Hugh held her gaze unflinchingly. Serena was an alpha, but so was he, and her aggressive pheromones didn’t affect him. Her sarcastic, skeptical tone did. She suspected that he wasn’t telling her the full truth. She was correct, of course.
“I won’t fuck him,” Hugh said. “I have no interest in fucking him. He’s a kid. A confused, vulnerable kid. You know it’s not something that turns me on, Serena.”
Her lips pursed, but she nodded. They’d known each other for a decade, after all.
“Then what are you suggesting?”
“I’m suggesting to be present during his heat and help him through it while he uses toys—comfort him and let him scent me, if needed. I’ll try to minimize the contact, but I want to see him through this heat with his sanity intact.”
Serena frowned. “It will only strengthen the imprint.”
“Yes,” Hugh conceded. “But I’ll stay away from him after his heat. Fifteen days until his next heat should be enough for the imprint to fade, and he shouldn’t need me anymore.”
Stroking her chin with her knuckles, Serena hummed thoughtfully. “I’ll allow it only if you secure his and his guardian’s written permission. I’m running a clinic, not a heat service, and I don’t need any lawsuits coming our way if you do more than just hold him during his heat.”
Suppressing the urge to tell her again that he wasn’t going to fuck Eric, Hugh gave a clipped nod and left her office.
He didn’t feel like he’d won. He had almost wanted her to say no.
Because even he was far from sure that this course of action was the right one.
Chapter 6
“Are you sure about this?”
Hugh stopped in front of the door to Eric’s room and glanced back at Royce. He and Royce Cleghorn didn’t know each well beyond making small talk at social functions on several occasions, but he knew Royce was a good man. It was the only reason Hugh stopped himself from snapping at him.
“We’ve been over this already,” he said, trying to sound patient and pretending that he didn’t feel on edge from the proximity of an omega in heat. The scent coming from the room was affecting him despite his suppressants, and he felt annoyingly distracted. He’d known it would happen, had been prepared to be somewhat affected, but he hadn’t anticipated how hard it would be to focus. “There’s no other choice,” he said tersely. “The kid doesn’t want anyone but me to help him because of the imprint.”
Royce was frowning deeply as he studied him. “I trust that you’ve had a contraceptive shot.”
Hugh gave him a flat look. “I’m not going to fuck him.”
“I trust that you’ve had a contraceptive shot,” Royce repeated.
Hugh’s hand clenched into a fist. He had to take a few deep breaths before he could speak calmly enough. “Of course I have. But it won’t be needed. I don’t sleep with my patients, much less my innocent, barely legal patients.”
Royce just hummed, looking insultingly skeptical. “I don’t care if you fuck him or not,” he said. “He’s legal, he gave you blanket permission to do what you deem necessary, and I don’t believe in the double standards that unbonded omegas are supposed to be ‘pure.’ It’s his mental state I’m worried about. The kid has been through a lot. Be kind to him.” And with that, Royce turned and walked away.
Hugh pushed the door open.
The scent was the first thing that hit him. His alpha instincts surged to the surface, blood rushing to his cock, but then the suppressants kicked in, clearing his head. Thank fuck.
Hugh didn’t like omegas’ heats. He was well aware how unpopular that opinion was among alphas, but he despised the lack of control an alpha felt around an omega in heat if the omega was compatible enough to trigger a false rut. His main issue was lack of true consent, from both parties involved. An omega deep in heat wasn’t able to give their consent, but an alpha deep in a false rut wasn’t capable of giving his consent, either. Granted, false ruts didn’t happen to adult alphas often. They happened mostly to teenagers. Besides, he wasn’t in any danger of a false rut being triggered, thanks to his suppressants.
But they had their downside too. It was always a little disconcerting to be around an omega in heat while he was on suppressants. They couldn’t completely extinguish the natural effect the omega’s heat pheromones had on an alpha—he was still vaguely aroused, but the arousal felt distant, lacking urgency. That would have been adequate if the suppressants could suppress his other alpha instincts. Unfortunately, they couldn’t. He felt incredibly on edge, the urge to find the omega and take care of him making him agitated. The intensity of that agitation was at odds with the lack of urgency of his arousal, causing a vague sense of wrongness to everything.