Chapter 17
HANNAH
The familiar scent of vanilla and cinnamon wraps around me the moment I step into Flour & Fable’s back kitchen, and despite everything weighing on my mind, I immediately relax a fraction.
Lily is at the industrial mixer, wearing her usual flour-dusted apron over jeans and a sweater, her dark hair pulled back. She glances up when I enter, and her face breaks into a huge grin.
“There’s my sister! I was starting to think you’d forgotten about our coffee date.”
“Never,” I say. “Just running behind because everything in my life is currently insane. Noel has been my shadow for the last couple of days for all my meetings and catching up with all things parade related.”
“The parade is tomorrow, right?” Lily asks. “It’s later this year.”
“Yeah, the council wanted to draw in more tourists, so they scheduled it closer to Christmas. For the same reason, they pushed the tree lighting ceremony to just days before Christmas. So it’s tomorrow, and the event is all ready to go. Though, I’m terrified something’s going to go terribly wrong.”
“Why? You’ve triple-checked everything, haven’t you?”
“Yes, but…” I sigh and pace around the kitchen.
“All my recent events have had issues. The Santa was a criminal who was arrested. The strippers were wanted criminals, also arrested. What if things go haywire for this too?” I rub my temples where a headache is starting to form.
“Two days ago, the guys found a photo of Scot with those criminals. Together. Like they know each other. And he recommended them to me months ago to book. It’s a huge coincidence that both turned out to be wanted criminals. ”
“Hannah…”
“And then there’s the guys themselves.” The words tumble out before I think them through. “They’re this huge, amazing, overwhelming distraction that I’m loving way too much, and I shouldn’t be because I have a business to build and a reputation to establish and—”
“Whoa, slow down.” Lily dusts her hands and comes closer to me. “What’s wrong with having amazing Alphas who support you and make you happy?”
“Nothing, in theory. But can I pursue my career when I have scent matches, when my body falls apart around them and forgets everything else? Yet, at the same time, I’m terrified I’m going to mess it up somehow.
Or that they’ll realize I’m not worth the trouble and…
Gosh, I don’t know. My head is pulling me in several directions. ”
“Stop.” Lily draws me into a hug, and it calms me down. “You’re spiraling.”
I take a shaky breath and pull back. “I just feel so overwhelmed.”
And that’s not even touching the other issue. The one I haven’t admitted to anyone. My pre-heat is out of control. Not the usual restless buzz in my veins. This is deeper. Lower. Heavier. My body is shifting in ways I can’t logic my way out of anymore.
I keep catching myself thinking of the Omega room in their house like it’s calling me when I’m not there.
The bed. The blankets. The ridiculous soft lighting.
Crawling onto it, curling into the center, and letting them—any of them, all of them—stand guard around me.
My instincts practically purr at the thought.
God. What is wrong with me?
My temperature spikes at random. One second I’m fine.
The next I’m flushed and trembling, thighs clenching, pulse racing so fast it feels like I’m about to combust. There’s this deep, molten ache between my legs, a steady throb that won’t let me think straight.
Every instinct sharpened, every nerve exposed.
And it only gets better, easier, when I’m near them.
Except it’s not going to pass. Not this time.
My body is choosing for me.
And I am not ready.
This shouldn’t be happening yet. But living with three Alphas who are my scent matches is clearly accelerating everything. And I’m trying so hard to control it, to push through it, to stay focused on work. But it’s getting harder every single day.
“How are things really going with the guys?” Lily asks gently, studying my face. “And don’t give me the surface answer. I want the real answer.”
I blow out a long breath. “They’re… incredible. Supportive, protective, funny, sexy as hell. They help with my events, they make me dinner, they make me laugh until I cry. Living with them feels natural in this scary way.”
“Scary how?”
“It’s working so well that I’m hesitant to trust it.” I finally meet her eyes. “What if I let myself fully fall and then it all rips apart? My career is already crumbling. I can’t keep losing things. What if they realize I’m too much work or too damaged or too—”
“Hannah, stop.” Lily squeezes my hand. “Those men are obsessed with you. Anyone with working eyeballs can see it.”
“I know, but—”
“But nothing. You’re scared. That’s normal.” Lily pauses.
“And I think my heat is coming early,” I finally admit quietly. “Being around them is accelerating it. The ache is constant now, and it only stops when they’re touching me. Which is a problem because I have work to do and I can’t just spend all day draped over them like some needy—”
“Why not?” Lily interrupts.
I blink.
“Why can’t you let them take care of you during your pre-heat? Why are you fighting it so hard?”
“Because I have a business to build! You have the bakery, and I really wanted to make event planning work, but it’s just not going to plan.
I’m trying to prove I can do this on my own, that I’m not some helpless Omega who needs to be coddled.
Scot already tried to make me feel incompetent and dependent. I won’t let anyone else—”
“Your Alphas aren’t Scot,” Lily says firmly. “Not even close. And accepting help and support during your heat cycle doesn’t make you weak or dependent. It makes you smart enough to recognize when you need your pack.”
I want to argue, but the words stick in my throat.
“How did you do it?” I ask instead. “With your guys? I know you told me about getting snowed in at that cabin, but… how did you finally let them in? How did you trust them enough to be vulnerable during your heat?”
Lily smiles, and there’s something soft and nostalgic in her expression. “Oh, those were some crazy times. Being trapped in that cabin with three Alphas I barely knew while a blizzard raged outside and my heat hit unexpectedly? Terrifying doesn’t begin to cover it.”
“But you got through it.”
“We got through it,” she corrects. “Not me alone. We, together. And in truth, they were patient with me. They didn’t push, didn’t demand anything I wasn’t ready to give.
They were just there, helping me through the pain, keeping me safe, making sure I ate and stayed hydrated even when all I wanted was to lock myself in a room alone. ”
“That’s what my guys are doing,” I realize out loud. “Being patient. Being there.”
“Exactly.” Lily turns on her stool to face me fully.
“Your men are doing the same thing mine did. They’re showing you that they’ll support you no matter what.
And, Hannah? You need to stop stressing about it so much.
Your work is important, they know that, and they support it completely.
But don’t put your career before your personal health and needs. ”
“I know that logically,” I say, frustration tightening my throat. “But there’s this voice in my head saying that if I give in, if I let myself fully depend on them during my heat, I’ll lose myself somehow. And I’ve always been the one to take care of everything since we lost Mom.”
“Oh, Hannah.” Lily pulls me into her arms, and I sag into her because she’s the one person who’s seen every version of me—strong, exhausted, terrified, hopeful.
She squeezes me tighter. “You carried so much after Mom died. You shouldn’t have had to, but you did.
You held me together. You kept Dad sane.
You made sure this bakery survived long enough for me to grow into it.
You did all of that.” Her voice softens, warm and full of pride.
“But you don’t have to carry everyone anymore.
It’s your turn now to be cared for. Let someone else hold you up. ”
My chest aches. I swallow hard, blinking fast. “Lily…”
She cups my cheeks, thumbs brushing away nothing, but they might as well be catching tears. “You deserve tenderness, sis, to be loved so loudly it drowns out everything else. So let those guys adore you. Just for once, let someone show up for you.”
Something in me cracks. Just a little. Enough to let her words in.
“Thanks,” I whisper. “I really needed to vent. And to hear that. And… just everything.” I huff a shaky laugh. “I love you.”
“I know.” She smirks, bumping my shoulder. “I’m very lovable.”
“You’re impossible.”
“Also true.”
I exhale, steadying myself. “I should go. I’ve got a hundred things to do before tomorrow.”
“Just be kinder to yourself,” Lily says. “Promise me.”
“I’ll try.” My voice wobbles, but I mean it. “Really.”
She nods, satisfied, then brightens as she heads for the industrial refrigerator. “Before you go, don’t forget the brownies for Chris. And take two trays. That man could eat his weight in chocolate.”
A laugh finally escapes me, soft and real. “Yeah. I noticed.”
And just like that, breathing feels a little easier again.
She takes out a container of brownies, the fudgy ones with chunks of dark chocolate that Chris is obsessed with. “Made extras for Chris. Tell him he’d better savor these because I’m not making another batch until next month.”
I laugh. “You spoil him.”
“I had a deal with him, and I keep my word,” Lily says, handing me the container. She walks me toward the back door. “Your Alphas are good men, Hannah. Don’t sabotage something beautiful because you’re scared.”
I hug her tightly. “Love you.”
“Love you too. Now go home to your men and stop stressing about tomorrow. It’s going to be perfect.”
I leave through the back entrance, clutching the container of brownies, and head toward the truck where Noel parked. He had to pick up a few things, so I used the time to catch up with Lily.