“Promise you’ll still be here?” she asks, pulling back to look at me seriously. “You won’t leave while I’m gone?”
“I promise I’ll be here when you get back,” I say, meaning it despite everything. I can’t disappoint this child who’s already lost so much.
Nora beams, satisfied with my answer. “Okay! Bye, Francine! Feel better!”
She skips over to her brothers, Kieran hoisting her backpack with one hand while Drake swings her up onto his shoulders. Her delighted giggles echo as they head for the doorway.
“I’ll be down in a minute,” Drake tells his brothers, setting Nora back on her feet. “Just want to check on Francine first.”
Kieran hesitates, his gaze shifting between Drake and me, but Nora tugs impatiently at his hand. “Come on! I can’t be late!”
They file out, leaving Drake standing over me. The moment the others are gone, some of the overwhelming sensory assault eases, though Drake’s cinnamon-leather scent still makes my body thrum with awareness.
He crouches beside me, his green eyes concerned as he studies my face. “You look like hell.”
“Thanks,” I mutter, trying to smile through my debilitating cramps. “Just what every girl wants to hear.”
Drake’s large, cool hand presses against my forehead, and I can’t help leaning into the touch. His palm feels heavenly against my overheated skin, and a small moan escapes me before I can stop it.
He withdraws his hand quickly, his expression darkening. “You’re burning up.”
“It’s probably just a bug,” I say. But I know it’s not true. My body is responding to his proximity in a way that has nothing to do with illness.
“I’ll get some ice,” Drake says, his voice oddly strained. “Stay here, okay? Don’t try to move until I get back.”
I nod, not trusting myself to speak as another wave of heat washes through me. Drake stands, his movements careful and controlled as he backs toward the door.
“I’ll be right back,” he promises, and then he’s gone.
The moment I’m alone, I collapse onto my side, curling into a fetal position as pain radiates through my lower abdomen. I need to get to my room before they return. I need to finish packing so I can spend the next few days alone in my apartment and away from the alphas.
I try to stand, but my legs refuse to hold me up. The room spins sickeningly, and I fall back to my knees with a whimper. There’s no choice but to crawl.
I drag myself across Nora’s plush pink carpet, each movement sending fresh agony through my core. My leggings are soaked between my thighs now, slick, dripping down to coat my inner thighs.
The hallway feels endless as I crawl inch by excruciating inch toward my bedroom. Sweat plasters my hair to my forehead, and my breathing comes in shallow pants. My pussy throbs and clenches on nothing, desperate to be filled. My nipples are so sensitive that the brush of my t-shirt against them brings tears to my eyes.
I know what this is now. I’ve read about it, heard other omegas talk about it, but I’ve never experienced it myself.
I’m in heat. Full, unbridled heat.
Finally, I reach my bedroom and drag myself inside, using the last of my strength to push the door closed behind me. My half-packed duffel bag sits on the bed, mocking me with its promise of escape.
I planned to spend these three days at my apartment while Nora was away. Three days of peace, away from the tension that’s been building in the house since that night when Kieran caught Elias with his face between my legs.
Now I know why my body has been feeling strange all day, the heightened sensitivity to smells, the dull ache that’s grown into this consuming agony. Being around four unmated alphas has triggered an early heat, one more intense than any I’ve experienced before.
I need to leave. Now. Before they realize what’s happening.
Before Kieran has another reason to look at me with that mixture of desire and resentment. He hates me, and I need to leave.
He made it clear at dinner two nights ago. He doesn’t want me here, doesn’t want the complication I represent. He tolerates me for Nora’s sake, nothing more.
But my body refuses to cooperate.
I can’t even crawl to the bed to reach my bag, let alone make it out of the house. The heat is consuming me from the inside out, each beat of my heart sending fresh waves of need through my veins. My pussy clenches so hard it hurts, desperate for the relief only an alpha’s knot can provide.
I curl into a ball on the floor, tears streaming down my face as I try to breathe through another spasm of need.
