Fuck.
The timing is off, but I think my heat is coming… now. I usually have a week or two of preheat spikes before a full heat. I should have figured it out yesterday—the restlessness, the sensitivity, the way I couldn’t stop thinking about them—but I wanted so badly to decide when it happens. To control it. To choose.
It could be just stress, I try to tell myself. Just too much happening too fast.
But deep down, in that instinctual place where my Omega knows things before my brain catches up, I know that it’s not.
The crowd lets out a huge cheer, and Jake’s score—93.5—flashes on the big screen. It’s good. Real good. Good enough to keep him in second place. I’m so lost in the surge of pride and happiness at my Alpha doing so well, combined with the absolutely off-kilter way I feel, that I don’t notice the shadow approaching until it’s too late.
“Well, well… look at you. The little Omega who thinks she can strut around with three Alphas and not look like the circuit’s newest toy. That must be some good pussy for McCrea to take notice. You really that desperate for attention?”
I turn slowly, every instinct screaming danger, and find Mark Felton standing way too close. His scent hits me like a physical blow—stale cigarettes and something sour, something wrong that makes my Omega recoil in visceral disgust. His eyes are bloodshot, his jaw tight, and there’s an unstable energy radiating off him that makes my skin crawl.
“Felton.” I keep my voice steady, professional, even as I take a step back. The crowd surges around us, but suddenly feels miles away. “My shift is over. If you need something, you can contact?—"
“Don’t play games with me.” He moves closer, backing me against the railing. My heart hammers against my ribs. “I know all about your fake relationship with McCrea. Real cute, Willa. Real fucking cute.”
My Omega is screaming at me to run. My first thought is to call for my Alphas, but they’re down in the arena—too far away to hear, too far away to help. Beau is preparing for his ride. Charlie is with the stock, helping Eli for another hour or two. Jake is still doing his victory lap.
I’m alone.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say, but my voice comes out thinner than I want.
“Bullshit.” The word is harsh, venomous. “You think I’m stupid? You think I don’t have eyes? I know what’s going on.”
“That’s none of your business,” I manage.
“It is my business when you’re my Omega!” His voice rises, and a few people nearby turn to look. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done? What you’ve cost me?”
“I’m not your Omega,” I say, and there’s more strength in those words than I feel. “I never was.”
His laugh is ugly. Cruel. “That’s where you’re wrong, sweetheart. See, your daddy and I had an arrangement. A contract. You were supposed to be mine. Payment for his debts, his failures, his?—”
“My father had no right?—”
“Your father had every right!” Felton’s hand shoots out, grabbing my upper arm hard enough to bruise.
I gasp, trying to pull away, but his grip is iron. I look around for help, only to find averted eyes. I’m not in Wyoming on home turf. No one knows me in Denver besides the guys and the short staff that came along.
“You’re an Omega. You belong to whoever claims you first, and I claimed youyearsago.”
“Let go of me. That’s not how it works.” My voice shakes now, fear bleeding through despite my best efforts.
“Not until you understand.” He yanks me closer, and I can smell the alcohol on his breath mixed with that sour, wrong scent. “I know about your little scheme with McCrea. I know it’s fake. I’m the one who sent that video to APBRA. Did you know that? Thought it might wake you up, make you see reason.”
Horror washes over me. “You— You tried to get me fired?”
“I tried to get you to come to your senses.” His other hand comes up, gripping my face, fingers digging into my jaw as he forces my head to the side. “You’remine, Willa. Mine by right, mine by contract, mine by?—”
He stops mid-sentence.
Goes completely still.
His nose is pressed against my throat now, right where my pulse hammers wildly beneath my skin. Right where Beau scent-marked me.
I feel the exact moment he realizes what he’s smelling.
His grip tightens painfully.
