Kintsukuroi_ Chapter-16
Chapter-16
Day four with the pack
had been uneventful and Jayna was hopeful that the rest of their time would
pass by equally smoothly and when the next morning dawned bright and sunny, Jayna
began to relax, for once hopeful that her prayers were coming true. The slight
cramping of her stomach after breakfast was easily disregarded as a side-effect
of the unfamiliar flavours, but even though she popped a digestive pill to be
on the safe-side, the pain gradually built over the day. Her skin was hot and
itchy and she felt sore. Cursing herself
because it had to be her luck to
catch a bug, she decided to grab a second cold shower before lunch to keep her
temperature from going into the dangerous fever zones this far from
‘civilization’, but it was only after her shower that she realized that she had
misread all her symptoms. Panicked, she quickly dried herself, not bothering
with clothes and just grabbing her robe instead as she hurried to Janardan,
eyes wide in panic.
“What’s wrong?” The
alpha asked before she even opened her mouth, visible worry clouding his eyes.
“I- uh... I think I
miscalculated my calendar, Janardan. I’m going into heat. What’re we going to
do?” She confessed, struggling to overcome her embarrassment about discussing
such an intimate subject with an alpha but preferring to confide in Janardan
than in anyone else- it was so much
easier back home: all she had to do was arrange a sleep-over for Ben with Candice
and fold up the partition separating her side of the room from Janardan’s. No
words required at all. ... And the worst part was that she had carefully
consulted the calendar before this trip, making sure that her heat would not
hit till they were safely back in their own house. But obviously she had misread
something-
“Sshhh... it’s okay.
It’s completely normal given the stress of the last few days.” The alpha
soothed. Then, “Before we make arrangements, are you sure?”
Jayna bit her lip, but
nodded. “Yeah... I mean, I think so.”
“May I confirm for myself?”
Jayna felt his cheeks heat
at the question.
“Jayna?”
Throat dry, she could
only nod as she cursed herself for over-active imagination. Contrary to
expectations, Janardan just leaned forward slightly, careful not to actually
touch Jayna as he inhaled the omega’s scent from the glands at the base of her
neck.
“I’m afraid your
assessment is right,” Janardan confirmed.
Jayna closed her eyes,
biting back the curses that she wanted to yell at her traitorous body. “What
happens now?”
“Well, first; you need
to speak to your Om-in-law. Ben can share their quarters tonight and
tomorrow... and before you ask, yes, he’s going to be safe. The Alpha Guard
protects the Alpha and his family, so there’s nowhere he’ll be safer. Once
Benny is settled, we go to the Omega House.”
“I- I don’t want a
random alpha touching me, Janardan.” She whispered.
“I do not know how the
selections are made, Omega-Heir; but if you want I could perhaps put in a
request with the house-master that you be paired with me?”
“Yes, please...” Jayna
agreed.
And then they were
rushing, apparently, it was ‘late’ already and there was no time to be wasted.
Once they reached their destination, Jayna found the omega-house to be a
colonial-style house with a large grounds covering it on all sides. A
tree-lined pathway led up to the main porch. Janardan escorted her in and spoke
in hushed whispers to the ‘house-master’. The low volume and unfamiliar
language made it difficult for Jayna to follow the conversation, but she
understood that the House-master was protesting Jayna’s addition at this late
stage because there weren’t enough alphas... and Janardan was assuring that he
meant to sign up as well. Once the confusing exchange was completed, Janardan
nodded at her briefly and hurried out by a side-door. Jayna swallowed and
followed the house master as she was lead further inside to what amounted to a
large courtyard where she could already see a number of omegas gathered. Most
were in the early stages of their heats and the afternoon air was ripe with the
scent of fertile omegas. She glanced around warily, uncertain of protocol; when
a rotund older omega joined her.
“Namaste,” [Namaste= Hello]
“Hello,” Jayna returned
amiably enough, glad to have a friendly face.
“Aren’t you Alpha’s daughter-in-law?”
“I am,” She answered shyly,
taken aback by the direct question.
“Oh, wow.” The other
omega grinned, “I thought Alpha would make special arrangements for you.
It’s... nice to meet you. And I’m so sorry for your loss.” The woman added
soberly.
“Uh- thank you, I guess?”
She responded uncertainly.
“Do you have your
number?”
“Number?” She repeated
blankly.
“Oh dear, you don’t know
what is happening, do you? Never mind, Le’mme help.” The woman said cheerfully,
“Follow me,”
Jayna followed mutely as
she was led back to the house master and her new-found friend had a rather
animated discussion in a language she couldn’t follow when spoken so rapidly
before she was given two elastic bands with circular plastic tags in red
announcing the number twenty-one.
“Okay, so now we wait
for the alphas to arrive,” Her friend informed her, “Its always nice to watch
them, you know? So what if can only have one- the sight of so many hot
fellas... yummy.”
Jayna nodded awkwardly.
“Oh Sweety-” The omega chuckled
when she noticed Jayna’s reaction- or the absence of one, to be more accurate.
“You are a shy one aren’t you? Of course you are. You’ll like this then: once
they come we aren’t allowed to talk, okay? Just place your bids, okay?”
“Bids?”
“The house-master leads
the alphas forward one at a time. Those interested raise their hands. The first
one to place their ‘bid’ wins the hunk for their heat.”
“Oh.” Jayna swallowed,
“Thank you for telling me.”
The omega smiled,
opening her mouth to respond before noticing something and grinning widely,
“They’re bringing the alphas out.”
Jayna followed her gaze to
notice a door on the far side of the courtyard opening and the gathered omegas
immediately fell silent, everyone scrambling to sit on the scattered chairs and
benches. Once everyone was seated, the housemaster appeared through the open
door and Jayna’s throat dried as she watched the man lead a long row of blindfolded
alphas in peak physical shape. They were lined up in a straight row before the
house-master clapped once and immediately all the alphas went to their knees.
The house-master placed stepped behind the row of kneeling alphas and gently
placed his hands on the one at the right-most end, the man rising at the touch.
A flurry of hands raised and the house-master pointed his baton at one, the omega
smiling victoriously at her friends and stepping forward to place her token on
the alpha’s outstretched palm. The same routine continued down the row of alphas
till the house-master reached Janardan. Jayna raised her hand almost
immediately- unwilling to let someone
else claim the man she wanted- and was surprised when none of the other
omegas did- unlike what she had observed so far.
She resumed her seat awkwardly
after handing over the token to watch the rest of the proceedings and was
surprised by the melancholic smile gracing her new-friends’ lips.
“What?” She whispered.
“You loved your mate
very much, didn’t you?”
“Yes. Of course! Why do
you ask?”
“You chose Janardan,”
Jayna’s brows furrowed
in confusion, “So?”
“Only those who are not
ready for another alpha yet choose that man, in most cases he’s assigned to the
freshly widowed who are unwilling to pick an alpha for themselves.”
Jayna thought back to
all the times when Janardan had helped her through her heats- always doing
exactly as Jayna directed but never taking any initiative. They had shared
almost a dozen heats so far and it should have made Janardan free-er around her,
but the man still refused to initiate contact without Jayna’s explicit permission.
“The other alphas... they are different?”
“Well, with them, its
clear that they enjoy helping us with our heats... Janardan is...” The woman shrugged.
“He follows the rules
very stringently,” Jayna filled in.
“Yes,” The woman added
with a wrinkling of her nose, “The only benefit being his pheromones and his
willingness to do whatever is asked of him.”
“Yes,” Jayna agreed absently, throat dry as her mind raced
along possibilities she had never even considered all these years... The man
had all but begged her to go off the suppressants, but when the time came, he
hadn’t touched Jayna as she’d expected... in fact; if she thought about it, not
once did she remember Janardan asking Jayna for reciprocation during or after her
heats... Mind spinning with her newfound understanding, Jayna found herself
unable to relax and give into the alpha’s ministrations the way she usually did
except for during the few hours at the height of her heat. Janardan took care
of her as meticulously as ever- despite
how sore the welts on his back obviously were, and Jayna managed to hold her
questions while they were at the Omega-House, but unable to get her worries out of her mind, she confronted Janardan on the
way back to her in-law’s place. “Do you like sex?”
The warrior blinked at the sudden query, regarding her quietly for a
long minute before he answered. “I wouldn't know, Omega-heir; I have never had
any.”
Jayna reeled in horror at the baffling response, “Did you ever want to?”
Janardan shrugged, his expression stony.
“O-kay... did- did you never find anyone you wanted to have sex with?” She
persisted.
Janardan stiffened, “Do I have
to answer that, Maalik?” [Maalik= Master]
Jayna winced at the honorific, throat clicking drily as she realized she
had over stepped her bounds. She back-tracked quickly, shooting an apologetic
glance towards the alpha, "No, I- uh... I'm sorry, I shouldn’t
have asked."
For once the warrior did not absolve her, merely nodding in acceptance
of the apology and allowing the stifling silence to cloak them again.
Jayna wanted to say something- anything-
to break the thick tension surrounding them, but the words dried in her throat
when she saw the way the Fahlmer house
was bustling with activity. Immediately worried about Ben, she hurried inside,
making a beeline for her Om-in-Law’s quarters so that she could see her son and
assure herself of the boy’s safety.
“What’s happening?” She
asked the older Omega once she had been re-united with her son and the boy had
gone back to the book he had been immersed in when they had arrived.
“Oh, Ben is twelve- he
wasn’t here for his birthday, so we couldn’t hold the ritual then, but Alpha
decided that such an important rite shouldn’t be overlooked, we’re holding it
now...Tomorrow, in fact. We figured
you’d be home by tonight,” She added with a smile.
"What rite?"
"Why, his coming of age ceremony of course!"
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Earlier Parts: Prologue- Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter-3- Chapter 4- Chapter 5 - Chapter 6-
Chapter 7- Chapter 8- Chapter 9 - Chapter-10 - Chapter-11- Chapter-12- Chapter-13- Chapter-14 - Chapter-15
As always, comments and critique is welcome :-)
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