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AJ

G rif was sicker than even when we’d caught a nasty flu one winter when we were still with the Tsunamis. His sickly sour-sweet scent filled the room.

As much as I worried about Verity, we weren’t making it back to the hospital this morning. Dean, Jonas, and Mercy would have to deal with it while I took care of Grif.

Exhaustion pressed down on me. I’d been up all night with him.

I needed to get his fever down. Nothing was working. Medicine. A bath. Fluids.

Fucking.

Right now, he slept fitfully, tossing and turning, getting tangled in my sheets.

With a sigh, I called the nurse advice line offered by the Omega Center.

“Nurse advice. How may I help you?” the man said.

“My omega has a fever, and I don’t know what to do.” I told the nurse about Grif’s symptoms. Grif kept fretting in the bed beside me. I stroked his hair, trying to soothe him.

“Is his heat close? Are you sure it’s not a spike?” the nurse asked.

“He’s on suppressants.” Oh, I hadn’t thought about that. But he didn’t smell like he was going into heat.

Sure, he’d wanted a lot of physical reassurance, but Verity had taken a bullet for him. It made sense.

“Sometimes suppressants aren’t always effective. Has he been on them for a long time? Also, certain recreational substances can lessen the effectiveness of suppressants and birth control,” the nurse told me.

I thought for a moment. “His doctor recently changed the dosage.”

“That can do it. Also, sometimes breakthrough heats happen during times of intense emotional duress,” he added.

Oh. “I thought that caused spirals.”

“Oh, absolutely. But depending on where an omega is in their cycle, it can cause a breakthrough heat instead,” he told me.

Huh. I’d consider watching your newly bonded mate take a bullet for you as emotional duress.

“He doesn’t smell like he’s going into heat. He smells sick. Before the fever hit, I was afraid he’d spiral.” Shit. I wasn’t prepared for him to go into heat.

Could we even get to the cabin this time of year? Though we had a 4x4.

“Monitor him, try to get the fever down, and start preparing in case he goes into heat. A breakthrough heat because of emotional duress can be a lot more intense than a normal one.” He listed a bunch of things to look for and ways to help him.

Ending the call, I leaned over and gave Grif a good sniff. He still smelled sick, not in heat. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to be ready.

I looked up how to prepare for a heat. While I’d been at the cabin sometimes for Dean’s heats, I’d never been in charge of organizing anything other than the food. I packed a bag for us, checked for road closures, and then started a grocery order that could be delivered to the cabin in the time it would take us to drive there.

But I highly doubted that’s what it was. Mostly because in my experience, Grif had a spiral, not a breakthrough heat.

Still, it gave me something to do.

“Kitten?” Grif whined. It hit me straight to my heart.

“I’m here, Boo-Boo.” I put the bag by the bedroom door and came over to him.

“Pepperjack.” He calmed under my touch.

Grif still didn’t smell like he was in heat. He smelled of sweat and sickness. Yeah, he’d literally made himself sick over what happened last night.

Honestly, I understood. While I, too, would put myself between Grif and a bullet, worry for Verity burrowed inside me.

“I’m right here.” Curling next to him in my bed, hoping maybe my body would draw the fever from him, I fell asleep.