Sophia's arms were crushed between them as he gave her a tight hug. She pulled them from between the two of them and wrapped her arms around his neck, her right hand going to his hair as she gently stroked the dark strands.
"Are you okay now?" she asked. "Should you be drinking?"
With each additional word, he felt the desire to cling to her for just a little bit longer. Comfort like that was rare to come by in his life.
"I'm fine, Sophia," he promised. "All the drug did was make my rut happen a little faster than it probably normally would have."
Sophia nodded, but this was where she was lost.
All day she had been thinking of what he called her before: an omega. It was a name she had never heard in her life.
"Right, that," she responded, but her voice became quiet. "Rut, omega, alpha. What do all of these things mean? You explained it to me before but… How have I never heard of any of this before now?"
