Chapter 139: Ruthina’s In Heat

Arielle rushed to the royal infirmary, the only room she could reach at the moment. The corridors of the palace blurred past her as she ran, her boots slapping against the marble floor, her breath coming in short, sharp gasps. Her arms were wrapped tightly around Ruthina, holding the trembling omega against her chest, and her magic flickered around them in a protective bubble—a barrier of blue light that shimmered and pulsed with the rhythm of her racing heart.

The servants of the church followed close behind, their footsteps echoing through the halls in a chaotic scramble. Their voices rose in a confused babble of fear and worry. Some of them were crying, their faces pale with shock, while others whispered to each other in hushed, frightened tones.

None of them had ever seen anything like this before. None of them had ever seen the golden rabbit, their sacred omega, reduced to such a state. And none of them had ever seen the Lordess Arielle this furious.

"Move! Get out of the way!" Arielle snapped as two young servants froze in the middle of the corridor, their eyes wide and their hands clutching at each other. "Unless you want to explain to me why you’re standing there while she’s burning up, move!"

They stumbled aside, pressing themselves against the wall, and Arielle swept past them without slowing. Behind her, one of the older servants found her voice. "My lordess, please—what happened? What did they do to the golden rabbit?"

Arielle did not turn around. "Ask your priest," she said, and the coldness in her voice made the servant stumble to a stop. "Ask him what he did. And pray I don’t get to him before the General does."

A ripple of frightened whispers ran through the servants, but Arielle was already gone, her magic carrying her forward. She had wrapped her long, heavy coat around the omega and used magic to stop Ruthina’s pheromones from spreading through the air, preventing them from attracting more alphas.

The spell was simple—a barrier of blue light that shimmered around Ruthina’s trembling form—but it required concentration, and Arielle’s mind was a storm of fury and fear. She could feel the pheromones pressing against the barrier, sweet and thick and desperate, and she gritted her teeth against the urge to tear the barrier down and take what her alpha instincts were screaming at her to take.

She would not do that. She would never do that. Ruthina was not a thing to be taken, not a prize to be claimed. She was a person—a person Arielle loved more than life itself—and she would rather die than hurt her.

The infirmary was at the end of the long corridor, its heavy wooden doors closed. Arielle did not slow down. She did not hesitate. She simply lowered her shoulder and pushed through, the doors swinging open with a crash that echoed through the room.

The female omega physician was already there, her face pale with worry, her hands already reaching for the herbs and potions on the shelves. One of the guards had summoned her, telling her only that the golden rabbit was in distress, and she had prepared for the worst. But even she was not prepared for what she saw.

"Lady Arielle," the physician said, hurrying forward and pulling the blanket back from the bed. "Put her here. Gently. What happened? When did the fever start?"

"I don’t know," Arielle said, laying Ruthina flat on the bed with quick but gentle movements. She pulled the coat tighter around the omega’s trembling form and brushed a strand of sweat-soaked golden hair from her face. "I found her like this. The church had her. The priest had her. She was begging me not to leave her, and she was burning up before I even got her out of that room."

The physician’s mouth tightened, but she did not ask more. She had learned long ago that some answers could wait until the patient was stable. Ruthina’s skin was flushed with fever, her golden hair matted with sweat, and her rabbit ears drooped low against her head. She was shivering despite the heat radiating from her body, and her eyes were wild with fear and pain.

"Ngh~ Arielle, it hurts~ please help me~" Ruthina whimpered and snuggled deeper into Arielle’s chest, wanting to bury herself in the warmth Arielle provided. Her voice was small, broken, barely more than a whisper, and it tore at Arielle’s heart like claws. She could feel Ruthina’s body trembling against hers, could feel the heat radiating from her skin, could smell the sickness beneath the sweetness of her pheromones.

"I know," Arielle said, her voice softening as she cupped the back of Ruthina’s head. "I know it hurts. Hold on tight. I’m getting you to safety."

She turned her head toward the door and shouted, "Summon General Liv! Now! Run!"

The guards standing by the door panicked and scrambled to obey. One of them nearly tripped over his own spear, and the other grabbed his arm and yanked him upright before they both bolted down the corridor.

They had never seen her like this—had never seen the cold fury in her eyes, the way her hands shook with the effort of holding herself back. They ran without question, their boots slapping against the marble floor, their voices calling out for the General.

"General Liv! The Lady needs General Liv! Emergency!"

"Move, move, move!"

Arielle barely heard them. She looked down at Ruthina, and her chest tightened until it was hard to breathe. The golden rabbit, the sacred omega, the symbol of hope and purity for an entire kingdom, was lying on a bed with her hair matted with sweat and her eyes wild with fear. She looked so small, so fragile, so utterly unlike the bright, laughing omega who had captured Arielle’s heart.

"I’m here," Arielle said, pressing a kiss to Ruthina’s forehead. "I’m not going anywhere."

Ruthina grabbed Arielle’s hand and gripped it weakly, her fingers cold and trembling. "Arielle~ please~ don’t go~ stay here with me. I’m scared."

"I won’t. I’ll stay," Arielle whispered, and she meant it. She would stay until the end of time if that was what Ruthina needed.

"Lordess," the physician said carefully, stepping closer with a small bowl of crushed herbs in her hands, "you have to step out. The omega is in heat. This could trigger your alpha senses, and you might pounce on her. I can’t treat her properly if I’m worried about you losing control."

Arielle’s heart broke further. She knew the physician was right. She could feel her alpha instincts clawing at the edges of her control, could feel the primal urge to claim, to mark, to take. But she also knew that she would never hurt Ruthina. She would rather die than hurt her.

"Ruth..." Arielle began, her voice tight. "You heard that? I have to step out for a while. I’ll just be out—"

She wasn’t able to finish. Ruthina forced herself to sit up and hugged her, her arms wrapping around Arielle’s neck with a desperation that was heartbreaking. The physician made a sharp sound of protest, but Ruthina ignored her.

"No~ don’t leave me~ they’re hurting me, I... I don’t... I don’t know what to do~" Ruthina said, and her voice cracked on the words. She was clinging to Arielle like a drowning woman clinging to a lifeline, her whole body shaking with sobs. "Please~ please, Arielle~ don’t let them take me again~"

Arielle wrapped her arms around Ruthina and held her close, one hand cradling the back of her head. "No one is taking you," she said, and her voice was low and fierce. "No one is touching you again. I swear it."

Instead of wanting to pounce on the omega in heat, all Arielle could think of was revenge. She wanted to find the priest, wanted to make him suffer, wanted to make him pay for what he had done. She wanted to burn the church to the ground and scatter the ashes to the wind. But she could not do that now. Ruthina needed her. Ruthina needed her to be calm, to be steady, to be the safe space she so desperately needed.

She glanced at the female omega physician. "Get me a potion that blocks my alpha olfactory," she said. "Now."

The physician hesitated for only a moment. "It will dull your senses for a few hours. You may feel sick. It is not meant to be taken often."

"I don’t care," Arielle said. "Give it to me."

The physician nodded and went to the shelves to find the potion. Arielle returned her gaze to Ruthina and cupped her face, her thumbs gently wiping the omega’s tears away.

"Shh~ don’t be scared. I’m here~" she said, and she covered her nose as the omega’s musk pheromones tried to reach her. The scent was overwhelming—thick and sweet and desperate—and it took every ounce of her willpower to resist it. "Look at me, Ruth. Look at me. I’m not leaving. I’m right here."

"I’m sorry~ I’m so sorry~ I’m being very bad," Ruthina muttered, her ears flattening against her head. "I didn’t mean to~ I don’t want to be trouble~"

Arielle shook her head, her own eyes stinging with unshed tears. "You’re not bad. You’re not trouble. They’re bad for hurting you. Once you’re feeling better, you’ll tell me everything that happened, and I will handle it. Do you understand? I will handle it."

Ruthina nodded weakly, but her fingers did not loosen from Arielle’s sleeve. "They said~ they said it was my duty~ that I had to~ that the church needed~" She broke off with a shuddering breath. "I didn’t want to~ I told them no~ but they wouldn’t listen~"

Arielle gritted her teeth in absolute fury, but for Ruthina’s sake, she stopped herself and became the omega’s safe space. She would not let her anger touch Ruthina. She would not let her fury frighten her. She would be calm. She would be steady. She would be what Ruthina needed.

"Listen to me," Arielle said, her voice quiet but firm. "You said no. That was enough. You don’t owe anyone your body, Ruth. Not the church, not the priest, not anyone. Do you hear me?"

Ruthina’s lower lip trembled. "But I’m in heat~ I’m supposed to~"

"No," Arielle said, cutting her off gently. "You’re in heat, yes, but it doesn’t mean you have to do it. You can say no while being in this situation, and it doesn’t mean you have no right. Your body is yours. Your choices are yours. No one—not the church, not the priests, not the laws of gods or men—can take that from you. Do you understand me?"

Ruthina stared at her for a long moment, her fever-bright eyes searching Arielle’s face as if looking for a lie. Then her expression crumpled, and she buried her face in Arielle’s shoulder. "Arielle~ I... I don’t... I do not want to... <anno data-annotation-id="bdb08eab-488e-d8aa-4f58-f121c95983ec" data-title="S-Swive">S-Swive1</anno>... Please~ I do not... Ngh! Want to do it," she kept begging, her words muffled against Arielle’s tunic.

Arielle kissed her forehead again and pulled her into a tight hug. "No. No no no, listen to me. You don’t have to. You never have to. I will stay right here, and no one will make you do anything. I promise."

The physician came back with the potion, a small glass vial filled with a cloudy gray liquid. "Here, Lordess. Drink it all at once. It works quickly."

Arielle took the vial and drank it immediately. It was bitter and cold on her tongue, and it burned going down, but she did not flinch. It took a moment before it kicked in, and then Arielle smiled, the scent of Ruthina’s pheromones fading from her senses. The relief was immediate and dizzying, and she had to steady herself against the bed for a heartbeat before she trusted her voice.

"Okay," Arielle said, exhaling slowly. "I can’t sniff your pheromones now, okay? I will stay here. I won’t pounce on you or scare you. Just calm down, my love."

Ruthina let out a shaky breath, her rabbit ears sagging down as she relaxed. The tension in her body slowly eased, her muscles unclenching, her breathing evening out. Arielle covered the back of her head and gently lay the omega back on the mattress, her touch light and careful.

"Physician, do whatever it takes," she commanded while holding Ruthina’s hand. Her voice was firm, brooking no argument. "Use everything you have. If you need more herbs, send for them. If you need another physician, send for them. But she is not to be left alone for a single moment."

The physician nodded quickly. "Yes, your excellency." She gathered all the things she needed to help Ruthina, moving with quick, efficient movements as she prepared potions and herbs and cool compresses, her face set in lines of concentration. "I’ll need to bring her fever down first.

The heat is severe, and her body is exhausted. I’ll give her something for the pain and something to help her sleep. The heat will still run its course, but she doesn’t have to suffer through it awake."

"Do it," Arielle said. She gently wiped Ruthina’s tears away and held her hand firmly but gently. "When you wake up, the monsters are gone," she whispered and sighed.

She would make sure of it. She would make sure that the priest never hurt anyone again. She would make sure that Ruthina was safe. And she would make sure that justice was served, no matter what it took.