Wolves/ABO (Alpha Beta Omega)
Happy March! Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! Happy Almost Spring! This month we are doing my favorite Wolves/ABO stories.
If you don’t know the basics of ABO alternate universe, here’s a great primer: A/B/O Dynamics | JourneyAO3 Wiki | Fandom
The basics come down to this: in an ABO universe, humans have evolved from wolves, basically. Sometimes they actually can manifest into wolf bodies, sometimes they just retain wolf-like tendencies. Beyond the basics, authors create their own universes and often have different rules that allow expansive character development and world building.
I happen to also really like werewolf stories–where the boys actually turn into wolves. So I’ve combined the tropes for this month’s column.
Note that some AO3 fics are available publicly on the server, while some require an Archive of Our Own account/membership to access. If you don’t currently have access, you’ll need to sit on a waitlist – typically for a week or two – to gain access. Get yourself on that list ASAP as some of these require that access to read.
The “Summary” is taken from the author’s own AO3 summary. “Why I Liked It” is my opinion (and only mine). “Content Warning” is a mixture of my own warning and sometimes pulled from the Triggers the author has suggested.
These are NOT in ranked order.
- The Woods are Lovely, Dark and Deep by HelloAmHere (Wolf only)
Summary: This is a four part series, made up of: You’re Never Alone with a Moon this Bright, Believe Me When I Say You Have it All, Your Life Worth Walking on on Bright Morning, and But We have Promises to Keep. Note, I’m including the summary for Part four only because to include all of them would be long–you don’t need to read all four to appreciate the beautiful writing, but I recommend starting from part one for the full effect.
This is the summary for part four: Maybe, Louis thought, from the beginning to the end, he had always known exactly what he wanted. He had always heard it, a quiet song in his head never giving up, because it had never been a thing apart from who he was. Someone who wouldn’t stop. Someone who could walk out into the dark, seeing nothing, having little, and still looking.
The undeniable, terrifying, gorgeous truth was always going to be this: that he had a heart, and that that heart wanted to live.
Why I liked It: As with all of HelloAmHere’s works, the writing is gorgeous. I think I mentioned part one in my holiday column in December, but you can just feel the environment and the way the boys connect right away–but how reserved and frightened Louis is of his own wolf. Harry is the best wolf ever, by the way.
Content Warning: internalized homophobia, fear of self.
- Angels Fly by LilyBlue28 (ABO/Wolf combined)
Summary: Harry is a lonely omega in the North Western White River Pack who is uncharacteristically drawn to nature and his now outdated primal instincts. He fills his days with going through the motions and clinging to the one actual friendship he has in the omega Zayn, and when he gets a chance he sneaks away to the edge of their territory to sit with the trees and the wildlife and sketch his favorite part of the river.
But what happens when one day he spots the pack alpha, Louis, having an intimate moment with something, or someone, unexpected? Suddenly his quiet, nearly invisible existence gets upended, and secrets he never wanted to know quite literally won’t leave him alone, and even when he tries to stay away, he keeps being pulled back into Louis’ turbulent orbit.
A magical love story featuring a generations long grudge, a menacing curse, and secrets that keep pulling them apart. Will they be able to find a way back to one another through the dark?
Why I liked It: The plot was really well thought out and intricate. I loved the soulmates subplot and the way the boys were connected through tragedy. It was messy and lovely and really well done. Also a nice OT5 found family emerges.
Content Warning: pretty violent, some self-hate, and parent death.
- Bug Boy by FitzAndLarry (ABO only)
Summary: One day at summer camp, Harry, a peculiar twelve-year-old fascinated with bugs, met fourteen-year-old Louis, the only kid who’d ever stood up for him or taken an interest in his little friends. From that day forward, the two became inseparable, bound by their self-proclaimed destiny to one day be Alphas together.
Except that’s not how destiny works.
Five years in the lives of boys who run to each other like moths into a flame and the bugs that bring down their defenses.
Why I liked It: Written by my lovely predecessor for this column, this is a very sweet ABO. In it Harry loves insects and Louis defends him against bullies. Super cute and cuddly Harry, protective Louis.
Content Warning: none that I can think of
- Swim in the Smoke by WhoKnows (ABO only)
Summary: “What about this, Captain?” Liam asks, nudging the boy kneeling between their feet with the toe of his boot. The boy hisses and swipes at him, slurring out something unintelligible around the makeshift gag Niall had to stuff in his mouth. He misses by a mile and tries again, just as ineffectively.
Harry looks down at him, at the way the sun streams over his face and shoulders, at the way the gag stretches his mouth, lips pink and chapped. He’s lithe and pretty, smudged all over with dirt. They had found him tied up below deck, mostly unconscious, next to a barrel full of gold. He’s clearly a prisoner, but there’s something familiar about him, something that niggles at Harry’s brain. Something he can’t quite put his finger on.
“Put him in my cabin,” Harry decides, turning back to deal with the rest of the loot. The boy screams out jumbled curse words at Harry’s back, muffled by the gag, and Harry can’t understand any of it.
Why I liked It: I really liked this–what’s not to like about Pirates AND ABO? All the boys are here, and it’s a rollicking good time aboard The Wandering Sparrow, when the crew gets stuck with a royal Omega (Louis) who’s been kidnapped by another pirate crew for ransom. They have to decide whether to dump him or collect the ransom themselves. There’s a ton of good smut here.
Content Warning: mentions of sexual assault, also some pirate violence.
- F*cking Animals by pointerbrother (ABO only)
Summary: “Just, off the record,” she says, voice lower, eyes sharper, crook of her mouth quirking up a little, “don’t you ever miss it? A good knot? You must.”
Louis blinks and then swallows, thickly. “No,” he exclaims, offended that she’d even ask, “I love my husband. And anyway, how could I miss something I’ve never had?”
Louis is the frontman of an equal rights-movement, author of a book about beta-omega marriage and the struggles of being born and boxed into a personality you don’t necessarily feel you fit. The notion that an omega must want to be with an alpha or else he or she’s just settling for less, is bullshit.
But, fucking hell.
Why I liked It: Whooo. Hold on for this one. It might not be for everyone–and I wouldn’t make this your first ABO. It has sexy smut, threesomes, and cheating. The social commentary is really interesting and the plot is excellent. Happy ending, like most I recommend, but I’ll mention that here in case you were worried because of the aforementioned cheating.
Content Warning: Violent sex, cheating, dubious consent, threesomes–read the tags on this one.
- You Smell Like by mystic_believex (Wolf only)
Summary: For her part, Jay took everything in her stride, barely batting an eyelid when Louis came into the kitchen the night Harry left and said, “I seem to have accidentally become the pack’s Alpha”.
Ever since Harry left town, Louis’ found himself with the role of pack Alpha, despite being human. So he can’t wait to hand over the reins when Harry returns. Except, it’s not quite that simple…
OR
The one where Louis is the Alpha’s mate and everyone is aware of it except for Louis and Harry. Go figure!
Why I liked It: I love the strong ‘human’ Louis in a pack of werewolves. This has some cool, unique, magical elements that kept me on my toes. This is a kid fic (Harry has a kid), but the plot plays out beautifully and it makes sense in the world.
Content Warning: minor character death
- Amaryllis by hattalove (Wolf only)
Summary: “Where are we?”
“Um. A little while out of London?” Niall tries, seemingly the only one willing to not be mysterious and provide Harry with information, and. Oh.
“London London? As in, the capital of England London?” he asks, just in case he’d misheard.
“No, the other London,” Louis laughs, low and biting. He comes closer finally, the moonlight just enough to reveal a sharp-cut jaw and pale skin. “Sorry, Pup.”
Nobody’s ever called Harry a “pup”. Frankly, he finds it quite insulting, but he lets it slide to try and comprehend his current crisis.
or the one where Harry gets bitten by a werewolf. Louis is the mysterious not-quite alpha, Liam and Zayn have Things going on, Niall is their token human, and together, they watch a lot of TV.
Why I liked It: The plot was really well done. I thought I knew where it was going and then it twisted and kept going in a different direction. OT5 here is so good…found family and found love. This one goes back to 2014, and I always like to give respect to fic authors who created works back then that still hold up in 2023.
Content Warning: near death and violence
Bonus. I’ve talked about both Saving Symphony Hall and Just Let Me by HelloAmHere in my column before, but they both fit the ABO description and I can’t NOT mention them in a column all about ABO and wolves.
Bonus #1: Just Let Me by HelloAmHere
Summary: The party was going well. So well, Niall had already sworn undying love to one multi-tiered chocolate cake, two friendly corgi-poodle mixes, Zayn’s hair, and the entire population of Los Angeles. So well, Zayn had only laughed and ruffled Niall’s hair and not even twitched towards a cigarette. So well, nearly everyone had spilled far past the boundaries of the night’s original plans, extracting bottles of vodka from the cabinets and losing a lot of clothes. Harry had proclaimed that he was finally going to throw a small and very grownup dinner party and of course here they were three hours later, fifty people half-naked in the pool. Soon to be full-naked, if Louis had to guess. Everybody in LA loved a heated pool. Everybody loved Harry.
Why I liked It: This is my favorite comfort fic. I read it when I need a palette cleanse or just need something to make me smile. Louis in this fic might be my favorite Louis–he’s just so himself, needy but stubborn and lovely. It’s canon in that they are in the band, but it takes place in what I would call Larry no man’s land–in the 2014 time frame when they were their most “separate” on stage. Like all HelloAmHere’s work, it has great characterization and very sweet, but sexy love scenes.
Content Warning: This features ABO (Alpha, Beta, Omega), touch deprivation, and a major character losing consciousness.
Bonus #2: Saving Symphony Hall & prequel Night Out by HelloAmHere
Summary for SSH: “That’s the attitude,” said Louis, “I’ll tell you tomorrow. Tonight, I need to do some research. Zayn, give me your number. I’m gonna save our symphony.”
Summary for NO: Symphony Hall was the first place Louis had felt at home in this city, and he always had the box to himself. Until tonight.
Why I liked It/them: Weirdly, I came to this universe from SSH first and it was months before I knew there was a prequel. I loved the OT5 relationship in SSH. This is one of my favorites because of the way HelloAmHere handles the secondary genders as part of personality not as raw biology. The way HelloAmHere builds characters is a masterclass in writing. They feel fully developed. Also, NO has the absolutely best sex scene I’ve ever read in a fic. I go back to just that scene often (blushes). Still.
Content Warning: ABO (Alpha, Beta, Omega)
Xoxo – Rosann.
Happy reading and thanks for checking out my recommendations. I’d love to hear from you and what you think of my suggestions! Let me know if you have any thoughts for future themes!
