“Do you want to wait for him to come back before I continue?” asks Doctor Benton.
“No, no, it’s fine,” I reply. “Let’s just get this over with.”
She chuckles, and returns to the examination, her hands gently moving across my stomach and pushing in to, I assume, feel my organs. After she’s done, she uses the stethoscope again, this time on my stomach, then sits back in her chair.
“Now, I can’t speak to your male omega biology without at least an ultrasound, but as far as I can tell, physically speaking, you’re perfectly healthy except for being underweight and somewhat malnourished.”
“Whatever they were injecting me with didn’t cause any permanent damage?”
She shrugs. “I can take some blood and run some more tests, but I wouldn’t have results very quickly, and without knowing what to look for since we have no idea what those injections were supposed to do, I might not be able to tell if something’s off.”
I clear my throat and stare down at my hands, my cheeks heating. “So, I’m basically healthy then. Is there any reason Luke and I shouldn’t…”
“Complete the mating bond?” There’s a hint of amusement in her question, enough to turn the heat in my cheeks into an inferno. “Nope. Not a one.” She pauses. “Is that something you’re worried about?”
“No?”
She rests her hand on my knee and waits for me to look at her before speaking. “Well, you have a clean bill of health from me, generally speaking.” Her voice turns hesitant. “I know things are… different for male omegas, and I can tell you what I know about the medical side of things, but as far as your reproductive system, I’m simply going to assume everything is in working order.”
“My reproductive system? Why would I worry about that?”
Doctor Benton’s voice grows hesitant. “I don’t know if you were aware of this, but Keir is the one who carried the twins.”
“Okay…” I give a blank stare, unsure where she’s going with this.
“You don’t seem surprised by that.”
“Why would I be?”
“Because he’s a male?” she says, her words laced with bewilderment.
“He’s an omega,” I reply almost automatically. “Omegas are breeders.” The words flow past my lips without thought, and I jerk, unsure where they came from.
Or where I’ve heard them before.
Doctor Benton’s brows draw together. “The fact that male omegas can get pregnant is not common knowledge, not even among shifters.”
I blink at her. “Apparently, it’s common knowledge to me somehow. But why?” My hand goes to my stomach. “You don’t think…”
She shakes her head. “I see no evidence of any pregnancies.” She pauses. “The only thing I can think of is that your pack must have at least one other male omega.”
“I thought male omegas were supposed to be super rare?”
“As far as I’m aware, they are,” she replies. “But that doesn’t mean it’s true for all packs. We already know packs don’t always report things as they should to the triumvirate, especially the more isolated or rural packs.”
“That’s…” I let the word trail off, unsure what I’m trying to say.
She pats my knee and pushes up to her feet. “I don’t think it’s anything to worry about. The question of whether male omegas are rare isn’t exactly something that has much effect on day-to-day life either way.”
“You’re probably right,” I say, letting out a small sigh. “Thanks, Doctor.”
“You’re welcome.” She smiles and shoots me a wave as she heads out the door. “Feel free to ask Julien for my number in case you have any more questions or if you’d like me to go ahead with those additional tests.”
Once she’s gone, I sit there, staring down at my hands and wracking my brain trying to drag out a memory or two that might help me understand why the existence of male omegas—and the fact that they can get pregnant—is common knowledge to me. But, after fifteen minutes of struggling, all I succeed in doing is giving myself a headache, and a knock at the door interrupts any further attempts.
“Remy’s made some progress in tracking down your pack,” says Keir’s voice from the hallway. “But he needs you to take a look at some stuff to help him narrow it down further.”
“I’ll be right there,” I say, feeling more than a little apprehensive about what Remy might have found.
