I Married A Degraded Alpha
Chapter 45: The Heat Cycle Arrives

Chapter 45: The Heat Cycle Arrives

Yuri returned to her room, making a beeline for the bathroom. Her clothes were stained with the overpowering smell of alcohol and food from downstairs, a mix she found distasteful.

Filling up the bathtub, she sunk herself into the water. Ever since differentiating into a beta, her senses had become sharper, her palate favoring milder tastes. But she wondered, Is it just my taste that was affected Will it change my mood too?

She remembered reading that betas were often sensitive, deep thinkers, and tend to overthink. During their heat cycles, they could become extra vulnerable, their feelings all over the place, and quick to lose their cool...

Thinking about this description, Yuri frowned. It was true, her emotions had been kind of all over the place today.

Is my heat cycle about to start? She wondered.

She turned on her opticomputer. Over a month had passed since her differentiation. It seemed very likely that she was about to start her first heat cycle.

Yuri felt a rush of fear. Am I going to act like a wild animal?

She thought about her neighbor’s cat during its mating season.

No. I don’t want a heat cycle. The very thought made her feel down. She got out of the tub and got straight into bed. As for the party going on downstairs, she wasn’t interested.

After all, Tuss was the one she married, not his friends.

She pulled the blanket over her head, trying to block out the outside world.

A few moments later, she lifted the blanket and took out some suppressants and an injector from her cabinet, and put them on her nightstand. If her heat cycle started, she could inject herself right away.

This made her feel a little safer.

But she couldn’t sleep, so she turned her opticomputer back on, forcing herself to do some studying to take her mind off things.

Downstairs, the party was still going strong. A lot of people were tipsy, with a few having had too much to drink and passed out.

One alpha had a scent that was a lot like alcohol, so when it started to spread, no one noticed at first.

But then two betas turned red, their glands getting too hot, and asked in accusing tones, "Who let their pheromones out?"

Everyone stopped, the once noisy room becoming deathly quiet. The slightly tipsy crowd was suddenly wide awake, asking, "What’s happening?"

"Someone let their pheromones out." The beta said, their bodies shaking.

"All alphas, get out of the living room now." Tuss said in a stern voice.

Hearing this, the alphas quickly moved towards the door.

"Some of you, help them to their rooms." Tuss told a few omegas to help the passed-out alphas.

"What about them?" A couple of girls pointed at the flushed betas, who were lying on the ground with faces as red as tomatoes.

"Give them suppressants," Tuss said.

"We didn’t bring any." The beta looked like they were about to cry.

"Wait here." With that, Tuss ran upstairs as fast as a lightning bolt.

The door burst open, scaring Yuri who was in bed, "What’s going on?"

"A little problem. I need some suppressants right now." Tuss answered quickly, his eyes noticing her nightstand.

Before Yuri could say anything, he grabbed the suppressants and dashed back out.

Yuri figured that sleep was a lost cause. She got up from her bed, put on her clothes, and gave herself a shot of the suppressants. She then left her room and headed downstairs.

The main room was almost empty when she got there, only a messy aftermath left behind.

"I’m really sorry about the mess," a boy apologized awkwardly.

"What went down here?" Yuri asked, shaking her head.

"Vernon overdid it with the drinks and let his pheromones loose. They smell like alcohol, so no one noticed until two betas went into heat. Luckily, Tuss stepped in and managed to get things under control before it turned into a disaster," the boy explained, a hint of lingering fear in his voice.

"As long as everyone’s okay," Yuri muttered. She looked around before asking, "Where’s Tuss?"

"He’s making sure the alphas leave," the boy replied.

Yuri gave him a questioning look at his response.

Maybe it was the intensity of her gaze, but the boy’s face turned red as he said, "I stayed to help clean up."

With that, he quickly turned to pick up plates and glasses left scattered all over the place.

Yuri didn’t know what to say. Talk about awkward.

Instead of telling the boy he didn’t need to help, she called over two robot butlers. After giving them instructions to tidy up the house, she turned to the boy. "You’re our guest, let the robots take care of this."

The boy stopped, not brave enough to look into Yuri’s eyes. "I’ll head out then. See you."

Just as he started to make a run for it, Yuri quickly said, "Hold on."

He turned back around, "Yes?"

Yuri studied the boy from his shoes to his hair, a knowing look crossing her face. Still, she kept her voice casual. "Are the ones who had too much to drink in the guest rooms?"

"Yes, there are three of them who got too drunk and they’re in the guest rooms, along with the two betas," he confirmed.

"What’s your name?" Yuri asked.

"Jo," he replied, giving her a shy grin.

"Jo, would you be able to stay and look after the three drunk alphas?" Yuri asked, sounding genuinely appreciative.

"Sure, yeah." Jo looked both surprised and pleased. "They’re my classmates. You don’t need to be so formal with me."

Yuri gave a nod. "Thanks, Jo. You’ll find toiletries and clean pajamas in the rooms. Feel free to use them."

"Okay," Jo agreed.

After saying goodnight to each other, Yuri turned and went back upstairs.

As he watched her leave, Jo thought to himself that Yuri was kinder than he’d expected.

The main reason he stayed wasn’t just to lend a hand. He wanted to avoid a long, pricey ride back home. Late-night fares were twice the usual cost, coming to 1,200 astracredits, a sum he simply couldn’t afford.

He could have caught a ride with one of his classmates, but that classmate got plastered.

So, he decided to stick around. He would spend the night and catch a ride in the morning, taking a lev halfway there.

He knew that Yuri hadn’t meant to let him stay at first. She must have caught on to his situation, figured he was low on astracredits, and chose to let him stay.

Jo had no problem accepting other people goodwill. It was something he had learned in kindergarten.

Jo was still in the living room when Tuss strolled in.

"Tuss, Yuri told me to stick around and take care of Vernon and the gang," Jo let him know right away.

"Thanks," Tuss said with a slight nod, then walked to the stairs.

Jo kept an eye on him as he climbed up, then went off to check on the guest bedrooms.

When Tuss barged into Yuri’s room without knocking, Yuri thought maybe she should start using her door lock.

"Don’t you think you should’ve knocked?" Yuri questioned.

"I figured you heard me coming," Tuss answered, looking a bit confused.

"Hearing you doesn’t cut it. Knocking is just plain polite," Yuri shot back.

"I’ll keep it in mind," Tuss admitted, seeming a bit taken aback.

Just as Yuri was about to ask what he wanted, Tuss moved quickly and gave her a big, comforting hug. "Yuri, I’ve gotta tell you, my heat period has kicked in," he confessed.