An Intangible Pattern - Fate Bound.

What do I have to do?

"Errrr… you know there's a name for people who go around sniffing weird stuff like that?"

Noah scowled up at him and promptly closed the bag "It's a standard pheromone test." 

"If you say so…"

Noah tossed the bag back into the container, groaned and leaned back in his chair rubbing his face with both hands.

Arthur peered around the desk at the spreadsheet. Under the column labeled "reaction," was a uniform line of zeros.

"It doesn't look like you have much to worry about." Arthur stated in bemusement.

Noah changed the subject, "You mentioned pizza?"

"Yeah, it should be here soon. I'm going to have a shower and get changed. Can you please do something about the dishes? I feel like I'm back in student halls."

"Ugh… you're right. I've been so focused on this, I've let everything slide." Sighed Noah as he stretched and cricked his neck side to side, "Let me wrap this up, I'll come out in a second."

Arthur left the room and Noah saved his work and started to close everything down. He quickly checked his email inbox and was surprised to see an email from fuckyoun04h@generemail.com with the heading "This doesn't mean I forgive you."

He smiled a sad, self-mocking smile and opened the message.

************************************

Alex had spent several days deliberating over the decision to contact Noah. Perversely, she knew the only way to feel safe again was to cooperate with him to fix the problem. When she thought about the future, she pictured nieces and nephews and the family events she would be expected to attend. She cringed at the idea of being in the same room as him, but he was going nowhere and undoubtedly Arthur would want to involve him in his children's lives; she couldn't spend the rest of her life making excuses to avoid him. So she resolved that if she was going to have to work with him, she would make the experience as miserable as possible.
She decided it would be stupid to email him from her own personal email account, so she created a new one: at least then she could abandon it and ignore him if he overstepped their agreement. Her choice of address was spiteful and childish, she knew, but it gave her great satisfaction that every time he received an email from her, he'd know exactly what she thought. She simply asked "What do I have to do?"

The following day, there was a reply. It was from a different address than the one on his business card and she guessed it was his personal email address. It read:

Thankyou for agreeing to help Alexandra. I know it cannot have been an easy thing to do and once again I can only say I deeply regret what happened. I have attached a brief on the experimental procedure. All you are required to do is wear a T-shirt for the week during your estrous. At the end of the week you will put the T-shirt in a zip lock bag and send it to the address in the brief. You will not be able to take a suppressant as this will stop you producing pheromones. It would also be very helpful if you could provide a DNA sample but I understand if you choose not to. Enclosed is a voucher code to an online marketplace. This is to reimburse you for any materials you may be required to buy. As I said I will not ask you for any details of your address or any other contact than the one you have provided.

I may need to ask you to send further samples later, will this be ok?

Kind regards,

Noah.

She fumed. How dare he act so professional, so cold, so... rational. The value of the voucher was well beyond sufficient for a few t-shirts. She was furious and not ready in the least to let him off the hook, so she typed back:

Are you sure you don't want my underwear? How do I know this isn't some sick game? And don't insult me by trying to bribe me. You might act like a nice person, but I know what a monster you are. 

Shaking with impotent rage she hit send. She had never wanted to hurt someone so badly in her life. She paced around the room like a caged animal, trying to resist the urge to break something when she heard a ping from her laptop. She was momentarily surprised that he had responded to her email so quickly:

Please believe me when I say I didn't want any of it any more than you did. I wish I could change what happened. I know I'm dangerous and I just want to figure out how I can stop it. The money is not a bribe, it's for expenses and some reimbursement for your participation in the experiment. You are in no way being paid to remain silent.

Before she could respond there was another ping. The next email had a video attachment and only a couple of short sentences:

You have complete control over this situation. I am in your hands.

She opened the video attachment. Noah had obviously hastily recorded it using his web cam: he looked tired and unwell as he stared at the camera with grim determination and said,

"I, Noah Courentin, confess to raping Alexandra Navita on the 24th of June. I accept all responsibility for my actions and accept all charges. I make this confession of my own free will."

In spite of herself, she felt pity for him and even a shred of respect; he had given her enough rope to hang him if she wanted it. She still did not trust him, but unlike so many other alpha's, at least Noah owned his faults. He made no pretense or attempt to justify his behavior; he didn't try to blame omegas, nor did he trivialise what happened or call it fate. He seemed to see it as it was - a problem that needed to be fixed. While she still wanted nothing to do with him, she relented and replied:

Fine, two weeks maybe.

He responded simply:

Thank you.

She signed out and checked her calendar, her period was due but had not arrived yet - something else that had been worrying her. It was too early to tell if she was pregnant; she still clung to the hope her cycle was just disrupted by the unexpected heat and the morning after pill. She cashed in the voucher code and ordered a pack of white t-shirts, a swab kit and a pregnancy test.