Chapter 16 #2
“It was from what I saw online,” Fang says. “But it was the only one.”
“Better than nothing,” Logan murmurs. He’s practically vibrating next to me, his bourbon scent growing spicier.
Something is happening with him, but I’m too distracted by my own internal panic to figure it out.
We’ve slowed to crawl, and the air outside is almost impossible to see through.
“Ivan?” I squeak. “Are we going to be okay driving?”
“Yeah, sweetheart. I’ve driven through worse. Are you going to be okay?”
“Yup. Yes. Uh-huh.”
I whip out my phone and open the group chat that has Piper and Blair in it.
So, there’s a snowstorm, we have to stay at a cabin for the night, and I think my Heat is starting early. Send help.
I stare at the phone screen, hoping that one of them will reply. Piper is the first one.
LOLOL
No part of this is funny—this is turning into a goddamn tragedy.
I knew I was playing with fire inviting both Fang and Logan, but it was supposed to be a day trip!
We were supposed to rescue kittens, then Ivan could take me back to his place where he would help build a nest for me.
There would be a ton of spicy times after a day of saving the cats.
But this?
This?
My body is trembling with need, the air is far too thick, and my nose is buried in Logan’s shoulder, who is as stiff as a board.
“Wait, Logan, what about your cats?” I ask, panicked. “Who will feed them?”
“Blair is taking care of it,” he says, and I nuzzle against his arm.
“You talked to Blair?”
How deeply did I sleep?
“You don’t have to worry,” Fang says easily, but I catch the tremor in his voice. “Everything is taken care of.”
My phone buzzes again from the group chat, this time from Blair.
Be gentle with yourself. If your Heat happens, it happens. You’ll be okay.
I turn to Fang while Logan keeps an iron grip around my waist. He looks just as wrecked as I feel, his dark hair mussed and his lips slightly parted.
Blair’s advice makes sense, but not when we’re all trapped in a car together.
I need to get some air, to stop breathing in every Alpha scent, but it’s snowing outside.
“Fuck it,” Logan hisses, and my eyes widen at his cursing. He rolls down the window, and chilly, wet air hits us both.
“Sorry,” he mutters. “I just—”
I shake my head. “It’s fine. It’s fine. Ivan, you need to hurry up,” I groan, shifting in my seat. Slick spills out of me and into my panties, and there’s no way the three of them don’t smell it.
Fang’s jaw is clenched so hard I’m surprised his teeth aren’t shattering. He keeps his hands clenched into fists, resting on his thighs.
“I know, baby, I know,” Ivan mutters. “I…fuck, I didn’t expect this. The weather app didn’t say anything about this!”
“It’s a snowsquall,” Logan says through gritted teeth, practically sticking his head out the window. Snow falls into his dirty blonde hair, and when I try to dust it away, he groans.
At the sound, my womb cramps, and I cry out in pain.
Oh, no.
“Holy shit,” Fang mutters. “Ivan, I think she…”
“Yeah,” Ivan says, his voice thick. “I know.”
Their scents are everywhere. The pheromones cling to my clothes and burrow under my skin, making my nipples pebble and strain against my bra.
Bourbon. Leather. Apples.
I don’t even realize I’ve buried my face into Logan’s neck until he growls.
I pull away, embarrassed.
“Of course,” I laugh, half deliriously. “Of course this is happening right now.”
“I told you we’d have a hell of a story,” Ivan deadpans.
“We need to stop, now,” Fang adds. “I swear to fucking god…”
“This shouldn’t be happening,” I add in mortification. “I have my gummies, my suppressants, everything. It shouldn’t be happening this soon.” My voice is hysterical, and I look to Fang. “I’m sorry.”
He sputters. “You’re sorry? You’re sorry? For fucking what?”
“Ivan, get us to the cabin,” Logan growls. “Or I’m fucking walking the rest of the way. I don’t care.”
I have never heard Logan like this, frustrated and demanding.
It has no business being this sexy.
He hasn’t released his iron grip around my waist, and when another cramp hits me, he holds me tighter.
We pull off the main road and onto a bumpy one.
“Almost there,” Ivan says. “Fuck, sweetheart, just hold on, and I’ll take care of you.”
“I don’t know why it’s happening,” I whine. Fang just continues to watch me, his knuckles white while he keeps his hands to himself.
He wants to touch me, and my cunt aches for the attention.
“It shouldn’t be happening this soon,” I gasp. Another cramp hits me, this time more violent than before. I shudder at the ache and moan while my clit throbs, desperate for attention.
With the last of my sanity, I wrack my brain, wondering how my Heat could be this strong so quickly.
The answer is there, but it’s just out of reach by the arousal that overtakes me.
Bourbon. Leather.
Mine, my inner Omega yells. They’re mine!
“Alphas,” I murmur, the three of them groan in unison.
“Almost there,” Ivan rasps. “We’re almost there.”
I look to Fang again. “I’m so embarrassed,” I say. “This is not how I thought this road trip would be.”
He laughs, even though his face is anguished. “Are you kidding? This is the best day of my life. I had hoped it was you, and I’m sure Logan did, too.”
Another cramp, and I’m whimpering into Logan’s chest. He runs his hand through my hair, his purr a thunderous vibration.
I had hoped it was you.
What the hell is he talking about? Hoped what was me?
Come on, Maeve, think. Use logic. Context clues.
But I’m soaking wet, both from slick and the snow, and my tongue finds its way up Logan’s neck.
“Ivan,” he grunts. “Your scent match is licking me.”
“Congratulations,” my boyfriend deadpans. “Welcome to the club.”
There’s no logic behind my actions. I unbuckle my seatbelt and climb into his lap to run my tongue up Logan’s throat, stopping at his Adam’s apple to suck at it gently. He gasps, and I groan in delight when I feel his hardness against my backside.
“Fuck,” he moans. “Maeve.”
I’m drunk on his scent. He tastes like everything I’ve ever wanted, a thousand times better than that first day I scented him at the rescue.
He’s mine, mine, mine.
Just as important as Ivan, just as important as Fang.
The car slows to a stop just as the realization hits me.
“Oh,” I whisper. “Oh.”
The doors suddenly open, and I’m switched from Logan’s hold to Fang’s arms.
“I’ll carry her,” he says to someone, and then, I’m looking up into piercing blue eyes. The sky above Fang is white and foggy, and I inhale the fresh air greedily.
“What a surprise, huh?” he asks, breathless.
“I can walk,” I try half-heartedly, and he just chuckles.
“Not a chance.” I wrap my arms around his neck, breathing in his peppery leather. “This will be the first time I carry you over the threshold.”
“That’s obsessive,” Logan says from somewhere behind me.
“Just because you didn’t think of it first,” Fang shoots back.
“No arguing,” I hiss as another cramp hits me. “Where’s Ivan?”
“Right here, baby,” he says, and his apple scent swirls around me. “We’re all here with you.”
There’s the sound of a key in a lock, then a door opens. And just as he said he would, Fang carries me through the doorway into the cabin.
Finally, when the door shuts behind us and the lights switch on, Fang sets me down gently. I stay in his embrace, leaning against his chest for balance. He snakes an arm around my waist, holding me tightly against him.
“I’ve got you,” he promises. “I’ve got you, gorgeous.”
The pet name causes slick to spill out of me, and I whimper with need.
It’s only when the lights flick on that I realize the gravity of the situation.
My Heat is here early, and I’m snowed in with three Alphas.
And all three of them are my scent matches.
It’s a lot to process with very little time.
Ivan gently tugs me away from Fang and cradles my face in his hands. “You realize what’s happened, right?” he asks me softly.
I nod, quickly taking in our surroundings.
The cabin is cozy with high vaulted ceilings and dark wood grain floors and walls.
The windows are spacious and give a lovely view of the snow outside, and a small kitchen with mahogany cabinets is to our left.
A living room with a fireplace and brown leather sofa is to the right, leading to a short hallway.
“A great place to have my Heat,” I whisper in awe.
“I’ll get a fire going,” Fang says, hurrying past us. I have a feeling it’s to keep himself busy and distracted from the fact that we’re scent matches.
“Logan, figure out if we need to order any groceries,” Ivan says, keeping his eyes on my face.
“On it.” Logan’s voice is shaky and strained, and my stomach flips at the sound.
“I need a nest,” I whisper, overwhelmed. “I need a bed.”
Not only is this my first Heat with Ivan, but it’ll be with my brand-new scent matches and in a new, unfamiliar place.
Just like Fang, Ivan scoops me into his arms, carrying me bridal style down the short hall. “How long do you have?” he asks carefully.
We’re discussed my Heats before. I have a few lucid hours of painful cramps, then after that, I turn into a feral, needy monster, only focused on being knotted.
“No idea,” I admit. “The symptoms are coming on faster than I expected.” I wrap my arms around his neck and breathe him in, relishing in the familiar apple scent.
“Oh,” Ivan says as we enter a room. “Found the bedroom. Uh…the only other door is to the bathroom.”
I hold my breath. “There’s only one room?”
I stare at the bed in front of us, shocked at its size.
Enough for an entire pack of at least four people.
“And only one bed,” Ivan adds, strained.
“So, just to recap,” I say, my voice low. “My Heat is here early, I just scent matched with the Alphas in the other room, and we’re snowed in with only one bed?”
Ivan lets out a breath. “Yeah.”
“Holy shit.”
“It makes an amazing story we’ll tell our kids one day.”
Before I can process that sentence, a vicious cramp wracks through my body, and I let out a cry of pain.