Reid and I parted after my rut cycle ended, and returned to work like nothing happened. His scent lingered on my skin still three days after, and I was sick of my coworkers wanting to bring it up. 

Relaxing my shoulders, I exhaled and grabbed my tea. It was warm, but not fresh. My pile of work was larger than I cared to have and that meant overtime to catch up. Sipping my tea, I set the cup back down and opened a new file. 

The file contained information about a heavily pregnant omega with a pheromone production issue. I would have to exercise caution when dealing with this case because it could cause issues with my very own pheromones. 

Exposure to heavy amounts of omega pregnancy pheromones in very rare cases can cause a recessive Alpha to become pregnant or mimic pregnancy. 

Neither of which I was on track to want to test out. Pinching my nose in frustration, I let out a deep sigh. Grabbing the file, I stood up and walked to the front desk. 

“Contact this patient and schedule an appointment as soon as possible. Thank you.”

“Got it. I’ll move things around if I have to.”

“Sounds good,”

Heading back to my office, Doctor Connell grabbed me before I could get there. 

“Perfect, you’re just in time. I need you to do me a favour, Doctor Woods.”

“What’s the favour?”

“Take this to Mr Clarke. He asked for me to bring it, but I have a person waiting to see me.”

“Fine. Yeah, I can do that.” I sighed. 

“Don’t sigh, you get to see Reid,” Doctor Connell said, after handing me the paperwork. Heading to top floor offices, Reid’s scent was lingering, and it calmed me. 

Knocking on the door, I heard Reid tell me to come in. He was on the phone, and held his finger to his lips, telling me to be quiet. He let out his pheromones slowly and steadily. It felt like he was wrapped around me again, like he had been while I rutted. 

He hung up the phone a short time later. 

“What can I help you with, Doctor Woods?”

“Doctor Connell asked me to bring you this set of files, and—--” 

“Did he have you take a test as well, Doctor Woods?”

“For?”

“I see. I would understand why you wouldn’t be aware of the testing. Though, you should be tested too. I’m sure it’s fine. I’ll make you aware should anyone come back positive.”

“Tested for what, exactly?”

“Per hospital guidelines, Doctor Connell and the rest of the Omegas have quarterly pregnancy tests done to ensure the safety of all people who visit our hospital. Since, I’m sure you’re aware of what could happen if any of our resident recessive Alpha’s were to be accidentally exposed continuously by omega pregnancy pheromones.”

“I see. I was truly unaware that such testing took place.” I said, passing him the files. I turned to leave. 

“Sit. Let me go through your floors tests and—--” 

“Mr Clarke, I have work—--”

“Reid. Call me Reid. We are alone.”

“Reid, I’m returning to my floor. I have work to do. I can’t sit and wait for whatever, besides that is confidential information.”

He set the file on top of a couple more before he turned his attention back to me. 

“Return to your floor, Samuel. If I need you, I know where you are.”

“Alright.”

Leaving his office, I took a deep breath and headed back to my floor. I didn’t have the time to worry about other people’s confidential information. I told the nurse at the front desk to let Doctor Connell know I delivered his files to Mr Clarke.

Sitting back down at my desk, an uncomfortable feeling settled in my stomach and I rubbed at it to ease the discomfort. I was sure it was just after effects of my rut.

Distracting myself from the tense feeling inside of me, I went through the rest of my files and made left notes for the front desk nurses. They would schedule the appointments and I could go from there.

Around two p.m, a knock on my door pulled me from my work, and I looked up. Doctor Connell let himself in and sat down.

“Thank you for delivering the files for me. They were of some great importance.”

“I understand. Reid——Mr Clarke, let me know what they were for, after he asked if I had tested.” I complained, and Doctor Connell hummed.

“If anyone on our floor does indeed come back pregnant, I recommend you test yourself here at the hospital. More so given you have spent a rut with a dominant Alpha and——”

“I understand Doctor Connell. If someone come backs positive I will test. Until then, I’m not worrying about it. It’s pretty rare it does actually happen in the perfect situation.”

“I’m sure Mr Clarke will be in touch if he comes across anything,” he said, and turned to leave my office. “Take your lunch since you haven’t yet, Sam.”

Heading to the break room, I grabbed my lunch. Heading back to my office, Doctor Connell and his husband were speaking hushed in the hallway. It wasn’t any of my business, so I didn’t linger.

I lost my appetite after a few bites of food and tossed the rest of it in my trash before tucking my lunch bag back into my home bag. My pager went off, and Doctor Connell joined me in the hall as we both ran down to the emergency department.

The scent of a dominant Omega in heat made my stomach roll, and Doctor Connell demanded to have the Omega transferred to our floor right this second. Moving the patient, we took him to our floor. One nurse had an injection of suppressant set aside in case it was too much for me. Breathing through my mouth, I helped Doctor Connell get the Omega settled, then I left the room. Instead of being attracted to the scent of the Omega, it was repulsive to me. Grabbing a mask, I covered my mouth and nose before heading back into the room.

The Omega reached out to me. “You smell wonderful,” he purred, and Doctor Connell gave him an injection of a suppressant. Doctor Connell shoved me out of the room. “Go see Reid.”

“What?” I said, confused.

“You stink, Sam. I can’t have you here right now.”

“Why the hell do I have to go see——-”

“I can smell his bonding scent on you, Sam. If you stink like an Omega, he will lose it. Just go see him.” Doctor Connell said. “It will help you relax, too. I saw your reaction to being pheromone dumped.”

Biting back the urge to argue with him, I went to the top floor to see Reid. He was waiting for me, outside his office, his handkerchief over his nose, until he closed the door, and locked us both inside his office.

“I’m sorry. Doctor Connell said I should come up here.”

“Yes. He called me to let me know you were coming, and why.”

“He said I stank.” I hissed, annoyed.

“You do, like Omega in heat.”

“He said I stank like your fucking bonding scent, Reid.” I snapped. Reid came closer, and pulled the edge of my shrubs, and jacket away from my skin and sniffed my neck.

“He is correct. You do smell like my scent. The spicy notes of it are the bonding scent.” Reid said, and didn’t seem concerned.

“Are you fucking kidding me, Reid? This is exactly what I didn’t want! I had no intention of their being an us, but clearly that wasn’t agreeable with you! You left your bonding scent on me. This is bullshit!”

“Is your fucking nose broken, Doctor Woods? “

“Excuse me?” I snapped.

“You have a lot of nerve bitching about my bonding scent when you dosed me after my coworker left because of your jealousy. While you were rutting.”

“I did no such——-” Reid grabbed me and shoved my face into his neck, and I took a shallow breath, and caught my bonding scent on his skin. Like a warning to others that he was mine, and I was claiming him.

“The scent of that Omega it was disgusting, wasn’t it? That’s because you’ve started scent bonding with me, Sam. Surely I don’t have to explain that to you,” Reid said.

“I know how fucking pheromone bonding works, Reid!” I screamed at him. I didn’t want this, not like this. Not now. Not with a fucking dominant Alpha. “We need to stop this, right here. I don’t want this.”

“It’s because I’m a dominant Alpha.” Reid snapped, and slammed his fist on the top of his desk.

“I didn’t want a relationship, let alone a pheromone bonding!”

“Don’t you think it’s a little fucking late for that, Samuel?”

“We can still stop this now!”

He closed the space between us, and his scent was thick and spicy as it rolled off him. “I’ll make sure you don’t get very far in trying to stop this,” he said intensely. As his lips pressed against mine, I could taste the intoxicating flavour of his pheromones, confirming what Doctor Connell had mentioned about their calming effect. But as he pulled away, frustration clear in his actions, I could tell that I had angered him.

He stormed out of the room after unlocking the door, leaving me and my confused thoughts behind. I sank into the couch, my heart pounding and my mind racing. I was sure he would be back soon, after he dealt with everything going on, the Omega situation included. I took a deep breath, trying to calm my mind. I knew I had to make him understand, but I wasn’t sure how. I shut my eyes, ready to face the repercussions of my actions.

After an hour, he still hadn’t come back, and I was tired of waiting. Standing up, I left his office. He was standing in the hall, speaking with another male who had his hand set on Reid’s arm endearingly. And I hated it. Pissed off, and annoyed with this, I spoke as I walked by Reid and the other male on my way back to my floor. “Remove your hand off my Alpha immediately. Thank you.”