Wolf Moon

ยี่สิบ

The pain wasn't just mental and emotional. It was now physical.

Beam whimpered and twitched at the fire coursing through his system, his whole body spasming and cramping up. Forth never left his side while the doctors checked Beam over multiple times. Human and shifter doctors partnered up, doing their best to figure out what was happening to Beam's body.

The shifter doctors insisted that Beam was going through a "metamorphosis" of some kind. He had to have shifter genes from one or both of his parents, dormant in them, and the genes decided to just "wake up" when Beam endured a painfully emotional shock.

The human doctors were certain some of the pain was psychosomatic. Beam was doing this to himself, and the depression he had been diagnosed with earlier in his life was only making it worse.

Then Pha's father came on the scene, with his pack healer. He shooed all the doctors out. With Forth's permission - since Beam wasn't even aware of their presence, being feverish and unconscious - James and the healer thoroughly examined Beam. It didn't take them long to find something odd.

Beam's body was changing.

He really did have dormant shifter genes, and they were definitely alert and causing havoc on his system.

"It must've happened due to severe stress or shock," the healer concluded, gazing down at Beam sadly. "Poor boy..."

Forth instantly stiffened. He wanted to growl at her. "Why do you say that?"

James held up a hand. "No, I'll tell him." He turned to Forth, giving him a hard look. "You and Beam are boyfriends, correct?"

"Yes."

"Then why the hell would you let someone else hang all over you without telling them you were taken??"

Forth lowered his head. "She always does that. And not just to me. She's friendly with everyone."

"So? How do you think Beam felt when he saw how she cozied up to you, and you never pushed her away?" James gestured to Beam, lying helpless in the hospital bed. "Look at him. His genes woke up because he probably felt he wasn't enough."

Forth glowered. "He's always been more than enough!"

"He doesn't think so. I've been watching him decline since he started dating you," James shook his head in disappointment. "Forth, if you can't even see the signs of chronic depression, then you aren't ready to have a mate, let alone a boyfriend."

"Sir, I-"

"He could die from this, you know."

Forth's mouth shut with a sharp 'clack'. That awful truth had been running around in the back of his mind, but he hadn't wanted to hear it vocalized.

"His body is fighting against itself, trying to change so he can make you happy. Are you aware of that? That's why he was unresponsive when you found him in his room. That's why he's so ill now. Your boyfriend," James leaned closer, forcing Forth to look him in the eyes. "Had dormant shifter genes, and now his body is changing. All because you can't control your juniors."

Forth swallowed hard, his gaze straying to his boyfriend's pained expression.

"He smells like that of an omega."

Forth whipped his head back to James so fast he felt a crick in his neck. "W-what?? But I can't smell an animal on him!"

"No, and that's the strange part," James sighed, turning back to Beam and gently brushing his hair from his face. "He's not a shifter. But he's not quite human. He's become something new and incredible. A human omega. The first of his kind."