Page 10

Chapter ten

VIOLET

Hearing my name, I slip back into the room, freezing at the sight of Sofie passed out on Lance’s lap. She looks so perfect like that, like she was made for him. Her breathing is still uneven, catching in her throat every few exhales, but the tension that had her shaking before is slowly bleeding out of her limbs. She’s steadying, grounding herself in the warmth of him, in the safety he’s offering without hesitation.

Sofie told me that I was the one who needed an Alpha but I think we both need one—we both need that extra tether, that one person we can lean on, someone who takes our worries and gives us a place to feel safe. It can’t be Lance, though. He has a pack already.

Lance glances up at me, a weight behind his words when he speaks. “What’s your plan?”

My jaw locks. “I’m handling it.” I have one plan and it’s the only one I don’t hate. There’s a small business at the very edge of the city, a rent-an-Alpha service that will give us a room and an Alpha vetted. They’ll even let me stay in the room as Sofie’s emergency contact. It’s the best solution out of a multitude of solutions.

Silence stretches between us as his gaze drops back down to Sofie in his arms. It feels like he’s considering my words until Sofie lets out a soft sound against his chest, barely more than a breath, and Lance’s fingers tighten against her hip. His throat moves as he swallows, his lips parting slightly like he wants to say something, like he’s about to push harder.

Hope lingers in his eyes. The kind that makes my stomach twist. The kind that looks like he wants me to say something else, to let him stay, to let this be something more. Maybe it would be easier. Maybe giving in would make things simpler, letting someone else shoulder this for a little while, letting someone else be the one to carry Sofie through this instead of trying to do it all myself. And if this wasn’t her heat, I would have that conversation with Lance, with the whole pack. But not with this.

I shake my head, keeping my voice even, forcing the tightness in my throat down. “Involving you, even just for tonight, is dangerous.”

Lance’s jaw tics, his grip flexing, his body stiffening in a way that tells me he doesn’t like my answer.

Before he can argue, I press on, letting the words settle between us. “You have a reputation to uphold, a certain image and I know for a fact that it’s pretty taboo for a member of a pack to help an unmated Omega with her heat.”

His lips press together, his fingers stilling against Sofie’s waist, but he doesn’t say anything because he knows I’m right. Even if I let him in, even if I let him help tonight, it wouldn’t end here. With Lance as her mate, he’s going to want to claim her, maybe Hawk too. But what about Puma and Gray? Do they even want an Omega? The little bit I read from that magazine told me that they’ve been without an Omega for years. They haven’t been searching either.

And yet, the idea of Lance being part of this—the rest of them being people I can turn to, doesn’t sit wrong in my chest. I think that’s what truly makes my stomach knot. The thought that I don’t hate the idea of a pack.

A broken sigh falls from my lips as I move to sit beside Lance, hoping that his brief claim on her won’t keep me from touching her. I’ve read up enough about Alphas and what they deem their territory to know never to reach in between an Alpha and their Omega during a heat. This is only a spike but it doesn’t change that they’re mates and that Lance’s instincts might view me as a threat.

Hesitantly, I reach forward, Lance watching the movement as I caress Sofie’s cheek. Her lids fly open, a whimper tearing from her throat as she moves from his lap to mine. The obscene amount of slick and cum that coats Lance’s pants as his knot comes free is an overwhelming, enticing scent. Sofie curls into my arms as if she hadn’t just needed the Alpha beside us.

“I didn’t like it when you left,” she mumbles, falling asleep almost instantly.

Lance slowly puts himself back into his pants, although it won’t do much for the fact that he looks like the front of his pants went for a swim. “Why did you leave, Violet? You didn’t have to.”

“Knowing that I’m not enough for my Omega kills me. Watching her curl into you and find the relief that I can’t give her is impossible to watch. I’m not enough, Lance. I’m not sure why I thought I would be.”

I tighten my arms around her, pressing a kiss to her head as I try to figure out how I’m going to make it to the car without everyone staring at us. Lance stands, gesturing to the door. “What’s the plan?”

“Dropping her off in the car while I finish up here. I can be done within the hour as she sleeps. God, your pants. What are you going to do?”

He laughs, a deep, dark sound that settles in the pit of my belly. “Follow you out that back door we’re not supposed to know about and grab a change of clothes from the car. What? I know a few things.” He heads toward the door and opens it, peeking out before gesturing to me to follow him. Then he leads me to Xavier’s office, a room I’ve only been in a few times. I avoid it like the plague but Lance pushes inside like he owns the goddamn place, pointing to a door at the far end. “The parking lot will be off to the side. If you need something else, let me know, okay?”

I nod, my words caught in my throat as he steps outside. I follow, heading straight for my pitiful little car, hoping that Sofie can hold on just a little longer.