Page 53 of Knot My Band: Part Two

And I’m going to have to pay for that mistake.

Chase

OMEGA BUZZ GOSSIP COLUMN

FANS SWARM TO THE EON FESTIVAL FOR OLI HART AND THE EDGE

June 19th

Graham crackers. Strawberries. Cream. Sweet sugar.

Oli’s perfume blooms around us as a strong need floods our bond.

It slams into me, a tidal wave of powerful desire that nearly knocks me over.

I know instinctively that my omega’s heat is starting.

“It’s her heat, but why is it starting now? I thought we had until the end of the tour,” Aiden says through gritted teeth.

“That’s only another day, we cut it too close,” Dax snaps.

My alpha surges forward. I need to help her.

“Chase, focus!” Jack’s voice cuts through the fog in my head, his blue eyes flashing a warning.

My alpha roars to the surface, demanding, needing, wanting her.

I can tell Dax, Jack, and Aiden feel it, too. The air around us crackles with tension, and our usual playful banter is replaced by low, needy growls barely held in check.

“Control it,” I whisper to myself, gripping my pants tighter, trying to shove the lust down deep where it won’t distract me. We can’t just pounce on our omega in front of an entire festival.

Dax doesn’t say a word, but his jaw is set in a hard line. We’re a mess. All of us wound up and ready to snap.

“Chase,” she pants, stumbling slightly in her high boots, her voice barely audible over the chaos. Her hand finds mine, gripping tight like I’m her lifeline. “We need to find Miranda.”

A growl rumbles deep within me, warning others away as I steer us through the sea of bodies, pushing past roadies and staff with a single-minded purpose.

I keep close to her, shoulder-checking anyone who gets too close.

Her heat is like a haze, wrapping around my thoughts and making it hard to focus on anything but her. The air backstage is thick with the odor of sweat and adrenaline, but all I smell is Oli—sweet and intoxicating. Jack and Aiden flank her, their eyes wild, while Dax brings up the rear, his expression grim.

“Almost there,” I mutter, more to myself than her. But the reassurance seems to steady her, and she nods, a whimper escaping her lips as another wave of her heat hits the air. It’s a siren call, and my body responds before my mind can catch up, urging me to pull her close, to soothe her, to claim—

“Focus,” I snap. If Oli wants Miranda, then we have to get to Miranda. And fast.

Dax’s voice cuts through the silence like a knife, his words wrapped in anger.

“Oli, did you know? Did you know your heat was starting today?” The question is more of an accusation coming from him, his eyes hard as flint.

I glance at her, taking in the flush on her cheeks and the way she bites her lip. I can almost taste her anxiety. She’s too gone to answer.

Her whimper breaks my heart, and Aiden, Jack, and I turn to growl at Dax.

“Don’t fucking yell at her. She’s in heat!” Jack yells.

“Fuck, Oli, I’m sorry. I’m not mad, omega. We will take care of you,” Dax tries to reassure her.

I feel something shift in my soul, heavy and uncomfortable. As the alpha in me fights against the urge to sweep her up and away from all this, the rational part of me starts to piece it together. I remember the meeting and the extra show we pushed for in Miami.