His eyes widened in terror, and he scampered away to make the call.
“Can you stay awake, love?” I asked gently, brushing the omega’s damp curls away from her face. She let out a little whimper but didn’t open her eyes. Her cheeks were flushed, and I could feel her warmth seeping through my clothes. Fuck, was she going into heat? Where were her alphas?Because if she doesn’t have any, I will volunteer as tribute.
“What’s your name?” I asked softly. “I’m Theo.”
The other shoppers, almost all betas, gave us a wide berth. It was rare for alphas to do their own shopping and even more so for unbonded omegas... if that’s what she was. I couldn’t see any bond marks, but she was mostly covered up.
She curled towards me, resting her face on my chest and breathing deeply. My heart jumped in pleasure that she was seeking comfort from me. She was too out of it to respond to my questions, so I contented myself with holding her close and murmuring what I hoped were comforting words.
“Um, they’re almost here,” the beta worker said, now joined by a manager. I heard the faint noise of sirens in the distance. I gave them a curt nod without looking away from her. I didn’t understand the attraction I was feeling. All I knew was I didn’t want to let her go.
Too quickly, the medics stormed into the store and pulled her out of my grasp. My arms hung like useless weights by my side, useless because they were no longer holding her. The other shoppers gawked, and I wanted to roar at them to turn away and give her some privacy.
I followed the medics to the parking lot and stood by as they loaded her into the ambulance. I was tempted to lie when they asked me if I was the omega’s bonded alpha, but I gritted my teeth and told the truth. Alarm filled their faces, and they started placing frantic calls to the Designation Center and the hospital to let them know they had an unbonded omega who had collapsed.
A medic bumped the stretcher she was on, causing the omega to whimper.
“Be fucking careful with her!” I growled, shoving myself into the medics’ faces. I was being unreasonable—my reactions far out of the norm from my usually reserved demeanor. But the thought of anything happening to the unnamed omega enraged me.
“Sir, you have to step back,” the medic said weakly.
I clenched my fists and didn’t take my eyes off the omega as they took her vitals. I was still standing, frozen in my spot in the parking lot, when they closed the ambulance doors and rushed her away.
Away from me.
ChapterFour
Josie
“Congratulations, hun! We just got your blood work back, and you are officially in pre-heat. The doctor will be in shortly to discuss the next steps so we can get you set up with your pack. It’s not every day we have a twenty-three-year-old who hasn’t gone into heat yet. This must be such a relief for you.”
The young beta nurse was overly chipper as she bustled around the clinical exam room in the Designation Center Clinic. I had spent the night in the hospital and been moved to the clinic this morning.
Yesterday’s trip to the store was lost in a hazy mist. I vaguely remembered walking into the store, but my next memory was waking up alone in a hospital room. The nurses told me I passed out while shopping. Despair clung to me. My time was up. My mandatory blood work appointment wasn’t for another week, but my body had sped up the process.Traitor.
Usually, the bright hospital lights and antiseptic smells were torturous, but I stayed calmer than usual thanks to the delicious scent surrounding me. It took me a while to determine that the scent was coming from my sweatshirt. It was rich coffee and long afternoons spent in the bookstore. I refused to let anyone take the sweatshirt away and slept better than I had in a long time with my face buried in it. Even after showering this morning, I felt like it was still on my skin, imprinted on me and comforting.
The nurse continued to prattle on about my upcoming heat. The lab result wasn’t a surprise, but I still felt like a weight was crushing my lungs. Did this woman really think I was happy about my lab results? Could she really be that naïve? I always wondered what betas thought about omegas. We were kept somewhat segregated from the rest of society.Do they all believe what the news says about us?
“Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll find a pack that won’t hold your age against you,” she said before handing me a small crinkly gown to change into and finally leaving the room.Oh wow, what a relief that not all alphas will hold my ancient age of twenty-three against me. Bitch.
My stomach turned as I hopped up on the exam table, feeling vulnerable and exposed. My mind started blanking out, my heart racing at the thought of having to endure another invasive exam. The scar on my arm burned in phantom pain, and I squeezed it, trying my best to hold on to reality.It’s not in me anymore. They’re not here. This is a different doctor.My body was not convinced by my pathetic attempts to reassure myself. Sweat trickled down from my armpits. I wanted to escape from the room, but my body sat frozen as if held captive by the bright overhead lights.
The door slammed open and a middle-aged doctor—alpha, of course—entered the room with the overeager nurse on his heels.Not him, it’s not him.This doctor was tall and muscular, with broad shoulders, slicked-back brown hair, and a smile so white it belonged in a dental commercial. I bet all the beta nurses threw themselves at him, dying for a scrap of attention. He smelled like moldy dill and cilantro, almost making me gag.
“Ahh, I see we have a late bloomer omega,” the doctor said, consulting his paperwork. “Age twenty-three, the mother is an omega. Regular lab work hasn’t returned positive for pre-heat before now. Nurse, what do you notice about this omega?”
I clenched my hands into fists, hating how he wouldn’t look at me or address me like I was an actual person.
“Well, besides her obvious late heat, the omega has been consistently overweight since puberty,” the nurse answered sweetly, batting her eyes at the doctor.
I resisted rolling my eyes.
“You can see here in the records that she was put on a diet regimen during her time at the DA, which resulted in moderate weight loss, but since graduation, she has clearly gained it back,” the doctor said with a sneer, his eyes lingering over my body while he sniffed deeply, breathing in my scent.
I blinked rapidly, refusing to let this asshole alpha make me cry. The diet regimen he was talking about consisted of the DA cutting my meal plan in half, so I was starving. If not for the kindness of my few friends sneaking me food, I probably would have ended up in the hospital. Not that the doctors would have minded as long as I lost the weight.
“Well, the good news is that the omega will be joining a pack. Nurse, I want you to draft a meal plan guideline to give to the omega’s alphas so they’ll know how to best care for her.”
