Chapter 16
Silas
Being scent-sensitive during an omega’s heat was like drowning in sensation.
Every emotion Sable felt hit me like a physical wave.
Her pleasure when Beau touched her in the shower, the spike of arousal that made her gasp.
Her overwhelming relief when his knot locked inside her for the first time, filling a need she’d carried for years.
Her grief and joy tangled together as years of denial finally broke free, sobbing against Beau’s chest while his knot kept them connected.
I felt all of it, experienced it alongside her, and it was exhausting and beautiful and more intense than anything I’d ever experienced.
Most scent-sensitive alphas learned to block it out, to build walls between themselves and the emotional tsunami of an omega in heat.
But I didn’t want to block Sable out. I wanted to feel everything she felt, to understand her on a level that went deeper than words or touch.
Even if it meant I was shaking with the intensity of it, even if it meant my own emotions were getting tangled up with hers.
But I wouldn’t have changed it for anything.
After Beau’s knot released, we gave her time to rest. She needed it.
Her body had been through something profound, something she’d been denied for her entire adult life.
The physical exhaustion was obvious in the way she melted into the nest, boneless and spent.
But emotionally, I could feel her processing, working through years of shame and denial.
Dane brought her water first, then a protein bar and some fruit. “You need to eat,” he said gently, his command presence softened into pure care. “Heat burns a lot of energy, and you’ve been through two intense waves already.”
She ate slowly, mechanically, like her body was on autopilot while her mind worked through everything that had happened.
Beau sat beside her, stroking her hair in a repetitive motion that I could feel was soothing to her.
The simple touch, the care without expectation, was helping her nervous system calm.
I positioned myself near the foot of the nest, giving her space but staying close enough that my scent could provide comfort. Watching her, monitoring her emotional state, making sure the heat wasn’t pushing her too hard too fast.
“How are you feeling?” I asked after she’d finished eating.
She looked at me, and I saw the truth in her eyes before she spoke. “Overwhelmed. Grateful. Scared. Happy. Sad. Everything all at once.”
“That’s normal after your first real heat with a pack,” I said. “Your emotions are going to be all over the place for a while. That’s okay.”
“Nathan never told me that.” Her voice was quiet. “He never told me what it was supposed to be like. I thought heat was just this biological inconvenience I had to suffer through alone.”
“Heat is pack bonding time,” Dane said, his voice carrying that absolute certainty he had about the things that mattered. “It’s when we prove we care. When we show up. When we make you feel safe and cherished and wanted.”
“I’ve never felt wanted like this,” she admitted. “Never felt like my needs actually mattered.”
Beau’s hand tightened in her hair, just slightly. “Your needs matter to us. Always.”
I could feel her emotions shifting, settling, the chaos starting to organize itself into something more manageable. She was integrating the experience, making sense of it, beginning to believe that maybe this was real.
She dozed after that, her body demanding rest between waves. I stayed alert, monitoring her scent, feeling the heat building again in her system. It was like watching a storm gather on the horizon. Slow at first, then faster, then inevitable.
It came about an hour later.
She woke with a gasp, her scent spiking immediately. Cedar smoke and autumn rain and underneath it, that rich omega heat scent that called to every alpha instinct I had. Her skin flushed, pupils dilating, breathing quickening.
“It’s back,” she panted, her hands fisting in the blankets. “The heat. It’s back.”
“We’ve got you,” I said, moving closer to the nest. “That’s normal. Heat comes in waves for the next day or so. Each time, we’ll help you through it.”
She looked around, seeking. Her eyes landed on me, and I felt the spike of want that went through her. Not just biological need, but desire. She wanted me specifically, wanted to feel connected to me the way she’d connected to Beau.
“Silas.” My name on her lips was half plea, half prayer. “I need... can you...?”
“Yeah, sweetheart. I can.” I climbed into the nest beside her, feeling her heat signature wrap around me like a physical touch. “Tell me what you need.”
“You. I need you. I need to feel you the way I felt Beau.” Her hands reached for me, pulling at my shirt with desperate fingers. “Please. I need your knot.”
The desperate need in her voice made my alpha surge, roaring at me to take her, claim her, give her everything she was asking for. But I forced myself to stay calm, to read her emotions clearly through the haze of pheromones.
She wasn’t just in heat. She was craving the connection, the intimacy, the proof that all three of us wanted her. She needed to know that what happened with Beau wasn’t a one-time thing, that we were all committed to taking care of her.
“You’ll have it,” I promised, pulling my shirt over my head. “You’ll have everything.”
She helped me strip off my remaining clothes, her hands shaking with need. When I was finally bare before her, she reached out to touch my chest, exploring with curious fingers.
“You’re beautiful,” she whispered.
“That’s my line,” I said, catching her hand and bringing it to my lips. “You’re the beautiful one, Sable. Especially like this. Open and needy and trusting us.”
“I do trust you.” Her scent shifted, and I felt the truth of it. Trust mixed with desire, fear pushed aside by want. “I trust all three of you. That’s terrifying.”
“I know. But we’re going to prove you’re right to trust us.”
I kissed her, and my scent-sensitivity made it overwhelming. I could feel her response, taste her desire, sense the exact moment she surrendered to the kiss. It was intoxicating, knowing exactly what she needed, being able to read her body’s signals before she could voice them.
“How do you want me?” she asked when we broke apart. “How should I...?”
“However feels good to you,” I said. “This is about your pleasure, sweetheart. Your comfort. What position sounds good?”
She bit her lip, thinking. “I want... can I be on top? Is that allowed?”
The question broke my heart a little. That she thought she needed permission, that Nathan had made her feel like her preferences didn’t matter.
“You can be anywhere you want,” I said firmly. “On top, on bottom, standing, sitting, whatever feels right. There’s no ‘allowed’ during heat. There’s only what makes you feel good.”
Relief flooded through her, and I felt it like sunshine. “On top then. I want... I want to see you. Want to control the pace.”
“Then that’s what we’ll do.” I lay back in the nest, pulling her on top of me. “Take what you need, Sable. Set the pace. I’m yours.”
She straddled me, and I groaned at the sight. Her hair wild, her skin flushed, slick already dripping down her thighs from her body’s response to the heat. She was gorgeous, and she was choosing me. Choosing to be vulnerable with me despite everything Nathan had done to make her doubt herself.
“Tell me if I do something wrong,” she said, positioning herself over my cock. Her hand wrapped around me, stroking once, and I had to close my eyes against the dual sensation. The physical touch and the emotional spike of her arousal that I felt through my sensitivity.
“There is no wrong,” I managed. “Just do what feels good.”
She sank down slowly, taking me inch by inch, and I had to close my eyes against the intensity.
Not just the physical sensation of her tight heat surrounding me, her body gripping me like she never wanted to let go, but the emotional component.
I could feel her pleasure as if it were my own, her relief at being filled again, her satisfaction at the stretch and fullness.
It was overwhelming, like being inside her body and mind at the same time.
“Oh god,” she moaned when she was fully seated, her thighs trembling against my hips. “You feel so good. So perfect.”
“So do you,” I managed, my hands gripping her hips hard enough to leave marks. “You feel incredible, sweetheart. So tight and hot and perfect.”
She started to move, rolling her hips experimentally, lifting slightly and sinking back down.
Finding the angle that felt best, learning what made her gasp, what made her moan.
I let her explore, let her discover what worked for her body, reading her emotional responses to guide my own movements.
Every spike of pleasure I felt from her, I tried to enhance.
Every moment of uncertainty, I soothed with touch and words.
“That’s it,” I encouraged when she found a rhythm that made her cry out. “Just like that. Take what you need.”
“There,” she gasped when she angled her hips just right, taking me deeper. “Right there, Silas. When you hit that spot...”
I thrust up to meet her, aiming for the angle that had made her gasp. “Like that?”
“Yes. Just like that. Don’t stop.”
I didn’t stop. I met her movements with my own, thrusting up every time she sank down, making sure I hit that spot inside her that made her see stars.
My hands roamed her body, learning the map of her.
The curve of her waist, the softness of her thighs, the way her breasts bounced with each movement.
Beau moved to kneel beside us, his hand finding her breast, thumb circling her nipple until it peaked. “You look beautiful like this,” he said, his voice rough with arousal. “Taking what you need. Taking control. So fucking gorgeous.”