Page 22 of The Runaway
Such a sharp query from the head beta was unusual. “To get more nails from the storeroom,” Gabriel told him.
“Okay, just… wait a moment. Henry! Where’s Helen?” Cirroc shouted across the yard.
“In the omegas’ quarters,” Henry replied.
“Are you sure?” Cirroc snapped.
“Very. I saw her in there myself and shut the door on my way out.”
“Fair enough. All right, let’s get you sorted out, then,” Cirroc said, turning back to Gabriel. But before he could say anything else, Albert, one of the betas, rushed out of the stable, tugging one of the horses along behind him. He mounted the horse, then headed for the gate, urging the gelding into a fast trot. “I’ll be back in half an hour,” he called over his shoulder. Nicole hastily opened the gate for him, and once he was out on the road, he pressed the horse into a gallop.
“What’s going on?” Gabriel asked. “Has something happened?”
“Helen’s going into heat,” Cirroc explained. “Albert’s going to fetch an alpha from the Lavigne estate. It’s all a bit…” Cirroc rolled his eyes, then sighed. “Well, truth be told, it’s a bit convoluted at the moment whenever this happens. Antoine’s bonded to Dante, Niles is still trying to bond with Adalene, God help them, and young Lucas hasn’t grown a knot yet, so he’s more or less useless when it comes to servicing omegas. Which means we don’t have anyone to see them through their heats.”
Gabriel nodded in understanding. An omega in heat needed to be mated, a marathon session of sex and raging hormones that lasted a full twelve hours. Without an alpha to service them, the omega would suffer indescribable pain, and by now, Gabriel knew Antoine well enough to know he’d never allow that to happen to one of his omegas.
“So the usual thing that happens is we have to send a runner to one of the neighbours to get an alpha to come and help out,” Cirroc said. “Not that they’re at all reluctant about it, of course. And not just because of good neighbourly intentions. There’s not many alphas who would turn down twelve hours of unlimited sex.” Cirroc looked back at Gabriel, then winced. “No offence, by the way. I know you’re here now and all, but…”
“None taken,” Gabriel said. “I haven’t been here that long, and Helen would be more comfortable with someone she knows. It’s fine.”
“Yep, that’s the long and the short of it,” Cirroc said. “She’s known the Lavignes for over a decade. It’s just a case of familiarity. That’s all.”
It was a perfectly reasonable story. And yet the way he said it, with such forced casualness, immediately alerted Gabriel to the fact that there was something more going on here.
Not that it was any of his business. He had no more desire to mate with Helen than she had a desire to be mated by him. Even after a month on the estate, some of the omegas were still wary of him. Getting one of the Lavignes to help her was by far the better solution.
“Am I free to go and get some nails, then?” Gabriel asked Cirroc. It was commonplace for a minor panic to occur whenever an omega went into heat. They produced powerful pheromones that could attract an alpha from some distance away, and once an alpha started responding to the heat signals, he would become aggressive and territorial, fighting off other alphas and forcibly claiming the omega. So, on any well-managed estate, the first priority for all the betas was to locate and account for every single alpha on the estate and make sure no one but the designated mating partner got anywhere near the omega.
“Go ahead,” Cirroc said. “But then it’s probably best if you go straight back to the pigsty. Give it an hour or so. One of the Lavignes should be here and everything tucked away by then.”
Gabriel nodded. He made short work of finding another bag of nails, then hurried back across the paddock. For the next half an hour, he focused on building the side of the shed. It was repetitive work, the sort he found soothing, and by the time the wall was finished, he’d all but forgotten about Helen.
“Gabriel?” a voice called, getting his attention. He looked up, seeing Antoine approaching him from across the paddock. “You mind if we have a chat for a minute?”
“Sure,” he said, setting down his hammer. He was overdue for a break, anyway.
“We’ve got a small problem. Or potentially a rather large problem, depending on how you look at it.” The look on Antoine’s face was not encouraging.
“What’s up?”
“It’s Helen. Cirroc said he’s told you she’s going into heat?”
“Yeah. He said Albert was getting an alpha from the Lavignes’ estate.”
“That was the plan. Unfortunately, both Jean-Luc and his son are away in town and they’re not due back for a couple of hours. And his cousin Samuel has the flu. He’s not up for dealing with a heat. Normally, if something like that happened, we’d call one of the alphas from the Allard estate, but Albert checked the river on his way back. With all the rain yesterday, the bridge is flooded. There’s no way anyone could get across today.
“And that means the only other estate close enough to help would be the Martins.” Antoine grimaced. “I’m not going to call on one of them. They don’t share our philosophies on how we treat our omegas, and I wouldn’t trust any of them to mate with one of mine.”
He paused, and Gabriel felt his heart sink as he realised what Antoine was going to say next. “I was wondering… How would you feel about mating with Helen?”
Gabriel swore softly. “Seriously? I’m not thrilled about the idea. I don’t mean any offence to Helen by saying that. It’s just that…” He stopped, trying to find a way to avoid having to explain his current stance on mating. “How does Helen feel about it?” he asked instead.
Antoine’s frown deepened. “Listen, Gabriel… I’m aware that you haven’t mated with any of our omegas since you arrived. And your reasons for that are your own. I’m not looking to question you. But it means Helen is somewhat apprehensive about how you’d treat her.” Antoine looked Gabriel in the eye. “And for what it’s worth, so am I.” He sighed, but continued. “I don’t mean any slight on your character. Since you’ve been here, you’ve treated all of our omegas – and all of the betas, I might add – with nothing but respect. But a heat… The pheromones make it a wild ride. Honestly, I don’t even know if you’ve ever been though a heat before. It can be overwhelming for someone who doesn’t know what to expect.”
Antoine was blushing, and Gabriel couldn’t blame him. Ordinary mating was openly discussed, even in polite society, but discussing the rush of hormones and emotions that came with a heat was taboo. Most alphas didn’t like to admit that they lost control during the mating. They were ruled by lust and instinct, and even the most temperate of alphas would inevitably be forced to admit that at some point or other, they’d succumbed to temptations they would never normally entertain.
Fortunately, though, Gabriel had a clear answer for him. “I’ve been through a few heats before. With omegas in the army. Most of the time, it was just a case of whoever was available dealing with the omega in need. But I can honestly say that none of them were injured as a result of it. One of them even thanked me. A lot of the alphas in the army were… as you say, ‘overwhelmed’ by the experience. The omegas did not come out of it well. That said…” He sighed and looked away. “Are you sure there’s no other options? We can’t wait for Jean-Luc to get back?”