Chapter 5
Nathan
“Where the hell is he?” I mumble to myself as I dry the same dish for the third time. It’s bone dry by this point, but I get anxious when Alec doesn’t come home at the usual hour and I don’t hear from him.
I check the clock for the fifth time in as many minutes, trying not to give into the urge itching at my fingers.
I’ve imposed a strict three-text policy on myself.
If Alec doesn’t respond after three texts, I have to wait an hour before calling or texting him again; otherwise I’ll send thirty of them in twenty minutes.
Alec isn’t like me in that way. He worries, but I know my paranoia is internal. He’s more the type to take action if he thinks something is wrong. I, however, know the issue is my own mind.
There are any number of reasonable explanations as to why my mate isn’t home yet. The most common being that he’s still working and has gotten sucked in. He’s very considerate, always doing his best to prevent me from spiralling, but sometimes it can’t be helped.
Finally, finally, my phone buzzes in my pocket, and I huff with relief.
Tossing the towel in my hand onto the kitchen counter, I abandon drying the dishes and fish my phone out, answering automatically without glancing at the screen.
“Hope you’ve got a good excuse for being late,” I tell him before Alec can get a word in, mostly teasing. It’s not like we had special plans for the night or anything, and dinner can be reheated easily enough.
“I’m sorry?” an unfamiliar woman’s voice says unsurely, surprise clear in her tone.
Whoops.
“My mistake, I thought this was someone else,” I reply, quickly pulling the phone from my ear and checking for the caller ID. South Street Heat Clinic. Well, shit. “You’re calling from the heat clinic?” I ask, turning serious.
“Yes, this is Trish from SSHC, and it’s no problem, Mr Walker. I’m guessing you assumed I was your mate calling?”
“Yes. Are we being asked to come in? I didn’t think we were on call this week.” I skip the normal pleasantries. If Alec isn’t home, and the clinic is calling, then clearly something else is happening here. I want answers sooner, not later.
“You aren’t on call, but there was a bit of an unusual situation.
Your mate came across a vulnerable omega in distress who was attempting to reach our clinic,” she explains, pausing with an air of tension before adding, “It appears she encountered some issues along the way, and so he brought her in himself to assure her safety.”
“He did, did he?” I ask, smiling even as I feel my eyes roll.
Of course he went and rescued an omega in distress. It’s such an Alec thing for him to do. Not that I would ignore an omega in need, of course, but Alec doesn’t work terribly close to any clinics. I love him for very good reasons.
“Yes,” she confirms. “Anyway, I believe he intended to simply drop her off, but the omega in question has expressed a sense of comfort with him. We feel it would be detrimental to her to separate them unless necessary, given her unique circumstances, which is why I’m calling you.”
“Because Alec and I only participate in an omega’s heat together?” I ask. It’s the obvious conclusion.
“Exactly. Are you able to come in? The sooner the better if so. There’s no time to be wasted.”
“Of course,” I agree, glancing at the clock again and trying to guess how long it will take to get there. It’s late, so there won't be any traffic, and South Street is the second closest clinic to our address… “I can be there in about twenty, maybe twenty-five minutes?”
“The quicker you can get here the better. If you’re incompatible with her, and she decides not to choose you two for her heat, we won’t have long to arrange other options given her current advanced state.”
Shit, this sounds serious.
I pause. The poor omega must really be in a bad way. Is she already in heat rather than arriving in preheat as most omegas do? No wonder Alec had stepped in to help her.
“Understood. I’ll be there as soon as possible,” I promise, ending the call and placing my phone down onto the kitchen side in front of me.
I take a quick second to mentally process the short call, then my body is moving on autopilot, running up the stairs to grab mine and Alec’s bag for when we go to the clinic. The small duffle holds our washbags, spare clothes, and extra toothbrushes—all packed and ready to go at a moment’s notice.
I quickly brush my teeth, drag a hand through my hair, and then throw the bag over my shoulder. I head back downstairs, taking the steps three at a time.
When Alec hadn’t come home at the usual time, I figured maybe he’d been caught up somehow, like he finished late or stopped in the twenty-four-hour supermarket on his way back from work.
He’d usually message with an explanation if it was likely to be much longer; it’s why I’d assumed it was him calling. He knows how I can get.
The clinic being on the other end of the line was unexpected, given it being our off week, but it's not an issue. Both of us enjoy volunteering as clinic alphas. Helping an omega through their heat, whether it’s just being there to scent and hold them through it or repeatedly knotting them for the entire duration, is a welcomed experience.
While I don’t and won’t ever regret mating with another alpha, there’s no use in denying the instinctual urge we both feel towards omegas.
One day, maybe we’ll find one we connect with.
We'll meet an omega who actually wants to mate with an alpha pair. For now, we’re able to satisfy that part of ourselves while helping those who need it. It’s enough.
Alec always has been.
Realising it’s already been nearly five minutes since the call, I quickly grab my phone off the side and shove on my shoes. I head out the door, only just remembering to lock it behind me.
I barely register the short drive to the clinic, only my relief at the open space in the on-street parking practically right outside of the building.
My thoughts are too distracted as I wonder about the omega that Alec rescued.
I can’t help wondering what she looks like, what she might smell like.
My imagination runs wild thinking about it.
Fuck, am I already getting hard?
I’m in a bit of a trance as I head into the clinic, barely nodding at the beta who recognises my face and immediately tells me to head on back to the treatment area—Heat Room Six.
As I approach the area where Alec and the omega are waiting for me, all of the doors unlock, clearly under the remote control of the clinic's security team.
Placing my hand on the door, I take one last deep breath as the lock clicks open. This moment feels different, somehow. We’ve never been in this situation before, where Alec met the omega without me.
“Now or never,” I mumble, pushing aside any concerns and stepping inside.
My eyes are immediately pulled to where the omega is cuddled up to my mate, fitting snugly in his lap as she breathes in his scent. I take a moment, just watching them from the doorway.
She’s radiant.
Fuck. She fits so well in his arms, but I bet she’d fit even more perfectly between us.
It’s still odd to see him like this without me, but I can’t deny that my cock is definitely hard now.
Yet, just like it always does, my mouth ruins the moment, and I burst their happy little bubble.