Chapter 42 Skyla’s Heat
Skyla’s Heat
Tadeo
By the time I make it home, my pulse is already in overdrive.
I barely remember shutting the front door behind me. Dakota’s voice had been panicked over the phone—short, clipped, begging me to get home as fast as possible.
But now, I’m on my knees at the edge of the nest, crawling into the warmth before I even think.
Skyla’s scent hits first—lucious peonies and heat, thick in the air—and it damn near knocks the air out of my lungs.
She’s still trembling from her orgasm, her skin slick with sweat, her body half-curled in the blankets.
Dakota’s murmuring something soft near her shoulder, while she gives Alex’s cock lazy little licks.
Guilt tears through me, sharp and bitter.
I missed the beginning.
I should’ve been here.
“Hey,” I whisper, keeping my voice low as I move closer. “I’m here, sweetheart.”
Sky finally lifts her head to look up at me. Her eyes are glazed and unfocused, and her wild curls sticking out in all directions. She looks wrecked—beautiful and burning and completely out of control. My chest aches at the sight of her.
“She’s okay,” Alex whispers as he slips his fingertips down the side of her face. “You got here fast.” His voice lifts as if impressed.
“Yeah,” I say, though my voice comes out rougher than I mean it to. “I ran several red lights.”
Alex gives me a firm nod. There’s a spark of respect behind it, like he’s happy I’m taking this seriously.
Skyla’s shaking. Her skin glistens with sweat, her scent is thick and wild in the air. Every breath she takes sounds like it hurts.
“Are you ready?” Knox asks me, and I know he’s not talking about stamina or strength. He’s asking if I’m ready for what comes next.
Marking her.
After what happened when he marked Skyla, we promised we’d wait—let her body guide us. Alex and I would only bite when her heat reached its peak, when it was safe. I thought that meant we’d have time to prepare. Months. If not longer.
But nothing about claiming an omega has gone how I imagined.
“Tadeo?”
Knox’s voice pulls me back. He looks calm—steady—even with his knot still buried deep inside our heat-drunk omega. The control it takes for him to sound like that borders on unreal.
“Are you ready, alpha?” he asks again.
I draw in a slow breath, letting it settle the wild hum in my chest. Then I nod once, sure and quiet. My hand finds Skyla’s hip, trembling a little as I lean closer, my voice barely above a whisper.
“Sky,” I murmur, trying like hell to sound calm and steady. “Do you need more, sweetheart?”
Her eyes flutter open, glassy with heat and confusion. For a second, I think she doesn’t recognize me—but then her fingers twitch, reaching weakly toward my face. “I need you.” Her slightly slurred words hit something deep inside me.
I can feel the pulse of my pack echo through the room—Knox steady, Alex strung tight, Dakota whispering soft reassurances beside her.
My heart hammers.
Yeah. I’m ready.
I’ve lost track of time.
It’s been hours, days, maybe years—it all blurs together. The only thing that’s been constant is the sound of Skyla’s breathing, the rise and fall of it against my skin, the endless cycle of need and rest and need again.
An omega’s heat isn’t anything like I expected. I thought it would be more predictable—rut, come, sleep, repeat. Something we could manage. But it’s chaos. Beautiful, maddening chaos that chews through sleep, sanity, and hunger.
Every time Sky drifts off, it’s only for minutes. Long enough for Dakota to wipe her skin clean, long enough for Alex or Knox to grab a bite to eat, long enough for me to think she might finally rest—
Then her body tenses, her scent spikes, and we’re right back where we started.
She’s wrecked us. All of us.
And I fucking love it.
I glance at Skyla, curled in the center of her nest, her breathing shallow for now.
The quiet feels fragile, like it might shatter if I move too fast, but my body is too tense to stay put. I shift onto my back, every muscle aching as I slowly stretch, taking in the wreckage around me.
Across the room, Knox leans against the wall, head tipped back, eyes closed but not asleep. He palms his semi-hard cock gently, The base is raw and chafed from the repeated inflating and deflating of his knot.
Dakota’s half dozing, snuggling up close to our omega, with one hand resting protectively near her hip.
And Alex is sprawled beside them, hair damp from his quick shower, his chest rising and falling slowly.
We’re all catching our breath, waiting for the next wave.
Then Skyla stirs, a soft whine slipping from her throat—not quite a word, not quite a sigh. Her scent shifts, flooding the air as her pheromones spike again.
Alex lets out a low, rough sound—half groan, half awe.
His hand drags down his face, but there’s a flicker of something wild in his eyes.
“Unreal,” he breathes, voice catching somewhere between disbelief and reverence.
“It hasn’t even been ten minutes since we last rutted her. Her tiny body has to be exhausted.”
Knox’s eyes open, looking between me and Alex, reading the room in a heartbeat. “This has got to be the peak of her heat,” he says quietly, voice rough with exhaustion.
I sit up, pulse already quickening. My mouth is dry. “You sure?” The words come out lower than I mean them to, tight in my throat. “Maybe we should wait for the next wave. It could be stronger.”
The thought of marking her sends a mix of heat and dread rolling through me. I want it. Fuck, I want it. But I also need to be sure our omega’s body is ready, that she’s wrung out and calm, not still trembling from the storm of it all. The last thing I ever want is to hurt her again.
The pack alpha meets my gaze, head-on. The dominance in his expression makes something primal in me settle, but he keeps his tone level. “Tadeo, this is it. Look at her.”
Dakota, still kneeling near the edge of the nest, shakes his head.
“He’s right,” he murmurs. “The last two times she’s been rutted, she’s bared her throat.
” His eyes soften as he glances toward Skyla, her body shifting restlessly in the sheets.
“She’s asking to be bitten, even if she doesn’t understand what she’s asking for. ”
I drag a hand down my face as heat and tension tangle in my chest. My cock is rock hard already, ready to give my omega what she needs, but my mind hasn’t quite caught up yet.
“Or it’s instinct, and she’s not actually consenting to anything,” I say, mostly to myself. “She’s been through enough already.”
Knox exhales slowly, his jaw flexing as he rises to his full height. The shift in the air is instant—heavy, electric. His pack alpha aura rolls through the room like a fucking storm.
Alex straightens without thinking, his shoulders squaring. Dakota’s back goes rigid beside him. And me—my pulse stutters, then my head dips to submit, the urge to bare my neck clawing up my spine.
“She hated me for mating her outside of her heat, Tad,” Knox says, voice flat but heavy with command. “It’s an alpha’s job to mark their omega.”
I meet the pack alpha’s gaze, and for a second, I swear he can see every thought tearing through my head. The fear of breaking her again warring with the primal need to finally make her ours.
I don't want to hurt her.
“Give our omega what she needs,” Knox says, his voice softer.
Skyla’s body jerks suddenly, a tremor starting deep in her chest.
Then she screams. The sound tears through the room, raw and wild, and every one of us tenses.
Something inside me snaps. Instinct crashes over any other thought. My omega’s in pain.
I move without thinking, sliding my arms beneath Sky’s trembling body. She’s burning up, her skin slick and fever-hot against my hands.
“Easy, carino,” I whisper, my voice shaking even as I try to keep it low and steady.
Her body resists for half a second, twisting against my touch, but I pull her gently up, settling her across my lap so her back presses against my chest. A low purr builds in my chest, deep and steady. It vibrates through my ribs, spreading outward, filling the space between us.
“Spread her for me,” Alex says as he moves in front of me grabbing the base of his cock.
I do as he asks, widening my own legs, then resting her feet on my knees.
“I’ve got you, alpha.” Alex’s big hand wraps around my shaft, positioning it right at Sky’s opening.
She’s soaked, slick and cum still dripping out of her.
Alex’s other hand pushes between Skyla’s ass and my groin, lifting her slightly. Then she’s lowered onto my cock, her hot pussy taking me all the way to the root.
Skyla’s head falls back against my shoulder, breath hitching in shallow bursts. The tremors still roll through her, but I can feel the rhythm of them easing as Alex pushes his cock in, right next to mine.
He gives a few slow thrusts, his shaft sliding across mine, before rocking in and out at a steady rhythm. The feel of his velvety skin and her silken channel makes my head spin, and I grip Sky’s hips, trying to steady myself.
Skyla’s body softens, the tension in her limbs bleeding out until she’s breathing, trembling, and holding on.
“I fucking love how greedy she is for cock,” Alex murmurs, voice low and rough, as Knox moves in behind him.
The pack alpha licks his fingers before reaching down, out of my line of sight. I can’t see what Knox is doing—but Alex can feel it.
Alex’s brows twitch at first, then his mouth curving into that dangerous little smile that always knocks the breath out of me. His dark blue eyes flicker up to mine, bright and sharp, then they flutter closed as a quiet sound slips from his throat.
I can’t look away.
I stare at the pair as Knox grips Alex’s shoulder, then begins fucking into the alpha. Alex grunts as Knox forces the red-haired alpha’s cock to knock deeper and deeper into Skyla, and over me.
It feels like heaven.
“Dakota,” Knox growls, low and deep—soaked in command.