Page 17 of The Rejected Omega

“It was traumatizing. I understand your hesitance. Even if you two did complete the bond now, it may not form well. And I value my patients’ mental health just as much as the physical. Do you think you and your alpha will be able to come to terms? Perhaps just meet up for heats?”

“No.”

“I don’t like to issue them to someone so young and freshly mated, but I could prescribe you a load of high-dose suppressants while you live and work in close proximity to this alpha. Are you planning on going away for college?”

“I’m planning to go wherever he isn’t.”

Kanata purses her lips. “Probably for the best. We can look at lowering your dose once your senior year is over. There are long-term side effects to consider. You need to come off the medication every six months to have a heat. Whether it’s assisted or not is up to you. If you don’t taper off them periodically, the suppressants can build to toxic levels in your system and lead to unwanted side effects.”

“Such as?”

“Headaches, nausea, breakthrough heats, loss of appetite, insomnia?—”

“Got it. I’ll read the list.”

I’d figure out how to skip my next heat later. Right now my concern is being able to go to class without having a complete meltdown.

“I can give you the first shot here in the office, but you’ll have to pick up the rest from a pharmacy. One of my nurses will demonstrate how to administer the shots yourself.”

“How long until it’s active?”

“Twenty-four hours.”

“And Connor won’t be able to recognize that I’m his mate, right?”

“No. You’ll smell different to him, but it shouldn’t trigger a rut.”

“Shouldn’t?”

“No medication is 100% effective. But it is, statistically, highly unlikely that Mr. Masters will recognize you as his mate.”

“Right. Besides statistical anomalies, is there anything else I need to be worried about?”

“Do you have insurance? The medication is expensive, especially at such a high dosage. I can give you some samples, but those only go so far.”

I laugh. I can’t help it. I was going to need to dig a bigger hole to accommodate this pile of shit. “No.”

“We have programs available for omegas in need?—”

“That require me to register my mate and status, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then no.”

Kanata frowns. “How do you plan to afford the prescription? Even if you get insurance, it’s hard to convince them to cover so many suppressants without documented strife between the alpha-omega pair. Do you have the means to afford them out-of-pocket?”

“I’ll figure something out.”

The doctor purses her lips.

“You’ve been through an extremely traumatic event. You need to give yourself grace and let your body recover. I’d also recommend weekly counseling, to begin with.”

I give her a non-committal nod.

“Ask the girl at the first desk to set you up with my associate for therapy appointments. She’ll get you sorted.”

I have no intention of doing that. I can’t afford the shots, let alone therapy. Right now I want to forget and move on, not hash out my issues with a stranger.

---