AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My face burst into flames. “Allie!”
“What? I’m just being honest. I’m gonna look it up.” She pulled out her phone and tapped away. I was almost dreading what she might find, even as my curiosity reared its head.
Allie giggled at her screen, and though embarrassment burned deep in my belly, I wandered over anyway to see what she was reading.
“What is it?” I asked.
“It's just some stuff from a magazine, so it's probably notsuperaccurate, and it depends on a specific pack, but it sounds like you would be in for a very good time if you were part of it.”
“Okay, but I need more info.”
“It says that the omega’s hormones during a heat will have a heavy influence oneveryonewho has continuous proximity with them, even betas. Obviously, it’ll have the highest effect on alphas, but you’ll get to experience what they call aheat high.”
“That sounds intimidating.” And more than a little anxiety inducing. I’d avoided most intoxicants just because I liked to be in control. I couldn’t avoid that if I was involved in a heat.
“It soundsawesome!” declared Allie. “I’m a little bit jealous that I’m the source of it and not the experiencer.”
Sidney came home before she could tell me anything else. “Hey, ladies! What are you two up to?”
“Learning about pack heats!” Allie bounded over to him and hopped straight into his arms.
Sidney looked skyward. “That's not a situation I want to think about my sister in.”
“But you’re such a good source of information,” said Allie, nuzzling his cheek.
He made an uncomfortable groan. “I will answer specific questions, but note that I am doing so under duress.”
Allie cackled.
“If it makes you feel better, you’re not really who I want to be asking,” I said with a laugh. “Your wife is springing all these things on me.”
“Yeah, she does that.” Sidney grinned. “It's good for you to know, though. If you’re involved with an omega, you should know how to take care of them even if you won’t be the primary caregiver.”
Allie nodded excitedly. “See, exactly.” She hopped out of his arms and shoved her phone at me. I read over the article while she stared at me gleefully. I also memorized the title of another article that was linked at the bottom about how to pleasure an alpha of any gender so I could look it up later.
It only made me more curious about what the actual pack dynamics would be. There were so many options, and while it definitely all centred on the omega, they had quotes from a bunch of people in packs that said the love was shared around. As Allie had so succinctly put it, an omega only had so many holes. My brain filled with a million filthy images of what could happen during a heat.
“When do you think his will be?” I asked. “I need time to mentally prep.”
“Hard to say,” said Sidney. “Probably in the next few months. Allie's are every eight-ish months.”
“How long do they usually last?”
Sidney shrugged. “Depends on the omega and how many heats they’ve had previously. Between the ramp up and the wind down, we usually like to give them two weeks to fully ride it out. The intensive part of the heat itself shouldn’t be more than a week.”
I stewed on the info. That was a long time to put out my coworkers. No one really liked covering for the night shift anywhere, and I already felt guilty enough even thinking about general vacation, let alone adding a heat leave on top of that.
“I’ll do some more research and ask you about any specifics I can’t find information on,” I said. “Fair?”
Sidney nodded, and I sat down with my phone to learn. My whole body flushed with warmth. Anxiety clashed heavily with interest, and I wasn’t sure which would win out in the end.
44
BILLIE
Oneofthemainperks of being independently wealthy with no real job is that I got to be on call for anything that Nicky needed. While the others had to do things like take care of responsibilities andsleep, I got to swoop in and be the hero. I might be a tiny little beta that got overlooked by the rest of the world at first glance, but no one argued with my bank account.
It was nice to get some one-on-one time with Nicky, too. We packed up all of her personal things into a set of suitcases I had purchased for her while the movers loaded up her furniture on their truck.
