Content warning:

In this chapter, the main character is seeking treatment for a forced claim bite. The care he is seeking is analogous to the care for a sexual assault or intimate partner violence in our world. 

This chapter may trigger people who are sensitive to discussion of sexual assaults or intimate partner violence or people who experience panic attacks. 

***

The Alpha stepped forward half a pace and cleared his throat, then spoke in a low and gentle voice. “Hi Gabriel, as Dr. Caris said, I’m Alex Anderson, and I’ll be handling the removal of the affected scent gland and your scar revision. I’d like to run through the next steps with you, so you know exactly what to expect. I’d also like to take just a quick look at the wound site to see how it’s healing.”

Despite himself, Gabriel tensed, but Dr. Anderson was quick to add, “Don’t worry, Teneisha has already explained to me that you would prefer not to be touched near the site, and that’s absolutely fine. I’m going to stand back, and have you turn for me. We’ll let Teneisha open your gown, just at the top, so I can get an idea of what we’ll do during the revision. Then I can tell you about it. Is that something you’d be comfortable with?”

Gabriel, who had been staring down at the doctor’s neon green crocs decorated with little dinosaur charms, forced himself to look up into his face. He couldn’t quite manage eye contact, so he compromised by focusing on the man’s chin. The doctor’s expression was kind and open, nothing hidden, not a trace of aggression or impatience or disdain, but he was still… An Alpha.

Gabriel couldn’t scent him, even from five feet away, which was a strange feeling, but probably a good thing. For the first few days after he was attacked, every whiff of Alphan pheromones he picked up had made him shiver and sweat. The new nose-blindness he was experiencing was sparing him that, at least.

He saw that the room was waiting for his response.

There are two other people in here with me. This man just wants to help me. I can’t be afraid of the people who are helping me. I can turn my shoulders, damn it. It’s not like I have to run into a burning building. It’s nothing. I can do this. Gabriel, you can do this.

“I can do this… That. I mean, yes, you can. Examine me. You won’t… Touch?” he verified, wanting to be sure.

“Nope, I don’t need to for now. The revision is done under anesthesia, of course, so you won’t have to deal with me much when you’re awake, unlike poor Teneisha here. Okay, Teneisha, if you could just spread the gown for me a little? Gabriel, can you turn your shoulder a little more towards me? Yep, that’s perfect. Okay, let’s see what we’ve got going on here.”

He moved a little closer, standing about three feet away, examining the scabbed puncture wounds carefully, his arms securely crossed in front of him where Gabriel could see them. Gabriel stared into his chest, breathing shallowly, but holding on. Then noticed that the button on the doctor’s retractable badge holder was a photograph of a black and white kitten.

“What’s with the kitten?” Gabriel asked, curiosity temporarily drowning out his nerves.

“I think we’re good here, Teneisha. You can close the gown. The kitten?” Dr. Anderson smiled down at Gabriel, a little confused, and then realized what he was referring to. 

He pointed to his badge holder. “Oh, you mean Stoffel. Teneisha ordered this for me last Christmas. Stoffel is my three-legged foster-failure and overlord. I got conned into fostering her because she needed a little extra medical know-how after her accident. She had to have a leg amputated. I was so charming she fell in love with me.”

Leaning forward conspiratorially, he said, “Or maybe she just fell for my warm house and generous supply of cat treats. She has decided to remain with me in perpetuity, knocking things off of my shelves for fun, trying to escape so she can lose another limb, and generally getting into three times more trouble than a four-legged cat. That’s how she got her name. She’s just like this…”

“Honey badger?” asked Gabriel with a little smile, thinking of a video he’d once watched. “Is that where the name Stoffel comes from?”

“You’ve seen that video? I’m impressed. Stoffel fans unite.”

“I love that video–the part when he teaches his honey badger girlfriend how to open the gate for him is hilarious,” said Gabriel, so distracted he didn’t tense as Teneisha closed the gown over his back.

“Listen, I know cats and badgers are not on the same branch of the carnivore tree, but my Stoffel has got to be that guy’s distant relative. On her very first night, she busted into a cabinet and somehow shoved the container of dry food down onto the floor from counter height at three am. It weighed four times more than she did and it went everywhere. The noise scared the hell out of me–I thought someone had broken into the house. I went running downstairs with my prized display-only autographed Orioles baseball bat, looking like an absolute clown. She’s earned her name, trust me.” 

Gabriel covered his mouth with his hand and laughed. Was that his first laugh since…? It was.

At least laughing still feels good.

“She sounds like a lot.”

“That’s putting it mildly,” said Dr. Anderson, smiling at him with even, white teeth. “Okay, so, from what I’m seeing, I’m very confident that you are going to have a great result. Do you want the short version or the long version of what we’ll be doing?”

“The long version, please,” said Gabriel, “Otherwise I’ll use my imagination. That’s not what we need right now.”

Dr. Anderson nodded. “I’m the same way. I always want to know more. So, if I explain too much or not enough, just hold up a hand to stop me, okay?” He pulled a wheeled stool from underneath the sink and sat down about three feet away so that Gabriel could look down at him, which felt… safer… to Gabriel. 

He’s good at what he does, I’ll give him that, thought Gabriel, realizing he was more or less not-terrifed despite being in sustained proximity to an Alpha for the first time since he was attacked. 

“So," said the doctor with an as-you-know... gesture of his hands, “In high school biology, everyone learns the basic mechanics of claim bites. An Alpha bites an Omega in an area with a scent gland, almost always on the back of the neck or shoulder. This is the typical location simply because these are the most accessible glands, but they also do a lot of the heavy lifting in terms of distributing pheromones, which Alphas have evolved an attraction to. After the bite occurs, the Alpha’s scent is replicated by the Omega’s scent glands, and the Omega’s scent gradually changes, becoming a mixture of the two sets of pheromones. You probably know all of this.”

“Yep,” Gabriel confirmed.

“Right, well, I’m just getting warmed up. So, these new pheromones warn other Alphas away and also affect the Omega’s heat cycles, rendering them less able to conceive with other Alphas or Betas. It was once thought that a claim was permanent and irreversible and that the changes to the Omega’s scent were a function of feeling some kind of emotional bond with the Alpha. Some Alphas out there, as I’m sure you know from watching the news, would very much like that to be true. But it’s not.”

Gabriel nodded, well aware of many Alphas’ refusal to embrace the newest science.

Warming to his topic, Dr. Anderson continued. “We now understand that the way claim bites work is similar to infection with a virus. The Alpha’s saliva contains little packets of DNA wrapped in protein. These enter the scent gland during the bite, hijack the cells in the scent gland, and then begin to make copies of themselves. The Alpha’s DNA colonizes the scent gland or glands directly affected by the bite, and then moves along to the next closest glands, and then on to the next, until, over the course of six months or so, the Omega’s scent glands are all replicating the Alpha’s scent as well as their own.”

“The sun never sets…” Gabriel muttered, picturing Alphan DNA planting flags all over Omegan bodies.

“Right. Pretty much. So, established claims do increase the chance of pregnancy between the claiming Alpha and the claimed Omega, but the reverse is also true. Should a pregnancy occur at or around the time of the claim, the spread of the Alpha's DNA is accelerated by the surge of hormones that happens during pregnancy. Increased fertility is the only biological benefit a claim bite conveys for Omegas, and that’s only if the Omega wants to carry the claiming Alpha’s child. In a civilized world, a world with a fifty percent divorce rate, the claim bite serves no real purpose other than potentially strengthening the bond between consenting partners. It certainly isn’t necessary for cordoning off a pool of breeding partners, as it may have been when we were hunter-gatherers living in caves and fighting off sabertooth tigers.” 

Dr. Anderson looked up at his patient’s pale face, checking to see if he was overwhelming him with information. Gabriel nodded and gestured for him to go on. 

“Sorry, I got a little off topic. Anyway, this is why it’s so great that you came to us so quickly–we won’t give that DNA a snowball’s chance in hell of spreading to your other scent glands. We’ll schedule your first surgery for next week. You have a pair of scent glands on each side of your neck, one just where the neck meets the jaw, those are the submandibular glands—”

Alex pointed to his own jaw and continued to illustrate his points using his own body. “And another set where the neck meets the shoulder. Those are your cervical glands. The rest are smaller and produce fewer pheromones, but they’re still part of the scent gland system. The next closest are in your armpits, those are your axillary glands, the small of your back, the caudal glands, a set at the top of your inner thighs, the inguinal glands, and finally a gland behind each knee, the popliteal glands.”

Gabriel knew this as well and nodded along.

“Based on your wound location, during the first surgery, I’ll probably be removing just your left cervical gland and out of an abundance of caution, we'll be taking small needle biopsies from your right cervical gland and your axillary and submandibular glands on the left side to confirm that they weren’t affected. It’s almost impossible that they could have been, given how quickly you sought treatment, which again, is why I’m so glad you’re here today.”

He gave Gabriel a small smile and Gabriel tried to return it, but thought he had probably achieved something closer to a grimace. 

“When I remove the scent gland, I’m also going to be placing a small tissue expander underneath your skin at the bite site. You’re young and you’re slim, so you don’t have a lot of extra skin, and I don’t want your skin to have a stretched appearance after the procedure. We’re going to use the time you’re on the hormone suppressant therapy to grow some extra skin for me to work with. Which brings us to the second surgery—but I’m getting ahead of myself. Any questions so far?” Alex Anderson asked, waiting.

“No, I think I’ve got it… If this wasn’t a thing that was happening to me, this would be kind of interesting,” said Gabriel. “What would have happened if I’d waited too long for treatment?”

Dr. Anderson inhaled through his nose and made an unhappy face. “Well, there’s always something we can do–low dose suppressants can make an unwanted claim much easier to live with, but they come with a host of side effects that have to be considered. Once an Alpha’s DNA has infiltrated the entire scent gland system, total eradication of the claim just isn’t possible right now. A claimed Omega will have a difficult time conceiving naturally with the partner of their choice if that’s something that they want. You won’t have that issue at all. Since we only have to remove one scent gland in your case, you aren’t likely to notice a difference in your pheromones once you’ve healed, and your scent will be unaffected.” 

Gabriel nodded. At least he’d made one good call in the past couple of weeks.

Dr. Anderson continued. “So, with the second surgery, my goal is always to eradicate the claim site as completely as possible. I’ll remove the expander and then I should have plenty of skin to work with. I’ll excise the damaged tissue, because claim bites are biologically designed to create a scar. I’m sure you’ve seen plenty of examples of the white scar tissue they create. The surgical scar, however, will heal normally.”

“I have seen plenty. Is the expander going to be painful?”

“No, it shouldn’t be, and don’t worry, it’s just a small one—half-dollar sized. You won’t look like Quasimodo, I promise. Wear a collared shirt and no one will ever know it’s there. Once I remove the expander, I’ll resection the skin on your shoulder using teeny tiny dissolvable stitches. I am very proud of the teeny-ness of my stitches. We’ll also use silicone sheets to help it heal well afterwards. The scar should be almost invisible, at worst, something like a healed cat scratch, like this one,” he said, holding out an arm and displaying a fine white line on the golden-tan skin of his forearm. 

“Courtesy of Stoffel?” Gabriel guessed.

“You got it in one. So while I’m not anticipating any issues with scarring, should your skin decide to fight us, we’ll use laser scar revision or steroid injections. Teneisha, can you hand Gabriel the photo binder? Thanks. Take a look in here and you can see some before-and-afters so you know what to expect.”

Gabriel accepted the binder from Teneisha and flipped through the laminated photos inside, seeing that Dr. Anderson was right. In most of the photos, it was impossible to tell where the claim mark had once been. This was going to work. He’d be able to put this behind him. He felt a little ball of warm tension forming in the center of his chest. Anxiety? 

No, he realized. No, that’s… hope.

As he studied the pictures, Dr. Anderson continued. “So, on the day of your procedure, you’ll come to the outpatient surgical facility. The surgical nurses are both female, both Betas, and the nurse anesthetist I work with is an Omega. All three of them will be in the room for the duration of the procedure, from before you fall asleep until after you wake up. Neither I nor any other Alpha will be alone with you at any point. The pain should be pretty minimal after the first day or so, but we’ll send you home with a little of the good stuff, just in case. You need a friend or family member to come with you, because you’ll be groggy afterwards, and we can’t have you wandering the streets of Charm City by yourself. Is that something you can arrange?”