4 One day ago

Jace laid still for a moment as he waited for his headache to subside. As he did, his sweating was continually getting worse, and his eyes began to loose focus. There was a cool liquid pooling in his pants.

Wait, this wasn't right. Was this slick? He was supposed to be an alpha.

Jace stood slowly and walked to his mirror. His face was flushed red, and his pupils were dilated. He brought his hand to his face and pushed his matted hair up off of his forehead. He quickly undressed and watched with horror as more slick fell down the inside of his leg. No. This wasn't right. He had to go to the doctor.

Jace couldn't bring himself to tell his family. Instead, he snuck out the back door and got into his car. He drove as fast as he could to the clinic. It was a struggle to stay focused, but he made it somehow. He already had an appointment to get his secondary gender confirmed, but that was supposed to be in the afternoon.

If he was right about being a ... what he thought he might be, then he'd need to do something about it. But, what could he do? He was very obviously in heat. He couldn't go to the party in this condition. His aunt still doesn't appear in public even with all the work she does from her home, and the only reason for that, to his knowledge, was pressure from his family to stay out of sight.

Jace pulled into a parking space outside of the secondary gender clinic. He rested his head on the steering wheel and took a breath before he left his car and walked into the clinic with as much confidence as he could muster. A Brinston does not show weakness, not even among themselves.

"I'd like a secondary gender test please," he said. His voice was too shaky. He'd already made a mistake.

The woman at the desk didn't look up from the computer, "Do you have an appointment?"

"I did," Jace replied, clearing his throat, "but, it was scheduled for the afternoon. I need it now." His voice was steady this time. That's better.

"What was the name? We have a free spot in just a few minutes," the woman finally raised her head. By this point, Jace may have had a rather composed facial expression, but he had to lean on the desk to keep himself upright, and his entire body was sweating profusely.

"Jace Brinston," he said, "I don't have to sign anything do I?"

"A-actually you do, but I can bring it to you in a moment. Why don't you sit down?" she stood and quickly moved around the desk to support him as he was moved to a chair. She returned a few seconds later with a clipboard, "Just fill it in to the best of your ability, and bring it with you when you're called."

Jace looked at the paper. All it asked for was his medical information and whether or not he knew his parents' genders. It took him far longer than he would have hoped to get coherent words onto the paper, but the form was filled out by the time he was called in.

The doctor greeted him with a friendly smile, "Luckily for you, most omegas don't release too many pheromones during their first heat. Did you get here okay?"

Jace flinched, "I- yes..."

He's not an omega. He's an alpha, like his brothers. An alpha.

"Alright, I'm just going to have you spit in this jar for me, and then I'll take a blood sample to test your pheromones, and we'll.." the doctor kept taking, but Jace couldn't stay focused. He just followed the directions, and tried not to think too much. The doctor seemed convinced he was an omega. Well, obviously, just one look at Jace's current state could tell someone exactly what he was. There was no use in saying otherwise.

The doctor came back with more papers, "Looks like you're a true omega. I've called your parents to pick you up, since you shouldn't be traveling alone right now."

A true omega? Not just an omega, but a true omega? How low is the chance of that? He has the physic of an alpha, but he's a true omega? Will he even be allowed to work? His aunt is a dominant omega, at least, and to his knowledge there hasn't been a true omega in his family since they started the business generations ago. Not even the public treats true omegas well. He should know, he participated in the hate. Yet, he's a male omega? What kind of bullshit was that?

His parents walked into the room, "Jace, why the hell are you here?" Adeline paused, "Wait, what's this? Are you in heat?" she looked at the doctor.

"He's a true omega," he said.

Her pheromones flared for a second so short it was almost unnoticeable. She smiled at Jace, "Really, now? Why don't we get you home so you can rest?"

"He's an omega?" interrupted Walter, "Are you sure?"

Jace flinched.

"Now, now, honey, it's alright. There's nothing wrong. It may have been unlikely, but we are both sub alphas, so it's not like it's impossible," she place her hand on his arm and plastered a wide smile onto her face, "Let's go home, Jace."

The car ride back was suffocating.

"When we get home, you can say goodbye to your brothers, but you have to leave. I'm not housing you when you pull shit like you did last night. I would have considered letting you stay if you were an alpha. But true omegas are useless to me," said Walter.

"I'm pulling you out of private school. You can go enroll at a public school if you think you can graduate without our help. We gave them so much money to keep them from failing you, and this is what we get," Adeline glared at him through the rear view mirror.

"My parents were lenient with my sister because she was smart, and she at least had one alpha gene. They were planning to marry her off, but she refused. I never thought I'd have a child with a worse position," Walter shook his head.

"Please, father. I'll stay out of your way. I'll listen to everything you and mother tell me to do. Please, just let me stay," Jace pleaded. A lump was beginning to form in his throat. Don't cry. If he cries, there's no way they'd change their minds.

"I've already decided, Jace," Walter said, "Go find someplace else to live."

They pulled into the driveway. Jace couldn't bring himself to go inside if it meant he had to leave right away anyway. He ran as fast as he could towards Alex's house. He lived only four blocks away.

Jace knocked on the door. He was out of breath, still sweating, and on the verge of tears. "Come on, open the door," he choked out.

"Jace? Why are you here? Why do you look like that? Are you okay?" Alex opened the door.

"My parent kicked me out. I don't know what to do."

"They what? Why? Did they give you any money?"

"I can't go back. I'm a.. I can't fucking say it," he said.

Derek appeared from around the corner, "Jace! What are you doing here? Did you parents let you out?"

"Hah, Derek, he's an omega," Alex laughed, "They kicked him out."

"What really? Did you take anything with you?"

"They didn't let me," Jace said, his voice cracking. He was starting to feel like something was off, but he could hardly hold himself up. It took all his energy to get here.

"So the richest guy I know is homeless now? Whose gonna pay the food bills now?" Derek smirked.

Alex looked Jace up and down, "You don't even look like an omega? To think I was friends with this thing."

"Woah, woah, Alex, you can't just say that anymore," Derek said.

"Why not? It's true that omegas are weak and stupid. I guess we know why his grades were always so low," he laughed.

Jace froze. These people were supposed to be his friends. Were they just faking it because he had money? After everything, they weren't even actually his friends.

Jace backed away from the house and walked away. He wouldn't run. He refused to give them that satisfaction. He pulled at his hair. What could he do now?