We both exchange grim glances. This changes everything.
“Do you think Nik knows?” he whispers.
Mags perks up a bit at the mention of our alpha packmate. “N-Nik? Is he here?” She glances around the room with glazed eyes. “I need Nik.”
“Oh, I bet Nik knows,” I say, cringing as soon as the words are out of my mouth. This is going to kill Kip. My brother’s been close to Mags since we were kids. For her to keep something like this from him but share it with Nik, who we’ve only known for a few years? It’s like I can feel his heart breaking from across the room.
“What are we going to do, Kaden? She needs an alpha.”
I square my shoulders and look back at Mags. “Well, unless you want to involve that creep, Dave, we don’t have an alpha available. It’s up to us.”
“What?”
“We’re professional heat helpers, right? So, let’s help her with her heat.”
“Mags wouldn’t want that,” he hisses, his face turning beet red. “She’ll fucking kill us when she snaps out of it.”
“You’ve seen enough omegas in heat to know that we can’t just leave her like this. She’s miserable. Even if it’s just this one time, we have to ease her through it. She’ll go into fucking heat delirium if we don’t.”
“Mags wouldn’t want us to—”
I smack the back of his head. “Mags wants Nik to, but he’s not here. Weare, so we’re going to fucking fix her.”
The blow seems to have calmed Kip down a bit. He stops complaining, and a resolute stare settles on his face. “Fine. But if she says ‘no’ at any point, and I mean any, we stop, and we get Nik.”
“Deal.”
Kip slowly walks over to Mags’s bed with his hands extended, like he’s approaching a wild animal. “Mags? Mags, baby, it’s us. Kip and Kaden. You remember us, right?”
She blinks at him, then smiles so brightly it almost hurts to look at her. “Bestie.”
“Yeah, baby. It’s your bestie.” His voice cracks a bit. “Mags, do you understand what’s happening right now?”
The smile inverts into a disappointed frown. “Heat.”
“That’s right. Someone messed with your vials, and the medicine isn’t working. But you’ll be okay. You’ve got us. Can we help you, Mags?”
Her pupils are already dilated, but when he says that, the grey irises all but disappear. Mags stands on shaky legs and stumbles into Kip’s arms. The heady, intoxicating scent of sugar and bubblegum fills the air, and I realize she’s perfuming forus. She nuzzles Kip’s neck, inhaling his scent and licking a long, sensual line from his collarbone to his ear.
Fuck, even watching her lick my twin is turning me on.
“Mm … You’ve always smelled so good to me, Kip. Like fresh, upturned earth. So natural.” Her nose wrinkles for a second. “Not like that jerk Dave. He smells gross.”
This is so weird. Even though it was my idea to help her, I feel awkward. I mean, this isMags. It’s our best friend. We’ve known her since before we could walk. Now we’re about to—well, whatever she’ll let us do. There are a few ways for beta heat helpers to ease this, but the most obvious seems like a violation.
Before I can back out of the deal, Mags reaches out for me. “Kaden … Tasty, tasty Kaden … My margarita man … C’mere.”
Shit, I can’t stop now. She’s already so far gone. If we don’t get her through this, we might never get her back. I take her hand and let her pull me backwards towards the bed. Kip follows, and soon we’re all on the mattress in a pile of limbs.
Mags groans, grinding her hips against my leg. “This nest sucks.”
I stroke her damp hair and take the biggest risk I’ve ever taken in my life.
I kiss Mags.
Those cherry-red lips kiss back, and her tongue joins in. Mags holds my face to hers, and I’m dimly aware of Kip rubbing her flat belly and kissing her neck. It hits me that this could be the night my brother loses his virginity, and I feel a mix of pride and shame. I shouldn’t be here for this moment, but without me, it might never happen.
“How can we help you, Mags?” Ever the gentleman, Kip’s doing his level best to make sure she still respects herself when this is all over. “Tell us what you need.”
