"We better."
Because if we didn't, if something happened to her while we were stuck on this plane—
I couldn't finish the thought.
So I did what I always did when emotions threatened to overwhelm me.
I pulled out my phone and started making lists. Emergency protocols. Heat supplies - snacks, drinks,bathing products. All the things Etienne needed to have ready. I found numbers for two elite omega clinics in case something went wrong.
Fritz watched me with an expression that was equal parts amusement and understanding.
"You know making lists won't get us there faster," he said.
"No. But it makes me feel like I'm doing something useful."
"Fair enough."
He pulled out his own phone, and we spent the next three hours and forty-two minutes in tense silence, watching the minutes tick down, willing the plane to fly faster, and trying not to think about all the ways this could go wrong.
Trying not to think about the omega waiting for us at home.
Our omega.
Whether she knew it yet or not.
19
Presley
I turned the thermostatup for the third time in an hour.
Etienne looked up from where he was chopping vegetables at the kitchen island, his knife pausing mid-slice.
"Are you cold, Princesse?"
"No, I'm boiling actually."
His eyebrows rose. "Then why are you turning up the heat?"
I stared at the thermostat, my hand still on the dial. Why was I turning it up? My skin felt like it was on fire, sweat dampening the back of my neck, but something in me needed warmth. Needed heat. Needed—
"I don't know," I croaked out the lie.
Etienne set down the knife and crossed to me. His handcaught mine, gently pulling it away from the thermostat before turning it back down.
"Your heat is building," he said quietly. "Your body doesn't know what it wants right now."
"That's reassuring."
He smiled, pressing a kiss to my forehead. "Come sit. Dinner's almost ready."
I followed him to the small table tucked into the corner of the kitchen. It was more intimate than the formal dining room, more comfortable. The kind of place where real people ate, not just wealthy alphas and their temporary omega.
Etienne plated the food with care. Roasted chicken, sauteed vegetables and potatoes glistening with butter and herbs.
It looked beautiful.
It smelled amazing.
