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I try to breathe, but it’s like I can’t catch my breath. My body reacts involuntarily, my heart racing, my senses flooding with their presence. My chest aches, tightening with a need I can’t even understand. The combination of them is almost too much – too overwhelming.

I look at them, their faces unreadable, but their bodies close, so close I can feel the warmth radiating off of them. My pulse quickens again, and the sensation of being surrounded by them, by their scents, becomes unbearable. My skin feels too tight, and I’m desperate to escape, but I can’t. I want to push away, but there’s nowhere to go. Their presence is everywhere. The air smells like them – rich, raw,alpha.

More!My omega screams.

“Little dew drop, do you hear me? Can you feel me? Smell me?” Xar’s voice cuts through the fog in my mind, his hand resting gently on my arm, grounding me once more. His scent is the most comforting of them all – a calming balm that almost makes me want to melt into him.

But I can’t. Instead, I shift away, my body trembling. I don’t know how to react to any of this.

Blaise’s voice breaks through the haze, light and playful, but with an edge I can feel even in my panic. “Hey, you’re okay, honeybee. We’ve got you, okay?”

But I can’t answer. Not when every breath I take feels like it’s pulling me deeper into a storm I don’t know how to navigate. Their scents, their presence – it’s too much. Too close.

And in the back of my mind, something whispers,we’re safe. We’re not alone anymore.

My omega knows. ButIcan’t seem to accept it. Not yet.

I try to push the thought down, to focus on something – anything – that will make this make sense. But it’s like a dam breaking, and the revelation surges through me, unstoppable, crashing against every wall I’ve built.

They’re my scent matches.

My mates.

The words echo in my head, and I feel the blood drain from my face. My heart stops, or at least it feels like it does. I try to breathe, but I’ve forgotten how to. The air feels thick, like it’s pressing against my lungs, suffocating me. The way their presence fills the room, the way their scents wrap around me, pulling at my every nerve, at my verysoul– it makes sense, and yet it makes no sense at all. They’re not just the scents of powerful alphas in my space. They’re the scents of my mates.Myalphas. Mypack.

The words circle around and around in my head as I struggle to process…well, everything. I want to scream, want to run, want to escape this feeling clawing at my chest. The sudden, overwhelming need to fight the truth that’s crashing into me is stronger than anything I’ve ever felt.

But I can’t.

It’s there, clawing at the very heart of me, and it won’t go away.

I sit there, frozen, as panic pulses through my veins.

No. No, this isn’t right. It can’t be. Alphas are dangerous.

But my body is betraying me. Every instinct is screaming at me to lean into it, to accept it, to allow myself tofeelthe truth. My omegaknows. She’s telling me to listen, to trust, to believe.

I look at them again, at the three of them standing too close. Xar’s dark eyes watch me, patient, steady. Blaise’s ever-playful grin has vanished, replaced by a look of concern that almost makes me want to pull away even more. Dane’s expression is unreadable, but the way he’s standing, the way his scent clings to the air – it makes the truth so undeniable.

They’re not just here to help me. Not just protecting me from the storm outside. They’re here because theybelonghere. And so do I.

They’re my mates. Mine.

Repeating the idea to myself doesn’t make it any less sensational. I want to curl up into myself, to hide, to escape this feeling of vulnerability that’s too much. Too raw. I’ve spent my entire life shutting out the idea ofbelongingto anyone, keeping everyone at arm’s length. And now, it’s all crumbling away.

My omega isscreamingfor them, and I can’t drown her out. My body aches with the need for them in a way that makes me want to both run and collapse into them all at once. The weight of the truth crashes down on me, making my breath hitch and my pulse race.

They’re my scent matches. My alphas. I can feel it in the very marrow of my bones, in every trembling beat of my heart. It’s a pull I can’t deny, even if I wanted to. Even if I’m terrified.

How could I not have known that they were mine? That I’d have mates? That mates could…maybe…be a good thing?

Xar shifts closer, sensing my change in energy, his hand resting lightly on my arm. The warmth of his touch sends a flood of calm through my shaking body. His scent wraps around me like the softest blanket, a quiet command that urges me to stay. Iwant to resist it, to pull away, but it’s like I’m tethered to him by invisible threads, threads woven into the very core of me.

It feels right.

I open my mouth to speak, but the words are trapped, lodged somewhere deep in my chest, tangled up in the mess of emotions swirling inside me. Blaise takes a step closer, his sharp, fresh scent of bergamot and leather filling my senses even more with that tinge of sweet, crisp apple. He’s playful, light, but there’s an underlying intensity to his gaze now, a knowing that I don’t have the strength to fight.

“Eviana…” His voice is softer now, a little more patient. It’s unexpected. “We’re not going anywhere. You’re not alone, honeybee.”