"Get to the point," I said, my voice sharper than intended. "What's the emergency?"
"It's Naomi. She's in breakthrough heat. Has been for three days. She's in pain, she won't eat, she's barely conscious, and I…" Kira's voice cracked. "I need to know if you'll service her. Help her through it. She's going to die if someone doesn't."
Rowan appeared behind me so fast I didn't hear him coming.
"Where is she?" he demanded.
"In my car. She's not doing well. She fought me the whole way here."
Rowan was already moving, pushing past Kira and down the steps to where an old sedan was parked at the curb. I followed, my heart hammering. He wrenched open the back door and the scent hit us both like a physical blow.
Her.
Not just a scent. Not just any Omega in heat.
Her.
Our mate and missing Omega. The baby stolen on her first birthday—Valentine's Day—twenty-nine years ago. She was wrapped in a blanket, curled into a ball, shaking and whimpering. Sweat plastered her hair to her forehead. Her golden brown skin was flushed with fever. And she was producing that scent. The one we'd been chasing for nearly three decades. It was her.
"Naomi," Rowan said, his voice rough.
She didn't respond. Didn't even seem to hear him. He reached in carefully and lifted her out of the car. She made a sound of protest but didn't fight, too weak to resist.
"I'm coming inside," Kira said from behind us.
"You should go home," I managed, still reeling from the revelation. "We'll take care of her."
"No." Kira's voice was firm. "I'm her Beta. We're bonded. I'm not leaving her alone with two Alphas she barely knows while she's vulnerable."
I turned to look at her. "Bonded?"
"Not romantically. But we've lived together for three years. We're pack. Family. She saved my life and I'm not abandoning her now." Kira crossed her arms. "So either I come in and make sure she's safe, or I take her to a hospital and let them deal with it."
Rowan was already carrying Naomi up the steps. "Let her in."
I stepped aside.
Kira followed us into the house, looking around with sharp, assessing eyes. Making sure this was a safe space. Making sure we weren't a threat.
Smart. I respected that.
"I need a key," she said as we reached the second floor.
"What?"
"A key to your house. I'm going to get some of Naomi's things, favorite foods, her own blankets, stuff that smells like home. This place is unfamiliar and it's going to make the heat worse. She needs familiar scents to feel safe enough to nest properly."
She was right. I hated that she was right, but she was.
I pulled out my phone and disabled the alarm, then handed her a spare key from the bowl by the door. "Be quick. She's getting worse."
"I will. And I'm staying until her heat breaks." Kira's expression was fierce. "I'm not negotiating on this."
"Fine. Just go."
She left, and I turned to follow Rowan up to the third floor. To the room we'd been preparing since we got this place. TheOmega suite took up half of the third floor. We'd designed it ourselves. Commissioned it. Furnished it with things we hoped our mate would love.
Soft, oversized pillows in jewel tones. Blankets made from the finest materials, cashmere, silk, Egyptian cotton. A massive bed that could easily fit three people. Everything an Omega could want for nesting. None of it had ever been opened. We'd kept it pristine, waiting for her. Rowan laid Naomi on the bed carefully. She immediately curled into a ball, whimpering.
