Prologue
Owen
When Owen Elliswoketo find his body drenched in sweat and his cock hard and begging for release, he knew he was in trouble. A familiar itch wriggled deep inside of him, waking his arousal and teasing him to a state of near intoxication. The scent of his fertility hung plain on the air, saturating his tiny bedroom. There was no mistaking its sickly sweetsmell.
He wasinheat.
“No,” Owen uttered, defeated. He swallowed hard and forced himself to rise from bed, staggering to the window. His thighs were already drenched with his slick. The urge to find something—anything—to fill him and drive the heat away began to eat at his brain. It was the second time in three months that he’d ripened, and he wasn’t prepared to go through it again. Notsosoon.
Opening the window took effort Owen almost didn’t possess, but when the first gust of cold air hit his face, he was grateful he’d exerted the energy. Owen sucked the fresh air into his lungs, greedy for the cold. He wasburningup.
“Gotta…” Owen looked across the room. He still hadn’t restocked from the last time he’d gone into heat, and he found himself woefully unprepared. The singular, half-empty bottle of water by his bedside wasn’t going to last him a week. There wasn’t any food in the room, either. He thought he’d have at least another three months before he needed to worryagain.
He’d beenwrong.
It had to have started sometime early in the morning. Owen knew his body, and he knew that if he still had enough composure to string a few sensible thoughts together, he hadn’t been in heat for long. His cycles hit hard, and they hit fast. He’d had enough of them by now that he knew the process insideandout.
With a choked groan, he staggered across the bedroom and wrenched the door open. The rest of his apartment was cool in comparison, and he almost cried in relief. The cold air felt so good onhisskin.
It was a miracle that he made it to the kitchen. Owen pulled open the fridge door and snagged as many bottles of water as he could carry from inside. Owen dumped them in one of his tote grocery bags, then raided his pantry for his non-perishable goods. There weren’t as many canned foods as he’d hoped, but he took advantage of what he had, tossing each into the bag. Meal replacement bars came next. Then, not willing to tempt fate any longer, Owen collected his spoils and headed back into the bedroom. He set the bag within reach of the bed, then collapsed onto his mattress. The sheets were already damp from his sweat, and they stuck to his body and made him feeltoohot.
“Work,” he mumbled. It was an afterthought. “S-Shit.”
His arousal swelled and came close to consuming him. Owen knew it wouldn’t be long before he succumbed to it. Before he did, he needed to get in touch with Counselor Torres. She needed to know he’d be unavailable for the next five orsixdays.
Owen grabbed his phone off the bedside table and pulled up Counselor Torres’ contact information. To his dismay, his hands were already trembling. It wouldn’t be long before he was useless, too horny and eager to be bred to function as anything other than afertilehole.
The phone rang and rang, and when the line connected and Counselor Torres spoke, Owen wasrelieved.
“Hello?” sheasked.
“It’s Owen.” Owen couldn’t hold out for polite conversation or social conventions. There would be no small talk. “I’m in heat. I can’tcomein.”
“Already?” Counselor Torres sounded distressed. “Owen, it’s only been a little more than amonth.”
“I know,” he muttered. “But there’s no way thisisn’theat. I woke up and it wasalreadyhere.”
“You need to get it looked at,” Counselor Torres insisted. “Have you been to see thedoctor?”
Owen’s blood ran cold. Doctors were the ones who’d done this to him, and he trusted none of them. He couldn’t even bring himself to speak to the nurses on staff at his workplace. He wouldnotsee a doctor. Hecouldn’t.
“Yeah,” Owen lied. An erection strained against his pajama pants, the skin of his cock too sensitive. Owen winced and wiggled out of his clothes. They kept him too hot, anyway. He couldn’t tolerate it. “They say there isn’t much they can do. It’s just a genetic defect. I’ve got to live with it when it pops upunexpectedly.”
“There’s got to be someone who canhelpyou.”
“With all due respect, Counselor Torres,” Owen said through gritted teeth. “I’m not really able to talk right now. I needtogo.”
“Of course.” The frown was evident in her voice. “I’ll stop by later and make sure you’re alright. Do you needanything?”
“Food.Water.”
And an alpha to knot me so I can get the damn thingoverwith.
“I’ll make sure you’re set,” Counselor Torres promised. “Take it easy today. Everything is going tobeokay.”
Owen knew it would be. He’d lived through four times as many heats as an average omega of the same age, and he’d made it through every one of them, but for the next week he’d be incapacitated. It would be hell. Italwayswas.
“I’ll see you later,” Owen said. “I needtogo.”
