Page 70 of In Doubt

“She needs to be taken to a place of safety and–”

“This is not any of my–”

“You’re responsible for her welfare,” I growl. The professor, always such a formidable woman, shrinks before me, her gaze flitting about desperately as if she’s searching for help. She spots Giorgie’s friends. “Sia!” she cries. “Yes, Sia is Giorgie’s very good friend. I’m sure she can–”

“Giorgie needs–” My grip is tight on the Omega’s shoulder as I hold her an arm’s length away. She struggles against my hold though, trying to wiggle her way closer to me, pawing at my arm.

“Mr Grantham, I make it my rule not to get involved in my student’s personal lives,” the professor says and before I can argue she spins on her heels and sprints away.

Fucking great.

I growl and the omega whimpers beside me, the smell of fresh slick hitting my nose.

God help me.

I turn my sights on Sia and Carl.

“Hey,” I yell at them and they both jump. “Come here.” They do as I command, both looking terrified.

“What’s going on?” Sia asks her friend, arms wrapped around her middle, looking about as comfortable as a snowman in a heatwave.

“Giorgie’s gone into heat. Why the fuck she let this–”

“It wasn’t deliberate!” Giorgie sobs and the distress in her voice has me purring. Purring? I’ve never fucking purred in my life. Not even when the sex was fucking amazing.

Sia fidgets with discomfort, but that bastard Carl eyes her up as if she’s an abandoned sundae ice cream waiting to be claimed.

“I need you to take Giorgie back to her room and look after her,” I say to Sia.

“Me?” Sia says in alarm. “I wouldn’t know what to do and we’re sharing a room with two others and …”

“I’ll take her back to the hotel,” Carl offers, stepping towards Giorgie.

I yank her away.

“Like hell you will!” I growl and he shrinks back, Sia following him.

“Can’t you look after her?” Sia asks. “You’re an alpha, isn’t that what you’re meant to do?”

“That would be highly inappropriate–”

“I want to go with you,” Giorgie whimpers, breaking free of my grip and curling her scorching hot body against mine.

I pry her away from me, holding her at arm’s length and staring down into her heat-hazed eyes.

“You’re just saying that, Omega, because you’re in heat. It’s not what you really want and you’ll fucking regret it.” She shakes her head adamantly. But I know how a heat addles an omega’s brains, has them pleading and begging for things they would usually baulk at. She thinks she wants this, wants me, but in the cold light of day, when the heat has passed, will she regret it? “As well as hating me forever afterwards,” I mumble.

“I won’t, I won’t, I promise. I want you!”

I groan, my eyes heading up to the cloudless sky.

“If she says it’s what she wants…” Sia says.

I snap my head her way. “Of course she’s saying that. She’s in heat. An omega in heat is a mess. They don’t know what they want. She’d be offering herself up on a plate to any alpha nearby. It’s why you need to take her back to the hotel and keep her safe.”

“That’s not true, Jake Grantham!” Giorgie says, her voice suddenly sounding clearer. “I’m not some mindless sex zombie. That’s not how it works. I’m still capable of making my own decisions. Of deciding what’s right for me.”

I peer down at her. “I don’t think this is right for you, Giorgie,” I protest. “You said you wanted to take things slow. You said there was no future in this.”