Page 66 of Stream Heat
“Stream starts in two minutes,” Ash said, keeping his tone all professionalism, even though his scent had the sharp edge of someone trying not to freak out. “Audio checks out. Cameras live.”
I nodded and stared at the monitor, let the game interface swallow my attention so I wouldn’t have to look at the Alphas any more than necessary. Their scents made everything both worse and marginally better, like drowning but also breathing for the first time.
"Quinn," Reid’s voice was so low only I could hear it. "Last chance. We can postpone."
"No," I bit out, meeting his eyes. They were blown wide, pupils so dark it looked like he was on something. "I can do this."
He didn’t argue. Maybe he wanted to, he looked half a second from reaching across the table and dragging me out, but all he said was, "Okay. But if you need to tap out? We end it, no questions."
I nodded and bit back a sound when another heat spike hit, this one so bad I thought I might actually cry.
"Thirty seconds," Ash called, starting the final count.
Theo couldn’t sit still, he never could, but now I could tell he was deliberately holding himself back, out of some weird attempt to make things easier on me. Jace shifted next to me, careful and gentle, letting his scent wrap around my fraying nerves like a wet blanket. I was absurdly grateful.
"Ten seconds," Ash said. "Five, four, three..."
The stream jingle played, and just like that, we were live, six faces on screen, six stories, thousands of people already tuning in. Maybe this would be the day that finished breaking my career. Or maybe the viewers would love blood in the water.
"Welcome to the Pack Wrecked tournament qualifier stream!" Reid’s voice was perfect, total pro, not a hint that anything behind the scenes was even a little off. "Today we've got the full squad ready to dominate these lobbies."
"Some more ready than others," I fired back automatically, even though it sounded kind of weak. "I’ve been carrying these knot-heads through practice all week."
Banter, jokes, loading into the first match. The chat was already scrolling so quickly it was impossible to keep up. For the first stretch I actually pulled off a decent act, gameplay wasn’t my best, mind was fogged, but it didn’t matter. The others were good enough to cover and nobody in chat was the wiser.
And then I lost it.
A full-body, worse-than-before wave of heat crashed through with zero warning. I gasped and it was not only audible but mortifying. Between my legs, slick flooded, impossible to ignore. My arousal scent spiked instantly, claiming every inch of the room, Alpha instincts pinging off the walls.
Five sets of hands froze. Alphas are never subtle, Reid’s grip on his controller went white-knuckled and the plastic creaked under the strain. Theo stared straight ahead, statue-still. Jace’s breath caught and held. Malik actually blinked, like it shockedhim. Ash whipped his head up, eyes locked on me with something that looked like panic.
I tried so hard to act normal. Hands shaking, eyes stinging, the ache inside so strong it almost made me forget I was on camera. I couldn’t hold the controller. Couldn’t even pretend.
"Quinn?" Reid’s voice broke the silence, so low and intimate I nearly lost it right there. "You okay?"
"Fine," I said, or tried to. It came out as a strangled, desperate gasp. "Just, uh, give me a second."
Chat picked up on it immediately.
is Quinn ok??
she looks like she's about to pass out
OMG IS IT HAPPENING AGAIN
alpha squad looking TENSE
I couldn’t focus. Not with what was happening to me. I told myself to play through it, forced my attention on the game, but then another wave hit, harder than before, making my teeth sink into my lip to stifle the moan clawing its way out. My hands started to tremble, and my vision went fuzzy at the edges. I couldn’t even see the damn screen anymore.
“I can’t–” I whispered, barely loud enough for anyone to hear. “I can’t do this.”
Jace didn’t hesitate. He reached over, took my controller, and picked up my gameplay like nothing weird was happening at all. Malik shifted a little closer to my side, his clean, ozone scent cutting through the static panic in my veins, but it wasn’t enough. It was just not enough.
“Technical timeout, everyone,” Reid said in that perfectly calm streamer voice he did so well. “Quick break while we adjust some settings.”
But the camera definitely caught it. All of it. My face totally flushed. My hands shaking. The split second when every Alpha in the room stiffened at once, as if I’d set off some kind of biological alarm. The chat was already blowing up.
ANOTHER HEAT CRASH
