Page 78 of Big Knot Energy (Shadowverse)

He shook his head and rubbed his chin against my head then nuzzled against my cheek, a rusty, broken purr rumbling from his chest. “I still have some time.”

His perfume had pushed past the scent blockers and even the filtration system working overtime in the store since omegas didn’t tend to appreciate other omegas’ scents.Especiallywhen their pack was present.

Amir continued to scent mark me as I wrapped my arms around his back and hugged him tightly. I could feel his cock hard against my stomach and could scent his slick. He was much closer than he was letting on.

My beautiful omega was so damn strong.

The cart Enzo pushed was full and items occasionally tilted over the side, causing one of the alphas to have to dart forward to catch a pillow or rolled up blanket before it could fall and hit the floor.

“Heat gifts,” Cyrus muttered to himself, completely unaware that his omega was struggling behind him.

“We can deal with that later. Let’s get Amir home,” I said, tilting my head back to look into my omega’s face.

His pupils were blown, his cheeks were flushed a dark pink, and I swore I could feel his body temperature growing by the second where we were pressed together.

Cyrus turned to glance at us over his shoulder then did a quick double take. “Are you in pain?”

If Amir was cramping, he hadn’t made a single whimper or touched his abdomen. But his fever was definitely kicking in and his pheromones were strong, his scent coating my tongue and nestling its way into my pores.

“I’m fine,” Amir said, his voice deeper, more guttural, but not in that sexy way he sounded when he was taking me hard and fast.

“Is there somewhere we can ease him?” Cyrus asked, leaning to the side to look down an aisle, though I wasn’t sure whether he was looking for a pack room or a sales associate.

“I’ve got a couple more days,” Amir said, the rusty purr broken and stuttering as he held me tight and continued to rub his scent gland along my cheek and head.

“I think you’re down to a few hours,” I said, tilting my chin back to look into his face again.

His warm, light brown skin looked pale, sweat was beading along his forehead, and his pupils were blown so wide the green of his irises were nearly invisible.

“Let’s finish up and get him home,” Enzo said, pushing the cart toward the registers while attempting to juggle the items that kept trying to fall over the sides.

Amir didn’t loosen his hold as we all followed our pack lead to the front of the store, but I guided our omega through the front doors andto the waiting SUV with Ax on our heels. The alarm beeped and the doors unlocked before we reached the vehicle as Ax hit the fob and gave us entry instead of making us wait for the whole pack to join us.

Amir could pretend he was fine all he wanted, but his appearance and tight, jerky movements said otherwise.

The moment we were enclosed behind the confines of the SUV, Amir leaned forward, an arm wrapping around his middle as a pained whimper tore from his throat.

“Oh my gosh, sweetheart. I could have eased you in a backroom or something,” I said, running my hand through his hair to push it away from his face. “Can I help?”

“Do you need some water or something?” Ax asked as he climbed in on the other side of our omega.

This was a change. The guys always demanded I stay between them, as though they all wanted to protect me with their own bodies. But our beautiful omega needed us.

I didn’t have the proper equipment to help chase away the worst of his heat symptoms, would end up being the one to ensure everyone was eating and drinking enough to avoid dehydration. But there was no way he would let me stay away for long. Nor did I want to. I was so fucking crazy in love with our omega.

With all of them. And I really needed to start saying it more often. Or, you know, at all. I’d really only told Ax how I felt, but I’d meant that about all of them, even if they hadn’t heard me that day. Though I was sure they had either watched us on the cameras or at least watched the playback.

Yep. I was bonded to a bunch of perverts, and it was endearing.

“I’m fine,” Amir said, forcing a smile at me that looked more like a grimace, even as another whimper tore from his throat.

“We’re alone in here. Let us help you,” Ax said.

But Amir’s eyes were on me, boring into mine, and for a brief moment, it felt as though he wasn’t actually seeing me, as though, for a second, he was lost to his hindbrain before we’d gotten him home.

He didn’t have days. And I was beginning to think he didn’t have hours left, either. Our last two alphas needed to hurry up so we couldget Amir home, get the nest ready, and get him settled. We still needed to make sure the new items didn’t carry the scents of any other omegas who might have touched the pillows or blankets while shopping, had to stock the minifridge with bottles of water, had to make sure there were plenty of easy to eat options for the next few days…

And now I felt a bit like a failure of a beta. It was generally our job to make sure our pack was stable and healthy when they lost themselves to their baser sides. And I’d been so distracted by my job and our new relationship that I’d let time pass by entirely too quickly.

---