He was walking out of the lecture hall with Everett when the first cramp hit him.
Ash hadn’t hurried away on his own, because he was doing his best not to be an asshole. Everett had turned out to be a decent desk-mate. The omega had focused on the lecture the whole time, typing his notes without making any bullshit chitchat, which had been exactly what Ash had needed, seeing as how he’d missed the first lecture entirely.
As they hurried down the steps to the quad, Everett was hyping the omega study group. “Besides the studying, it can be a good sounding board,” he said eagerly. “You know. Like,what suppressants and birth control are working for people, any issues with heat services, any alphas that should be avoided.”
Ash felt like a whole new world was opening up without his permission. He hadn’t been around all that many omegas that weren’t family before now, not in any meaningful way. Sure, there was Eli now, but he was so much older—he’d lived a whole life as an omega already before he’d even met Ash’s brother.
Ugh. That probably made him a great resource, didn’t it? Ash would think about that later.
He was nodding along to Everett’s chatter at the bottom of the steps when his guts twisted without warning, sending a sharp pain through his abdomen. It was a horrible, debilitating cramp, and it sent Ash immediately to one knee.
“Oh shit.” Everett’s voice sounded far away. “Ash? You okay?”
No. He really wasn’t. Ash’s insides were on fire, and he could feel it, like some disgusting dam bursting—slick sliding down the backs of his thighs.
Like, what the hell? After all the fucking effort to get his slick going last time,nowit just appeared out of nowhere?
“Oh shit, oh shit.”
There were hands on Ash’s shoulders, tugging him to the side of the steps, out of the way of passing students. Ash could still feel eyes on him—too many prying eyes—but at least he wasn’t omega roadkill. Trying to stand only sent more shooting pain through his guts, so he stayed hunched over his knees, letting Everett block him from the worst of the bystanders.
Ash should thank the other omega, but all he could manage was a pained sort of huffing. Even breathing was unpleasant now. There were too many smells, an overload of pheromones he wasn’t prepared for. Everett hadn’t been lying—he smelled like candy apples, sweet caramel and tart fruit mixed together.It might have been kinda nice if there weren’t a hundred other scents competing for Ash’s attention at the same time.
“Oh shit,” Everett muttered again, a knowing edge to the words this time. Probably he’d smelled Ash’s slick by now. “Hey, Ash? Is there an alpha I can call for you?”
Ash made what he hoped was an affirmative groan, and then Everett’s dainty hand was in Ash’s back pocket, fishing out his phone.
“It’s dead,” Everett said a second later.
Well, fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Okay, Ryder’s number. Ash knew that by heart, right? He fought though the pain and the pheromone fog to say the numbers out loud, thankful that Everett got the message immediately and started tapping them into his own phone.
“Hello? Is this?—”
Everett snapped fingers in front of Ash’s face, and Ash grunted out, “Ryder. You’re calling Ryder.”
“Is this Ryder? Ash needs you. Yes. Front steps of the engineering building.”
Moments later, a gentle touch landed on Ash’s shoulder. “He’s on his way.”
Good. That was good. Ash shuddered his way through another cramp. He was too hot by far, his clothes a constricting burden, but he was with it enough to know he couldn’t strip down in the middle of campus. Hopefully, if he forgot that fact in the next few minutes, Everett would remind him.
Finally, the sound of footsteps.
But it wasn’t the comforting scent of cedar that enveloped Ash. It was bitter coffee, the kind that had been left to reheat for too long and ended up burned. Ash fought back a gag.
“Hey, Everett, who’s your friend?”
Everett’s fingers clenched on Ash’s shoulder. “Now’s not a good time, Judd.”
Everett sounded polite but … stilted, his caramel scent sharpening in an unpleasant way. Between that and the coffee scent, Ash took to panting open-mouthed, trying not to smell anything and failing miserably.
“Seems like the perfect time for an alpha, actually.” Dirty tennis shoes appeared in front of Ash’s lowered gaze. “Hey, sweetheart. You smell good.”
Ash didn’t look up. This creep wasn’t worth the pain of his focused attention. “Fuck off.”
The guy’s coffee scent took on an even stronger burned flavor, but he only laughed. “But I know an unlocked classroom nearby. Two minutes away, tops.”
“Thanks, but we don’t need your help,” Everett said, still polite but with a more forceful edge to it. “His alpha’s on the way.”
