Page 168 of Wanted Beta

“Come with you?” I ask, as I try to clear the cloud of lust that’s descended over me thanks to Arrow’s full-potency natural scent.

Clearly, something’s going on. I need to know what that something is.

“No time to explain,” he says, tugging on my hand.

“Give me a second,” I insist, trying to clear my head.

It would be a lot easier to focus if I wasn’t having persistent thoughts about holding my Omega down and licking every drop of sweat from his body.

Wait. Why is he sweating?

The answer dawns on me slower than it should.

He has all the typical symptoms: a thin sheen of sweat on his skin, a sense of urgency in his voice, and he’s perfuming like crazy.

“You’re in heat,” I tell him, as if he doesn’t know.

The symptoms don’t usually get this prominent before we take care of his needs.

We must have missed the signs this time because we’ve been so preoccupied.

This is the worst time for us to be wrapped up in courting a new mate.

Arrow needs us. He’s about to become very demanding of our time.

“It’s under control.” He tugs at my hand again.

Why is he telling me it’s under control?

That doesn’t make any sense. Maybe he’s delirious.

An untended heat can do a lot of strange things to an Omega.

I let him lead me by the hand, ready to take care of his needs.

I’m sure he’ll feel a lot better once he’s been knotted a few times.

He leads me to the pantry. “Wait. Why here?”

He shakes his head. “You really need to see for yourself.”

His strange expression makes me wonder if he saw some kind of rodent, or something.

Whatever he saw, or thinks he saw, he can’t seem to articulate it.

If he needs me to come in here, for whatever reason, I can do that.

“Okay.”

He drops my hand and opens the door.

The light’s already on in the room when he steps inside.

I follow him in a second later, and it’s suddenly very obvious what has him so rattled.

A stranger is standing in our pantry, leaning against the wall with his shirt off.

He gives me a wry smile, and I realize instinctively that he’s an Alpha.

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