“We know,” I say. “But I’m glad it did.”
“We all are,” Jett says.
Her gaze moves from me, to Jett, to Mateo, and finally Augie, like she’s trying to figure out what we’re saying is true. Iris’s Omega may know and accept we’re hers, but just Iris is fighting it. Which is understandable. This isn’t a normal situation or one any of us could have ever planned for. But what Iris will eventually understand, is I would give up everything for her. My job, our business, anything—and I don’t even have to ask my pack if they feel the same. It’s written all over their faces.
Her lips swollen from my kisses part but before she can utter another word, she doubles over, gripping her abdomen as the scent of her fresh slick grows thick in the air, nearly choking me.
Mateo bends over and takes her arm as I take the other; we try to help her stand straight but it’s futile. Iris whines, her body going limp as she drops to her knees, body rocking forward like she wants to present for us right in the middle of this damn set.
“Fuck, I don’t think we’re making it out of here,” Augie says the thought that had just come to my mind.
A low protest works its way up my throat, my Alpha refusing to accept that we’re going to take care of our Omega through her heat on a set filled with our crew’s scents.
I inhale a calming breath and get Mateo to help me pull Iris up. I grip her face in my hands as Mateo supports her from the back so she can’t drop to her knees again and actually put that fine ass in the air. If she’d presented, no doubt every one of us minus Augie would have gone into rut. We may have torn each other to pieces just to fuck her first, and no one, not even our calming Beta, would have stopped us from doing it.
Alpha’s may have evolved over the years and been able to use modern medicine to calm our instincts, but this hasn’t been anormal situation and I feel how tight the pack bond is. We all love each other, but our scent-matched Omega in a surprise heat in a place that doesn’t feel safe? We all are aching to claim her, to make sure no Alpha in a one-hundred-mile radius could take her from us.
“Omega,” I grit out, my Alpha bark laced in my words.
She looks back into my eyes, pupils fully blown again.
“That’s a good girl. I need you to listen to me, okay?”
She nods. “Yes, Alpha.”
A burst of pheromones rushes through the room, not only mine but my packs. Hearing her say that pleased my hindbrain in ways I can’t even explain.
“We need to get out of here and then we’ll give you everything you need.”
“Need,” she exhales, the sound painful. “Need you now.” She clenches her jaw.
“If one of us gives you what you need here, little Omega, I can’t be sure we’ll be able to leave. Don’t you want a warm, safe nest?”
She tries to nod but then her eyes squeeze shut. “Alpha, please—”
“Give her what she wants, or I will,” Jett growls. “I can’t take seeing her in pain anymore.”
I start to growl back but Augie’s usually calm voice interjects, the sound of it near an Alpha’s bark. “Oh for heaven’s sake! I swear, you Alphas wouldn’t survive without me.”
I pry my gaze away from Iris as Augie moves to where there’s a love seat near the fake bookshops front window. “Bring her here, she needs the edge taken off.”
“Augie,” Jett argues. “I don’t—”
Augie growls, not an Alpha growl but one of warning. “Wilder and Jett, you go home and get the nest ready for her. Her heat will last for days and it needs to be comfortable for all of us. I will ease her for now, no dicks or knots, and Mateo will ride home with us in the car we have waiting.”
The plan is logical, and while my Alpha wants to argue, I know it’s for the best. I should be angry that Augie is thinking with a level head right now, but this is one of the many reasons Betas are imperative to pack life. They can be the voice of reason when biology takes over.
I brush my hand over Iris’s cheek before leaning forward and scent marking her by rubbing my cheek over hers. A needy sound escapes her lips and I kiss them softly. “Did you hear what Augie said, Omega?”
She nods. “Do you think that will help you?”
“Yes, Alpha.”
I look at Mateo and he dips his chin, pulling her from me. Jett hasn’t said much to her yet but he comes forward and does the same, scent marking her so she’ll have a piece of him while we leave her in the rest of our pack’s hands.
Iris whines as she gets further away from us, but I hold myself back from going to her and place my hand on Jett’s shoulder to stop him from doing the same. Augie’s plan is a good one, and we’ll be reunited with our Omega soon.
“Come on, let’s go get our Omega’s nest ready,” I say to Jett as Iris settles on our Beta’s lap.
