Malakai could sense the moment that Azaki was awake. Instead of the anxiety, lust, and confusion that Kai had become accustomed to sensing through their bond, he was feeling a calm sort of awareness. It felt as if his Omega was finally getting a grip on himself and functioning properly outside of his instincts.

He could also feel Azaki’s exhaustion both physical and mental. It made the Alpha inside of him roar with the need to find and comfort his mate. There was a need inside of him to go find the male and cover him in his scent, fill him up, and mate him properly. That need had been so prominent over the last week that Kai had grown fairly used to it, lucky for Azaki. Kai had spent his last five days trying his best to control the urges, his mate didn't need this possessive behavior right now.

He was the Alpha, so it was his responsibility to hold everything together and protect his mate's mental state first. Then they could address his instinctual desires.

Kai couldn’t help but remember the times in his life that he’d tried to hold back his Alpha before today. The various times through his life when his Alpha would try to take over, Kai had to struggle more, at times he would even lose it and become overcome by his instincts. His Alpha was strong and exerted it’s will on him without mercy which caused Kai to have always been engaged in some kind of internal power struggle.

But today was different. Kai could hold his Alpha back with ease.

Deep down he knew it was because having his Omega made him stronger, but he was still afraid to admit that Azaki was having such a profound effect on him before they’d even properly met. Apparently it was true what they said about a Prime finding his true mate being no longer at the mercy of his Alpha. The idea was frustrating and kind of exciting, making Kai wonder how long until he could see his Omega again and further explore the effect that the man would have on him.

Those lilac eyes haunted his thoughts and dreams, how would those eyes look at him now? Would they be full of despair, fear...anger? Kai shuddered. He knew that his Omega didn’t want to be mated, that he’d spent years avoiding it at all costs, that he'd apparently went into a drop as a dormant because he was so upset about releasing pheromones in higher levels. Now that his worst nightmare had finally descended on him, would Azaki hate him? It made the hairs on Kai’s body stand at attention.

That simply wouldn’t do.

Asza entered the hospital administration office they'd commandeered to find Malakai staring emptily at the stack of paperwork he’d been given. Their pack leader had been a mess the whole week, but this kind of behavior was to be expected from an Alpha who’d been separated from his mate so Asza didn't stress it too much.

Though Asza wasn’t bonded himself, he’d seen and heard enough in his years of life to know that Kai and Azaki were feeling hints of each other’s emotions. He’d also been told that the Omega had been dormant until meeting Kai which meant that the the Omega was likely drowning in very confusing emotions at the moment that Malakai could probably feel. The fact that he was keeping it together this well was probably a great sign of Kai's strength. 

That didn't mean that it wasn't was obvious that the Alpha was hurting deeply. Asza really wanted to do something to ease his suffering, but there was nothing that could possibly be done outside of bringing his mate to him. They simply had to weather this storm until the Omega was awake and take it from there.

He walked up behind his leader and leaned his head on Kai’s shoulder affectionately. Kai smiled and petted him softly on top of the head, letting the long blonde locks entwine with his fingers absentmindedly. Asza rubbed his cheek against the scent gland on the back of Kai’s neck and scented himself.

Malakai instantly relaxed into the motion. Though Alpha scenting each other was considered very intimate and in some circles completely unheard of, Asza made the move without hesitation as if it'd been done many times before. But The Board had always been like this, the would  scent each other and themselves any time that they were feeling intense emotions or stress.

To them, that was part of being a pack. You helped your fellow Alpha while setting your pride aside sometimes, knowing that they would do the same for you if the situation was reversed.

In this particular case, Asza was covering himself in Kai's scent to help ease the man's inner Alpha. The instinct to mark his mate was probably driving Kai mad and Asza hoped that he would find even just a second of relief in marking and covering Asza in his scent until he could do so properly with is mate. 

It must have helped, because Kai let out a long exhale of relief and turned his head to take in his scent on Asza. Asza relented, craning his neck to the side in an act of submission to his pack leader. Kai had to hold back his inner Alpha because it was urging the man to bite down on and mark Asza.

And that would just be rude.

Luckily that train of thought was cut off by Maynard opening the door of the office. The Doctor looked worse than all the Alpha’s combined. He had dark circles under his eyes and looked as if he hadn't eaten in days. As far as anyone could tell, Maynard had spent every single available second of his time with Azaki in that heat room. He'd gone well above and beyond his job as a doctor to stay in there and make sure that the Omega didn't do anything drastic in the heat of the moment.

Though they all assumed that Azaki was stable, Maynard didn't seem completely convinced, and spent hours upon hours waiting for Azaki's moments of clarity so that he could be sure the boy was eating and not too distressed. Malakai tensed immediately at the sight of Maynard, worried that his elder cousin was bringing him some kind of bad news regarding his mate.

Maynard cleared his throat and straightened, trying his best to hide the toll that his exhaustion was taking on him. Asza and Malakai waited on pins and needles for the man to speak. “He wants to see you.”

Kai beamed, stood from his chair, and shot out of the room like a rocket.

Saying that Azaki was nervous was an extreme understatement. He still wasn’t sure how he was feeling right now, but some part of him knew that he’d feel better once the Alpha was around. ‘What was his name?’ Azaki wondered as he laid in the bed and took stock of his body.

Every single inch of him was sore and aching. He felt like he could barely shift his body to find a more comfortable position, let alone walk around or attempt to take care of himself. He remembered a lot about the way his heat was supposed to work during school. His muscles were sore because of how tense and taxing the heat had been on his body.

If he’d been given the option to take suppressants or be with his Alpha, his body wouldn’t have strained itself so much. But, according to his Doctor, that was not an option for him. The medicine would’ve had no effect since he was already in the throws of the heat by the time they’d gotten him settled, and his doctor had kept the Alpha away from him so that the two of them would have the opportunity to get to know each other before becoming mated. Azaki was very thankful for the mans quick thinking and made a mental note to thank him properly once he was feeling better.

It wasn’t long before Azaki could sense that the Alpha getting closer. Their bond was deepening with every step that his true mate made in his direction and it was making Azaki anxious. Soon he’d be face to face with the person he’d spent his entire adult life trying to avoid.

It was like all of his worst nightmares had come true only for him to not be scared when faced with them. Azaki wondered if this change of heart had something to do with the bond that had formed between them and chuckled to himself. Of course it did. If he’d been told ahead of time that going to the hospital would put him in this position, he’d have run away and locked himself in his room to avoid this Alpha forever.

Yet, now, Azaki just wanted him to hurry. Another minute or so passed and then Azaki heard some noise outside of his door. At that moment his heart started to pound and his anxiety rose significantly, he was here.

On instinct, Azaki sank further into his pillow and pulled the blanket up closer to his chest. His hands had started to shake slightly and he couldn’t help but keep his eyes pinned on the door as if a serial killer was going to burst through at any moment and chop him to bits. Instead of the door swinging open wildly like Azaki had expected, it slowly cracked and the room was suddenly flooded with the best smell.

These were his Alpha’s pheromones, Azaki could tell immediately. Though they were painted with a similar anxiety to his, the scent calmed Azaki and made his body relax. He was safe now that his Alpha was here. The foreign thoughts invaded his mind and he knew that they were the work of his Omega.

The thoughts were terrifying and Azaki kept his eyes frozen on the far end of his bed as if looking at the Alpha would only make him sink further. But even without looking, Azaki could see the giant form walk into the room and close the door softly behind him in his peripheral vision. There was a beat of terrifying silence between the two as if neither of them were sure they should be the one to speak first.

Azaki broke the silence first, not with words but with a soft instinctual whine that caused the Alpha to dart to his side and check him over frantically with his eyes. Azaki blushed and finally unlocked his eyes from the far end of the bed. 

“Are you okay?” The Alpha spoke to him and the sound of his voice sent a shock wave of happiness through Azaki. A wild blush painted Azaki's pale skin and he simply nodded his head before slowly looking up to meet Kai’s eyes.

The two just stared at each other for a moment awestruck. Malakai’s eyes misted over and he broke the eye contact by scanning Azaki’s form underneath the sheets, still baffled by how tiny his Omega was. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“I-um, It’s okay.” Azaki mumbled awkwardly in response, unsure as to whether the Alpha was apologizing for the bond or for staying away during his heat.

“I promise I’ll make you happy.” Kai choked out. Azaki made a small indiscernible noise that seemed to lighten the mood a bit.

“Okay,” Azaki replied blankly, still feeling awkward and overwhelmed, but decidedly less so. The truth was though that being near his Alpha was helping him cope with sensing pheromones. While other kinds, even his own, were overwhelming, the Alpha’s were soothing and calming.

Azaki leaned in closer to the Alpha without thinking about it and froze when he saw the man reach for him. The Alpha recoiled his hand quickly and looked at Azaki panicked. "S-Sorry."

"It's-It's fine, just... W-what were you doing?" Azaki was panicked and it made Kai feel terrible. He lowered his wrist and leaned back, causing the Omega to relax a bit.

“I-I was going to scent you.” Malakai was clearly embarrassed for just reaching toward the Omega without permission.

“Why?” Azaki narrowed his eyes, suspicious that it was some sort of possessive nonsense that his Alpha was trying to pull.

“Well I’ve heard that it’s good for you t-that it’ll keep you at ease...and me...if I keep you scented at first.”

“Okay.” Azaki visibly relaxed and let Kai reach up to touch him softly on the cheek. There was a rush of intense happiness and pleasure that would have been more overwhelming if Azaki wasn't already thoroughly overwhelmed already. The Alpha softly started rubbing his wrists down Azaki’s neck, over his scent glands, and further down his arm.

At first, Azaki was frozen stiff, but he quickly relaxed into the motion with a long exhale of contentment. Kai smiled, if this was as intimate as Azaki would allow for now, he could be happy with that. Though neither of them wanted to admit it, the action of scenting Azaki eased the both of them significantly.

Azaki was feeling like he could finally cope, he was being drowned in the calming nature of his Alpha’s scent and was surprised to find that he liked the sensation quite a lot. He had to admit that since the man had scented him he felt much more comfortable and relaxed. Azaki nearly started purring at the thought and covered up the foreign sensation with a small cough and a nervous question. “So, what’s your name, anyway?”

The Alpha laughed, the sound was booming and tension cutting like he had also been overwhelmed with nerves until now. Azaki cracked a grin and raised an eyebrow at the man in amusement. The Alpha righted himself and held a hand out all business-like as if it was a conditioned reflex. “Malakai Fedorov, nice to meet you.”

“Azaki Ito.” Azaki smiled and shook his hand, somehow relieved that Malakai was nervous as well. A moment of silence passed between the two before Azaki spoke again, unable to keep his curiosity to himself any longer despite his anxiety. “So, Malakai, why were you in my hospital room anyway?”