Chapter 13
The heady wave of pheromones that hits me when the restroom door cracks open is enough to make me dizzy. River’s dark chocolate and Camille’s latte paired so perfectly my cock goes thick and rigid in an instant.
“Let me in,” I rasp, the sound almost a growl as my alpha demands I get to the source of those scents. Get to my omega and my alpha.
River’s eyes narrow as he peers through the slit in the door, a matching rumble of a threat in his tone as he replies. “Only if she wants you in here.” He nuzzles against Camille’s throat, scent marking her as he lowers his voice to a soft caress. “You alright with Ambrose coming in, angel?”
She’s obscured almost entirely by the door, so I can’t see her face, but her arms are wrapped around River’s neck, fingers stroking the sweat-damp hair at his nape. The soothing gesture makes my chest expand with hope.
She’s touching him. Clinging to him. Her perfume has saturated the air, and he’s protecting her.
Clearly, River’s attempt to win our omega back wasn’t the fiasco he’d assumed it would be. I’m so proud of him, I want to reach through the crack in the door and grab him so I can kiss him.
“Please, yes, let him in.” Camille’s relief is palpable, and god, it makes me want to shout knowing she wants me here.
Never mind that “here” is holed up in the bathroom at a party for a reason yet unknown.
All I care about is that my scent match, who I haven’t seen in months, isn’t turning me away.
River grunts as he steps back to let me inside, and the moment I’m in, he shuts the door behind me and flips the lock again. My brain short-circuits as I take in the scene I’ve walked into.
Camille pressed against River’s chest, the cups of her corseted dress shoved down beneath her breasts and the skirt hiked up to her waist. River gripping her ass to keep her in his arms, his pants undone enough for them to…
“Oh, fuck,” I groan as I notice my mate is currently knot deep in my scent match. My thoughts grow hazy as lust slams into me, my alpha threatening to go into a rut.
Camille whines at the look I give her, then flushes at the sound. Her lips twist into an apologetic smile as River moves them back to the couch and eases them down so she’s sitting in his lap. She wriggles against him and sucks in a breathy gasp, which has both River and me groaning.
“Shit, my knot will never go down if you keep making noises like that.” River presses his face into her throat again with a shaky exhale as he fights to compose himself.
“I can’t help it,” Camille protests. “I thought it was over, but now Ambrose is here and…” Her eyelashes flutter and she moans.
The pieces of this unexpected puzzle slot into place as her expression twists into a pained one, and I register her glassy eyes and flushed skin. My need to take care of her and medical training override the urge to fall into a rut, my logical side kicking in.
“Camille, how long have you been feeling like this?” I ask, moving to sit beside them on the couch and placing my palm on her forehead. Her skin is blazing hot. Shit.
“Since I left the house to come to the party. I thought it was stress. I’m on suppressants. I’ve done everything I’m supposed to. I can’t be…” A sharp whine bubbles out of her and I move my hand to her back, stroking it in soothing circles as she rides out a cramp.
I grimace at her distress. She could do everything exactly by the book, and there’s still always a chance that suppressants will fail.
“It’s not your fault; this happens sometimes.
It’s likely not a full heat, but a breakthrough or a heat spike.
” I’m guessing the latter if River knotting her wasn’t enough to satisfy her.
I’d need to do some tests to confirm, but I don’t have my medical bag, and currently it’s more important to address her discomfort than diagnose the issue.
“Goddammit, why do I have the worst luck?” Camille’s brow scrunches. “Am I ever going to get a break from this omega shit?”
River’s purr kicks up, and he swallows hard.
“I’m so sorry,” he murmurs, as if he’s the one who’s cursed her.
But from where I’m sitting, it was pretty damn lucky that he was here tonight to ease our omega through a heat spike.
If none of us had been here, and she had to deal with it on her own in the middle of a party, when she’s already worried about making a scene and getting ridiculed on social media…
I shudder even to think about it.
“She agreed to let me help.” River’s eyes meet mine as he grips our omega’s hips and tests where they’re tied together.
There’s a surge of sadness through the bond when he realizes his knot has gone down enough to let her go.
With a low grunt and another whine of protest from Camille, he maneuvers the omega off of his lap and onto mine, his half-hard cock slipping free, slippery with his cum and her slick.
The feel of their combined releases dripping onto my lap and soaking into my pants is so erotic, my cock gives a needy throb.
Camille wraps her arms around me and burrows her face into my neck, sucking in greedy gulps of my scent and rubbing her own all over my skin.
“I’m sorry, I know I shouldn’t, I don’t have any right to…but I missed you so much,” Camille says apologetically, but I can’t for the life of me think of why she’d need to feel sorry when I’m holding her again.
“Shhh, sweetheart, it’s okay.” My purr revs to life, and my eyes meet River’s over her shoulder.
He’s slid back from us, tucking his cock back into his pants with a shuttered expression.
I shake my head and reach my hand out to him, sending reassurance down the bond as I speak.
“We’re going to take care of you. What happened in the past doesn’t matter right now.
We can figure that out once you’re not in pain. ”
River’s eyes soften at my words, knowing they’re not meant only for Camille.
“O-okay,” she whispers, gripping my arms as she starts to rock against me.
As good as it feels to have her rubbing her hot pussy against my erection, I grip her hips to stop her from moving.
She huffs in frustration, and it’s hard not to laugh at how cute the petulant look on her face is.
Under any other circumstances, I’d have fun with that look.
Chide her for being a brat. Teach her to wait for Daddy’s permission.
I shake the thought away, gritting my teeth so I can focus. “We need to get you home. I don’t know how long it will take for this to subside, and if it’s the start of your heat…”
Camille grimaces. “Yeah, okay.” She sucks in a shaky breath to stabilize herself and eases off of my lap even though she looks pained at losing contact with me.
She pulls her dress back up and attempts to fix it so her breasts sit in the molded cups correctly, but the skirt is a lost cause, with a large tear that extends the slit to an indecent height.
Her disheveled hair and smeared mascara leave no room for hiding how thoroughly debauched she is.
She hugs her arms around her waist, a slight tremble in her limbs despite her best efforts to be calm.
“I can’t let anyone see me like this. It’s bad enough that I couldn’t make it through the party without falling on my ass in front of everyone and then running off to the bathroom.
I’m surprised no one is banging on the door trying to get footage of the old omega having a meltdown. ”
River and I move at the same time, crowding in at her sides to hold her against us, purring as we try to soothe her.
I can tell through the bond River’s worried she’ll push him away, but Camille goes molten between us, the closeness of two alphas making her omega override her worries about getting caught in such a compromising state.
Her lips find my throat, sucking hard as she arches her back to press her breasts against me and her ass back into River.
I’m a few seconds from saying fuck it and giving her what she wants, between her breathy moans and River’s gritted curse as he cages her in between us, but a loud knocking on the door snaps me back to reality.
“Camille? Are you in there?” A woman says, worry apparent in her sharp tone.
I silently question the omega in my arms if she knows the voice, and she nods. “A-Astrid,” she croaks, her voice breaking as she tries to respond. Clearing her throat, she slips out from between me and River and moves to the door, undoing the lock and peeking out. “Hey, sorry.”
“Holy shit, it smells like a coffee shop in here. What’s happen—” Her friend cuts herself off when Camille opens the door further to reveal me and River. The petite blonde beta’s eyes narrow, and she storms inside, putting her body between us and her friend.
“What the fuck is this? You said you were planning on talking to her, not cornering her in the bathroom. And where is Jackson? I thought this whole thing was his idea.”
“He had to take our dog to the emergency vet,” I say, trying to keep an even tone despite her accusatory tone making my alpha bristle.
Camille gasps. “Is Dolly okay?”
Her worry makes my heart flutter. I knew Camille was fond of Dahlia, but she sounds like she got news that a family member was in the hospital. She thinks of Dolly as pack.
I smile at her in reassurance. There’s been no updates from Jackson other than that they’re running some tests, but his worry through the bond eased a few minutes ago, so I think he got good news. “She should be fine. He’s just being cautious.”
Astrid’s gaze sweeps across the small room and lands on River’s jacket on the couch, splattered with slick and cum. “Jesus, what’s wrong with you? Don’t you know how hard it was for her to come here tonight? I thought you wanted her back, but if this was about sex, I swear, I’ll kill you.”
Camille holds her hands up appeasingly to her furious friend.
“Hey, whoa, no murder! I asked for their help, I’m…
” She doubles over and River and I both rush closer.
A growl escapes my mate when Astrid refuses to move, and I place a hand on his arm to keep him from bodily moving the beta away from Camille.
“Stop it, everyone, just calm down. Fuck, how am I the voice of reason right now? I’m the one who might be going into heat.”
Astrid’s mouth drops open as she turns to face Camille. “You’re what?”
“I don’t know!” Camille huffs, her agitation rising. “I’m having some kind of heat breakthrough. That’s why I came in here. River helped me, and now they’re going to take me home before I make a scene.”
“Yes, we’re going to take care of her if you’d stop getting in our way,” River snaps.
Astrid glares at him, crossing her arms over her chest. “You have no right to pull that protective alpha bullshit, asshole. So stop growling at me for trying to make sure my friend is okay.”
Her cutting words are a bucket of ice water over River’s snarling alpha. He steps back, deflating. “Sorry. You’re right.”
Camille gives me a pleading look, wiping her brow with the back of her hand and letting out a soft whine. She needs to get out of here now.
“Astrid, is there a back entrance to this building?” I ask.
“Yes, but I don’t know if you should take her. She’s clearly not in her right mind to make that sort of decision.”
“Yes, I am!” Camille protests.
I lock eyes with Astrid and give her my best serious doctor look. “I understand you’re worried about Camille, but she’s lucid enough to choose this, and she’s going to be in severe pain if we stand around here arguing much longer. I swear on my life that we only want to help her.”
I swallow hard against a lump of emotion in my throat as River’s echoing desire to take care of her pulses through me. “Please let us help. She’s everything to us.”