Chapter 11
ASH
Somehow, even with the impatience and the pissiness and the anger at all the fucking waiting, Ash wasn’t expecting it when it happened.
There hadn’t been any buildup this time, was the thing. No horny nights with Ryder’s willing hand, no fevers or sixteen-hour bouts of sleep.
Ash was fine, and then he wasn’t.
He was walking out of the lecture hall with Everett when the first cramp hit him.
Ash hadn’t hurried away on his own, because he was doing his best not to be an asshole.
Everett had turned out to be a decent desk-mate.
The omega had focused on the lecture the whole time, typing his notes without making any bullshit chitchat, which had been exactly what Ash had needed, seeing as how he’d missed the first lecture entirely.
As they hurried down the steps to the quad, Everett was hyping the omega study group.
“Besides the studying, it can be a good sounding board,” he said eagerly.
“You know. Like, what suppressants and birth control are working for people, any issues with heat services, any alphas that should be avoided.”
Ash felt like a whole new world was opening up without his permission.
He hadn’t been around all that many omegas that weren’t family before now, not in any meaningful way.
Sure, there was Eli now, but he was so much older—he’d lived a whole life as an omega already before he’d even met Ash’s brother.
Ugh. That probably made him a great resource, didn’t it? Ash would think about that later.
He was nodding along to Everett’s chatter at the bottom of the steps when his guts twisted without warning, sending a sharp pain through his abdomen. It was a horrible, debilitating cramp, and it sent Ash immediately to one knee.
“Oh shit.” Everett’s voice sounded far away. “Ash? You okay?”
No. He really wasn’t. Ash’s insides were on fire, and he could feel it, like some disgusting dam bursting—slick sliding down the backs of his thighs.
Like, what the hell? After all the fucking effort to get his slick going last time, now it just appeared out of nowhere?
“Oh shit, oh shit.”
There were hands on Ash’s shoulders, tugging him to the side of the steps, out of the way of passing students.
Ash could still feel eyes on him—too many prying eyes—but at least he wasn’t omega roadkill.
Trying to stand only sent more shooting pain through his guts, so he stayed hunched over his knees, letting Everett block him from the worst of the bystanders.
Ash should thank the other omega, but all he could manage was a pained sort of huffing.
Even breathing was unpleasant now. There were too many smells, an overload of pheromones he wasn’t prepared for.
Everett hadn’t been lying—he smelled like candy apples, sweet caramel and tart fruit mixed together.
It might have been kinda nice if there weren’t a hundred other scents competing for Ash’s attention at the same time.
“Oh shit,” Everett muttered again, a knowing edge to the words this time. Probably he’d smelled Ash’s slick by now. “Hey, Ash? Is there an alpha I can call for you?”
Ash made what he hoped was an affirmative groan, and then Everett’s dainty hand was in Ash’s back pocket, fishing out his phone.
“It’s dead,” Everett said a second later.
Well, fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Okay, Ryder’s number. Ash knew that by heart, right? He fought though the pain and the pheromone fog to say the numbers out loud, thankful that Everett got the message immediately and started tapping them into his own phone.
“Hello? Is this—”
Everett snapped fingers in front of Ash’s face, and Ash grunted out, “Ryder. You’re calling Ryder.”
“Is this Ryder? Ash needs you. Yes. Front steps of the engineering building.”
Moments later, a gentle touch landed on Ash’s shoulder. “He’s on his way.”
Good. That was good. Ash shuddered his way through another cramp. He was too hot by far, his clothes a constricting burden, but he was with it enough to know he couldn’t strip down in the middle of campus. Hopefully, if he forgot that fact in the next few minutes, Everett would remind him.
Finally, the sound of footsteps.
But it wasn’t the comforting scent of cedar that enveloped Ash. It was bitter coffee, the kind that had been left to reheat for too long and ended up burned. Ash fought back a gag.
“Hey, Everett, who’s your friend?”
Everett’s fingers clenched on Ash’s shoulder. “Now’s not a good time, Judd.”
Everett sounded polite but … stilted, his caramel scent sharpening in an unpleasant way. Between that and the coffee scent, Ash took to panting open-mouthed, trying not to smell anything and failing miserably.
“Seems like the perfect time for an alpha, actually.” Dirty tennis shoes appeared in front of Ash’s lowered gaze. “Hey, sweetheart. You smell good.”
Ash didn’t look up. This creep wasn’t worth the pain of his focused attention. “Fuck off.”
The guy’s coffee scent took on an even stronger burned flavor, but he only laughed. “But I know an unlocked classroom nearby. Two minutes away, tops.”
“Thanks, but we don’t need your help,” Everett said, still polite but with a more forceful edge to it. “His alpha’s on the way.”
The Judd guy didn’t back away, and Ash finally looked up. If this alpha was in their program, Ash didn’t know him. He was definitely a burly fucker, with a squashed nose and small, mean eyes.
“Like I said,” Ash told him. “Fuck. Off.”
Those mean eyes narrowed. “I think you’ll be changing your tune in a minute, omega.”
A faint whiff of cedar. Ash looked past Judd’s brawny shoulder. He could see Ryder coming up quickly. He looked … frantic, maybe. Furious, definitely. His fists were clenched, and his gaze was locked onto Judd’s back.
Oh shit. Ryder was going to lose it, wasn’t he? He was going to kill this stupid alpha, and the campus cops were going to pick him up and take him away, and then Ash was going to be alone and in heat and—
“Oh, hey, Ash, there you are,” Spencer’s deep, friendly voice broke through Ash’s panic like a fucking hot knife slicing through butter.
Spiced tea and cinnamon enveloped Ash, chasing off the harsh scent of burned coffee. Long fingers replaced Everett’s on Ash’s shoulder.
He’d come from Ash’s blind side, in the opposite direction of Ryder. Ash peered up at him. Spencer was smiling broadly like usual, but his blue eyes looked … different. Hard. Almost icy. Ash had never seen them like that.
Spencer leaned toward the intruding alpha, never taking his hand off Ash’s shoulder.
“What’s up, Judd? Hey, how’s Becky?” Spencer lowered his voice until Ash could only barely make it out.
“God, she had one of the sweetest pussies I’ve ever tasted.
You’re a lucky man. And while I’m more of a slick and dick kind of guy lately, I still have her number.
” Spencer’s grin widened, even as his gaze grew colder.
His friendly tone didn’t waver. “I’ll be sure to tell her how fucking helpful you were here with my boy Ash. ”
Judd blanched, taking a step back. “I was just making sure he’s okay. You don’t need to—”
Ryder made it over to them before the panicked alpha could finish his sentence. Ryder’s expression had shuttered, no doubt unreadable to anyone but Ash.
But to Ash, Ryder looked like death incarnate, the fury emanating off his body like palpable heat. “Why don’t you fuck right off before Ash here tears your dick off your body, asshole?”
The blood rushed back to Judd’s face, and he turned on his heel and hurried away, muttering more bullshit to himself while he did.
Another cramp took the opportunity to twist Ash’s insides, and he groaned, buckling to the ground. He was empty. So fucking empty.
“Ash?” Everett asked. “Is this who you want to take you home? These two alphas?”
Fuck, he was a good person. Ash had barely been decent to him, and Everett was apparently willing to stand up to three different alphas for him. Ash owed him a coffee. Or maybe a kidney.
“Yes,” Ash said, because now wasn’t the time for coffee or kidneys. He needed a stupid fucking alpha cock, and he needed it now. “These two.”
Ryder tugged Ash up and into his chest, slinging Ash’s arm over one of his broad shoulders. Luckily he knew better than to try to pull some bullshit move and carry Ash through the quad.
“Heat rooms?” Ryder asked.
“Or my car’s close,” Spencer offered.
“Car,” Ash said immediately. He didn’t want a random room if he could help it. He wanted somewhere that smelled like his alphas.
Spencer led the pack, and Ash let his eyes fall closed as he shuffled along with Ryder, leaving Everett behind.
“Is that true?” Ash asked Spencer after they’d left the quad. He needed some kind of distraction or he was going to drop to all fours and ask them to mount him in the bushes.
Spencer glanced over his shoulder at Ash. “About my car?”
“About the sweetest pussy you ever tasted.”
“Oh.” Spencer chuckled as he led them through the parking lot. “Can’t remember, honestly. But she made me cookies after. With like stevia and oat flour and shit.”
“Sounds disgusting.”
“Yeah, they were.” Spencer laughed again. “Still, it was nice. Way too nice for that dickhead. I’ll give her a call.”
Ash ignored the inconvenient wave of possessive rage at Spencer’s words.
It was only Ash’s hormones talking, anyway.
That girl deserved to know her alpha boyfriend was a would-be cheating opportunistic asshole of epic proportions.
Ash would be happy to serve as an additional witness, as soon as a barrage of slick wasn’t threatening to turn his pants to wet mush.
“So, what?” Spencer asked as he pulled out his key fob, unlocking his car with the press of a button. “You only go into heat on Mondays?”
“Stop. Talking,” Ash growled.
“Sir, yes, sir.”