I don’t let her finish. I bury my face in her neck and kiss my way up the column of her throat—soft, open-mouthed kisses that make her breath hitch and her fingers dig into my shirt. By the time I reach the spot just below her ear, she’s trembling, and a little whine bubbles out of her that nearly destroys me.
Then I rub my scent along her skin. Neck. Shoulder. Cheek. Marking her so thoroughly that no one—and I mean no one—will ever doubt who she belongs to.
She’s breathing hard when I finally ease back enough to look at her face. Her pupils are blown, her cheeks flushed, and her scent is pure Omega satisfaction now—all that anxiety is burned away and replaced with something warm and sweet.
Slowly, tentatively, she rubs her own cheek along mine. The feeling of her scent marking me sends a thrill through me so intense it makes me hard. My Alpha rumbles in satisfaction, inpossessive pride, and I have to grit my teeth against the urge to carry her inside and never let her leave.
“You need to be a good Omega now,” I say, my voice coming out rougher than I intended. “Go inside. Take a shower. Sleep.” I lean in close, my lips brushing the shell of her ear. “Because the next time I see you, you won’t get away with only a scent marking.”
The innuendo makes her face heat, and I can smell the spike in her scent—arousal mixing with the buttercups like honey drizzled over flowers. She makes a soft sound in the back of her throat that nearly breaks my resolve.
I set her down carefully, making sure she’s steady on her feet before I release her. She looks drunk on pack scent, swaying slightly.
She waves as she turns for her door. We just stand there like three idiots, watching her fumble with her keys, push open the door, and head inside.
Only when the door closes behind her do we finally head back to the truck.
“After this season,” I say quietly, more to myself than to them, “she’s never spending another night alone. Never feeling anxious without us there to calm her.”
“Agreed,” Jake says immediately, his voice rough.
“Agreed,” Charlie echoes.
I stare out the window at her house, making a promise to myself and to her—even if she can’t hear it yet.
I’m going to keep her.
TWENTY-FOUR
willa
@PackWatchDaily:WAIT. Is that the same Omega who was spotted with Dillon at the qualifiers??? Someone confirm!!
@RodeoFanatic87:Reply to @PackWatchDaily - YES. Same one. I have photos. Definitely the same Omega. What is HAPPENING
@ThirstyForRodeo:I’m just here to say the Saint can throw me on a bull and I’d say thank you. That man is AGING LIKE FINE WINE.
@DenverGossip:My friend works concessions and said the Omega was absolutely DRENCHED in their scents. Like all three of them marked her before the event.
@ChampionshipTracker:Focus people!! If Beau wins the finals, he ties the record for most APBRA championships. THIS IS HUGE.
@SkepticalSue:Okay, but wasn’t Beau McCrea like… famous for NOT settling down? And now suddenly there’s an Omega? Right before finals? Publicity stunt much?
@JakeDillonFan:Reply to @SkepticalSue - Girl you can’t fake the way McCrea was looking at her. That’s not PR, that’s a man in LOVE.
I lean against the rail, grateful for the support as another wave of dizziness sweeps over me. It’s been happening all day—these moments where the world tilts sideways, and I have to grip something solid to stay upright.
But I’m used to ignoring the way my body reacts to, well, everything. I’ve had years of practice pushing through the Omega hormone rollercoaster, suppressants or not.
The way Beau, Charlie, and Jake have pulled my dormant little Omega out of the crevices I’d squished her into is creating a fucking wave of instability inside me. It’d be weird if I wasn’t all over the place. So I do what I do best—try to ignore it.
Besides, with my shift finally over, I can just enjoy myself, and luckily, I haven’t missed his ride. The roar of the crowd is deafening as Jake settles onto the back of Nitro—a massive brindle bull with a reputation for sending riders to the hospital.
My heart is in my throat, beating too fast, too hard, like it’s trying to escape my chest. Or maybe it’s been beating like this all day, and I’m only now noticing because I’ve stopped moving, stopped working, stopped having distractions.
My Omega instincts are screaming at me to run down there, to pull him off, to keep my Alpha safe. I never imagined I’d feel so… protective so quickly.
My Alpha.
