“Sorry to upset Puck.”
“He’s not upset. He’s just worried about you. That’s what Alpha’s do when unbonded omegas go into heat. I’m going to grab a few things and meet you at your rooms.”
“Van?” The question was too high-pitched and sounded on the edge of frantic. “What happens here with omegas and . . .”
“Nothing you don’t want to. Never worry about that.”
Luke met Van in the hall where it split between the medical wing and the residential section for singles.
“What’s going on with Lycan?” Luke asked, still rubbing his eyes awake.
Van stopped short. “You know?”
“I know something is up, the threshold practically dumped me out of my own bed.” The clear scent of omega heat crept down the hall and Luke’s eyes went wide. “Oh.”
They both watched as an Enforcer rounded the corner and walked down the hallway, but instead of acting like an Alpha who scented an omega in heat, the Enforcer nodded at Luke and Trav.
“I’ll stand a post at this end of the hallway,” the Enforcer said, walking by. “Do you need anything? Does the omega?” Normally Enforcers were not in this side of the Pack House, and while helpful, that was usually upon request.
Van blinked. It wasn’t that Enforcers weren’t kind, they were. But, usually it was a more distant sort of kindness. He had never heard one ask about an omega’s heat before. Usually, an Alpha would respond to an omega’s heat by removing themselves from the situation. If the omega was bonded, then the pack’s Alphas would often stand guard, watching and protecting until the omega’s Alpha arrived. It wasn’t that omegas couldn’t take care of themselves, although that’s how some chose to see it. Instead, it was that omegas in heat were weakened. A strong pack meant protecting those who needed it.
Luke had always seen it as simple biology, the same biology that allowed some omegas to share heat cycles and become heat-mates, but never all the omegas, because that would weaken the strength of the pack to have all omegas in heat at the same time. It would also leave the Pack vulnerable if all the Alphas were in a corresponding rut at the same time, too. An evolutionary remainder that kept the Pack strong.
Luke thanked the Enforcer, and steered Van toward the residences.
“Is that not strange?” Van asked the doctor.
“My wolf is in a strong protection mode right now, I’m thinking all of us Alphas will be until his heat passes.” Luke smiled at Van, but knew what he was feeling was more than that. He wanted to carry Lycan straight to Seath, or to stand guard over him until Seath arrived.
Strange. That shouldn’t have been his reaction. Of course, when Seath claimed his Alpha-Mate, the response of the pack would be similar. To protect. The same would be true if Greene ever bonded again after the loss of his wife many years ago.
Van shivered. “It’s colder in here.”
Luke chuckled. “The threshold likes Lycan. I’m sure it’s adjusting the temperature for his benefit.”
“I’ll make sure he has what he needs, Luke. I hope this doesn’t set him back from healing in some way.”
Luke put a gentle hand on Van. “It won’t. If you sense something he needs, just let me know, but I leave omegas to know what is best here. This could be a good thing, Van.”
“Does it mean he is healing?”
Luke nodded. “My understanding from the coven is that his heats probably didn’t happen when the mind-magic was present. It was part of what was locked away. Between the Wolfsbane and his spellbound mind and nature, that makes sense. The stress on his body alone would have naturally kept them away. The fact his heat has come back so soon could be a sign the coven’s work did even more good than we know.”
When Van headed for Lycan’s rooms with his phone in his hand to call Trav, Luke headed for Seath’s chambers.
The Enforcer let Luke pass to knock on Seath’s chambers although he had already reached out in his mind to warn Seath to wait for him. The Enforcers seemed not on edge, but extra vigilant and Luke knew it was the vulnerability of the omega that was affecting them. Luke was one of Seath’s best friends, though, and he could feel things from the Alpha that others might not pick up on.
Important things,Luke thought.Maybe.
Unsurprisingly, Seath was pacing in his room, his head jerking to the door when Luke stepped in, and eyes going dark when the smell from the hall drifted to him.
“Down boy,” Caine said, sliding into the room behind Luke.
“Probably not the right time for that,” Luke mused, getting closer to Seath. He was close in size to the imposing Alpha, not that he thought he would need to restrain his Legate.
Seath continued to pace, looking as wolfish as possible although still in his human form.
“Lycan needs . . ..”
