Passion and Power

Chapter 2

"I think you just triggered..." They both started saying the same thing at the same time.

"My heat..." The brunette said.

"My rut..." Minji finished.

With a look of desperation, the brunette began to search around her desperately. "What...time is it?"

She reached and clicked on her TV screen and chose the 'Flight Map' page. Both women turned their faces, hoping against hope they were within a reasonable time window for landing.

"Oh my god...we have 6 more hours..." The woman said, sounding like she was in shock. The women turned back to look at each other.

Minji watched as her eyes widened in panic, her breath becoming increasingly rapid. The sight caused the alpha inside Minji much distress and she instinctively reached out to take the woman's hand and try to calm her.

The other woman jerked in reaction, like she'd touched a hot stove, but Minji held tight and eventually the woman seemed more calm, her breath slowing down.

"I'm sorry, I...should have asked before touching you. I just...hated seeing you looking so upset..."

"No...it's...it's OK. It helped, actually." The woman was now squeezing her hand back gently, then pulled Minji's hand closer to her body, as if trying to keep her from getting away.

"It's going to be OK, Hanni. We're going to figure this out." Minji took a deep breath. "Together."

"So, um..." Blue eyes looked up at Minji. "What the fuck are we going to do?"

"Ha!" Minji couldn't help but laugh at the way she said it. "That is, indeed, the question."

Minji began to rub what she hoped were soothing circles against the back of the skittish woman's hand with her thumb. She seemed to melt a bit into her seat. Minji tried to focus on staying in control and slowing down her oncoming rut. They had to figure something out. She imagined the scandal, if she lost control, if something happened and it got out to the public. On top of her brother's meltdown, the scandal would be devastating to her family's company. And the soccer star! What would that do to her career? Aren't professional women paid terrible, inequitable salaries? She didn't follow sports, but she knew that much. They needed endorsements to make a sustainable living, they couldn't just rely on their salaries. What could be worse for an athlete's image than getting caught fucking on a plane? By a notorious Kim, no less? No, they absolutely had to keep it together.

"Listen, we're both strong, smart women. We don't have to be slaves to our biology. We're going to get through this step by step, OK?" Minji said, not really believing it, but hoping it sounded comforting. Seeing the omega next to her upset was heightening the intensity of her oncoming rut. She felt an urge to wrap herself around the other woman and protect her in any way she could.

"Is there any chance you have suppressants with you?"

"No...I, it's nowhere near time for my heat. It just didn't...occur to me I might need them..."

"That's OK. It's the same for me. There's something about our chemistry..." Minji said.

"It's probably my fault." The brunette broke in. "I was immediately attracted to you..."

"You were?..." Minji was taken aback by this, she hadn't picked up on any signals from the woman, other than that she was a kind, friendly person.

"Yes..but, I could tell you weren't interested, so..."

"Not interested! Why would you say that?!" Minji asked, sounding incredulous.

"Well...you didn't seem to want to engage in conversation when I tried to talk to you. And then you turned away from me to look out the window. Pretty clear signals."