Chapter Three

It was well after lunch when Gabriel came in to the library and found the small omega reading, a smile tugging at her lips. There was still a lot to tell her, and now it was his turn to do the talking. He didn't want to frighten her with too much information at once, he detested the alphas who made their omegas into chattel almost as much as Balthazar did.

"Rach?" She looked up at her alpha and bit her lip, he was still so larger than life to her, not that she was afraid per se but that he held some sort of power over her she couldn't understand. He sensed her wariness and moved towards her slowly, sitting close but not too close to her. "Good book?" She nodded and tried willing herself to relax, despite the fact that everything about him seemed so predatory. He gently laid his hand on hers, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "There are some things I need to talk to you about." That doesn't sound ominous at all she thought.

"I know Bal explained some things to you earlier, but we still have a lot of ground to cover. Some of this may make you uncomfortable, but it's just the truth plain and simple." She chewed her lip and clutched tighter into his hand. "I'm listening."

Gabriel took a deep breath. "The way you feel when you are around me is because we still haven't consummated our relationship. You are still considered an unmated omega, and any alpha around you would make you feel the same, if not worse. I know Bal told you about those type of alphas." She nodded, still looking down at the floor. "Did he explain anything to you about what it means to be mated? Or about the process?" She shook her head. "No, but I am guessing it is something to do with sex." If she hadn't looked so afraid he might have laughed at the comment. "Yes Rach, sex. But not exactly in the traditional sense." He felt her stiffen, and scooted closer, kissing her temple and stroking her back.

She slowly relaxed into him with a small sigh. He fought to control himself, breathing through his nose and counting to 10. It wasn't her fault she affected him the way she did. "Rach, when I claim you, meaning having sex the first time, I'll also be marking you as mine. So no one else will ever try and take you, they will be able to smell that you belong to me. Every angel will know you are under my protection, and there are very few who would so much as try and harm a hair on your head."

A soft happy noise emanated from her, and she nuzzled his neck. He stiffened and counted to 10 again. "Gabe? Are you alright?" He swallowed hard and avoided looking into her eyes. "Not really. It's hard to explain, but because you aren't technically 'mine' yet, controlling my base instincts to mate you is difficult."

"So make me yours." She whispered into his ear. Every nerve in his body went on alert, and he froze, then took off. Rachael gasped when he disappeared from beside her, almost falling sideways onto the couch. The book hit the floor as she stood up quickly, wondering what she did wrong. Fear suddenly filled her, and her breaths came in small gasps. A warmth started filling her abdomen, spreading quickly throughout her small frame. She whimpered and crawled back onto the couch, hugging her knees to her chest. She didn't know what was happening inside her body, and it terrified her.

~o~

Balthazar almost got knocked over when Gabriel slammed into him. Balthazar's eyes widened when he saw the look on his mate's face. Gabriel shoved him onto the couch, growling as he pounced on top of him. The alpha dug his teeth into his mate's throat, causing the beta to give a small cry. Gabriel tore at his mates clothes, unable to stop himself from taking out his frustrations on his beloved. Balthazar made no attempt to struggle, simply allowed his mate to take him forcefully.

After he had worn himself out, Gabriel collapsed onto his beta, his breath coming in ragged gasps. Balthazar stroked his hair and back, nuzzling into his neck and nipping gently. "I'd ask if you're alright…" Balthazar murmured into his ear. Gabriel sighed and told him what had happened in the library. "Gabriel, maybe you should just" "No!" Gabriel said forcefully. "I'm not going to be like that… I'm sorry if for taking it out on you princess, I just didn't know what else to do…" Balthazar turned and kissed him, holding him tightly. Gabriel groaned and returned the kiss.

He propped himself up and smiled at his beta. "What would I do without you princess?" Balthazar gave a small huff. "Let's not even think about that love. But I can sense that she is fairly upset and confused right now. Shall I go talk to her?" Gabriel nodded. "Just let her know it's not her fault. And that I am sorry." Bal nodded and gave him another kiss. "Of course love. You go take a hot shower and maybe get us something going for dinner?"

~o~

Rachael was curled up on the couch when Balthazar came into the library, small sobs escaping her throat. He carefully picked her up and pulled her onto his lap, making soft reassuring noises while stroking her back. She sniffled and clung to him. "I'm sorry Bal, I didn't mean to make him leave, what did I do wrong?" Tears spilled down her cheeks and she swiped at them. He lifted her chin and looked down at her. "You did nothing wrong sweetheart, absolutely nothing. Gabriel couldn't control himself and he left rather than taking his frustrations out on you. He was trying to protect you from himself." She sniffled again and looked down at the floor. "But if I hadn't said anything…"

Balthazar sighed. "You need to be careful what you say around him, even in jest. He detests alphas who take their mates by force, but his patience is quite limited. You may think you are ready, but your body isn't quite there yet. What Gabriel was trying to explain to you about yourself, about the nature of what you are is very important. I'm just going to lay it all out for you."

She fixed him with her hazel eyes and sucked her bottom lip. Balthazar sighed. No wonder Gabe couldn't control himself, she was too tempting even for someone like himself at times, and part of it was because she wasn't trying to be that way. She was a natural beauty, with an air of innocence around her, basically any alphas wet dream come to life. He kissed her forehead and took a deep breath.

"Within a week or less, your body will be going in to heat. I know it sounds strange to a human, but it's a normal occurrence for any omega. You will go through a heat cycle every three months, until you get pregnant. Alphas go through rut, which is when they are able to produce offspring with an omega. Considering how riled up Gabriel is getting, I don't think it will take long for your heat cycles and his rut to synchronize. And since you are about to ask how I fit in to all of this…" she nodded. He looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Betas are the caretakers, since neither you are Gabriel will be able to focus on anything but each other for three to four days, it's my job to keep you both protected, and to make sure your basic human needs are met. Food, water, or anything else either of you need. Betas are also naturally gifted with taking care of pregnant omegas, including delivery, and caring for Nephilim. No offense to Gabriel, but when you become pregnant, he'll be focused on keeping you safe above all else, and the small details will be up to me."

Rachael sat and digested everything he had just told her. It seemed so strange and just out there, she couldn't imagine a human going into heat. But she understood about rut, weirdly it made sense, since any animals going into rut became dangerous to other males. She looked back up at Balthazar. "Maybe we should just keep our distance from each other for the next week? You said your good at running interference, you think that would help?"

Balthazar smiled and hugged her to him. "I knew I was right about you." She giggled and kissed his cheek. "Something tells me you are right about a lot of things… princess." "Call me that again and I will tie you naked to Gabriel's bed and cover you in chocolate sauce." Rachael whimpered and placed soft kisses on his face. "Just kidding, only kidding…"

~o~

Gabriel had managed to get himself almost completely calmed down, after slamming around pots and pans and cursing when he couldn't find the fresh garlic. He sensed that Bal had calmed Rachael down, and given her a better sense of understanding about him. It didn't help the deep down desire to take her forcefully, but he shoved those thoughts away as he tasted the spaghetti sauce. He felt them enter the dining room, and heard Bal tell her to wait in there as he came into the kitchen.

Balthazar came over and slid his arm around his mate, kissing his cheek. "She understands everything better now, and we both think it's best to keep the two of you at a distance for the remainder of the week." Gabriel fought the urge to argue the point, and simply nodded his agreement. Balthazar saw the muscles in his jaw twitching, and started rubbing circles into his back. "I can't pretend to know how hard this is for you…" "Then don't!" Gabriel snapped and instantly regretted it, seeing the hurt on Bal's face. Gabriel sat the spoon down quickly and pulled Balthazar close, peppering his face with kisses. "So sorry princess, didn't mean to hurt you, love you so much" he murmured softly. The beta sighed and snuggled against him, knowing that this was going to feel like the longest week of their collective lives.