She takes my temperature, presses her fingers to my wrist, and checks my pulse. Then she sits back. “It’s not your heat.”
“That’s impossible,” I say. “I know what it feels like. This is exactly how it starts.”
“Your body isn’t preparing for a heat cycle. Not yet.”
“Then what is it?” I ask. “An infection? Something I ate?”
Cassia gives me a look. “Could it be something else?”
I frown. “Like what? Stress? Fear? I’m used to those. They don’t feel like this.”
She tilts her head. “Perhaps you’re becoming attracted to one or more of the alphas.”
I stare at her.
“What?”
“It’s natural, Mo. Especially for an omega in such proximity to strong alphas. Your body is reacting to them.”
I shake my head. “I’m not attracted to them. Well, I kind of like Silas. But they’re… I mean, they literally kidnapped me.”
“Are you still being held against your will?”
“Well, no, I guess. I dunno.” I pick at a thread on a pair of jeans Lily gave me.
“Attraction doesn’t always make logical sense. It’s instinctual. Biological.”
“I don’t want this,” I say. “I don’t want to feel this way about them. I’m not going to submit,” I say. Firmer this time.
Cassia shrugs. “No one is asking you to.”
“Darius is.”
“Darius is doing what he thinks is best. That doesn’t mean he’s right. I don’t agree with the way he brought you here, but I am happy to have you with us.”
That catches me off guard. Disagreeing with the pack leader? Openly? Or is this some kind of test?
“I just want to be free and safe.”
Cassia nods. “Freedom is a tricky thing. Sometimes the bonds we think are chains are the very things that keep us grounded.”
I’ve never been one for philosophical bullshit, but something in her words lands.
“What did you do during your heats in the forest?” she asks.
I let out a dry laugh. “Oh, you know. The usual. Long walks on the beach, picnics under the stars. Oh, and that one time I spent all night in a frozen stream trying not to lose my mind.”
Cassia’s breath catches.
“Mo, I won’t sugarcoat this. Your next heat is going to be intense. You’ve been suppressing them for three years, and now you’re surrounded by alphas. Your body is going to overcorrect.”
I groan, letting my head fall back against the chair.
“Fuck!”
“That’s precisely what your body will be screaming for,” Cassia says with a smile. “Your omega nature is going to come at you harder than anything you’ve experienced before.”
“Great. Any more good news?”