Page 2 of Unbonded (Pack’s Companion #3)

“I’m very sorry, Kate. I wish I had better news…”

I lift my gaze from the medical report in front of me and try not to weep at the sympathy radiating from Dr. Green’s kind face.

Even though the results are worse than I thought, I’m not sure how I got so lucky when I walked into this clinic three months ago.

While Dr. Green has a fancy practice uptown, she comes down here whenever she can to help with the never-ending caseload of poor, damaged omegas.

“I appreciate you running all these tests, doctor.” There’s no way I could have paid for them if the walk-in clinic didn’t cover most of the costs.

In the eight months since Lee left, I’ve drained my small savings account and maxed out my credit cards just to keep a roof over my head.

“If you have some kind of payment plan...”

“It’s fine. As I’ve told you before, this is all covered by my practice.

” She gives me an understanding smile, laugh lines fanning out from her warm brown eyes.

Dr. Green is a beta in her mid-fifties, but she radiates the energy of an omega in her prime.

Her scent is as light and fresh as the whisper of pine needles, while my unbonding has me smelling like sour grapes.

“There has to be some benefit to getting out of bed at one in the morning to treat an alpha with a papercut, right?”

Normally, I’d return her smile – our shared disdain for babying wealthy alphas is something we bonded over at my first appointment - but the test results feel like the last straw. Which is exactly what it is – my last heat. Thirty years too early and an alpha short.

Dr. Green must sense my despair, because she reaches across the desk, taking one of my numb hands in hers.

“I’m sorry we let you down, Kate. Modern medicine should have a better answer for you than this.

” She shakes her head, her short, blonde bob gleaming under the clinic’s unflattering light.

For a moment I think of how I used to pet Lee’s silky locks before he adopted his new slicked-back style, and the urge to touch someone – anyone – is so overpowering that my fingers ache.

“It’s not fair that you have to deal with this on top of everything else. ”

Everything else is losing your mate to his mega-wealthy boss, having your bonding ring repossessed while picking through the discounted bin at the grocery store, and being left with an expensive renovation on a house you have no hope of ever paying off.

I’m working two jobs, but Lee had expensive taste, and the bills were piling up even before he left.

I’d just sell the place, but the Legal Aid advisor warned me that it would drop me into an even bigger financial hole.

Instead, I’m trying to work with the contractor to cut corners, but that is a whole other problem that keeps me up at night.

“It still looks like it hurts.”

I jerk my head up, my cheeks burning as I realize by ‘everything else’ Dr. Green meant the huge, ugly scar on my throat.

In the old days, when an alpha wanted to leave his mate, they would hold the omega down and bite the bonding mark away. Now it’s done with a quick, clinical snip in a room just like this one, although my experience was a little messier than that.

“Keloid scarring,” I tell her, my thumb running over the bumpy lump on my throat. “I always thought Lee’s bite mark was so big because he was overcome with possessive pride. Turns out I just have too much collagen in my skin.”

“Your skin is lovely.” Dr. Green says it in her matter-of-fact tone, but I cling to the small compliment.

My battered self-esteem needs every little boost it can get.

“However, I can look into your options to reduce the scarring, if you’d like.

There are some creams I could prescribe, or cryotherapy if you want to go down that path.

Of course, there are some side effects with a more invasive treatment. ”

“I’m afraid this scar goes deeper than it looks, doctor.” I regret the words as soon as they’re out of my mouth, because pity flashes in her eyes. “But back to the test results. There’s no way I could reverse the condition? I don’t mean with Lee, but if I got a new bond…”

Because alphas are waiting on every corner for a discarded omega to wander by…

“I’m sorry, Kate. See these columns here?

” She points to the printout in front of me.

It’s a blur of figures, but I can see all the red crosses she’s made next to the worst results.

“Your hormonal production is just too low. The resulting chemical imbalances can’t be moderated, even with the replacement therapies we have on the market. ”

So, no miracle cure.

I take a shallow breath, trying to ease the panic building in my chest. When she drew my blood for the test, she’d warned me that there was substantial damage to my system, but I’d been clinging to the hope that she had some kind of treatment up her sleeve.

“Okay. Then what can I expect if I’m facing a final heat? ”

The question seems ludicrous. I’m a twenty-seven-year-old omega who’s had a textbook heat twice a year since I presented at sixteen.

But one of the particularly cruel side effects of being formally unbonded by your mate is that your heats can dry up.

It doesn’t happen to everybody – about ten percent, according to Dr. Green.

Some people try to spin it as a positive – no more slick accidents or hormones taking you hostage – but omegas know the truth.

Without our heats, we’re about as attractive to prospective mates as a plastic flower is to a hungry bee.

“I need to warn you that your hormones are going to be running riot for a while,” Dr Green tells me, her voice now tinged with concern.

“You’ll likely experience hot flashes, headaches, fatigue, and possibly some nausea.

I’ll give you a prescription to counter that.

” She opens her pad and starts writing, but it’s clear from the downward turn of her mouth that there’s more bad news.

“I don’t need to warn you of the emotional toil, Kate, but you should prepare for the biological impact, as well. ”

“Hmmm. That sounds like I’m Ground Zero of a nuclear event.”

She doesn’t smile at my awkward joke. “In this, I’m afraid you are, at least biologically speaking. You’re going to feel increasingly driven to find a mate to tend you through your final heat. Your instincts will demand it.”

I can’t stop the bitter laugh from leaving my lips. “I seriously doubt that, doctor.”

She tears off the prescription and pushes it across the desk. “That’s your head talking, not your hormones.”

I get the sub-text. It’s not always easy for omegas to tell the difference between what feels good, and what is good for us when it comes to our needs.

“Well, the last time I listened to my hormones, I ended up bonded to Lee Morrison.” Just saying his name aloud makes my stomach churn, but it’s not as bad as the aftershocks that tormented me in the dark weeks following my unbonding.

I was convinced I could feel his newfound happiness, like the phantom pain an amputee suffers from a severed limb.

“I can promise you, Dr. Green, I’m never making that mistake again. ”

Another ripple of concern flashes across her face. “I know you feel that way now, but things could get very unpredictable for you, Kate. Is there any way you can take some time off? Go somewhere for a few weeks, if only for a change of scenery?”

This time I can’t even laugh. The urge to flee has been riding me hard ever since I was publicly dumped at Suzanna LaGrange’s garden party.

But I’m wearing my Liberty Hotel housekeeping uniform for a reason – I had to squeeze this appointment into my lunch break.

“I work every day to cover a bunch of home renovations I don’t want and can’t afford.

I’m stuck. At least until the repo guys return to rip the clothes off my back. ”

“Kate…”

I take a ragged breath, squeezing my hands in my lap.

They scratch on the ugly polyester of my uniform skirt, and I grimace.

Gone are the days of designer clothes and monthly manicures, my nails now blunt, and my palms dotted with hard calluses.

“I’m sorry for dumping all this on you, Dr. Green. I know you’re just trying to help.”

She sits back in her chair, and while neither of us speak, it doesn’t feel like a judgmental silence.

I close my eyes and just sink into it, snatching this rare moment where I can let down my guard and just be .

I expected the loneliness when Lee left, and the empty echoes in our house still keep me up at night, but I wasn’t prepared for the bone-deep exhaustion.

Not just because I’m always working to stay ahead of my debts, but because I can’t escape the endless whirr of my own dark thoughts.

The truth is, if I was granted a wish right now, it would be to escape myself.

When I open my eyes, Dr. Green is reaching into a drawer and pulling out a glossy brochure for something called Safe Haven.

“I’m not sure if this will appeal to you, Kate, but there’s always the option of a heat surrogacy.

It’s a fairly new concept, but I’ve heard that some clinicians are having a lot of success with it. ”

She pushes it towards me, and I see a picture of a beautiful woman sitting on a sofa with three strapping men fanned out behind her.

The look of smug entitlement on her face reminds me painfully of Suzanna LaGrange - only there should be four alphas, not three, a little voice mocks me - and I’m tempted to shred the picture into violent confetti.