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Fine, he was right. I’m spiking.

To his credit, Nate barely acknowledges the cashier as he lays the mountain of fabric on the checkstand, but I hate how she bats her fucking lashes as she rings up his purchase.

I’ve always been territorial, though my exes didn’t like it when I indulged that part of me. Apparently, growling at people mentally undressing your partners is childish and insecure. Butit’s so much harder to keep a lid on those instincts when this alpha already feels like mine.

Rip her throat out. Show her he’s yours.

Don’t kill the beta, you’re too pretty for jail.

Fighting the urge to claw her fucking eyes out takes so much focus, I barely hear the total. When I do, I nearly throw myself out of Dez’s arms. “Nate whatever your name is, stop! I only need a few yards of those.”

Even though I want to hoard all of them like the greedy little dragon I am, I can’t let him spend that much.

“Our last name is Morgan, baby. Don’t forget it.” Nate brushes his lips against my cheek, and Dez laughs so hard his whole body shakes around me.

Oh, that feels good.I wiggle closer as perfume spills around us.

“We’re going to get arrested,” Connor mutters.

Nate grins, cheeky and unrepentant. “Relax, she likes it. Don’t you, Daph?”

I’m not touching that statement with a ten-foot pole. The omega instincts that say he’s rightagaincan kiss my ass.

Do not fall for the possessive bullshit on hour one, Daph. Fight the alpha dickmatizing.

God damn, it was good, though.

Looking anywhere but the man in front of me, I catch the cashier blatantly staring at Nate’s ass and I swear I black out. There’s no other accounting for the rage that swallows everything. My hands shake with the force of my growl, body ready to go full feral.

“Mine.”

The pretty beta calculates her chances of winning whatever fucked up fight she thinks we’re having, but all it takes is me baring teeth again to get her turning away, cheeks blazing.

That’s fucking right. Don’t look at my alphas.

“Our perfect omega,” Nate purrs.

There’s that word again—perfect. Only, it doesn’t feel so triggering on his lips. Not when he smells like leather, sunshine, and the faintest hint of motor oil. Warm car seats on a summer day, all wind and smiles and singing too loud. There’s a hint of darkness there. Hands fondling in the backseat, deep breaths and smothered cries.

The air filters must be doing their job if the cashier felt even remotely comfortable ogling him in front of me, so I slide our cheeks together even though he’s already slathered in my scent. Dez angles his face, happy to let me do the same.

While Nate handles payment—which I’m no longer fighting him about because fuck it—Connor hovers close, scent as cold as his eyes. Waterfalls in winter. Icy freshness and the chill of potential frostbite. The promise of danger on the horizon but also snuggling loved ones amid the cold peace of freshly fallen snow. Already, I can tell he’s the most unreachable. The hardest nut to crack.

After an obscene scent mark across his jaw, that elusive vibe grows when Connor tries to move away. “My turn?”

He lifts his head, watching me with this broken look like he’s a million miles and another woman from here.

He’s not going to do it. I know it as sure as I know my name that he won’t give me his scent and all I can think about are the other times I’ve been denied. Other alphas who took from me and gave nothing in return.

It’s not a big deal. I’ll mark you later.

You already know you’re ours.

I’ll find you after this email is done.

I spent years trying to convince alphas I was worth their time and attention, and the only person who got hurt was me. No way will I go through that again.Sure, alpha pheromones on my skin will ease the worst of my symptoms until we can get to a nest, butI won’t force Connor into something he doesn’t want. Dez and Nate are enough.

“You don’t have to mark me or help with my heat. I can make other arrangements. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.” Every word is careful. Emotionless.