I scrubbed my hands down my face and turned away, trying not to breathe too deep. Not toinhaleher. Like that ever worked. Her scent was everywhere. Seeped into the walls. Saturating the fabric. In the fucking floorboards.
Thick. Wild. Sweet.
She wasn’t just in heat, she was indistress. Her body was screaming for relief, and every damn one of us could feel it in our bones. And worse, every instinct in my body wanted to give it to her.
Again and again and again until the scent faded, until her thighs stopped shaking, until her body melted into ours with exhaustion instead of suffering.
I’d never felt anything like this. I’d been around omegas in heat before. I'd seen the effects. Smelled it. Wanted it, sure. But not likethis.
Nother.
I dropped into the nearest chair, hands gripping my knees, trying to lock my joints to hold myself still. My voice was low when it finally came.
“We may not be able to wait.”
Roan turned toward me, slow, like even that movement took effort. His face was pale, lips pressed together, jaw tight enough I thought his teeth might crack under the pressure.
“I heard her,” I added, quieter this time. “What she said. She’s breaking apart in there, and you—” I cut myself off and looked away, guilt flaring. “You’re holding it down, but Roan… ifyoufracture, the rest of us are gonna shatter.”
He didn’t deny it. Didn’t look at me, either. Just stared at the floor, unmoving.
I pressed the heels of my hands to my eyes. “Her scent isworsethan when we got here. Stronger. It’s not fading.”
“Because she’s getting deeper into it,” Roan said, voice a low rasp. “The suppressant damage…you said it altered things and dragged it out. She’s stuck in it.”
The unspoken truth hit like a freight train.
She might notget out of it.
Not without help.
I lifted my head and stared at him. “You know what that means.”
Roan didn’t answer.
My throat burned. My gut twisted.
“We’re past the wait-it-out plan. Past moral high ground and noble restraint. She needs an alpha, she—hell, she probably needsall of us. If you think I’m just gonna sit here while she?—”
“She didn’taskfor us.” Roan’s voice cracked like thunder, sharp and final. “She didn’t invite this. She didn’t consent.”
“No,” a calm voice said from the kitchen where he’d shifted after Roan carried Wren away. “But she’s also not throwing us out.”
Jay.
He moved back into the room like a shadow, posture steady, composed—like always—but there was heat under his skin. I could see it now. He waswhite-knucklingthe same restraint Roan was, the same leash I’d been chewing through since we got here.
How fucking bad was it if Jay, abeta, was struggling? No wonder I was in hell. Roan turned his head slightly, not quite meeting Jay’s gaze.
“She doesn’t have to ask,” Jay said simply. “She’sletting us stay. She’s letting ustouch her. She’s been naked under your hands, Roan, and you wrapped her up like you were covering a damn flame. Sheletyou.”
That sat between us like a line drawn in ash.
Not permission. Not consent.
But not refusal either.
Jay folded his arms, voice quiet and solid as granite. “We’re not here to take advantage. But if we wait too long, itwon’tbe a choice anymore, for her or us. You know that.”
