Lenny's offhand suggestion about switching specialists had been quietly gaining weight.

Weeks of treatment, and the ups and downs weren't evening out. Short bursts of high energy followed by hard crashes. Genital pain, occasional, sharp, coming from somewhere internal. He didn't have time to chase down another doctor, and when he called to schedule a follow-up, they told him the specialist was attending conferences and would be in touch when available. No timeline. No workaround.

He asked for a copy of his medical history so he could take it elsewhere. They told him that due to confidentiality regulations, records could only be transferred directly between healthcare providers.

Leo confirmed it was standard practice. His mother, already on alert after he'd made the mistake of telling her, ran through a list of symptoms, none of which matched his. They landed on the same conclusion: side effects from the medication. His mother promised to find him a new specialist. Leo, for his part, called an emergency health line, the kind that fielded questions about heat cycles, ruts, morning-after medication, pheromone intoxication.

The woman who answered made it clear from the start that advising him without knowing his medication was difficult. She added that if there was any possibility he was alpha, he should stay on the medication until he saw a new specialist. If his subgender was confirmed one hundred percent beta, stopping carried minimal risk. With an uncertain percentage, interrupting treatment increased the chance of pheromone shock. 

She ran through the standard symptom list — headaches, dizziness, nausea, feeling of suffocation, excessive heat. Same list his mother had asked about. He had none of them. When he mentioned the genital pain, her next question was automatic.

"How long has it been since you've masturbated or had intercourse?"

Leo sighed, mildly annoyed. The answer was obvious and he didn't feel desire anyway. He never really had, except for the night with Jared. It was true that being near Jared brought those thoughts back, and he experienced what he assumed was normal for someone in love. But his libido had never been high which was, in fact, one of the primary indicators of the beta subgender. Thinking about it clearly, maybe his problem was simpler than he'd made it.

When he got home, he went straight to the shower, cleaned up, grabbed a towel, and threw himself naked on the bed. He wasn't aroused, the pain, or the faint stabbing, came from somewhere deeper. He had nothing to lose by trying. He'd bought gel, just in case. He spread a little and started slowly. Barely felt anything. He tried to go back to that night and then remembered Jared's family, how soon he'd no longer be available, and the sadness hit too hard for anything remotely erotic to take hold. He put everything away, got dressed, and went out to clear his head.

He thought about texting Lenny, they'd been in more contact lately, and maybe he felt like going out. The situation with North wasn't fully defined yet, and Lenny's patience was visibly running out.

Leo had done his part, put together a kind of report for North, analyzing how the arranged union could realistically develop. North had worked up the nerve to talk to her, and by his account she seemed convinced. The problem was the parents, who kept pushing. A particularly bitter moment had come when Jared's name surfaced in the discussion — one of North's ideas being to cross-reference the candidates and propose her to the Rickdorfs. Leo didn't know exactly what Lenny had said, but the idea had disappeared by the next day.

For now they still had lunch together, though less frequently. Exam period was approaching and Jared had started going absent. Leo had assumed at first it was family meetings, but North told him Jared was dealing with a significant pheromone imbalance, the result of a failed arranged meeting that had gone badly.

North had explained that at Jared's social level, pheromone attacks were more common than people assumed. The perpetrators usually used amplifiers to maximize the effect, hoping to trigger knotting the same night and secure their place as daughter-in-law to one of the wealthiest families in the country. Leo found it appalling — though he supposed that, as the saying went, all was fair in love and war. Except this wasn't love. It was a war of power and money.

Exam week came and went without major surprises. He hadn't seen Jared in two weeks and had no news. The night before he'd sent a message asking if he was okay and whether he'd managed to sit his exams. He later found out that students like Jared and North had automatic access to makeup weeks, and if they still couldn't make it, the university offered special dates before the semester closed so they wouldn't lose their enrollment. Leo was beginning to understand, more clearly than ever, what kind of reality existed at those levels of society.

That day he'd finished early. He had tutoring sessions scheduled with two physics students, something he owed to Lenny, who seemed to know everyone on campus and, upon hearing Leo wanted to give tutoring classes, had gotten him his first students without being asked.

In the middle of the second session, a message from Jared arrived.

"I was out of the city. Just got back. I'll call you later."

Leo read it with a frown and wondered if he'd recovered.

He finished the class, went home. Jared didn't call. North, however, messaged him, drinks with Lenny, bar near campus. Since the two of them usually stuck to places close to the university, they always tried to go in groups of three or four to avoid raising questions about their relationship. Leo hadn't gone out in a while. He thought maybe Jared could join later and sent him the location.

"He's back already? I didn't even know he'd left. I heard he was still unwell," North said, surprised.

Lenny poured a shot and slid it across.

"At that level of power, half of what they tell you is a lie."

Leo shook his head.

"Jared isn't like that."

Lenny looked at him with something close to pity and poured him another. Leo emptied it fast.

"Trust me when I say I know his type very well. He might not be like that yet but by the time he's finished university, gotten married, and stepped into his role, he'll be a replica of the rest. And from what I've heard, the father is a real piece of work. If he's even fifty percent like him, you'll wish you'd never met either of them."

A chill moved through Leo. He signaled for another drink.

"Is there no saving them?" he asked quietly.

Before Lenny could answer, his phone pulled all his attention. Slightly dizzy, he answered on instinct.

"Where are you?" Jared. His voice barely above a whisper. The bar noise cut through the call.

Leo stepped outside.

"I sent you a message — did you read it?" He was having trouble walking straight.

When Jared spoke again, something in Leo's chest seized. He recognized that voice immediately, rough, low, and honeyed in a way that had no business existing.