Page 13 of Heat Hesitation

He didn't just give up inside and assume his random attraction was a fluke.

"Hey! Wait!" Theo shouts before jogging toward me. I freeze, my stomach now warring between illness and comforting heat. My alpha is running toward me, but I know I'll have to pull away all over again.

Dammit. Why can't he just leave me be? He's a player; he sees a shiny, pretty thing he finds interesting and decides he wants it. That's all this is. I'm an anomaly because I ran from him. He certainly can't smell me; he doesn't know who I am to him.

But my stomach churns more intensely when I see Sully behind him, stalking, tall and formidable, more reserved yet just as determined. I look around and notice I'm almost near the valet parking lot.

I can't run. I'm shivering, and my omega, that goddamn hussy, won't let me move from this spot as I watch Theo and Sully approach.

"Hey, why'd you run? I wanted to make sure you're okay. Bridgette was…" Theo runs his hand through his hair. The reminder of Bridgette is helpful.

"Yes, I'm fine. You should go back to your date."

"She's not…" He shakes his head, giving me the same intense eye treatment as inside. Sully comes right up behind him.

"Ophelia?" Sully asks, surprising me.

"How did you know…?"

"Fletcher. She said you were…" Sully looks around, nodding at two figures as they slowly approach from the shadows of the building. Oh no. No, no, no.

I take a step away slowly. Maybe I can still get out of this. Sully continues, "Fletcher seemed worried about you. She tried to find you, but you ran. Are you sure you're alright?"

I swallow and nod, but my stomach is going haywire. My skin feels clammy like my body knows it's about to go through withdrawal all over again.

I take another step back, but Theo narrows his eyes. He shifts his posture, ready to pounce if I run.

"Let's get the fuck out of here. What the hell are you two doing, cornering a caterer? Ma'am, are you alright?" Asher calls as he approaches, leaving their fourth member, Enzo, who doesn't look up from his phone, to join us last.

Any hope I had that Asher wouldn't recognize me is dashed the instant his vexed expression lands on me. His mouth drops open, and damn if my insides didn't immediately calm and feel comforted by his reaction.

Asher nearly drops to his knees.

"Omega," he whispers in awe.

I press my lips together, my head vigorously shaking back and forth, but it's a lie. He knows it. I know it. And for one weak moment, one I've no control over, a tear falls from my eye, and I collapse onto the gravel.

"Ophelia!" Sully shouts, crowding me, while Asher repeats my name with wonder.

"Do you know her?" Asher asks his brother, stunned.

"She spilled a drink inside. Asher, why did you call her…"

I can't look up. I can't face them the moment they realize who I am.

They say packs develop a kind of sixth sense, that they inherently feel or experience what their brothers feel. And when they bond with their chosen omega, those senses grow even stronger.

Asher doesn't say anything; if he does, I can't hear it through the womp! womp! womp! of my blood pulsing in my ears. But I'm suddenly cradled in Asher's arms, and for the first time in a year, everything inside me, my heart, my stomach, my warring mind, all quiet. It's the calm in a storm. Cool water on a burn. Love inside the madness.

He smells like the woods. Like a campfire and trees and fresh spring water running down the mountain. He smells like home.

I don't know when I started crying, but Asher rocks me back and forth, right there on the gravel. Sully ushers people away from us as the valet comes and goes with cars.

Finally, I look up at the face of the man who holds me.

Asher, incredulous, stares down at me like I'm a mirage. Sully stands beside us, blocking my view of Theo and Enzo, eyes narrowed like he doesn't trust me. He can't smell me; he doesn't know what to do or think. Where Asher is woodsy, like fir and pine and a warm fire, Sully smells like cedar and sandalwood. Spicy with strong masculine undertones. He smells like power and sex. What would it be like to be taken by a man with that much control?

Fuck, my eyes close as a shiver of lust runs through me.

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