25. Luca
Luca
The edges of my vision are blurred, but thankfully, I'm still in control… barely. Because no one else in this damn house seems to be. Sunny takes one step toward the door leading to the hall.
"Stop!" I bark. She freezes, and I swear every muscle in her body has locked up. She looks to me wide-eyed and scared. Her scent is a mixture of bitter, too-long steeped tea from fright… and thick honey from arousal?
Cannot focus on that right now. Need to stay in control.
I look around. Jess is staring at the floor, breathing hard, while Hunt has his eyes fully shut and is gripping the kitchen counter so hard I think he may break the granite.
Both are on the bitterest edge of a rut.
I expect I'd be much closer if it weren't for all those books I'd read about keeping yourself from snapping into a rut.
The breathing techniques and the exercises.
Then there's Cole. As the dominant alpha, we're directly influenced by his actions and commands, both verbally and physically.
He's standing stock still. The other two haven't lunged at Sunny because he's barely holding himself in check.
Every single muscle in his body is flexed.
"R-rut," Sunny stutters out. Not because of her fear, I realize, but because she's shivering so hard from the cold rainwater dripping down her body. Her very slick, very taught body.
And I'm breathing. And I'm breathing some more.
I need to get her dry and keep us all from flying into a rut and doing something that would end any chance of a courtship—and possibly hurt Sunny.
The problem is, if she moves to leave or get towels, Cole's dominant alpha may take that as a fleeing gesture, and alphas are biologically programmed to chase and hunt and claim their omega if they run during times of peak sexual arousal. Like bears in the forest.
"Do not perfume," I bark, and put as much dominance behind it as I can muster. Sunny’s omega will be forced to do everything in her power to obey. It'd be most effective coming from Cole, but I don't think he can speak right now judging from the blown-black state of his pupils.
Sunny trembles harder, her omega trying to lock down her body's natural processes. This cannot last long. It has to be hurting her.
"Towels?" I cannot stop myself from barking.
"C-closet at the end of the hall," she shudders.
I breathe and stride out of the room, decimating the distance between me and the hall closet. I nearly rip the door off its hinge, open it, and pull all the towels out.
When I get back, no one has moved a muscle.
I toss a towel to Sunny and lightly bark, “Catch” to let her omega know it's okay to move again.
I think she understands the danger at this point.
I can't take her the towel because Cole may see that as a challenge move.
And in his state, he may rip my arm off—literally.
I toss the towels to the rest of the guys, who all catch them without looking.
Everyone dries off in silence, including Sunny.
I gave her the largest towel, which wraps around her shoulders and down to her thighs, completely covering her.
She still shivers, but it's not the jaw-breaking, body-wracking shakes of before.
"Go," Cole barks low and dangerous.
Sunny's eyes snap to him, surprised. Then, to my shock, they slide to mine, searching, trusting. I nod slightly, which Cole clocks but doesn't comment on. Sunny practically flees the room without breaking into a run, obviously knowing we'd chase her.
Once she's out of sight, we exhale a collective breath. Hunt slumps against the counter, but Jess’s back finds a wall, and he slides to the floor with his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands. His hair tumbles around him.
Cole just looks at me, jaw working, still fighting the last edges of a rut. Finally, he nods. "Good job."
Because that could have ended everything for us.
"You too," I say. If he’d fallen into the easy embrace of his alpha for even a moment, we would have followed him.
Our alphas would have forced us. He let me handle it instead of trying and failing to do it himself, with his alpha riding him so hard.
He cares more about Sunny than his own ego, and that takes a great pack leader.
We all just sit for a long while, taking it in. I don't know how long.
Hunt pulls our clothes out of the—blessedly—waterproof duffels. A feature I found ridiculous when we bought them, but I am grateful for it now. We dress, turned away from each other and in silence. Once clothed, we move to the dining room table just off the kitchen.
"Shit," Jess hisses. "I wouldn't blame that woman if she calls the cops on us.”
Cole tenses, but Hunt just grunts. "Came to save us from the storm, and we almost…" He trails off. He doesn't need to say what we almost did.
"What do we do, Hoss?" Jess asks Cole. Cole runs a hand through his hair and looks at each of us.
"We do what she says, " he says with finality. If she wants us to leave, we go."
"But—"
Cole growls. "If she wants us to go, we go. She doesn't need to be worried about the people trying to hurt her farm and us. If we're not the solution, we shouldn't be here."