The heat doesn't vanish completely, but the sharp edge is gone. What's left feels manageable. Warm instead of burning.
"There you go," Pine murmurs. "Better?"
I can only nod, my forehead pressed against Jett's shoulder as aftershocks ripple through me.
Cassian presses a kiss to my knee. "You're okay. We've got you."
And then the sound of the front door opening breaks through the haze.
Footsteps echo across the floor.
A voice calls out, bright and oblivious. "Sharon? Why is the door unlocked?"
All three Alphas go still.
My blood turns to ice.
The footsteps get louder.
Jessica turns the corner into the office.
She takes in the scene in one long stare. Me on the chaise with three Alphas around me. Jett's hand on my thigh. Pine's arms around my waist. Cassian kneeling at my feet.
Her eyebrows rise, high enough to touch another dimension.
Jessica's silhouette fills the doorway, holding folders and a laptop and whatever she wanted to bring to plan a wedding.
"I thought we were planning a wedding. Not a knotting party."
Jett chokes. Cassian makes the sound of a man spiritually exiting his body. Pine just closes his eyes, like he's praying for lightning.
I cover my face with my hands. "Oh my god."
Thank you, universe. Once again, you have fantastic timing.
5
PINE
What the fuck happened back there?
I tighten my grip on the whiskey glass at The Sway, Pine Hollow’s attempt at a posh bar. Crystal glasses, leather booths, and a bartender who’s worried about his five-star rating. It’s where people come to pretend living on a mountain makes them high society. Exactly why my brothers and I met here. No one looks twice. No one gossips nor cares about our conversation.
Cassian leans back in his chair like he owns it. His leather jacket is tossed over the back, firefighter uniform on full display. The scar through his left brow catches the light as he grins. That cocky smirk has gotten him into more trouble than I can count.
“You want to talk about earlier?” Cassian laughs. “Or are we talking about Jessica looking like she was ready to call the cops? Because I’ll own that. We were surrounding an omega in heat.”
Jett takes a long pull from his beer. He’s wearing one of his vintage band tees, worn thin but stupidly expensive. His brown eyes are darker than usual, focused. Jett isn’t the thinking type, so watching the gears turn is unsettling.
“Sharon’s planning a wedding. We just complicated that in ways she didn’t ask for.”
Cassian runs a hand through his hair, restless like he’s waiting for someone to take a swing. “I’m not losing sleep over this. It was heat. It happened.”
Jett tips back the bottle, slow and deliberate. “Doesn’t make it smart.”
Cassian leans forward, elbows on the table, eyes locked on his brother. “And you standing around thinking real hard didn’t change a damn thing.”
Jett wipes his mouth with the back of his hand, sets the bottle down a little too hard. “Someone had to use a brain.”
