Page 119 of Full Body Hit, Part 1

“So my mom—I mean, we both thought I’d be an Alpha. So my mom kind of…she found a sort of treatment that would help me present as an Alpha, but it kind of messed me all up instead? I presented when I was fourteen, and I guess the medication I’d been taking fucked that up because my pheromone production was off the charts.”

Aunix made a small noise of concern, folded up small so that it didn’t interrupt.

“Apparently, the pheromones were strong enough to affect other people—especially other Alphas. As I grew up, if an Alpha smelt my pheromones, the likelihood that they’d bite me would be high, whether they wanted to or not.”

“Jesus Christ, baby,” Aunix said, and Chase wasn’t sure what that meant. Was he worried that Chase was a danger to Alphas? A danger to him?

Chase ploughed on. “Other people’s pheromones were also super overwhelming for me—they made me throw up and get dizzy and achy and stuff. So the doctor put me on a special treatment to block that stuff—the pheromone production and the ability to scent.”

There was silence on the other end of the line.

Chase swallowed roughly. “So. Um. Yeah, I don’t produce pheromones, and I can’t smell pheromones, so if we were to ever—I mean, if I got a partner one day, they wouldn’t be able to scent me until we decided to mate. So…yeah. That’s what I wanted to tell you.”

More silence on the other end of the line.

Chase clenched the hand holding his phone. He searched for something to say, but Aunix cut in before he could find anything.

“Sweetheart…I am so, so sorry.”

Every piece of Chase went tight. He breathed through the hit. Through the pain. “No, it’s…you don’t have to be sorry. Seriously. I totally understand if that’s not something you want to get involved in. I—”

“What? No. I’m sorry that happened to you. Your mom…I mean, did anything ever happen with that?”

Chase frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Like, did she get punished or…I don’t know. She gave you drugs to make you present a certain way. That’s illegal. That’s medical child abuse.”

Chase opened his mouth. Closed it. Opened it again. “No,” he croaked. “She wasn’t—she was trying to help me.”

“Help you, how?”

Again, the words got crammed in his throat. “By…it’s kind of complicated, but the field I’m in is pretty physically demanding, so she just wanted me to be big and strong like Alphas are.”

Aunix scoffed loudly. “I’m in a physically demanding field, too, and let me tell you, the most talented people in this…craft are Omegas. You cannot seriously tell me that there aren’t successful Omegas in your field.”

It was true that Gayne Wensky, the best hockey player in history, had revealed he was an Omega a few years ago. And there were players like Orion Young and Alonso Dolivo who had dominated their draft class, both of them Omegas.

That didn’t mean his mom hadn’t meant the best for him, though.

“Okay. Maybe, but—I’m just telling you what happened and why my mom did it.”

There were a few audibly deep breaths on the other line. “Okay. Well. I mean—did your mom ever apologise, at least?”

Chase didn’t understand why Aunix was talking about his mom. That wasn’t the point of the story. “I don’t…no? I don’t think so? But I feel like you’re missing the point. I’m telling you that if we ever met up, you wouldn’t be able to know what my scent is unless we mated. Once someone bites me, my scent will go back to normal and I can stop taking the meds, but until then…so, first of all, it’s really off-putting. I don’t know if you’ve ever had sex with an Omega that doesn’t have a real scent, but apparently it sucks.”

Aunix growled. Chase went on.

“Secondly, you could invest, like, so much time in me and then mate me and find out that I smell really bad and you’ve wasted all that time and energy and—”

“Whoa, whoa. Okay, baby. You’re okay. Take a deep breath for me,” Aunix said, and it was only then that Chase realised he was shaking, that his voice was mangled with tears.

Chase took a trembling breath. Let it out.

“I hear what you’re saying,” Aunix said softly. “And I understand there are limitations to not being able to scent the person you’re dating, but…baby. If I’ve fallen this hard for you without seeing your face, I don’t think your scent is going to matter.”

Chase shook his head. “That’s not…scent isn’t like looks. You can’t just get over how bad someone’s pheromones smell to you. It’s biological compatibility.”

“That won’t happen.”