4. Pack Heat

Chapter four

Pack Heat

S taggering through the dark, I opened the pack link again, letting the alphas feel my fear and pain. The response was immediate and I felt relief pour through me. They were coming for me.

Jack came hurrying down the driveway, looking frazzled. He was naked and the sight made me want to drool. Another cramp doubled me over and he scooped me up.

"What's wrong?"

"Heat." I buried my face in the crook of his neck, inhaling his sandalwood scent. It helped a little, but he still stank of Amy's lemon and ginger. I needed a knot, desperately. "I need you guys."

"Okay, stay calm." His deep voice was calming.

"I miss you," I whined. "I need you too." I meant all of them, of course, but Jack just hummed and tilted his head to sniff me.

We got into the house and everyone was there waiting.

"What's going on?" Dan demanded. "Are you hurt?"

"Why were you outside?" Callum snapped.

Lee was holding Amy, who watched with wide eyes as Jack carried me inside. Then she snarled, a sound so ferocious, it startled me and made Jack drop me.

I hit the floor butt first and yelped, but they were all focused on her. Amy was wild-eyed and glaring at me, her fingers curled into claws.

"I'm not trying to take them," I gasped out. "My heat . . . I need . . ." Another cramp had me whimpering in a ball.

"NO!" Amy roared. "MINE!"

I gulped air as the pain reduced slightly, looking up to see her tearing off her nightshirt and jumping at Jack. He caught her easily and sank into her, his cock already erect. The others were all hard, too. They crowded around her, sucking and biting at her.

My slick poured out of me at the sight of my alphas so turned on, but it wasn't for me. They'd completely forgotten about me, though my pheromones were what seemed to be driving them into a rut.

As Dan pressed into Amy from behind, I staggered to my feet and ran.

My bedroom was anything but a sanctuary, but it was somewhere I could close the door. In my broken state, I couldn't keep the link closed.

My mates were ravenous . . . for her. I could FEEL them feasting on her, licking, fucking, and loving. It hurt worse than the cramps that ripped through my body. I writhed on the bed, desperate for someone, anyone, to fill me. Instead, I was bombarded with their feelings as they knotted their new omega. I could smell her through the door, her scent spiking. She must be in heat too. I'd heard that could happen when two omegas were in the same space.

"Jack!" I screamed as another pain tore through me. "Help me!"

No one came. I heard them moving upstairs, to her nest. Where they would spend her heat with them.

I stayed in my room as long as possible. It was nightfall again by the time I dragged myself, drenched in sweat and slick, tears pouring down my face, to the kitchen. Callum was there, making snacks like he always did during my heats.

"Melody?" He looked horrified as I stood hunched over and shivering in the doorway.

"Callum, please," I begged, my omega whine coming out. "I need. . ."

"CALLUM!" Amy wailed from her nest.

"I . . ." he froze, the plate in his hand. "I have to go to her."

"No, please, you can't all leave me like this."

But he was gone and I was left gasping and curled up on the floor as pain made me senseless.

I didn't come to myself for a long time. I wasn't even sure how long it had been. The hardwood floor beneath me was soaked with slick, sweat, and urine and my entire body was shaking so hard, that I could barely open my eyes.

Sunlight poured through the window, illuminating a square of floor just out of reach. I lay staring at the dustmotes that floated there, my mind too dulled to focus on anything else.

Footsteps moved down the stairs. Two people were coming and I didn't even care. My body felt like it had been wrung out and beaten, then thrown into a furnace and cooked for days. There was no strength left in my limbs.

"I think she's nearly done. I hope so, that last round just about finished me," Dan was saying, as he neared the kitchen. "What the . . . Mel, what are you doing on the floor?"

I let my eyes drift closed again, not wanting to see the men who had left me to my fate during the worst time.

"Melody!" Callum's voice was sharp, edging on an alpha bark. "Get up!" This time it was a bark, but I couldn't respond. There was nothing left of me.

"Shit, she went through her heat down here, on her own." Dan sounded horrified. I could faintly feel him through the bond, but somehow the bond had shriveled up during the heat.

"We should have had someone come for her," Callum sighed. "We were so caught up in Amy."

Someone picked me up, a cedar scented someone. Dan. I didn't bother nuzzling into him, but I did force my eyes open just enough that he could see I was awake.

"Hey, how long have you been on the floor?" He sounded sympathetic, but I knew better. They'd all rejected me for her.

"I . . . I think I saw her when I came down to get food." Callum swallowed hard.

"When?"

"Three days ago."

"Fuck!" Dan was moving now, running through the house to the bathroom. "Get some water, no, some Gatorade. And call Doctor Hensen."

He lowered me into the tub and then turned the shower on. Cold water blasted me and I whimpered, curling up in a ball at the end of the tub.

"Sorry, babe, I'll get it. I'm going to wash you up, you're all covered in . . . stuff."

He adjusted the water and gently washed me clean.

I didn't want his touch, but my body betrayed me, leaning into it. A low purr started in my chest, drawing him closer.

"I'm so sorry," Callum said, coming into the bathroom with two bottles of yellow Gatorade, my favorite flavor. "You need to drink this."

He tilted the first bottle for me and I gulped it all down. My mouth was as dry as a desert and the lemon flavored drink seemed to evaporate as soon as it hit my throat.

Dan finished washing me and I heard the familiar call. "Dan, Callum, where are you?"

I flinched, knowing they'd leave me.

"Just a minute, we're helping Mel," Callum called back. He rubbed his chest with a fist. "Damn it, she's upset. We'll be right back, Mel."

They left and I lay there in the tub, too weak to get out on my own. The water went cold and I shivered as I struggled to sit up and pull the plug out so I wasn't sitting in cold water.

After what seemed like hours, the doorbell rang. The pack was having another round of heat sex upstairs and no one seemed inclined to answer the door. I forced myself to roll out of the tub and crawled to the door to open it.

Dr. Hansen, always professional, lost his composure for a moment as he looked down at me, shivering on the floor.

"What happened? Where's your pack? Dan called me . . . " he trailed off as the sounds caught up to him. "What the hell?"

He strode inside the house. "Come on, let's get you to bed."

I didn't even care about my nudity as Dr. Hansen picked me up easily. He was a beta and much older than my alphas, but he was nearly as big as Jack and carried me easily. He headed for the stairs until I directed him to my new room.

The doctor's mouth tightened as he took me into my room and laid me carefully on my bed. "Let's take a look at you, shall we?"

Nodding, I closed my eyes as he started to check me over. He checked my body, then covered me up with one of my softer blankets. He took my blood pressure and heart rate before sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Melody, I need to know what happened here."

"I went into heat," I said, my mouth still dry. "And so did she."

"Who is 'she?'" he asked.

"Their omega. Scentmatch," I rasped out.

"Hang on." He left the room and returned with another Gatorade. "Drink."

My hands were so shaky that the doctor had to help me drink. After half the bottle was gone, I settled back on my pillows and stared at the calendar hanging on the wall across from the bed.

"So, your pack found their scentmatch and she took priority?"

I nodded wearily. "She went into heat at the same time, I think."

"Makes sense. That often happens when omegas are in close contact." Dr. Hansen sighed and helped me drink a bit more. "This is an unfortunate situation. I assume the other omega is demanding and possessive?"

"Yeah." I felt my lips twitch downward, my eyes stinging. "I tried to be a good omega for them, but I don't smell right, I guess."

"I'm sorry." He stood up. "I need to go talk to them."

"They're . . . busy," I muttered, feeling the muted delights of my alphas through the bond.

"I don't care," he said firmly and marched out of the room.

Surprise and shock echoed faintly through the bond as he startled them in the middle of their activities. I heard everyone coming downstairs a few minutes later and curled into a ball on my bed, hiding under the blankets.

" . . . your omega, too!" I heard Dr. Hansen say loudly. "You could have done permanent damage to her by ignoring her heat. She's severely dehydrated, she has bruises on her body, and she's also quite malnourished. That didn't happen overnight. That's from systemic neglect. YOUR neglect."

I heard the men murmuring and then Amy whining indistinctly.

"If you want to be a pack, then you have to look after your omegas. Both of them!" the doctor snapped. "If not, I'll report you to the Board of Omega Care."

He returned to the bedroom after a longer discussion that I couldn't make out. "I want you to eat and drink as much as possible for the next few days, alright? If your alphas don't look after you, call me."

I nodded. "Okay. Thank you."

He pursed his lips as he looked at the door and then sighed. "This is a very unfortunate situation, but it can be resolved with the right actions. I just hope they're up for that."

"Thanks, Dr. Hansen."

He left and I curled up in my bed, too tired to even contemplate getting something to eat. Malnourished or not, I wasn't going to be moving for a while yet. Instead, I drifted off to sleep again.

This time, I woke to Jack sitting down on the bed and running a hand over my hair. I jerked back from his touch, glaring at him. "You don't get to touch me."

"I'm sorry. We all are." He hung his head. "The guys said you were on the kitchen floor for three days. I didn't know."

"You didn't care," I rasped. "You knew I needed you."

The betrayal had cut deep and now when I raised my eyes to his, I realized this wasn't something that would be mended with a few words or a cuddle like everything in the past had been.

"Look, we're all sorry, I can't take back what happened," he told me. "But, the doctor said you're severely malnourished and dehydrated. We're going to get you back in shape, but then we need to figure some things out."

He looked at the doorway and Lee came in with a tray of food. "Just eat, okay? And have some water. I'll be back later to check on you."

I watched numbly as Lee put the tray on the nightstand, not looking me in the eye. They both left, shutting the door behind them.

My stomach roiled at the sight of the food, so I rolled over and went back to sleep.

The next two days were much the same. The guys ducked in and out of my room with shameful looks and food or drinks to try and entice me to get healthy again. I nibbled a little, drank a lot, and slept even more.

"Mel? We're meeting in the living room. It's time to talk things over," Jack said, standing in the doorway.

"No thanks." I didn't lift my head from the pillow.

"Get up and meet us in the living room," he barked.

Angrily, I dragged myself out of bed and stumbled after him to the living room. My bones ached with every step and my broken heart rattled in my chest.

Everyone else was already there. Amy was sitting on Callum's lap, with Lee and Dan on either side.

I sank onto the loveseat, staring at my hands and Jack settled his ass on the arm of the sofa where they all sat. Even now, I was completely alone, across from them.

"I'm really sorry about being so needy during my heat," Amy started.

I ignored her and she fell silent.

"Mel, you're acting like a child. This is a difficult situation and you're not making it any easier," Jack sighed. "We thought we could make this work, with two omegas in a pack. It's been done before."

Even a child could hear the but coming. My stomach tensed and I stopped breathing. Waiting for the shoe to drop.

"It's obvious this won't work," Callum said finally.

I dragged my eyes up to his. I scanned their faces. They were all sad-looking, except Amy, who could barely contain her glee.

"I'm your mate . . . we're bonded." I couldn't understand what they were thinking. Where would I go when this was my pack?

"We're officially dissolving the mating," Jack said.

I stared at him. "Dissolving it?"

"Oh." Instead of crying, I just felt numb, like someone had hollowed everything out of me. "What happens to me?"

"There are places for rejected omegas," Amy told me. She held out a sheet of paper. "A reassignment center will help you find a new pack."

"I don't want a new pack," I said slowly. "I have a pack. We committed to each other. I have the bites to prove it." I pulled my shirt collar down, bearing the scars of their bites.

"I do too and they've chosen me," Amy said, showing her own fresh bites.

Nausea swirled in my stomach as I stood up, my legs shaking. "So, that's it. After everything, you're throwing me out? I did everything to be a good omega for you, I cooked, I cleaned . . . " I stared at Amy. "I let another omega into my home."

"It's not your home anymore," she told me, anger flashing in her eyes. "And they're not your alphas."

"Don't make this harder than it has to be," Lee said, standing up. "I'll help you pack."

"Pack what?" I asked dully. "I don't even own anything."

"Come on." He put a hand on my back to guide me toward my room and I pulled away.

"Don't touch me."

"Mel, don't be like that. You know this isn't healthy for you."

I ignored him and marched as quickly as I could to my room on my wobbly legs.

Lee waited outside as I changed into jeans and a t-shirt and shoved a few clothes into a tote bag he handed me. I didn't have much, as evidenced by my move to the office.

The men waited by the door as I put on my shoes and jacket. Clutching my half-empty tote bag, I turned to them, scanning their faces. They all looked pained, but not heartbroken.

No, I was the only one whose heart was shattered here.

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