Wren
“When did you say you presented?” Doctor Petrov, an alpha woman, looks down at me with a frown. Her face looks vaguely familiar, but I can’t quite put my finger on why. It’s not like I meet a ton of people.
And I definitely would remember meeting a female alpha. They’re nearly as rare as male omegas.
But, Maverick says he trusts this doctor implicitly, so I doubt I would recognize her from knowing my parents.
“Um…” I bite my lip, glancing at the guys who are sitting in the living room with me. She’s already looked at my throat and declared that I’m healing remarkably quickly—I’m not sure why she’s asking about when I presented.
Though maybe it’s standard—I wouldn’t know. I’ve only ever been seen by my family’s doctor, Dr. Marino. “Two weeks before my twenty-first birthday, and I just turned twenty-two. So…a little over a year ago.”
“You’re overdue for a heat.” She glances at a chart in her hand. “Even late-blooming omegas have their heats within a year of presenting. You haven’t had any spikes or…anything?”
My face flames. I thought we were just checking on how I was feeling after my ordeal with Pack Caruso—not talking about myheat.
Though I have been ridiculously horny lately. Not sure if that’s a direct result of finding my true scent matches, or if it’s a heat coming on.
“Maggie,” Maverick snaps, standing up, and I suddenly realize why she looks so familiar. “I asked you here to check on her physical health, not her hormones.”
“It’s all connected, butt munch,” Dr. Petrov snaps back, and my hand flies up to cover my mouth as I suppress a laugh.
Butt munch?
But Maverick doesn’t react. “I don’t need my sister poking around my omega’s hormones–” His mouth snaps shut.
She’s his sister. That makescompletesense.
“Maverick Aleksandr Petrov! You didnottell me the omega from the news that is currently in your care wasyouromega!” Her expression is furious, and for a moment I feel like I’ve done something wrong, but then she turns back to me, her expression softening. “I’m sorry about him, he never tells me anything.” She shoots him a dirty look before returning her attention to me.
I grin, shaking my head. “It’s okay, Doctor Petrov—”
“Call me Maggie, please.”
“Maggie.” I smile, looking up at her. It’s so obvious now, I wonder how I didn’t see it before. Same brown hair, same eye-color, nose shape…huh. “Are you…twins?”
“We are,” she grins at me, “I havesomany stories I can tell you about him—”
“Andthis,” Maverick grumbles, “is why I didn’t tell you.”
“I would love to ‘ear any dirt you ‘ave on ‘im,” Teddy jumps in, grinning from ear to ear. “As a pack member, I believe I ‘ave every right tothat information.”
“Pack?” Maggie’s brows shoot up to her hairline. “So are you all…scent sympathetic?”
“True scent matches,” I add quietly. “All of them.”
“Oh dear.” Her eyes widen before she gives her brother another dirty look. “This changeseverything. I’m going to need to do a hormone panel and a blood draw. I’ll expedite the testing myself.”
Brennan frowns, shifting in his seat. “What? Why does that change anything?”
“Because, Brennan,” Maggie huffs, “when an omega meets their true scent matches in anormalsituation, it can throw them into an early heat. I might have prescribed heat suppressants under different circumstances, but given her malnourishment, and the fact we don’t know exactly what that pack drugged her with, I don’t know if her kidneys can handle it. Though…itisamazing how much better she already looks from the picture they’re blasting on the news.”
I frown.Malnourishment? I mean, sure, Mother kept me on a strict diet to keep me from getting too curvy, and theydidwithhold food as punishment sometimes, but I’d hardly say I wasmalnourished.
Before I can protest, low growls fill the air. “Just how malnourished are we talking?” It’s Ethan’s voice that breaks through the rumbling, something dangerous laced in his tone.
Maggie frowns. “It’s difficult to quantify, but it’s enough that I can tell just by looking at her that she’s still a bit underweight.”
“Mother said it was to keep me ‘trim’ for the photoshoots,” I mutter, looking down in shame. But…what do I have to be ashamed of? All I did was listen to my mother, which you’resupposedto be able to do without worrying that she’s secretlystarving you. “And can you please stop talking about me like I’m not here?”
