Page 74 of Knot Their Girl
“Probably. I know he wants you, and he’ll do anything to have you—”
Right then the door opens and Dr. Ced walks in. An elderly woman, one who has taken care of Gideon and Colter before. Their family doctor. She’s a sixty-some-year-old alpha with graying blond hair and a scrutinizing gaze that makes me feel uneasy. Then again, all doctors make me feel uneasy.
Gideon changes his course immediately, nodding at the doctor. “Dr. Ced. What are we looking at here?”
The doctor holds an old-fashioned clipboard with a few sheets of paper on it, my results. She goes to sit on her stool before she says, “Seems to me Raeka is experiencing the most typical side effect of these shots: the receptors in her brain that normally inform her of what she’s smelling and whether or not it’s a good smell are, for lack of a better word, paralyzed. She can’t smell anything, good or bad. The only fix is time, unfortunately, time for her body to flush itself of all remnants of those dampening shots.”
Nothing we didn’t already know, then. Great. Totally could’ve avoided this stupid doctor’s visit, then.
“That doesn’t sound too bad,” Gideon says. “How long should that take?”
“It’s unique to everyone. Now, with how frequently Raeka was taking the shots, it might take anywhere from a few weeks to a month or two.”
“But it will fix itself? She’ll be able to smell again?”
Dr. Ced nods. “Yes. Now, her bloodwork… it seems that the shots elevated certain hormones in her bloodstream.”
As the alpha beside me asks “Which hormones,” a sinking feeling rises in my gut. Somehow, through the medical jargon the doctor replies with, I already know what it means.
I mutter, “Say it plain, Doc.”
Dr. Ced gives me a tight smile. “All of the hormonal indicators point to an early heat. Now, as the dampeners’ effects wear off, so might this hormonal imbalance. That said, it might not. Your body may already feel as though it’s being pushed towards a heat, and the only way to completely get through it might be… well, to get through it.”
So I may or may not have an unnatural heat, months before I should be having my second heat. Fan-fucking-tastic.
The look on my face makes the doctor go on, “I wish I had better news for you, Raeka, but that’s exactly why these shots aren’t approved by the FOA. They might be safe enough to use once in a while, but with an uptick in frequency, well… the side effects compound on one another. But you shouldn’t worry. You have a fantastic alpha at your side, and I’m sure Mr. Chase will do everything he can to help you get through it.”
She checks her papers again. “You’re older than twenty-one, aren’t you? So you’ve already experienced your first heat?”
I nod.
“So you know what to expect. Now that you’re living in the same house as an alpha, your symptoms might be stronger. They say the first heat is always the worst, and for most that is accurate, but I would say your first heat around your mate is the worst. It’s when you’re still learning each other, when you’re learning to be in sync with the other. Typically an omega’s first heat is also the first she shares with her mates. Your situation is obviously not of the norm. I just want you to be prepared—both of you.”
Gideon nods sagely, while I feel like I’m having an out of body experience. My first heat sucked ass, but I got through it with a massive silicone knot. Now that I’m in a house with not one but two alphas and a beta that would all trip over themselves to service me, somehow I know that fake knot isn’t going to cut it.
Shit.
The doctor asks if we need anything to help us through the possible impending heat, but Gideon declines. There’s some paperwork we need to fill out before we leave, and then thankfully we are out of there and on our way home, where I get to obsess over the fact that I may or may not go through a heat because of those stupid shots.
Fuck. I should’ve known nothing could ever be simple and easy.
On the drive home, Gideon asks, “What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking that my life sucks. What are you thinking?”
He doesn’t appreciate my flippant response, based on the look he gives me after that. “I’m serious. The possibility of another heat so soon… we should prepare, just in case. It might not happen, but—”
“Oh, with my luck, it’ll definitely happen.”
“Your luck. What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I have shitty luck.”
“You absolutely do not. If you think your so-called shitty luck brought me to you, and you to us, then we have a different definition of the word shitty.” He tosses me another look, this one full of warmth and comfort. “We’ll get through it together. I’ll talk to the others and we’ll prepare.”
Softly, I whisper, “I just didn’t think I’d have to deal with another heat so soon. It sucks.”
Gideon is quiet for a moment. “I know, but you won’t face it alone this time. You have me, Pax, and Colter—”
