The warmth in my belly pulsed. Higher. Hotter.
"We need to get you out of here," Neal said. "Now. Before this escalates."
"Before what escalates?"
"Just trust me." He took my arm—the contact sent sparks racing across my skin—and guided me out of Stone's room. "Cal, keep him contained. Don't let him leave that room until I come back."
"And if he shifts?"
"Then pray."
We made it halfway across the common area before Cole appeared.
He came through the main doors like a man on a mission, his eyes scanning until they found me. The moment they did, he stopped. His face went white.
"Her temperature's 104," Neal reported. "The ferals are responding to her presence—strongly. Stone's barely holding form."
"Of course they are." Cole's voice was flat. Hard. "They can sense what's happening."
Cole looked at me. Really looked—past the fever-bright eyes, past the flushed skin, past all the external symptoms to something deeper.
"We need to get you somewhere safe." He moved toward me. "Somewhere private. This is going to intensify, and when it does, you'll need your mates close. All of them."
"That doesn't answer my question."
"I know." He stopped just short of touching me. I saw his hands shake with the effort of holding back. "But right now, timematters more than explanations. The heat builds fast once it starts. We have maybe a few hours before—"
"Before what?"
His eyes met mine. Dark. Anguished.
"Before it becomes unbearable."
Another pulse of warmth rolled through me. Stronger than before. I felt it in my bones, my blood, the deepest parts of me. It was like standing at the edge of a wave, watching it rise, knowing it was about to crash.
"My cabin," Cole said to Neal. "It’s private. And farther away from here."
"I'll get James." Neal was already moving. "And contact Rae. She needs to know what's happening."
"Quickly."
Cole's hand found the small of my back. The touch was light—barely there—but it sent lightning through my nervous system. I gasped.
"I know," he murmured. "Everything's more intense now. It'll keep building until the heat peaks."
"How long?"
"I don't know exactly. My mother never—" He shook his head. "It varies. A day. Maybe two. Depends on the Omega, the pack, the bonds."
We moved through the Healing Center, past staff who stared too long, past doorways that blurred together. The fluorescent lights were too bright, the antiseptic smell too sharp. Every step sent sensation rippling through me, as if my body couldn’t decide what to notice first.
He didn’t slow until we were outside. The air shifted, cooler, quieter, and he guided me down a long trail that opened into a clearing. An A-frame cabin stood there, two stories tall, its lines simple and solid. It looked… welcoming.
Which felt strange, considering how wrong everything else felt.
"The ferals," I managed. "They could feel it happening."
"They're sensitive to you. More than anyone." Cole guided me around a corner. "The heat amplifies everything—your presence, your scent, the pull you have on other wolves. For ferals who are already drawn to you, it's going to be overwhelming."
