My omega purrs. The sound vibrates in my chest, and I see Carlos's eyes darken, his nostrils flare. He heard it. Of course he heard it.
"I'm sorry," he says quietly, and his thumb strokes along the inside of my elbow where my pulse is racing. "For what happened. For the kiss."
I should pull away, and keep my distance before my newly awakened omega does something embarrassing. Like beg him to touch me everywhere his hand isn't currently touching.
I don't move.
"You don't need to apologize," I manage, and my voice is breathier than I want it to be. "I'm the one who ran."
"Because I scared you."
"I kissed you back, Carlos. I wanted it. I wanted more than I should have. And I didn't know how to handle that, and Callum was being a jerk and I used you."
His grip on my elbow tightens. Just slightly. Just enough that I feel the strength in his fingers. Just enough to remind me that he's an alpha and I'm an omega and there are instincts at play here that neither of us can fully control.
"And now? Do you still feel that way?" The question is rough. Raw.
Now I'm standing on a sidewalk with his hand on my arm and his scent in my lungs and my omega screaming at me to get closer. The want is still there. Stronger, if anything. Sharper.
I look up at him. At the lines around his eyes that weren't there before. At the tension in his jaw. At the way he's holding himself like he's afraid to move too fast. Afraid I'll bolt again.
He's right to be afraid.
Because standing this close to him, breathing him in, feeling the warmth of his hand through my sleeve, I want nothing more than to lean into him. To let him wrap those carpenter arms around me and hold me until the world stops spinning.
But I can't. Not yet. Not with everything else falling apart around me. Not when I don't even know who I am anymore.
"Now I have to go fill a prescription," I say softly, pulling my arm free. The loss of contact feels like grief. "And figure out what the hell I'm going to do with my life."
Disappointment flickers across his face. His hand drops to his side, fingers curling into a fist like he's physically restraining himself from reaching for me again.
"I'm here," he says, and there's something fierce in his voice. Something protective. "If you need anything. The whole pack is. You know that, right?"
The whole pack. Sergio with his warm brown eyes and easy smile and cedarwood scent. Pedro with his grumpy concern and wire rimmed glasses and sage and honey. Nacho with his quiet intensity and solid presence and leather and rain.
And Carlos with his carpenter's hands and summer blue eyes and sandalwood that makes me want to bury my face in his chest and never leave.
Callum's best friends. The men I fell for while I was dating their best friend. The complication I've been running from for years.
"I know," I whisper.
I turn and walk toward the pharmacy before he can say anything else. Before my stupid omega instincts override my brain and I throw myself into his arms and beg him to help me through the heat that's building inside me like a storm gathering strength.
The bell over the pharmacy door jingles when I push through. The sudden warmth after the cold air makes my cheeks burn. Or maybe that's just the lingering effect of Carlos's touch. His scent. His voice saying my name like it matters.
The pharmacist, Brenda is wearing a cheerful red cardigan with snowflakes on it.
“Oh Jessica, you’re back. Nice to see you. How can I help you?”
“Thank you. Yes.”
I hand over the prescription with fingers that won't stop shaking.
She scans it, and something shifts in her expression. A softening. Understanding. Like she knows exactly what this medication is for and what it means.
"Fifteen minutes," she says gently. "You can wait or come back."
"I'll wait."
