Chapter 11
Kaden
Kip’s instincts are on point this week, or at least he’s damned lucky. Between Threnody and Dave, I suddenly feel like none of us should be running off alone while we’re here.
These thoughts keep me up most of the night. I toss and turn, unable to sleep.
Since I can’t sleep, I figure I’ll grab a cup of hot cocoa from the kitchen to warm myself up a bit.
Dave got under Mags’s skin last night. He was too close to her, and I suspect that she would’ve ended up in the same situation as me if not for Kip’s uncanny urge to go for a swim.
But Mags is cool. Calm. Collected. She doesn’t worry or freak out about little things, and even the bigger problems roll off her back like water off a duck.
So why is she curled up in a ball outside Nik’s door in the middle of the night, buck naked and drenched in sweat?
“Mags?”
She jumps with a start and turns her wide eyes on me. Her hair’s a mess, and tears stream down her face.
“N-Nik. W-where’s Nik?”
Mags seems dazed. She should know that Nik’s with Threnody tonight. I kneel next to her and take off my shirt, handing it over. “Here. Cover up.”
She looks at the shirt as if she’s never seen an article of clothing in her life. “Huh?”
“Put the shirt on, Mags. You’re bare-assed here.
” I help her get the t-shirt over her head and her arms through the sleeves.
Her movements are sluggish, and she twitches every time my skin contacts hers.
Each touch is almost scorching, and I remember her struggling with the temperature the past few days.
If I didn’t know better, I’d say she was going through heat … but that’s crazy! Mags is a beta.
“Did Dave do something to you after we all went to bed? Did he drug you?”
I look around, but I don’t see any signs that someone entered our suite during the night. Everything’s in its proper place, aside from Mags. If Dave did sneak in, he didn’t touch anything in the common area.
“D-Dave? N-no. I need N-Nik.”
It’s a good thing I’m not easily offended. Why is she obsessed with Nik right now?
“Come on, Mags. Let’s go back to your room, okay? We’ll get you in bed, so you can rest and burn off this fever of yours.”
“Not a fever,” she mumbles as I help her up. “It’s not a fever …”
Back in her room, I set her down on the bed and dig through her drawers for the injectable I know she takes religiously. Maybe she missed a dose, and that’s what’s going on. “Mags, where’s your shot? Is it here, or in the bathroom?”
“Bathroom.”
I finally find her vials in the medicine cabinet. A quick count verifies that she’s been taking them correctly, so what gives? I pull a random vial out of the box and check the lid.
That’s weird; this vial’s full, but the seal has a tiny puncture mark.
Wait.
I pull out the box and set it on the counter, checking the rest of the vials.
They all have tiny puncture marks.
“Mags, hon, why did you poke all these vials already? They’ll go bad if you do that.”
She rolls her shoulders in a lazy shrug. “I didn’t. I d-don’t open them until I need to. They sh-should all be fine.”
A chill runs down my spine. Someone messed with Mags’s medicine.
“Stay right here, okay? I’m getting Kip.”
My twin can sleep through a fucking hurricane and not bat an eyelash. It takes three tries to get him up, and by then my nerves are so on edge that I can’t even articulate what’s wrong. I just drag him to Mags’s bedroom and point to the tampered vials.
“Shit. Who would do this?” he asks, turning a vial over and over in his hands as he inspects it for himself.
“More importantly, why?”
Kip blanches, and he holds the vial up to me. “Kaden, did you read the labels on these?”
“No. It’s none of my business what Mags takes ‘em for. I just noticed they were fucked with.”
“Read the label, Kaden.”
I snatch the vial out of his hand with a sigh. “Fine. Like I’d even know what the fuck this stuff is by the—” I stop cold when I see the tiny print on the side.
Indications for use: Take one vial as needed daily for heat suppression.
But that would mean …
Kip nods in agreement with my unspoken words. “She’s an omega.”
“How? This makes no fucking sense!”
A sad smile crosses his face, and he gazes at Mags, who’s so sweaty she’s already drenched my shirt. “Actually, it kind of does. Think about it, bro: she never flirts with anyone, alphas or betas, that we meet. Never hooks up with anyone, never gets involved.”
“She’s a grifter, Kip! Of course she doesn’t get involved. That would ruin the job.”
“It would ruin her cover,” he says, and he pulls a small foil pill packet out of the cabinet. I’d missed it in my haste to find her vials, but I recognize the shape, and a quick count verifies my suspicion.
Birth control.
We both exchange grim glances. This changes everything.
“Do you think Nik knows?” he whispers.
Mags perks up a bit at the mention of our alpha packmate. “N-Nik? Is he here?” She glances around the room with glazed eyes. “I need Nik.”
“Oh, I bet Nik knows,” I say, cringing as soon as the words are out of my mouth.
This is going to kill Kip. My brother’s been close to Mags since we were kids.
For her to keep something like this from him but share it with Nik, who we’ve only known for a few years?
It’s like I can feel his heart breaking from across the room.
“What are we going to do, Kaden? She needs an alpha.”
I square my shoulders and look back at Mags. “Well, unless you want to involve that creep, Dave, we don’t have an alpha available. It’s up to us.”
“What?”
“We’re professional heat helpers, right? So, let’s help her with her heat.”
“Mags wouldn’t want that,” he hisses, his face turning beet red. “She’ll fucking kill us when she snaps out of it.”
“You’ve seen enough omegas in heat to know that we can’t just leave her like this. She’s miserable. Even if it’s just this one time, we have to ease her through it. She’ll go into fucking heat delirium if we don’t.”
“Mags wouldn’t want us to—”
I smack the back of his head. “Mags wants Nik to, but he’s not here. We are, so we’re going to fucking fix her.”
The blow seems to have calmed Kip down a bit. He stops complaining, and a resolute stare settles on his face. “Fine. But if she says ‘no’ at any point, and I mean any, we stop, and we get Nik.”
“Deal.”
Kip slowly walks over to Mags’s bed with his hands extended, like he’s approaching a wild animal. “Mags? Mags, baby, it’s us. Kip and Kaden. You remember us, right?”
She blinks at him, then smiles so brightly it almost hurts to look at her. “Bestie.”
“Yeah, baby. It’s your bestie.” His voice cracks a bit. “Mags, do you understand what’s happening right now?”
The smile inverts into a disappointed frown. “Heat.”
“That’s right. Someone messed with your vials, and the medicine isn’t working. But you’ll be okay. You’ve got us. Can we help you, Mags?”
Her pupils are already dilated, but when he says that, the grey irises all but disappear.
Mags stands on shaky legs and stumbles into Kip’s arms. The heady, intoxicating scent of sugar and bubblegum fills the air, and I realize she’s perfuming for us.
She nuzzles Kip’s neck, inhaling his scent and licking a long, sensual line from his collarbone to his ear.
Fuck, even watching her lick my twin is turning me on.
“Mm … You’ve always smelled so good to me, Kip. Like fresh, upturned earth. So natural.” Her nose wrinkles for a second. “Not like that jerk Dave. He smells gross.”
This is so weird. Even though it was my idea to help her, I feel awkward.
I mean, this is Mags. It’s our best friend.
We’ve known her since before we could walk.
Now we’re about to—well, whatever she’ll let us do.
There are a few ways for beta heat helpers to ease this, but the most obvious seems like a violation.
Before I can back out of the deal, Mags reaches out for me. “Kaden … Tasty, tasty Kaden … My margarita man … C’mere.”
Shit, I can’t stop now. She’s already so far gone. If we don’t get her through this, we might never get her back. I take her hand and let her pull me backwards towards the bed. Kip follows, and soon we’re all on the mattress in a pile of limbs.
Mags groans, grinding her hips against my leg. “This nest sucks.”
I stroke her damp hair and take the biggest risk I’ve ever taken in my life.
I kiss Mags.
Those cherry-red lips kiss back, and her tongue joins in.
Mags holds my face to hers, and I’m dimly aware of Kip rubbing her flat belly and kissing her neck.
It hits me that this could be the night my brother loses his virginity, and I feel a mix of pride and shame.
I shouldn’t be here for this moment, but without me, it might never happen.
“How can we help you, Mags?” Ever the gentleman, Kip’s doing his level best to make sure she still respects herself when this is all over. “Tell us what you need.”
She releases my face, and the chill air swoops in, creating a shocking contrast to her warmth.
“I need you both. Now.”