Page 87 of In Deep

Maybe part of my fear had always been my own belief that I was faulty. That I could never provide what an alpha craved: a heat. But maybe my body had just been waiting – waiting for the right alphas to see me through it.

I smile to myself, Ollie’s golden strands soft against my fingers.

And then I nudge my alphas awake and set them to work all over again.

Chapter 26

After that, the heat starts to wane, and when Duncan leads me up the staircase and back into daylight, I realise three days have passed.

“How do you feel, wee yin?” he asks me as he leads me up another flight of stairs and to the bathroom. It seems he has taken the lead in overseeing my aftercare which I’m happy about. He’s always been the most gentle with me and the deep tones in his Scottish accent are soothing.

“Fine,” I say smiling, “surprisingly fine, although a little sore and tired.”

He inspects me in the giant shower, kissing each little bruise, scratch, and love bite. When he’s washed me to his satisfaction and patted me dry, he smoothes arnica cream into every mark.

“What day is it?” I ask, rubbing at my forehead.

Duncan stands up and places the pot of cream back in the medicine cabinet.

“Sunday.”

I let out a sigh of relief. No lectures or shifts today. Which is just as well. I know Seb won’t humour any excuses about skipping those. Then I remember all the shifts and tutoring sessions I have missed. “Shit!” I mutter.

“What?” Duncan asks, resting his hands on my shoulders.

“The heat came on so suddenly, I never got a chance to tell work, or my students or –”

“All taken care of.”

“Really?”

He nods. “It’s our job to take care of you, Omega. And that means in all things.”

He finds me a pair of shorts and a T-shirt, then we go to join the others in the TV room.

Each alpha sprawls out on a sofa and a tower of pizza boxes balances on the floor. The others have already tucked in, devouring slices, and Duncan snatches one of his own and flops next to Zane with a groan. I see now just how hungry and exhausted they all are, and I can’t help a little giggle.

“What?” Seb asks me with a mouthful of dough and cheese.

“I must have worked you hard.”

“That, Omega,” Zane says, resting his feet in Duncan’s lap, “is a fucking understatement. I want to sleep for a fucking week.”

“Well, you can’t,” Seb snaps, ‘training tomorrow.”

“And is pizza really the best diet for you all?” I ask, helping myself to a piece and then sinking into the sofa with Seb when he raises his arm signalling for me to curl up beside him.

“Probably not,” Ollie says, reaching over the arm of his sofa to tickle the sole of my foot, “but that heat was harder than any training session. I think we earned the right to load up on greasy crap.”

“I’m wondering if you just don’t have the stamina,” I say, twirling stringy cheese around my forefinger and then sucking it into my mouth. “It doesn’t usually take four alphas working together to see an omega through her heat.”

“You’re not most omegas, Rosie. I told you, you are a needy, greedy little thing,” Ollie counters.

Seb growls and nuzzles at my neck, seeking out my gland and raking his teeth over it.

I close my eyes and sigh. “You’re right. I can’t help myself.”

There is silence for a flicker of a moment and then all of my alphas burst out laughing and I think that sound is better than any groan or grunt or growl I’ve drawn from them so far. I snuggle deeper into Seb’s arms and draw my hand under his taut t-shirt.