“Jett,Ineedyouto calm down,” I demand once my pack is safely in a holding room with the door closed.
He threads his fingers through his hair violently, pacing the length of the small space as Augie and Mateo flank my sides. I’ve never seen him like this before, and the way he looks right now, the only comparison I can think of is a feral wolf in a cage. That’s not good.
“Jett!” I bark loudly, lacing all my dominance into his name. He stops his pacing, turning to face me and our pack. His blue eyes are practically black, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d say he was on the verge of rut. The last time he had one was two years ago, and none of us know what triggered it.
We were at some fancy Halloween party in the Beverly Hills. One moment he was fine and the next he was lost. Thankfully Augie was able to take care of him and no cops needed to be called. If they had, he would have been put into a padded cell until he calmed down. An awful experience no Alpha wants to go through. After that he’s been on stronger rut blockers, the same dose I am for safety reasons, and he should have had a shot this morning before coming on set.
“Did you not get your rut blocker?”
“I did,” he grits out. “But I’m not going into a rut.”
“He’s not,” Mateo assures, stepping forward. “This is different.” He holds up his hands in surrender, tipping his neck to the side so Jett’s Alpha knows he means no harm.
A low growl reverberates from Jett and he snarls. Regardless of how he’s feeling, I know he understands that Mateo would never harm him. But with that said, I’ve never seen him react to an Omega like this. Let alone one who we can’t even scent.
Iris has on so many de-scenting agents you’d think she was dipped in a vat of them. It agitated my Alpha—a fact I’ve been trying to ignore since I normally wouldn’t care—but after seeing Jett like this I’m glad for it.
“Can you take a breath for me, compa?” Mateo asks. “I know you’re not going into a rut, but if you don’t calm down you just might. It smells like sour lemons in here and my eyes are watering.” The last part is said with a teasing affection that only he can achieve.
Jett fists his hands at his sides, knuckles white. For a second I don’t think he’s going to do it but he sucks in a breath, his growl fading with the inhale.
“That’s it. Take a few more.”
Mateo lowers his hands as Jett does what he says. My packmate blinks and every time his eyes open his dark pupils retract, his irises returning to their normal shade of blue.
My gaze finds Augie’s while his mate continues to calm Jett down. I can feel him pumping his calming Beta energy through our bond, and I appreciate him for it.
“You good?” I mouth to him. He nods, but I can tell he isn’t. Whatever happened between him and Iris earlier and now this, has him anxious. I want to say I’m fine but that wouldn’t be true. Since the moment Iris walked into our sphere only an hour ago, my pack has been off kilter. I thought maybe I made it up, but something is clearly wrong.
“Jett,” Mateo says.
I turn my attention back to the two Alpha’s. The scent in the air no longer smells of acidic lemons, but I can still smell Jett’s normal tangy lemon pheromones with their sweet yet sour edge. It’s concerning because that means whatever happened most likely caused him to burn through his high dose of rut blockers.And I most certainly should not be able to smell him at this strength with the de-scenters the crew sprays in the air.
“I’m sorry,” Jett respires. He runs a hand through his hair in frustration. “I don’t know what came over me.”
I take an easy step toward them, pushing my Alpha down as far as I can right now given I too feel on edge. Jett is still walking a careful line of control, and I don’t want to accidentally set him off again.
Jett’s worried eyes find mine and I keep my hands in my pockets with my chin dipped down. I won’t give him my throat but his Alpha will see I mean well.
“Do you have any idea what happened?” I ask.
“I think it’s my fault,” Augie answers instead.
The three of us turn to him, his features sullen despite his continuous pumping of calming energy through the bond.
“What do you mean, mi amor?” Mateo asks.
“Jett’s Alpha went into a rage because Iris was hurt.”
The growl I loosed earlier builds back at the mention of Iris and hurt in the same sentence. It’s a ridiculous reaction, just like the reaction earlier was ridiculous. I’d chalked it up to my Alpha wanting to protect an Omega, that I would have acted like that for anyone. Now I’m doubting that more than I already was.
Augie comes closer to us so his arm touches Mateo’s and his gaze is locked on Jett’s. “I didn’t mean to hurt her, Alpha. I’m still mad at myself for it.”
Our Beta always knows the right things to say and do. Addressing Jett’s Alpha directly seems to have done the trick. Jett’s jaw relaxes, his muscles easing further and eyes clear. He’s back to normal now, or at least as close as he can be after that. Alpha rage can often lead to a rut or worse, an Alpha going feral. It’s rare, but has happened. Thank fuck this crisis was overcome because losing Jett to that would hurt us all.
“It’s okay, Augie,” he exhales, relaxing his hands at his sides. “My reaction was uncalled for. I’m sorry,” he looks between Mateo and I, “To you both as well.”
I clap him on the shoulder and squeeze. “Nothing bad happened and that’s the most important thing. But I can’t let you go back out there if you think you’ll lose your composure again.”
