I became acutely aware of my own body, of the way the sheet brushed against my skin as I fidgeted on the bed. My nipples tightened, pebbling beneath the thin fabric. I pressed my lips together, embarrassed by how obvious it felt.
Elias’s attention didn’t waver from my face.
The bond pulsed, a low, insistent thrum, and with it came an unmistakable shift in the room, the air warmed, the tensionturned from watchful to charged. I could feel them registering it, each in their own way, the scent of me changing, sweet and unmistakable even to myself.
“I don’t know what’s happening,” I gasped.
Elias licked his lips. “We know. You’re a wolf now. You’re going into your first heat.”
I stared at him, trying to stem my disbelief.
My face flamed. “You can’t be serious.”
A slow grin spread across Griff’s face. “Oh, he’s dead serious.”
Eamon leaned against the wall casually, though his eyes held a familiar, doctorly concern. “Your system’s stabilized. Your wolf is asserting dominance, and she’s surrounded by her mates. It’s a potent combination.”
I swallowed hard, heat coiling tighter, slick warmth gathering between my legs.
Great. This was really happening.
I could feel their attention on me, the heat in their gazes, the subtle shifts in posture as they acknowledged what was happening to me. What was happening between us.
“I have to… I have to go,” I said, already trying to swing my legs out of bed. I kept the sheet clutched around me, trying to cover my nakedness beneath it.
Bishop moved before I could protest. He placed a gentle but firm hand on my shoulder, pressing me back onto the cot. “No. You’re not running away from this. From us.”
I looked from Bishop’s steady blue eyes to Elias’s, then to Griff’s. Then my gaze landed on Eamon’s.
“Please,” I whispered, a note of real desperation in my voice.
His expression softened. He crossed the room, pulling up a stool and sitting beside the cot. He reached out, but he didn’t touch me. He just let his hand hover near my knee, a question without words.
“This isn’t something you need to fight,” he explained quietly. “It’s biology. It’s our bond. Let us take care of you, Tamsin.”
I looked from his hand to his face, searching for hesitation or pity and finding neither. Just calm certainty and a warmth that felt suspiciously soothing.
“I don’t know if I can,” I admitted, my voice barely a whisper.
“You can,” Elias said, taking another stool and sitting down beside me. He reached out and gently took my free hand and laced our fingers together. “And you will.”
His touch was like a spark on dry tinder.
The heat that had been coiling in my belly erupted, a sudden, molten wave that made me gasp. I felt a flush creep up my neck, hotter than before, and a wave of slickness rushed between my thighs. His thumb stroked over my knuckles, and my inner wolf whimpered, arching toward him.
Elias’s gaze darkened, sensing my response. “Let us in, little mate.”
It wasn’t a command, not really. It was a choice. A choice he was laying before me, knowing what I would decide.
I didn’t answer with words. I just stopped fighting.
The tension went out of my shoulders. The muscles in my back relaxed. I leaned into his touch. My body was thrumming,a live wire of need and anticipation, and for once, I didn’t try to pretend otherwise.
A low hum of approval rumbled in Griff’s chest. He moved to the other side of the cot, close enough that I could feel the warmth radiating from him. He didn’t touch me, not yet. He just watched, his eyes burning, letting the tension build, letting the anticipation stretch thin and taut.
Bishop remained where he was, one hand still on my shoulder, a grounding, steadying presence. Eamon’s hand finally grazed my skin and settled against my knee.
Elias bent his head, his breath brushing my ear. “We’re all going to take you,” he murmured, his voice a rough growl. “One by one. We’ll help you through your heat.”
