Chapter 42
Chapter Forty-Two
ETHAN
B y the time I make it through town and to my own ranch, my heart is in my throat and nerves sit in my stomach like a damn stone. Beau frowns as he steps out of one of the employee barns, his hands in his pockets. Emily follows a few steps behind him.
Shit, the last thing I need right now is another Alpha at the barns. I love Emily. She loves Brielle. But instincts are instincts.
They close the distance to me even as I ease the truck into the open space in front of the private barn. There’s no sign of Caleb across the meadow, where the trailhead he’s probably using dumps out of the forest. I tilt my head back and force myself to breathe, to think.
Fuck, it’s been so damn long since we’ve had to get an Omega through a heat. Do we even have enough supplies? I count through the amount of blankets we have as well as sheets. It’s likely enough as long as one of us stays on top of the laundry. Do we have an extra tooth brush? We can probably use Camden’s hair brush if Caleb doesn’t have one of hers stashed at our place already.
Camden .
Shit.
I pull out my phone and call Joan. She answers on the first ring.
“Hey, Ethan,” she says in her happy alto. “I hope the horses didn’t give you too much trouble this week. Melissa mentioned yesterday that one of them keeps throwing a shoe.”
I huff out a laugh. Misty Mountain’s trail horses are the literal last thing on my mind right now, even the damn palomino that’s made it her life mission to go through as much steel as physically possible.
“Hey, Joan, do you still have that bag of Camden’s things?” I ask.
There’s a pause. “Yes. What happened? Does Lynn have Cam right now?”
I’d left him with Mom this morning, but she’d texted mid-morning saying her and Dad were headed into Jackson for a last minute issue with her booth at the Artisan shop. I focus on Emily and Beau again. A flash of blond hair runs out of the barn behind them, racing around them even as I watch.
“Emily does,” I say as Camden stops to pick a flower from the pasture. I force a swallow and then say, “Brielle’s in heat.”
Joan curses, low and fervent. It’s such a rare occurrence that I actually bark out a laugh.
“Caleb was taking her up to Fool’s Canyon today.” Her voice carries the same worry that’s making it difficult for me to breathe.
“I know.” That stone in my stomach gets heavier. “He’s getting her down right now. He said he could manage.”
There’s a muffled sound and then Joan says something to someone else, quiet enough I can’t understand it. After a half minute, she says to me, “All right. Miranda’s got the cafe until close. I’ll coordinate with Lynn and Emily. You need anything for Brielle?”
“I don’t know,” I admit. “We haven’t?—”
My throat closes around the words. There’s a long, awful silence.
“You take care of Brielle and text me if you end up needing anything,” Joan says, her voice softer than before. “I can send Hudson to Jackson if you need something from the Council, too. Everything else can wait until after.”
The call disconnects, and I shove the phone into my pocket and slide out of the truck.
“What’s wrong?” Beau asks.
“Something happen with Chesapeake?” Emily asks. I cock an eyebrow at her assumption it’s something to do with the palomino that loves to hate me—and her shoes.
I shake my head and adjust the ball cap.
“Caleb’s on his way in,” I say.
Beau’s frown deepens. “That’s way earlier than he said. Something go wrong?”
Emily mutters an agreement. “That feels short. I mean, it’s probably enough time, but still…”
She trails off.
“She dropped into her heat.”
Emily curses.
“Bonding can do that?” Beau asks. He pulls off his hat and runs a hand through his hair.
I shrug. She’d been showing subtle signs for the last couple weeks. Was it the bonding that pushed her over? Probably not. But without knowing when her last heat was, there’s no way to know with absolute certainty.
“Take her to the guest house,” Emily says. “She’s nested there, and it’s a quicker drive than all the way to town and your place.”
I frown. The only bed at her guest house is the one in the bedroom. If we use it, we’ll have to sleep on the couch. Or in the nest with her.
Kayla hated having us sleep in her nest, especially during her heats. She couldn’t stand the extra body heat when the need wasn’t consuming her.
That complicated ball of emotions tries to rise again. Fuck, I don’t want to deal with it, feel it, acknowledge it. I focus on something I know how to handle.
“Are there enough supplies?” I ask.
Emily frowns. “Probably not, but we can gather some and have one of the Betas bring everything over.”
Beau nods. “Dad and I are happy to play runners. Get me a list, and I’ll have Dad start grabbing things. You need new ones, or are things from your house all right?”
“From his house should be fine. She’s already been there and smelled the laundry detergent they use.” Emily takes control while I flounder with the reality that I’m about to get an Omega other than Kayla through a heat. An Omega who is my literal physical soulmate. An Omega who hasn’t had more than a passing greeting with me since I fucked her boneless over a week ago.
“I’ll coordinate with Hudson about getting you guys food,” Emily continues. She pulls out her own phone and sends a text to someone. “I know she just went to Jackson for a fancy food haul as she calls it, but there won’t be enough to feed all three of you.”
My heart pounds in my chest as I nod.
Beau looks over my shoulder, and his mouth tightens.
“Here they come,” he says.
I glance behind me. Sure enough, out of the trees exactly where I expected, they start toward us. Caleb pushes Daphne faster once they’re on the flat ground. He’s far enough away I can’t see specifics, but it’s obvious he has Brielle wedged in front of him, his arms holding her in place. Even from this distance, she looks like a mess.
Emily turns for Camden, picking him up and heading toward Mom and Dad’s house without a glance back. Thank fuck she understood without me having to say it.
“I need you to take the horses,” I tell Beau. He nods. “Emily will stay at the house until she sees us leave. And no one else should show up while we’re trying to get Brielle out of here, but?—”
“I’ll make sure you guys are safe,” he says, even more serious than normal.
It takes only a few minutes—that feel like an entire fucking hour—for Caleb and Brielle to make it across the clearing. He swings off Daphne before easing Brielle into his arms.
She’s even more of a mess up close. Tears track down her face and wet her shirt. Her eyes are unfocused, her hair a tangled mass. I can’t help but scan both sides of her neck, looking for his mark.
Something dark twists in my gut when I don’t find one.
I start toward them, but Daphne flattens her ears and takes a step back.
“Easy, Daph girl,” Beau murmurs.
He keeps up a low stream of soothing phrases as he rushes around me and grabs hold of Daphne’s bridle. Once she’s calmed enough, he undoes Phoebe’s line and then walks both horses into the barn.
“Let’s get this gear off you, and then you both can get hosed down and eat a treat,” he says. “That was a hard ride.”
As soon as Beau disappears, I approach Caleb. His eyes are wild as he pants, and his hands flex every few seconds where they grip Brielle’s body. Brielle whimpers with every breath she takes, every movement of Caleb’s body against hers. Her scent is so damn strong, it’s all I can think about and breathe in even from five feet away.
“She needs help,” I say, trying to keep my voice unreactive. “Now, before we go.”
Every second she’s like this is unfair to her. The longer the heat’s triggered need goes unfulfilled, the more physically painful it becomes for the Omega. She needs to be knotted. Now.
My dick jumps like it’s volunteering.
Caleb nods before groaning. “I can’t. Not after that damn ride. I don’t trust myself.”
To not drop into a true rut and claim her while she’s in heat. Fuck, he really didn’t bond her. But he said she hadn’t said no. I frown but don’t ask.
“Emily said we should use the guest house. She’s apparently built a true nest there,” I say instead as I pull Brielle into my own arms and turn toward my truck.
Caleb nods. “She has. I forgot about that.” He stretches his neck and groans again. “I need like three minutes to get my bearings again.”
I already have the back door open. I ease Brielle onto the seat and then reach across her to grab Camden’s seat. Brielle whines, shifting under me, and then bites my neck. Hard. Mint surges around us, my body responding to her fundamental need.
“Alpha,” she whimpers, her voice broken and hoarse like she’s been sobbing for the last hour. Fuck, she probably has.
“Can you take this to the porch?” I ask Caleb, getting my last breath of non-lavender infused air for the foreseeable future.
He grabs it with a shaking hand and then walks away.
I guide Brielle onto her back, and she whines, the sound eager in a way the others haven’t been.
“Please, please, please,” she begs. “Make it stop.”
“I will, princess. I’ll make it go away.”
Her hips jerk as I palm the button on the fly of her jeans. My skin skims hers as I ease the zipper down, and she cries out, devolving into sobs, fresh tears falling over her lashes. My hands are trembling hard enough it takes me a minute to get her jeans off. Her movements grow more desperate, more jerky. Her hands dig into my forearms, trying to guide them to her cunt.
Her panties are fucking soaked, her slick sticking to her thighs and dripping to the leather seat. They’re another set of La Perla, the small logo nearly undetectable. I weigh the difficulties of trying to slide them off of her so she doesn’t lose another piece of expensive as fuck clothing.
Her nails bite into my arm, hard enough to draw blood, and the decision is made for me. Hopefully she doesn’t hate me for ruining another pair.
The lace rips easily under my hands, falling away from her flawless skin. Somehow, her scent gets even stronger. I can’t help but groan. I fumble with my own button and zipper, easing my belt loose enough to slip down my jeans. And then I wrap my arm around her waist.
“Come here, Omega,” I say, pulling her into my lap.
Her knees lock around my hips. Her hand shakes as she grips my dick, guiding me into her, and then she slides down in one quick motion. Her moan is louder than mine, but it’s a near thing. She doesn’t pause at all, simply plants her hands on my shoulders and uses them as leverage as she moves, chasing the orgasm her body needs—both hers and mine, the one that will set off my knot and lock us together.
It takes an embarrassingly short amount of time to get me right to the edge, ready to fall off at the smallest movement.
“Brielle,” I mutter.
She mewls, the sound so sad and desperate, I don’t try to get her off first. She twists her hips, and I’m gone, heat shooting down my spine and through my legs. I pull her down into me. She screams as my knot locks us together, biting my shoulder. Hard. Blood seeps into my shirt as she drops her forehead to the aching spot.
Her breathing evens out about the same time Caleb opens the driver door and slides behind the wheel. I brush aside her hair and wipe the tears off her cheek. She shivers, but her eyes don’t flutter at all. Caleb rolls down the windows, and her scent slowly fades out, letting me think a bit better.
He tilts his head back and sighs before looking at me in the mirror. When I nod, he starts on the dirt road toward Emily’s place.