“They’re rare, exotic turtles!” Lucas shouted back. “They’re…they’re illegal, but people like to keep them as pets. They’re actually kind of sweet. I was thinking of keeping one for?—”
“You are not keeping an illegal turtle that’s part of a smuggling exchange,” I said, even though it was none of my business.
Both omegas stared at me. For some reason, I instantly felt more on edge than I ever had. It was like something under my skin was trying to crawl out, like my blood was pumping faster. The whole wild story of the night was beyond what I’d been prepared to deal with. I was glad now that my own issues and need to feel control had won out over good sense. Lucas was in way more danger than he thought he was, and by association, his and Linus’s entire family were at risk now, too.
“Is this the first time you’ve done an exchange like this here?” I asked Lucas, glowering with all my alpha sternness. “Have you used your family’s property for illegal exchanges before?”
“No!” Lucas gasped, reeling back. A second later, guilt painted his face, and he said, “Okay, well, once. A few weeks ago. And we might have done a sort of trial run last month. Three times.”
“Lucas!” Linus shouted, nearly springing off the couch with emotion. “You cannot use our family’s beach house for illegal activities. What would Dad and Papa say?”
“Dad and Papa never have to know!” Lucas insisted. “You have no idea how much money I’m getting just for letting them use the property and driving a van.”
“It’s illegal!” Linus insisted.
I definitely agreed with Linus, and if there was anything I could do about it, I absolutely would.
I was about to announce I was calling the police, but Linus gasped, “Oh, no!” He flung out his arm and caught my arm in one hand. “No, no, no, no, this can’t be happening. Not now.”
I suspected at once what he was talking about. Lucas had said earlier Linus was about to go into heat. It explained why I’d reacted so strongly to him and why I felt like my body was about to ignite as well. But there was more to it than just that.
“Yeah,” Lucas said, panting and rubbing his collarbone. “Heats are always super inconvenient. I brought a Heat Lightning kit up here with me, but now I’m beginning to think I should have turned down the deal so I could go to the omega auction instead. I would have appreciated it way more than you.”
He leered at me, shifting a bit, like he was three seconds away from standing, pushing his pajama bottoms down, and presenting to me in the omega mating pose. No wonder he’d only been wearing those pajamas when he’d come out of the house in the middle of a cool night.
“You’re both going into heat?” I asked, turning my attention back to Linus.
“We’ve always gone into heat simultaneously,” Lucas said, breathing harder.
“Yes,” Linus answered, looking beyond embarrassed. The way he peeked up at me was as much of a plea for help as his cries back at Kincade Slopes.
It was its own form of nightmare. Me and two omegas going into heat alone in a remote beach house. I was furious with oneof the omegas and considered him an absolute menace, but I was ready to do just about anything for the other.
CHAPTER SIX
Linus
As if the night couldn’t get more embarrassing. As angry as I was with Lucas for setting me up, I felt increasingly mortified that I’d reacted with tears and screams to what had always just been a game. A voice in the back of my head insisted I had every right to be terrified, I had honestly believed it was real, but the part of me that didn’t have a backbone was ashamed.
Extra ashamed because now a gorgeous, nice, heroic alpha like Saint knew that my brother was a shameless, petty criminal. I shouldn’t have taken Lucas’s activities so personally, but I did. I felt responsible for him for some reason, like his wickedness was somehow my fault.
I would unpack all that later, though. The biggest and most glaring elephant in the room as the three of us sat there arguing was the fact that I’d stumbled into heat without being completely aware of it. It was mortifying.
“I’m so sorry,” I told Saint, hugging my middle and willing myself to somehow not go all the way into heat.
That definitely wasn’t going to happen. Especially when Saint leaned closer to me, rested a hand on my thigh, and said, “It’s okay, Linus. Really. I’ve got you.”
It should have been a sweet, maybe even romantic moment. Instead, slick gushed out of me in such volume that I knew I’d soaked my trousers and the sofa in an instant. All I could do was groan and hide my face.
All I wanted to do was strip out of my clothes and climb onto Saint’s lap so I could hump him like a monkey.
“Hey, what about a little love over here?” Lucas asked, scrambling to stand.
Roaring instinct took over before I could blink. I dropped my hands from my face, balled them into fists, and glared at Lucas with possessive fury. “No!” I said, leaping to my feet. “Do not come on to Saint, do not look at him, do not so much as sniff him!”
As soon as my outburst was finished, I reeled back, eyes wide with shock. I didn’t think I’d ever been so aggressive about anything in my life.
“Alright, alright,” Lucas said, holding up his hands defensively. “But in my defense, the Dark Fantasies Club did match the two of us for the auction event, not the two of you. I bet you’ve never so much as looked at an alpha lustfully, let alone played a BDSM scene with one.”
