tigerine

I really love ‘biology you can’t deny’, or the pon farr trope, which resurfaced in modern fandom as Alpha/Beta/Omega or Omegaverse via the Supernatural fandom community. (You can read more about its origins on Fanlore).

However, I’m not much of a dog person. I’m more of a cat (and dinosaur) person. I have modified the biology/social aspects of ABO to match what I like to read and write: a highly structured, conservative society with codified roles that doesn’t allow for much mobility and creates sociosexual tension between different members. Almost all the ABO I write feels very 'historical’, that is, it’s not a modern society.

Population distribution

As with other ABO universes, mine is heavy on Betas, both males and females. However, there are more Alphas born than Omegas, so more diverse pairings are seen, and Omegas, the universal breeder, are coveted, but have few rights of their own.

Alphas

Alphas are high-risk, high-reward soldiers, fearless and strong, with little thought for their own safety. Alphas are faster, stronger, hairier, and in most cases, larger than the average for the species. Alphas have large patches of special scent-producing skin at the temples and in very large individuals, along the jaw line. These patches are hidden in the hairline, but if the Alpha chooses to shave, the scent patches are darker and oilier. Alphas tend to spend a lot of time grooming to distribute this oil evenly. The increased hair that grows in these areas contributes to a mane or ruff effect around the face.

In males, the penis is larger than a Beta male’s, and has a small knot. The purpose of the knot isn’t to seal the mating pair together, it is to raise and press spines into the walls of the receiving partner. Spines become erect late in coitus, but prior to ejaculation. Interruption of coitus after the spines have pressed into the walls of the receiving partner will result in sharp pain and perhaps break the mucus membranes. When allowed to retract naturally after ejaculation, no pain is felt upon withdrawal.

In females, the clitoris is enlarged and contains a canal through which semen is delivered to the Beta or Omega. Spines are smaller than those of males, but occur along almost the entire length of the erect tissue. Uterus and ovaries may be withered or absent, and Alpha females suffer from increased risk of miscarriage.

When an Alpha is courting an in-season Omega, they will make a courtship bellow, a deep vibrating roar or heavy purring sound made by vibrating the diaphragm. At first the bellow may be made at a distance. If the Omega is receptive, the Alpha will press their body against them and make the bellow again. The force and tone of the bellow is a test of fitness; deeper and louder is better. Since the bellow uses the diaphragm and not the vocal cords, male and female Alphas produce comparably deep bellows.

Betas

Very similar to adult humans, with a few hormonal differences. Betas cannot scent the difference between a Male Beta/Male Omega or Female Beta/Female Omega. However, all Betas can scent an Alpha, especially if that Alpha is part of their family group. Betas can defer to Alphas, but in the absence of an Alpha, Betas control the social order, and may resist an Alpha who attempts to take over the family group, even killing them to preserve order.

Omegas

The only ones to experience periods of increased fecundity called season or a heat. During this time, the body temperature rises, the Omega may make repeated loud vocalizations to attract a mate. They produce a scent intended to travel long distances, and Omegas frequently bathe in rivers to allow the scent to travel further downstream and attract suitors from further away.

Omega females are the most sought after, as their hyperfecundity allows for litters of two or three to be born regularly. Their breasts are very large, as are their hips, with increased bone density to handle the hormonal pressures of multiple pregnancies.

Omega males have wider hips than Beta males, and are flat-chested, but develop breasts during pregnancy (which slowly disappear after weaning.) They can be impregnated through anal sex during a heat, when the internal cloacal flap swells to hold the birth canal open and allow insemination. The anus/cloaca is lubricated during heat, which may result in intestinal distress if a heat is allowed to go on too long. Litters are also possible with Omega males, but births of one child are more common.

Mating

Mating can occur between all members of the species, but this mating may not produce a child. Alpha females and Beta females are the most stable pairs, and tend to form the core of leadership, followed by Beta M/F pairings and Alpha male-Omega male or female.  Pairings that can produce a child are called breeding pairs. However, large family groups are common, and if an Omega has a large litter, childless pairs will frequently take on one of an Omega’s litter to raise as their own.

Pair-bonding

Pair-bonding refers to the act of making a claim to a mate, usually by marking the mate’s body with a bite on the neck or shoulder. It is much less common in Beta-Beta pairs, which do not experience heat or rut, and so do not need to leave bond-marks.

Pair-bonding between Alphas or an Alpha and a Beta may include marking at the pair’s discretion. The Alpha will mark the Beta if they choose to do so, but the Beta does not mark the Alpha. The only time an Alpha is marked is in a pair with another Alpha. This is done largely as a social cue that the Alphas are in a committed pair. The marks may or may not be on both members of the pair. Scent-marking is much more important to Alpha-Alpha pairs, and involves rubbing the scent-rich oil from the scent patches in the hair to mark each other as family.

Pair-bonding in Omegas is necessary to forestall the quick succession of heats an Omega will go through if they are not mated. Biting the Omega’s shoulder or neck during mating releases a torrent of bonding and intimacy hormones, which mark their mate as family and space out their heats more widely. Unmated Omegas are often counseled to seclude themselves with a 'toy’. An orgasm while penetrated will end the heat for at least another two weeks, after which time, the Omega will come back into season. Multiple heats without a mating may result in a uterine infection in both males and females, which is painful and may lead to septic shock and death. For this reason, it is very important that Omegas are mated shortly after sexual maturity (onset of first heat). This age varies between 12 and 16, with some as early as 10 or as late as 18.

Omegas are frequently given or sold (via 'bride price’) to a family of high status before their first heat. The family they are married off to may or may not have an Alpha or Beta ready to breed them, but may acquire them as primary or secondary wives for one of its members. Because of the strong scent signalling between Omegas and Alphas (and their offspring), members of families joined by blood and marriage in this way experience extreme physical revulsion to intrafamily violence. Families joined together by an Omega’s marriage secure the future against war and violence. This led to the development of clans, which absorb smaller families to refresh the breeding pool and strengthen their ties.

Broken pairs

Omegas will not come into season while lactating, so if their Alpha is killed or driven off while they are suckling a kit, an invading Alpha will frequently kill the absent Alpha’s kits to force the Omega back into season. After the Omega is no longer suckling a kit, heats typically resume within six to eight weeks. Mating after this time will result in the old Alpha’s mark being replaced by the Omega’s attachment to the new Alpha. Raiding parties or bachelor groups that sack a family seat are frequently made up entirely of Alphas with some Betas, but killing kits is an Alpha-only activity.

If an Alpha is killed but the Omega is still suckling a kit, the Omega will not come into season again until six to eight weeks after weaning. For many Omegas, they loathe the idea of being mated again to anyone but their dead/absent mate, and will refuse to stop breastfeeding unless ordered to do so by the clan leadership or forcibly separated from a nursing kit. Older widowed Omegas are frequently wet nurses to the clan’s children.