In the mirror, two medium sea-green eyes were staring at their owner. Glen stared at the grayish circles that were eating part of his face and sighed. Two brief knocks sounded on the bathroom door and a half-asleep Connor entered the room.
"Move! I need to prepare for work or I'll be late. "
The werewolf gave way and left the room. Without enthusiasm, he walked into the kitchen where he opened the refrigerator. He looked at the leftovers from the night before and the ingredients inside, one by one, before grabbing a bottle of orange juice and a packet of white bread with butter. He put it all on the table and poured himself a glass of juice then he went to collect his things from the guest room. He put on a jacket and walked back to the kitchen with his bag.
He was absently munching on a buttered toast when Connor came out of his room, freshly clothed, and glanced at him. Glen's expression worried him, but he knew that if he said something his friend's mood might turn upside down, or worse. He just bit the inside of his cheek and swallowed his frustration.
"I'm leaving in five minutes if you feel like carpooling."
Glen chewed his last piece of bread. "Yeah, I'm already done."
He got up to clear his plate. Connor followed his gesture and couldn't help but frown at what the werewolf had just eaten. His concern grew as he detailed his friend's appearance.
Glen's hair was pulled back into an undercut bun that easily showed his features, and Connor immediately noticed the slightly sunken cheeks, grayish dark circles, and pale skin. From the first day Glen had brought his things into his guest room, the WIA agent had noticed that the werewolf was behaving strangely. His first night had been punctuated with nightmares and screams that made Connor forget all jokes and humor. He also noted that Glen refused to even discuss the existence of the omega. The only time the agent has dared to bring up the subject, he had seen the werewolf's mood flip, setting him up against an angry alpha and an explosion of pheromones. Glen's condition was getting worse and the werewolf was completely ignoring every sign.
Sitting in the car, the two men drove in silence. The alpha had his eyes riveted on the landscape passing behind the landscaped window, and Connor was glancing at him furtively.
"If you have something to tell me, do it."
"No-nothing. It's just… Well... Dude, you look awful. "
Glen let out a long sigh and carefully avoided looking in his friend's direction.
"Yeah, I'm just feeling a bit under the weather. I'm having a bit of trouble sleeping these days. "
The werewolf knew his friend was aware of the reasons behind his condition. Regardless, he had decided to ignore the elephant in the room and he hoped with all his heart that his childhood friend would understand the message and surrender without pushing.
Connor stopped in front of the building housing the WIA lab and let Glen get out of the vehicle, without looking back.
The agent immediately resumed the road. He pressed the Bluetooth control on the steering wheel and soon heard a dial tone. After long seconds of waiting, he heard a click and a voice replied curtly.
"I almost waited!" The man said playfully.
"What do you want, Connor?" The voice retorted without trying to hide the annoyance of its owner.
"Wow, aren't you a little too rough with your boyfriend?"
Silence answered him and the man's teasing mood immediately subsided.
"Why aren't you saying anything?"
"Well, it's been three weeks since I last talked to you, let alone saw your face so I didn't think we were anything anymore."
"C'mon, Greg! I'm just a bit busy lately. I got a lot on my plate and… "
"Cut the crap and go straight to the point, don't have time to spare for you."
Connor's heart sank and his hands tightened around the steering wheel as he swallowed hard.
"I need your help."
A new silence settled in and this time he waited patiently for the other party to continue the conversation. After what seemed like several minutes, he heard the voice again.
"What is it about?"
"Well, I need medical advice and…"
"Who?"
"It's for Glen," Connor announced after a slight hesitation.
"Find somebody else."
Another click sounded and this time the call was disconnected. The man's fist hit the center of the steering wheel violently and without waiting he sped up and spun at the next crossroads. He drove up to the medical research center attached to the WIA and rushed into the parking lot. He braked in front of the main building and left without bothering to remove the keys or close the car's door. He walked over to the receptionist who greeted him with a polite smile.
"Hello, what can I do for you?"
"I came to see Dr. Douglas." Connor gave her a forced smile.
"Yes, of course, who should I announce?"
"His boyfriend."
The woman couldn't suppress her surprise, but immediately picked up the handset of her phone.
"Yes, Dr. Douglas, there is someone at the front desk asking to see you… This is… your boyfriend."
She listened to the answer in the receiver and gave Connor a nervous look. The receptionist covered the receiver with her hand and she parted the device slightly, a grimace on her lips.
"Dr. Douglas has informed me that he doesn't have a boyfriend, so he asks you to…"
"Tell that motherfucker to bring his cute little ass up here, or he'll have to call security, the police, or whoever he wants because there's no way I'm budging from here."
The young woman listened to his words with a desperate expression that begged him not to involve her in his love affair and repeated his words with a slight alteration in the receiver. She paused to hear the caller's answer and hung up the phone.
"Dr. Douglas will be there any minute. Please step on your side and wait for him. "
Connor thanked the woman with cold politeness and went to sit in the separate waiting room.
Less than five minutes later, a man stopped his steps a few inches from the WIA agent. Connor looked up at the man who wore a crisp white blouse over a pale gray no-tie shirt and black chinos. Ultramarine eyes rested on him and his heart thudded in his chest. He swallowed and before he could utter a word, the man grabbed him by the arm to pull him up. The hand tightly circling his bicep forced him to step forward. The man led them to the stairwell and yanked the door open before pushing Connor inside.
"Can you explain to me why you came here?"
The man glared at his boyfriend and retorted in the same icy tone.
"You gave me no choice, I was just trying to talk to you and you hung up on me."
"I have no reason to talk to you, Connor."
The man felt his heart tearing apart when he heard the words the man had just said without the slightest emotion.
"Why are you acting like that Greg?"
"You dare ask me why? Who is the one who kicked me out of his life for another man? "
"What are you talking about?"
"Three weeks, Connor. The last time I was in contact with you was three weeks ago. Right before you tell me Glen is moving in with you. "
"You're kidding, right? Are you telling me that you're upset because I agreed to let my best friend who needs help live in my house? "
"I'm telling you that the last time I heard from you was when you told me Glen was going to live with you. I texted and called you countless times and you never got back to me. I'm tired of being the third wheel in this relationship. You keep picking me up and pulling me out of your life when it's convenient for you and it's been five years. I'm done. "
"No! It's not like that, Greg. I swear. There is absolutely nothing between Glen and me. Damn you know he's my only family. "
"I should be a part of your family too, Glen. And yet, after all this time, you still see me as an outsider. "
"I…"
"Don't waste your words. I told you I'm done."
"But I'm not!" Connor yelled. The doctor watched the man in front of him, about to burst into tears, his hand clinging to his lab coat refusing to let him go. His resolve faltered.
"Come to my place tonight and you'll get why I couldn't answer you."
"If this is somehow related to Glen, I warn you I'm not interested. I can send you another doctor if ... "
"Don't do that, please."
"Connor…"
"I'll wait for you in the parking lot tonight at 9 p.m."
Without waiting for a response, the WIA agent released his grip and walked away without looking back. As he walked through the reception hall, the secretary saw tears streaming down his cheeks. She looked at Connor who wiped his face and got into his car, ignoring the security guard yelling at him. Across the hall, Greg Douglas had watched his movements and turned to walk towards the elevator with an expression that betrayed his broken heart.
The fire escape door opened on the ground floor of the medical research center and Greg Douglas walked over to his car. Satchel in hand, he checked his watch and cracked his neck to dispel the pain and fatigue that had accumulated after hours spent behind his computer screen. He took the keys out of his pocket and looked up to unlock his car. He paused when he noticed the man leaning against the vehicle.
"I almost waited," Connor announced in a faint voice. Greg Douglas stopped and stared at him, an unreadable expression on his face. "It's 1 a.m, hurry up, I want to get home quickly."
Without protesting, Greg put his keys away and got into Connor's car. He sat in the passenger seat and didn't say a word the whole way. As the car pulled up to the curb, Connor's house was pitch black. The owner opened the door, took off his shoes and his coat which he placed on the back of the sofa without worrying about his guest. He went directly to the bedroom where noises disturbed the stillness of the night. Greg kicked off his shoes as well and walked without saying a word before following suit.
Lit by the light of a simple bedside lamp, Glen was lying on the bed. His forehead was drenched in sweat and it stirred under Connor's worried gaze. The doctor frowned and watched the werewolf who was fidgeting more and more in his sleep. Even with the pale light, he could see that his condition was far from normal. He walked over to Connor who put his hand on Glen's forehead to check his temperature. The latter opened his eyes weakly and stared at his friend. He swept the room and his expression clouded over. He huffed in a weak voice.
"Where is he? I want to see him. Please. Let me see him."
His voice trailed off and Glen returned to his restless sleep. Greg, who had just witnessed the scene, didn't understand what it meant. Connor motioned for him to follow him out of the room.
"What happened to Glen, he looks like he's lost weight and has a fever. I thought werewolves couldn't get sick. What is happening?"
"Before I talk to you, I would like you to keep an open mind. Can you promise me that? "
The man, who had just lowered his defenses, got on his guard but nodded in agreement.
"Do you remember the last time we saw each other, Glen was at home because I picked him up after I got a phone call from a friend of his?"
"A friend ?" He spoke with an ironic undertone that Connor didn't fail to notice.
"Ok, a friend with benefits, feel better?" He glared at the man in front of him. "I picked him up and quickly realized he was in rut."
"What? You didn't tell me about that. You said he had a problem with his pheromones! You were left alone with an alpha in rut? " Greg had raised his voice and Connor chose to answer calmly.
"I didn't want you to worry for no reason. He was exactly in the same condition he's been in tonight. Asleep, with a slight fever. "
"Are you trying to tell me he's in rut again? That is not normal." stated the doctor.
"No, he isn't. But something's wrong with Glen. I think I have an idea of what's going on, even though I think it is completely insane. "
Greg stared at Connor with a silence that encouraged him to finish.
"When he woke up after his rut, he told me he had met someone, an omega to be precise. From what I understood, it was this encounter that made him go into rut and during the three days he was completely out, he kept crying out for this omega. His wolf was restless. "
"He was looking for him? Usually, if a dominant wants a sub to be present during their rut, it's because the omega is marked or because they are bound. Did he…? "
"No, he told me that he barely sniffed his pheromones, and… now that's the part where you have to keep your mind open."
"O-Ok."
"Glen has been in this state since he met this omega. He only breathed his scent and yet it induced such a strong reaction. Every night his pheromones are out of control. Sometimes like tonight he even has a slight fever and keeps looking for him restlessly. It's almost obsessive at this point so I thought about something…" He paused and took a deep breath.
"What if this omega… is his fated mate?"