Page 102 of His Surrogate Omega

“He’s cute. And interested. Why not?” Avery asked, shrugging.

“Where are the boys?” Gray asked. “And how did you convince them to not call you Avery in front of that beta?”

“They’re next door. Seems we have a new omega living next door. Only fourteen.”

“Fourteen? And he’s gone into heat already?”

Avery nodded. “Apparently. I feel terrible for him. It was bad enough at seventeen. At least I was almost an adult. I couldn’t imagine dealing with all these thoughts and feelings that young.” He paused before heading into the kitchen to check the oven. “The kid and Lake became friends today at school. Mutual like of video games, it seems. Of course Auggie wants to be wherever Lake is, so if Lake wanted to go, he needed to take his little brother. They’ve been over there since school let out—while I studied with Brett.”

Gray hung his coat in the hall closet before returning to the kitchen. “A beta? Is this smart? What if he learns your secret?”

“I’ve already been found out.”

Gray spun to face Avery fully. “What?”

“My Ancient Civilizations professor. He’s an alpha, and he caught me in heat.”

Gray gasped. “He… he didn’t hurt you… did he?”

“No. He was the perfect gentleman.”

“Wait… your last heat was two weeks ago.”

“Between school, work, and you at Jamie’s, we’re ships in the night as of late. I haven’t seen you more than a few seconds in that long.”

Gray considered that and realized Avery was right. “So… perfect gentleman. Did he turn you in?”

“No. He did not. He gave me the name of a pharmacist who gave me a new medicine. One that makesHeat Repressseem like nothing.”

Gray frowned.

“I’m not supposed to tell anyone about this. No other omegas… but after your troubles, I knew I needed to tell you.”

“Let me get this straight. An alpha professor caught you lying and breaking the law and instead of turning you in, he gave you the means to get medicine to help you lie better?”

“Yes.”

Gray shook his head. “I don’t understand.”

“He’s an equalist. He’s given me this book, a history of the omega. It shares insights in the way things used to be and about the systemic repression of our class that has occurred over the last few hundred years. Dr. Conover believes omegas can be more than they’re allowed to be and that more of us should try to escape the imprisonment we’re faced with.”

“An equalist?”

“Yes,” Avery said with a smile. “He talks of a peaceful revolution, where omegas get more rights.”

“Revolution? Avery… I need you to be very careful. All of this is treasonous. Add that on top of the laws you’re already breaking and you could be in a lot of trouble if you’re caught.”

“You were already worried I’d be caught… I was, and it turned out alright.”

“You werelucky. The next time, you might not be.”

Avery smiled. “But… the good news is… we have a way to help you with your heats after the baby comes. If the pregnancy wasn’t enough to reset your system like you hoped. That’s great news.”

An illegal drug. He wasn’t sure if that was great news at all. “Hopefully it won’t come to that.”

“Uncle Gray, as soon as I started taking it, it was like I had no heat at all.”

“None?”

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