I have to remember that no matter what, I can’t go into that room.
The lock clicks in place again.
This is going to be harder than I thought.
My own temperature’s high. I don’t know how long it’s been. My mind feels like it’s fracturing with panic and worry. And fuck everyone. How the fuck can I protect my princess if I’m not with her?
How can I rut and knot and ease her pain if I’m on this side of the door?
She’s in full-on heat now. It permeates everywhere, and me stuck on this side is a fucking joke. I get up and start pacing.
What time it is, what day, I have no fucking idea, but the princess in heat has been calling to my darker, feral side, her pain and my need to protect.
Through the door I can hear her sister trying to soothe her. My job. Mine. My Omega’s in there.
I go for the handle.
It’s still locked.
“Go away, Stephan!” Iris yells.
Behind me I note footsteps, but I really don’t care. When a cry of pain breaks into my heart, I howl and step back, then throw myself at the door, the lock giving way. I rush in. My princess is curled and wrapped and the scent in the room is so fucking sweet. So fucking potent I almost fall to my knees.
But I rush to her, only to have a dark-haired warrior tackle me. Behind me, Pen’s voice rises, sharp.
“Stephan!”
I stop.
My hands are on Iris, who’s shoving at me, and I stumble back. The need to rut and knot my princess hasn’t gone, but that feral need beyond sense has lessened enough for cool thought to step in.
“Get out, idiot!” Iris shoves me again. “You won’t ruin this for her. Out!”
“Stephan.”
My aunt’s using her fucking Alpha voice on me.
I leave, the door slamming shut in my face again, and Ihear the sound of heavy furniture scraping the floor. They made a fucking barricade.
I almost laugh, or cry. I don’t know. The need for Violet is clawing at me.
Pen holds out a glass. “You’re losing it. Drink.”
I snatch it from her. “I don’t give a shit. I want to look after her.”
“Or do you just want to get off?”
“Shove it, Pen.”
I’m shaking.
She just motions to a seat in the hall. I don’t want to move from where I am, but I go. I can still see the door. The one with the broken lock.
“You could go in, I know,” she says. “Overwhelm the sister and have your fill. But it’ll ruin her.”
“Would it matter? She’s already mine. I’ve already claimed her like…like…”
“Cecilia? You’re at a crossroads, Stephan. But if you truly want things not to end up like that, don’t go in. There’s time enough later.”