needs to be good. Even if Ed doesn’t want him. He hasn’t been given permission to fuck anyone else. He’s spent his heat entirely alone before, albeit as a punishment ages ago when he was much younger and more resilient. But, he can handle this.

It takes another few hours of sobbing, desperate humping, fingering, and wanking, before he breaks. He can’t smell anything aside from his own slick, his own desperate, pleading, scent. It must be driving the alphas on deck mad. They must want to come fuck him so bad, to fill him, to knot him. God, Izzy needs to be knotted, he needs it more than air. 

He’s nearly run out of tears, his throat scratchy and dry, but he still sobs as he bucks his hips, desperately chasing any sort of relief. Nothing he does to himself feels good. At best, it relieves him slightly of the terrible sick feeling. He can’t do this. He’s not young enough anymore. He’s going to pass out. His heat is never going to end.

His legs are wobbly as he tries to pull himself out of bed, his thighs sticky with his slick. He takes a step toward the door and takes in a slow breath through his nose. Beneath the heavy scent of his own heat he manages to get a whiff of another familiar scent, sweet and smoky and alpha. Ivan. Just outside his door. He practically falls through the door frame, heat-addled brain unbothered by his nakedness. As soon as he opens the door he gets a proper smell of and look at both Ivan and Fang, standing outside his room, arms crossed and backs turned to it as though guarding him. He wonders if they’re doing it to protect him, or if they’re afraid of what Ed will do if they let anyone touch him. It looks like all the other alphas are off deck, a skeleton beta crew manning the wheel and sails.

“Oh, fuck, Izzy,” Fang hisses, turning to see him. “You need to get back in there.”

Izzy sobs and collapses against Fang’s chest, nearly falling to the deck. Fang catches him. 

“Help me,” Izzy whines. “Alpha, please, please.”

“Izzy…” Fang starts.

“We can’t just let him keep going at it alone,” Ivan whispers.

“Blackbeard will fucking kill us,” Fang whispers back.

“Well, if he wanted to fuck his omega he would’ve by now, wouldn’t he? We can’t just let him suffer.”

Izzy would resent the way he’s being spoken about as though he’s not there, were he anywhere close to his right mind. He leans in and scents Fang, who pulls away, and Izzy makes a soft, devastated sound. Then he’s being tugged into Ivan’s arms and scented. He knows he must immediately smell pleased, relaxing slightly at an alpha’s comforting scent finally surrounding him. 

“Oh, hell,” Fang mumbles. “At least get him back inside, could you?”

Izzy’s already grinding up against Ivan, shoving at his trousers. The only thing keeping him standing on his wobbly legs is Ivan’s arms around him. His slick is leaking down his legs. “Can’t move. Can’t—please. Oh fuck , please,” Izzy whisper-cries. “Help me,” he whines, pressing his crotch forward against Ivan again.

He can’t control himself, every nerve in his body ablaze with need. He whines loudly in the back of his throat and gasps, clamping a hand over his mouth. 

“Okay,” Fang says, quietly. “Shh, boss, it’s okay,” he soothes. “We’ve got ya. We’ll help make it better.”

Then he’s being lifted into Fang’s arms and carried back into his room. Izzy’s hips buck up toward him as he’s laid back on his sweat and slick soaked sheets, too delirious to be bothered. “Quick, please,” he takes his hand from his mouth to gasp. He moans when Fang dips his fingers down to press against his stiff cock. “Oh fuck. You need to gag me. He’s gonna— fuck —he’s gonna hear.”

“It’s okay, Izzy,” Ivan says. “Gonna get a knot in you real quick. He won’t know a thing.”

In his right mind Izzy would never have believed that. The idea of a knot in him was too fucking good to pass up, though. “Please,” he whines. “Gag,” he adds, when Ivan’s stripped off his trousers and is lining up his cock at Izzy’s slick hole.

“Fuck, hold on, love,” Ivan says. He grabs Izzy’s discarded shirt from the bed and haphazardly ties it around Izzy’s mouth. He gives an experimental whine, shifting his hips toward Ivan again, and is pleased to find it muffled well enough.

Ivan’s sinking into his hole then, and Izzy sobs in relief, sound drowned in the fabric. He sets up a quick pace immediately, which Izzy’s grateful for. Ivan pounds in and out of him, Fang’s hand comes to rest comfortingly on his hip as Ivan reaches to touch his cock, and finally, finally, he’s starting to feel good again.

Then, Izzy hears the door open.

“What the fuck is this?”

Izzy’s blood runs cold. He gasps, breathing in fabric, and looks up at where Ed stands, his face obscured by shadows. Behind him Izzy can see that the alphas have come back above deck and crowded around the room, though they seemed to have dispersed a bit as Ed emerged onto the deck.

Ivan slips out of him. Fang jumps up to attention. Izzy sobs.

“I’m sorry, sir, it’s just—his heat, sir,” Ivan starts, but Ed pulls his gun. He cocks it, pointing it at Ivan. Izzy makes a muffled panicked sound. Ed glances at Izzy, whose face is stained with tears as he watches Ed with wide eyes.

“Why’s he gagged?” Ed asks, voice barely steady.

“He asked for it,” Ivan answers. “Sir.”

Ed reaches over and tugs the gag off, causing Izzy’s head to fall back, bumping against the wall. “You asked to be gagged?” he asks in the calm sort of murmur that Izzy knows to be a warning. He hasn’t taken his aim off Ivan.

“Yes, sir,” Izzy manages to gasp in reply, his voice barely there.

Ed growls. He turns back toward the door and looks out at the deck. “How many of you fucks have lined up to have a go at my omega, then, hm? All of you?” he asks.

“No,” Izzy gasps. “It was just Fang and Ivan. I only asked them, alpha. I begged them.” 

Ed turns around immediately, his dark angry eyes on Izzy now. “You fucking what?” 

“I’m sorry,” he says. “I’m sorry, alpha. I-I’ve been in heat so long. I needed a knot. I’m sorry, sir.”

Ed bites his lip, pacing to the other end of the room and facing the corner. “Fang. Ivan. Get the fuck out.”

Izzy whines, looking over at both of them. They avert their gazes as they leave the room, and Izzy sobs.

“Alpha,” Izzy whines. “I’m so sorry. I’m sorry, sir. I’m sorry. I-I—”

“Shut up,” Ed snaps, and Izzy’s jaw may as well lock itself. He turns back to face Izzy. “Did you think one of them could fuck you better than I can?” he asks.

Izzy can’t answer, just whines high in his throat and bucks his hips at the suggestion of being fucked. He’d been so close to being satisfied, filled with Ivan’s knot. Now he feels more desperate than ever. He looks for the bulge in Ed’s trousers, shifts himself forward on the bed, pushes the need and desperation into his scent. “Please,” he manages to whimper.

Ed laughs coldly as he comes back over to the bed. “Yeah, now you fucking want me, eh?” he mutters, starting to undo his belt.

“Alpha,” Izzy sobs pathetically. Of course he wants Ed. He always wants Ed. He’s wanted nothing but Ed for nearly four days straight. He’s so confused. 

Ed takes in a long breath through his nose. The scowl on his face relaxes some. He sighs. “I’ve got you,” he says, and a tingle goes down Izzy’s spine. “Know you think I’m a fucking mess but I can still fuck my omega through his fucking heat.” He drops his pants, grabs his cock, and then Ed’s sinking into Izzy.

Izzy sobs, arching his back. Ed tugs him closer to the edge of the bed from beneath his thighs. He starts to fuck Izzy properly, his pace punishing. Izzy moans, tossing his head back against the bed.

“No,” Ed growls, pausing his thrusts. “Look at me.”

Izzy whines as he forces his eyes open and his head back up, and then Ed is fucking him again. He feels his cheeks go hot as he watches Ed, whose vacant expression makes Izzy’s stomach twist up.

Ed blinks a few times and then he’s shoving Izzy’s knees back, his legs further open. He growls as he sinks in deeper. Izzy moans, high pitched and breathy, as Ed continues to fuck him deep and hard and fast.

“You fucking like that?” he growls lowly.

“Need it,” Izzy answers.

Ed groans. “That’s right. You need it, need me to fuck you so hard, so deep, look at you. I’m the only one who can fuck you like this, huh, Iz? Fuck. Look at you fucking take it. You’re so desperate .”

Izzy moans and whimpers as Ed thrusts faster and faster, angling his hips to just skim past that spot on every thrust. Izzy wiggles his hips, trying to get more friction there, but Ed growls. “Hold still,” he says, and Izzy stills.

Ed pushes Izzy’s legs back even further and leans forward, reaching with a hand to cup Izzy’s jaw. Izzy licks his dry lips, thinking he’s about to be kissed. Instead, Ed pulls his head to the side and tilts his chin up, exposing their faded bonding mark on his collar. Ed noses at it and then slowly drags his teeth across it. Euphoria floods Izzy. Yes. Alpha. Claim. Please. Yours yours yours.

Ed bites down. He doesn’t slow his thrusts. Izzy sees stars as a satisfying orgasm finally washes over him, wailing a loud and broken sound as Ed’s knot swells inside of him. 

Ed drags his teeth over the bite, licks, then bites down again. Izzy sobs. He does it again. And again. After the fifth time Izzy gives a sharp whimper, his heat dissipating enough to make it just painful. Ed whines softly, an entirely instinctual apology, and licks at the mark, dragging his tongue over it until his knot deflates enough for him to tug it out.

Izzy whines as he’s left empty, but he doesn’t feel the desperation to get fucked and knotted returning.

“There,” Ed says, falling onto the bed. “Fuck. You good now or are you gonna try and fuck another one of the crew?” 

Izzy looks away. “I’m good, captain.” 

“Your captain always takes care of you, doesn’t he, Iz?” Ed asks, sitting up.

“Yes,” Izzy answers quickly. “Yes, sir. Thank you, Blackbeard, sir.” His throat is so dry he’s surprised he can still speak. He’s not sure he can make it down to refill his water jug, which has been empty for most of the day, and he doesn’t know if any of the crew will be comfortable approaching him after this.

“And Izzy?” Ed sings as he slides off the bed and starts to buckle his pants.

 “Yes?”

“If it comes back you know the way to my quarters. Don’t you fucking dare let anyone else touch you again.” It’s that same casual murmur, and Izzy shudders.

“Yes. Yes, sir. I’m sorry, sir. I’m sorry, alpha.” His heart is racing as he watches Ed. Don’t go. Please, don’t go .

Ed just hums, and then he’s walking towards the door.

Izzy chokes on a sob. “Alpha?” he calls after him. Ed doesn’t turn back. The door shuts behind him.

“ Alpha ,” Izzy cries, then dissolves into sobs, reaching a hand up to press against the bruise of his bonding mark. No tears come out this time, and the dry sobs hurt his chest and throat. He feels dizzy as he lies there in his mess. 

Eventually, he falls asleep.

Chapter Text

Stede can’t help but watch Izzy as he skirts around the edge of the deck, eyes scanning the crew, the rigging, the sky, over and over again. Ed sends him a smile when he looks their way, but he just scowls and looks away. Ed deflates and sighs, leaning back against the wall.

“I gotta talk to him,” Ed says quietly.

Stede hums in agreement, though he’s not quite sure what Ed needs to speak to him about.

“It could be any day now,” he continues, and Stede realizes what they’re talking about.

“Oh, right,” he says, watching Izzy.

“I think he’ll go for my Lucius idea,” Ed says. “Think that’s our best bet.”

“Did you talk to Lucius, then?”

“Yeah. Yeah. Explained it all.” He sighs as he watches Izzy.

“And Izzy would want that?” Stede asks.

“Yeah,” Ed answers. “Yeah. I’d think maybe Fang but after what happened I don’t know…”

“He doesn’t want you?”

Ed takes in a shaky breath and hesitates. “I don’t want to…We need to take things slower, I think. I don’t want him to just slip back into how it was before. I…” It seems for a moment that he wants to say more, but he doesn’t.“We’ll get him sorted.”

“Alright. You know best,” Stede says, and doesn’t add ‘for your omega.’ He’s not sure if Izzy is Ed’s just now.

Stede doesn’t know what happened between them while he was gone, apart from the rather ghastly missing toe story. All he knows is that Izzy’s been much more subdued, voiced far fewer complaints, and continued to stare after Ed with a wide-eyed look of longing that he forces off the second he sees anyone look his way.

Stede hadn’t known he was an omega, to the shock of most of the crew. Apparently, his scent was very intense. Stede never had good instincts for those things. The possession and deep connection he’d been meant to feel when bonded to his omega, his wife, had never quite come about. While he certainly had enough ‘alpha traits,’ they never seemed to take him over the way he’d seen them do other alphas. The most he’s felt for someone else has been the emotions that rush over him in Ed’s presence. Whether it’s because he’s a man, an alpha, or just because he’s Ed, Stede’s not sure. He just knows he never even imagined feeling so intensely about someone else before him.

Oblivious as he was, he’d only realized that Izzy and Ed were mated upon his return to the Revenge, when anyone could see the bright bruised bonding mark that claimed Izzy. He’d been shirtless as he worked on deck, the mark shown off. If Stede had a normal alpha’s instinct he would’ve known to avert his eyes and defer to the omega’s alpha, would’ve had to in the same way the alphas on Ed’s crew did. As it was, he was enamored by the mark. He couldn’t stop looking at it.

He learned not to look around Ed, though.

The mark’s faded drastically by now from the glimpses Stede’s got of it beneath Izzy’s cravat. It’s never a good sign when a bonding mark fades quickly. Stede and Mary had already redone theirs half a dozen times when a friend had mentioned making a big thing of redoing their partner’s bond since it only needed doing very rarely.

When Stede remembers to think about it, Ed doesn’t smell much of Izzy at all. Stede never gets close enough to Izzy anymore to know if he smells of his alpha at all. He watches as Ed approaches Izzy.

“Hey,” Ed says to him. He doesn’t look over.

“Hey,” he answers.

“So, uh, it’s almost time, right? Starting to catch a whiff of it, I think.”

Izzy sighs long and slow. “Yeah,” he answers, nerves clear in his voice.

“So, Lucius, he seems like a good alpha. Think you could trust him with it?” he asks, voice low. 

Izzy turns to face Ed, blinking at him. He should’ve seen it coming. He remembers Ed asking him what he thought of the boy, if he found him attractive. At the time he’d been confused as to Ed’s intentions, answering uncertainly until it seemed Ed was pleased that he did have a certain attraction to the younger alpha. He does. But they’re talking about Izzy’s heat. He’s not sure why Lucius matters when the alpha whose bonding mark is on his neck is two feet in front of him. Part of him wonders if it’s a test.

“Lucius…” He repeats. He takes in a breath. “You said…”

“I know what I said.” Ed’s voice is suddenly cold and Izzy feels it wash over him like freezing water. He looks down, slumps his shoulders, and Ed swallows. “That’s why I think this is best, Iz. I don’t—That wasn’t…I’m trying to un-say it, now.” He tries to make his voice gentler, and Izzy’s lost. “You are into him, right?” he asks.

“Y..yes?” Izzy answers.

“Good. Then he’s gonna take real good care of you, Iz. And you’re gonna let him treat you nice, yeah?”

Izzy sighs. “Yeah. Alright. Fine.”

Ed pats him on the shoulder then squeezes. Izzy almost whimpers. He manages just a shuddering breath.

“I’ll tell him to be on the lookout for you if you need him,” Ed says. Then, he’s gone.

Izzy suddenly feels freezing. He glances across the deck at the crew who are more than half working and a little less than half screwing around, which is an improvement certainly. Lucius catches his eye and smiles. Something not entirely unpleasant shifts in Izzy’s gut.

Izzy knows his heat is setting in when he starts having the dreams. Fingers between his legs, spreading him open, dipping into the slick. The scent of Edward. The weight of him wrapped around Izzy. His cock, hard and thick, pressed between Izzy’s legs, dragging over his slick hole. The pulse of his freshly bitten bonding mark. Izzy begs, sobs and Ed is shushing him. He’s using his alpha voice to say ‘it’s alright’ and ‘I’ve got you.’ He noses at Izzy’s bonding mark and Izzy is safe, wanted, good.

Then, Izzy’s alone. He’s cold. He’s shivering. He’s calling out feebly for his alpha, but no one comes. Ed’s gone. He wakes up in a cold sweat, shivering, alone, without his alpha. He tucks himself into a ball on the bed as tears slip down his cheeks. He doesn’t get his alpha, won’t even for his heat. He shakes and sobs softly, unable to help it, for the few hours he has until his watch is meant to start, at which point he pulls himself together and gets ready to work.

Lucius must detect it in his scent, because he’s hanging around Izzy like a moth and a light. He also refuses to come close enough to get a good whiff of the pheromones Izzy knows he stinks of, like Izzy actually is a light that will burn him. He at least talks, jabbering on about the ship, about Stede, about Pete. Izzy doesn’t actually listen to most of it, not sure why he’s bothering to talk to Izzy, or why he’s here at all. Izzy will keep working until he can’t, then Lucius can…yeah.

He’s spent his heat with others before. He prefers to spend them with Ed, and has since they first did it, but he’s been in unfortunate situations, separated from Ed for whatever reason. And before Ed, back on Hornigold’s ship, an unclaimed omega in heat was practically eaten alive. He doesn’t particularly like to think about it.

Ed hasn’t been out on deck much at all lately. The other alphas on Stede’s crew have been giving him a wide berth as well.

He’s not sure when Lucius’s hovering stops feeling uncomfortable and begins to have the opposite effect, but Izzy’s catching himself leaning in to get a better smell of the alpha over and over as his watch passes. Lucius does look hungry for it, for him, his dark eyes trained on Izzy and pupils blown.

“Close, yeah?” Lucius asks at sundown, after nearly two days of this dance. He licks his lips.

“Yeah,” Izzy answers, displeased with how small his voice sounds. He clears his throat. It would’ve hit by now, if he was just letting it happen instead of fighting it. 

“D’you mind if I scent you?”

Izzy shakes his head, not trusting himself to speak again. He lifts his chin and bares his neck. 

He wonders if he smells anything like Ed. It hasn’t been that long. He has to…right? But if he does it mustn’t be strong, as Lucius doesn’t react to the scent of another alpha’s claim, just rolls his eyes back and groans.

“Fuck, Izzy, you smell incredible,” he murmurs.

Izzy wants to blame the way his cheeks flush on the pheromones. He scents Lucius back, a dizzy sort of comfort settling over him at the strong alpha scent, sharpened with protectiveness. He feels slick between his legs, feels the heat clouding his head, feels the urge to just submit, to let Lucius do what he would.

His legs shake and then he’s falling to his knees on the deck with a soft gasp.

“Oh, whoa, here we go then,” Lucius says. He crouches down and reaches cautiously to cup Izzy’s cheek. Izzy breathes in the smell of alpha again, Lucius’s scent non-threatening and sweet, and leans into his hand.

“D’you have a nest?” Lucius asks gently.

Izzy shakes his head, accidentally letting out a soft sob. He only wants Ed’s scent in his nest, but he doesn’t have anything that really smells enough like Ed anymore.

“Okay, that’s okay,” Lucius says. “Where would you like me to take you, Izzy?”

He wants to be taken to Ed, to his alpha, but he shoves that thought away. Ed wants him to be with Lucius for this heat. Ed doesn’t want him. He should feel lucky that anyone on board wants him enough to help him through this, that they care enough to take him somewhere private.

“My room,” he requests quietly.

“Alright, yeah. Let’s go. I’ve got you.” Lucius snakes an arm around his waist, and Izzy’s surprised by his instinct to lean into the alpha as he’s helped back to his feet and then led across the mostly empty deck. Jimenez makes a clear effort not to look their way while Pete watches them carefully. Izzy briefly wonders how he feels about his mate spending a heat with Izzy, but when Lucius glances back at him, they both smile.

Izzy’s room contains the evidence of an omega in heat. Despite being unable to create a proper nest, he couldn’t help the way he messed with the bedsheets and clothes he did have, trying to make a softer, cozier, place. He remembers the ones he would make back when he and Ed were first bonded, how safe they felt no matter what was going on around them, or how many alphas Ed had to fight off to keep away from Izzy. There’s no alphas to fight off, now. Not even his alpha wants him.

“I’m sorry,” Izzy says as the door shuts behind them and he tugs off his boots.

“Sorry? What for?” Lucius sounds genuinely confused, and Izzy frowns.

For this. For Izzy. For however Lucius managed to pull the short straw and end up here. For everything. He shrugs.

Lucius hums, studying Izzy’s expression for a moment. He looks back at the bed. “Can I sit?” he asks.

Izzy, not sure why he’s asking, just nods. He carefully takes off his cravat, setting it and his ring on the bedside. 

Lucius sits down on the edge of the bed and looks around. “This is a lovely nest,” he says gently.

A flush takes over Izzy’s cheeks again. “Hm,” he answers.

“So, uh, any absolute ‘no’s that you want me to be aware of?” Lucius asks as he kicks off his shoes.

Izzy starts to undo his top, trying to think through the haze of heat. He’s not sure Lucius is capable of most things that cross Izzy’s boundaries. “Uh, no lasting bite marks? Don’t touch the bonding mark,” he decides.

“No, yeah, of course. I wouldn’t dare,” Lucius assures.

Izzy sheds his top, folding it as he puts it on the table. He swallows, once again trying to clear his head. When he takes a deep breath all he can smell is alpha.

“Kissing? No kissing?” Lucius asks.

Izzy licks his lips before he turns around and shrugs. “Whatever you want.”

Lucius pats the bed beside himself and Izzy climbs in, settling back against a pile of blankets, and of course he isn’t going to be a proper alpha about this. Of course he’s going to ask Izzy questions and invite him onto the bed, rather than just fucking taking him. Izzy wouldn’t put up a fight. He doesn’t fucking care. Maybe Lucius doesn’t know that. Izzy has managed fairly well to earn a reputation beyond his biological status.

“We’ve been worried about you,” Lucius mentions. “The crew. I don’t know if you really consider yourself a part of our, um, pack, but I think everyone’s kind of…gotten used to having you around.”

“Hm,” is all Izzy can think to reply, beginning to undo his trousers. A part of a pack? He’s never considered that. The people around him have never felt too close, nor safe enough to rely on the way he relies—relied on his alpha. He’d gotten fairly close to Ivan and Fang…saw how that turned out. This crew hasn’t quite felt like his, or like they would want to be.

Lucius shifts closer and brings a hand up to cup Izzy’s cheek again. Izzy lets his eyes fall closed as soon as he sees Lucius tilt his head, and then he’s being kissed. The kiss is soft and somewhat hesitant, something Izzy isn’t used to in the slightest, and he moves his lips sloppily against Lucius’s soft ones. Lucius is less hesitant with the next kiss, and Izzy responds in kind, enjoying finally feeling like an alpha has him. 

“We could smell your heat coming,” Lucius pulls back to admit in a quiet breath. “Were worried you were gonna try and handle it alone. Seemed like something you might do.”

Izzy clears his throat. “Can we not talk?” he asks, pleased that his voice comes out mostly normal.

Lucius frowns. “Okay,” he says. “Sorry, yeah. I just. Captain Blackbeard told me that people have, like, used this to do things that you didn’t really want.”

Izzy frowns, both the words and the clear dissatisfaction from the alpha making his stomach twist. “Well, he had no right to tell you that,” he snaps. 

Lucius’s frown deepens. “No, I guess not,” he agrees. “I’m sorry.” He pauses. “Just—you do want this right? From me?” 

Izzy sighs and lets his head fall back. “Yeah,” he admits. “Yeah. I want this. From you.” 

Izzy’s never been a good liar, so maybe that’s why Lucius accepts it so easily. “Okay,” he says.

Lucius’s hands find the laces on his trousers and then he’s helping Izzy rather unsexily shimmy out of the leather garments. He just chuckles, starting to say something but then stopping himself as he peels them from Izzy’s ankles. He crawls back up onto the bed, having revealed Izzy’s nearly slick-soaked pants. Lucius scents the air and groans again. Izzy’s cotton pants are pulled down and cast aside haphazardly, and then Lucius’s mouth is on him.

He gasps with surprise and pleasure, bucking his hips. Lucius sucks and licks at him, swirling his tongue around his cock and letting Izzy buck up into his mouth, grind against his lips and tongue. He pulls off to move down and sink his tongue into Izzy’s hot, slick, hole. 

Izzy properly whines, hearing himself and blushing. He tosses his head back and shuts his eyes tightly. He’s content to let Lucius lick and suck at him for a while, letting his mind go to the heat, letting his hips continue to buck up into Lucius’s mouth. Lucius moans and Izzy answers with a high-pitched gasp.

“You— Christ —you don’t have to do that,” he breathes.

Lucius pulls back, giving him another puzzled expression. “No, I don’t have to,” he agrees. “Did you not like it?”

Izzy frowns. “I didn’t say that.”

Lucius grins. “Good,” he says, then eagerly dives back down like he has something to prove.

Izzy tries to remember the last time he had someone do this, and if they were nearly as good at it as Lucius seems to be, as he tosses his head back and lets the wet warm pleasure wash over him. Lucius’s tongue soothes the desperate ache of his heat much better than his fingers or any toys he’s ever had. He’s not sure why he’s never done this. Heats have always just been about fucking, knotting, and—especially if it wasn’t with Ed— getting it fucking over with.

Izzy could lie there for hours and let Lucius do this, he thinks. The thought shakes him from his stupor, and he reaches down to push him away. “Your cock,” Izzy demands. “C’mon.”

Lucius reluctantly pulls himself away from the delectable taste and scent between Izzy’s legs at Izzy’s request. Ed had warned him earlier, “ Don’t let him boss you around, yeah? Hates being in charge during a heat.” Still, it’s too nerve wracking to test the waters yet, even as Izzy is making these soft, lewd, noises beneath him. Besides, Lucius still doesn’t quite know how much of this is Izzy actually wanting him, and how much is the heat. It is a shame this is the first time he gets to play with Izzy, but he’s holding onto the blush across Izzy’s cheeks as he’d rasped out a sincere sounding ‘yeah, I want this. From you.’

He slips a hand up Izzy’s chest and moves in to kiss him again. Izzy’s so well-behaved and responsive, and he’s so caked in the smell of it, Lucius is sure that he’s deep in his heat by now. Most omegas this far gone would be completely out of control, but Izzy’s expectedly holding onto his resolve. Lucius bites down slightly on Izzy’s lip, unsurprised by the small keen noise that comes from Izzy’s throat. He bites down a bit harder and pulls Izzy’s bottom lip back before he lets go, grinning.

“Alright,” he says, dropping his trousers. He takes his cock out and climbs between Izzy’s legs, pressing up against him. Izzy presses back, and that’s all it takes for Lucius to push inside him. He groans at the tight slick heat, leaning over Izzy to nose at his neck, breathing in the thick scent of him. “Oh fuck,” he breathes. “Christ. You feel incredible.”

Izzy’s legs come up to wrap around him, and Lucius grins, reaching to lift Izzy’s hips up and sink further in. They both moan.

“Fuck, Izzy, know you said no talking, but can you tell me how you like it?” Lucius asks as he starts to move. “Like this?”

“Yes,” Izzy gasps, and after a second. “Quicker, please.”

“That’s it, good,” Lucius almost coos, and he immediately feels Izzy clench down around him, his scent spiking with pleasure. “Oh,” he gasps as he speeds up his thrusts. “You like that, yeah? Being good for me?”

Izzy whines, looking away, mortified. He can feel the flush over his cheeks.

“That’s okay,” Lucius says. “That’s good. Telling me what you like is good. Want to make you feel amazing, love, that’s what a heat’s for,” he says, hoping he can get Izzy to just let go.

Izzy starts to disagree with a point about how it’s actually for mating and breeding (growing the pack), but his words die on his tongue when Lucius adjusts the way he’s angled and thrusts in right up against his sweet spot. He whimpers, mind blanking at the pleasure. He breathes in the sweat, the alpha, his own heat, as he tries to slow his breathing. He moans as he’s fucked, quick and short thrusts rubbing right up against that spot.

“I think you like me talking,” Lucius says. “Think you like hearing what a good omega you are, how good your slick hole feels.”

Izzy responds with a breathy moan, his words all but gone, mind cloudy with want and pleasure. The words ‘good omega’ bounce around his mind as Lucius fucks up into him. It’s euphoric to finally give himself over to an alpha again, to let his mind go to the heat.

“I meant what I said, we worry about you,” Lucius says, and Izzy’s too caught up in the pleasure to mind it this time. “Can smell how upset you get. Couldn’t fucking stand smelling your heat coming on. Fuck, should hear what some of the crew want to do to you, Izzy,” Lucius continues.

Izzy shivers at the words, unexpectedly spurred on by them. He whines, thinking about the crew wanting him, finding him attractive, talking about his heat.

“Oh god, you like that?” Lucius says, “Fuck. God, that’s hot Izzy. To let us share you. Not just the alphas, the whole pack. Take care of you.”

“Please,” Izzy hears himself whine. It’s mortifying how badly he wants it. He’d been passed around between alphas before, but never taken care of by a pack. By his pack.

“Fuck,” Lucius gasps. “We’d take such good care of you, Izzy,” he says. “Oh my god, could you imagine? All of us taking turns fucking you, fucking your face, d’you think you could take two of our cocks at once? One here—” He gives a deeper thrust into Izzy. “—one here?” He presses a finger against Izzy’s puckered asshole.

Izzy moans, nearly coming at the thought. “ Yes ,” he answers breathily, reaching down to stroke his cock.

Lucius looks down at his hand, touching himself just above where Lucius fucks into his slick hole. “Perfect, Izzy,” he purrs. “Such a good omega. Look so hot touching yourself. Almost ready to take my knot?”

Izzy whimpers, admittedly enjoying Lucius’s words quite a lot. It’s not the sort of dirty talk he’s used to, and it’s making his mind whirl and his dick throb.

Lucius hums, pleased. “Nearly there, huh?”

He’s pretty sure he is there. The second he feels Lucius’s knot swelling inside him, he’s going to come. He whines in reply, working two fingers around his stiff cock quicker, losing himself to the pleasure. His other hand grips the bed sheet in a tight fist.

Lucius leans over Izzy, presses a kiss to his neck, then one above it, then another, before he scents Izzy. “Gonna knot,” he breathes into Izzy’s neck. “God, Izzy. Such a good omega. So fucking hot.” His movements are getting sloppier, more desperate.

Izzy whines. “Please, alpha,” he all but sobs.

With that Lucius is shoving into him, burying his knot in Izzy’s hole, and groaning as he comes. Izzy sobs at the feeling of a knot finally swelling inside of him, his own orgasm seeming to drag on forever. He works his hand on himself until it’s too much, pulling back and riding the final waves of it. He wraps both arms around Lucius’s shoulders as he does, still gripping on tight.

Lucius kisses at Izzy’s neck as they come down, both panting heavily. “Good,” Lucius murmurs, sounding half-lucid. “Good omega. So good. Did so well.”

The praise makes more tears slip down his cheeks as he lays there, and he realizes he’s still gripping tightly onto Lucius. He slowly relaxes back into the bed, taking in a few deep breaths. Lucius readjusts so that he can sit on his knees, Izzy’s legs over his lap. He rubs absently at Izzy’s hip with one hand.

It doesn’t feel like that long before Lucius’s knot goes down, but Izzy’s also in that hazy place between sleep and wakefulness, focused entirely on the feeling of the knot shrinking inside him. Then, with a tug, Lucius’s cock slips out. Izzy takes in a sharp breath, searching for another touch to focus on and finding Lucius’s hand on his hip, still stroking.

“Okay?” Lucius asks. This is over. Lucius has done his job, what Ed asked of him. Izzy’s going to be left alone now. He swallows and nods, not meeting Lucius’s eyes.

Then, Lucius is up and he’s not being touched at all. His stomach lurches, and before he can control himself a whimpering sob tears its way from his throat, more tears streaming down his cheeks. Lucius’s eyes widen as he stops adjusting his trousers to look back at Izzy.

“Oh, fuck,” he says in surprise.

Izzy chokes on another sob. He gasps. “Fuck. I’m sorry. You should go. I’m sorry. I-I—” is all he manages before he dissolves into short, panicked, sobs again.

Lucius doesn’t go. He sits back down on the bed and hesitantly moves closer to where Izzy’s curled himself up on his side. “No, it’s okay. Did I do something wrong?” he asks, voice gentle. “I can go if you want me to. I wasn’t planning on it just yet, though.”

“No,” Izzy says, sniffling. “No, I just—it feels—” He sobs. “I don’t know.” He curls his legs up and rolls onto his side.

“That’s okay,” Lucius murmurs. He lays down beside Izzy and turns to face him. “Come here,” he says, tugging Izzy into his arms before he can roll away. “That’s okay. Shh, that’s good,” he says. 

Izzy sobs and hides his face in Lucius’s shoulder instead. As he breathes in the calming scent of the alpha, he immediately feels calmer.

“Good omega,” Lucius repeats, reaching up to gently run his fingers through Izzy’s hair. “It’s a lot, isn’t it? But you’ve done so well, Izzy. It’s alright.”

“Fuck,” Izzy breathes, finally. “I don’t…I…” His breath hitches.

“It’s alright. It’s okay. What do you need?”

Izzy can’t focus. He shifts and feels the stickiness between his legs, the wetness of the sheets.

“Feel gross,” he manages.

“Like…emotionally gross or physically gross?”

Izzy sucks his teeth. He stares at the ceiling, mind going uncomfortably blank for a moment. 

“Sticky,” he answers, when he comes back to himself.

Lucius hums sympathetically. “I bet I can ask Stede to use the bath. That might feel nice,” he murmurs, stroking Izzy’s hair back.

Izzy shrugs.

“Let’s give it a try,” Lucius says. “Shall I just go get the bath filled or would you like to come with me?” he asks.

Izzy frowns at having to make a choice. He wants to be fine left alone, but he knows the second he’s alone the dread will fill up his chest. “Come with,” he requests quietly. “If that’s okay.”

“Of course,” Lucius answers brightly. “Let me just have a look see who’s on deck.”

Izzy manages to suppress his whine when Lucius once again stands from the bed, walking over to peek out the door. He grabs a pair of cotton briefs from a random spot on the nest not soiled by slick and sweat and tugs them on. “Looks like everyone’s still mostly avoiding this bit of the deck,” Lucius says, then offers Izzy his hand.

Izzy’s not self conscious as he crosses the deck, his mind focused solely on the alpha’s hand wrapped around his as he leads them to the captain’s cabin, where he realizes with a start that the captains will probably be. Before he can panic at all outwardly, Lucius is tapping on the door, then cracking it open. “Hello? Captains?” he calls, not moving inside.

“Lucius? Come in!” Stede calls.

“Everything alright?” Ed asks as they do.

Izzy feels his heart race at the sound of his alpha. He can’t bring himself to look up from where his hand is holding Lucius’s, scared to see Ed’s expression.

“Yeah, we’re fine, I was just wondering if we might be able to use the bath?” Lucius asks as they walk into the room.

“Oh, certainly!” Stede says, and Izzy hears him walk over. “We should’ve thought ahead and had it filled for you.”

“I’ll get it filled,” Ed says. Izzy frowns at that, wondering when the last time Ed’s completed such a menial task himself was.

“Oh, that’s fine, I can—” Lucius starts, but Ed cuts him off quickly, speaking over him.

“No, it’s no bother. It’ll just take a mo. You can wait here.” He walks over to them, Izzy watches his legs, trying not to be obvious with how he sniffs the air, desperate for Ed’s scent. 

He smells strange. He’s all mixed up with Bonnet’s scent, per usual as of late, but beneath that he smells keyed up and anxious. It makes Izzy anxious. He chances a look up at Ed, who’s looking directly at him. His heart stops, and Ed smiles with his lips. His scent changes, pleased as he meets Izzy’s gaze, and Izzy drops his shoulders, relaxing slightly.

“Sure, thanks,” Lucius says shortly.

“Can fetch yourself one of our robes, if you want,” Ed mentions, gesturing to the closet.

Izzy scoffs, and Ed grins, shrugging his shoulders. Izzy’s not sure what to do with it. Then, Stede and Ed slip through the secret door in the wall to fill the bathtub. For Izzy.

“D’you reckon that offer extends to me?” Lucius mumbles, picking at his trousers which have a good amount of their bodily fluids on them. 

Izzy shrugs. “It’s probably fine. Bonnet loves to play dress up with everyone doesn’t he?” He means for it to come out more judgemental than it does.

“True,” Lucius says, slipping into the closet to grab a silk robe. He returns trouserless and adorned in a blue patterned robe, holding something in his arms. He tosses it at Izzy, and Izzy instinctively catches it. It’s a black silk robe, one he’s not seen before, and he’s about to scoff and toss it back at Lucius when he breathes in. It smells so much like Ed. Izzy’s burying his face in it before he’s aware of what he’s doing. He looks up quickly at Lucius as he realizes it, to find him looking amused. “Well, put it on then,” he says.

Something about the scent has him even more amenable, and he simply slips the robe on at the suggestion. Lucius sits down on the settee, patting the space beside him, and Izzy joins him. His mind is spinning having the smell of Ed so close after so long. Ed bothering to fill the bath himself is a strange thing, and it’s not quite clicking in Izzy’s brain why he would do that.

He leans into Lucius, closes his eyes, and focuses on the scent of his alpha. He must fall asleep, because the next thing he knows he’s being jostled, pulled from the fog, and Lucius is murmuring in his ear. “Hey, bath’s ready.”

Izzy hums, wondering if Ed will be there as he opens his eyes. He isn’t. Lucius leads Izzy across the room and through the ridiculous secret door toward the bath, and he doesn’t see Ed anywhere. He’s reluctant to take off the robe, but he is still quite sticky and gross. He carefully folds it and sets it on the small table beside the bath. The water feels amazing as soon as he steps in, warm and lavender scented. He slowly relaxes back into it, sighing. He turns his face toward the robe, breathing in deeply.

“Is it alright if I clean you up?” Lucius asks, lifting a rag.

Izzy wishes he would stop asking, making Izzy think, and just do what it was he wanted to do, but he manages to nod. Lucius’s hands on him feel amazing, and he tries not to make it obvious. It must just be the heat that makes it feel like he’s finally eating well after ages starving every time Lucius runs a firm hand across his skin.

It’s not long before he wants to get out, feeling as though he might fall asleep right there.

Lucius helps him out, supporting a lot of his weight as he’s toweled off. He’s still floating, trying not to let himself think. He hears a tapping on the door, but doesn’t think much of it until the door opens. 

His eyes shoot open, and his nostrils flare at the scent of his alpha. Edward . He stands in the doorway holding a tray and a jug of water. He smiles again politely at Lucius and more genuine-seeming at Izzy, who’s staring breathless. He hands the tray to Lucius, who takes his hands off Izzy to take it.

“Here,” he says, setting the jug down. “Make sure you drink the water, Iz,” he calls softly.

Izzy stares back at him, then looks down at the tray which he now sees contains a small plate of food. None of this makes sense. He sobs, loud and choked, and clutches at his own arms.

“Fuck,” Ed whispers, looking over at Lucius, who’s quickly setting the tray down. “Fuck, sorry. I don’t—”

“ Alpha ,” Izzy sobs, squeezing his eyes shut again. He wants his alpha. All he wants is his alpha. To hold him again, take care of him again, love him again. Please .

“It’s alright, Izzy, shh, it’s okay.” It’s not his alpha’s voice, but it’s an alpha, and he sounds so sure. He sobs again as he leans into the alpha. He doesn’t smell Ed close anymore. He whines. Hadn’t Ed said to let Lucius treat him nice? His alpha wants him to accept Lucius’s comfort. He wants Ed. God, he wants Ed, but he’s glad to have anyone.

“Keep—keep touching me,” he rushes out in a breath. “Please.” 

Lucius quickly brings his hand back to Izzy’s shoulder, stroking again. “Okay, yeah,” he says.

“Like to be held…after…” he admits, voice still barely above a breath. “Helps me calm down.”

“Yeah? Okay,” Lucius says again. “That’s good, thank you for telling me,” he murmurs. He strokes his hand down the back of Izzy’s neck. “Let’s try to get some water and food in you, kay? Want to bring it back to your room?”

Izzy nods. He drinks a bit of water before they go when Lucius brings the jug to his lips. He swallows it down eagerly, not having realized just how thirsty he was. “Good,” Lucius praises gently, cupping his cheek, and he hums, leaning into Lucius’s hand.

Back in his room, Izzy struggles a bit more with the eating bit. Lucius doesn’t push it, setting the tray aside when it becomes clear he can’t get much down yet. He’s kept a hand dutifully wrapped around Izzy’s as they moved and ate, and as Izzy sinks back into his bed, he moves in closer.

“You still want me to hold you, yeah?” Lucius asks.

It’s mortifying to have to ask for it again, but he nods. He needs this. He feels like he needs Lucius’s skin against his and scent around him just as badly now as he had needed his knot earlier. When Lucius wraps his arms around him from behind and tugs him close, a shudder runs through him.

“You okay, Izzy?” Lucius asks softly, reaching to push back his hair. 

“Yeah,” Izzy barely breathes, leaning into the touch. He closes his eyes and several large tears drip down onto his cheeks. “Just, last time….The last time I—” He stops to take in a shaky breath, steadying himself somewhat as Lucius continues to stroke his head and the back of his neck. 

“My last heat,” he tries again. “It was before you got back. During—after—everything,” he says. 

“Yeah,” Lucius says softly. “Yeah.” 

“Ed told you?” 

“He didn’t tell me much,” Lucius answers quickly. “Just that he wanted to make sure you felt safe this time.” 

Izzy curls in on himself, mind flashing back to Ed’s gentle smile, to him filling the bath and bringing food and water.

“Did he…” Lucius starts to ask, then pauses. “Did you want to talk about what happened?”

Izzy sniffles and hesitates before shaking his head. “No, I…” he sighs. “I just. Afterward, I wanted…I just wanted…Fuck.” He chokes up, looking away as more tears slip down his cheeks. “This,” he manages to complete. “But…” He trails off and closes his eyes again, trying to will down the tears. 

“I’m sorry, Izzy,” Lucius whispers. “I’ll stay and hold you,” he says. “Long as you want. Til you get sick of me.”

Izzy smiles slightly, leaning into Lucius’s hand. “Thank you,” he breathes, and tries to ignore the ache wishing it was his mate instead.

Chapter Text

Ed can’t seem to stop pacing the cabin. Hasn’t for days. Stede might suggest going above deck, just for the fresh air, but the way Ed is currently obsessively sniffing the air makes it clear that Izzy’s on deck.

“You’re sure you’re going to be alright with Izzy sharing his heat with Lucius?” Stede had asked when Izzy’s scent first became impossible to ignore and Ed first became antsy.

“Yeah, mate,” Ed had answered quickly, in a faux casual tone that was a bit too high pitched and shaky to be convincing. “This is what I wanted. Lucius is gonna treat him nice,” he says it more to himself than to Stede, and Stede frowns.

He’s mostly given up on distracting Ed with idle chit chat. Even he can’t help but breathe deeply and try to catch a whiff of the intoxicating scent of Izzy’s heat. It’s sweet and appealing, like smelling a plate of fresh biscuits from the next room. Though he supposes these particular biscuits are off the table for him. Ed’s even taken them off the table for himself. 

He comes up behind Ed, leaning in and scenting him. Ed relaxes slightly, leaning back into him. 

“I hate it,” he whispers. “How I feel. It’s fuckin ugly and possessive and mean. I don’t know how to make it stop.”

“I’m sorry, love,” Stede sighs.

“I want to be with him. I’m just…scared.” That he’ll be scared. That I’ll lose control. That I’m just like my shitty alpha dad or all those shitty alphas on Hornigold’s ship. “I dunno.” He looks down. “I might get weird. When it really sets in, if I can smell him. It’s just— he’s fuckin mine , Stede,” the word comes out in a growl. “I want Lucius to help him because I fucking want to take good care of my omega. Just don’t like the thought of another alpha fucking him.”

Stede thought back to the possessiveness and displeasure he felt upon finding his wife, his omega, mated to someone else. And Stede had never even felt that sort of possessiveness toward her before. He can’t imagine the feeling Ed has for the omega he voluntarily bonded with so long ago. Nor someone he’s actually had to protect from alphas who wanted to harm him.

“And…you’re sure he doesn’t want to spend his heat with you instead?” Stede has to ask, still not entirely clear on why this is happening at all.

Ed gives a long sigh, and then there’s a tear slipping down his cheek.

“Oh, bugger,” Stede murmurs and reaches up to wipe it away. “I’m sorry, love. That was…Forget I said anything.”

“No,” Ed answers, voice shaky. “No, I…I want to talk about it,” he says, sniffling. He’s been talking about a lot of stuff with Stede lately, and sometimes it really does help.

“Okay,” Stede breathes, and squeezes his arms around Ed slightly. He’s quiet for a moment,

“Izzy’s heats have never been regular,” Ed starts, “We were kind of thankful at first because they’re a lot and him having ‘em less was safer.” He laughs humorlessly, looking down. “Didn’t even know an omega could have one as often as monthly. Iz’s have always been far apart.” He swallows.

Stede knows a lot about omegas, albeit filtered through his boarding school’s biases. Back in school he never would’ve considered that an omega would be a pirate with all the danger involved. Omega cycles were extremely sensitive. Emotional and physical health both came into play. If an omega was in mourning, if their bond had been broken, if they’d changed packs, if they’d experienced any sort of particularly traumatic or stressful event, really, then irregular heats following it were likely. Hearing that Izzy’s never been regular is concerning but unsurprising considering the traumatic nature of his job.

“So, we—I never know when it’s coming,” Ed says, his voice unsteady. “I just. He’s always around so I smell it coming on, right? But when…when you left and I was…” More tears slip down his cheeks and Stede frowns. He sobs softly. “I was so fucked up. I was trying to fuckin drink myself into a coma in here and I didn’t even know he was—” He chokes.

Stede holds him, stroking his arm and softly hushing him again. Ed takes in a few breaths. 

“Someone must have told me. Or tried to tell me. I don’t know, but I didn’t realize what was going on until I finally went back out on deck and it was all I could smell. Heat and upset omega. My… ” He swallows. “I was so fucking angry. At myself, I reckon, but I didn’t know what to do. All the alphas on my crew had gathered around outside his room and in it Ivan was fucking him and Fang was holding him. At first I thought they’d fucking used his heat to get their way with him, but Izzy was saying he begged them, saying he’d been in heat so long. He begged them. He didn’t come to me. He didn’t come to me because he didn’t want me. Or ‘cause he was scared of me. And then I…” He bites his lip and squeezes his eyes shut, trying to steady his voice enough to say, “I just made him take me anyway. I’m just like all those alpha fucks I promised to protect him from.” His face crumples up as he thinks about it. “Worse, maybe,” he squeaks out.

It feels wrong that Stede’s still rubbing his back and holding him as he admits such terrible things, but Stede’s got a knack for that with him. He’s not sure how he keeps himself from being disgusted by everything Ed is and has been.

“Well…he’s still here,” Stede offers.

Ed sniffs. “Coz he’s bloody loyal,” he says. “Told him not to leave, never to leave after you…He won’t. I’d have to fuckin throw him overboard.” He laughs again with no amusement behind it.

Stede frowns, wondering if that sort of loyalty ever comes without love. Surely, then, Izzy still loves Ed? The way he stares longingly after Ed, continues to try and work with this crew because Ed chose to stay with them, speaks so proudly of his captain. Maybe it was just a consequence of their semi-recent bonding, but Stede doubts it’s only biological.

“So, Lucius has him, then. He’s a good lad.” 

“Yeah, he is,” Ed agrees, relaxing slightly. “Knew he fancies Iz, too. He’ll take good care of him. And Iz’ll know that I’m not…that he can…” He bites his lip. “Yeah.”

Stede doesn’t get much else out of Ed, but he’s pleased with all that he did get, finally starting to put together a picture of what happened between the mates. Ed lets him steer the conversation elsewhere. 

When Izzy’s not at his post, Ed readies the deck for the three of them being indisposed. He makes sure the betas and omegas of the crew are confident on the sails and wheel. He’s not sure the alphas on Stede’s crew will pose much of an issue though. He’s not sure how Stede managed to create such a strange and…kind pack, but he’s glad for it, even as he can’t stop himself from making the usual preparations to protect his omega.

Lucius’s scent wafts his way as Lucius waits for Izzy to return to his post. It’s not the scent of an aggressive, lusting, alpha that he’s used to smelling around an omega going into heat. There’s lust there, certainly, but Ed more profoundly senses protectiveness. He made the right choice. Besides, if Lucius and Izzy can get closer, maybe Izzy could get closer with the rest of the crew as well. See that this isn’t like the Queen Anne or, God forbid, Horigold.

He can smell Izzy approaching, desperate to wait and get a better smell of his heat, instincts immediately demanding he be by Izzy’s side. He reluctantly pulls himself in the opposite direction, back to his and Stede’s cabin.

He breathes in and smells nothing but himself and Stede, a mix that’s familiar and comforting but does nothing to truly calm him. Stede crosses his line of sight, and Ed is on him, pressing him back up against the wall. “Oh—” Stede manages to say before Ed’s lips find his. His fingers thread through his hair. He pulls back to let Stede gasp, pressing his face up against his neck.

“Goodness,” Stede breathes, head falling back against the wall. Ed smells incredible, worked up and needy, and he kisses and sucks at Stede’s neck. “So this is what you meant by ‘weird,’” he murmurs. 

Ed breathes out a sound that’s probably meant to be a laugh against Stede’s throat.

“Mate,” he murmurs, pressing his nose to Stede’s scent gland.

Stede hums. “That’s right,” he agrees. “Your mate.”

Ed whines, licking over the small bonding mark Stede let him place there just after they decided to make their relationship official. It’s not as large and pigmented as an omega’s would be, easily hidden by a cravat or high collar, but he rather enjoys looking at it, touching it, being reminded of his lover. He likes knowing it reassures Ed that Stede’s his, fully committed to this, not leaving. Ed takes in a long breath through his nose and then breathes it out shakily. Stede can tell by the way that he rocks his hips forward that he can still smell Izzy somehow, but Stede can’t quite get a whiff from way in here.

“Oh fuck, Stede,” Ed gasps into his neck, grinding up against his thigh. “I need him. Need to be fucking him. Fuck, Stede, please .”

He sounds absolutely wrecked, “Poor thing,” Stede purrs. “Would you like to fuck me, darling?”

Ed makes a stifled wanting noise, biting his lip. “You sure?” he asks. “Might be a bit rough.”

“I believe I can handle it,” Stede says, like Ed dare not imply otherwise.

Ed makes a pleased little sound, pressing a kiss up against Stede’s throat. “Mate,” he murmurs, grazing his teeth over his mark.

Stede hums happily, fingers running through the strands of Ed’s hair that have fallen forward. “Yours,” he reassures again. “Yours, Edward.”

Ed catches his lips in another kiss. He runs his hands over Stede’s chest, and, my, he does smell so worked up, so intense. Stede imagines any other alpha would be intimidated and put off by the smell of it, but Ed’s his mate, and Stede can only feel his own cock swelling in response. 

Ed growls, and Stede’s caught miserably between his instinct to snarl back, to push up against the attempt at domination, and his desire to go lax against the bed, to let Ed take him however he pleases. He knows how good it feels to let Ed lean into his alpha instincts with Stede, just as they’ve done the other way around. This, though, feels like much more.

“D-Darling, it’s just occurred to me,” Stede gasps as Ed continues to suck and lick and gently bite down on his neck and across his collar, tugging his robe off his shoulder. “Do you think this could send you into rut?” he asks.

Ed stills. “Fuck,” he breathes out. “Fuck. Maybe. Don’t reckon I’m there yet, but you’re right it almost feels like it.” He grinds his hips forward again. “Fuck. Fuck. My omega, Stede,” he whines, burying his face in Stede’s neck.

“I know,” Stede answers. “Taking such good care of him, he’s alright. Lucius has him.”

Ed whimpers. “I can take care of him, I can fuck him.”

“I know,” Stede says. “Show me,” he murmurs, tugging Ed’s hips up against his own and pressing his own bulge up against Ed’s. “Show me how you’ll fuck your omega through his heat.”

His robe is torn away in seconds and then Stede’s being backed onto the bed, Ed tugging off his own jacket and undoing his pants. “Get your bloody fuckin trousers off, mate,” he says as he hurries to undress himself.

Stede kicks off his breeches and pants, leaving him naked under Ed’s hungry gaze. When Ed breathes deeply again his eyes go momentarily wild.

“Come on, alpha,” Stede entices, spreading his legs and reaching across to the drawer nearby where they’ve stashed some rather nice oil, considering they’ve been getting so much use out of it as of late.

Ed climbs onto the bed, tugging his shirt off over his head as he does and tossing it to the floor with his leathers. He immediately goes to kiss Stede again, climbing over him. He seems to relax some as he’s engulfed in the smell of the both of them on their shared bed. His cock hangs heavy between his legs and he leans down to scent Stede again. Stede wraps his legs around Ed’s as he reaches between them to slick his own cock up with oil. He rocks up against Ed, slick cock sliding against Ed’s, and Ed hums.

“Fuck, Stede,” he murmurs into Stede’s neck. “Let me open you up for me.” He reaches between them, grabs the oil, and adjusts himself to sit between Stede’s legs. He tugs Stede closer by the legs, hand going to stroke his own cock a few times before bringing the oil down to Stede’s hole. He drizzles it over, slowly presses it inside with one finger, emptying a good amount of the vial. He wants his mate to be slick and open and ready for him. He tries to bat away the memory of Izzy, desperate, absolutely soaking, in the throes of heat.

As he works his fingers into Stede, trying desperately to be patient and careful, he can’t stop the thoughts. God, Izzy must be getting so slick right now. He smelled so close. He always opened up so well for Ed, let Ed fuck him deep and hard and fast. He felt so good, so tight and hot around his cock. He looked so pretty spread open around Ed’s knot. 

“Mmph, Ed, please,” Stede gasps from above him, and he realizes he’s absently pressed right back up against that sweet spot. Stede’s opening up nicely. They’ve done this enough times that he’s used to being stretched out and fucked by Ed’s fingers.

Ed bites his lip, shoving his fingers back in and up against that spot again. Stede whimpers, high and breathless, just like Izzy would…Ed reaches to hold his cock, closing his eyes for a moment to gather himself.

“I believe I’m ready for you, love,” Stede says, sounding impatient and needy, and Ed can’t wait another moment. He presses the head of his cock against Stede’s slick hole and sinks in. Stede throws his head back against the pillows and clutches at the bed sheets.

Stede’s tight, but he’s thoroughly slicked up, so Ed’s able to set up a slow pace. He leans down to kiss Stede’s neck again, reveling in the feeling of his mate. Stede leans back up and catches his lips in a brief kiss before gasping again.

“Christ, that’s good,” Stede breathes.

“You’re telling me,” Ed answers, scenting Stede again. Stede leans up to scent him back, and they both breathe in deeply. 

Fuck. 

Izzy must be right outside the fucking cabin for Stede to smell his heat like this. Ed’s hips jolt forward and Stede moans in surprise, and then Ed’s pounding into him, lifting his legs and pushing them back, sinking in as deep as he can.

“Oh, ohhh,” Stede moans. “Edward,” he gasps, unsure if the relentless pleasure is heaven or hell. As he breathes in he can still smell Izzy, all desperate omega hormones. His own hips buck upward, and he pushes back against Ed, as his instincts demand he fuck and rut. He presses against Ed’s shoulders. “Ed, fuck, wait,” he gasps.

Ed bites his lip hard and stills as he hears Stede. He breathes in and god , why doesn’t Izzy just fucking go to his room already? He manages to keep his hips still, licks at Stede’s mark. “Sorry,” he mumbles. “M’sorry love.”

“It’s alright,” Stede says breathlessly. “It’s alright, I just. Fuck, I can’t stop thinking about fucking Izzy.” He blurts it out unthinkingly, and his heart drops for a moment, but then Ed groans against his throat.

“C’mon,” he murmurs. “Let’s move. On your side. Knee’s getting to me and I wanna smell you.” As tantalizing an aphrodisiac Izzy’s heat makes, it still feels like too fucking much. Stede whines when Ed slips out of him but quickly they’re readjusted and Ed’s sinking even deeper into Stede. He buries his face in the side of Stede's neck.

“Imagine him here, with us,” he says as he starts to grind inside of Stede again. He reaches to wrap a hand around Stede’s cock. “Both of us fucking him. I’d take his cunt,” he thrusts in deeper and grinds up against that spot, Stede gasping and bucking his hips into Ed’s hand. “Would you take his mouth?” he asks, and the thought makes Stede’s cock throb. He’s going to come quickly at this rate. 

“Or would you want to take his ass, while I fuck his cunt? Split him open around us both. Fuck, he’d look so pretty for us, Stede. He’d moan so pretty too. Just beg for more, come over and over. He’d be so good for us, for his alphas–” Stede moans as he spills over Ed’s fist, Ed stroking and fucking him through.

 “ Fuck , Stede,” Ed gasps, the idea of Stede finding it that hot spurring him on. He imagines Izzy mewling, split open around both of their cocks, whining out “please, alphas ,” and Ed’s knot is swelling inside of Stede.

He pants against Stede’s neck, trying to focus on the scent of his mate’s pleasure and contentment. It seems that Izzy’s smell has moved away again, but he swears he can still faintly detect it. 

Stede squirms beneath him, nose scrunching up at the feeling of the slick oil, the sweat in his hair, Ed’s spunk plugged inside him, and the stretch of the knot in his now oversensitive hole.

“Just a sec,” Ed reassures, trying to take his mind from Izzy and focus on Stede, on coming down and getting his knot out so they can clean up.

“It’s alright,” Stede says in spite of his scrunched up expression. “Want you satisfied. Willing as I am, I’m not sure I could help you through a rut Izzy induced quite the same way he could.”

At the thought a pulse runs through his cock again. He gasps, rocking his hips slightly, and Stede winces.

“Sorry,” they both breathe out at once.

Ed presses a kiss to the shell of Stede’s ear, chuckling and shaking his head. “Such a good mate for me,” he whispers. “Thank you.”

Stede presses back into him and sighs happily as Ed scents him, willing his knot to go down.

When Lucius and Izzy’s scents near the room, Ed immediately sits up and looks to the door. It smells to Stede as if Izzy’s heat has broken. His scent is odd, some parts relief, some parts anxiety, mixed with the lingering scent of the heat and the scent of Lucius.

They enter asking about the bath, and Ed’s quickly offering to go fill it. Whether that’s to feel useful for his omega or to get away from the scent of him and Lucius, Stede’s not sure. He follows after Ed and helps him heat some water. They do so mostly in silence as Ed buzzes with nerves, and Stede struggles to think of anything to say. When the tub is filled, Ed hurries off to get food prepared for Izzy, while Stede goes to tell Lucius that the tub is ready. He melts slightly at the sight he’s greeted with. 

Izzy has dozed off against Lucius’s shoulder. One of Ed’s robes hangs loosely around him, falling off his toned shoulders. Stede can’t figure out how he can look so strong, tough, and weathered at the same time as looking so small, exhausted, and sweet. He smells calmer now.

The two men go to the bath, and Stede sits down on the settee, picks up a book, and tries to distract himself from the image of a post-heat Izzy naked and docile one room over.

He hears a mild commotion from behind the door, what sounds like a muffled sob, Izzy calling out for alpha, and he sets his book aside, eyes going to the door. Then, Ed is stumbling back into the room with his lip between his teeth, his eyes wide and wet.

Stede frowns, Ed’s distress surrounding him and filling the room. “Darling?” he asks, standing from the settee.

Ed’s face crumples and he barrels into Stede’s arms, startling a surprised noise from Stede as he wraps his arms around his mate.

“Fuck. Fuck, Stede, he’s fucking terrified of me,” Ed whines.

Stede frowns, placing a steady hand on Ed’s back. “Oh, no, darling, I’m sure he’s just a bit overwhelmed.”

Ed shakes his head against Stede’s shoulder. “I…” he says, sniffling. “I don’t know if he should be my omega anymore, Stede,” he squeaks out.

“Oh, darling…” Stede murmurs, stroking his back, not sure what else to say. Izzy and Ed’s bond seems to have been deteriorating awhile, since before Stede even showed up. Maybe this has to happen. Stede doesn’t know why he finds the idea unappealing. Ed’s his mate. He should be happy to get him all to himself. It’s just that Izzy’s always been around, always at Ed’s side on the deck, and Stede’s gotten accustomed to it. 

He lets Ed cry against his shoulder, and the fantasies they’ve shared together the last day and a half in bed flit through his mind. He’s silly for imagining he might ever really get a taste of Izzy. He’s barely been able to manage the fallout between himself and Edward. He’s not equipped to provide any help to an even more complex relationship.

When Izzy returns to work he wants things to go back to normal, but he doesn’t expect them to. He’s right. Lucius is still hovering around him, and Izzy doesn’t have to heart to tell him to fuck off after breaking down in his arms. He does hope Lucius hasn’t found himself too attached.

The rest of the crew are kinder to him for whatever reason, less fussy with his orders. Do they feel bad for him? Abandoned by his alpha? Has Lucius told them all about how he turns into a pathetic sobbing mess during his heats? At least they’re not laughing at him.

Izzy tenses when he feels a hand clap down on his shoulder. He breathes in and smells his alpha—smells Ed, and relaxes. He’s been worried about Ed avoiding him. Then, Ed moves in to scent him and he tenses again. He knows he smells like another alpha. Should he have kept Lucius from scenting Izzy too heavily?

Ed, for his part, smells an awful lot like Stede.

“Smell good,” Ed says as he moves away.

What’s Izzy meant to do with that?

“You too,” he answers stiltedly but honestly. Ed always smells intoxicating to him. He swears he can feel his faded bonding mark pulse. He wishes Ed would touch him again, but he knows he’d just tense up again.

“Hm,” Ed hums and smiles with his lips. He walks away, leaving Izzy staring at the railing of the ship, eyes unfocused.

Chapter Text

It’s been less than a month when Izzy wakes up feeling it: the pricking of arousal, the deep desire to be near his alpha, the sweat and slick. He panics, grabbing for his journal beneath the bed, checking his notes, the calendar. This can’t be right. It’s been only 28 days since he spent his heat with Lucius. What the hell?

Nerves twist in his gut as he gets ready. Everyone will be able to smell it on him. Why the hell has it come again so soon? He cracks his door and glances out at the deck. It’s still early, but Roach is probably up preparing breakfast for the Captains and the crew. Izzy’s not too confident in his medical knowledge, but he probably knows more than Izzy does about heats.

He keeps his head down, avoiding the gazes of the crew on the early watch as he hurries to the galley. He pads into the empty room, footsteps echoing, and Roach looks up from where he’s chopping something.

“Ah, First Mate Hands,” he sings, looking back down at his work. “Can I help you with something?”

Izzy sets his jaw as he comes closer. He unceremoniously shoves his wrist forward across the counter and beneath Roach’s nose. “Tell me what you smell,” he says.

Roach raises an eyebrow at him but breathes in.

“Hm,” he says. “Are you propositioning me, Mr. Hands?”

Izzy tugs his hand back and feels himself blush, mortifyingly. “No,” he answers. “I…I don’t have heats this close. I had one less than a month ago. I usually don’t have them for months at a time. But it seems I’m already about to have one.”

“I see,” Roach answers. “And this is distressing to you,” he more presumes than asks.

Izzy sighs. “Just–do you think we could get our hands on some of those suppressant concoctions? I’ve heard–”

Roach sticks his cleaver aggressively into the chopping board as he replies, “Nope. Absolutely not, omega.”

Izzy frowns. “Why the fuck not? If they’re expensive, I can pay.”

Roach looks up to meet his gaze, examining him with apprehension. “You said you are not usually regular?” he asks.

Izzy glances behind himself like maybe one of the other crew will have snuck in during their conversation without him noticing. “No,” he answers. “Four months gap, at best. Often longer.”

“Since when?” Roach  asks.

Izzy shrugs. “Since…ever? It used to be less often, actually, before…”

Roach has abandoned his cooking, focusing entirely on Izzy. “Before?”

“Before Ed bonded me,” he says quietly.

“Ah,” Roach answers, then hums thoughtfully. Izzy doesn’t miss the way his eyes go to Izzy’s now faded bonding mark. “Suppressants will only mess you up worse,” he says, yanking his cleaver out of the chopping board and beginning to chop again. “Might be because your body wants a bond and is trying to entice an alpha to mate you. Maybe spending your heat with Lucius triggered it.”

Izzy frowns. Lucius had taken good care of Izzy, and they were getting along fine as of late, but Izzy certainly had no desire to become bonded to him.

“Could also be that your body’s finally relaxed enough,” he says. “Going into overdrive to make up for the lost years, trying to pup now that you feel safe and have a pack.”

“I have a pack?” he asks.

Roach rolls his eyes.

Izzy thinks back to the words Lucius said while fucking him, to the way he said the crew fantasized about him. It’s hard to believe that any of the crew could want Izzy in that way. He’d hardly believe Lucius wanted him, but he seemed to want every man he saw. 

He wants to believe it. God, he wants so badly to think that he could be wanted. He’s sure they just put up with him, pity him at best for what’s happened with Ed, but they can’t possibly want him.

“So, what the fuck do I do?” he asks. Ed’s not going to want him. He’s been friendlier with Izzy since he slept with Lucius than he has in ages. Izzy can’t ruin that by trying to get him to be his alpha again, no matter how badly he aches for Ed’s hands on him, Ed’s teeth in his neck.

Roach smiles slightly, his gaze softening. “Just let your pack take care of you, little man,” he says.

His pack.

“You know, I never spend my heats with an alpha,” Roach adds. Izzy’s gaze snaps up in intrigue. An alpha’s knot was the only thing that ever made the desperate heat stop for Izzy. He couldn’t imagine going without.

“How?” he asks.

Roach breathes in deeply through his nose. His pupils seem to dilate as he looks back at Izzy and bites his lip. “I could show you,” he offers.

Izzy feels a jolt of something between his legs. He tells himself it’s the heat that has him swallowing and nodding. Roach grins and then comes around to the door.

“Come here,” he says, opening it. “Have some time. Captains never wake up early after a raid.”

Izzy has also noticed that. He finds himself stepping into the kitchen with Roach. He makes a surprised noise as he’s immediately pressed up against the wall. Roach scents him.

“Mmph,” Roach breathes out. “Your heat smells incredible, Mr Hands.”

Izzy leans into Roach, taking in his scent, it’s sweet and spicy all at once and intoxicating in a way omega scents rarely are to him. Roach pulls away too soon, but his hands move to Izzy’s waist, fumbling with his leather pants.

Izzy bites his lip as Roach sinks to his knees, wondering how he managed to get himself here and surprised by how excited he is. Roach undoes his leather pants and tugs them down, chuckling as he struggles slightly. “There,” he says happily when they’re out of the way enough. He noses at Izzy’s cock through his pants and fucking breathes in. He grins as he glances back up at Izzy, growling playfully.

Izzy leans his head back against the wall, not able to look as Roach tugs down his pants. Wet warmth engulfs his hard cock and he gasps, hips grinding forward. Roach makes a muffled noise around his cock and presses him back against the wall by the hips. He begins to properly suck at Izzy’s cock, tongue swirling over the sensitive tip, and Izzy gasps. He feels more than hears Roach chuckle in response.

Lucius was good at this, sure, but fuck , Roach knows what he’s doing. He sees him snake a hand down into his own pants as he licks at the underside of Izzy’s cock, touching himself, and Izzy moans, closing his eyes again. 

He pulls off of Izzy’s cock and Izzy whines, but Roach hushes him. “Fuck. Come on, omega, up here.” He guides Izzy to sit up onto the counter and then he’s back on his knees between Izzy’s thighs. 

He feels Roach’s warm tongue sink into his already nearly dripping hole. Roach moans against him, and Izzy whines. He reaches down himself to touch his cock as Roach begins to properly tongue-fuck him. His legs shake and his mind is blurry with the heat and pleasure.

“Fuck,” he gasps. “Fuck, fuck, don’t fucking stop,” he begs, clenching one hand into a fist as he jerks himself off with the other.

Rather than stopping Roach seems to speed up impossibly, and Izzy can’t focus on anything but the pleasure. He’s coming for what feels like minutes. Roach doesn’t stop, and Izzy’s high pitched moans are absolutely mortifying, but he can’t care when it’s so good . Finally it’s too much and he reaches to push Roach away.

He still has a hand down his own breeches, and he gasps as he pulls back. He has spit and slick glistening on his chin and in his beard and mustache, and he grins, leaning back and moaning as he speeds up his movements. His eyes are on Izzy’s cunt and dick and Izzy’s hips buck with the residual surge of pleasure.

Roach groans as he seems to come himself, biting his lip and looking up to meet Izzy’s eyes.

“Fuck,” Izzy breathes.

“So, yeah, sometimes I will do that,” Roach says, straightening up.

Izzy actually laughs.

Izzy’s surprised at the way his heat relaxes. He’s still foggy, still desperately craves his alpha, but at least he’s not helplessly aroused. He’s not sure what to do now. If he goes about his day like normal the entire crew will smell his heat on him. He’s not sure what he wants to do about it. Lucius had been nice, but he’s not sure if Ed wants him to keep seeing Lucius. All he wants, all his mind and body are begging for, is Ed. But, Ed doesn’t want him.

He feels tears well up in his eyes. Roach said the crew would take care of him, and he does want the crew, wants to feel wanted by them, to have Roach and Lucius touch him again, to maybe have the rest of the pack as interested. But, more than that, more than anything, especially now that the sexual urge is sated, he just wants to be beside his alpha.

God, he needs to be near Ed. 

Maybe now that he’s partially sated his heat won’t be so obvious. His bonding mark throbs on his neck. It can’t just be all in his head, the way he can feel his heartbeat so clearly right where Ed bit down months ago like it’s a fresh wound.

Before he can think, he’s carried himself into the captains’ cabin.

They aren’t inside.

He should be relieved, but he makes a quiet aching sound as he scans the room, smells the air. The smell of his alpha is so good, so calming, it feels like a fucking drug. He subconsciously follows it to a pile of clothes in a bin beside the bed. Just beside it, on the bed, lies Ed’s leather jacket. He can’t think, driven purely by instinct as he gathers the jacket up by his face and breathes in, the buzzing in his head stopping. His bond mark continues to throb, but it feels almost good when he has Ed’s scent around him. He finds himself gathering up everything that smells the most like Ed.

Ed sniffs as he walks into the cabin, then stops in his tracks, inhaling again. No…surely, not. For a moment he could’ve sworn that he smelled Izzy. Not just regular Izzy, either, but a worked up, desperate, distressed Izzy. It’s reminiscent of the scent of the last heat he spent with his omega. He stills, takes another deep breath, but this time all he can smell is the usual mix of him and Stede. Just phantoms of his past, again. He just can’t seem to get his head right.

Izzy should be out on deck with Stede and the crew right now, probably nitpicking whatever it is Stede’s attempting to do. Ed sighs, throwing himself into bed. He frowns when his head meets the bed instead of his pillow and he realizes his pillow’s missing. He looks to the floor for it but doesn’t see it anywhere.

Then, he realizes his leather jacket is nowhere to be seen either. He could’ve sworn he left it draped over the bed.

His heartbeat picks up. Why are his things missing? Only his things, not Stede’s? He frowns as he looks down and notices that the clothes he’d worn yesterday and thrown into a heap on the floor are also missing. He glances toward the bin by the bed—where Stede sometimes tosses plain cottons and linens they’ve worn in to wash together—wondering if maybe they got thrown in there, maybe his pillow too, only to find it nearly empty. 

Someone’s taken his things. Is he being played a joke on? Or is Stede getting rid of his things? His pillow ? Did he not want to share quarters any longer? Was it because of what Ed admitted about Izzy? Stede could handle all the murder, the torture, the Kraken, but he couldn’t stay with Ed after hearing what a shit mate he had been? Was that it?

Ed paces, mind whirling.

Out on the deck, Stede struggles to recall how Izzy explained the course correction they’d had to make this morning. He knows they’ll likely need to do so again, which he tells the crew, but as they question him on the specifics of the maneuver, he quickly finds himself lost again. He scans the deck for Izzy, trying to remember when his watch was supposed to start, glancing toward the horizon to gauge about what time it is.

He hasn’t been avoiding Stede as much lately, nor the crew. He has been quite obviously avoiding Ed. Or perhaps, they’ve been avoiding each other, rather. Stede’s not entirely sure. He’s just sure that when he’s on deck alone Izzy is often there with a grumbled greeting, but the few times that he’s come on deck with Ed, Izzy has been off double checking the rigging, taking stock, or correcting the crew on something. Ed seems to only come out when Izzy’s not on watch.

Izzy should be on watch now, Stede is pretty sure.

“Lucius, have you seen Izzy?” he asks,

Lucius frowns. “Uh. No, I haven’t seen him all day, actually,” he answers.

“Me either,” Wee John mentions from beside him, a note of concern in his tone. 

Stede frowns. 

“Has anyone seen Izzy today?” he asks the rest of the crew, to shrugs and shaken heads.

“Saw him for breakfast,” Roach says. “He is definitely on the ship.”

That’s comforting, Stede supposes. 

“Any idea where?”

More shrugs and shaken heads.

“Well. I’ll go find someone who knows how to explain this in more precise terms,” Stede promises, and then walks back to the captain’s cabin, wondering just how early breakfast was for Izzy Hands, and how long he’s been avoiding the deck. Perhaps he’s under the weather?

He opens the door to the cabin. “Ed, have you seen—”

“Stede, have you seen my jacket?” Ed asks in the same moment, sounding a bit intense.

Stede frowns, eyes landing on Ed, who looks shaken, eyes wide. “I haven’t,” he says softly, looking around the cabin. “It’s not in here?”

“No, neither is my pillow, funnily enough.” He laughs, but doesn’t sound humored. “And a bunch of my clothes.”

Stede frowns. “Well, that’s…odd.”

Ed scrutinizes him with hard eyes that Stede hasn’t seen in months. “Yeah.”

Stede walks over to close some of the distance between him and Ed. “I’ll help you look, darling, they’ve got to be around here somewhere right?”

Ed’s harsh expression falters. He looks around. “You really don’t know where they are?” he asks, or more squeaks.

Stede winces. “Am I meant to?” he asks.

Ed’s expression softens entirely at that. “No,” he says softly. “No. Do you think someone on the crew might’ve taken them?”

Stede’s not sure what anyone on the crew would want from a pillow, jacket, and bunch of worn clothes. They probably stink of sweat and alpha. Unless… someone wanted that.

“I’ll see if I can’t find it in the laundry,” Stede says, glancing at the peculiarly light looking hamper, wild suspicions beginning to form. Whatever the case, Stede doesn’t want to worry Ed further, and he does still need to sort out their course correction. “Could you come help walk the crew through this? I’m afraid I’m not being the best teacher,” he asks.

Ed frowns toward the bed again, but nods. “Yeah,” he says, following Stede out onto the deck. “Where’s Iz?” he asks as they step out.

“I was just about to go see if I could find him,” Stede answers.

Stede is almost regretting his various secret passageways, as he squirms down the third one. He’s not even sure Izzy knows about all of these. He’s starting to worry that Izzy somehow fell overboard when he catches a whiff of his scent and…oh. 

Stede follows the thick scent down the corridor of this passageway and into the small room at the end. The full scent hits him and there’s absolutely no denying it. Izzy’s in heat again, and distress coats his scent. Stede’s almost more shocked, however, by the sight before him.

In the corner of the small room, lit only by a single porthole high on the wall, Izzy lies curled up with Ed’s pillow beneath his head. His leather jacket lies beside it, and dozens of Ed’s shirts are gathered in piles around him. Oh…

He smells so much like heat, and he’s stripped down to his underwear, covered in sweat. Stede can’t help the visions of crawling into the nest beside him, kissing him, hushing him, sinking into his ready slick hole, and taking care of him. But what’s more pressing is the sharp distress surrounding Izzy.

He’s surprised by the instinctual reaction to Izzy’s distress. He needs to make this better, needs the omega to calm. He wants to tug the man into his arms, comfort him until he’s calm again, then lie him down and ravish him himself. He swallows.

He taps on the wall. Izzy’s head shoots up.

“Izzy?” he asks quietly,

“Alpha,” Izzy pants in reply, and gosh, that certainly isn’t helping Stede keep his wits about him. If what Ed feels is anything more than this, Stede’s not sure how he can manage being in the same room as Izzy.

“Izzy, why on Earth are you hiding back here?”

The scent of Izzy’s distress only gets more overwhelming, Stede wincing with how intense it is.

“I’m sorry, sir,” Izzy gasps. “I don’t know why—I’m sorry. ”

Stede cautiously moves closer. “It’s quite alright,” he answers quickly. “I just—We had no idea. Ed’s said your heats aren’t usually regular.” 

Izzy whines. “Aren’t,” he manages. 

Stede hums sympathetically. “This must be a bit overwhelming, then,” he murmurs. 

Izzy sobs, nodding, because it fucking is . 

Stede lowers himself down to sit in front of Izzy and reaches to touch Ed’s jacket beside him. “We were wondering where Ed’s things went,” he says lightly.

“I’m sorry,” Izzy gasps again. “I’m sorry. I know Ed’s yours. I shouldn’t—I just wanted his scent. I fucking—I couldn’t help it. I’m sorry, alpha,” he rambles, pressing himself further back into the corner, shoving Ed’s jacket away as an offering.

“Oh, darling…” Stede says, moving back and holding his hands up to show that he won’t be taking any part of Izzy’s nest away. “It’s okay.” He bites his lip, looking around at the collection of Ed’s clothes, at the way Izzy shoves his face into Ed’s pillow. “You want your alpha, don’t you?” 

Izzy sobs. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Know he doesn’t want me. I’m sorry.” 

Oh, fuck. 

“No, no, Izzy…Goodness, I…I’m going to get you your alpha, okay? You can stay right here in this lovely nest of yours.” 

Izzy frowns, not really believing Stede, but he’s already slipping out of the room. He whines at the loss of the alpha’s smell, one so intermixed with Ed’s, and curls up tighter around the pillow and jacket, inhaling deeply for the scent of his alpha. He closes his eyes and lets himself drift. He’s so, so tired.

Chapter Text

Izzy’s dreaming again. He’s dreaming that Ed’s here, holding him, petting him. He doesn’t want to wake up, doesn’t want it to go away, but he feels himself coming around. He feels the hard wooden floor beneath him, feels and smells the warm nest around him. He whimpers softly, and, to his surprise, hears a voice hush him. 

He breathes in slowly. 

Ed.

He grips onto the arms around him. Tears gather in his eyes.

“Alpha,” he gasps.

“Hey,” Ed answers carefully. He relaxes his hold on Izzy, and Izzy whines, holding tighter onto him. 

Ed’s touching him. Ed’s here.

“Alpha,” he sobs. 

“Hey Iz,” Ed says again. “You that far gone already?” he asks, sounding half-teasing and half-genuinely concerned. He’s tucked into the corner, Izzy against his chest, between his legs. Izzy can’t quite make out his expression in the darkness, but he doesn’t mind, surrounded by his scent and touch.

Izzy shakes his head, taking a moment to respond. “I don’t, uh. S’not just the heat. Something about m-my bond. Roach explained it. Going into heat, too, though,” he says. “Clearly.” He already reeks of heat. So much so that he doubts Ed can even smell Roach on him.

“Oh.” Ed says, humor leaving his voice, fingertips reaching up to brush over his faded bonding mark. Izzy immediately regrets what he has just disclosed.

He whimpers, gripping Ed’s shirt in his fists, every instinct telling him to cling onto Ed, to stay beside him. This doesn’t feel like a normal heat. He’s not overwhelmed with the need for a knot or Ed’s cock, at least not in particular. He just wants Ed. Needs Ed. Feels like he’ll come apart the second Ed lets go of him.

He can’t help but scent him, pressing into Ed’s neck, and breathing in his scent at the same time. He calms as he does, but he finds there’s an undercurrent of distress there. 

“I’m sorry,” he breathes.

Ed raises an eyebrow. “Sorry? What for? For going into heat again?” 

Izzy nods. That’s one of many things he’s sorry for. He’s sorry for being the burden that he is, a mess of hormones and attachment without any redeeming bits to go along with it. Using his and Ed’s bond, whatever’s left of it, to make him stay.

“Didn’t know you could control your cycle, mate, that’s impressive,” Ed says teasingly.

Izzy doesn’t react. Maybe he could. Maybe this wouldn’t be happening if he could make himself get over Ed, let him go. If he could try to let Lucius and Roach’s help be enough for him. The thought makes his bonding mark ache.

“So the, um, the bond thing is why it’s come again so early?” Ed’s voice is serious again.

Izzy nods. “Think so.”

Ed’s quiet for a moment, and Izzy is ablaze with nerves. He doesn’t move away or let go, but he’s still, gaze directed off into the corner.

“How bad is it?” he asks after a moment. “Do you need something right now?

Izzy shakes his head. “Just this, please,” he whispers, nuzzling his head against Ed’s neck, words shaky. Just you, he mentally adds. 

Ages ago Ed would know exactly what he meant, exactly what he needed. He can’t remember when they stopped being able to read each other like that. He doesn’t understand a thing that could be going on in Ed’s head. Is it pure instinct that drives him to comfort Izzy? Is Izzy making this all harder on him, forcing his instincts to compete with his desire to be with his new mate?

“I’m sorry,” he says again, in a sob, and Ed’s scent changes to something strange. His head moves over to look at Izzy, as best as he can in the dark. Though with all that time spent in his dark cabin on the Anne, maybe he can see Izzy better than Izzy can see him.

“Why do you keep saying that?” he asks, voice coming out wet and small. “It’s not—this isn’t—you haven’t done anything wrong, Iz.” He sounds almost pleading.

Tears slip down Izzy’s cheek and he makes a confused, whiny noise. This is wrong, isn’t it? This is all wrong. Ed has started a new life with a new mate who doesn’t hold him down with their bond, who doesn’t make Ed’s eyes go sad every time he looks at him, who understands Ed in a way that Izzy doesn’t think he ever has despite their years of being bonded. Ed deserves that. Not this. Not Izzy, old and broken and useless.

He can’t make any words come out for a moment, as tears pour down his cheeks and his body racks with sobs, all the overwhelming emotion of the last few months coming to a head. He just wants to be good for Ed, be a good omega. He knows he messed up trying to keep Ed from Stede. He doesn’t want to do that again.

“I can go to Lucius, sir,” he gasps, still unable to physically pull himself away from his alpha as he says it. “If you want. I’m sorry. I can go to him, I can—I’m sorry.”

“Izzy,” Ed says, voice dipping into his alpha tone, and Izzy’s head clears enough to listen. He looks up at his alpha, at where he thinks he can make out his wide concerned-looking eyes. 

“What do you want?” he asks, finding Izzy’s hand to hold. “Tell me what you want.”

It feels like a trick question, somehow. This. He just wants this. If he says that, will he get it? After everything that’s happened, it can’t possibly be that simple.

Can it? 

“I want my alpha,” he whispers. “I want you.”

Ed’s quiet for a second, then he’s moving to nose at Izzy’s neck, sighing, “You’re sure?”

Izzy almost laughs at the question. Maybe Ed can’t see him any better. Maybe they’re both just feeling around in the dark.

“Yes,” he begs, baring his neck eagerly. “Please, Ed.” He sniffles, more tears slipping down his cheeks, falling onto Ed’s arm around him.

“Fuck,” Ed says against his skin. “Fuck.” He breathes in, nose just beside his scent gland, just beside the bonding mark. Izzy wishes he would bite down there, instead. When he exhales, it’s shaky. “I’m scared, Iz,” Ed whispers, keeping his face hidden in Izzy’s neck, slouched down behind him.

Izzy frowns. Scared? He leans back to scent Ed, picks up more of his distress and tries to project comfort in response. Ed shouldn’t be scared. He’s Blackbeard. He’s Izzy’s alpha. No one can touch him. Ed blinks and a few tears slip down his cheeks. 

“I’m scared I’m not good enough to be your alpha anymore. Or that I never was, I dunno. That you’re better off without me,” he admits.

Izzy sobs.  “No,” he gasps, his scent sending out sharp distress. “No, please, alpha, I want you. I need you. Please .” 

Ed holds Izzy tighter, sniffling. “No, no, here, Iz. I’m here. I gotcha. Not leaving you. I’m sorry. I’m just—” His voice cracks. “Fuck, I’m just scared, man.” More tears slip down his cheeks.

Izzy nuzzles against the side of his head. He doesn’t really understand, but he hates to see the way Ed tears himself up inside.

“I just want you,” he admits again breathlessly. “Please. I’m not scared.” Not when you’re here .

Ed leans his head into Izzy’s, closing his eyes. He swallows back comments about how Izzy should be, about how it makes no sense that he isn’t and that he still wants Ed. He doesn’t want to say anything to upset Izzy again. The apologies, the tears, the distress that’s just not settling, it’s almost too fucking much. 

He’s fucked things up so badly. As much as it makes him want to run in the other direction and get far away, somewhere he can never hurt Izzy again, that won’t fucking work if it just hurts Izzy more, will it? He has to at least try to make things right. If Izzy really wants him, he’s not going to deny him. He couldn’t fucking deny him anything he wants now, after everything.

He should get Izzy somewhere nicer, with light and fresh air, where Ed can more easily bring food and water. “Do you want to come up to the cabin with me? Or would you like us to stay here in your nest?”

Izzy’s quiet for a moment, looking around at his makeshift nest. “Can I nest in your cabin?” he asks hesitantly.

“Of course,” Ed says. “‘Course you can, omega.” He presses a kiss to his neck. “Come on.” He starts to gather up his things, all that was missing from his room this morning plus a few things he was pretty sure he lost ages ago, and helps Izzy stand.

Ed keeps an arm around Izzy, who hides behind his armful of clothes, as he leads him out onto the deck. He’s still so clearly upset. The crew sends concerned looks their way, the scent of Izzy’s lingering distress permeating the content scent of the pack. Ed strokes Izzy’s back, focused on him. He can fix this. He can make this better. He can take care of his mate.

Once inside the cabin, Izzy looks around nervously, no doubt for the best place to put together his nest. Ed watches carefully. His eyes linger on the bunk a few times, so Ed gently ushers him toward it.

“Shall we make your nest here, love?” he asks, laying his jacket on the bed.

Izzy approaches the bunk slowly and sniffs. Ed realizes then that it might smell too much like Stede for his liking, but Izzy sighs happily and falls onto the bed, arms spilling his clothes and blankets across it.

“There we are,” Ed murmurs, reaching to push Izzy’s hair back. “Make it all comfy, omega. Make it yours. Do you want anything from your room?”

Izzy shakes his head. Everything he needs is here. Ed. Alpha. Safe. He slowly starts to pull together a nest. 

“Alright, mate, while you do that, I’ll go get us some food and water, yeah?” Ed stands from the bunk, and Izzy freezes, eyes widening. He chokes on his words as Ed starts off toward the deck. No, no, no, stay .

Ed only makes it halfway across the room before the room fills with distress again. It’s so thick he nearly expects Izzy to have somehow hurt himself when he turns around to face him again. Izzy’s gaze is terrified as he stares back at Ed, hyperventilating and reaching out for him with a shaky hand.

Ed hurries back over. “Hey,” he says, taking Izzy’s hand in his own. “What happened?”

Izzy squeezes Ed’s hand, and his breathing slowly starts to calm again. “I need you here. I-I need you to stay,” he whispers. “Please, alpha.”

“Fuck, Iz,” Ed breathes, and he climbs back into the bunk. “Look at me. I’m here. Not leaving. See?” He holds Izzy’s hand to his chest. “Right here for you,” he whispers. 

He glances across the room toward the door. Someone will be by to check on them eventually, surely, and then he can get them what they need. Izzy doesn’t seem to be in the thick of the heat just yet.

“I’m sorry,” Izzy whispers again.

Ed holds back a frustrated noise, squeezing Izzy’s hand tighter. “No, no more apologies,” he says. “You have nothing to be sorry for. Just let yourself do what you need to do. I’ll stay. I’ll stay right here.” He’s not using his alpha voice, but his voice is steady and certain, and it calms Izzy. Ed lets go of Izzy’s hand, but he shifts further into the bunk and tugs off his trousers, here to stay. 

Izzy slowly starts to shift the blankets and clothes around the bed, stretching out and sniffing at the various bits of the nest. He keeps Ed’s jacket close to his head. It’s not the most comfortable bit of the nest, but it is the most comforting, aside from his alpha’s presence. 

Izzy sighs happily as he adjusts the blankets and clothes to lie down, his head just beside Ed’s thigh. He breathes in, smells Ed and his nest, and finally relaxes his exhausted body into the soft bunk. Ed’s hand drops to his head and threads through the hair there. Izzy’s head starts to clear, just a bit. He really hopes he gets to stay here for a while.

He clears his throat. “Is Bonnet going to want me to clear out before he turns in, then?”

He feels more than sees Ed frown from his place on the bed. “No,” he says. “He can—I don’t know, he can figure something out. He understands I need to be with my omega.”

“He does?”

“Yeah. He does, Iz.” Ed strokes his hair back again. “He wants you to be alright.”

Izzy sniffs, thinking back to Stede finding him below deck and getting him Ed. Maybe he does care. Maybe he somehow isn’t threatened by Izzy’s bond with his mate. He is a rather strange alpha, to say the least. His scent in the nest doesn’t even register as threatening in any way. Maybe it’s the time they’ve spent together, or the way he’s grown to associate his scent with Ed’s. Whatever the case, the nest feels safe. 

He yawns, nuzzling his head against the blankets. He’s still so tired.

Ed’s fingers remain in his hair. “You can rest now, Iz. It’s okay. I’ll stay here,” he whispers. “Promise.”

Izzy shifts to lay his head on Ed’s lap, and he lets his eyes close. 

Izzy awakens with a gasp. He’s rocking his hips up against something, slick pooling in his underwear. He whines, continuing to grind up into the warm, firm, surface. As he comes around, he realizes he’s grinding up against Ed’s thigh, the man having shifted to lie beside him. He stops his movements.

“Fuck, I’m sorry,” he gasps. His mind is fuzzy with the heat now, his body desperate to get off. 

“Shh, it’s okay,” Ed soothes, and it feels like a drug hit. Ed’s arm comes around his waist and pulls his hips forward. “Go ahead, sweetheart. It’s alright.”

Izzy wonders if he’s maybe still asleep and dreaming as he slowly rocks his hips forward again. 

“That’s right.” Ed’s other hand finds Izzy’s hair to thread his fingers through. “Take what you need from me.”

Izzy hides his face in Ed’s shoulder, lets his hand come up to hold onto Ed, and he adjusts his angle as he shifts forward again, dragging his cock against Ed’s thigh and whining.

“Good,” Ed purrs, and the word lights him up inside.

The room around them smells heavily of heat and when he takes a deep breath, he can detect the faintest beginnings of his alpha’s rut. The scent he catches of it spurs him on further. As he chases the crescendoing pleasure, he repeats Ed’s voice in his head. Good, good .

“Gonna come just like this for me?” Ed asks.

Izzy whines, nodding his head as he moves faster. “For you.”

Izzy can feel Ed’s cock against his leg, but he doesn’t grind up into Izzy’s movements. He nuzzles his face against Izzy’s head, then brings the hand on Izzy’s hip down to dip beneath his underwear and cup his ass as he humps Ed’s leg.

Izzy is already so close. His alpha’s attention is intoxicating. He grips onto Ed’s shirt and moves impossibly closer to him. He finds himself nonsensically wishing he could just merge with Ed, be enveloped wholly in him. Ed’s arms are heavy around him, his grip on Izzy tight and possessive, and it’s the next best thing.

“Good boy,” he says, a warm rumble to his voice.

A sound like a wounded animal tears itself from Izzy’s throat. He rocks his hips faster, grinds down harder. “Again,” he hears his voice, raspy and shaky, beg. “ Please , tell me…”

“Oh. Oh, omega…” Ed kisses his head. “You’re so fucking good, Iz,” he says, voice deep and sure as he squeezes Izzy’s ass. “My good boy. You always do so well for me.”

Izzy moves quicker, clenches his thighs around Ed’s, throws his head back, and keens as he comes.

“Fucking hell, Iz,” Ed breathes as Izzy slumps against him. “I’ve been doing this all wrong. Look at you. Fuck.” He tilts Izzy’s chin up, and presses their lips together again. To his delight, Izzy melts into the bed as he’s kissed.

“Fuckin perfect,” he whispers, pulling back. “I didn’t—You always like that so much?” 

“Don’t know.”

Ed’s still close enough to feel Izzy’s breath as he catches it. His mind is reeling. Has he never said that sort of thing to Izzy? The pleasure rolling off Izzy is intoxicating, soothing a deep part of him that he hadn’t realized was aching so badly. 

“Gonna figure out everything you like,” Ed says, something intense in his eyes. “Only want to give you what you really want, Iz.”

“Want you .”

“I know,” Ed answers. “My perfect omega. I know.” 

He kisses him again, softly and slowly. The heat is getting intense now, Ed’s thigh glistening and Izzy’s underwear soaked with his slick. Ed’s instincts are begging him to pin Izzy to the bed, roll on top of him, then fuck him hard, the way he’s always fucked his omega. Izzy would let him. But, Ed hasn’t touched Izzy like this in so fucking long. He can’t mess this up, can’t hurt his omega again. He’s still reeling from all the distress he’d been surrounded by earlier and from the fact that Izzy does want him, that staying away was hurting Izzy, too. He doesn’t know what to do.

“Can you tell me what you want me to do?” he asks in a whisper, a hand stroking up and down Izzy’s arm.

Izzy whines again, nuzzling his head against Ed’s shoulder. He doesn’t reply for a while, and Ed tries to calm himself, his body practically buzzing with the need to do something for his omega. He tucks his chin over Izzy’s head.

“Touch me,” Izzy whispers, eventually.

Ed hums, pleased. “I like to touch you,” he says. “Where?”

Izzy swallows. “Everywhere?” he breathes, unsure.

Ed bites back his grin and kisses Izzy on the head. “Okay,” he says. Easy fucking peasy. He’s dying to lay claim to every bit of his omega’s body, to revel in having it beneath his hands and lips again, to prove to himself and to Izzy that he can do this gently and softly.

He slides his hands over Izzy’s chest first, then over his shoulders, feeling his toned, tense muscles. They relax slightly beneath his touch. Izzy’s breathing is careful, like he’s trying hard to keep it steady. Ed starts to kiss his face, his forehead, his cheek, his chin, his jaw, then he moves down his neck. His hands move around to Izzy’s back, tugging him in closer. 

Ed keeps his kisses feather light, pressing one just over the faded bite marks from his latest rather unceremonious renewal of their bond. He moves down to kiss at his shoulder, shimmying down in the bed. His hands come to Izzy’s hips, move over his lower back.

Something in his chest sings at the familiar feeling of Izzy’s body beneath his palm. The short soft hair around his butt, the divot of his lower back, the sharp jut of his hips, the toned muscles. So much is just how he remembers it, but so much is different. He can’t remember the last time he paid that much attention, looked at Izzy the way he is now, felt the way he does now–the way he has for the last few months. He has so long to make up for.

Izzy takes in a particularly shaky sounding breath, so Ed glances up quickly, nostrils flaring in search of distress coming off his omega. He finds nothing but pleasure and want. Izzy’s expression is almost awed. His eyes are closed, tear tracks on his cheeks beneath them, and his mouth is open slightly, jaw trembling with another shaky inhale. Ed reaches up to gently cup his jaw with one hand while the other continues around to rest over Izzy’s abdomen. Izzy leans into his hand, exhales and relaxes, and Ed moves down to get his hand beneath Izzy’s pants.

Soon enough he has Izzy’s underwear cast aside, and he’s sliding two fingers down between Izzy’s folds, dipping into the slick and then pressing up against his cock.

“How’s this?” He slides two fingers around his cock and uses the slick to stroke at it. “Good?” Ed asks, fucking purrs, and Izzy takes a second to remember words.

“Yeah,” he gasps, leaning his forehead against Ed’s shoulder. “Good, fuck.” 

“You’re doing so well, Iz. So fuckin perfect.”

“Thank you,” Izzy gasps, feeling his cock twitch between Ed’s fingers.

Ed chuckles. “This is a proper heat then, yeah?” he says. “You want a knot?”

“Soon,” Izzy answers. “Fuck. Yes. Soon, soon.” He rocks into Ed’s hand and whimpers in delight as Ed slips his fingers down to slide inside of him.

“This just as bad as your last one?” he asks, looking down at where his fingers disappear into the slick and willing hole. Fuck. He needs to fuck Izzy. 

“Worse,” Izzy admits, grinding down against the fingers hungrily. “Roach—ahh—Roach says that I’m going into ‘overdrive.’ Body’s trying to finally pup now that I…” He swallows. “Now that I have a pack, the crew, and I…feel safe,” he adds quietly. 

“Oh…” Ed says, letting that wash over him. He bites his lip. “Imagine you taking pups,” he mumbles, the idea so enticing that he’s struggling not to mount Izzy right this second.

Something strange flashes across Izzy’s face and then he looks away, off the side of the bunk. “Yeah, well. Too late for that now,” he says, sounding the tiniest bit mournful.

Ed picks up on the pang of discomfort he sends out, and he frowns, head clearing a bit. Izzy’s only finally felt safe. Too late for pups. He knows neither of them really would’ve wanted them, but maybe if they hadn’t been fighting, fleeing death, building a pirate legend. Maybe if they’d gone off together ages ago, left the stupid pirate shit behind, Izzy would’ve relaxed into a regular cycle. Ed could’ve fucked pups into him, held him as they grew, spent the rest of his days loving and caring for and protecting his little family.

He finds himself grieving the scenario as it slips through his mind, unlikely as it is, and he wonders if Izzy’s been doing the same. He moves up and presses a kiss to Izzy’s lips. Izzy’s here now. The pack is accepting him. He feels safe enough now. 

Izzy melts into the kiss, so Ed kisses him for a while. The kisses quickly become heated and desperate, and Ed finally gives in to his desire to toss a leg over Izzy, straddling him. He pulls back to let Izzy catch his breath, but can’t help but keep kissing and lightly nipping at his jaw.

“Ed,” Izzy whispers.

“Mm?”

“Fuck me, please,” Izzy begs.

Words fall away as soon as he’s inside of Izzy. He wraps himself around his omega, buries his face in Izzy’s neck, and growls as he presses his legs back. Izzy answers with a whine, clawing at his back. Ed can’t help but to give in to the rut then, as Izzy’s scent fills the room with nothing but pleasure and heat. He starts up a quick pace, senses piqued for any sort of distress coming off of his omega, even beneath the heavy, dizzying, heat pheromones.

He feels Izzy clench down around him and whine, as he comes untouched, his scent spiking with pleasure. He tosses his head back into the pillows of the nest, nails scratching at Ed’s back. As his omega comes down he manages to slow his thrusts, closing his eyes and focusing on the slick drag of his cock inside of Izzy, warm and wet and tight. He feels like it’s been ages since he felt this. He’s not sure he was even properly lucid the last time.

“Don’t stop,” Izzy whines. “Please, please.”

Ed growls softly at the desperate lilt to his omega’s voice. He presses Izzy’s legs back further and thrusts in deeper. “Gonna knot you, mate, don’t worry,” he says. “You can come again, yeah?”

“Yes,” Izzy promises. “Fuck, yes, alpha, please.”

Ed scents Izzy as he fucks into him, makes a pleased noise at their scents mixing together, at Izzy starting to smell like his again.

It’s not long before he’s letting himself go. He feels his knot swell as Izzy tightens around him and comes again, keening loudly and gorgeously. Ed’s hyper aware of everywhere he touches Izzy. He lets Izzy’s legs down a bit, and leans down to nuzzle against his neck. As he breathes in the scent of sated, happy, omega, he begins to mindlessly lick and kiss at Izzy’s skin.

Izzy’s ears are ringing, his body’s on fire, and he still feels so fucking good . Ed’s knot is full inside of him, Ed’s body is wrapped around him, and Ed’s tongue is licking lazily over his neck. His teeth graze gently over the bond mark, sending shocks through Izzy’s entire body. Izzy floats there for a long while.

Then, Ed’s knot goes down, and he slips out, letting Izzy’s legs down. Izzy sinks back into his body, and he’s immediately shaking. He can’t help the fear that takes him in its frozen grip. 

This is the part where Ed leaves.

Except he doesn’t. Or he hasn’t, yet. He’s still there, lying down beside Izzy and pulling him in, off the slick-soaked bit of the nest and into his arms, even as the scent of Izzy’s heat retreats. He’s crying, shaking, and holding onto Ed so tightly his arms ache.

“Shh,” Ed murmurs, stroking Izzy’s hair back. The distress came on so suddenly, just as soon as Ed had pulled out, and it pierced through Ed’s content post orgasm bliss like a dagger. He’s horrified by the thought that maybe Izzy didn’t want any of this, that he was truly too lost in the heat and whatever strange effect their bond was having on him to think straight. The way that Izzy leans into and grips onto him is the only thing keeping him from panicking. Izzy is crying, whimpering words that Ed can’t make out. He trains his ears on them, tries to understand. 

“Please, please, please,” he realizes Izzy is repeating breathlessly between his sobs.

“Please, what?” he asks, his hand coming to cradle the back of Izzy’s head. “Anything, Iz. I’ll do anything. Just tell me what you need.” 

Izzy just sobs and clutches onto Ed’s shoulders, burying his face in one. “Hold me,” he manages. 

“Yeah,” Ed answers quickly, tugging Izzy as close as he can, wrapping his arms around him tightly. “Yeah, I’ve got ya.” He strokes up and down Izzy’s back, feels Izzy take in a proper breath. “There’s a love,” Ed murmurs. “You’re alright.” 

Izzy sniffs and closes his eyes, exhaling slowly. He takes a moment to gather himself. Ed waits, just listens to him breathe.

“It’s a lot,” he whispers, finally. “The heat.”

“Yeah,” Ed agrees quickly, still rubbing his back. “It is. It’s a lot.” 

“I don’t like being alone after.” 

“Won’t leave you alone. I—oh fuck.” Ed takes in a sharp breath as he once again thinks of the last heat he spent with Izzy. Izzy squeezes his arms around Ed, and Ed swallows hard against the growing lump in his throat. 

“I’m sorry, Iz,” he whispers. “I shouldn’t have just left. I mean—none of it was okay. I still should’ve stayed. I was just. I was already so guilty, Iz. I felt like a fuckin monster. Still do, lot of the time.” 

Izzy breathes out shakily. “I wanted my alpha,” he says. “I thought you didn’t come help me because you didn’t want me anymore. I couldn’t make you, not after Bonnet. I thought it’d hurt too much. That I’d just know the whole time how much you didn’t really want me, but I…” He doesn’t look up. Ed hears him swallow. “I wanted you.”

Each word hurts more than the last, and the lump in Ed’s throat is beginning to feel like a fucking coconut. 

“Fuck, mate,” he breathes. “I—I thought you didn’t want me after what I…” He tries to steady his voice. “What I did to you. Fuck.” Tears slip down his own cheeks. “I should’ve fuckin come take care of you sooner. And I shouldn’t have fucking—The way I did it, I can’t…” He takes a second to try to compose himself, somewhat. “I’m sorry. I’ve been trying to make it up. That’s why—with Lucius—I just…I want you to be okay , Iz.” His voice cracks around the words. “I thought I might’ve fucked this up too much for it to ever be okay between us,” he says, voice a squeak.

Izzy’s quiet for a long moment, holding on to Ed, breathing purposefully deeply.

“I still just want you, Edward,” he whispers, eventually, like nothing else matters. 

Ed closes his eyes. “You’ve got me,” he answers. “I can…I’ll try to be better, Iz. For you. I will.”

Izzy’s just glad to have his alpha here, finally. He knows Ed wants Stede, but if he can have this, even just during his heats, he’s happy. It’s hard to believe Ed really wants it beyond the instincts and hormones.

“Oh, here,” Ed says, sitting up suddenly and reaching back behind himself. He rolls back over with a jug of water. “Here. Got some, like, biscuit thingies, too, I think. And a bread roll, think you can manage that?”

Izzy takes the water and gladly drinks it down, waiting to feel how it lands in his stomach. “Maybe,” he decides, and so Ed hands him the roll and he takes a bite.

“Thank you.”

Ed just hums and moves back in to sniff at his neck, the scent of heat having retreated a bit. “Think this heat is another short and sweet one?” he asks.

Izzy shrugs as best he can while still lying on one side. “Might come back. Earlier it went, then came back again.” Before Ed can puzzle together how that might’ve happened, Izzy adds, “I fucked Roach.” 

Ed’s not sure what to say to that, but Izzy tenses when he takes a moment to reply, distress creeping into his scent. He pulls back to see Izzy’s worried expression. “Okay?” he offers, moving his hand from Izzy’s back to rub at his arm. “I mean. Was he good?”

Izzy blinks a few times. “It doesn’t…bother you?”

Ed sighs, looking down between them. “No? Kind of? Don’t reckon I really have a problem with you being with other people. Especially not pack. I think I just have a problem with…you not being with me,” he whispers.

Izzy can’t help but smile at the confession. “Well, I also fucking have a problem not being with you,” he says, meeting Ed’s eyes. “Quite fucking literally. Fucking medically.” 

Ed laughs softly. “Yeah, I see that now,” he murmurs. “I bet Roach was onto something, with the crew, though. I do want you to let them take care of you. This isn’t like our other ships, mate, this is safe. This is pack.” 

Izzy sniffles. “I…I’ll try. I just…Being with them just made me want you.”

“Well, you have me, now, Iz. Promise. You can have them, too. Can have all of us. Fucking, everything. Anything, Iz.” Ed brings his fingertips to graze over the faded marks of his teeth. “Do you want to redo our bonding mark?” 

It takes him a moment, in his shock, to process the question. When Izzy opens his mouth to answer, nothing but a choked sob comes out and tears start slipping down his cheeks again.

“Shit. We don’t have to,” Ed says quickly, reaching to wipe away the tears. “We don’t have to, Iz. It doesn’t have to be like that. Especially with how it’s messing with your heats.” 

Izzy sobs again, shaking his head. He understands where Ed’s coming from now, why he’s scared that Izzy doesn’t want this, but there’s an ache tearing through his chest at the thought that Ed doesn’t want it nearly as much as he does. “You want me?” he forces out. “As a mate?”

“Oh.” Ed’s eyes close and a tear slips down his cheek. He swallows. Izzy can feel his pulse pounding. “Of course, I want you, Iz. I always want you, I never stopped wanting you, really, I just… I wanted more. For both of us. I still do.”

“Please let me be yours,” Izzy begs, voice cracking around the words. 

Ed squeezes his arms around Izzy and leans down to nose against the faded bond mark. “Mine,” he whispers, then, “Yours,” he adds. “Your alpha.” 

“Prove it,” Izzy rasps, baring his neck. “ Please .”

“Fuck,” Ed says, voice thick with emotion. “Not like this, I’m sorry. Want to make it nice. Want to make it perfect. I want you. I want you so bad. Just let me make it perfect, for you, Izzy, please.”

Izzy wants it now, yesterday , but he whines and nods. Whatever Ed wants.

“That’s right,” Ed says, and presses a kiss to the mark. “You still want me to be your alpha, then I’ll be the best fuckin alpha you could ask for, mate. Promise. You’ll see.”

Chapter Text

When Stede leaves Izzy curled up in his hiding place to hurry back above deck, he’s alight with nerves. He spots Ed still speaking with the crew, and he must smell Izzy on Stede because as soon as Stede’s close Ed drops whatever he was saying mid sentence and hurries over. The crew watch them as Ed leans in to breathe in the smell, his eyes widening.

“Heat again?” he asks, voice low. “So soon?”

Stede bites his lip, glancing nervously at the crew. He pulls Ed further away. “You really must go to him, Edward,” Stede says quickly and quietly, glancing back where he came. “You should’ve seen him. He’s got all your things from the cabin. He’s made a nest of them. He wants you , darling. I think he thinks he’s not allowed to.

Ed frowns. “Me? No, he—why would he want me? Are you sure?”

Stede’s expression softens and he nods. “He was worried that I wouldn’t want you to be with him. That you don’t want to be with him. He seemed…quite upset.”

Ed bites his lip, glances nervously back at the crew. “You think I can help him?”

“I think you might be the only one who can,” Stede admits. Ed still looks hesitant, so he clicks his tongue and sighs. “Come along, love. Come and see.”

He leads a clearly nervous Ed down the passageway to Izzy’s little nest. He gasps softly when he enters the room behind Stede, and Stede pouts when he sees Izzy has already fallen asleep. The poor dear seems exhausted. He can’t imagine the physical tax of two heats within a single month after so many years of them being few and far between.

“Oh,” Ed says wetly, taking in the nest, the way Izzy is curled around his jacket. “Oh, Stede,” he says.

“Go on, then,” Stede murmurs, nodding his head toward him.

Ed hesitantly crawls into the nest, climbs up into the corner. He slips behind Izzy, slowly reaches to touch his arm. Izzy doesn’t seem to stir, but his body visibly relaxes. As Ed wraps an arm around him, he rolls into him. Ed sends Stede a wide eyed look and Stede smiles gently. 

“There we are,” he murmurs. “Poor tired thing. I’ll leave you two, yeah? I’m sure he’ll be more comfortable without me around.” He stands.

“Wait, don’t,” Ed says. “I don’t—I can’t be alone with him.”

Stede frowns and crouches back down again. “Why not, love?” he whispers.

Ed licks his lips and swallows. “What if I hurt him?” he whispers.

Stede frowns. “You won’t, darling. Do you want to hurt him?”

“No,” Ed scoffs softly, looking down at the exhausted omega. “Never again,” he adds in a whisper.

“Then, why would you?”

Ed bites his lip.

“You showed me how you can take care of your omega, didn’t you, Edward?” Stede asks, his own gaze dropping to look at Izzy. “You can come get me if it’s too much and we can figure it out, but I think you two perhaps need to talk, a bit.” He thinks back to Izzy’s apologies and belief that Ed doesn’t want him. “I’m not sure me being here will help.”

Ed sighs shakily, hand stroking over Izzy’s arm. Distress lingers in the air, but there’s pleasure seeping into his scent now, as he presses his head up against Ed in his sleep. Stede is sure he got this right.

“If he’d like to go back to the cabin, when he wakes up, you can bring him there, love,” he says.

Ed licks his lips nervously, glances to the door. “Yeah. Yeah, okay.”

“Did you find Izzy?” Frenchie asks when Stede returns to the deck. The crew’s curious and concerned gazes are all on him.

“I did!” he answers brightly.

“Is he alright?” Roach asks, glancing sideways at the crew in a way that makes Stede wonder if he knows a bit more about what’s going on with Izzy after having seen him this morning.

“I believe he will be,” Stede says, briefly meeting Roach’s gaze.

“Where is he now?” Lucius asks.

“He’s below deck with Ed.”

“And, um, we think that’s a good idea?”

“Wha—hey now! Do you really think I’d put one of our pack omegas in danger?” Stede asks, a bit indignant, though he supposes he appreciates the sentiment. It’s comforting to know the pack are concerned for Izzy’s wellbeing.

Lucius winces, hesitating obviously, and Stede frowns.

“Not on purpose,” Frenchie chimes in. “But…”

“Guys, he’s safe. I’m telling you,” Stede says, certainly. “It’s what Izzy wanted, believe me. Ed’s going to take care of him, and if they need anything from us, they can ask, hm? I’ll give them a bit to get settled then check in.”

Lucius opens his mouth as if to speak again, but Stede cuts him off. “I think we should get this deck clean and swabbed while they’re indisposed, yes?  Let’s remind Izzy we’ve got a handle on what needs doing.”

The crew mumble among themselves as they get to work, but they seem to take the suggestion as an order. After a while their conversation turns away from Izzy and back to the strange and random topics of conversation that Stede is used to overhearing. The crew falls silent when Ed and Izzy come above deck, Izzy still smelling heavily of distress and heat.

Stede watches, along with the pack, as Izzy walks across the deck, tucked against Ed’s side. Ed doesn’t look at the crew or Stede, but he can probably sense the way the entire ship watches them in concern.

Lucius frowns, watching him go. “You’re sure they’re alright?” he asks Stede.

Stede frowns again. “I’ll check on them, in a bit,” he decides. “But, yes, I’m sure they’ll be alright.”

The crew don’t bring up anymore of their concerns, but the pack scent starts to take on an uneasiness as they work that makes Stede nervous, so he doesn’t wait long before he goes to peek into the captain’s cabin. 

He’s unprepared for the emotion that comes with the sight before him. Ed sits up against the wall within the soft nest, gaze directed down at Izzy, who lays on his side on the bed, curled up with his head in Ed’s lap. One of Ed’s hands is in his hair, petting, and, as Stede walks inside and the light catches just right, he can see tear tracks on Ed’s cheeks. He clears his throat and knocks a few times on the wall, and Ed looks up. Izzy doesn’t seem to stir. 

When Stede breathes in, the mix of Ed and Izzy scents hits him as surprisingly right . The omega’s scent fills the room, much less distress to it now, though still far from none, and Stede’s pleased. It feels like this is where Izzy ought to be.

“Hey,” Ed says softly, reaching up to wipe his cheeks with the back of his hand. “He’s having a rest. Think you could get us some water and snacks?”

“Certainly,” Stede says brightly. “We’re doing alright, then?”

“Think so,” Ed says, voice sounding small.

Stede creeps in closer to get a better look at them. “My, he’s just wiped out, isn’t he?” he murmurs, looking at Izzy. He looks so small, curled up with a head in Ed’s lap.

Ed sniffs. “Yeah. Can’t imagine. I feel like shit and my body’s just been reacting to him.”

“I’m sorry, darling,” Stede says sympathetically. 

“Feels better with him close,” Ed admits, petting Izzy’s hair back again. He looks over at Stede. “Feels better with both of you close,” he adds.

Stede takes that as an invitation to come over beside the bed. He can smell Izzy’s heat again, now, and he can’t help the want that takes him over for a moment.

Ed leans his head toward Stede and breathes in, sighing happily. “I told him he can stay as long as he wants,” he says.

Stede realizes that means he’s banished to the deck for the night. He won’t mind a night without his bunk for their sake, but he supposes it will be strange knowing Ed and Izzy are in here together, sharing Izzy’s heat. A selfish part of him wants to just curl up beside the both of them. Izzy might let him, too, if he thought it’s what Ed wanted, but the omega simply putting up with him for Ed’s sake is far from ideal.

“I’ll bring you two something to eat, then,” he says. And then, he’ll get out on deck, away from the intoxicating smell of Izzy’s heat mixing with his mate’s scent.

After delivering their food, Stede finds himself once again surrounded by the pack. They sniff at him curiously, probably looking for Izzy’s distress or satisfaction.

“Alright,” Stede sighs. “I’ll have one of you bring them their dinner, and you can see for yourselves. Will that satisfy you?”

Sighs of relief and pleased mumbles of agreement ripple through the crew. 

“Who’re we sending, then?” Frenchie asks. “Another omega right?”

“Yes, probably best,” Stede agrees. Though Izzy hadn’t reacted poorly to his scent, he’s not sure he should bombard the hormonal omega with all sorts of different alpha scents. Lucius pouts and Fang sighs.

“Jim, you can go,” Stede decides.

Frenchie frowns, and Roach makes a displeased noise, but Jim fails to hide their smile as they give an “aye, aye, Captain.”

Stede feels a bit out of sorts as he attends to the crew and the deck. Izzy and Ed are usually out on deck now, with Stede beginning his evening routine back in the cabin. He hadn’t realized just how accustomed he’s grown to that new normal. He feels nervous as he settles into the pack nest, but the omegas quickly surround him with blankets and pillows and fabrics that smell of the pack’s contentment.

“Thank you,” he breathes to Olu, as he starts to relax.

Olu makes a dismissive noise and hand gesture as he shrugs. “Hey, don’t forget, I think the crew’s expecting a story,” he says.

“Oh, right, bugger,” Stede murmurs. “Jim!” he calls to them as they pass by with a plate of food. “Could you grab the book off the table while you’re in there?” Jim nods. “Thank you!”

When Jim enters the cabin, they’re on high alert for the scent of distress, and they immediately look around the room for Blackbeard. As they slowly walk closer to the bed, they see his silhouette beside Izzy’s, and nerves twist in their stomach. They’re pleasantly surprised when they breathe in and smell contentment lining the edges of the omega’s heat. Izzy has made a nice little nest, and he lays curled up against his alpha’s chest.

The two of them look up at Jim as they walk in with the plate of food, and Jim nods a greeting, briefly meeting Blackbeard’s eyes before looking down. When Jim looks up again, he’s moved back away from Izzy and averts his gaze, trailing his fingers over the wall beside the bed. 

Izzy sends them a slight smile as they approach, so Jim relaxes as they set the tray of food down at the bedside.

“Hey,” they say quietly, glancing over at Blackbeard again and then returning their gaze to Izzy’s tired, relaxed expression. “We were worried about you, omega.” They crouch down a bit, lean in to take in another deep breath, still getting nothing but the rare smell of contentment from Izzy. “But you’re doing just fine, hm?”

Izzy’s lips quirk up in a grin and he nods. He looks Jim over once and then leans in to scent them. 

“Oh, alright,” they breathe in surprise, chuckling and baring their neck for him. “Hi there.”

“Sorry,” Izzy breathes sheepishly, but he doesn’t move back. He feels so fucking starved for this.

“No, no, it’s okay,” Jim says, smiling. “Have at it.” 

They glance at Ed who continues to avert his gaze and keep his distance. They breathe in deeply, trying to get a read on the alpha. He smells protective, and a bit like rut, but it’s not the intense, overwhelming scent that Jim’s gotten from him before. He’s got an almost demure air about him as he presses himself into the corner of the bunk.

Izzy makes a soft, whimpering sound, and Jim’s attention snaps back to him.

“Shh,” they murmur instinctively, scenting the omega back. He smells of his alpha, but Jim notices that his claim mark is still faded. “You need something?”

Izzy reaches back behind himself toward Blackbeard, who quickly finds his hand, and then relaxes. Jim bites their lip, pulling back and looking Izzy over. His eyes close and he breathes slowly.

“Iz?” Blackbeard asks, voice impossibly soft.

“Nngh,” Izzy answers, rolling away from Jim and back toward him. “Alpha,” he whines.

Jim swallows, unable to look away as Blackbeard hushes the omega, pulls him in, and moves down to scent him. He buries his face in Izzy’s neck and murmurs something that Jim can’t make out. They breathe in and detect the way Izzy’s scent changes, pleasure seeping into it.

“Please,” Izzy gasps in reply.

Blackbeard presses a kiss to his neck, rests his forehead against Izzy’s jaw, and breathes deeply.

“I’ve got you,” he says quietly. He glances over Izzy’s shoulder at Jim. “Want Jim to stay?”

Izzy mumbles something they can’t make out. 

Blackbeard’s eyes flicker up to them again. “You can go,” he says softly. “Thank you.”

Jim swallows. They hesitate, but Izzy glances back at them and nods toward the door, a certain comforting glint to his eyes. Jim smiles slightly, and Izzy copies the action. They barely remember to grab Stede’s book off the table as they turn to go.

“Stede? Stede. Stede. Stede. Ste—oh, hey, mate. You up?”

Stede blinks, groaning at the ache in his stiff muscles as he sits up. His vision clears enough for him to see Ed crouched down beside him. He looks exhausted, his hair a bit of a mess and eyes drooping, but he looks happy. As Stede shifts to sit up, Ed quickly moves in to scent him. As he rubs his face up against Stede’s neck, Ed sighs contentedly. It seems like it’s still rather dark out, the sun just beginning to rise.

“Ed? What time is it?” Stede asks, breathing in and processing the still-heavy scent of Izzy’s heat.

“Oh, not sure, it’s real early, mate, sorry,” he says quickly. “I just—do you mind coming back to the cabin with me?”

Stede’s been trying his best not to drift off in his chair for almost three hours when Izzy whimpers, rolling away from Ed, who still seems to be sleeping rather soundly. Izzy’s face scrunches up and he whimpers again, eyes sliding open.

“Izzy?” Stede asks quietly, sitting up.

Izzy seems to startle at his presence, moving himself back into the nest. Stede’s heart sinks slightly, but he reminds himself that he shouldn’t be surprised. Izzy is vulnerable, in heat, and Stede can see how Izzy might see him as nothing but the man who stole his mate away, even if Stede hadn’t realized exactly what he was doing.

Izzy presses himself back up against Ed’s side in the nest, tucks his forehead against his shoulder and breathes out shakily. He sniffs and shakes his head, then laughs softly in a disconcerting sort of way. “Right. You’ve come for your mate back, then?” he whispers.

Stede frowns. “I’m here because Ed asked me to be,” he answers quietly. Izzy frowns, too, closing his eyes, and Stede realizes he should perhaps elaborate. “He couldn’t rest without you looked after,” he adds, softer.

Izzy’s eyes open to find Stede’s, his brow furrowing. “You’re…looking after me, then?”

Stede feels himself blush and looks away. “I am,” he says. “Would you like some water?”

Izzy looks him over assessingly, then nods slightly and shifts to sit up. Stede hands him a jug of water, and he drinks. Stede watches him as he does, reaching out to take the jug back when Izzy’s finished and making a short pleased sound like a chirp.

“So,” he says, sitting back in the chair he’s pulled up to the bedside. “How are you feeling?”

Izzy sniffs, glancing behind himself at where Ed lies, fast asleep. He looks beautiful and peaceful, pressed up against Izzy. Stede’s not sure he’s seen him sleeping so soundly in weeks. 

“Come here,” Izzy replies, shifting to the side just a bit.

Stede hesitates before moving his chair up to the bed and leaning in. Izzy leans in closer and breathes in through his nose.

“Oh, I spent the night in the pack nest, I suppose I probably smell an awful lot like them,” Stede whispers. “Sorry if it’s a bit overwhelming.”

Izzy breathes in slowly again. “It’s nice,” he decides.

“Oh,” says Stede, smiling. “Wonderful.”

Izzy looks over at Ed. “Thank you,” he says. “For bringing him.”

Stede scoffs, smiling. “Ah, well. It seemed like the right thing to do. I’m glad it worked out,” he says, tone bright even as he speaks quietly.

Izzy’s eyes search Stede’s expression for any hint of a proper reaction to having his mate stolen away. “So you’re not upset? That your mate has another mate?” 

Stede shrugs. “You were here first,” he says, looking away somewhat bashfully. “Really it should be me asking that question.”

Izzy hums thoughtfully. “I suppose so, yeah,” he admits, pleased when Stede’s cheeks turn a soft shade of red.

“You didn’t answer me,” he says, “About how you’re feeling.”

Izzy looks at him for a moment. Then, he bites his lip and looks away, breathing in slowly. “Fine,” he decides. He can feel Stede’s eyes on him, feels him breathe in through his nose, likely judging the honesty of Izzy’s answer.

“Think you’ll be able to rest a bit longer?”

Izzy sniffs and sinks back down into the bed. He’s not sure. He certainly feels no less exhausted, but there’s a buzzing in his head, and it seems to get louder as Stede sits back, his scent and the scent of the pack moving further away. He presses his nose up beside Ed’s neck against the mess of curls that lie over the pillows and breathes in. His alpha’s scent sends a steadying wave of calm over him, and he sighs softly. Maybe he can rest a bit longer.

What feels like mere seconds after closing his eyes, Izzy wakes again, uncomfortable. “Mmph,” he moans softly against the pillow, pressing his face into it and gasping. “Fuck.”

He feels the intense stirring of desire starting back up again in his abdomen and between his legs. He’d been up on and off all night, whining for his alpha’s knot, his hands, his mouth, anything to take the edge off. No wonder Ed hadn’t been able to sleep with Izzy waking up desperate, slick-soaked, and whimpering every few hours. 

He hasn’t been like this in a heat since he was young, and he  swears it’s gotten worse since Jim’s visit, since he got a taste of the smell of pack. He wants Stede closer, wants to inhale the lingering scent of the nest, of the pack. He’s never wanted a pack so badly before.

He glances over at the chair where Stede still sits, a book up in one hand. Here to “look after” Izzy. 

“Stede,” he manages to whine, and Stede’s eyes widen, a brightness behind them.

“Yes! What can I do for you, Izzy?” he answers quickly, setting his book down on the bedside.

“Fuckin—come here, would you?”

Stede feels butterflies squirm to life in his stomach. It made sense for Izzy to scent him earlier, as his scent joined Ed’s and Izzy’s in the room, but there’s something exciting about Izzy wanting to do it again. He hurries to pull his chair up to the bed again.

As Izzy leans into him and breathes him in, Stede does the same. He is quickly hit again with the heady, ambrosial scent of Izzy’s heat, seeming much more intense than it had a moment ago. Stede clenches his hands, resting useless in his lap, into fists as lewd fantasies flash through his mind. Omega, omega, omega , his mind chants, as Izzy scents him. God, does he want to take care of him, to touch him, to hold him, to slide his legs open and slip inside of his slick, ready hole. He glances at Ed, who sleeps soundly.

“Are you—do you need me to wake Ed?”

Izzy pulls back, blinks, and looks him over. “Thought you were looking after me,” he answers. “Alpha,” he tacks on, then bites his lip.

Oh. Oh, alright then. Stede grins and lets himself press up against Izzy’s neck and breathe in the dizzying hormones. He climbs onto the bed, jostles the mattress, and he’s certain Ed’s going to wake up, but he doesn’t so much as stir. He props himself up on his side beside Izzy, and suddenly they’re face to face.

Izzy grabs him by the face and pulls him in. The kiss is messy, desperate, and Stede’s suddenly aware that he hasn’t kissed any man besides Edward. Izzy’s lips are distinct from Ed’s, and they stop moving against Stede’s, a frustrated whine escaping them. He realizes Izzy wants him to take over, as an alpha generally would.

He sinks into the kiss as if it were Ed, moving his lips and pressing his tongue forward the way Ed seems to like. Izzy responds in kind, body relaxing beneath him, lips parting. His lips are surprisingly soft against Stede’s, and he’s too caught up in the feeling of it to notice the way Izzy shifts beneath him until he feels a wetness against his thigh, soaking through the thin fabric of his trousers. He pulls back to catch his breath. 

The smell of Izzy’s slick is thick between them, and Stede has the urge to dive between his legs face first and dip in for a taste. Izzy adjusts himself so that he’s not grinding up against Stede’s thigh but his crotch, against the hard swell of his cock, and any thoughts aside from fuck, omega, knot, leave his mind.

“Christ,” he hears himself say. “Izzy, do you want—”

“Fuck me, Bonnet,” Izzy rasps quickly in answer.

The fantasies he’s had of Izzy flit through his mind. He glances once again at the somehow still asleep Ed and considers waking him, but he does seem exhausted…The thought leaves his mind as Izzy grinds down again, and before he knows it he’s shoved off his trousers and his hard cock is sliding up against Izzy’s slick hole.

Izzy tugs at his shirt, and Stede pulls back enough to shed it, and then Izzy is tugging him down to bury his face in Stede’s shoulder.

“Get on with it,” he whines, voice high and breathy.

Stede presses in without another thought, and the breath catches in his throat. He scents Izzy, drinks in his shaky moan.

“Oh, God, Izzy,” Stede breathes. “You feel so incredible.”

“Nngh, fuck me,” Izzy gasps, tossing his head back.

Stede starts to thrust into his slick, wet hole. Izzy clenches down tight around him despite a full day of being fucked open. He’s certain he’s never felt anything like it. It’s intoxicating. He leans over Izzy, nuzzles his face against his neck and scents him.

He does try to be quiet, to keep from jostling the bed too severely, but every soft sound he punches out of Izzy with a particularly well angled movement makes it much harder to care about waking Ed. Izzy’s so slick, so willing, so beautiful, offering himself up for Stede. He does want Edward to see this, how lovely his omega looks wrapped around Stede’s cock, dragging his fingernails over Stede’s shoulders.

It doesn’t take long for him to get his wish.

“Mmm,” Stede hears from beside them, and he sees Ed stretch an arm over his head. “What’ve we got here, hm?” he asks, rolling onto his side to face them.

“Alpha,” Izzy gasps immediately, reaching out for him.

Ed chuckles. “Don’t stop on my account.”

“Alpha,” Izzy whines again, and Ed slides over against his side, reaching up to push his messy hair back. “Got you,” he mumbles, then blinks up at Stede where he hunches over Izzy, dick buried inside him. “Looks like we’ve both got you, hm?”

Stede feels a blush spread across his cheeks again as he shifts, pressing deeper into Izzy again. Izzy squeezes around him and moans softly.

“Said I should let the crew take care of me,” Izzy whines.

Ed chuckles, groaning as he cracks his neck and stretches his leg out. “I did say that.” His eyes meet Stede’s and Stede bites his lip as a smile starts to tug at it.

“And you did ask me to look after him, love,” Stede adds breathlessly, pressing deeper inside of Izzy.

Ed catches Stede by the jaw, leans up, and kisses him. Stede shifts his hips, continuing to fuck lazily into Izzy as Ed kisses him, sloppy and desperate. When he pulls back, he looks down at where Izzy is stretched around Stede’s cock and growls, a low rumble in his chest.

“Fuck,” he says, pressing up against Izzy’s side, his cock hard against Izzy’s hip. Clearly the rut has taken over, as Ed’s half as awake as his dick seems to be. “How’s he feel, Iz?”

Izzy tosses his head back against the pillows, closes his eyes, and takes in the feeling as Stede picks up his pace again, one of his hands finding Izzy’s hips to grip onto. “Good,” he gasps, breathing in Stede’s scent and the lingering scent of the pack. “Good, alpha, fuck.” 

Ed’s hand moves over his stomach, his head comes to rest on Izzy’s shoulder. “That’s right,” he says, fingertips circling Izzy’s cock, right above where Stede slides slickly in and out of him. “You like my alpha’s cock, don’t you?” 

Izzy whines, his hard cock twitching against Ed’s fingers, and Ed grins, pressing his nose to Izzy’s neck and breathing him in as pleasure rolls off him in waves.

“Fuck. Yeah, you do,” Ed says. “I like that,” he adds. “My alpha and my omega,” he whispers. Izzy shudders beneath him at the words and Stede gives a soft, pleased, growl as he scents Izzy again.

“Gonna let him knot you? Fill you nice and full?” Ed asks into Izzy’s neck. “Only been able to take his knot once, Iz. It’s huge.”

“Please,” Izzy gasps. “Ed– Stede , please,” he whines.

Stede’s knot is already swelling, catching with every thrust. He growls, taken with the urge to bite down on Izzy’s neck, to claim him, a desire he’s never experienced so strongly before. He lets his teeth graze Izzy’s scent gland and Izzy whimpers. 

“Fuck,” Ed breathes. “No biting, Stede, not yet,” he says.

Not yet…

Izzy could have two bites claiming him? Two alphas that wanted him? The thought sends him over the edge, clenching around Stede and gushing slick. Stede knots him and comes, groaning and scenting Izzy again.

Stede laughs softly against Izzy’s skin as they catch their breaths. “Ed’s getting a bit ahead of himself, I think,” he breathes, and Izzy’s heart starts to sink, his silly fantasy slipping through his fingers. “That is a lovely thought, though, isn’t it?” He brings a finger up to touch the scent gland. “Ours?”

Izzy shivers. His heat-addled brain can’t imagine anything better than being allowed to be theirs, to serve both of his captains. He whines needily in his throat and nods, eyes closed. He feels Ed’s breath against his neck on his other side as he sighs happily. 

“Our omega,” Ed breathes.

Stede gasps as Izzy tightens around him, whimpering at the words, and a second orgasm washes through him. Izzy smells so delightful, like contentment and pleasure, and Stede’s heart sings at the thought of helping to sate the omega’s heat, of bringing him pleasure.

“Goodness you’re lovely like this,” Stede says, breathing it all in. “Not that you aren’t lovely otherwise.”

Izzy snorts softly.

“I mean it!” Stede says. “You’re very impressive, Izzy. A brilliant pirate, and a wonderful omega.”

“Shut up,” Izzy breathes, as he diverts his gaze, his stomach fluttering at the praise. It’s all so much, but it’s so fucking good. He's surrounded by alpha, by protection, care, and desire. He blinks back tears.

Stede pulls back, looks down at Izzy and takes him in. His hair is a mess, strands falling into his face. He’s panting through parted lips, his forehead glistening with sweat. Stede has left red hand prints where he’s been gripping Izzy's hips as they fucked. 

Ed slides a hand over Izzy’s thigh, in between them where Stede is still locked inside, and he brings it back absolutely coated in Izzy’s slick. He takes his own thick cock in hand and uses it to stroke, pressing his nose up against Izzy’s scent gland. 

Izzy still smells heavily of the heat when Stede slips out. Overdrive, indeed.

Stede moves away to let Ed climb between Izzy’s legs. He props himself up on his side in the bed to watch them, and Ed grins.

He doesn’t feel protective and possessive the way he had been seeing Izzy with Ivan and Fang. The scent of his mates, both of them, pleased and desperate for more, is incredible, perfect, soothing in a way nothing has ever been. He never wants it to end. He needs to keep them both pleased, stay here with both of them.

“My turn,” Ed says, pressing Izzy’s legs back and sliding inside. Despite an entire night of it, it still feels like heaven, his instincts singing with the pleasure of sliding inside of his omega, his mate. “My Iz,” he breathes against Izzy’s neck, and Izzy nods, moaning.

“Yours, Ed.”

“Mine,” Ed agrees. He reaches a hand out for Stede, guides his hand it to Izzy’s hip, too. “Ours.”

Stede shifts closer to the both of them, and Izzy turns into him, pressing up against his neck. Ed kisses over Izzy’s scent gland.

“My mates,” he breathes, heart soaring and pride swelling in his chest.

Chapter Text

Izzy knows it’s not unlike Ed to get swept up in something and to make promises. He doesn’t doubt that Ed intends to make good on them, but Ed intends a lot of things. So, he’s a bit surprised when Ed is still glued to his side after the heat breaks.

He comes out of the cabin on Izzy’s heels. Anytime a task takes him off, he spends it glancing over toward Izzy. It’d be annoying if it weren’t so damn endearing. 

When Izzy goes to sleep in his room after the crew’s nightly story, Ed pouts. He reaches out to grab Izzy’s hand as he stands. Izzy glances around at the crew, still unused to Ed touching him in front of others. A few of the crew avert their gazes when Izzy catches them.

“What?” he asks Ed, hoping he isn’t obviously blushing.

“Are you—did you wanna stay with me and Stede?” Ed’s eyes are wide as he looks back at Izzy, and his voice is high and unsteady, but he shrugs his shoulders in an attempt at casualness.

“Tonight?”

“Yeah, if you want,” Ed says. “Any night, if you want. Every night, if you want,” he adds.

Izzy’s stomach flutters and he smiles slightly at Ed’s eagerness. “Yeah, alright,” he decides. “I want.”

Ed’s wide smile makes his stomach flutter again, and then he’s being led back to the captains’ cabin with Ed’s arm around his waist. He ignores the gazes of the crew that have drifted back to them.

Once inside, Stede greets them brightly. “Izzy!” he says, as he comes over to Ed’s other side. He presses up against Ed to scent him, but when he turns to Izzy, he hesitates. “Er—May I…”

Instead of answering, Izzy steps forward to scent Stede, pressing his face against Stede’s neck. Stede makes a surprised, pleased sound as he scents Izzy back, and Ed laughs.

“Hello,” Stede breathes.

 “Hi.”

Izzy pulls back, but not too far. As they look at each other, Stede seems to deflate, an odd look spreading over his face. 

“Izzy…” he starts, hesitant. “What Ed was saying last night…”

Ed frowns. “What about it?” he interjects defensively, and Izzy wonders if Ed even bothered to tell Stede he was inviting Izzy to share their room. “You’re both my mates, right?” Ed’s voice tapers off into a soft and unsure tone, and Izzy immediately presses himself back against Ed’s side. 

“Of course!” Stede says quickly. “No, of course we’re both your mates, Edward. I meant about Izzy being…”

“Ours?” Ed asks, wrapping an arm around Izzy again.

Izzy’s heart sinks. Stede doesn’t want him. He’s so fucking stupid. He shouldn’t have let the heat take over, shouldn’t have pulled Bonnet into it. He’s going to say as much, but then Ed’s arm tightens around Izzy and he’s asking what Izzy can’t.

“You don’t want him?” He sounds personally offended by the idea, and confused, as he raises an eyebrow.

Stede frowns. “I didn’t say that ,” he says, looking over at Izzy, cheeks flushing slightly. “But, Izzy should be the one to decide who his mates are, shouldn’t he?” He swallows. “Izzy, if you just want Ed, that’s fine. We don’t have to come as a package deal.” He puts on a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes.

Izzy breathes out a surprised laugh. “Fucking twat,” he says. “I know that. Neither do we.” He gestures between himself and Ed. “Do you fucking want me or not?”

The memory of Izzy’s lips on his and of his body flush against Stede’s is so fresh Stede swears he can still feel it. He licks his lips, looking over at Ed. “Is it…that simple?” he asks, voice small. “I don’t want—”

“Mate,” Ed cuts off. “There’s probably a lot more shit we need to sort out, but for now? I think it’s that simple, right?” He looks over at Izzy, who gives a slight shrug and small nod.

Stede relaxes and sighs softly, meeting Izzy’s eyes. “Of course I want you,” he says, taking a step toward him and Edward.

“Good,” Ed says pleased. “I already told him he can stay in here with us.”

Izzy rolls his eyes. “I figured you were in on that, Bonnet,” he says. “I’m perfectly fine in my room.”

“Uh, I’m not fine,” Ed complains and pouts. “I want my mate with me.” He squeezes Izzy’s hip, and Izzy’s heart flutters.

“And you’ll have him,” Stede says. “We have plenty of room.” 

It’s true. Since sharing again, Ed and Stede have made quite a few alterations to make the cabin more amenable to partnered life. Izzy never needed half as much space as Ed, what with Ed’s pacing, millions of trinkets, and tendency toward stir-craziness. Izzy can easily fit himself in here, especially with the attached wardrobe and bathing room.

He quietly decides to keep most of his things back in his room if there aren’t any objections, imagining he might still want the space occasionally, but when he lays down with the two men that night, he finds a nice spot on the nearby bookshelf upon which to carefully place his ring and cravat. He’s aware of Ed watching him from the bed, dressed in a silk robe, eyes impossibly soft. 

Izzy can feel himself blush as he undresses himself the same way he would any other night and then crawls into Ed’s open arms. The mark on his neck aches in an almost pleasant way, begging for a reaffirmation of their bond while already surrounded by it. He doesn’t know what Ed’s planning for their re-bonding, but he’s thrilled at the idea that Ed wants it to be special. Their first time had been in the heat of the moment, high on heat and rut and the reckless confidence of youth. And the most recent time, well…

As Stede emerges from the wardrobe in a long nightshirt to join them in bed, Izzy’s heart flutters. His bond mark aches again as Stede’s warm gaze meets his, and he briefly considers what it might be like if Stede bonded him instead. Ed’s mark on Stede, Stede’s mark on him. It’s a pleasant thought, but it’s not as overwhelmingly comforting as the thought of Ed doing it. Ed’s been his mate for years, and Izzy’s never once stopped longing for him. He doubts he ever will.

“This is not how I would’ve chosen to pursue you, Izzy, for the record,” Stede mumbles as he climbs into bed. He lies down facing Izzy and slowly, hesitantly, brings his fingertips up to dance over the swallow tattoo on his neck, then across to the bond mark on the other side.

“Oh?” Izzy asks, meaning to sound amused. Somehow his voice comes out breathy and awed. He clears his throat softly and looks down at Ed’s arm draped over him. “And how would you have chosen to pursue me, Bonnet?” he asks, smirking.

“Well, ideally, it’d be whilst we’re both in our right minds, to start,” Stede says.

“Are you ever in your right mind?” Izzy retorts and hears Ed snort.

Stede pouts. “Hey,” he protests. “You’re two to speak.”

Ed hums in agreement as he shifts closer to Izzy, pushing him even closer to Stede. The familiar feeling of Ed’s skin against his steadying, calming, but the new feeling of Stede on his other side is dizzying and maddening.

He’s found new ways to appreciate Bonnet over the past few months. He always found the alpha to be attractive. He enjoys the charged, witty, back and forths they continue to have over raids and training and shipley duties. It doesn’t feel too strange to slip in here, between the two alphas. It feels surprisingly comfortable, though intense.

“My point , Izzy,” Stede continues, his voice soft. “Is that I believe I owe you a proper attempt at courtship, yes?”

Izzy’s the one who snorts this time. He looks over at Ed. “That what you got? A proper courtship?”

Ed shrugs. “I suppose, kinda.”

Stede gives an indignant scoff, eyebrows coming together. “It was!” he insists, pouting. “You remember all the gifts and outings.”

Ed smiles. “I do,” he admits, reaching over Izzy to touch Stede’s hip.

Izzy remembers, too. He remembers how painful it had been to watch his alpha so enveloped in someone else, paying Izzy no mind at all and seeming happier for it. He remembers how badly it hurt to see Stede giving Ed everything he wished he could, knowing how to make Ed light up without all the years together Izzy and Ed have spent. Izzy supposes he gets why Ed was giving him space, now, but the memory stings nonetheless.

“Oh, but this time we can do it together,” Stede says cheerily, bright eyes meeting Ed’s.

“Sure can,” Ed agrees, squeezing his arm around Izzy. “You won’t know what hit ya, mate.”

Izzy looks down, poorly holding back a smile as Ed presses his nose up against his neck. It’s useless to even pretend he isn’t overwhelmed with the contentment and pleasure of being had by his alphas. He pushes away the anxieties that threaten to ruin it and lets himself give in to his instincts. 

He rolls to lie against Ed’s chest, humming happily as he moves his leg to press against Stede’s beneath the duvet. After so many nights spent restless and alone, the company of not one but two alphas hasn’t stopped feeling incredible. He’ll let them do whatever they want if it means he can have this.

As expected, Ed and Stede’s courting quickly becomes a bit overwhelming. They’re showing up at his side with cakes and candies at random points of the day. They’re praising him relentlessly for the same work he’s done for ages. They’re touching him with a hand on his back as they pass by, a pat to his shoulder, a kiss to his cheek when they leave him to his work. If he turns beet red when Ed does it, God knows how he looks when Stede tries. His snapped “fuck off”s come out far too fond to adequately deflect the affection. They’re asking his opinion of things he normally wouldn’t give two shits about, but he answers them to see the way his mates— his fucking mates —beam.

It’s a good sort of overwhelming, he thinks. It almost feels like the heat hasn’t fully released its grip on him. He preens beneath their compliments, feels more desperate for their touches than embarrassed by them, and gravitates closer to the crew as he works with them. He finds himself patting Lucius on the back, tossing an arm around Jim’s shoulders, leaning into Oluwande, reaching to give Frenchie's hand a squeeze. The crew seem just as elated as they are surprised, though he hears Frenchie float a theory that Izzy’s been replaced with a different omega. He sort of feels that way. He wonders if he’ll feel like this, needy and attached, until he sports an alpha’s bond mark again.

Lucius knocks his hip against Izzy’s as he comes to stand beside him by the rail, looking out over the sea. Izzy nods a hello. Taking in the wide grin Lucius wears, he scoffs, hiding his own smile behind his mug. “What’s that look for, twatty?”

“Nothing,” Lucius sings. “It’s just nice to see what the chilled out version of Izzy Hands is like.”

Izzy rolls his eyes. “Fuck off,” he says, no real malice to it at all.

Lucius is still unused to the fragrant scent of Izzy’s contentment remaining so constant. He’s positive he’s never seen Izzy smile this much. Stede and Ed are obsessed with him, by his side every few minutes it seems. Yet his neck is still barren, no claim mark. Lucius wonders if they know that an omega can sport multiple claims. They’ll stick so long as the omega truly wants them to, despite the popular narrative of every omega being tied to a single alpha.

He’s tempted to ask, but he pauses. He doesn’t want to ruin the mood Izzy’s been in the past week by bringing up something like that. He’s not sure what exactly the Captains and Izzy have together. He does know that an omega as lovely as Izzy deserves at least one alpha marking him, mating him, caring for him. 

“I’m happy for you, babes,” Lucius sings as he heads off to find Fang. Maybe he’ll know if Izzy is aware he can have two alphas.

“Fuck off!” Izzy calls after him, and Lucius glances back once more at the omega as he steps down onto the deck.

“Lucius? Hey.”

Lucius can’t help but jump slightly when Ed stops him at the bottom of the stairs, appearing as if from nowhere. “Jesus fucking–” He exhales and swallows, getting a hold of himself. “What?”

“Uh, can I talk to you a sec?”

Ed pulls him to the side, away from the crew again, and Lucius frowns, a bit nervous. What’s there to talk about if things are okay between him and Izzy again? He glances back at Izzy, who still seems as jovial as a moment ago. 

Ed follows Lucius’s gaze over to Izzy and a smile pulls at the side of his mouth. “Thanks again for your help with Iz,” he says. “He, uh, he’s asked me to re-bond him,” Ed looks back at him for a response.

Lucius frowns, unsure why that warrants pulling him aside. “Okay? Good for you,” he says. “What, did you want my blessing?”

“No,” Ed says, though it doesn’t sound too convincing. “I just…I haven’t done it yet, obviously, and if I’m doing it, then this time I want to get everything right. I thought…You know those pack bonding rituals some people have?”

“Yeah?”

“I thought maybe the pack would have one of those for Iz,” he says, seeming almost sheepish. “And I thought maybe I could mate him again then?” His voice gets quiet and unsure as he says it.

Lucius tilts his head to the side. Ed wants to mate Izzy during a pack bonding ritual? The same Ed that apparently held a gun to Ivan’s face for daring to help him during his heat? Who hasn’t been able to meet his eyes since Lucius helped Izzy through one, at his request, nonetheless?

He kind of still wants to be pissy, as he often is with Ed when he comes to him to talk, but he finds he can’t. The idea of the pack spending a heat with Izzy is exhilarating, and he’s sure after everything it’ll be healing for more than just Izzy. He thinks back to the dirty talk he purred against Izzy’s ear when they fucked. The crew would take such good care of him.

He sighs. “I actually love that idea.”

Ed grins.

“Any particular reason why?” Lucius asks curiously.

Ed bites his lip, looks around at the crew, and shrugs. “Dunno. We’ve always been all each other’s really had,” he says. “Want Iz to see you’ve got his back. It’s not just me. He’s got a pack here.”

Lucius nods. He hesitates slightly before saying, “You both do.”

Ed frowns. He breathes in, eyes widening at the idea as he thinks back to the dark, foggy, times that still make his stomach twist. “Mate…” he starts.

“Look it’s not like we really chose most of our pack, is it? You end up with who you end up with. If we do this, Izzy’ll be the first person the pack actually chooses. We’ll have his mates, too, if he wants. This is what Izzy wants, yeah?”

“Oh, yeah,” Ed says. “He’d be hard pressed to admit it, but, I mean…” He glances across at Izzy where he watches Frenchie and Roach messing around with a raised eyebrow and fond smirk. “He adores you guys. Especially after, you know, everything. You’re his pack. I’ll ask him tomorrow. Just wanted to make sure it was a real option.” He grins and looks down at the deck. “He’ll be so excited.”

Lucius hums. “When?”

“His next heat, probably,” Ed says. “At the rate he’s been going since…” His eyes go momentarily dark and foggy before he blinks a few times and shakes his head. “At the rate they’ve been going, it’ll probably be in just a few weeks. We’re headed to port, seeing as I was hoping it would be an all hands on deck situation. Ha. All hands on Hands. Anyway, you really think they’ll be up for it?”

“Oh, yeah,” Lucius assures, recalling the vulgarities he heard each time the crew picked up on the scent of Izzy’s heat.

“And…they’ll be up for me mating him again? Claiming him again?”

Lucius sniffs, looking out at the crew. “If that’s what Izzy wants,” he reiterates. “If Izzy’s happy, we’ll be happy.”

“Yeah. Okay. Yeah.” Ed thinks back to Izzy’s sobs in his heat, to how tightly he held onto him. Izzy wants this. 

“I’m scared,” he blurts thoughtlessly as he thinks of his desperate omega, of how protective and possessive he feels when in his presence.

Lucius raises an eyebrow.

Ed clears his throat and averts his gaze. “Scared I’m not gonna feel like you’re my pack, if I start rutting,” he elaborates softly. “Scared I’m gonna get mean and possessive seeing you all touch my omega. But, I don’t want to. I want him to know he has a pack, that he’s safe. That he’s all of ours.”

Lucius thinks for a moment. He kind of hates that he’s found himself yet again in the advisor position, especially to his attempted murderer, but he does care about Izzy quite a lot. He cares about his pack. This is a good idea. Ed’s clearly trying, clearly looking to change his approach to being Izzy’s alpha.

“Did you feel that way with Stede around him?” Lucius asks.

Ed sniffs and shakes his head. “No. Thought I might, but, no. Stede’s mine. Izzy’s mine. They’re both mine, so it was okay.” He shrugs.

Lucius sighs softly. “The pack’s yours, too,” he says.

Ed frowns.

“Look, why don’t you…” He holds back a sigh, already regretting his words. For Izzy, who’s still somehow helplessly in love with the man, for Stede, who’s made quite the effort to listen to Lucius lately and to engage with the pack, and for the crew, who will all feel less unsettled knowing Izzy and Blackbeard are both a part of this makeshift pack and protecting it, Lucius makes the following suggestion: “Why don’t you spend the night in the pack nest with us?”

When Stede finishes the night’s storytime chapter, he closes the book and reaches over to squeeze Ed’s knee. Izzy sits on a barrel between John and Frenchie, whittling down a bit of wood, and Stede stands to turn in for the night.

“Um,” Ed says, and Stede pauses. “I was gonna sleep here with the crew tonight,” he says. “If that’s okay.”

“Oh,” Stede says. “Certainly, that’s fine, love. Any particular reason?”

Ed shrugs. “Never have before.”

“Do you think Izzy’s going to be in his room, then?” Stede asks in a whisper as he glances over at where Izzy sits in between Frenchie and Lucius.

Ed frowns, glancing over as well. “He hasn’t mentioned,” he says. “I thought you two might like the night together, actually.”

Stede has some time to think on it while Izzy does his final rounds. He tilts his head fondly at the way Lucius stops to scent him, and Izzy allows it, though he glances nervously out at the others as if embarrassed to be seen. Ed disappears below deck with a little wave, and suddenly Izzy and Stede are alone together.

“Ed’s staying with the pack tonight,” Izzy says.

“Mm, yes, he did tell me that.” He looks across at the door to the Captain’s cabin, unsure how to ask about Izzy’s plans and unwilling to risk rejection.

Izzy saves him. “So, if you want me back in my quarters tonight, that’s fine.”

Stede would expect Izzy to simply sleep in his room if he didn’t want to spend the night alone with Stede. He opens his mouth to say something like I want you wherever you’re comfortable, but what comes out is a somewhat frantically whispered “No!” He clears his throat. “I mean—if you’d like to, of course—you can stay.”

Izzy seems amused as he looks Stede over. “Alright,” he says and walks off toward the cabin.

Stede watches him, stomach fluttering. He takes a moment to compose himself before following after. 

Ed feels out of place as he climbs into the nest. He’s still getting used to feeling out of place, but he often does among this crew. It makes his skin crawl. For years it was that if a crewmember didn’t match his vibe, they were out of place. But here, working with Stede, there’s none of that. He’s been left to actually try to connect with the crew, a skill he hadn’t realized he all but lost after so finely perfecting a falsification of it.

He’s doing this for Izzy, sure, and for Stede, who’s been insistent he try to reacquaint himself with the crew, but he can’t deny how badly he wants that out of place feeling to stop.

“Hey,” Lucius greets half-distractedly, not looking up as he passes by. He settles down into a corner with Pete, leans in to scent him, and then pulls him into his arms. When Lucius looks his way, Ed looks away, scanning the room for a place to slot himself. He’s tempted to find a spot at the very edge, away from where the crew are winding down together.

“Boss,” Ed hears, and he looks back over to see Fang settled in the corner beside Lucius and Pete. He pats the space on his other side in invitation.

Ed takes a seat beside him, crossing his legs and looking around. Roach, Jim, and Frenchie seem to be engaged in a rather intense game of cards over a storage crate. Jim lets out a string of curses as they throw their hand down on the table. Roach clicks his tongue and shakes his head, taking a drag of his cigarette as Frenchie pulls the pile of golden coins over to his side of the crate. John appears to be explaining some sort of knitting stitch to Oluwande and Archie, who both hold a bit of yarn and some needles. Though, Oluwande’s yarn appears to actually be coming together into something.

The scent of the pack is a bit overwhelming. He’s not used to being with pack. He’s never really had one, even as a Captain. He had his mate. That was enough for a while. As he breathes the scent in, he feels something inside of him loosen. He closes his eyes and leans against the wall. His pack. He drifts pleasantly for what feels like just a moment.

Someone clears their throat and Ed opens his eyes to see Ivan offering out some blankets.

“Oh! Thank you,” Ed says as he accepts them, looking around at the others. The crew have settled down into the nest, preparing for bed.

Roach snorts from where he watches across the room. 

Ed frowns. “What?”

“Nothing,” Roach says, then shrugs, looking back down at the knife he sharpens. “I always think it’s cute when an alpha realizes he needs his pack. They become just like little pups.”

“Ah, lay off it, mate, don’t make him all weird in the head about it,” Frenchie says, appearing beside him as if from nowhere before Ed can consider how he must look. “Izzy’s left a few things down here, if you want.” He hands Ed one of Izzy’s shirts.

“Oh, yeah, sure,” Ed says, not quite achieving the nonchalance he was going for as he accepts the garment. He hesitates before scenting it as they watch. It smells of a delightful mix of Izzy and the pack, and the scent of his mate immediately calms him. He adds it to the nest with the blankets then turns back to Frenchie. Several of the pack continue to watch him, Jim warily, Roach still with a smirk on his face, 

 He clears his throat. “Thank you. Has Stede left anything?”

“I’ll have a look, Captain,” Frenchie says.

“Ed,” Ed corrects, and clears his throat. “Ed’s fine for now. Since we’re off duty.”

Frenchie gives a small smile with his lips and hurries off. Ed sniffs as he lies down in the little corner of the nest, looking around at the crew again. Archie, Jim, and Oluwande lie curled up together, murmuring softly to one another. They must be excited for their rendezvous with the pirate queen herself when they dock. Frenchie returns with a few shirts—the plain, white ones that Stede wore when they first reunited, his previous wardrobe scattered across the sea. 

“Stede come down here a lot?” Ed asks.

“More often again lately,” Lucius answers, not looking up from whatever he’s sketching.

Ed hums, adding Stede’s shirt to the nest. “And Izzy?”

“Not much until recently.”

Ed sighs. “I messed it all up,” he whispers, leaning back against the wall.

“Oh, don’t give yourself all the credit, Izzy’s a weird loner by nature,” Lucius says.

Ed shakes his head. “People always liked him. Alphas always wanted him.” He laughs. “You should fucking see him when he goes to the Republic, men crawling all over him.” There’s still a note of disgust to his voice as he thinks of it now. That men would dare think of challenging Blackbeard’s claim, regardless of the fact that Izzy never would have let them. He swallows. “But you lot are different,” he says quietly.

Lucius clears his throat. “Captain—Ed actually had an idea for how to make Izzy more comfortable with the pack. Didn’t you?” When he looks up, Lucius is looking at him, wrapped in Pete’s arms.

The crew look over curiously, and Ed clears his throat. “Oh, yeah. I, uh, I still need to ask Izzy, but I was thinking we could have a pack bonding when we hit port. Izzy’s heat’s due, I think.” He holds his breath, but the crew quickly erupt into excited murmurs and grins, and he relaxes.

Stede can’t take his eyes off of Izzy. He casually stripped the moment he entered the cabin, climbing into bed with a book grabbed off Stede’s shelf and sitting up in the corner of the bed to read. The skin of his hairy chest and stomach is littered with marks, courtesy of Stede and Ed. He squints down at the book in his hands, adjusting the lamp beside the bed and glancing over at Stede. 

“Well?” he asks.

“Hm?” 

Izzy folds over the duvet on the bed and pats the space beside him, looking back at his book. “You joining me or what?”

“Oh, yes, of course,” Stede says, looking down and blushing as he strips himself to change into his own sleep clothes. He still marvels at Ed’s presence in his life, exciting, overwhelming, and wonderful, but this is nearly too much. What’s Stede done to deserve both Edward and Izzy? To deserve Izzy looking at him like this? 

He slips into bed beside Izzy, and Izzy scoots over to sit flush against him. He keeps his eyes on his book—a tale that Stede was raving about to whoever would listen a few weeks back, he realizes—and leans his head against Stede’s shoulder. Stede smiles, butterflies fluttering in his stomach. He sets a hand on Izzy’s thigh then hesitates, pulling it away.

“You can touch me, you twat,” Izzy says, amusement lighting up his eyes. “If you like.”

Stede bites his lip, returning his hand to Izzy’s thigh. “It’s a bit surreal,” he admits, blushing. It all happened so quickly, really: meeting Izzy, falling for Edward, running back to Mary, returning to sea, growing begrudgingly closer to Izzy as he won back Ed, finding out who Izzy truly was to Ed, and trying to make things work with all three of them still in the picture.

Izzy sits up and turns his head to meet Stede’s eyes. “Yeah,” he says softly.

Stede glances down to his mouth, licking his lips, and Izzy leans forward to press their mouths together. Izzy’s not shy, kissing back eagerly, and Stede quickly finds his confidence, leaning into what feels natural to the alpha side he’s thus far never quite understood. He doesn’t feel the possessiveness Ed describes, nor the primal dominance gc feared. He feels a responsibility to the omega, a pleasure at having pleased him in any manner, and a pure delight at being wanted.

Their bodies move together as though Stede and Izzy are half as well acquainted as Izzy and Edward, and it’s all so surprisingly, wonderfully easy. They roll over, Izzy straddling his waists and riding him until Stede can’t help but roll them over, picking up the pace and bathing in the high, pleasured, unabashed whines spilling past Izzy’s parted lips as he fucks them both to completion, wrapping himself around the omega. His omega, he thinks pleasantly, nosing at the space where Edward intends to place his bond mark.

He’s never felt compelled to claim anyone. Bonding rituals with Mary had never been particularly pleasant, merely reminders of his own inadequacy and their lacking bond. He never really wanted to own an omega, nor any mate he might take for that matter. But, when he returned and Edward begged for some sort of reassurance, he was happy to offer himself to Ed, to let Ed put a mark on his neck. 

He knows that Izzy will be utterly elated to sport his alpha’s mark again. In the hazy afterglow, nose up against Izzy’s scent gland, Stede feels warm at the thought of the two of them matching.

Izzy wakes to Edward nuzzling his neck, having somehow inserted himself into the space between Izzy and the wall. Stede is still naked at his other side, nightgown tossed on the floor and mouth open as he drools onto the pillow. Izzy could cry at the feeling of serenity that immediately overwhelms him. It’s so unfamiliar yet so immensely comforting. It’s almost too much. Mere week ago, it would have been.

“Hey,” Ed murmurs eagerly when he realizes Izzy’s awake. “Morning.”

Izzy hums, bringing a hand up to rest on Ed’s head. “Alpha,” he purrs in greeting, heart swelling at the way Ed’s scent spikes with contentment. “Gonna mark me?” he asks, neck and chest aching with the desire for it.

Ed hums. He pulls back to look Izzy in the eyes. “What do you think about spending your next heat with the entire pack?”

“What?”

“You know those pack bonding ritual things people do? Thought maybe we could have one, and I could rebond you then, with everyone there.”

Izzy takes a moment to let the idea sink in. “Edward…” He starts.

Ed squeezes his hip. “You can say no, ‘course.” 

Izzy blinks. “No, it’s just…would they want that? With…me?”

“Yeah,” Ed says. “They were so excited when I asked, Iz. They wanna be your pack, help take care of you like you take care of them.”

Izzy frowns. “You asked them already?”

Ed has the decency to look sheepish, at least, avoiding Izzy’s gaze. “Yeah. Knew you wouldn’t say yes unless you knew they wanted it.”

He’s right, Izzy realizes. Some part of him still can’t believe the pack would agree to this, though they have been getting cozier with him. Roach has learned what foods he can and can’t stomach, probably thinking himself subtle as he slowly removes them from only Izzy’s meals. Wee John brought him a knit sweater smelling of pack a few days back. Jim scents him nearly every night without a word like it’s customary. After a raid, each of the pack alphas come to check in with him the way they do every omega. 

“What do you think, Iz?” Ed asks, sounding as though he’s holding his breath. He really wants this to work, Izzy realizes. This new pack on this new ship. It’s still all a bit bewildering to him. He’d been happy to live out his days at his magnificent alpha and captain’s side. But, the pack here feels different than any pack has before. It’s started to feel safe. As tempted as he is to run from that feeling, all of his instincts beg him to surrender. With his alpha leading him toward that surrender, he’s helpless. He’ll be Ed’s, and he’ll be the Revenge crew’s.

“Okay.”

Ed beams.

Izzy has never really looked forward to a heat before. He’s trying to manage his expectations, but he can’t help anxiously and eagerly awaiting the onset of it. The promise of Ed bonding him is going to make this one hit hard, he can already tell. Then, he’s also bonding with the pack. It’ll be a far cry from locked doors and Ed fucking him hard, hoping to get it over with as quickly as possible, Izzy embarrassed by his needs and worried about the crew, about what people thought his role should be, and Edward keyed up and defensive of their bond. This will be safe in a way neither of them ever have been with a pack.

He’s heard rumors about pack rituals lasting for days of bliss and orgy. It’s no wonder they’ll have to be in port, but it makes the anxiety much worse. What if his heats have gone back to normal, and two in a row were a fluke? The captains at least insisted that if that were to be the case, they’ve been wanting some “R&R” anyway.

The crew aren’t subtle about their own anticipation. He snaps once or twice at them for stopping to scent him in the middle of a task, or while he’s trying to bloody speak, but for the most part the crew behave well enough. The Red Flag is set to rendezvous with them as well. Izzy’s not sure how he feels about having Zheng around for the heat, but he’d been loath to say no when Jim asked him. His pack is taking Izzy’s mates along with him, he’ll do the same in return. 

He can feel the heat start to stir two days before they make port, desperate for the feeling of his skin against his alphas. He straddles Stede in bed, rolling his eyes at his concerns about Izzy wearing himself out before the bonding and taking what he needs. Later, he tugs Edward in, opens his legs, and begs for him. Ed gives him a knot and mouths promisingly at his neck. Izzy can hardly wait.

They make it to port in the night. Stede slips out to make sure everything is properly prepared for Izzy’s heat, and Edward lies in bed with his omega, soaking in the scent. His omega. He can already feel possession and jealousy stirring. He could keep Izzy here for himself and take him the way he always used to, satisfying his heat by fucking him hard and desperately for hours until the two of them, nothing but sweat and desire, have melted into one another. But, he promised Izzy something better. He promised himself he’d give Izzy something better. Pack. Trust.

Izzy shifts in his sleep, and Ed slides a leg between his. Izzy hums, starting to hump and drag his little cock against Ed’s leg. Ed kisses him the rest of the way awake, lips moving slowly and gently. Izzy hums against his lips. “Edward,” he says, like a prayer.

Ed kisses him once more before he pulls back. “Hey, sweetheart,” he breathes. Izzy knows that he never really called Izzy those sorts of things before, but the pet name sounds so comforting as it rolls off his tongue, it’s practically familiar. “How are you feeling?”

Izzy takes a moment to take stock. “Needy,” he admits. 

Ed smiles with his lips, taking Izzy’s hand and pressing a kiss to the inside of his wrist, breathing him in. “Good. Everyone’s ready for you, when you’re ready,” he says. 

Izzy shivers and tears prick at his eyes. His pack. His alpha. He gets them all. 

“I’m ready,” he whispers.

“Yeah?”

He nods again.

The moment he gets below deck, the thick scent of the pack overwhelms him. His knees nearly buckle as his cunt clenches around nothing, dribbling slick into his pants. Fuck, he’s never been this horny in his entire fucking life. It’s not painful, though, not yet desperate. He can feel his alpha at his side. He knows what the surrounding scent of the pack promises. His body is relaxed as slick leaks into his pants. 

The scent of his own heat fills the space, and the pack converges on him like hungry vultures. He feels Ed’s grip around him tighten, suddenly anxious. He swears he can hear a growl building in his alpha’s throat, and then Stede is behind them, murmuring something in Ed’s ear. Ed’s grip on him relaxes.

Izzy feels hands tugging at his robe, shoving it off of his shoulders. He’s vaguely aware of Stede taking the garment and folding it carefully. Roach is the first to scent Izzy, and Izzy can’t help but flashback to his head between Izzy’s thighs, his tongue in Izzy’s aching cunt. He whines involuntarily at the memory, at the desire for a repeat, and Roach chuckles. “Be patient,” he scolds playfully. “The entire pack is here just for you.”

Then, Lucius squeezes into his space, and the familiar alpha scent does Izzy in. He groans, dropping most of his weight into Ed and baring his neck for Lucius. He catches Jim’s scent up close, somewhere near. His eyes fall closed. He’s already overwhelmed by how much it all is, but it’s perfect . 

“Good,” Ed croons, and Izzy lets whatever remains of his sensibilities go. He melts into his pack, drifting as they guide him into a lovely nest of soft blankets and fine fabrics. His clothes are peeled from his body and his legs spread. Everything is soft, warm, tingling. It’s like a dream.

Even with his eyes closed, he knows it’s Frenchie on one side, nibbling at his throat and moving down. He knows it’s Jim who steals his lips for a kiss, their nimble fingers coming up to flick at a sensitive, firm nipple. He knows it’s Ed’s, his alpha’s, fingers in his hair, holding his head to the side for Jim to kiss as Izzy lies between his legs and against his chest. He can hear Stede and Ed speaking to one another, though the words blur together. Someone gets between his legs, eager and a bit sloppy as they sink their tongue into his slick hole and moan. Archie. Frenchie closes his mouth around one of Izzy’s nipples, and Jim deepens their kiss. Izzy’s mind blanks with the euphoria of his pack’s attention and his alphas’ support. It’s unlike anything he has ever felt in his entire life.

Try as they might, not everyone can get their hands on Izzy immediately. Izzy tosses his head back as Jim kisses at his neck, catching sight of Zheng Yi Sao splayed out in a loose robe, Oluwande’s lips on her own neck as she gazes at Izzy. Izzy shivers, spurred on by the alpha’s attention.

It’s Lucius’s cock that sinks inside first, Archie moving up to Izzy’s other tit to make way. It’s far too overwhelming to watch what the crew do to him, lewd and unashamed and fucking mental, so he closes his eyes. His instincts are alight with pleasure and desire. If he were younger he’d be begging desperately to be filled with any of his packmate’s pups. As it stands, he can’t imagine asking for anything more than this.

Edward holds him in place, so all he can do is take what the pack gives him, overwhelmed by the sensations and attention. Everything melts into a wonderful blur of heat and ever-building pleasure. Lucius knots him, stretching him open wide and forcing an orgasm from his spasming cunt. It does nothing to relieve the frenzied need that fills the nest. 

Izzy needs each omega to suck at his chest and cock, each alpha to knot him and fill him with their cum, each person in and adjacent to the pack to get their hands on him, to cover him in bites and marks, to claim him as theirs and to watch as Izzy’s alpha, his lifelong mate claims him again.

When Lucius’s knot goes down, he’s moved onto his hands and knees, held up as Pete sinks into Izzy’s cunt. Lucius wraps himself around Pete from behind, murmuring filth into his ear as he takes Izzy. Frenchie and Roach are at his front, nibbling and kissing marks on every bit of flesh they can reach. They delight in the gasps and whines Izzy gives at the particularly hard bites, moving lower and leaving more bruises in the shapes of teethmarks as they go. They bump into one another near Izzy’s cock and press their lips to each other’s, becoming distracted and adjusting themselves to rut up against one another. Izzy moans at the sight, and Pete curses loudly, filling Izzy once again with another knot. Izzy can barely hear Lucius praise his partner as he comes again himself, his cunt pulsing around Pete’s knot.

Before Pete’s knot can even go down, Jim’s in front of him and sinking to their knees. Pete slowly pulls his deflating knot out, dragging an involuntary whimper from his lips. Jim soothes him, taking his cock between their lips and sucking lazily at it. Izzy watches as long pale fingers slide through Jim’s hair belonging to The Pirate Queen herself, her other hand against Olu’s head and holding him between her legs. Izzy’s so far gone to the pleasure, he hardly notices when a moment later they switch, Oluwande’s beard scratching at Izzy’s thighs as Izzy squeezes them around his head. 

He’s half-aware of his alpha’s footsteps, Edward’s warm voice and chuckle, and Zheng exchanging words with him. A moment later, an unfamiliar floral alpha scent comes up close behind him, and he feels the softer hands of a commander running over his skin. He thinks of past times when Captains asked for use of him as a favor or a bargaining chip, and of the rage that Edward responded with. 

Edward moves in front of him, biting his lip as he looks Izzy over. He cups Izzy’s cheek, leaning in and biting his earlobe. “Show the Captain here how good Blackbeard’s omega is, yeah? We want to make a good impression, don’t we?” he teases.

“Yes,” Izzy answers dutifully. “Y-yes sir.”

Ed presses a kiss to his neck and disappears into the pack again. Archie guides Izzy down onto his hands and knees, and as he arches his back, Zheng presses inside of him. “Good omega,” Jim purrs from his side, voice low and gravelly, and Izzy’s mind blanks with pleasure.

Jim talks him through several more orgasms on Zheng’s knot, his nipples overstimulated and tingling from Archie and Oluwande’s constant attention. He barely has a moment to recover before he’s being lifted across the nest and placed onto the next alpha’s lap where Izzy’s cunt blooms open around John’s fat cock.

His moans are unrestrained, the loudest sound in a nest filled with grunts, growls, pants, and the sound of skin against skin. When he briefly gains presence of mind, he looks around for his mates, always finding them within seconds, usually rutting up against each other or working each other through an orgasm with their hands or mouths. Now, Edward watches from the corner nearby, a hand around his cock and his gaze dark with lust, as Stede lies against his side, his soft cock appearing to stir again as he watches Izzy. Ed’s pace matches the relaxed pace that Izzy sets as he fucks himself on John’s cock, and Stede begins to lazily kiss at Ed’s neck and chest. Izzy lets his eyes fall shut again, it all too much. John’s arms wrap around him, holding him in place, and he gasps as he shifts his legs open wider, feeling John move in even deeper.

When Wee John knots him, it takes a while longer to go down. The crew are happy to torment him as they wait, every bit of his body aching and so fucking sensitive. His neck is pulsing again, begging for his alpha’s mark, but it’s a background sensation to the overwhelming pleasure and contentment that courses through him with each pulse of his cunt around a knot, each sting of pain from a bite, and each inhale of the scent of pack mixed with his own heat.

He’s passed over to Fang and Ivan next, instinctually overjoyed by the attention of alphas so familiar. He catches Ed’s gaze out of the corner of his eye as Fang lays him back in the nest, a jolt of fear going through him as he recalls the last time Fang and Ivan touched him this way. The fear leaves his mind when Fang slips inside of him, the soreness of his cunt only adding to the pleasure as he moans, tears streaming down his cheeks. He’s a wreck, undone completely by his crew, and he’s never felt safer, more wanted, more like he belongs .

Edward tenses up as he watches Izzy writhe and moan on Fang’s cock, flashes of the night he hardly remembers, the night he mated Izzy, appearing in his mind and making his stomach shift. He’s been fine so far, happy to see his omega so relaxed, so taken care of, and lost in the overwhelming sense of pleasure and pack that filled the nest. But, as he watches Fang slide his thick knot out and Ivan grab Izzy’s legs beneath the knees, a jolt of possession hits him again. He tries to chase away the instinct as he watches Izzy toss his head back and moan, milking Ivan’s knot for all its worth. A growl starts in his throat.

“Edward,” Stede murmurs from beside him. “Izzy’s right here with us. Our mate. Isn’t our pack taking wonderful care of him?”

Edward sniffs, focusing on the scent of his omega’s contentment. He swallows. “Yeah,” he agrees. “Yeah. I’m sorry, yeah.” Stede kisses him then, soft and slow. The rut stirring in his abdomen and between his legs is pleased enough to have his alpha’s attention, knowing that his omega is nearby and safe. He’s finally fully lost himself in the sensation of his mate, his Stede, when—

“Alpha,” Izzy whines. And then, “Edward. Where’s—”

Ed catches the hand as that reaches out for him. He comes up behind his omega, pulling Stede along with him as the pack shifts to let them through. “Right here,” he murmurs.

“Alpha,” Izzy gasps, tugging him in as Ivan slips his knot out. “Nngh. It feels s-so—so good.”

Edward chuckles, thumbing over one of the bite marks on Izzy’s collar and looking down at where his cunt leaks the spend of several alphas. “Mm, you like that, omega? Having all of your pack here, all of them claiming you?” 

Izzy whimpers and nods. “Yes,” he whines, tears streaming down his cheeks. “Yes, yes.” 

Something swells in Ed’s chest. He can’t stop drinking in the pleasure and contentment that rolls off of Izzy in waves. “I’m proud of you, Iz,” he says. “Doing so well for me, for your alphas, for your pack.” 

Izzy sobs, tugging at Edward until he’s tucked himself between Izzy’s legs, Izzy’s arms around his back. “Yours,” he whines, and then, “ mine ,” as he drags his nails down Ed’s back. 

“That’s right,” Ed answers against his throat. He looks up at the crew that surround them. “Yours. All of us, yours.” He takes Izzy’s hand. “I’m yours.”

Izzy bares his neck, spreads his legs. “Please, Eddie.”

Ed’s heart flutters. He reaches down and guides himself into his omega’s sinfully wet and slick cunt. Izzy clenches down around him, so tight that Ed wouldn’t believe he’s been fucked and knotted by half a dozen cocks already. Izzy babbles mindlessly about how good it feels as Ed presses his knees back and fucks him, spurred on by the heavy scents of heat, rut, and pack. It’s an odd sensation having his omega in front of the entire crew and not feeling vulnerable or anxious. This is their pack. This is their pack bonding. Ed is entrusting this pack with his omega, claiming him with the knowledge that their pack has them. For once, it won’t be just him and his mate. They can both have so much more.

Stede presses up against his back as he fucks Izzy, and he arches back into the touch, gasping. His alpha and his omega. Pure fucking bliss.

Izzy curses, closing his legs around them like he could tug Edward and Stede in closer. “Ed,” he gasps. “I—nghh. Fuck, I want both of you,” he manages between moans. “Stede.”

“Fuck,” Edward groans at the thought. “Alright, come on.” 

Ed pulls out to shuffle their positions, and Izzy looks out at the rest of the nest. The crew lie about lazily, fingers in each other’s cunts or around each other’s cock’s, some of them rutting lazily against each other, adding to the heavy scent of pleasure and satisfaction. Then, Izzy’s sinking down onto Stede’s cock, his face buried in the alpha’s neck. He licks over Ed’s mark, dark against Stede’s pale skin, and, fuck , he’s waited so long.

“Eddie,” he whines, arching his back and looking over his shoulder for his alpha. Edward’s body envelopes him in a moment. His cock slides against Izzy’s already stretched cunt, still leaking slick, and he pushes inside along with Stede.

Izzy’s gasp is strangled as the burning stretch translates into pure, bright pleasure. He keens loudly, animalistically. Stede’s hands stroke up and down his sides and he can feel Edward’s pants against his sweaty neck, his weight atop of Izzy. He orgasms around their cocks, the sensation lasting for ages as the alphas gently rock into him, sandwiching him between their sweaty bodies. Ed’s mouth finds his neck and Izzy’s hit with a wave of pure, desperate, need. He opens his mouth to beg for his alpha once more, but he hears the quiet rumble of Ed’s voice, lips by his ear first. “I’ve got you,” he murmurs, and then he grazes his teeth over Izzy’s neck.

Ed bites down. Izzy sobs, one arm bent back to tangle his fingers in Ed’s curls, holding him close. He feels the renewal of their bond spread through his body, warm and tingling like good rum. Ed presses deeper into Izzy, teeth still sunken into his flesh. Even though Izzy is enveloped in his alphas, in the euphoric mixed scent of their bond, he’s acutely aware of his pack surrounding him, sharing this with them. It feels so unreal. He’s never felt this wanted. He comes again, tears streaming down his cheeks.

Izzy whines at the sharp stretch when he feels Ed start to knot, lifting his hips. Stede slips out, and Ed replaces the missing girth with a thick knot, grunting as he fucks it deeper into Izzy. He licks over their new bonding mark, pressing kiss after kiss to it. Stede takes himself in hand, tugging himself off beneath Izzy with soft gasps and murmured praises for his mates. 

Izzy feels incredible. He’s dizzy, blurry, and unfocused, but everything is utterly euphoric. Even the anxieties buzzing at the back of his mind mere hours ago regarding staying in port too long, rendezvousing with Zheng, and having most of the crew occupied have quieted entirely. He’s marked, knotted, and held by his alphas and his pack. Everything is perfect.

He rests his head against Stede’s shoulder, eyes on his matching, smaller mark from Edward. There’s room beside it. His fingertips graze the spot. “Could I?”

Edward groans from above him, kissing over Izzy’s shoulder. “Fuck, yeah,” he says, meeting Stede’s gaze as Stede continues to stroke himself. “Our mate.” Stede gasps, bucking into his own hand.

“Yes, please,” he requests, baring his neck. Izzy sinks his teeth into Stede’s neck, feeling it as he cums against the both of him, adding to the scent of sex and alpha in the room and to the mess of cum and slick decorating Izzy’s body. Izzy’s still far too high on endorphins to mind. Something about the haze of pleasure leaves him without a sense of time. It might be seconds or hours before Edward’s knot deflates and he slips himself out. Izzy rolls off of Stede, still basking in the aftershocks of pleasure that don’t seem to be stopping anytime soon. Ed rolls onto Izzy’s other side, pressed up against him.

He looks nearly as wrecked as Izzy, sweaty with tears staining his cheeks. He reaches up to touch his own bare neck, then bares it to Izzy. “Do me too,” Ed murmurs. “Go on.”

Izzy stares, trying to process the request. Some people do this. It’s a newer tradition, often seen as degrading to the alpha by traditionalists. It’s more often that an alpha gets one from another alpha, like the bite mark on Stede’s shoulder. Ed wants Izzy to claim him? Izzy already belongs to him. 

“Please, Izzy,” Ed breathes, and Izzy can’t deny him. Of course, he can’t. He scents Ed and kisses at the spot he’s chosen before biting down hard. Ed grips onto his arm and whimpers.

“Thank you,” Ed says tearfully, and Izzy tucks his face against his neck, licking at his mark, smaller than Ed’s on Izzy and nestled just where his collar meets his neck. Izzy’s.

Stede presses up against Izzy’s back, reaching around to touch the mark himself. He and Edward meet each other’s gazes, Ed’s eyes wide and teary, and Stede smiles softly. They lie like that for a while, content and drifting. The pack slowly gather around them again, surrounding the newly bonded mates as they curl up together, the heats and ruts triggered by Izzy sated for the time being. Izzy can tell where each of them sit at his head or his feet without opening his eyes, and as the experience settles in his bones, Izzy is overwhelmed with gratitude. He never expected to experience such pleasure, to feel so wanted, to find belonging and safety after so many years of the world treating him like nothing. Seemingly endless tears stream down his cheeks.

“I…” Izzy starts shakily, reaching out for the crew without opening his eyes. “I l-l…” He struggles to gasp out the words. “I l-l-love—” 

Someone takes his hand. 

“We know, omega,” Jim murmurs, resting their forehead against his. Archie rubs against his shoulder, Frenchie presses against his thigh, and Lucius sets a hand on his shoulder and squeezes.

“Love you,” he cries. “Pack, mates.”

“We love you too, Iz,” Frenchie says, and the rest of the pack chime in with their agreement.

“Yeah, man, love you.”

“Love you loads, mate,”

“Fucking adore you.”

“Course we love you, little fecker.”

And the voices of his mates, just beside his ear.  “I love you,” in a wonderfully earnest whisper, and Edward’s wet, murmured, “Love you. My Iz.”

Tears slip down his cheeks and he sniffs the air, smelling his alpha and his pack, and he’s safe, wanted, good. 

It’s becoming an issue, Edward thinks, how unable he is to tear his eyes away from Izzy whenever they’re on a raid. The omega is breathtakingly vicious. He tears across the deck, movement fluid and graceful until he strikes, aggressively and inescapably. He’s fighting like he did in his fucking twenties, all feral instinct and rage, but with the added discipline of thirty years training and experience. He has nothing to prove now, either. He does it purely because he’s good at it, and he fucking loves it. Ed’s never seen a more beautiful sight than his blood-splattered face. He has appreciation anew for the certainty of his that his omega will return to his side at the end of each raid, more than able to handle himself.

It’s been weeks since their rebonding with the pack, and Ed isn’t sure he’s ever seen Izzy this happy. The crew listen to him more, he’s going easier on them where they can afford it, and he practically preens when they scent him before and after raids and when they present him with little trinkets from raids that they think he might like. The ship’s omega. And it suits him.

When Edward retires to the captain’s cabin, more often than not his mates will both be waiting for him. Sometimes they’re tucked into bed together reading, sometimes they’re tangled up in one another, sometimes they’re waiting on him to settle an argument, but they’re always pleased to see him. He swears this time around the bond ended up stronger. He can feel Izzy’s contentment when he scents him and lies down beside him and the way his anxiety worsens as he watches the crew on a raid then lessens when he checks them all for injuries afterward. It adds an ease to their bond and communication that’s entirely new.

Izzy Hands was once known as Blackbeard’s untouchable omega, but here and there Edward catches word of what the new legends say. Stories describe a bloodthirsty and vicious pirate omega so beloved that dozens of alphas would jump to his defense. Currently rumored to be warming the bed of the Gentleman Pirate himself, as a prize only ever shared among his crew. Edward finds himself unbothered by the new rumors. Izzy is the most bloodthirsty, powerful, and beloved omega that Edward has ever and will ever meet. Every night that he tucks himself up against the omega’s side and feels the strength of the bond between them, he thanks his lucky stars for his second chance.