Page 48 of Talk About… Trouble

Somewhere in my heat fogged brain, I was reveling in the fact it wasn’t anywhere near the scent of those alphas, who smelled like day old booze, cigarettes, and chemicals to me.

“Devon,” Nash said, halfway to a bark. The omega sat up, taking it in then gasping. His excited laugh had me looking at him over my shoulder. I wanted to say something, to speak, but my omega was feral now, desperate.

It felt like she had control now, not me. She turned and lunged for him, scenting along his exposed collarbones, nipping with her teeth in warning.

“Whoa, whoa, what’s going on?” he asked, shocked and unsure now.

“Heat spike of some kind. I’d say us finding the pack woke up her omega and she’s in survival mode or straight up possessive mode,” Nash said over my head. Again, I registered the words but couldn’t respond or do anything more than absorb them. “Don’t worry, omega, we’ve got you.”

A soft, strange purr rumbled out of me before I was fighting my way out of the sheets.

My pack. I wanted them all. Where were they?

“Oh god, do we warn them or let them get mauled?” Devon asked, a mix of amusement and true worry.

“Shepherd, Braxton!” Nash bellowed, the sharp sound making my omega wince and cower in on herself until he soothed her. “It’s okay, just bringing your alpha and beta to you.”

Good. Pack. I needed them all.

Another sharp pain hit me, dropping me to my knees right as two other doors flew open.

“What’s wrong with her?” Shepherd demanded as he fell to his knees in front of me, his calloused hand landing on my neck before he cursed. He leaned in closer so I was doused in that blueberry, bourbon, and cheesecake scent of his. A whimper escaped as my hands clawed at him, desperate for him to touch me in the way we needed.

Now I was all instinct, even my thoughts muted and dulled as the heat spike took me even further into its grasp.

“Hey, little dove, I had a feeling you were mine,” Shepherd rumbled. “Glad to see you aren’t hiding away now. Let your pack be strong for you now.”

My heart melted, my omega letting out a pitiful whimper as we clung to him. Gentler hands than Shepherd’s brushed my tears away. I didn’t realize I was crying but his words had not just shaken me, but my omega, too. We needed the alphas to tell us we were safe, to promise to protect us.

“We’re all here now,” Braxton said. “If you want us.”

“Mine,” I growled, voice deeper than I’d ever heard it as I pulled him in, too, forcing him to lean close enough to smell him.

Warm, chocolate chip pancakes and sweet syrup.

“Yours,” he promised, the easy agreement and lack of hesitation filled me with a surge of pride and contentment.

My beta wanted me, my alphas wanted me, and my omega wanted me.

They were mine. A pack. Scent matches.

True mates, no chemicals.

Another wail escaped me as another aching cramp tore through my abdomen, shooting pain down into my empty core.

“Please, someone fuck me. I need you, alphas,” I begged, practically crying for their knots.

“You’re vulnerable right now,” Braxton started to argue, but Devon cut him off.

“She is, but her omega is begging her pack to show her we are worthy. That we’ll take care of her. If you reject her now… there may not be a way to come back from it.”

“Please,” I said again, fighting through the fog to make my voice sure and confident. I looked right at Shepherd. “If you want me. Give me what I need. If not, leave now.”

He studied me, eyes bouncing from my face, down my body, then back up again.

“You want us, all of us?” he clarified. “I need your consent, little dove. We won’t traumatize you further.”

“All of you,” I said, losing my grip on my omega as she surged forward again, tearing at his clothes, shredding them in the process.

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