Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
NOVA
“I can do this,” I gasp, bending forward as I writhe on the bed. I’m a fucking mess.
It’s been eighteen hours and I’m in full heat.
It's as if my body wanted to wait until I wasn’t in pain and being around Tyde for that short amount of time triggered it.
Slick is pushing out of my body at an alarming pace, and I’ve already watched two dirty movies and masturbated. None of it is helping.
Happy fucking birthday to me.
My only saving grace is that this campground isn’t busy currently since it’s winter and freezing. My phone rings, making me whimper because that means it’s one of my clients.
I don’t want to pick it up, but my sense of duty demands that I do it anyway. Turning my body as quickly as I can, I barely look at the screen before picking it.
“Hello,” I breathe, my eyes slit in pain. “Is Quinn okay?”
I just barely noticed that it was Pack Kelly before I picked up.
“She’s fine ,” Linus says slowly. “ We wanted to check on you. I heard that you left the hospital pretty quickly.”
“I’m fine,” I grit out. “Fuck. I’m going to be away for a few days, and then I’ll come up for air. I just needed space.”
“ Why do you sound fun ? — ”
Linus is cut off before the phone is ripped away from him, and I prepare to hang up.
“ Nova ,” Quinn says. “ If I told you I needed you, could you get here?”
“No,” I say honestly, shuddering in pain. “I can’t move or drive right now.”
“ You’re in heat, aren’t you?” she asks.
“Yeah. I’m mostly safe in my van?—”
“ Your van?! ” she yells. Quinn isn’t one to talk much, so her interest is surprising.
“I’m….” I attempt to breathe, but can’t. Tears begin to fall and I feel myself losing my shit. This is going to be really fucking bad. “I gotta go. It’s not the first time I’ve done this. I’ll be fine.”
I just hadn’t met a scent match before this. Caleb and Lars don’t count in this because my body won’t be craving them yet. Hopefully.
“ Nova. You need your scent matches. The mafia grapevine talks, and it’s very clear that you’ve met them,” Quinn says urgently.
“I don’t need or want any of them,” I wheeze. “I’ll talk to you in a few days.”
Hanging up, I set up an automated voicemail to explain that I’m away for a few days due to my heat and then turn the phone off. At some point I took it off airplane mode in case someone needed me, but now I’m beyond talking to anyone.
“Ahh,” I scream into my pillow, my body trying to get as small as possible.
Pixie has food in her automated dispenser, and while she’s glanced at me a few times in worry, she’s gone back to ignoring me as she cleans herself.
There’s a warm, burning sensation in my stomach, and my skin feels too tight. It’s as if anxiety and the need to be fucked had a baby. My van doesn’t feel right, it’s not my tiny house, but I’m too far away to get back.
I had everything exactly the way I like there, and I haven’t had to live in my van in months. My hand blindly reaches for a knotted toy, my eyes crossing from the pain as I find it. It’s exhausting being an omega sometimes, and also incredibly isolating.
Everything revolves around being safe, not triggering an alpha with your presence, and managing your own mental health as an omega. While a pack helps by showering you with love and care, I’ve seen the results of packs that don’t do that.
It’s why I’ve always told myself that I don’t want one and can take care of myself.
I’m naked under the blankets, attempting to push this large toy inside of me when someone bangs on the door. Swallowing back a scream, I huddle under my blankets, glad that the windows are all blocked and the van is locked up.
Unfortunately, it’s pretty obvious that I’m inside since I’m hooked up to the camp’s electricity, waste, and water.
“Open up!” the male voice yells. “We have reports of screaming in here.”
Well fuck.
“I’m fine,” I call back. “I’m not opening the door though. I’m paid up through the next few days, so there’s no reason for you to be here.”
The alpha on the other side of the door inhales deeply and I whimper. Fuck, this could be so bad. My heart pounds as he tries to rip open the door, and grab my phone to power it back on.
Stupid, Nova. I wouldn’t have driven so far if I’d known that I would go into heat.
In my pain, I just drove until it stopped, which was really fucking far.
My fingers open a text to Lars since Caleb is blocked now, my hands dropping the damn phone at least twice due to how hard my hands are shaking.
I guess the bubbles as I write show up for Lars in the message, which means he must be stalking my messages.
I’m all mixed up. Nothing makes sense in my life, and I seem to continue to make the wrong decisions.
The alpha attempts to pull open the door again and I scream, breathing harder as I pray that Bertha can withstand an alpha that may be going into a rut.
I don’t even really want to talk to Lars, but my instincts want me to. I want to feel safe, be taken care of, but I’m fighting all of that despite it.
I’m a fucking mess.
My phone rings and I answer without looking, something telling me that it’s Lars.
“Tell me where you are, Princess,” he growls. “Caleb and I have been driving for hours, hoping that we’ll be able to find you.”
“What? No. You’re supposed to be with Hollis,” I cry out. “Why aren’t you protecting her?”
“She’s home with her alphas, Nova. Why did you lie to us?” he asks.
“Caleb…didn’t believe me. Go away!” I scream at the alpha at the door. “I’m not opening the door, asshole.”
“Let me in, and I’ll make it good for you,” the alpha growls.
“Nova, what the fuck is happening?” Lars asks, his voice calm despite his words. “Tell me why you’re yelling.”
“I’m in heat,” I grunt. “I’m accidentally calling alphas to me. No, I didn’t realize this would happen. I’m just trying to ride it out by myself. I know I’m stupid, okay? I just wanted to get away.”
“Princess, don’t call yourself that. It’s obvious that you panicked because you wanted to take care of everyone else. The issue now is that you can’t deal with this alone,” he says. “You’re matched to Tyde, and this heat is going to be worse than any other.”
“Why are you on a first name basis with Dr. Stewart? Ah, fuck me, that hurts,” I gasp. “I have to go. I have to get into my cubby at the back of the van in case the alpha at the door gets in here.”
“Woah, Nova. Tell me where you are. Please. You can’t do this alone, baby,” he says.
I’m already asking myself why I was going to text him. Throwing a sweatshirt over my head, I open a small door that’ll allow me to cram into a corner of what’s essentially my closet and lock myself in.
“Don’t tell me what to do,” I say, hanging up before I beg him for a knot.
I don’t know how long I can be strong for. My body is built for a knot, and I’ve been able to enjoy an alpha’s knot during my heat before so I know the difference between an unassisted and assisted heat.
I refuse to allow my body to write checks I don’t want to cash. I don’t want to give into biology, simply because I need one of my scent matches.
Dropping my head back against the wall, I grit my teeth and let the tears leak out as the alpha outside continues to attempt to tear the door open. Big Bertha has kept me safe through worse things than this guy.
My hand holds tightly to my phone as I writhe in pain, my head slamming back against the wall to knock myself out.
The cramps get worse and worse, making me squeeze my thighs together as if that’ll help.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t, and it’s freezing in this part of the van.
My teeth chatter as my muscles contract with the cold as well.
I start to hallucinate as the pain intensifies, mumbling to myself as I cry. I can’t get to my toys since I’m in hiding, and my nails dig into my skin to try to focus on another type of pain.
Nothing works, I just want to die, and if I didn’t respect life as much as I do, I’d kill myself with one of my kitchen knives in my makeshift kitchen.
The world bleeds into white noise as I suffer, until I slump against the wall in defeat. Hopefully, it’ll be better when I wake up once I manage to pass out, even if I’m no longer here.
My body feels as if I’m shaking, and my eyes roll back as everything convulses. Am I having a seizure? As much as I want to handle this by myself, I want a goddamn knot so fucking badly.
My pussy is spasming on nothing, my brain is screaming for alphas that I don’t want when I’m sane, and my soul is begging for the days when things were simpler.
All I wanted to do was meet my sister, and now it looks like I may not even get to do that.
The door to the cubby is pulled open as I convulse and drool, and I can’t even protect myself as someone pulls me out.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck! Baby, why did you do this? You’re so fucking stubborn…”
Those are the last words I hear as my eyes close, and I whisper that I’m sorry as I finally find blissful peace.
LARS
“Did you get Tyde’s number?” I ask, holding Nova against me as her body twitches and shakes. I’ve never heard of an omega going into seizures during their heat before, and I’m struggling to keep my head on straight.
Caleb called Hollis after Nova hung up to track her phone, and that’s how we found this shitty campground she parked at. God, she’s so fucking far from home.
The alpha who was yelling at her was still trying to break into her van with a few other alphas, so we killed them all. No one touches or scares our girl and lives to tell the tale.
I picked the lock of her van without a second thought, but there was no one inside except her cat. Remembering that she said she needed to get to the back of the van, I found her stuffed into a small cubby fucking frothing at the mouth and convulsing.
My heart is in my throat, my chest is vibrating for her, and her body is so damn warm I can barely hold her.
“I’ll get it,” Caleb promises.