Chapter 16
Sixteen
FRANCINE
Two days later, pain rips through my belly as I kneel to help Nora fold her favorite butterfly t-shirt. It’s the third time in the last hour that this strange cramping keeps happening.
Sweat beads on my forehead as I force a smile, watching Nora bounce excitedly around her pink bedroom.
“Do you think I’ll need my rain boots?” Nora asks, holding up bright yellow boots. Her curly brown hair is tied into messy pigtails.
I nod, biting back a groan as another cramp twists through me. “Definitely. I think it’s going to rain, and you’ll want dry feet for hiking.”
“And my wolf stuffy?” She clutches the plush gray wolf to her chest, eyes wide with hope. “Rowan says I shouldn’t bring him because he might get lost, but I need him to sleep.”
“Okay, take him,” I say, sinking fully onto the floor as my legs tremble beneath me. The pain subsides momentarily, giving me a brief respite.
It started this morning as a dull ache that I dismissed as ordinary cramps. But there’s nothing ordinary about this. It’s intensifying by the minute, radiating outward from my core in hot waves that leave me dizzy and disoriented.
Nora tosses more items onto the growing pile beside her backpack. “I need my flashlight, and my bug spray, and…”
“Wait,” I interrupt, trying to focus despite the heat building under my skin. “Your backpack can only hold so much.”
She turns to look at me properly, her excited smile fading. “Francine? Your face is all red. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” I lie, plastering on a smile that feels more like a grimace. “Just excited for you. This trip is going to be amazing.”
Nora doesn’t look convinced, her small brow furrowing as she studies me. “You look sick. Should I get Kieran?”
“No!” I say, suddenly panicked. “Sorry, sweetheart. I just don’t want to bother him. Let’s focus on getting you packed.”
I force myself onto my knees, ignoring the stabbing pain that accompanies the movement. We need to finish packing soon, before whatever’s happening to me gets worse. The bus arrives in less than twenty minutes.
Nora continues adding items to her backpack, and I do my best to help her organize. My hands shake as I fold her clothes, and moisture gathers between my thighs in a way that sends alarm bells ringing through my foggy mind.
This isn’t normal.
The bedroom door swings open, and Kieran strides in with his brothers close behind.
All four alphas crowd into the pink bedroom, their massive frames making the space feel suddenly tiny.
Their combined scents are powerful. The scents of pine, cinnamon, lemon, and peanut butter swirl together into an intoxicating mixture that makes my insides clench with need.
“How’s the packing coming along, monster?” Drake asks Nora, ruffling her hair affectionately.
I can barely breathe.
Their presence intensifies whatever’s happening to me, my body responding to their pheromones in a way that’s almost painful. Heat pools between my legs, and I shift uncomfortably, praying they can’t smell the sudden slick that’s dampening my leggings.
“Francine’s not feeling good,” Nora announces, pointing at me accusingly. “She’s all red and shaky.”
Four pairs of alpha eyes turn to me in unison, their expressions shifting from casual interest to sudden intensity. Rowan’s nostrils flare slightly, and I see his eyes widen a fraction.
“I’m fine,” I insist, pressing my thighs together as another cramp hits me. “Just a little tired.”
Elias steps closer, his amber eyes narrowed behind his glasses. “You don’t look fine.”
I avoid his gaze, focusing instead on Nora’s backpack.
My hands move mechanically, arranging and rearranging items with no real purpose other than to distract myself from the alphas’ scrutiny.
The longer they stay in the room, the worse I feel.
My skin prickles with sensitivity, every nerve ending alive and screaming for contact.
“Nora, we need to leave in ten minutes,” Kieran says, checking his watch. His ice-blue eyes flick back to me, lingering in a way that makes my stomach flip. “The bus won’t wait.”
“I’m ready!” Nora zips her backpack closed with difficulty. “Are you all coming to see me off?”
“Wouldn’t miss it,” Rowan says quietly, his golden-brown eyes still fixed on me with unsettling intensity.
I try to stand to help Nora with her backpack, but my legs buckle beneath me as Drake catches me. Pain shoots through my abdomen, worse than before, and I sink back to the floor with a gasp.
“Here,” he says, helping me sit back on the floor.
“Francine?” Nora’s voice sounds distant through the roaring in my ears.
“I’m okay,” I manage, though it’s clearly a lie. “I just... I think I might be coming down with something. I should probably stay here while you guys go to the bus.”
“But you promised you’d wave goodbye,” Nora says, her lower lip trembling slightly.
My heart clenches at her disappointment. “Come here,” I say, opening my arms from my seated position on the floor.
Nora rushes into my embrace, and I hug her tightly.
“Have the best time,” I whisper into her curls. “Take pictures of everything, and I want to hear all about it when you get back.”
“Promise you’ll still be here?” she asks, pulling back to look at me seriously. “You won’t leave while I’m gone?”
“I promise I’ll be here when you get back,” I say, meaning it despite everything. I can’t disappoint this child who’s already lost so much.
Nora beams, satisfied with my answer. “Okay! Bye, Francine! Feel better!”
She skips over to her brothers, Kieran hoisting her backpack with one hand while Drake swings her up onto his shoulders. Her delighted giggles echo as they head for the doorway.
“I’ll be down in a minute,” Drake tells his brothers, setting Nora back on her feet. “Just want to check on Francine first.”
Kieran hesitates, his gaze shifting between Drake and me, but Nora tugs impatiently at his hand. “Come on! I can’t be late!”
They file out, leaving Drake standing over me. The moment the others are gone, some of the overwhelming sensory assault eases, though Drake’s cinnamon-leather scent still makes my body thrum with awareness.
He crouches beside me, his green eyes concerned as he studies my face. “You look like hell.”
“Thanks,” I mutter, trying to smile through my debilitating cramps. “Just what every girl wants to hear.”
Drake’s large, cool hand presses against my forehead, and I can’t help leaning into the touch. His palm feels heavenly against my overheated skin, and a small moan escapes me before I can stop it.
He withdraws his hand quickly, his expression darkening. “You’re burning up.”
“It’s probably just a bug,” I say. But I know it’s not true. My body is responding to his proximity in a way that has nothing to do with illness.
“I’ll get some ice,” Drake says, his voice oddly strained. “Stay here, okay? Don’t try to move until I get back.”
I nod, not trusting myself to speak as another wave of heat washes through me. Drake stands, his movements careful and controlled as he backs toward the door.
“I’ll be right back,” he promises, and then he’s gone.
The moment I’m alone, I collapse onto my side, curling into a fetal position as pain radiates through my lower abdomen. I need to get to my room before they return. I need to finish packing so I can spend the next few days alone in my apartment and away from the alphas.
I try to stand, but my legs refuse to hold me up. The room spins sickeningly, and I fall back to my knees with a whimper. There’s no choice but to crawl.
I drag myself across Nora’s plush pink carpet, each movement sending fresh agony through my core. My leggings are soaked between my thighs now, slick, dripping down to coat my inner thighs.
The hallway feels endless as I crawl inch by excruciating inch toward my bedroom.
Sweat plasters my hair to my forehead, and my breathing comes in shallow pants.
My pussy throbs and clenches on nothing, desperate to be filled.
My nipples are so sensitive that the brush of my t-shirt against them brings tears to my eyes.
I know what this is now. I’ve read about it, heard other omegas talk about it, but I’ve never experienced it myself.
I’m in heat. Full, unbridled heat.
Finally, I reach my bedroom and drag myself inside, using the last of my strength to push the door closed behind me. My half-packed duffel bag sits on the bed, mocking me with its promise of escape.
I planned to spend these three days at my apartment while Nora was away. Three days of peace, away from the tension that’s been building in the house since that night when Kieran caught Elias with his face between my legs.
Now I know why my body has been feeling strange all day, the heightened sensitivity to smells, the dull ache that’s grown into this consuming agony. Being around four unmated alphas has triggered an early heat, one more intense than any I’ve experienced before.
I need to leave. Now. Before they realize what’s happening.
Before Kieran has another reason to look at me with that mixture of desire and resentment. He hates me, and I need to leave.
He made it clear at dinner two nights ago. He doesn’t want me here, doesn’t want the complication I represent. He tolerates me for Nora’s sake, nothing more.
But my body refuses to cooperate.
I can’t even crawl to the bed to reach my bag, let alone make it out of the house. The heat is consuming me from the inside out, each beat of my heart sending fresh waves of need through my veins. My pussy clenches so hard it hurts, desperate for the relief only an alpha’s knot can provide.
I curl into a ball on the floor, tears streaming down my face as I try to breathe through another spasm of need.
The alphas will return soon.
And they’ll smell me, knowing exactly what’s happening. I wish I could hide this. The door swings open as if they heard my thoughts. All four alphas crowd the threshold, their expressions shifting from concern to something darker, more primal as my scent hits them.