Erika didn't quite know what was happening.
Everything around her was an amalgam of diffuse sensations, as if reality had been distorted, as if colors, sounds, and smells were mingling in a dense, oppressive whirlwind. The world seemed to collapse in on itself, and she struggled to determine what was up and what was down, what was real and what was an illusion born of her own body.
The heat.
Her body burned inside, not from fever or pain, but from something deeper, more primal. An old flame, long dormant, had ignited without warning, leaving her unprotected. Erika recognized that heat, but she hadn't felt it like this before—so raw, so demanding, so overwhelming. It was her heat.
But that couldn't be.
She had her schedules; she kept track of them to know when she could work and when she couldn't. So she knew there were still days to go. She was supposed to be safe at least until next weekend... and yet, her body was screaming at her otherwise.
It had all been too sudden.
At first, she thought everything would be okay. She was with Alison and Emma, smells she knew, that felt familiar. But there was another scent. A thick, deep, powerful scent.
And though her rational side tried to remind her that it certainly wasn't a threat, her inner omega didn't understand it the same way. That ancient, ferocious instinct she'd tried so hard to contain kicked in, demanding control, stirring her pulse, blinding her mind.
Everything that happened next was a blur, fragments of disorder.
Her claws. She didn't remember pulling them out, but there they were, glinting in the house lights, followed by swipes, scratches, and screams.
Erika isn't quite sure what happened, but after a few moments, the arms that held her let go. And she... just ran.
She ran as if her life depended on it.
She didn't even know if she was going in a straight line. She just wanted to get out, escape that place filled with stares, pheromones, and laughter that still seemed to resonate in her head like knives. Her heels were left behind somewhere, and her bare feet hit the icy asphalt without her even noticing. The night air scratched her throat, but that didn't matter. She just wanted to get to her car.
She didn't know how she reached it. Her hands trembled as she pulled the keys from her purse, opened the door, and threw herself inside as if the small vehicle were a sanctuary. When she managed to start it, she slammed the pedal down, speeding away without looking back.
Two voices were calling her name. She vaguely recognized them in distant memories: Alison and Emma.
But she didn't stop.
She drove aimlessly until the flashing red lights forced her to stop. There, in the darkness and silence, her heart beating like a runaway drum, Erika rummaged in the glove compartment with trembling fingers. She had to do it quickly, before the heat took over again.
Her fingers brushed the small metal cylinder. The suppressant. An emergency dose.
She wasn't planning on using it yet. Her heat was due to come later, with days to plan, lock in, prepare.
But now all that had fallen apart. Planning meant nothing against the reality of her rebellious biology. She rested the needle against her thigh and pressed the small button on the other end.
The cold liquid entered her body and began to take effect. It wasn't immediate, but it was enough to allow her to breathe, think, and sustain herself.
Tears began to fall before she realized it.
Small at first, silent. Then came the suppressed sobs, the trembling of her chin, the shaking of her entire body. Erika gripped the steering wheel tightly, as if she could anchor her soul to it, as if the emotional pain she felt would dissipate when she focused on something physical.
It wasn't fair.
It wasn't fair to feel so humiliated, so exposed, so broken.
She just wanted to sing. She just wanted to get on stage, do her job, collect her pay, and go home to her sisters. But the world hadn't allowed that. Not that night. The laughter of the crowd still burned in her ears. The way they jeered, the way they looked at her when her voice broke, when her scent changed.
She couldn't even clearly remember what pushed her to that point.
Was it a comment?
A look?
The accumulated pressure of weeks of stress, fear, and exhaustion?
She didn't know. But her body did.
And her body decided to give in to that urge without her permission.
A part of her knew there was something more. An instant, fleeting, before the chaos. Something felt different. Something felt safe... and at the same time, forbidden. A scent that didn't come just from inside her, but from another source... from someone.
Erika shook her head, wiping her face with the sleeve of her jacket. She didn't want to think about it. Not now. She couldn't allow herself to be tempted to remember details that would only confuse her more. It was easier to forget and hate herself than to accept what she felt.
She pressed her lips together, trying to regain some dignity as she drove slowly through the half-empty streets. She didn't know exactly where she was going. She just wanted to get far enough away, find some safe corner where she could cry without witnesses.
She'd lost more than control. She'd lost part of her pride, her shield.
She couldn't even muster the courage to look her boss in the eye to ask for her pay before running. The money she so desperately needed to feed her sisters, to pay the rent, to keep resisting.
But at that moment... how could she do it? How could she lift her gaze after being humiliated like that in front of everyone?
Her voice, her body, her very being. Everything was exposed to people she didn't know and didn't want to know.
Erika took a deep breath, turning on the car's heater as she pulled into the side street of a quiet park. She couldn't go back yet. Not with that knot in her stomach. Not with the sticky feeling of shame and defeat clinging to her skin.
He rested his forehead on the steering wheel and closed his eyes.
"Just a minute." he whispered to himself. "Just one more minute, and I'll go."
But he knew that minute could turn into hours. Because even though the suppressant calmed his body, his soul was still trembling. And no injection could ease that.