CHAPTER THIRTY - AXEL
“Hey!” Colt hisses, planting himself in the bedroom doorway, his eyes spitting blue flames in our direction. “You both need to stand the fuck down!”
I glare at my youngest packmate. He smells wrong, like scorched meat, but his anger is a faint glitch in the back of my brain. The only thing I can focus on is the cinnamon sweetness lingering in the air…
“We’re sorting this, Colt,” Hog growls, but I can feel his anger barreling through the bond. It’s like a hand around my throat, and if I ever wonder again at his true level of dominance, the bruises on my neck will remind me. It’s way, way more than he’s ever let on.
Until now.
We’re both bleeding, though my wound is more conspicuous: a gash near my hairline from striking the edge of the bathroom vanity.
Hog took a well-placed elbow to the mouth, not that it slowed him down much.
I bloodied his lip—and may even loosened a tooth, unless it’s as thick as the rest of his skull.
And all because I can’t get a grip on my fucking hormones.
I keep trying to remind myself that I’ve lived through a dozen ruts, including the one I spent chained to a chair when I was a POW.
But every time I try to claw through the chaos clouding my head, I catch another whiff of her – of him – and I lose my fucking mind.
I groan and press my thumbs into my eyes. They pulse like they’re trying to escape their sockets. And still, I’m hard as a damn rock.
Charlie would kick my ass if he could see me now.
Except that she’s not his sister.
Right now, she barely has a name.
But she smells like mine, and the proof is still smeared on my fingertips.
My cock throbs, and Hog shoots me a look like he’s about to kick my nuts into next week.
“Listen to me!” Colt growls, shaking my arm. He claws at our pack bond again, and I can taste his distress on the back of my tongue. “I think this is more than just a fucked-up rut…”
“She’s in heat.”
Both awe and fear ring in Hog’s voice and I turn to gape at him. But he brushes past me, chasing the scent of his omega.
She’s in heat?
Lust burns up my body, making my legs shake. But when I make a move to chase her down, Colt scuttles into my path. “That’s what is sending you over the edge, boss. Your hormones are pinging off hers, but now you need to get a fucking grip!”
He’s making complete sense, of course. I nod, but it doesn’t stop me barging past him, hurrying to catch up with the omega.
Need and longing pulse through me with every step.
My omega. My omega. My omega.
But when I reach the sunroom, the French doors are wide open, filling the room with the perfume of sagebrush, kemp, and night-blooming jasmine. It’s a scent I usually love, but right now I’m searching for something else.
“Where is she?” I look around frantically, my heartrate surging. “Did she go out?”
“I’m here.” She’s barely a wrinkle in a lump of blankets on the daybed. She’s too small, too fragile, and my protective instincts surge along with my lust. I move towards her, but I stop abruptly as a pair of damp boardshorts hit me in the face.
“Put it away, Alpha,” she growls, glaring at me from behind her tangled hair. My fingers twitch to reach out and touch it, but Hog shoulder-checks me, and I reluctantly drag the swimwear over my damp body.
When I’m done, Hog walks over to her, crouching down at her side. He’s so damn big that he blocks her face and I move around to keep her in sight. He’s brushing back her hair and jealousy sizzles through me until she makes a sharp, broken sound. “What’s wrong?”
“Her scent gland is inflamed,” Hog replies in a soothing voice.
I step closer, my heartrate accelerating again.
I’m trying to work out how I can touch her too when Colt bustles past me with a glass of water and a damp washcloth.
He shoots me a warning glance as he kneels on the edge of the daybed, gently stroking the skin near her gland.
“Damn, your skin is on fire, Birdie. Here, put this around the back of your neck.”
He presses the washcloth to her nape and she shivers in reaction.
When he offers the water, she gulps it down, grimacing after each swallow.
I can’t resist drifting closer, but Colt stops me with another sharp look.
“She needs fresh air and pain medication. If you want to help, go find something in the medicine cabinet.”
Unfortunately, I couldn’t make my legs move even if he followed his command up with a bark.
Which reminds me of Cooper, and a trickle of alarm gives me pause.
Shit. I don’t regret dominating him into submission, but I haven’t spontaneously barked at someone since I was a teen.
It’s not only illegal, but it has always been a matter of pride for me.
I aced every control class I ever took, always so smug about my ability to rein in my dominance.
Right up until I punched a federal agent and nearly knotted our omega in the shower.
Bitterness curls on my tongue. Through sheer willpower alone, I manage to force myself to walk three feet to the credenza in the corner.
It’s a kind of junk drawer, storing bits of flotsam and jetsam that washes to this end of the house.
I paw through the rubber bands, mystery hardware, and a crusty tin of surfboard wax until I find the remnants of a medical kit.
There is half a strip of waterproof band-aids, a single tube of anti-itch cream, and two painkillers in a mangled blister packet.
“Jesus,” Colt mutters with a shake of his head, taking the crumpled packet out of my hand. “How many dust bunnies did you have to fight for this?”
I ignore him, watching as he pops the pills into his hand and feeds them to our omega, one by one. Every swallow seems to hurt, and I clench my fists, squeezing them until my knuckles throb.
“Okay,” Colt says, tossing me another aggrieved look. “Back up boss, will you? Right now, you need to give her some room.”
I scowl, but it looks like he’s including Hog in that directive, and a small part of me feels vindicated. Maybe I’m not the only asshole screwing up here.
“I don’t think they can help it,” the omega says in a quiet voice.
She pushes her own hair back this time, and I can see the dark bruises under her eyes.
I thought they were gone, that she was settling in here, but now she looks more fragile than ever.
The urge to take her into my arms is so overpowering, I force myself back a step until my knees hit an old armchair.
I sit, hating every damn inch of air between us, until she says, “I’m pretty sure this is my fault. ”
“That you’re reacting to those two testosterone nightmares?” Colt clicks his tongue. “I don’t think so, sweetheart.”
“No, you don’t understand. This isn’t just hormones.” She scowls, then shakes her head as if she doesn’t like her own thoughts. “Or it is, but not the way you think.”
Hog shuffles forward an inch, placing a gentle hand on her arm. “Explain it to me. Nothing is so bad it can’t be fixed.”
She wraps her arms around herself, somehow looking even smaller. “It’s about Razor… Peak. I didn’t just know him from the compound. When my stepfather sold me, Peak collected me and took me to a military lab. They were conducting experiments on omegas.”
Fury surges through me, and I feel a matching pulse through the bond. No, pulses, because Colt looks just as livid as Hog. But he manages to keep his voice steady as he says, “Sweetheart, you’re killing us right now. How long were you there?”
“I think it was close to six months. They didn’t exactly keep me informed of things like that.” She waves a weary hand. “I was in and out of it most of the time. But in one of the experiments, I think they injected something in my scent gland.”
I can’t keep quiet a second longer. “You mean that fucking speech inhibitor?”
She flicks me a look beneath her lashes. “It was their device, but they did other things, too. I don’t know for sure, but I think they screwed with my scent.” Her eyes cling to me, even as her scent burns in my nose. “And that’s why you can smell Charlie.”
Her words hit me like a dozen bullets, but Hog is rising up, his dominance flaring across the room. “Who the fuck would do something like that?”
“Reeves was the head doctor. There were others, but it was his lab. He was the one who ordered the experiments.”
“He’s a fucking dead man,” Hog growls. “Just point this place out on a map and I’ll burn it to the ground.”
Colt reaches over and pats his leg. “I think we’ve got a few other things to take care of first, big guy.” He turns back to the omega with a determined look on his face. “Okay, sweetheart, how do we stop it?”
“I don’t know.” She rubs her face, her voice full of defeat. “Suppressants, maybe. Or a whole bunch more of these.” She nods at the empty blister packet. “But to be safe, I should leave. Go somewhere until my heat blows over and my scent wears off.”
“You’re not going anywhere, Omega,” Hog and I both growl, almost in unison.
Leave her to hole up in some sterile motel, fighting her own instincts and whatever bullshit they’ve pumped into her system? I’ll burn down every motel in a fifty-mile radius before I let that happen.
And yes, the sane part of me knows that’s fucking insane.
But she belongs here. With us. Even if I have to knock myself out to keep her safe.
“Well, what about the cabin?” she demands. “You could put me back in the basement…”
A growl rips out of my throat before I can stop it. “No basement. In fact, the next time I’m there I’m gonna board that shit up.”
The omega gives me a half-hearted eyeroll. “Well, what about here? Does this place have a basement?”
Colt snorts. “It’s a beach house. It has a three-foot crawl space, at best.”.
“Then stuff me in it. It wouldn’t be the worst place I’ve spent time.”
I squeeze my fists at that little mindfuck of a detail.
“And have Axel tear the place apart to get to you?” Colt asks. “He’s already twitching every time your hair gets in the way of your face.”
The omega sighs and loops her hair behind her ear. “Bleach, then. Where do you keep the cleaning supplies?”
Hog’s growl drowns out mine, thick with outrage. “You’re not dousing yourself in fucking bleach.”
“Then command me to stop perfuming.”
We all freeze, gaping at her in shock. Her nostrils flare and she shuffles her feet, avoiding our eyes. Commanding an omega to suppress her scent goes against everything an alpha lives for. It’s not just illegal, it’s a biological betrayal.
“My stepfather could do it,” she says with a stubborn jut of her chin. “He did it to me the first time I presented.”
We all stiffen in disgust. Fuck, Cooper better be telling the truth about Kyle Billings’ death, or he’s gonna be a dead man, three times over.
“I’m not your asshole step dad!” Hog almost roars.
She cups his cheek, her gaze softening. “No, you’re a thousand times stronger than him. In every way.”
“I think we’re getting off track, sweetheart,” Colt says softly. “None of this is going to reverse what’s already happening. Your heat is coming, and if it’s as strong as your perfume tastes, you’re going to need us. All of us.”
“I can’t do that to you,” she whispers, looking at each of us in turn. When she lands on me, I see a flood of regret in her eyes. “This isn’t fair. I’m not him.”
I rise to my feet, even as the others shoot me warning glances. But as much as I still want her – under me, around me, writhing and moaning on my knot – I want her safe and happy even more.
“I’m well aware of who you are,” I tell her slowly, even as I taste cinnamon on the back of my tongue.
“You’re the omega who has survived more shit than most people face in a lifetime.
You’re strong, and kind, and you fit in this pack, exactly as you are.
Just because some asshole is trying to fuck up my senses doesn’t mean that I can’t still tell that it’s you.
I knew that in the shower, and I know that now.
It’s you I want, and I’ll do anything you need to keep you safe. ”
She blinks at me, and for once, our pack bond doesn’t feel like the ragged end of a torn electrical cord.
“Yeah,” Colt says softly, his gaze gentle, “but she still smells like Charlie to you. And you’re still in a rut. Which means you’re gonna treat her like your mate, especially when you’re naked in her nest.”
Well, shit.
“We can’t risk it,” Hog says in a flinty tone. “Too many things could go wrong.”
“Then I leave.” My instincts howl at me, my body tightening with anger, but I grasp for the little bit of reason I still possess. “I’ll go stay with my cousin Neil for a few days. It’s only a two-hour drive.”
Hog arches an unimpressed brow at me. “Neil who’s got a pregnant omega?”
I bite back a curse. “Okay. A motel, then.”
Colt clicks his tongue. “No one is gonna take an alpha in rut, especially one as dominant as you are.”
“Then I’ll sleep in the goddamn truck!”
Hog gives me the look that comment deserves. The way my hormones are going, I’m not sure I’ll be able to make it to the end of the drive.
Colt must realize that as well, because he turns to our omega and asks in a cautious tone, “Sweetheart, have you ever been with an alpha in rut during your heat?”
She gives a half-shrug. “No, but then I’ve never been with anyone during a heat.”
Colt groans and drops his head onto his hand. “Oh, we’re so fucked.”
“Enough.” I glare Colt into silence. This is still my pack and it’s up to me to dig my way out of this shitshow. “You’re gonna be fine, Omega.” I turn to Hog, biting back my annoyance at the hard look on his face. “Get the rope we used to anchor stuff down during the storm. You’re gonna tie me up.”
Twin pulses of alarm flood the bond, but it’s the omega who looks the most distressed. “I can’t do that to you. You hate being restrained.”
I think through the options, but every scenario ends with my teeth in her throat unless I’m lashed to a chair with the toughest rope we have. “I won’t hate it if I’m near your nest.”
A dozen emotions flit across her face before she says, “My nest…. I’ve never… How do I make one of those?”