Page 56 of Frenzy
Radic nodded. “Plus we found the first Omega female in over a century.” He paused. “And she just went into heat again.”
Stacey grinned, like we were small children finally working out that one plus one equals two. “Hormones are a crazy business. They can change things in the space of a moment, or over the course of a week. Things such as altering the body of unmated Betas into the thing that the species desperately needs for survival—unmated Omega females.”
Fuck… I didn’t know what to say. Actually, yes I did. “If she’s now an Omega female, why isn’t she awake?” I didn’t mean for it to sound like an accusation, but suddenly the Alpha lion kid was there, sliding his body between mine and the human’s, a low growl being pulled from his chest.
I bowed my head. “Apologies, Doctor. I didn’t mean to be so forceful.” I was in shock, that much was for sure. I needed to plan. So many unmated Omega females, but at least I had a few days to plan the best course of action.
“I don’t know, but I think her body was waiting for the pheromonal indicators that synced her heat to the original Omega female.”
My brain was whirling, as I turned that over. “So you’re telling me she could awaken any moment now and be inheat?”
The doctor nodded happily. “The others too. Their transformation seemed to be a lot quicker than Bonnie’s for that very reason. Susannah has almost progressed to the same stage already.”
I swallowed hard, sweat breaking out across my brow. “Just to reiterate, you are saying that I will have fifteen unmated Omega females, all in heat, at any moment?”
Stacey frowned. “Well, when you put it like that, it sounds like a bad thing.”
Fuck.
What did I do? It was very hard for a Manix male to resist the call of a female Omega in heat, almost impossible for male Omegas. Even my Beast was already roaring to make them both mine, to breed Bonnie and Pryce until they were begging for my knot.
Radic looked pale too. Shit. “How many non-Manix personnel do we have in town?”
“Four, if we count Dominic, Loren and these two shifters here.” He winced. “The old regime didn’t like outsiders.”
Shit. Shit, fuck. The Manix were known for the insanity they fell into—when female Omegas went into heat, male Omegas went into rut, and we were just crazed fucking machines, who would fight to the death to either protect our mates or keep back prospective suitors from a potential mate. The word ‘mania’ had been coined from an ancient scholar’s account of the breeding season of the Manix, at the height of our species' existence.
I pulled my phone from my pocket and dialled Dominic. “Hey man, I’m just on my way to the infirmary.”
“Don’t come,” I growled.
“What?”
“I’ve got great news and bad news. Good news is we know what’s wrong with Bonnie and she’ll wake up any moment now.”
I heard his rapid inhale. “Really?”
I let myself smile, because I truly was so fucking happy about that. “Yes. Now for the bad news—which is also good news, I guess. Turns out she has metamorphosed into a female Omega. However, the fifteen other female Betas that went down? They did too. And they’ll all come out of their comas and into heat at once. You remember those stories Abuela used to tell us of the frenzy?”
Abuela had told a story that she said her husband—my grandfather—had told her. She said that an unmated female Manix had gone into heat during a Pack gathering and six Manix males had died in their manic need to get to her. She said it was worse than the rut. It had been dubbed ‘the frenzy.’
Now we were about to have fifteen unmated females in heat.
“Oh, fuck.” Yep, that was the general consensus.
I gritted my teeth. “I don’t think I am going to be above the insanity, especially not with both Bonnie and Pryce in the same room. It's gotta be you, man. I’m giving you entire authority to protect the female Omegas and anyone else. Kick whoever’s ass you want. We’ll deal with the fallout later.”
I heard him swallow hard. “Okay, I’ll get Loren and see if we can’t figure out some kind of plan.” He paused. “You’ll kiss her for me, right? Tell her that I missed her?”
I smiled, despite the stress of the moment. “You know I will.”
When I hung up, I looked at everyone in the room, who were all staring at me like I had a solution to this situation, but I did not. Not really.
I looked back at the doctors. “Is it safe to move her?”
Doc nodded. “Yes.”
I looked at the other group. “If you need to leave, now would be the time. If you choose to stay, the Manix would be grateful and would owe you a favor.”
