Page 32 of Curvy Nerdy Omega

Nathan stared at me for a moment, trying to decide whether I was messing with him or not. Then he swiped and showed me another graph that displayed three different lines. One was my previous baseline, the other was my heat based on the color, and then today’s date was marked on the third line.

It wasn’t as high as my heat, but it was well above my baseline and when he tapped the tablet, the graph shifted to show me my pheromones over the last three weeks. The line was trending down, but today’s spike was mild compared to the second and third day of my heat.

Based on this information, I was still coming down from my heat which made no fucking sense.

“If we use this to predict your future levels, it could take months for you to acclimate to your new normal. I think it would be best to create a regimen with the new suppressants designed for legacy alphas that we eventually wean you off of. You’ve been living your whole life with such low-level pheromones that it’s bound to feel like you’re losing your mind – which doesn’t help anyone, but least of all you.”

The doctor set the tablet down and folded his hands on top of it like this was all normal and not at all life altering. He didn’t seem to be in shock or worried about me either.

I glanced over at Frankie and saw her lips were slightly parted, mouth open in bewilderment as she tried to process.

None of this information told me how different things would be now. At least, not in regard to other alphas, but it was plain as day why Frankie had such a hard time with my pheromones. The last time she’d had her blood taken, she barely registered as a legacy alpha – nowhere near Liam’s status.

Even Cassius had stronger pheromones than she did.

It wasn’t her fault, just like she’d told me over and over. I was still an omega even if I was defective, but she…

I turned back to the doctor and gritted my teeth, deciding to worry about that later since she seemed to be doing fine as long as I was wearing scent blockers. “So, what happens if I never see Cassius or Liam again?”

The doc grimaced, but he didn’t glance up at the camera hidden in the ceiling. I was impressed by his restraint despite everything, but I had to know.

Nathan Humphries was the Valor pack’s personal doctor. I didn’t think he’d lie to me, but I was pretty sure he wasn’t above directing me toward the solution his alpha would want either.

“I can’t tell you what might happen as there aren’t enough cases like yours to help us understand what your body might be inclined to do.” The doc jiggled the mouse on his desk to wake the computer up and kept his eyes on the monitor instead of me. “Your pheromones could go back to their previous state or they could get even more volatile.”

“More volatile?” That was really fucking concerning. “I didn’t think it was possible for this to get worse.”

He sighed and clicked something. “I’ve been doing research ever since Mr. Valor mentioned you might be a dominant omega. There aren’t many recorded cases, and when there are they aren’t always labeled as ‘dominant omegas’ since most of them never lived long enough to meet their mates.”

It didn’t seem like he was making this up, but I was starting to feel like I was going to laugh again which told me I was this close to panicking.

“They didn’t live long enough?” Frankie’s voice was uncharacteristically soft and it was instinct to grab her hand even if I didn’t want her to feel just how clammy and gross mine was.

“A lot of them committed suicide. Others were killed for being defective before it became illegal,” Nathan admitted quietly, as if he was ashamed he hadn’t done anything to help them.

It wasn’t his fault. None of this was his fault. People like me flew under the radar all the time.

We may be considered defective omegas, but every doctor I’ve seen up until now had shrugged and told me there was nothing they could do. Never once had they considered there might be something else going on.

Others like me might have found their mates young, or maybe they found them on accident just like I had and easily accepted that their mate was the one exception without knowing why…but if they had stronger, more traditional omega desires, they’d feel the chasm between us and normal omegas even more than I did.

To want nothing more than to be soft and delicate – to provide an environment where they could care for their alpha and pack, and then be told they would never be enough over and over and over, that they might as well be a zeta…

The only reason I was still alive was because of Frankie. I’ve always known that, but I hadn’t realized just how much of my continued existence was due to her perseverance until this very moment.

I squeezed her hand, and this time it was for me. Tears pricked my eyes and I didn’t bother blinking them away.

Even though we’ve both suffered the consequences of our designations, I knew without a doubt I never would have made it this far without her.

Whether it was my fragile sanity, or the instincts that kept pushing me to find somewhere I belonged, she’d held me together and made me feel like nothing was wrong with me despite the fact that we both knew better.

She’s been forced to learn how to be an alpha with a defective omega and did her very best without ever once giving up or complaining.

How lucky was I to have a friend like that?

I swallowed down the lump in my throat and ignored the way my vision became watery.

“During my research, I came across an article in a medical journal written about ten years ago that theorized this condition may be genetic.” Nathan turned his monitor around to show us various pie charts and graphs with case studies listed. None of it meant anything to me. “It’s based on the same study that’s been done on legacy alphas, but it’s harder to track due to the lack of visible external traits such as the red eyes or the double knot. It’s currently only recognized when the dormant genes have been triggered by the omega’s mate or mates. So, it’s very difficult to catch it, but if you read through this article, you’ll see they’ve been trying to add it to the genetic testing we do in the first trimester.”

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