Page 96 of A Farmer’s Guide To Gamers

Buzzing filled my head as I sat down with a thunk on the desk. Thank goodness I didn’t miss it entirely. My heat suppressants were recalled?! What does that even mean?

“Now, your birth control is fine. We did look into that and those meds were not affected by this. Just the suppressants.”

“So, what does this mean?” I asked. Part of me knew exactly what this meant but right now I needed her to say it bluntly to me.

“You’re going to have a heat, Ms. Ashford. The medicine was basically a placebo and it can hit at any time.” There was a pause where neither of us said anything. “If you need any services to see you through⁠—”

“I have a pack,” I said, my voice rough as I tried to process all of this.

My first heat with a pack. Or really me seeing a heat through with anyone. When I had them, I usually booked a suite at the omega clinic and just used the sedation services to ride them out. It worked wonderfully.

Just how would this play out with a pack?

“That’s great,” the person on the phone said. “Once you’ve had your heat, schedule an earlier appointment and we will get you heat suppressants that aren’t recalled. We’re so sorry for this inconvenience, honey. We started making calls as soon as we received the news.”

“Thank you for telling me. And I’ll call afterwards.”

We said our goodbyes and hung up.

I sat there on the edge of the desk in an empty office with my cellphone in hand, unsure of what I felt.

Shocked.

Excited.

Nervous.

“Tillie? Is everything okay?” Jack peeked his head in and I blinked up at his face. His eyes were full of concern as he walked over and rested his hand on my cheek. I leaned into it, trying to untangle my thoughts.

“That was the clinic,” I admitted quietly, not meeting his eyes. “When we picked up my birth control and heat suppressants, apparently, the heat meds were messed up. They just recalled them as a full placebo. Meaning they didn’t work.”

“So, you’re going to have a heat?” he asked bluntly, in true Jack fashion. “Are we angry about this?”

“No?” I asked more than answered. Then I blew out a breath. “I’ve never ridden out a heat. I’ve always used sedation services.”

“Funny enough, neither have I,” he joked.

The words hit me and I snorted out a laugh. It was just a little reminder that this pack had my full trust. I knew a heat with them would be incredible. It was just new and a bit nerve-wracking. Letting yourself be that vulnerable was terrifying.

“Hey, get out of your head, omega,” he purred gently as he coaxed me down from a panic.

“My nest isn’t even ready,” I whispered.

“We’ll make one right in the middle of the living room. As soon as we get home,” he promised me, his fingers teasing down my cheek in gentle strokes.

“It might not happen yet,” I added.

“That’s okay. We’ll have it ready when it does. For now, we’ll head home and if we’re lucky, we can knock out that family gathering your mom has planned.”

“Oh god, she’ll probably stress me out enough it comes faster,” I joked, but this time I didn’t let the panic creep back in.

If there was anyone in this world I could trust with my heat, it was my pack. They were amazing, and I loved and trusted every one of them.

Not just with me, but my animals too.

Aiden

Iwas just about to kiss him when —