Not in Mason’s truck with all four of them boxed in around me like predators who absolutely know what I smell like. We’re driving again and soon pull into our driveway, gravel crunching under the tires, but I can’t stay in this space for another second.
“Are you okay?” Jasper asks, reaching for me.
I don’t answer.
The moment the four-wheel-drive stops, I bolt.
I use my spare keys to unlock the front door, race up the stairs two at a time, slam into my room, and lock myself in the bathroom.
I should have known, should have recognized the signs. Of course that’s why I’ve been losing my mind around them for days. Why every touch felt like fire, why I couldn’t control myself.
The heat is coming full force now, and I’m already burning up. I turn on the shower, cranking it to cold, strip, and step under the spray.
The water rushes across my overheated skin, but it’s not helping. More slick is gushing out, running down my legs like it always does when my heat starts.
And I’m worried.
My last pack never bonded with me during my heat. Maybe one of them if I was lucky, or they made me suffer through it alone, saying I needed to learn control. Ethan was a sadist who enjoyed watching me suffer.
But what if these four want to all be there? What if it’s too much? What if I can’t handle it?
There’s a knock on the bathroom door. “Anita, are you okay in there?” It’s Slater’s voice, and it makes everything inside me clench with need.
“No,” I admit.
“What’s going on?”
“It’s here and it’s coming so fast.” My voice cracks. “And I’m so stupidly horny that it actually hurts, but I also don’t want to force this on any of you, and I don’t know if I can handle all four of you at once and?—”
The bathroom door opens.
Four of them are suddenly there, these huge Alphas filling the small space, fully clothed and staring at me as I’m naked and crouched in the shower, trying to make myself small.
Slater moves first.
He kicks off his shoes, pulls his shirt over his head, and drops his pants until he’s naked. Then he steps into the shower with me.
He crouches down and takes my hands in his.
“We are not going anywhere,” he says firmly, his steel-gray eyes locked on mine. “We are not abandoning you. We are so fucking excited to share your heat with you, all of us together. This is what we’ve been waiting for.”
I cry out as another wave of need crashes over me, painful and overwhelming.
He pulls me into his arms, cradling me against his chest. “Let us take care of you, little Omega. Let us show you what it means to be cherished during your heat, please.”
“I’ve never…” I whimper. “My old pack never… I don’t know if I can…”
“You can,” he says with absolute certainty. “Because we’re going to make sure you’re worshipped every second. No pain. Just pleasure. Just us taking care of our Omega exactly how she deserves.”
The other three are stripping now. They step into the shower, which is easily made for ten people, and close in around me, their hands gentle and sure. I let myself fall into the heat with all four of them.
Because maybe this is what I’ve been searching for all along.
28
DYLAN
It’s mid-morning, and Anita is going into full-blown heat right in front of us.
