Chapter 21
Zane
By the time the second afternoon of Helena’s heat slides in, the air is viscous with pheromones—all of our scents pressed together into an invisible fog. Nothing in the textbooks or the Ravenwood Shield Security orientation prepared me for this. And yet we manage. Just barely.
The system is working. The three of us have hammered out a rotation: hydration, nutrition, rest, physical relief.
We move through it with silent efficiency, each alpha falling into line without a single stumble.
It’s the kind of teamwork I always wanted from my squads, but it only ever comes together when the stakes are this primal.
Helena’s nest—formerly the white duvets and gray throw blankets of the rental’s best double bed—has annexed most of the bedroom and half the hallway.
She’s only lucid in flashes. Sometimes she even rolls onto the floor to drag one of us down with her.
She’s greedier than any omega I’ve ever known. I mean that in the best way.
Lucas brings cold compresses and electrolyte drinks like a lifeguard ferrying treats to an injured seal pup. Cole, he tucks in the blankets just so, puts soothing music on low, and rubs circles into Helena’s lower back as she rides out a particularly savage wave of heat.
Right now, I’m the one on shift. Helena’s stretched across the bed on her back. The sweat on her skin makes her look golden.
“Zane, come here.”
I go, of course. It’s like a reflex now.
She grabs my wrist and hauls me down beside her. She climbs onto my lap, her hips finding mine with the unerring precision of an omega who knows exactly what she wants. She’s still slick, her scent sending up warning flares in every brain cell I possess.
“I need you,” she whispers.
“I’m here.” I kiss her hard and slide my hands up her ribs to cup her face.
The rest is a blur of sensation.
She’s never satisfied for long. The hunger of an omega in heat is bottomless. I move slow at first, but then she yanks my hair and bites my shoulder hard enough to make me see stars… I’m lost. There’s a condom and then a quick motion, and I’m sunk inside Helena’s warmth.
Cole’s standing in the doorway, his eyes gone gold and dark with need.
Helena spies him and hisses, “Get in here.”
Cole doesn’t bother with finesse. He strips off his shirt and slides in behind Helena. He leaves nips at her neck and kisses along her shoulder, while his hands settle low on her waist. Helena keens with pleasure. My cock throbs at the sound.
I’m still inside her, and Cole’s behind her, his chin digging into her shoulder as he grinds against her ass. We pause there, caught in some purgatory of anticipation. Then Helena makes a little, desperate noise, and Cole leans in to whisper in her ear.
“Want me to fill you up, princess?” he murmurs, low enough that I almost don’t catch it.
Helena nods frantically. Cole’s hand slides between her legs, finds the sweet spot just above where I’m knotted inside her, and rubs until she’s shaking.
When Cole pushes in from behind, it’s different than with Lucas or even me. He moves gentle but relentless, letting Helena dictate every inch and stuttered thrust. She wants both of us, clearly, and Cole’s more than happy to share.
Her body welcomes him and stretches for us both. God, the feel of either he or Lucas on the other side, the pressure of it—it underpins every thrust and gasp.
I look up and see Lucas now leaning in the doorway, watching with a hungry, dazed look I recognize all too well. His turn will come soon.
Helena starts babbling and her hands scrabble for purchase on my shoulders as Cole knots her. I knot her, too, and then the two of us are locked together inside her. I’ve been able to hold back since her heat started, but the urge is too great now. A yearning to mark, to claim.
To complete the bond.
The bite comes on instinct. I sink my teeth into her shoulder. Helena goes rigid, cumming hard, her voice shattering on my name as I give her my alpha claim mark. Cole follows suit after and gives her his as well.
I think I black out for a second as he does so.
When I come to, we’re still a tangled mess. Cole’s arms are around both of us, his face pressed against Helena’s neck, breathing her in. She’s boneless but smiling a little.
Lucas is still in the doorway, but he doesn’t look jealous. He looks patient.
“Your turn,” Helena whispers.
We swap, barely untangling before Lucas climbs in. His hands are so big that they cover nearly her whole thigh. By now, Helena’s body is utterly pliant. Between the slick and heat, there’s no resistance as Lucas slides home.
Both Lucas and Helena gasp. He knots her and they rock together.
Helena cums again before Lucas’s hips stutter against hers and he knots her, then releases.
Lucas spots a clear spot on one shoulder and adds his alpha claim mark to her skin.
Helena’s body shakes from the intensity of it all.
He holds her until his knot deflates and the shaking stops.
Lucas lifts Helena back into her nest bed. We all climb in and collapse beside her. Helena reaches for all of us. I tuck into her right side with Lucas on her left. Cole is down by her hip. She tries to wrap us all in a hug.
“My pack.” She’s staring up at the ceiling grinning from ear to ear. Tears sting her eyes. “I couldn’t be happier to call you all mine.”
And I couldn’t be happier to finally be hers.
The others quickly fall asleep. Even Helena in her heat-fever blur. But I don’t.
I stay up and glance out the window at the sea in the distance. I feel good. Beyond good.
Every muscle aches in a way I crave. Every thought is saturated with the endorphin-laced afterglow of a job well done. But it’s not the sex that does it, or not just that. It’s something else. Something quieter and much, much more dangerous.
For the first time in my adult life, I have what I want. And whom I love.
I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be, without question.
Alpha. Packmate.
I’m home.
My phone lights up on the nightstand, illuminating the battered surface with a little blue-white square of anxiety.
I let it ring. After a minute, it stops.
Then it starts again. Helena’s father, I’m sure.
There are only so many people with my number, and only one with the balls to call me this many times in a row.
I don’t answer. I’m not ready. He’ll want her to still come back as soon as possible.
He’ll ruin everything on behalf of a daughter who’s more than old enough to decide for herself.
I could call Ranier. Helena’s brother might be able to set their father straight.
But that feels like overstepping, and to be honest, I’m not quite sure Ranier likes me all that much.
As a fellow alpha, I’m convinced he’s known…
if not about our scent-match since it occurred, than at least that his sister has had feelings for me.
I shift my weight, careful not to disturb anyone, and watch Helena sleep. Her hair is tangled. I grab a brush and start to slowly comb it out. Her lips are parted in a stubborn, little frown and her hands are gripped tight around the edge of a throw blanket.
She is safe. She is mine. Ours.
I try to freeze that feeling, capture it like a specimen in a jar, so I can hold on to it when the world comes to collect.
I will keep you all safe. Even from Helena’s father.
I will not let anyone break this.