5. Mates

Lia

I sat in the nurse's office, trembling from head to toe. My skin was pale and my eyes wide, filled with anticipation, and none of it was good. Today was the day—I was going to discover who I was going to be mated to. This was provided it worked out.

The nurse was preparing the medicine, rattling off a bunch of medical mumbo jumbo to me. I was only half listening and the stuff I did hear didn’t make sense to me. What was the gist was that this medicine was going to react with my omega hormones. Then alphas nearby would react to my scent if they were my chosen mates.

If, on the rare chance no one reacted, then they would take a sample of my blood and put it into the database. From there, they would test against others in the state to see if I had a potential match.

It wasn’t to say people didn’t seek out relationships from those they were mated with but our state was very stuck in its ways. Those who deviated from the norm were not treated well by society. I had thought about leaving sometimes and moving across the country, but then I thought about my brother. We were the only family each other had.

How could I leave him behind?

So I stayed, finding myself in this situation I am currently in. I plucked at the invisible loose thread on my skirt, trying to find some way—any way to distract myself.

“All right, here is the medicine!”

The nurse thrust a cup at me that was filled with medicine.

“And what is going to happen?”

“In about an hour, you’ll start to feel the effects. You’ll feel warm, dizzy, and overcome with hormones your body has been producing since you found out you were omega.”

I paled. “What happens after it takes effect?”

“Well, then an alpha in the surrounding area will react to your scent.”

“How many will react?” I whispered.

“Likely only one.”

I paled even more. “My friend now has two mates.”

“Yes, well that can happen.”

“What if I don’t like them?”

“This is why counseling is provided and the mated pair is encouraged to not mate until both are on the same page,” the nurse told me firmly. “We recommend waiting until your twenties.”

It was what my brother was doing.

He was the only one out of his friend group that got a mate while the others didn’t find anyone on their coming-of-age ceremonies. This wasn’t uncommon for alphas who were the majority. They had to wait for omegas to come of age. It was unlikely for an omega to not find a mate during their coming-of-age ceremony.

I wanted to be one of the rare ones that didn’t find their mate.

“Well, go on and take it,” the nurse encouraged me.

With a heavy sigh, I took the cup of water she handed me and took the pills in one gulp.

At first, I didn’t feel anything. The nurse encouraged me to lie down, telling me that it was better if I laid down and didn’t exhaust myself for what was to come. I then lay there, staring at the clock and watching as the minutes ticked by.

It was slow. I felt myself growing insane until this strange feeling started to overcome me. There was this warmth overtaking me, spreading all over me and making my cheeks flush. My hair started to stick to my clammy forehead, and a nervous whimper escaped me.

“Would you like some water?”

I opened my mouth, wincing at how dry it felt.

“Yes, some water would be nice.”

She handed me some water after helping me into a sitting position. The cool water helped my parched throat, but five minutes later I was facing the same problem.

“I’ll give you a little more but you need to drink it slowly.”

A second glass did help a little more than before. I laid back down, feeling this sudden chill run over my body. The nurse handed me a light sheet but I already had enough clothing on. Adding a sheet into the mix made me feel terrible.

“Try to breathe. The worst of it will be over in an hour.”

“It gets worse?!” I cried, kicking the sheet off in frustration.

The nurse wiped at my clammy forehead with a cool cloth. While it was cool and helped me a bit, I still hated the scratchy feeling of the washcloth against my skin.

After an hour the effects did start to calm down. The nurse stood up, smiling.

“Any alphas that react to your scent are likely heading here now. We have someone out there to greet them and show them a place to wait while you recover. Once the effects of the medicine have passed, you’ll be free to greet them!”

“Can’t I just hop on a plane and fly away?”

She gave me a look. “I don’t appreciate the jokes, Ms. Brown.”

“Well I don’t appreciate this ceremony,” I added with a frown.

The effects of the medicine were starting to wear off. I sighed softly, forcing myself into a sitting position. My eyes widened when the nurse’s phone rang, pulse started to race.

She spoke in hushed tones, glancing at me every few seconds.

I didn’t like the way she was looking at me. It made me nervous. The door wasn’t far away. Feeisbly I could reach the door if I ran fast enough but if there were any alphas in the area they would pursue.

This was how Alphas were with omegas.

After hanging up, the nurse smiled at me.

“Your alphas are here.”

“Alphas?” I asked weakly.

“Yes, but I’ll let you take some more time to gather yourself.”

I felt faint. “Are they going to come in here?”

“They can or you can go out and talk with them. It’s your choice, Miss Brown.”

“I’d rather go out there. It’s too cramped in here,” I argued.

“Then I’ll come get you say in about ten or so minutes.”

“Can I have 60 minutes?”

“Miss Brown, it’s not very nice of you to keep your alphas waiting. Do you realize how long they have been waiting to find their mates?”

My shoulders slumped, my heart beating even faster. The nervous feeling in my stomach grew, making me wish I could be anywhere else but there.

I had wished that a lot lately, but no matter how hard I tried the wish never came true.

***

After ten minutes, the nurse popped her head in. She had a strange look in her eyes and I didn’t like it.

“So the two of them are out there?”

The nurse’s smile fell.

“No, not two.”

My eyes widened. “How many are there?”

“Well, it’s more than I’ve seen during my time doing this.”

“Three?”

Slowly, she shook her head.

“Four?”

“Yes, you have four mates.”

I shook my head. “No, that’s not possible!”

“It’s not impossible Miss Brown. While it isn’t common, it’s not completely unheard of. You are just one of the minority who found more than one mate at her mating ceremony. If anything, think of it as a blessing! It’s an instant pack!”

A bitter laugh escaped me.

“That’s assuming those Alphas will even get along!”

“Oh, they will, believe me. They are all good friends and seem to be handling this quite well—on the surface at least.”

“Before I go out there, I have to know who my mates are.”

She sighed and opened her phone. “Your mates are as follows; Colby Mcgrath, Rain Kim, Matthew Clark, and Jesse Johnson.”

When she said the first name I started to feel faint but then the nurse kept rattling off all the names of my tormenters for years. How was it I could be tied to all of my brother’s friends? It didn’t seem possible that they were the ones I was fated to be with.

“There must be a mistake. They can’t be my mates.”

“There is no mistake, Miss Brown. They are all out there right now.”

“No, that can’t be!” I argued, trying to contain my panic.

The panic was swelling up inside me, making me feel faint. I was feeling clammy again, but it was different. This wasn’t from the hormones. Rather, it was because I was terrified. Terrified at what it meant to be mated to these four men who had spent most of my life treating me like shit.

“Miss Brown, calm down. You are starting to hyperventilate.”

I didn’t listen. My breath started coming out of my short pants, vision was spotting. What was I going to do?

No, this couldn’t be my life. I don’t care what those results said. It wasn’t possible that I was going to be mated to these four men.

And if it was the truth then I refused to accept it.