"His heat stopped less than two days into it?" Dr. Charles asked, repeating the concerns Kieran had. They were alone in his office. "How is he now?"

Kieran reminisced the past three days of nothing following the peak wave – Teru has been hiding from him. Every time he tried to approach due to his inner alpha wanting to be close, the embarrassed omega would let out a YELP and run off to his bedroom.

He didn't understand why Teru was acting like this; his behavior during the heat was completely normal.

What's more, Kieran's paid leave was about to end. If he didn't return to his duties, more annoying people would come to bother them about the stacks of time-sensitive paperwork that needed to be signed by him.

"You could say that. He's been nervous around me but otherwise fine."

"A little unusual for a first heat," Dr. Charles remarked, surprised but not super concerned. "I have three theories. First one, this could be solved by improving his health. He spent his entire life living like a wild animal. Humans eat and drink anything out there to survive. I can give you daily vitamins for him to take with meals."

"Second theory. A healthy heat should have a few more waves after the peak. If he's one of the more unfortunate omegas, Teru's cycle could be unstable and occur every month rather than the usual three to four months. While it's gone for now, it's technically not finished. It could return at any time. Keep a close eye on him. Make sure there are no rutting alphas nearby."

This was daunting for Kieran if the second notion applied to Teru. "Every month?" he muttered to himself. What if he was out of the city on business if that happened? Would he always be paranoid about leaving him alone?

"It's a possibility. But, I'm leaning more towards this being temporary from the recent trauma. The body's physical and mental state can impact an alpha or omega's hormones. Spoil him rotten. Make the environment as stressless as possible."

Dr. Charles wrote their conversation in his journal. His handwriting was random squiggles that would be illegible to others.

"And the third option?" Kieran asked.

The physician stopped jotting down notes. "Ah. Yes. My third theory is Teru coming into contact with his destined mate, whoever that could be from the time he was captured. It's the least likely one because I've only seen it a handful of times since I began studying medicine, one of those cases being when a destined pair never bonded. For unknown reasons, the alpha refused to mark the other. Even I felt bad for the omega, who kept having their heat almost every other week after meeting their fated one."

Kieran wanted to scoff at the idea. There was no way that could be the reason. Plus, it wasn't like he and Teru were fated since it's never happened between a vampire and a human.

Destined pairs were extremely rare. It was a phenomenon only between alphas and omegas, always human-human or vampire-vampire. In the simplest of terms, the couple was born for one another. Most know their fated partner right away if they ever met, but some take time to realize it depending on their emotional stability. Once their bodies recognized it, they will crave the other forever until the alpha marked the omega's nape.

It sounded troublesome. Once bonded, destined pairs experience separation symptoms – chills, fever, bodily aches, migraines, and nausea – if they're apart for too long.

Charles finished and placed the folder with the others in the filing cabinet. "Unfortunately, I'll never know the long term effects of going unbonded since the omega was found dead, tortured beyond recognition by some psychopath. I then wanted to do a case study of the alpha's psychological effects from the death of their unmarked destined partner, but they declined. Such a shame since it was unusual."

To deny their partner designed for them wasn't heard of. It would've been groundbreaking research.

Hmm. This story doesn't apply to me, regardless.

"There's honestly not a lot I can do except give you pointers. As I mentioned last time, all medications and testing equipment related to omegas were destroyed. I could file an appeal to Abaddon about resuming their production, but..."

Kieran knew why he was hesitant. To make such a request, the king would have to know Teru's medical history and its details for why the medication was necessary. If he knew about the unstable heat, he could demand pairing him off with other alphas. It wasn't the most ideal situation to be in.

"No, don't bother. If there are further complications, I'll contact you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spoil him? Low-stress environment?

He was so distracted by the suggestions that he didn't notice his youngest sibling passing by him.

Blaise squealed which startled Kieran. "Brother, you...you...," the lustful vampire sputtered and lightly moaned with pleasure. His irises were somehow shaped like small hearts.

Kieran was agitated. "Your sin is showing. Control yourself."

"YOU DID IT!" Blaise took a deep breathe next to Kieran's scent gland.

"Ugh, get off me," shoving him away.

Blaise looked like he was on the verge of an orgasm. "That omega smells nice. It's sweet like sugar but his heat changes it to...," he closed his eyes to analyze the scent. "Cinnamon. I can tell he was a virgin, squirming with pleasure while crying—"

The eldest prince slapped Blaise's cheek with the back of his hand, snapping his head to the side. Kieran's nails left a long gash. Some vampires saw and retreated the other way to avoid them just in case this became a destructive Pride-Lust fight. "Don't even think about finishing that sentence," he fumed.

Instead of defending himself from being struck, Blaise wiped the oozing blood with his finger and sensually licked it clean. "Thanks, brother, but I like it harder. Looks like someone's in the post-heat blues. Don't worry; it'll be your time soon to lose control."

Kieran would almost rather fight alpha on alpha with Tristan again than deal with Lust. Almost.

He walked around Blaise, whose laughter followed him down the hallway. Once Kieran saw the staircase door, he decided to take the stairs instead. He needed more time to cool down from his recent outburst.

Do I have to leave the capital with Teru just to get some damned peace and quiet?

It's not something he's ever considered before but fighting off every vampire and human that came their way was becoming a pet-peeve of his.

Kieran paused momentarily mid-step. Did he seriously just think about leaving New York? That was ridiculous. He has built too much in this post-vampire world. Anyone would say he was fool if he left it all behind for a human that would die in a few decades.

It was just his inner alpha grumbling.

Right?

He arrived at his apartment door, breaking a slight sweat after treading up two dozen flights of stairs. Instead of going inside, the prince remained there for a while, staring at the 'gift' that was left for him on the floor.

It was a black rose, his stepfather's symbol. Very rarely was he ever summoned like this unless it was something serious; they either communicated through messengers or by conference call, and even those seldom occurred. Most likely it had something to do with the first in-person meeting together in over two years – the one Kieran skipped to help with Teru's heat.

He picked up the gothic flower covered in sharp thorns. A note was attached to the stem.

It read:

High ruler of Avania, King Abaddon, respectfully requests a meeting with Kieran, First Prince of Avania, and human omega, Teru, on December 1st at 9 A.M.

This wasn't good. Teru would definitely discover his role in the capital. Kieran wasn't ready to disclose that tidbit of information. They were just starting to get over the 'I hate all vampires' hump.

There wasn't a way out of this, not without consequences.

December 1st. A month away. He knew the king was leaving the country today to travel abroad to meet officials, so that must be why the meeting was pushed so far ahead.

Kieran had four weeks to reveal his true identity. Four weeks to decide on what to do if Abaddon wanted to take his omega by force to place him in the breeding program.

His earlier thoughts of disappearing with Teru was now an active chess piece in his stepfather's game.