Disclaimer: These characters do not belong to us. They belong to BioWare and any other creators of the Mass Effect universe. We do this for free, fun entertainment and do not mean to offend anyone.

Rating/Warnings: This story is rated a strong MA+. There are graphic depictions of a sexual nature between two women. You should have turned back long before now if that sort of thing bothers you.

Shepard shivered as Liara's mind reach out for hers, but she had no intention of denying the connection. She had wanted to take Liara as her mate even before her heat, and the love she felt in the joining only confirmed what she already knew. The meld was just another nonverbal indication that Liara wanted the ultimate claiming. Shepard lowered her head and sank her teeth into Liara's shoulder, biting deep enough to draw blood and putting her full intentions behind the mark.

Beautiful pain pierced her own shoulder a second later, and she groaned as Liara gave her a matching mark. Shepard's inner animal howled, but it was a sound of pure joy. She was Liara's choice as much as Liara was hers, and no one would ever be able to challenge their claim on each other. The bite was made all the sweeter because she could feel Liara's happiness at finally being joined to her through the meld.

Shepard would have been content to lay above her mate, floating through the bliss of Liara's mind forever, but a sound at the medbay door had her body stiffening. The scents of multiple aggressive alphas, all of them well known to her, filled her nose right before the doors whooshed open and a small crowd rushed in, headed by Doctor Chakwas. Shepard instinctively dug her teeth in deeper and gave a deep warning growl as Ashley moved to the head of the pack, but her sharp eyes also picked up Wrex, Garrus, and even Tali lingering more toward the back of the group.

Her body responded on a primitive level to the threat. Liara was hers, and she refused to let anyone else have even the slightest chance with her. Fullness built at the base of her cock, pushing out against the tight, velvety walls wrapped around her. Liara began to whimper as the knot swelled, but her inner muscles clamped down, tying them together. Shepard gave another involuntary pump of her hips, grunting with possessive satisfaction. Now, she couldn't be torn from Liara's body no matter what any of the intruders tried.

The intense pressure squeezing down around her was too much. Her cock thickened and throbbed, emptying all over again. She pumped everything she had into her mate's clinging warmth, overtaken with the desire to claim. She spilled deep into Liara's azure, filling her completely, but not single drop escaped. Her twitching knot blocked Liara's entrance, ensuring she had ample opportunity to conceive. Liara keened, clawing at her back and clenching even harder around her.

Shepard growled around her hold on Liara's shoulder, never once taking her eyes off the stunned group just inside the medbay door. She remained alert even as Liara's mind searched frantically through hers, looking for that final piece of what she needed. She could only hope that Liara found what she was looking for before she passed out, because moments later, she went limp, splaying bonelessly beneath her.

Still not taking her eyes off of their audience, and Ashley in particular, Shepard pulled her teeth from Liara's shoulder and gently licked the deep bruise. Her own mate bite still throbbed, but it was a pleasant feeling that pulsed right down her to her cock every time, keeping her hard. She didn't know if it was their new bond or just the intrinsic connection they'd seemed to have since their first meeting, but Shepard knew without a doubt that Liara was fine, even though her beautiful omega still hadn't shown any signs of stirring. A movement caught her eye and she snapped her head up, snarling as she held herself over Liara. She would defend her mate to the death, but she would also defend her claim in an equally violent fashion if anyone sought to challenge her.

"Jesus Christ, Shepard," Ashley said, standing her ground but not taking another step forward when she realized just how serious the Commander really was. "If not me, then at least let Doctor Chakwas take a look at her. You fucked her into oblivion."

"I know how to take care of my mate," Shepard growled, baring her teeth at Ashley until the other alpha held up her hands and took a step back.

"Mmm, you certainly do," a drowsy voice said from beneath her. Liara's warm arms wrapped around her torso and soft hands trailed along her back. Shepard's heart leapt as she finally looked down, seeing the love she had always dreamed about shining in her mate's clear blue eyes. Completely unable to resist sharing her own happiness, Shepard leaned down and brought their lips together in a soft but heartfelt kiss.

"See?" a low voice rumbled from the doorway. Shepard pulled back from Liara's sweet lips and looked up to see Wrex eyeing them with considerable amusement. He wasn't at all embarrassed by their nakedness. In fact, his expression seemed almost approving. "Told you it was better not to get involved. I knew this would happen the second Liara went into heat. Nobody had a chance with her but Shepard. I'm just glad I wasn't the one standing in the way."

A flush spread across Ashley's face, but she was wise enough to keep her comments to herself. Shepard finally felt herself begin to relax. She didn't see the gunnery chief as much of a threat anymore. With her knot and her come filling Liara's azure and the mating mark on both of their necks, there was nothing Ashley could do even if she wanted to.

"You don't have to act all high and mighty about it," Kaidan teased, giving Wrex a playful nudge on the arm. "You were the one who came to me begging for..."

Wrex coughed to cover up the rest of the comment. If Shepard hadn't been so concerned about how close everyone was standing to Liara, she might have been amused. It wasn't every day that she got to see what a krogan looked like when he was embarrassed.

Tali and Garrus laughed, but Ashley's brow remained furrowed. "Liara? Are you sure you're okay?" she asked, seeming genuinely concerned.

Liara tilted her head back, gazing up with sleepy, meld-darkened eyes. "I'm all right, Ashley. Thank you. Now, if you wouldn't mind..."

"Why don't we give the Commander and Doctor T'Soni some privacy?" Doctor Chakwas said, professional even in this awkward circumstance. "Neither of them seems to be injured, and I'm sure they don't want an audience."

Thankfully, they all followed her advice. Shepard continued staring them down until the last person had left the medbay and the doors were safely closed again. She breathed a sigh of relief, turning her attention to the beautiful woman beneath her. It would be several more minutes before they could part again, but she didn't mind. She would have been happy to spend the rest of her life wrapped up in Liara's arms. "Were you telling the truth earlier?" Shepard asked. "Are you really all right?"

Liara nodded. "I'm not just all right. I'm wonderful."

A big grin spread across Shepard's face. "Me too." A guilty flush colored her cheeks, and she shifted her hips a little, making Liara whimper at the movement. "Are you sure I'm not hurting you? I didn't mean to, uh... the rest of them just startled me, and..."

Soft fingers folded around the back of her neck, drawing her in for another soft kiss. "I don't mind, Shepard. It surprised me at first, but the fullness is actually rather pleasant, and the meld was breathtaking. I had no idea it could be like that."

"What about the mating bite?" Shepard asked, murmuring the question into Liara's lips. "Everything happened so fast."

"Oh, Shepard." Liara resumed stroking her back, rubbing soothing circles between her shoulderblades. She dipped down, placing a kiss on the mark she had left. "You were already mine long before now. This is merely visual proof."

Shepard laughed and placed a matching kiss on Liara's bite-mark, inhaling their mixed scents. "You're going to kill me if I got you pregnant, aren't you?" she asked, nuzzling her mate's warm throat. "I promise I wasn't trying to. You just felt so good..."

Liara let a long sigh escape. "I have to admit, now isn't the most convenient time." Shepard's chest tightened with worry until Liara pushed up to kiss the tip of her nose. "But I can think of far worse things than carrying your child. I'm more determined than ever to stop Saren now. I'll have a mate to build a life with and a daughter to save the galaxy for."

"As long as you let me help," Shepard said. "I don't want to be apart from you ever again. Okay?"

Liara smiled and closed her eyes, leaning back onto the table and settling into a more comfortable position. "Never again."

A smile spread over Liara's face as she stretched and felt Shepard's arm tighten around her waist. They'd spent the last three days locked up in her lab, doing things that Liara had only dreamed of, and quite a few that she'd never even thought about but were definitely now on the top of her list to do again. Once, Shepard had suggested that they relocate over to her quarters since she had a bigger, softer bed, but before they could, Liara had dragged her mate down on top of her again and they'd promptly forgotten all about more comfortable accomodations.

Liara drew Shepard's hand away from her waist and brought it up to her mouth, placing a kiss in the center of her alpha's calloused palm. "I'm hungry, Shepard. And we can't keep sneaking out in the middle of the night to raid the galley like a couple of bandits. You have a ship to run, and I should really get back to looking over my data to see if I can pinpoint Saren's location."

Shepard made a displeased noise and tried to cuddle further into Liara's warm back, releasing a huffing sigh when she sat up on the side of the cot to get away. "You really know how to kill the mood, mate." The last word was said with a huge smile, and Liara couldn't help twisting back around and placing a rewarding kiss on Shepard's lips.

"We can't do this forever, Shepard," Liara said as she got up and found a clean jumpsuit, one that was actually intact instead of shredded from Shepard's impatient hands. After the third one had fallen victim to Shepard's insistence, Liara had stopped trying to put her clothes back on. She looked back over her shoulder at her lover, enjoying the view of her strong alpha's muscular body stretched out on her cot, but looked away before she could get any of the ideas she was trying to talk Shepard out of. "My heat is over, and you've more than satisfied it."

"More than satisfied, huh? Are you sure? Because if you still need me, I'm more than happy to offer my services."

Liara rolled her eyes as the smug look on Shepard's face and turned away from her again. "Stop it. We should be able to control ourselves a little better now. It's time to get up and integrate ourselves back into the crew." She bent down to pick up the pile of Shepard's clothes and tossed them at the Commander. "I'll wait for you out in the mess hall."

With that, she turned on her heels and walked out of the room, not giving Shepard any other opportunities to convince her to stay. It would be far too easy to fall into bed with her mate again, but they had taken enough time away from their other duties, and one of them had to be mature enough to realize that.

Liara was pleased to find that the rest of their squadmates were in the mess hall, eating a meal that passed as breakfast. She got into line behind Tali and Garrus, eyes widening when she overheard their conversation.

"What?" Tali said, bumping her shoulder into Garrus's arm since she wasn't quite tall enough to hit his shoulder. "You're just a fling, Vakarian. I'm using you for your body." Even though it wasn't unusual for a beta and an alpha to hook up, Liara was still a little surprised by the revelation. And if they could find what she and Shepard had together, she would be very happy for them.

"You're so mean." There was a pause for a beat before what passed for a turian smile washed over Garrus's face. "And I'm okay with that."

They wandered off towards the table together, still joking back and forth and took seats right next to each other. Liara just shook her head at the camaraderie, enjoying how her world seemed to have righted itself. This place was back to feeling like her home once again, and she wouldn't trade that feeling for the universe.

Once Liara had filled her tray with things that she knew both she and Shepard would like, she turned around to head for the mess hall table. On the way, she nearly ran straight into Ashley. The gunnery chief quickly helped right the tray that was in danger of falling, but pulled her hands back as soon as it was stable. "Hey," Ashley said, an awkward smile tilting her lips as her right hand massaged the muscles at the back of her neck.

"Ashley," Liara said back, unsure where this conversation was going. "I mean, Lieutenant Williams. I'm sorry for almost knocking you down." She needed to apologize to Ashley for much more than that, but she wasn't quite sure how to begin.

Luckily, Ashley took the initiative for her. "You can use my first name, Liara. I know we've had a rough couple of days, but I just wanted to say no hard feelings. I never meant to proposition you as forwardly as I did, especially since I knew how the Commander felt about you. And I know your heat made you susceptible to… acting very unlike your usual self. I hope you'll forgive me, and maybe we can be friends."

"Are you sure?" Liara asked, a wrinkle creasing her brow. "Please don't take this the wrong way, but I thought your feelings might be less charitable, considering your opinion of aliens and what I almost made you do. I should be the one asking your forgiveness. Until now, you haven't shown a great deal of trust toward me."

"Come on, T'Soni," Ashley said, shaking her head in amusement, "I knew that wasn't really you talking the second you started flirting with me. I've seen you do it with Shepard enough times without your heat, and your usual style is way more awkward. No offense."

Liara laughed at the playful insult, relieved that Ashley wasn't angry with her. "None taken. Thank you, Ashley. I appreciate it."

"Just make sure you don't work any more weird alien sex magic on me," Ashley teased, making it clear that she was joking with a smile. She raised her voice and aimed a sideways glance toward the table. "With all the hormones you were pumping out, even Wrex over there was starting to look less ugly."

"I heard that," Wrex grunted, and the crewmembers around him laughed.

A fully genuine smile finally came across Ashley's face. "Don't worry about it, Liara. Really. I like you now, but not enough to marry you. Any ass kicking that Shepard did, I am truly grateful for."

"I wouldn't say that I kicked your ass." A strong arm curled around Liara's waist, and she shivered as a warm, solid body pressed against her back. She tilted her head to the side as Shepard nuzzled against her neck, leaning down far enough to kiss the mate bite that everyone could see thanks to her open collar. "I just gave you some incentive to remember your place. And to keep your hands off my mate." Shepard's hand splayed possessively over her stomach, and Liara sighed happily. Her mind drifted, and she found herself wondering how long it would take for Shepard to figure out that their first mating had done the trick. Liara could have just told her, but part of her wanted to wait until Shepard sensed it herself.

"A lesson well learned, Commander," Ashley said, clapping Shepard once on the shoulder before making her way back to the table. "You two coming? You've both gotta be starving. I haven't seen you out of the medbay in days."

"Some of us like to take our time and do it right, Williams," Shepard said, her voice thick with smugness.

A flush spread across Ashley's face as she sat down. "Come on, Skipper. That was a low blow."

"Hey, I don't blame you. My mate is pretty gorgeous."

Liara let Shepard lead her to the two remaining seats at the table. Wrex and Kaidan sat across from them, chatting about something while Kaidan used teasing touches to keep the big krogan interested in something besides their conversation. Tali and Garrus were next to them, questioning a flustered Ashley over Shepard's remarks. She let out a happy sigh. Here she was, cuddled close to her mate, taking it all in. As she looked around the table, she knew that this small band of unlikely people were her family. And, she thought, brushing her fingers across her flat belly, soon enough, they would have another addition.

That's the end folks. We hope you enjoyed it. Comments and reviews are always appreciated.