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He winks, and I decide not to overthink the warmth in my chest these men create.

When it’s our time to race, kids pour ahead of us until there are only two karts together.

“I see some empty ones on the other side.” Connor kisses my temple before moving to a kart behind us. Dez does the same, his own even farther back.

“Ready, kitten?” Nate asks.

“I think so.”

“You’ll do great,” he promises, holding me steady as I climb into the little blue go kart. His quiet voice directs me to the pedals as he pulls the harness around my chest and buckles me in until I can barely move.

“Not much room in these, huh?” I joke, a little nervous now that we’re here.

“The karts go fast. Stop fast too. If you’re too lose when you brake, it’ll hurt.”

Oh. That makes sense.

A worker comes over, leaning in like he’s going to tug on my harness, but the second his scent hits, Nate growls. “Don’t touch her.”

The other alpha, mid-twenties and definitely unbonded, tenses. “It’s my job to make sure she’s safe.”

“She is.”

Not interested in holding up the race with an unnecessary stare-down, I wave over the other attendant, hoping I’m not making the situation worse. The last thing we need is another alpha in the mix.

The second they get close, I relax. Bonded beta. Perfect.

Smiling as nicely as I can, I motion to the straps. “Can you check my harness, please?”

The guy looks at the posturing alphas and rolls his eyes, shoving in front of his coworker to yank on my belts. When everything stays in place, he gives me a curt nod. “You’re good.”

“See? Ready,” I assure Nate, patting his hand where it’s splayed possessively over my belly. “Why don’t you take the nice attendant to your kart so he can check your harness, babe?”

The look my alpha gives me says he knows exactly what I’m doing and doesn’t care. “Sure. Come on, man.”

The first attendant hesitates for exactly one second before the beta shoves him away from me. “Seriously, go before he rips you in half. We don’t have liability for this shit.”

When Nate’s locked in and we’ve had the rules drilled into our heads—no being stupid, no bumper cars, stay in your vehicle—they hit a button, and the kart rumbles underneath me. The noise is a little too loud a week after my heat and the smells are slightly nauseating, but I put on a brave face when Nate rubbernecks to make sure I’m okay.

Chill out, Daph. It’s not that serious.

Totally.

This is no problem.

Easing down on the gas, I push harder when I realize we’re barely moving. Right, they mentioned that would be capped until all the karts were on the track. It’s a little boring, but I think nothing of it, foot to the floor as we pull out of the covered starting area.

All at once, the pedal drops farther and the kart fuckingzooms.

Startled, I jerk the wheel too far to the right and crash against the edge of the track. The tire piles stop me from hurting myself beyond the slight pain of the harness biting.

“Daph!”

I twist, gawking. Nate’s out of his kart and running toward me.

“Hey, you can’t get out!” An attendant shouts, but my alpha flips him off.

The other racers don’t stop, though Dez and Connor slow down to check that I’m okay. When I give them a thumbs up, shooing them away, they reluctantly speed off, looking over their shoulders before they’re out of sight.