Page 71 of Scent to the Feral Cowboys

He scoffed. “Ten times today already. I was personally trained by our head Alpha researcher at Eros.” He said it like it was something prestigious, so I just nodded and mumbled something along the lines of‘oh, that’s impressive’. My words were almost unintelligible even to me.

“You need to relax, or this will be more difficult than necessary.” He pursed his lips. “Beta gland samples take finesse. Small target and all.”

Shit. He was going to find out that wasn’t the case with me…

Sensing I was still uncomfortable, he began to explain what he was doing. I didn’t think he did it out of kindness, but instead to expedite the process. “This is a gland finder. It’s not as precise as our larger machine at headquarters, but does the job, nonetheless. It works like vein finder, calibrated to sense pockets of liquid beneath the skin.”

It took all my nerve not to lean away as he lifted the handheld towards me.

“Please tilt your head to the right.”

I did so, begrudgingly. After a few moments of hovering the device near my neck, both of his eyebrows lifted.

“Ah, I’m afraid you may be suffering from the glandular disorder after all. Obvious swelling. This particular Maximus scent gland is at least triple the size it should be.” He tutted, thenreached for another alcohol swab to cleanse the area. After that, he applied a thin gel. “This is for numbing the area. This area can be particularly painful.” When he grabbed a large, intimidating syringe, fear flooded my belly.Shit, that’s a big needle.

“A quick pinch,” he murmured. It was not a quick pinch. Even with the numbing gel, it hurt like hell.

I closed my eyes, trying to focus on anything except the pain. I let him tilt my head to the other side for a second agonizing sample. He lifted my arms, turning them so my palms faced up. I gritted my teeth and squeezed my eyes tighter together. The wrists hurt worse than the neck, which I didn’t expect.

When I was sure the torment was over, I risked parting my lashes. I had my own assortment of bandages now, none bleeding through which was good.

The tech was holding a vial of shimmering lavender liquid up in the air, letting the mobile clinic’s interior lighting shine through the glass. It was sort of beautiful in a weird way.

A small smile threatened to upturn his mouth, but he seemed to fight it back. As I watched, he grabbed a permanent pen and wrote ‘rush, anomalous’ on all four tubes which now held my scent samples.

My heart skipped a beat. “What does that mean?”

“I told you I suspect you’re suffering from the glandular disorder. This will tell them to run the pertinent tests. Results as early as tonight.” He didn’t look at me. He was writing notes in quick, precise script.

“Should I be worried?” That wasn’t the question I wanted to ask, because obviously I couldn’t have some abnormality only affecting Betas.

“It’s not life threatening,” he shrugged. “You’re done.”

“Okay.” I hesitated; the arm rests were still lowered on the chair.

He looked at me when I didn’t move. “That means you can leave,” he said bluntly, lifting both armrests and then turning his attention away from me again.

I stood up quickly, feeling lightheaded from the combination of frayed nerves, blood loss, and the scent extraction which I’d never experienced before.

My body swayed dangerously, and my head felt fuzzy. My hands instinctively went to cover the bandages on my neck, the reality of my situation crashing down on me. Little prickles of pain bloomed at the touch of my palms. I dropped my arms, wincing. My lashes fluttered, vision darkening at the edges. I really might pass out.

“Oh, you’re one of those.” The tech’s disgruntled tone pushed through the haze. “Drink this.” Something small and cool pushed into my right hand. “And then eat this.” Something crinkly and hard was forced into my left hand. My fingers curled instinctively around both items.

“Thanks,” I muttered, though I didn’t know what he’d given me.

“No thanks necessary. It’s protocol for unstable patients.”Unstable patients.What a rude person.

My eyes fall on the shimmering lavender that was so recently safe inside my body. If the samples went to a lab, they wouldn't find Beta gland abnormalities. Would they discover I was an Omega pretending to be a Beta? What kind of testing would they do?

Here I was relying on a wooden bracelet to hide my secret, when a place like Eros existed with state-of-the-art mobile clinics and hot new ferality blockers hitting the market. God, I was an idiot to think this situation could last for me. It had always only been a matter of time, and all I could hope was I didn’t mess up Crystal’s job when mine imploded.

I hurried down the metal steps of the mobile clinic, nearly tripping as I glanced down to see the electrolyte tonic and protein bar from the lab tech. I didn’t bother glancing at the few still waiting dancers. I did exactly what Jade had done—shot like an arrow towards the club’s back entrance.

Back inside, cool air and the perfume of Club Midnight slammed into me. Everything about the place had provided me comfort these past months, but now the sweetness pouring through the vents had a slightly acrid taint. Maybe because my subconscious was worried about the samples, it was already trying to warp this place into something I could stop loving.

I moved through the back halls, past the changing room and rear offices, and out into the entertainment lounge. The minute I spotted a trashcan, I tossed the protein bar and juice into it. I didn’t want to consume anything from that jerky Beta. Per instructions, I made my way to the crowded bar where beautification stylists were removing bloodwork bandages and applying ointments to prevent bruising.

I wove through the mingling dancers and staff, finding my way to an empty barstool and a waiting stylist. I smiled when I saw Myrtle’s kind face. She was older and often came to the club when a client got a little… too rough with one of the dancers. Thankfully, I’d never been on the bitter end of a bad private dance, but nonetheless she’d aided me a few times covering puffy under eyes and minor imperfections.