I’m gonna talk about Leta Blake’s Heat Of Love series because it’s a genuinely incredible Omegaverse world she’s built in these novels… but I’ve got some grievances to air as I make my way through the interlude novels between Books 2 and 3.
Okay, so TLDR, in Book 1 (Slow Heat) we follow Jason Sable–an 18-year-old college student at an all-Alpha school. Jason imprints (the soulmates thing) onto Vale Aman–a middle-aged Omega working as a professor at said school. Okay? Their age gap is already a point of concession in Book 1, and so is their power dynamic within the very conservative world they live in (basically, as Vale’s fated mate, 18-year-old Jason is entitled to practically own everything that Vale once owned/inherited/built for themself. It’s a lot, but it’s dealt with in a good way and Jason is respectful of Vale’s independence. Blah blah blah.)
Vale, however, has a secret. As a long-time Omega without a pair, they went a little wild in their younger years and accidentally wound up pregnant. Their friend (and secondary protagonist of Book 2) Urho Chase is a doctor who performs an abortion. In a conservative, pre-modern world this procedure is not only illegal, but it is not easy. Urho does his best, but nicks Vale’s womb leaving him with scar tissue that would almost certainly mean his death if he tried to bear and birth a child.
This is established in Book 1. This is the singular plot point where all of the angst in Book 1 comes from. Vale doesn’t want to marry Jason (despite being soulmates) because Jason is young and (in Vale’s eyes) deserves heirs and children, which Vale simply cannot give him! The climax of Book 1 involved Vale telling Jason about the abortion and its complications which would prevent them from having children. It causes drama (mostly because Jason doesn’t know how to react and just stays silent, which Vale reads into) and Vale rejects the Sable’s marriage contract with their son. Eventually though, Jason collects himself and the two reconcile. Jason doesn’t care about kids, as long as he has Vale. Happy ending! Yay!
Then we come to Book 2 (Alpha Heat). Book 2 is about Jason’s ex-friends-with-benefits (but still friend), 18-year old Alpha, Xan Heelies who falls in love with the aforementioned widower and middle-aged Alpha Urho Chase. They are the main couple of Book 2. However. Alongside them, a driving point in the plot is that Vale is pregnant. An unexpected heat came upon Vale while he and Jason were tucked away at their cabin, and snow prevented them from leaving or contacting help, so they “had no choice” but to deal with it.
I’m willing to suspend my disbelief for a lot, okay. You just kinda have to in order to like the Omegaverse. In Book 2 I didn’t like that Vale was pregnant. I felt like it was such a good symbolism thing that Jason and Vale could live together happily without kids. A very stick it to the conservative world-type thing… but whatever.
However. There is a Book 2.5 in this series (Slow Birth). This book is about 1/3 the size of Book 2, but it takes place alongside it. Basically, it’s the timeline of Book 2 but from Jason and Vale’s perspective. This Book is split up into three parts, with the first (Chapters 1-3) being about how Vale ended up pregnant.
I just finished Part 1… and my suspension of disbelief… is working overtime. It was one thing to have it be a b-plot. I was like “whatever, I guess I can overlook it for the sake of Xan and Urho’s romance,” but actually reading the details… I’m about to blow a fuse!
In universe, Omega heats are painful. Like excruciatingly painful to the point that Omegas have to be locked in rooms (which they will destroy) to prevent them from running out of the house and finding any Alpha. (That’s actually how Vale wound up pregnant in their younger years–they escaped). Okay? So Vale is older. They’re coming to the end of their fertile years (as Book 2.5 put it), and when that happens, heats can become more irregular. That’s how they wound up in this situation.
BUT! Jason and Vale both know (or think at this point) that Vale will die if he becomes pregnant. This isn’t a situation of “oh, they might end up pregnant with a child they simply don’t want!” NO! This is a choice between two options:
A: Vale suffers in intolerable pain for a few days while the snow clears, but ultimately it will pass and they will survive.
B: Vale is kept comfortable for the duration of their heat, gets pregnant, and dies giving birth to a child which may or may not survive the pregnancy, either.
LIKE WHAT?!?! You’re telling me I’m supposed to believe that Option B is the better one?? NO! Lock that bitch in the bedroom and let them hurt! In what world am I supposed to believe that death and emotional suffering of everybody is better than 2-7 days of intense pain that will end.
I just… I can suspend a lot of disbelief. I did it for Vale’s pregnancy in Book 2… but Book 2.5 is forcing me to behold the decision these two made, and… it’s just wild.
Now, ultimately, Blake passes everything off by having Urho come to inspect and discover that Vale’s scar tissue is actually much more elastic that it once was (because he’s been getting that good dickin’ from Jason), so it’s played off as “yes, it’s a risk, but it’s actually not as dire as we thought. Urho says it’s okay, and Vale desperately wants to give young Jason an heir, so he refuses abortion with the new information at hand.”
And Jason recognizes his fuck up. He practically begs Vale to abort the baby, but Vale (in what I’d consider rather out of character for an anxious studious-type) adamantly refuses because they want to fulfill the conservative social norm in the world of giving Jason an heir.
But even with all that… I’m just like… This shouldn’t have happened in the first place. Jason was under the impression that Vale would die if he became pregnant, and he still gave in and fucked Vale. I just… Jason was already a kinda complex character in Book 1… but this. Idk if my suspension of disbelief is gonna make it through Book 2.5. I just wanna make it to Book 3. Is that too much to ask?? 😭
