Raiel's Point: 

The therapist was booked until next week so I had to get my thoughts into order. The receptionist gave a basic rundown, and since it was going to be the two of us going, I had to bring some form of information about Edam but I didn't know the smallest bit about him outside of our brief interactions. Not to mention that he's been locked up in his room as of late, and the night was slowly beginning to draw across the sky.

I could always ask him to write a testimony, but that might take a bit of time. As of now, I had my own thoughts which ran back and forth through my head. I think Adda is already out for the evening so that might be an issue since she's my only source when it comes to things outside of the walls of my own life. An extension of when she used to tell me all sorts of folktales. Strange things from people having dark shadows of themselves to creatures in the water that snatch up children. All sorts of strange things, I had offered her the possibility of publishing a book on it but she refused. Maybe it was like cutting off a piece of her, I couldn't really understand and I still don't.

Why had he been in his room the entire afternoon. It was too quiet for my liking. Sighing, I stood up from my chair and decided to make sure he was still alive. Those horrible events of the prior days still weighed heavily on me.

Turning off the lights, I left into the hallway. I nearly tripped on the carpet, shifting it back into place with annoyance. Walking down the hall, the silence became more unnerving. If anything, it became oppressing. I should probably get night staff, or start holding parties here again. These hallways became too cold in the evening. Eventually, I was in front of his door.

My hand couldn't touch the doorknob. It almost looked as though it would burn me if I did so. That's when it hit me, the scent. It was woody at first but had some smaller musky floral scent under it. It prompted something in me and I wanted to go in and see for myself but, again, that doorknob. Tentatively, I reached up and gripped onto the doorknob a few times as if it would suddenly turn hot in a minute. Why did this make me so anxious?

It was becoming an annoyance and, taking a final breath, I opened the door and looked in. The lamp was still on, so he was awake, but the smell was potent when you smelled the room proper. I heard a small whimper from the bed and the balled up blankets shuffled painfully. I felt a knock  up the side of my head.

When I blinked, Adda was there shutting the door and her hand was held up in a promise for a second beating.

"Only when the two of you are on good terms, boy," she growled silently. Had it been any more, she would've probably dragged me by my ear but she lifted me up by my arm. What didn't change, however, was the glare that she kept on me as we moved to my own bedroom. When there, she just shoved me in the chair by the vanity and watched me closely. She sniffed the air around me, widened my eyes to see my pupils and all sorts of tests that only she would be brave enough to do.

"You're not in rut, why are you stalking about his room - again?"

"I wanted to check on something," I said, about to carry on when I saw a smile break across her face.

"Alright, you can, but you need to understand that there's still a gap twice the size of the bloody sun between the two of you. Although he's going to lose some of his sense, you ain't gonna take advantage of him, understand?"

"Who said I'm going to try an-" I stopped when she raised her eyebrow, answering my question without a single work. She sat down on the foot of the bed and stared at me, trying to measure some response from my posture.

"Give him until after the heat, talk to him," she trailed off quietly, "be a husband that he needs, not a man that he fears."

With that, she got up and moved to the door. Without breaking her stride, she turned over to look over at me.

"If I so much as smell you in his room tomorrow, I will personally paint these walls with your insides, am I understood?"

"Yes, Adda," I said with a chuckle. She responded with a chuckle of her own before leaving. That was it, the conversation ending when she closed the door. He was in heat. That would explain some of his emotions, but now how would this work? The first heat under my roof is bound to be a painful one, and I'll have to make sure the doors are locked and that he only has omegas or betas tending to him. I facepalmed myself, realizing that I had forgotten to ask Adda about charms but she was already long gone, and probably stalking outside of Edam's bedroom like a protective force of all hell.

Letting myself slump into my chair, I resolved to start making more conversation with him. I don't even know his favourite colour. I don't even know what his favourite meal is. Speaking of meals, I needed one right now and I'm assuming he'll need one too. The staff would be bringing my dinner to the office now before retiring to their quarters and some going home for the weekend. Pulling the phone from the nightstand, I pressed the button for the kitchen and redirected their course to my bedroom before putting it back done.

Tapping on the receiver, I tried to think of some way we could talk more. Maybe, we could go on a date after this entire heat business...