Page 125 of Alpha Heat

He laughed until he cried, and he cried until the rain washed him clean.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Urho was stilldrowsing in bed, eyes closed against the morning sun, and dreaming lightly of Xan. He’d tried to call him the night before, but hadn’t reached anyone at either house, and he wasn’t sure where to try next. His gut had been in knots over it all night, and he was desperately trying to rest when a knock came at his bedroom door.

Before he could call for whomever it was to enter, Jason burst in.

“Urho, we have a problem.” He was breathless and giving off a harsh, crackling scent.

Urho sat up. “Something’s wrong with Vale?”

“No, something’s wrong with Caleb.” Jason paced back and forth, his expression grim. Another burst of the strange, harsh odor wafted off him.

“You reek,” Urho muttered.

Jason stepped closer to Urho’s bed. “I know. Because Caleb came past our room on his way to his own.”

Confused, Urho rubbed at his forehead. “He’s not with Janus?”

“No.And thank wolf-god for that.”

“My thoughts exactly. He needs a break.”

“You aren’t getting it!” Jason raked a hand into his hair and huffed.

“He’s sick?” Urho’s heart skipped. He’d been making sure Caleb washed his hands in hot water as often as he could stand it, and he’d hoped he wouldn’t catch the flu, despite his constant and dedicated care of Janus.

“No, but—” Jason drew even closer to Urho, radiating that agitating, strange scent, and whispered, “Caleb smells different.”

“Yousmell different.”

“Because of Caleb!”

Urho wiped his bleary eyes, relieved Caleb wasn’t ill, but worried now about Jason, who was making absolutely no sense. He fluffed his pillow and lay down again, pressing his cheek against the cool side. “He’s stressed out. It’s changed his scent.”

“No, dammit!” Jason shook Urho roughly. “He smells really different.Heatdifferent.”

Urho’s eyes widened as he bolted up. He took a deep breath, sorting the scents in the air, pushing away Jason’s new crackly odor and looking for the pheromones that spoke to all alphas. A rush of air came in through his open door, spilling in from the windows that opened onto the courtyard, carrying a hint of ocean as well as the scent of the rooms on the opposite side of the building.

The scent of Caleb’s room. The scent of Caleb himself.

Fuck.

Urho’s dick hardened. He glanced down at Jason’s pants and saw the same reaction there.

“Vale better not see that,” Urho muttered darkly.

“It’s not my fault!” Jason covered his erection with his hands clasped in front. “It’s instinctual around an omega going into heat. You know that. He needs to be isolated—for his own sake, and ours. And we need to get Xan home. Now.”

“For fuck’s sake,” Urho muttered to himself. His limbs ached with exhaustion. He’d been getting so little sleep between worrying about Janus, and the new pains Vale was suffering from, and missing Xan, and fretting a little extra for Caleb too. “The last thing we need right now is to have to deal with a heat!”

“Tell that to wolf-god, who, in all his glory, chose right now to set Caleb off.” Jason shuddered. “He smells amazing.”

“Fuck,” Urho said aloud. “He does. They always do.”

Jason huffed and shook his head as though to clear it. “Vale can smell it too. It’s making him cranky. And restless. He smells my reaction to it and that’s…that’s worse.”

Urho groaned. He got out of bed and used the bathroom, dressing hastily.