Page 51 of Stream Heat
"Just experimenting with the layout," I said quickly. "Ash's cooling upgrade needed some adjustments."
Reid nodded, but something in his expression told me he wasn't entirely convinced. "Looks good. More... comfortable."
The way he said "comfortable" sent a shiver down my spine, like he knew exactly what I'd been doing, what instincts were driving me.
"Twenty minutes, main room," he said after a moment, turning to go. "Wear something warm. AC's acting up again."
After he left, I leaned against the closed door, heart pounding. Had he noticed? Did he know? And if he did, why hadn't he said anything?
The questions swirled in my mind as I prepared for the meeting, changing into leggings and a long-sleeved shirt as suggested. As I reached for my hoodie, my hand hovered over Reid's, still draped invitingly over my chair.
"Don't do it," I warned myself. "That's crossing a line."
But the thought of his scent surrounding me during the meeting, keeping me calm and focused while we discussed strategy, was too tempting to resist. Before I could talk myself out of it, I slipped his hoodie over my head, instantly enveloped in cedar forests and summer thunderstorms.
It was too big, of course, the sleeves falling past my fingertips, the hem reaching mid-thigh. But it felt right in a way that defied logical explanation. Safe. Secure. Like being wrapped in his presence even when he wasn't touching me.
I rolled the sleeves up, trying to make it look deliberate rather than desperate, and headed for the main room. The others were already gathered, Reid at the whiteboard, Theo sprawled across the couch, Jace perched on the arm of a chair, Malik cross-legged on the floor, Ash leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.
All five pairs of eyes turned to me as I entered. All five expressions shifted in subtle ways as they registered what I was wearing.
Reid's hoodie. His scent all over me. A clear signal to any alpha with functioning senses.
Theo's eyebrows shot up, a grin spreading across his face. Jace's expression remained neutral, but his scent, ink and snow, intensified slightly. Malik's eyes widened fractionally before his composure returned. Ash's jaw tightened, his grey eyes darkening.
And Reid... Reid's entire body seemed to go still, his focus narrowing to laser precision as his gaze traveled from the hoodie to my face.
"Sorry I'm late," I said, aiming for casual and missing by a mile. "Ready when you are."
A moment of charged silence, then Reid cleared his throat. "Right. Tournament strategy. Let's begin."
The meeting proceeded with surface normality, but underneath ran a current of awareness I couldn't ignore. The alphas were hyperconscious of me in a way they hadn't been before, tracking my movements, attuned to my reactions, their scents shifting subtly whenever I spoke.
And I was equally aware of them, the way Theo's leg bounced with contained energy, the precise angle of Jace's posture, the steady rhythm of Malik's breathing, the controlled strength in Ash's folded arms, the commanding presence Reid exuded without effort.
We discussed flanking strategies and map control, weapon loadouts and communication protocols, all the standard tournament preparation. But beneath the professional conversation hummed something primal and unspoken, the recognition that something fundamental had changed.
I was wearing Reid's scent openly, deliberately. In pack dynamics, that meant something specific, something significant.
And based on their reactions, all five Alphas understood exactly what it meant, even if I was still pretending not to.
After the meeting, I retreated to my room, ostensibly to practice the strategies we'd discussed but actually to have a complete meltdown in private. What had I been thinking? Wearing Reid's hoodie to a pack meeting was like taking out a billboard announcing my Omega instincts were in full control.
Yet even now, I couldn't bring myself to take it off. The comfort it provided was too potent, too necessary as my system continued its unstable recalibration.
"Just until I'm better," I whispered, the justification wearing thinner each time I repeated it. "Just until the withdrawal passes."
But deep down, I knew this wasn't just about withdrawal anymore. The fake bond was starting to feel dangerously real, to my body, to my instincts, perhaps even to my heart.
And based on the way five Alphas had looked at me today, the feeling might be mutual.
The thought should have terrified me. Instead, it felt like coming home.
That was the most frightening realization of all.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Kara
