Archive of Our Own ^beta

Izzy watched as Edward stalked towards him, the knife held tightly in his hand. The metal was glowing a brilliant orange, heat radiating off of it. Edward had never heated the knife before cutting off a toe any of the other times and Izzy can’t decide which is worse.

Izzy held his breath as he waited for Edward to go for his foot- but instead he grabbed Izzy by the chin and pressed the knife to the skin of his cheek. It takes a moment for Izzy to understand what Edward is doing and before he can do anything Edward is already pulling away.

Izzy lets out a breath as he brings his hand up to where the burn is, where his tattoo is. He can feel the heat radiating off of his skin in waves. Izzy’s eyes well up with tears as he stares at Edward in shock. 

Edward stares back, an unfamiliar look in his eyes, swaying slightly as he grips the knife. His hand raises towards Izzy and he can’t help but flinch back. Edward blinks hard before dropping his hand and stalking out of the room.

Izzy collapses onto the floor, holding his hand to his cheek. He shakes as he sits there, the air filling with the sour scent of despair. It feels like his heart is shattering, breaking into a million pieces and leaving behind an awful sense of emptiness. They weren’t bonded, not really, but it was as close as it could have been and the severing of it, whatever it was, almost kills him.

He slowly opens his eyes, breathing heavily as he stares at his ceiling. He should find some sort of relief at being awake, being away from that day and those feelings, but the stinging on his cheek makes it impossible. Izzy carefully sits up. Everything reminds him that the nightmare doesn’t end when he is awake. The space where his leg once was aches, his hands shake, his face hurts and the emptiness in his chest is a constant that he has tried his best to get used to. And to add to his misery he can feel a heat starting.

The day that Edward had given him his tattoo they had just mutinied against Hornigold. Edward was made captain with Izzy as his first mate, and after a day of celebrating the two retired to the captain’s quarters. Back then they still thought Edward was a Beta so he couldn’t claim Izzy, not in the way they both wanted him to. Instead Edward had given him the tattoo, a permanent mark on his face showing the entire world that he was owned.

When Edward presented late as an Alpha four years later Izzy had asked to be claimed proper. Edward had laughed, patted his cheek and had said that the tattoo was enough. Izzy spent the next twenty years trying to convince himself that that was true. It didn’t work.

Izzy spent every heat after that alone. Edward offered every time but all he could think about was being claimed completely, being owned and mated. If Edward wouldn’t bite him then Izzy refused to spend a heat with him that would be full of longing and want. His heats stopped when they moved to The Revenge.

Now though, as he sits alone in his empty room, for some reason, he can feel the familiar warmth of a heat coming on. It’s a strange mix of feelings, to feel so warm, uncomfortable and longing.  For once, though, the longing isn’t for Edward, he wants to be with the crew, his pack. 

Izzy slowly wanders through the hallways of The Revenge. The crew had moved all of their bedrolls and hammocks into the jam room after Edward returned to the ship. The room was cozy and safe, the floor had been made into one large nest and they had blocked up the hidden entrances to make it even more secure. There is only one entrance and the Alphas of the pack all sleep right beside it to protect the others.

The crew had invited him into their nest but he had never felt like he would belong. Now, though, as he is almost delirious with heat, he can’t bring himself to care. His heat was very quickly approaching, much quicker then it should be, and it is drowning out all of his senses which is the only reason he didn’t smell Edward before he ran into him, literally. 

Edward leans towards him slightly and inhales. Izzy watches as Edward realizes what he is smelling. His eyes light up and brings his hands up to squeezes Izzy’s shoulders tightly.

“You’re in heat! Iz, this is amazing.” Edward shakes Izzy gently, his smile blinding. “I was just talking to Stede about this. Come on, lets go to the captain’s quarters.”

Edward pushes Izzy slightly and then frowns when Izzy stays rooted to the spot.

“Iz, come on mate, I have a surprise for you.” His eyes glare down at Izzy and he feels a sense of dread well up inside him. Izzy shakes his head slightly and breaks eye contact with him.

Edward laughs hollowly. 

“I get it, you don’t want to see Stede right? Well, I think you’ll get over that soon because I’m going to claim you Iz!” Edward brings a hand to the back of Izzy’s head and forces him to resume eye contact. “I’m gonna give you your little mark back and then me and Stede are gonna claim you, properly this time. You’ll be ours.”

Izzy can’t help the whine of distress that escapes him at that. He gather’s all of the courage he can muster and weakly speaks. “I don’t want that.”

 Edward’s eyes narrow even further and he grips Izzy’s hair tighter.

“Alright, Iz, don’t worry. Stede will be fine with you being just mine for now.” Edward smiles tightly and nods behind him, once again trying to get Izzy to move.

Izzy flinches and shakes his head as best he can.

“I don’t want that, I don’t want to belong to you.” Izzy stammers. Edward’s grip on his hair lessons and Izzy quickly pulls away and takes a step back.

Edward’s hands shake as the scent of anger fills the air. He grabs Izzy by the throat and slams him against the wall. Izzy goes slack against his hand, his entire body shaking as he whines. His eyes well up with tears and his vision blurs as he tries to blink them away.

“Calm down, Omega.” Edward uses his alpha voice and presses a little harder against his throat. Normally his alpha voice would be impossible for Izzy to resist but in the muddled haze of his heat, the choking scent of anger and just how fucking scared he is, Izzy finds that the voice does nothing but upset him further.

Edward leans back as the sour scent of despair heightens. He lets go of Izzy’s throat and a takes a step back to look at him. 

Izzy takes a gasping breath and brings a hand up to hold his neck and, as Edward takes a step forward, Izzy lets out a sharp yelp and falls backwards against the wall.

Izzy hears distantly the sound of a door slamming open down the hallway and he turns to watch Jim come barreling towards them. Their knife is gripped in their hand as they point towards Edward, yelling in Spanish. Edward straightens as the other Alpha approaches and stares at them, unflinching, as they hold their knife to his throat.

The two Alphas exchange a few words that Izzy doesn’t quite catch. Izzy slowly slides down the wall to sit on the floor, trusting that Jim had everything under control.

Edward glances down towards Izzy and then down the hallway where the crew have started to file out of their room one by one. He lets out a low growl before turning on his heel and stalking down the hall away from Izzy and the pack.

Izzy lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding before leaning back against the wall and closing his eyes. The fog in his head had lessoned out of survival instinct but now that the perceived threat was gone and his pack was here Izzy could feel it come back all at once.

His eyes jump open at the feeling of a hand on his shoulder but he relaxes once he sees Lucius’s face. The Alpha looks down at him in concern and carefully helps him stand up.

The pack surrounds him quickly and guides him towards their room. He can hear them talking but as the heat rushes through him he can’t understand the words, and he finds that he doesn’t really care. He’s with his pack, his family, and they will protect him.

They lay him down in the center of the pack nest. The scent of his pack overwhelms him and he can feel a purr build up in his chest. He can’t remember the last time he had done that. 

The pack build up the nest further around him, adding more clothes, pillows and blankets. Izzy fumbles for the pillow that smells of Ivan and Fang and cuddles it closely to his chest. He had become very attached to the Alpha and Beta every since Ivan was almost killed on a raid and the familiar scent helps him relax even more. He feels as though he could melt through the floor as the pack gathers close but he strains his head to glance around for the few pack members that he couldn’t smell.

Lucius puts a comforting hand on his chest and gently pushes him back down, whispering soothing words to him. Izzy grabs his hand tightly in his own and then reaches to his right to find Fang’s hand too. After a few moments Zheng, Oluwande and Roach come through the door all carrying trays of food that smells heavenly and he smiles up at them as his purring gets louder.

For now his heat will just make him tired and so he happily lets the pack feed him as he sits there and basks in their presence and mingling scents. Eventually the heat will progress but for now he is just happy to be surrounded by his pack.