When the silence lingers on for too long, Dr. Quinn clears his throat. “Right, well. Miss Lia, let me see the suppressants you’re taking. Do you have your pill bottle on you?”
When she motions for her purse, I move before anyone else has a chance to. I scoop up the small bag with the pink bow hanging off the zipper and I hand it to her.
She rewards me with a meek little smile. “Thanks.”
I shake my head. “Nothing to thank me for. We’ll get you figured out while we’re here.”
I figured my words would reassure her, but her scent changes, that cinnamon-roll goodness laced with a bit of soured icing that curdles my stomach. It makes me worried about what’s making her nervous. But I stay strong.
My Omega needs me strong.
“Here,” Lia says in a voice that sounds like sandpaper as she hands the doctor not an orange, translucent pill bottle, but a white, opaque one instead.
Dr. Quinn doesn’t even take it. “Your suppressants aren’t prescription.”
She shakes her head. “Prescription suppressants don’t work on me.”
“I’m sure you just haven’t found the right one,” Dr. Quinn says. I hear him scribbling on something. “If we need to cycle through a few to find the right one, we can?—”
“None of them work,” she bites out.
The room falls silent again before Dr. Quinn speaks. “There are several kinds on the market, Miss Lia, so that isn’t possible. The only way it’s possible is if an Omega has experienced Alpha Rejection Syndrome. Only they are immune to prescription suppressants completely.”
When Lia doesn’t speak, the room falls silent again. ARS? She’s survived ARS? You mean to tell me someone gave up that wondrous scent? Those gorgeous green eyes? Those sloping curves that call to my twitching fingers? That lovely smile she graced me with earlier? That wasn’t good enough for someone?
I would never.
The idea that she had to experience something like that makes my blood boil.
I hear the sound of something rolling on the ground before Dr. Quinn slips himself between me and Lia. I want to growl and yank him out of the way, but I stuff my instincts down. I nod at the doctor, who gives me a once-over with his eyes before turning his attention back to Lia.
He reaches out and takes her hand, and I know what he’s about to say isn’t going to be what she wants to hear.
“Okay,” he says, his voice somehow softer than it normally is, “then, here’s what we do: you have a cyclewide disorder, yes?”
Lia swallows hard. “Yeah.”
“What’s that?” Walker asks.
Dr. Quinn ignores him. “How far are you into your preheat already?”
Lia shrugs softly. “Can I sit up now?”
Dr. Quinn stands and helps her to sit up, and that’s when I see a bead of sweat trickle down her brow. The shuffling of steps sounds behind me, and I peer over my shoulder to see Eli slipping into the room with his daughter.
I turn my attention back to Lia before I reach out mindlessly, my thumb wicking away the sweat trail before it has a chance to grace her cheek.
“Better?” Dr. Quinn asks.
“Thirsty, but yeah,” Lia says breathlessly.
“I’ll get her some water,” Walker says before his heavy footfalls backtrack out of the room.
“A cyclewide disorder is when an Omega’s preheat lasts too long, right?” Eli asks.
Dr. Quinn peers over his shoulder at him. “I think Miss Lia would appreciate it if she wasn’t so crowded.”
“They’re fine,” she says softly. “I just need to get back home and get in my nest. That always helps around this time.”
