For our bears, it had always been a favorite game, but with Bonnie, it brought it to a whole new level. She might be an omega, but whoa, she could track us down like the fiercest alpha on the planet.
Our game was the equivalent of tag for kids, only a lot furrier.
We shucked our clothes. The household rule, the last one to shift was “it.” There were some days where that slowed everything down because we all wanted to be on the hunt. But not today. We raced, and it was a close call, but Justice wasfirst. We all bolted in different directions, and he chose his prey, because I was the slowest. I didn’t mind. I loved both roles.
And then it was two against two, the goal to be the last one standing. Bonnie won, just like she usually did. Now, it was her time to be the hunter. I lumbered toward the river, hoping that I could use it to help her lose my scent.
I was tackled before I got to the bank, not just by Bonnie, but also by Dallas and Justice. I’d been the last one standing. That was a first. We rolled on the ground. Instead of getting up and playing more, we curled up in the sun and rested in a dogpile…or was it bear wolf pile? Whatever the case, it was so much fun.
We shifted back. Bonnie seemed slightly off.
“You okay?” I asked.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Just…lots of running. I’m going to go take a shower.” She brushed past me, and her scent spiked again.
Something’s changing. It’s her heat. It’s coming.
The others seemed to notice it too.
“It’s not just me who scents that, right?” I asked when she had walked into the house.
“Oh, no, that’s not just you,” Dallas said. “My bear was hinting at it this morning, but I didn’t understand what he was saying until just now.”
“I—we need to tell her. She’s never been through this before,” I reminded them. They were aware of our conversation that day.
“Yeah, we should. She deserves that,” Dallas agreed.
What she really deserved was having her mother teach her the things she needed to, but I wasn’t going to bring that up. They were slowly coming to an understanding between them, and I had a feeling they would grow closer again. But that hurt—that hurt was never going to go fully away. The damage was done.
“We’ll wait till she’s out of the shower and have a pack meeting over lunch,” Justice said.
I never thought we’d have a pack meeting explaining heat to our omega. But then again, having an omega as wonderful as her wasn’t something I expected, either, and that had turned out well.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Bonnie
They had to explain it to me. In more detail. And remind me of what the doctor said because in my current state, my brain was not working at its best. I’d been reared with a very limited version of what it meant to be an omega. To be me. And with nobody around to bring it on and pills that came from goddess knew where, I certainly hadn’t had a heat before.
“This is what the doctor was explaining?” Sweat poured from my brow, followed by chills racking my bones. “I feel like shit.” I almost never swore, saving it for when it was the most useful. Like now. “Why would anyone want this?”
“I don’t think anyone does—that’s not really the point.” Dallas stroked my arm, but that only made me angry in a nails-on-chalkboard kind of way. I shrugged him off.
“Great. Nobody wants it. Nobody likes it. Omegas endure it. Typical alpha bullshit.” Stomping from the living room to the kitchen, I stuck my head in the freezer and breathed the cold air. “Why is my fucking head hot and the rest of me cold?”
None of them spoke, but I heard them breathing. In the most annoying way.
“Get out!”
But as soon as they stepped out of the room, I needed them back. Like I needed oxygen. But they were annoying me. So much. What was I supposed to do? Other omegas presumably survived this. How?
“Come back!” I spun away from the freezer, managing to bang my head on the edge of the door. They crept back in, while I rubbed the lump on my temple. “Why are you so irritating but I can’t have you out of my sight for more than a minute?”
They looked at each other, uneasiness seeping off them.
“Someone say something.”
“Uh, it’s a heat, mate. And there’s only one cure that I know of,” Dallas offered tentatively.
