Page 29 of Unwanted

In his eyes, I saw all the signs of a hard hormonal crash—going from a high of endorphins and pleasure to a sudden, deep low. His gaze was glassy and almost empty, and he looked completely wiped out, like he had no energy left.

Honestly, it wasn’t surprising. His body had gone through changes so fast that it had to affect his mental state, too. Unlike omegas, who grow up aware of what’s ahead and slowly adjust to these feelings over years, he was a beta before; nothing had prepared him for this.

I carefully moved closer and reached for his hand, but he quickly pulled it away.

"No, don’t touch me. Everything itches," he blurted out.

"That’s a normal recovery symptom, Liam. We expected this," I said gently.

Liam pouted a little. "Soren didn’t go through a recovery phase after his mini-heats."

"Those were mini-heats, not the real thing like what you just went through. You can’t compare. You had way more hormonesflooding your system than Soren did—much longer and much harder on your body."

"But True Mates are supposed to have a milder version of it, or even none."

"But your changes happened all at once, and your body was affected much more than an omega’s—a significant transition that can take a toll physically and mentally," I explained, trying to sound almost like a doctor, just to reassure him.

He squeezed his eyes shut, and I could tell he was on the verge of tears.

"I feel weird… Everything seems so heavy, like my limbs are made of lead. And I’m just so sad. I feel… awful."

I looked at him for a moment. "Liam, there’s no need to be sad. Please don’t forget that we’re in this together. We’re TMs. Everything’s going to be okay." I moved closer and softly kissed the top of his clenched fist.

After a moment’s hesitation, I muttered, "There’s something I need to tell you. I have to go to campus for a bit—I’ve got a faculty meeting I can’t miss. But I promise I’ll be back right away and bring you something delicious to eat, okay?"

I saw a flicker of fear in his eyes. "You’re not going to be gone long, right?"

"Three hours max. I’ll rush back as soon as I can," I reassured him.

It didn’t help much. I could see how upset he was that I had to leave. He pressed his lips together, and his eyes got watery. "I don’t want you to go. Please, don’t go…" he choked out, looking at me with pleading eyes.

I took a deep breath, unsure how to navigate this delicate situation. On one hand, I was incredibly happy he wanted me around so much, but on the other, I had promises and commitments to keep.

"The thing is, during this meeting, they’re discussing a big research grant for me. If I don’t go, I’ll lose my chance at it. It’s a lot of money, and the university wants to collaborate closely with Malden Pharmaceuticals. I’ve been working hard to be part of this genetic code research project, Liam. I can’t miss it, but I’ll be as quick as possible, I promise."

Liam swallowed hard. His expression said it all—he wasn’t thrilled that I had to leave, but there was nothing I could do. This was too important.

"I’m going to get dressed, but I’ll come back to see you before I go," I whispered.

Half an hour later, as I was getting ready to leave the house, I went back to the bedroom for a moment. Liam was curled up in a ball.

I was a bit surprised to notice that he had gathered a suspiciously large number of pillows around himself, along with two extra blankets from the storage under my bed. They were arranged into something like… a nest? I hesitated for a moment, wondering if I should say something, but this probably wasn’t the best time. If Liam’s omega instincts were kicking in, nesting was a logical outcome, but now really wasn’t the moment to discuss it.

I leaned down and kissed his forehead, but he didn’t react, just squeezed his eyes shut even tighter. He looked so tense and stressed.

"You won’t even notice I’m gone, and then it’ll be the weekend, and we’ll be together again, just us, okay?"

Silence was his only response.

I didn’t feel good about leaving him like this, but I had no choice. This grant was something I’d fought hard for, and not showing up would mean losing my chance at it completely.

***

The faculty meeting dragged on way longer than I’d expected. Besides my grant, they were discussing two others as well. I was tapping my foot nervously, but there was nothing I could do. The dean was going on and on, adding unnecessary anecdotes that didn’t really mean anything. But what I did notice were the strange looks my colleagues gave me, as if they saw something unusual in me.

Was I hearing their heartbeats, too? There was a distinct hum in the background. Everything was sharper, the colors more vivid, the smells so much stronger… With all these stimuli, how could anyone really focus on anything? And why was I so annoyed? I was almost never annoyed, not much bothered me, but now my nervous system seemed strangely irritated.

Finally, after about four and a half hours, the meeting wrapped up.

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