“Did you sleep drive or just not want to sleep in the same bed as me last night?” he asked.
I sniffed the air to discern if he was joking or not. He wasn’t.
“I went to the grocery store. I was hungry,” I yawned, already thinking about my morning cup of coffee.
“You could’ve woken me up, I would’ve gone,” he frowned.
“I know how to get to the store,” I rolled my eyes.
“Mate,” he leaned in through the window. “People are threatening you. Do you really think it’s a good idea to go out at night alone?”
“I wish one of them would try something. I’d eat them! I’m so fucking over this whole I shouldn’t do anything because other people suck thing!” I growled and he took a step back.
“I would’ve gone to the store for you. That’s how people do it, right? You wake up with a craving and I go hunting to fulfill said craving.”
“I’m not going to sit at home like some house omega. That’s not how they raise ‘em here in the GGB,” I said and climbed out of the window before remembering the bags in the backseat.
“I’ll grab the stuff,” Beryl groaned.
“Mate?” I said, meeting his gaze.
“Yeah?”
“I know you’d have gone to the store. I’m not mad at you. I know you just want to protect me, but I’m not going to let them win and if I sit around at home afraid of them, they win,” I said and walked back into the house to make a cup of coffee.
After we dropped Jondi off at school we swung by the Green Bay Omega and Baby Clinic for my well omega exam. Beryl was a little annoyed that I asked him to stay in the waiting room. Being away from him wasn’t fun for me either, but I wanted to ask Doctor Lawngry some questions about my hormones and my urge to eat people that I wasn’t sure I’d be able to ask him in front of Beryl. Sure, my alpha would probably get it, but he’d also probably offer to eat them for me and that’s not the vibe I was going for.
“No mate today?” Doctor Michael Lawngry walked into the room smelling like some coconut concoction.
“He’s in the waiting room. There are some things I wanted to ask you about,” I said. “He’s done nothing wrong. I think if anything, I’ve been a jackass, especially since my morning sickness started. It’s not every morning and I am managing it with the gummies.”
“I love to hear that,” the doctor grinned and sat down on his spinning stool. “So, what’s on your mind?”
“This is sort of awkward and I don’t even know if it’s pregnancy related or not, but I want to eat people,” I said and then quickly added, “Not random people. Not even non-shifting people. I know that happens sometimes if lions get low iron, but I want to track down and eat the people threatening the playroom.”
“This one, I actually have an answer for or at least I’ve seen it often enough to know what’s going on,” he said. “Do you want the long version or the short one?”
“The long because I think I might have to explain it to other people eventually,” I said.
“Well, let’s think about how things work in wild prides. Not all of them have the Alpha/Omega gene. So, let’s talk about those prides first. Usually, it’s the lionesses who hunt and protect the cubs. They’ll beat the living daylights out of males a lot of the time. They don’t back down. In prides that do have the Alpha/Omega gene you see omega lions regardless of sex and gender reacting that same way. I’m not saying it’s hormonal. I’ve never gone out and taken blood samples from wild lions, but I think in lion shifters it translates to roughly the same thing.”
“Are you saying I’m turning into a pregnant guy Evie?” I laughed.
“Actually, that’s not a bad way to look at it. She’s very much a lioness,” he nodded. “I think right now, it’s increased in intensity because you’re pregnant. Philip sent over the scan last night after he left your place. I believe that you were already stressed and on edge and now that you’re pregnant it means your baby depends on your survival. Eating them would take care of the problem. It’s not just lions either. The last time I was pregnant there was a supply chain problem with the pheromone blocker spray the clinic uses because someone ran a truck off the road. I wanted to fly to the jail where he was being held and eat him. Just gobble him up whole and get on with my day. And speaking more as a carrier and a family friend, if you encounter one of those individuals trying to harm you or someone else, I’d rather you eat them than try to talk sense into them and get hurt. Sure, I could probably put you back together if you survive, but I’d rather treat you for gastrointestinal distress than near-mortal injuries.”
“Don’t worry. If one of them got that close to me, they’re at the very least losing a limb or a head,” I nodded. “This one is probably more in the realm of something I need to ask Kenny or maybe even Eran.”
“A therapist?” he grinned.
“Yeah,” I smiled sheepishly.
“Eh, I’m not a therapist, but I’ve been around the block enough time to know some stuff.”
“I love Beryl and I know he means well but it’s starting to feel like he expects me to hide at home.”
“Is this about how you went out in the middle of the night last night?” he asked. “Before you think I’m spying on you, Iwas just leaving Glitter Bomb when you drove by and your Wing Mini isn’t hard to spot.”
“Yeah. I wanted to go check on the playroom but went to the grocery store instead,” I shrugged. “I ate a whole cake last night. I was starving. I woke up starving too. As soon as I had my coffee, I was ready to eat again. I can’t eat bacon or even let it be cooked in the house because the smell makes a traitor out of my stomach.”
