I shift my weight again, unable to stand still. My thighs press together. The seam of my jeans suddenly feels too rough, too present. You shouldn’t ever notice the seam of your pants, right? I try to focus on the ice, on finding Beckett among the players, but my vision keeps blurring at the edges.
“Here,” Bella says, more insistent now. Before I can protest, she’s tugging at my sweater. “Arms up.”
I comply without thinking, desperate for any relief from the heat building under my skin. The cooler air hits my arms, my back, but it’s not enough. I’m wearing a tank top underneath, but even that feels like too much fabric.
“Better?” Sandra asks, her voice low, meant only for me.
I shake my head, unable to form words. A sheen of sweat breaks out across my collarbone, down my back. The crowd roars, but it sounds distant now, like I’m underwater. I blink hard, trying to clear my vision, to find Beckett.
“Ash needs some air,” Bella says quietly to Estelle, who nods and steps back, making space.
But I don’t need air. I need—I need cock. Right now. I need my alphas to pin me down and fill me up.
“Two minutes left!” Alexei shouts, his voice cutting through my fog. “They must score now!”
It can’t be. It can’t be happening right now.
I turn to Bella, eyes wide with panic and heat…
Oh my god. Heat.
Pierce’s head whips toward me, his eyes darkening. He takes a half-step closer, then stops himself, hands clenching at his sides. Liam is suddenly there too, moving to stand slightly between me and the rest of the room, his back to the glass.
“Ash,” he says, voice pitched low. “You’re—“
“Fine,” I grit out. “I’m fine.”
But I’m not fine. My heart races, my skin burns, and there’s an empty ache spreading through. I close my eyes briefly, willing itaway, but a cramp answers me. There’s nothing on earth like a heat cramp.
I force my eyes open, determined to see this through. Beckett is on the ice, fighting for the puck along the boards.
“She needs to leave,” Sandra murmurs to Bella, not quite quietly enough. “We’ll get Beckett.”
“Not yet,” I manage, though speaking requires effort now. My legs feel unsteady beneath me. I reach for the edge of the table, gripping it for support. “Beckett will win the game. I’m not fucking this up for him.”
Sandra looks at me like I’m dumb. Bella is right there next to me. She puts her arm around my waist and pulls me tight. The pandemonium of the room around us fades until it’s just us three omegas in a standoff for the ages.
“You cannot go into heat in a stadium full of thousands of alphas, in front ofmyalpha,” Sandra hisses through clenched teeth.
“I am not moving until my alpha wins.” My anger is hotter than the heat flares.
“You have to go.”
“No.”
The arena explodes into cheers and screams, shaking the ground beneath us!
“Goooooooaaaaaaal!”
“They did it!”
“They tied!”
“Overtime! Sudden death!”
The Scorpions chant starts.
“Okay! That’s that. Girl code says the omega going into heat holds the trump card.” Bella might be blond and perky, but not even Sandra can beat her when she gets like this.
