Page 1 of Fever

Chapter 1

Leah

“My name is Feveeeer. I make Omegas quiver.”

In bed, cozy and warm, I snap open my eyes. Is the Fever Hordesman singing right outside my window?

Thud, thud, thud.What is that?

I check the time. Six in the morning. Gah, I get fifteen more minutes of sleep. Turning over and covering my head with a pillow, I close my eyes.

Thud, thud.

The Collectors came. Fever Hordesman chased them away with the sheer force of his will. The same force that refuses to leave me alone. He says he’s waiting for my heat. I cycle regularly, marking my calendar for heat days so I can give my clients advance notice I won’t make it to a meeting or, worse, an event I’d planned. I plan ahead and plan well. The Hordesman’s arrival is not planned, and neither is the churning in my lower belly. That’s a sign of a heat wave, a premature one since I’m not due for another two weeks.

The door to my bedroom opens, and I peek from under the sheets.

Mom stands there, cup of coffee in her hand.

“Hey, Mom.” I’m fairly certain Mom was on the night shift at the hospital. She returns at seven. Though, I could be wrong. Fever Hordesman is terribly distracting. I can hardly think of anything except the way he might fuck me when I go into heat. I bet his dick is massive, and the knot is nice and plump. Oh God, I’m thinking about my heat all the time.

Mom tucks her hair behind her ear. She looks…younger today. Dressed in jeans and a yellow tank that outlines her waist, she also has makeup on. I haven’t seen mom with makeup since my sister’s funeral.

“Is that for me?” Sitting up, I extend my hand toward the steaming coffee.

Mom sips.

Guess not.

Thud, thud, thud.

“Why is he doing this?” I whine.

Mom smiles. “It’s cute.”

“Mama,” he shouts.

I frown. His mother came?

My mom walks to my window and opens it. “Yes, dear?”

“Did you pack the bag?”

“Sure did, honey.”

What the hell?

Mom closes the window and walks right out of my bedroom. Wide-awake now, I sit up.

“What’s going on?”

“Just be a minute,” Mom tells me and takes a right into her bedroom.

I fling off the sheets and slip on my flip-flops just as Mom appears at my door again, a big suitcase next to her leg, kind brown eyes fixed on me. “Okay, Leah, now you listen to me, honey. He’s here, and when the heat comes, which he says will come sooner than what you marked on your calendar, he will offer you…a reprieve.”

“Where are you going?”

“He got me a room at the nicest hotel and tickets to several plays. Booked me a week’s vacation.”

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