Page 122 of Knot All is Forgiven

"It's a heat spike," Icarus responds, his voice as tight as my pants have gotten. "Increase in body temperature means more sweat. More sweat means more pheromones. More pheromones mean more scent. It's interesting, though, because pheromones can be excreted at any time from multiple sources. Did you know there are pheromones in your breath? It's fascinating that-"

"Dude, Russ, you're killing my boner with the doctor ramble." Simon moans softly at the end of his sentence as Jordan sucks on his collarbone.

"It happened so fast," Cyrus mumbles, turning sideways to watch Jordan and our packmate. "She was fine in the store."

"That's how it starts," I say while running a hand up her spine. "My mom is an Omega. I was scarred several times."

Icarus snorts as he laughs at my misfortune, but luckily, he doesn't follow it up with a random fact he learned in medical school.

We squeeze out of my car and load our arms with bags as Slime wraps Jordan's legs around his waist and carries her to the elevator. "I know the doctor said this could happen, but I gotta admit I thought we had some time before she went into heat."

"Not in heat," she grumbles against his skin. "Spike. Annoying. Hot." She rotates her hips against him, and they moan in tandem as he stumbles back against the wall.

Cyrus presses the floor button rapidly, cursing the elevator for being slow as he watches our packmate try to wrangle our Omega.

When we enter the apartment, a chorus of meows from Dae and Blush greet us, and Jordan bursts into tears. "We left them alone too long! They missed us!"

"They're fine, Omega," Icarus coos. "Dae just probably ate all of Blush's food. I'll get them squared away. Why don't you go set up your new nest?"

Omegamart passes all of its soft furnishings through an industrial sanitizer before packaging them, which means checkout takes a little extra time. Still, it's worth it for our Omega to be able to set up her nest immediately.

She practically falls out of Simon's arms and snatches bags from all of us before running off into her bedroom. "Why aren't you following me?" she shouts from several rooms away.

Icarus comes around the corner, chuckling. "I would do what she says. She's a brutal taskmaster."

When I enter the nest, I see a blur of maroons and pinks as Jordan throws her original nesting material at the door. A sheet hits me in the face, and I almost fall flat on my ass before Slime steadies me. His hands are hot on my arms like a brand, and my heart catches my throat.

"Thanks," I choke out, pulling the fabric from my face in time to see the flesh that peeks between the blank spots of the tattoos on his throat is flushed red.

"No problem," he mutters before dropping his hands. I miss them immediately.

Jordan continues in a blur of organized chaos, eventually demanding that we empty the bags and calling out things she needs from us. It's endearing to watch, but I can see what Icarus meant about her being demanding.

I can already tell she will wear us all out when her heat eventually hits.

Eventually, she throws herself backward onto a pile of blankets and pillows in shades of gray, blue, and ivory. "No clothes in the nest," she mumbles, pulling off her clothes before wrapping up in a fuzzy navy blanket.

"Shouldn't we have her shower? She was in the hospital," Cyrus hisses at no one in particular.

"Sure, try it," Icarus teases.

Cyrus must miss the humor and challenge in the other Alpha's voice because he sure enough does try it. "Jordan, why don't we get you in the shower really quickly?"

"No."

Her voice is loud and clear despite being under what appears to be several pillows.

"Come on, sweetie. You'll feel much better after a shower," he tries again.

She pokes her head out of the blanket pile she's found herself in and snarls, baring her teeth at him, "If you don't like my scent, you can leave, Cyrus."

"That's not what I said!" he sputters.

Icarus chuckles and shrugs as if to say, 'I told you so.' Cyrus looks stricken, rooted to the spot, and unsure what to say to fix the mess he accidentally made.

"What if I draw you a bath, Jordy?" I say softly, dropping to a squat. "Athena got you some bath bombs, and Icarus can make you tea. Afterward, we can all pile up in your nest and nap."

She narrows her eyes at me as if weighing her options and trying to decide if I'm telling her the truth. After a moment, she nods. "Okay."

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