Page 2 of Knot for You

I learned better than to joke that I was a twenty-one-year-old college student during these moments. “Nope.”

Nurse hummed as she ticked a few more of the boxes on her computer screen, adding data to what was already there. My entire medical record could be seen if I arched my neck high enough. Vera Edwards, 21, female, omega. Blonde hair, brown eyes, and reaching a whopping five foot, three inches tall.

“Am I all set to go? I asked, pushing myself forward to stand back up. The paper on the table crinkled underneath me.

“Actually, Vera…” Nurse paused as her eyes narrowed on the screen. “It looks like from your recent bloodwork and temperature fluctuation… It appears that you’re due for your next heat soon.”

I froze, trying to swallow and breathe at the same time. It felt like a lot of pressure now that her eyes were on me. Studying me. I also tried not to remember the last time similar words were said to me.

Then came the pain. The cramps. The feeling that I was going to die. Or, if I wasn’t about to die in a fiery inferno of need, I wanted to.

“When?” I choked out.

“I’d estimate within the next month. Fifty days at most so long as nothing brings it on early which we know when it comes to a college student’s workload the stress can also not help these things. Please don’t panic.”

“I’m not. It’s fine.” My voice betrayed me. The sound I made was squeakier than intended. “I’m not panicking. But are we sure that I can’t just go back on the suppressants?”

“You know that is not an option any longer after the last time.”

When I nearly died from the allergic reaction she meant. Somehow, the rash and feeling like I was high on drugs rather than in the sudden heat that came over me from using them didn’t sound like the worst thing right now.

Now that I knew what was going to happen when my heat came.

“There are plenty of other options. Plenty of them. I’m sure you're aware. You can stay here during your heat in one of our safe rooms,” Nurse offered. “You can even go home since this time we’ve had enough of a warning to get you settled foronline classes for the ones that allow such an accommodation. I also can help you get in contact with the local Omega Haven in Velnova. They also have more options like going in for an assisted heat service.”

I was not going to be zonked out for a week while a strange alpha “serviced” me through it. The idea made my skin crawl.

“The haven can also…”

Nurse drifted off, not finishing the sentence.

“What?”

Nurse hesitated.

I narrowed my eyes. “What is the other option?”

“The Haven can put you in contact with someone to start the matching process.”

“The matching process?” Nurse wanted me to bond with an alpha? Or even more likely, alphas—plural? In a pack? Not only that but within the next thirty days? She had to be crazy.

I quickly shook my head.

“You are of the age most omegas?—”

“No.” My voice turned hard. Like a bark.

But only alphas barked. Or so, everyone would like to believe. I may have been an omega, but I was raised by the opposite. If anyone thought I wasn’t going to fight against this, they had another thing coming.

Nurse cupped her hands together.

“No,” I repeated, a bit softer this time. I was not going to let anyone just ship me off that like. Not with a pack. Not with a pack. Not with anyone. Even if the thought had come to me before when I saw other omegas around posting online or… “No.”

No one deserves to have me just because they like the way I smell.

I could hear my mother telling me that.

I was not just a smell for alphas to like or not like. To see me as worthy or not.

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