Page 14 of Cleat Heat

“Let me go, Marcel,” I squeak, barely able to get the words out around the tightness of his grip.

“Absolutely not, my sweet. Your scent tells me you’re just about in heat, and that needy cunt of yours is primed for my knot. No, I’m not leaving. By the end of today, you’ll be sporting my bites—everywhere.” He nips the side of my neck painfully.

My arms flail uselessly at my sides, completely unable to put enough distance between us for me to get away, and he chuckles darkly in my ear before grabbing the food delivery and carrying us both into the apartment.

Please don’t let this happen. Please.

The door slams loudly behind us, making me whimper. The sound is a crushing blow like the lid dropping on my coffin. Once Marcel sinks his teeth into my neck, life will never be the same again. As the lock clicks into place, all my hopes for the future are sucked from the room. And my heart shatters at what could have been.

A life with my scent-matches—now gone forever. I’ll never know what could have been. Fresh tears start anew.

My fate’s been sealed.

Chapter Nine

Dash

“This place is garbage. She absolutely cannot stay here,” I insist as the three of us squeeze into a dirty elevator that smells faintly of bleach and piss.

“It’s completely unsafe,” Fox rages. “The building isn’t even locked. Nothing to keep Marcel out. I just hope we got here first.”

“If he’s touched Vivi… he’s dead,” I promise, the idea searing through me. I’ll happily kill the man if he’s so much as looked at her the wrong way.

The elevator chugs upward at a glacial pace. Perhaps we should have just jogged the ten floors up. It wasn’t even all that high, and the way this thing is squealing is a cause for concern. There’s no saving our omega from her shitbag of an ex if we get stuck in this stupid tin can.

Fox picks at his fingernails, while Ty taps his foot incessantly on the floor as our tension increases with each slowly passing floor.

“Well, she won’t be here much longer,” the usually affable Ty says darkly. “We have an enormous, safe pack house. No reason our mate shouldn’t be with us.”

The blasted elevator grinds to a halt, and the doors open so sluggishly that we bunch into the frame, trying to clamor out sideways before they’ve fully opened.

“We can’t even get her to agree to a date. Let’s curb our expectations,” I grunt, finally pushing into her dingy hallway. The yellow lights flicker ominously, and the walls are painted an off-white that are in serious need of a refresh. The sad orange carpet has seen better days, but the area is fairly clean, which makes me feel a bit better as we move forward.

Suddenly, a wall of cupcake scent tinged with panic slams into me, and I break into a sprint down the hallway. My pack right by my side.

Mate. Danger. Hurry!

Rounding the corner at the far end, we turn just in time to see a large, hulking figure attempt to enter an apartment carrying a plastic delivery bag. Momentarily stunned, my feet halt, and Fox stumbles into me with a loud grunt. The heavy aroma of cupcakes means Vivi should be right freaking here…

But the hallway is surprisingly empty. My head swivels, searching for her apartment number.

“No fucking way,” Ty growls, pushing in front of me when the delivery man grunts and a small hand grips the door frame before being yanked from view. He pushes into the apartment, booting it closed with an impossibly loud thump.

We’re hot on his heels, grabbing the knob as quickly as humanly possible, but despair hits hard as the sound of the lock engaging echoes through the wood before we’re able to twist it in time.

“Fuck!” Fox roars, rearing his leg back and kicking the door with all his might. The doorframe groans but doesn’t give as we stand on the other side, panting.

“We need to get in there… now,” I gust out, but Ty puts up a finger and holds it against his lips before pressing his ear to the door. His eyes widen as he listens.

“It sounds like she doesn’t want him in there… Oh fuck, she’s screaming now…” he gasps. Pure instinct takes over, and my inner Alpha can’t stand by for even a second longer. Our mate needs us and abso-fucking-lutely nothing will stand in my way.

The snarls of my packmates sound in my ears. And we don’t even need words to communicate. Forming a line, we synchronize our legs, pulling them back and stomping on the door.

It flies open with a satisfying crash, and we rush into the room.

Completely unprepared for the mayhem about to unfold…

Chapter Ten

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