Shiro Nakamura woke up in a hospital bed, and he was in a terrible mood. Beside him stood his two bodyguards, but nowhere could he see Deion. Where was his goddamn manager?
When the bodyguards noticed that Shiro was waking up, one immediately left the room to get the doctor. The other watched over the singer from the door.
The last thing Shiro could remember was when he pathetically crawled on all four in McCallister's office, and after that, everything went black. He was tired of this shit. He felt terrible, like having the flu while being hungover. Every part of his body ached.
The door to his private room opened, and a young doctor walked in. Her hair was black and curly; her catlike eyes were dark. She looked at Shiro with a bright smile and walked up to the bed, her hand extended towards him.
"Welcome back to the living, Mr. Nakamura. My name is Doctor Joy Clemens, and I am an emergency physician here at the Omega Department. Do you remember that you went into heat earlier today?"
Shiro nodded and felt relieved. They had taken him to a special department for only omegas, were no alphas were allowed to enter, only betas and omegas.
"Yes, but suddenly everything just went black. Did I faint?"
Joy took a chair closer to the bed and sat down next to Shiro.
"You got a shot with suppressants that also contained sedative. You were knocked out immediately. Have you had trouble sleeping lately?"
Shiro nodded.
"That explains why you reacted so strongly then. Usually, you don't fall asleep, only get a little calmer. How is your home life? A lot at work? I understand you are a singer?"
Shiro looked at the young doctor for a moment. She didn't seem to have read the magazine, at least not the celebrity pages. She was a funny one. Shiro liked her.
"That's right, but I don't know if anyone told you this, but I supposedly met my fated pair yesterday. Or so some doctor said."
Joy's eyes widened, and she glanced through the journal.
"No, someone missed that. How could they miss that? That must be why you reacted so strongly!"
"Yeah, it's terrible. I just walked past the alphas office, and that was all it took. His scent was everywhere. I can still smell it." Shiro looked around, and then he saw a tie he did not recognize.
The black-tie hung over his clothes that someone had put on a chair. He could practically see the pheromones coming from the tie, and the scent filled him with pleasure and a sense of security. He wanted it.
He got up from the bed on a pair of trembling legs and walked toward the chair where his clothes were, while the doctor protested loudly behind him.
"You're not ready to move yet," she got up and gently grabbed hold of his arm. But Shiro just ignored her and continued to walk toward the chair.
As soon as he grasped the tie in his hand and the scent of sandalwood and cedar hit him directly, he breathed in deeply. He held it to his nose, and immediately he felt calmer.
"Is that the alpha's?" he heard Joy ask behind him.
Shiro jumped in surprise and realized what he was doing. He was so confused about his actions that he just stood there with the tie against his nose.
Joy seemed to understand and took a few steps toward Shiro, causing Shiro's grip on the tie to become instantly harder, and he looked at the doctor with a hostile gaze. His whole body was on guard; no one would be allowed to take anything that belonged to his alpha.
Joy stopped with her hands in front of her. As if to show that she posed no threat and said calmly.
"Calm down, Shiro; I won't take your alpha's tie."
That made Shiro jerk. 'His alpha.' Why had he thought so?
"He's not mine," Shiro whispered with a weak voice, and he could feel his heart tremble.
Joy looked surprised at the younger man.
"But, you reacted to each other's pheromones?"
"Yes, but he's married and has children. So, he's not mine."
"Oh, I see. Yes, that complicates things a bit. But please come back to the bed so I can take a look at you," Joy said in a friendly voice, pointing to the bed.
Shiro did as she said, still with the tie to his nose.
The doctor did several tests, took samples, and then sat in the chair next to Shiro.
"I see here that you have children, a daughter. What's her name?"
"Ikumi, she's ten years old."
"Wow, ten! You were young when you got her. Was she planned?"
Shiro nodded. He understood what Joy meant; many omegas were raped and had children that way.
"Kei and I became a couple long before we decided to have her. We were together from the day we were born. Our mothers became best friends at the maternity ward."
Joy looked down at the papers in front of her.
"Ah, Kei. Your husband. He died of cancer two years ago?"
Shiro nodded and closed his eyes. It was a strange feeling that filled him. He thought of his late husband as he breathed in the pheromones of another alpha. He felt unfaithful. Like a cheating bastard. But to whom?
"Were you marked?"
"Yes, but Kei destroyed the mark before he died. I didn't want to, but he didn't want me to be alone, never to meet someone new," Shiro muttered, closing his eyes hard.
He struggled not to cry. He recalled how angry and sad he had been at Kei when he destroyed Shiro's mark while Shiro was asleep. The pain had been awful, and Kei had, crying, begged Shiro to forgive him, but it wasn't until Kei's last moments that the stubborn Shiro finally forgave him.
Destroying a bond between alpha and omega was still considered taboo, and the method was experimental. Kei injected a unique drug that cleansed the omega's scent gland. Kei's pheromones disappeared from Shiro's body completely; it was like the bond between the married couple had never existed. Shiro had been devastated.
"Did he use the Y-65 drug?"
Shiro nodded, and Joy took her pencil out of her coat's pocket and made a note.
"You're not the first omega I've met that has been 'unmarked' in this way," she quoted with her hands.
"But you are the first one I have met who later crossed path with his fated pair. I wonder what would have happened if the bond with his husband was still there," Joy mumbled the last part to herself, and
Shiro saw the interest in the woman's eyes.
She was excited about this.
'Lucky that what's going to ruin my life might be to the delight of someone,' Shiro thought bitterly to himself with a sigh.
"You probably know the usual things about fated pairs, Shiro. Like there are a few who even meet their pair. Everybody thinks it's so romantic. I mean, listen to the name, fated pair! Like its Destiny, decided by the gods, but in reality, it's only science. You and the alpha have matching pheromones. It means that on a chemical level, you are completely compatible. This has triggered a reaction in both of you that is similar to what happens to a drug addict. You depend on each other's pheromones; you need each other's pheromones both physically and mentally. The difference between fated pairs and an addict is that an addict is weaned from the drug, while a fated pair never can live without the other. Without the other person pheromones, you'll get sick, and there are no substitutes."
"Am I going to die?" Shiro asked in a whisper.
Joy shook her head.
"No, because the alpha can't live without you either, so no matter how much he refuses, he doesn't have any choice. And it won't take long until he realizes this. Would you like to tell me his name?"
"Why?" asked Shiro suspicious, but Joy only smiled reassuringly.
"Don't worry; we have patient confidentiality. Everything you say stays with us. But I would like to know who the alpha is because if your alpha won't come and find you, the man will soon need medical attention."
Shiro took a deep breath.
"His name Dorian McCallister."
Joy's reaction was almost comical. Her eyes widened in shock, and she slapped her hand over her mouth as she shook her head.
Shiro understood immediately.
"You know him!" It wasn't a question.
Joy nodded and closed her eyes.
"Yes, or well, I know his husband. Finian. We are old friends. We play golf together at least once a month and take our kids to the same after school activities. Well, this complicates everything a little bit."
"Can't you be my doctor anymore?" Shiro suddenly sounded ten years younger, which he also felt like.
He was scared. He felt alone, helpless, and so small. Joy shook her head eagerly and took Shiro's free hand, the one that didn't hold the tie, in hers.
"No, no, on the contrary. I must be your doctor. We can't mention my relationship with your alpha to anyone here at the hospital."
She looked thoughtfully at Shiro with her cat eyes.
"I'm gonna fix this, Shiro!"
A shiver of both anticipation and horror passed through Shiro, and he held the tie tighter against his nose.