Page 71 of Rebel Fates

“Call me Crax.”

“But who are you? Why are you explaining all this to me?”

“I don’t want you to be afraid when it happens.”

“Iamafraid. I don’t like the idea that I will lose my mind and go into a mindless heat.” I worry that he’s just waiting for me to go into heat so he can have his way with me when I’m receptive to him. I also worry that the only reason I was attracted to the Hathorans was because of mychange.

I sit up.

Crax holds up his hands as if he is preparing for me to attack. That was a strange reaction. He dwarfs me in size.

Why would he worry if I tried to hit him?

Although, I wonder if some wild look in my eyes has scared him. Otherwise, why would he flinch?

I freeze and don’t antagonize him with any other aggressive moves. He might restrain me or beat me unconscious.

“I wasn’t going to attack,” I say.

“You might have violent mood swings during your transformation,” Crax says. “I don’t want to be on the other end of your anger.”

I scoff. “I don’t think I could hurt you.”

“My guess is that your strength has increased from when you were human.”

“WhenI was human?” I look down at my body and touch my face. “Iamhuman.”

“Not completely. Your latent genetic code was activated because of your proximity to someone who shares a similar genetic code. I’m guessing it’s also because they were also nearing their alpha cycle.”

“How do we stop it?” I grip the blanket tight around me, still perched on the edge of the exam table.

“I don’t think we can. We might be able to slow it down?” He glances at his tablet. “Maybe.”

“How?” I ask.

“Suppressants. But I don’t recommend them, especially with a first heat. Besides, I don’t know enough about how your body is changing. Your condition is extremely rare. I have heard of only a couple of cases of delayed change, and they weren’t human.”

“So, humans aren’t usually omegas?”

“There have been human omegas, but they were born that way. They didn’t mutate when exposed to compatible alphas.”

I laugh. It’s an insane laugh. I can even hear the madness in it.

Crax stares at me, frozen, as if he doesn’t want to further aggravate me.

When I calm down, I explain, “I’m amutant. Should have seen that coming! Like one of the X-Men, but my superpower is my sex-drive.” I shake my head and then blush.

I picture my childhood cat wailing and rubbing up on everything, growling and begging. Will I become like that?

“There’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Crax says when he notices my embarrassment. “It’s biology.”

“On Earth, in my culture, itisshameful. Rubbing up on any male and begging for it—”

He cuts in, “Notanymale.”

“What does that mean?”

“An alpha. Or often…alphas.”

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