Chapter 49 – Kincaid
Chapter Forty-Nine
Kincaid
Let’s hope the press didn’t get any sneaky pictures of me and Mal. Buying a bunch of omega-related products would be a dead giveaway that we’re locked down or about to be.
We won’t be able to hide our bonding for long, but we can put it off until the second leg of the tour.
Though people will eventually notice the change to our scents, I don’t think anyone got close enough to smell us tonight.
Malcolm races up the stairs, and I follow him, grabbing him by a handful of the cheap T-shirt we bought at the twenty-four-hour store the security team took us to. It looks ridiculous on him, showing four or more inches of his lower stomach, but that doesn’t matter.
“Hey,” I say, tugging him back toward me. “Talk to me for a minute.”
“What?” he growls, spinning to face me.
I move the bags I’m carrying to my left arm, yanking him to me with a fistful of his shirt.
I slide my hand up his neck, bury my fingers in his hair, and force him to look at me. “Are you okay?”
“Not even close,” he says, shaking his head. “I’m worried about Lumen.”
“I am too,” I assure him, keeping my voice level and calm. “But heats are natural. They don’t require medical intervention unless something goes wrong. We can handle this.”
“Yeah. Sure. You and Riser can.” He sighs. “But me? I’m freaking the fuck out.”
I know he is.
That’s why I forced him to come with me to the store. I wanted to give Riser an opportunity to calm Lumen down while I worked on settling Mal’s nerves.
It hasn’t helped.
His anxiety spills through the bond and right into me. It’s crazy being linked to not only Lumen, but also Riser and Malcolm. It’s not a bad thing, though. It’ll forever give me insight into when he needs extra support.
“You can take care of her just as well as me or Riser,” I tell him seriously. “What we can’t do is go in there and let her sense our concern. It will bleed through the bond into her, and she’s already anxious. You can feel it, right?”
“All I feel is the overwhelming urge to freak the fuck out,” he says, knocking his forearm into mine.
“Do you think that will help anything?” I ask, releasing him.
“Jesus,” he mutters. “Fuck you, K.”
“Look, what I think is happening is that you’re picking up her fear, and it’s feeding your anxiety,” I tell him, keeping my tone gentle. “You have to remember, it’s not only your emotions that you’re experiencing.”
“I’m not stupid.”
“I know you’re not,” I say firmly. “We’re all on the same team. You’re allowed to be scared. I am too, but we have to fake it until we make it. That’s our job in all of this. We have to take care of her until this passes.”
“Is that all?” he asks, raising his eyebrows.
He drives me completely up the wall at times, but the bond helps me understand where he’s coming from.
“We know what makes her feel better,” I say, smiling. “She needs pheromones, orgasms, and to be knotted. We tackle those things and see how it goes. If her fever becomes an emergency, we’ll address it.”
“Yeah, sure.” His head swivels, and he stares down the hallway at the bedroom door.
“You be the good cop,” I tell him, smacking him in the chest. “I’ll be the bad cop. You keep her happy. I’ll handle anything that pisses her off. Deal?”
“Yup,” he agrees, taking off. “Got it, Dad.”
Jesus.
I don’t have time to strangle him with my bare hands. We have more important things to focus on than bickering.
“Listen, sweetheart.” I keep my voice stern but not aggressive as I grab Lumen by a handful of her hair close to her scalp to prevent painful tugging. “You can get away with a lot under normal circumstances. This is not one of those situations. Lift your tongue so Mal can take your temperature.”
“I’m telling you, it’s unnecessary. I feel much better,” Lumen says with a huff.
“You’re going to have a sore ass if you continue to fight basic care,” I tell her, pecking a kiss on her cheek. “Let us look after you.”
She is much cooler than she was during the spike she experienced in the maze, but we need to check her baseline temp to be able to compare the two when a spike hits.
“You are bossy all of a sudden,” Lumen grumbles, holding her tongue out. She also lifts the bottom of my shirt that she’s clad in, fanning herself. I have no idea where she found it, but I like seeing her wearing my clothes.
“He really is,” Mal says, popping the thermometer into her mouth.
I barely hold back a smile.
I really am, but she should know this by now.
I’m more able to go with the flow when it isn’t a serious medical concern. Perhaps we needed Riser here to temper us, after all. He ran down to refrigerate the drinks and food items we grabbed, but he manages to calm Lumen in a way Mal and I haven’t yet figured out.
I don’t begrudge him being her safe space.
If anything, it’s a blessing.
If things go south, one of us can run and get him.
I massage Lumen’s scalp and grab her wrist, bringing it to my mouth so I can nurse my bite.
Bonding doesn’t go as smoothly for betas as it does for omegas.
Their bites are more likely to get infected, and they’re not meant to be a conduit for so many connections.
That alone tells me there’s a high likelihood that Lumen is an omega, but just to err on the safe side, I’ll be cleaning my bite frequently.
Mal, the lucky fucker, gets to tend his bite every time he kisses her.
Since it’s only the top canines that break the skin, his claiming mark will only be visible if she pulls down her lower lip to show someone. Mine, however, will always be visible as long as she isn’t wearing long sleeves.
It fills my chest with an unnatural amount of pride, but truly, bonding location is mostly irrelevant.
The thermometer beeps frantically, and that seems like a bad sign.
Mal pulls it from her mouth and curses.
“What is it?” Lumen asks, leaning toward him.
I release her hair to avoid tugging on it, but he turns the device toward her. Even if I couldn’t sense his concern in the bond, it’s written all over his face.
“107.1,” he says, his eyes widening. “That means you were even hotter in the maze.”
“There’s no way,” she says with a huff. “I’d be dead.”
“Check yours,” I instruct Mal.
He resets the thermometer without bothering to swap to a fresh cover.
I could argue with her and try to gently guide her toward the realization, but it’ll be easier to show her the difference in their body temperatures before moving on to the next step.
“How are you feeling?” I ask, leaning over to brush my nose against hers.
I take the opportunity to covertly mark her cheek with my scent, which should help settle her system.
“I’m okay,” she whispers, wrapping her hand around the back of my neck.
“Just itchy. Not itchy. That’s not the right way to describe it.
Maybe unsettled? It’s almost like anxiety, but not just a mental thing.
The feeling is all throughout my body, right under my skin.
I feel like I’m supposed to be doing something…
Only, I don’t know what I need to do to make it stop. ”
“That was a very clear explanation,” I tell her, pecking a kiss on her lips. “We’re here to help. Don’t be afraid to ask for what you need. We’re bonded now, sweetheart.”
“Yeah,” she whispers, her eyes fluttering shut.
Some emotion filters through the bond, but I’m not an expert yet, and I can’t quite decipher what that feeling is.
The thermometer beeps, and I settle back onto my ass on the mattress next to Lumen.
“I don’t think the thermostat is broken,” Mal says, turning it toward us.
Lumen snorts. “You mean the thermometer?”
“Isn’t that what I said?” he asks, tilting his head. “Anyway, mine is 98.9.”
“There’s no way my temperature is seven or eight degrees higher than yours.” Lumen shakes her head, and her shock filters through the bond.
“We can physically feel the difference,” I tell her, sending steady comfort through the connection.
“Yeah, baby doll,” Mal says. “It wasn’t a bad experience, not at all, it was actually kinda hot…literally.”
I quirk an eyebrow at him, wondering if he’s ever going to stop rambling and get to the point.
“I’m just saying, it was like sticking my dick in a heating pad when you sucked me off earlier.
” Mal shrugs. “Or, like, when you first settle into a hot tub. Ten out of ten, would do it again. No doubt about that. If I have an opportunity to fuck you in any capacity, I’m going to take it, but you were seriously hot. ”
“The fact you’re here talking to us while running a fever of 107 tells me all I need to know,” I say gently. “You’re not seizing, unconscious, or screaming in agony like either of us would be if we had a temperature like that.”
“Dude, I think we would be dead,” Mal chimes in.
“That’s probably true,” I admit.
“You’re saying what?” she asks.
“I think there’s a real possibility that you’re presenting as an omega,” I say, just putting it out there. “Your scent has always hit the three of us hard, but it’s been even sweeter the last few days. Combine that with the pheromones you were putting out in the maze and the cramps—”
“You also took Riser’s knot like a champ,” Mal says. “Not to mention, you were whining. That sound is distinctive to omegas.”
“I hear what you’re saying,” she says, bringing her hand to rub her forehead. “I guess I’m just in shock. There are no omegas in my family. None.”
“There were no alphas in mine either,” I tell her, patting her thigh.
“Honestly, it really doesn’t matter, outside of giving us some idea of how to take care of you.
” Mal stretches over, cupping her cheek in his hand.
“We could take you to the emergency room, and they could do blood work and an exam. Or we can see how the next few days go and get the lab work done when you’re feeling better. I mean, if it’s still necessary.”
She nods. “I don’t want to go anywhere right now, and I really don’t want to ruin your vacation.”
“That’s the last thing you need to worry about.” He leans in to kiss her, and I kinda regret not taking the good-cop role.