Page 61 of Knot Your Possession

“Sorry, Ava.” Lexie’s yell echoed down the hallway. She was already gone.

twenty-six

“Ava,”Nickpulledmeto him, and as much as his nearness soothed my heart, it didn’t stop the cramps that were splitting me in two. “Dammit, you’re burning up.”

He splashed water over my body while still holding me against him, but it did nothing to cool me down. The urge to rub myself all over him was driving me mad.

“Why the hell were you running, Ava? I came up for some water and saw you out the window.”

I pulled back from him, not having the words to explain. But the sight of his soaked white t-shirt sticking to his skin and the droplets of water running down his neck had a burning hunger raging through me like a wildfire.

His brows furrowed. “If you don’t want me here, I’ll go. But I’m not leaving until either River or Ryder is with you.” His voice was firm, as he pulled me back into him and placed a soft kiss on my wet hair that broke me.

Before I could try to form words, thundering footsteps rang down the internal hallway, and River came barreling through the doorway. The heavy oak door rebounded from the wall and swung shut behind him, but was half ripped off its hinges by Wolf, hot on his six. River didn’t slow, throwing himself into the pool and wading across to me with his powerful legs pulling through the water.

“Thank fuck. She needs you. She’s in pain and was half drowned when I got here.” Nick nudged me gently towards River, who scooped me up with a furious growl. My legs went around his waist instinctively and I plastered myself to him. I sighed, half delirious as the pain receded slightly, but it still wasn’t enough.

“Help Wolf,” River growled at Nick.

“On it,” Nick said, his voice already moving away.

“Skin,” I begged. I needed to feel his skin against mine, or I was going to combust. My brain tried to tell me I should care about being naked right now, but it wasn’t running the show anymore. I needed a reprieve from this agonizing heat. Just for a minute. Then I’d regroup and figure this out.

“I knew I shouldn’t have left you before,” he growled, his voice barely coherent. “I just couldn’t figure out what was suddenly driving me to stick so close.”

River didn’t bother trying to pull his t-shirt over his head while I was clinging to him. He just grabbed it near the neck and ripped it clean off. I sighed as he pulled the fabric from underneath me and my breasts pushed against his naked chest. He pulled me more firmly to him, shifted to a deeper spot in the pool, and dunked us both up to our shoulders, covering me with the cool water. The longer I held him, the more the pain ebbed. His dark chocolate scent seemed to surround me and caress me in soothing strokes as I nuzzled into his neck. I could almost feel him vibrating against me.

Until I realized the growl was coming through the bond instead of from him. I looked up to see Nick planted in front of Wolf on the top step. Wolf had halted at the edge of the pool. He’d clenched his fists hard and every muscle in his body was bulging, as if he was pulling against an invisible enemy. He looked as wild as I’d felt a moment ago and his dark edged gaze fixed on me with an intensity that made me moan.

“Wolf.” It was both a plea and a denial wrapped up in one desperate word. Yet his eyes only flared hotter at hearing his name fall from my lips.

“Can you hold back, or do we need to get you out of here?” Nick asked him, every muscle in his own body drawn tight with tension.

“Not. Leaving.” Wolf’s voice was deeper than I’d ever heard it, and his eyes never left me.

“I’m just trying to keep her safe, Wolf. Can you hold back? You can’t claim her yet. Your power will hurt her if it’s not anchored first.”

Nick knew about that?Wolf’s eyes flicked to Nick, a predatory, instinctive intelligence lurking there.

“Tie. Me. Down.” His eyes flashed at Nick. An order and a warning. He held Nick’s stare for another beat before his gaze fixed back on me, making my heated blood spike again.

“Where’s Cary? We’re going to need him to keep Wolf calm,” Nick called over his shoulder to River.

“Ryder ran to get him. He looked agitated and said he was going for a run earlier,” River ground out.

Like we’d called them into existence, more footsteps came pounding down the hallway. Cary pushed past the ruined door and tumbled into the room. Ryder quickly stepped through from the darkened hallway behind him, bringing up the rear. His eyes kept snagging on me as he tried to scan the room for threats. Cary gasped a pained breath, and Ryder moaned as my scent hit them. Both of their pupils blew wide, and Cary unconsciously grabbed his cock through his sweatpants. Nick sagged in relief in front of them all.

“Fuck me, that’s potent,” Cary said as he panted, hard. His eyes ran over every piece of me he could see. “She’s definitely in heat. Maia’s scent went syrupy when hers started, too.”

“We need rope. You have to restrain Wolf,” Nick said.

“Wait, just wait,” I groaned and five sets of eyes fixated on me. It was too much. My back arched, pushing my chest into River and I ground against him shamelessly, as his wet jeans created a delicious friction against me. But I needed a minute to think. I shoved away from him insistently. He let me go to avoid hurting me and I pushed myself to the other side of the pool.

“What’s going on, Ava?” River growled, haunting every step I tried to take away from him, but not touching me again. “We could feel your pain and your fear. We’ve been chasing you all over the damn place, but we couldn’t find you. Why didn’t you come to us?”

“I think it’s me,” Nick said quietly, his voice cracking. “I’ll go now. I was just waiting for you guys to get here. If you tie Wolf up and Cary distracts him, River and Ryder should be able to ease her enough to get her through this heat.”

“Pack. Stays.” Wolf growled. He turned and stormed back to the door, causing Ryder and Cary to scramble out of his way. He shoved the ruined door back into place and picked up a heavy stone bench, shoving it in front of the door. Wolf roared his determination at Nick, his wildness taking over, but Nick stood his ground.

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