Page 30 of Trick or Heat

“Because it’s a wonderful idea. A great bonding exercise between us and our newly scent-matched omegas.”

Casey tenses beside me, his gaze darting to Elsie.

“I’m sorry, did you say omegas? As in plural?” she asks, her eyes like saucers.

“Elsie.”

She turns to look at Casey, his expression hesitant. “They’re not just your scent matches… they’re all my scent matches, too.”

Everything goes silent as she processes that, her features morphing into a variety of expressions, but they all spell out one major emotion: confusion.

“They…” She looks at all three of us, glancing between each of our faces. “They’re both of our scent matches?”

We all nod as Raivat speaks. “Yes, we found out when he got here, but we haven’t been able to discuss it⁠—”

“This heat was about you,” Casey emphasizes. He steps forward, kneeling beside the tub. “So we put it on the back burner.”

DJ stands awkwardly with the tray of soups. “Maybe I should have held off on the soup party.”

Elsie balks again. “What are the odds?” she asks, so quietly that I think she’s saying it to herself.

“They were very slim,” Raivat jokes, but the omega’s face is still morphed in surprise. He steps closer. “But since your heat is over, I guess it’s time to make it official. I’m sure all three of us are in agreement, but we’d like to court both of you.”

He looks to us for confirmation, and my head gives a curt nod, followed by DJ’s excited one.

“Court us… both?” she asks, her eyes wide.

DJ grins, his white teeth completely on display. “Of course. Why wouldn’t we court you both?”

“If we had met under normal circumstances,” I begin, stepping into the conversation. “We might have asked you in a more romantic way.”

Casey and Elsie look at each other, their eye contact saying everything and nothing at the same time. He gives her a soft smile, still trying to ease her anxiety. When she doesn’t give any reaction, he reaches for her hand, cupping it gently.

“It’s what we always wanted, isn’t it, El?” he says, low, the statement just for her. “To stay together, even after we met our packs? What better way to do that than to have the same pack?”

She glances at his lips for the briefest moment and nods. “Yeah. It’s what we’ve always wanted.”

He angles their hands so he can squeeze tighter. “Then let’s see where it goes.”

Elsie looks back at us, steeling her shoulders. “We’d like that,” she finally agrees, her lips twitching until a cheeky smile appears. “We’d like that a lot.”

FIFTEEN

Things are still a little bit confusing after coming out of my heat. Before, I was just a lone omega pining for her best friend, and now I apparently have three hulking alphas tending to me. Not just alphas, but scent matches. They text me all day long, cute little quips about their days and cheeky questions about me and my life. It’s become a staple of my day now that classes have resumed.

It was hard to go back to my routine after a week of being gone, especially since spooky season has now been quickly pushed aside for Thanksgiving decorations; turkeys, cornucopias, random vegetables like snap peas and carrots.

Thankfully, pumpkin is still a big thing. I freaking love pumpkin.

I’m crossing the quad on my way to the psychology building when my phone vibrates in my hoodie pocket.

Well, not my hoodie. Apparently my hormones were still in a frenzy because I stole it from Brodie before everyone left. He asked me later that day if it was at my apartment and I may or may not have sent him a suggestive photo of me wearing it as my answer. That was bold for me, but his voice memo of him groaning in response was so worth it.

As far as matches go, the universe gifted me with some amazing ones. They’re silly, gentle, and ridiculously sexy.

The group chat that DJ created has been the main source of communication between the five of us since my heat ended. Apparently when your scent matches are collegiate athletes, their schedules are busy. Practice, games, and classes have kept us from being able to talk in person, but you wouldn’t think that by how often they text us.

I expect the text to be from the group chat, but when I pull my phone out, I find a text from Casey instead.