Shit. If this is happening to me now, in the middle of the night, with no one around to ignite such desires … that can only mean one thing. Two things, actually:
One: the omega’s in heat, and
Two: by some freak twist of fate, we’re connected.
It doesn’t make any sense–I was only in her presence for a scant few moments–but it’s the only explanation. I shouldn’t be aware of her distress like this, shouldn’t know the state she’s in without being there. If I’m right about this, our mission just got a lot more complicated.
Screw the mission. She’s ours. She’smate. Nothing else matters.
I want to tell him that getting paid matters, and the Orion pack isn’t going to fork over one red cent if we bring back a bonded omega. They paid for us to bring her in, not breed her.
Breed! Yes, breed …
“Enough!”
Doors open and slam, and footsteps thunder down the hallway. From the sound of things, my pack are all on their way.
Since Diego’s room is closest to mine, he’s the first to burst through my door. He takes one look at my cock jutting up from my hips and skids to a stop. “Uh,jefe? I mean, I have no problem helping out with this, but it’s not exactly something to wake the whole compound for. Why the yelling?”
Emmett appears next, slamming into Diego so hard that both the smaller alphas tumble onto my floor.
“Where’s the fire, Gage?”
Olly stops just inside the door, carefully sidestepping sprawled limbs. “It’s not a fire; it’s heat.” He looks at me with that intense gaze of his, like he’s analyzing my every breath. “I’m right, aren’t I?”
Great. We haven’t even caught the omega yet, caught Auryn, I should say, and she’s already causing trouble. I grit my teeth and reach for my pants on the back of the chair at my bedside. “Gloat later, Olly. Right now, we need to get moving. This might be our only chance to catch her.”
Diego and Em exchange twin glances of confusion. Clearly, they’re not up to speed.
“I have a bead on her now, guys. I know exactly where she is, but we have to move fast.”We have to ease her heat. We have to take care of her. Sooth her, rut her, knot her, and breed her.
I shake my head to try to clear my thoughts, but my alpha won’t shut up.
“Wait a second … Are you saying we're gonna follow Gage's, er, divining rod to find our target?” Em cringes as he untangles himself from Diego and stands. “I am not letting your dick guide me, dude.”
“It is a bit more complex than that, Emmett. There are more than just physiological indicators that will help us find the omega in question.”
Emmett shoots a glare at Olly, who shrinks back and taps his fingers against his thighs in a rapid staccato pattern.
After a few unsuccessful attempts to fasten my pants–this damn hardon is in the way–I toss them in favor of a loose pair of sweats. “Do you want to meet the omega or not?”
Emmett grumbles, but he falls in line when I rush past him and sprint down the hall towards the courtyard. Diego and Olly are right behind him from the sound of it, but I don’t waste time looking back. My alpha and I have one singular goal, one primal edict that must be met, if we're to get any relief.
Rut. Knot. Breed. Rut. Knot. Breed.
His litany repeats endlessly in my head, driving me forward. I reach our vehicle first and jump in behind the wheel. No time to give directions. I have to steer.
By some miracle, all three of my pack members make it in the car before I peel out of the compound and speed through the trees.
There’s not much in the way of a path for driving here, but I don’t care. I’ll plow through any obstacle if it means getting to Auryn in time. An omega’s heat can last for days, and the suffering, if unrelieved, is brutal. I might not know the woman, but I don’t wish that kind of agony on my worst enemy. The pain, the intense, unbearable ache, the unendingneed… No. I can’t let her deal with that alone.
About fifty feet before the last place we saw Auryn, my instincts scream at me to take a sharp left, away from the cliff and the river.
Olly leans forward between the seats and holds out a tablet. “The river curves here, and if we stay on course, we should reach a shallower crossing point in a mile or two. The topography here indicates a downward slope, and–”
“I don’t need the fucking map, Olly!”
I feel bad for snapping, but Olly can’t possibly understand. He’s a beta; he doesn’t have the same drives and desires that alphas have. The same needs.
