“What? No, I feel fine,” she said. But her words were edged with a slight whine.
“Your scent is changing,” Cam said, surveying the parking lot for threats as he ushered her into the car.
“No, this is just a mini pre-heat hormone surge,” she insisted.
“Precious, this is just like the last time you went into heat,” I said gently, getting in the backseat next to her.
She fidgeted in her seat as if she couldn’t quite get comfortable. I moved to the middle seat and pulled her into my arms, gratification hitting me as she instantly relaxed.
“We’ll grab your things at the house and then head up to the cabin,” Theo said as he pulled out of the parking lot.
“Maybe we shouldn’t go to the cabin. What if I can’t make a good nest there?” Her anxiety tainted her sweet scent with its bitterness.
“That’s fine, baby girl,” Cam said, turning around in the passenger seat. “We can stay at the house. Whatever makes you most comfortable.”
“No, but I want to be at the cabin,” she whined, her eyes shining with unshed tears.
Cam and I looked at each other, completely clueless about how to fix this.
“Listen to me, love. I know this feels overwhelming, but we will take care of you every step of the way. We’ll make sure you have everything you need at the cabin,” Theo said in a calm, even tone.
I’d forgotten that omegas didn’t like to make decisions while in heat. Theo made Cam and me read a book on omega heats so we could all be prepared, and I was frustrated I’d already forgotten key details.
Josie didn’t respond. I tilted her head towards me and kissed her on the forehead.
“What’s making you so anxious, precious? Heats are supposed to be fun.”
She was silent for a few moments. “I won’t be in control,” she finally whispered.
Cam reached out his hand to her. She took it tightly in her own and let out a shuddering breath.
“We’d never push you into anything you didn’t want to do,” he said fiercely.
“No, I know. But… what if I don’t remember everything that happens?”
Shit.
It clicked into place why she was so scared. How had we not put this together before? She’d spent so long with that device, preventing her from remembering what had happened to her body. The book Theo gave me said that omegas could go into a heat fog, where the intensity of the hormones put them in an altered state. Sometimes they didn’t remember what happened during parts of the heat.
“Oh, Josie,” I said, hugging her to my chest. I held her to me until the car stopped. I glanced up and realized we were home already.
“What do you want to do, gorgeous?” I asked. “We could get suppressants if you don’t feel ready.”
The door opened and Cam and Theo squished into the back seat with us. I pulled Josie onto my lap so she was straddling me and ran my hands up and down her thighs.
“I don’t want suppressants,” she said, shaking her head.
Theo grasped her hand and kissed her bond mark. “We’ll be able to feel you the whole time. If we sense any distress, we’ll stop everything and make sure you’re okay.”
“You talked to Lilah about your heat, right?” I asked. She and Josie talked almost every day. One time I’d walked into the room while they were video chatting and heard Lilah talk in detail about her last heat. I’d practically sprinted from the room with my hands over my ears. There were some things I didn’t need to know about my baby sister.
“She said they’re really fun,” Josie said, still sounding uncertain. Her fingers fiddled with the strings on my sweatshirt until she huffed and tugged the whole thing off me.
I cleared my throat, and she jolted, staring at the sweatshirt in her hands as if she didn’t know how it got there.
“Fuck. I’m really in heat, aren’t I?”
My lips twitched. “Seems like it.”
