Page 33 of Let It Snow (Eden’s Omegaverse #7)

I barrel down, taking two steps at a time, and burst into the parlor. I freeze halfway through the room. The sexual howl I was emitting dies off in my throat. My eyes lock on the table and on who’s sitting around it.

My nose is now extremely sensitive, and I can detect their subgenders immediately.

Alphas!

Of all the possible disasters, of course this is the one that happens.

An omega in heat, spreading pheromones everywhere, stumbles into a room full of alphas. It’s a nightmare sketch brought to life.

Or a porn screenplay.

My panic explodes into a desperate groan. Of those four alphas, I know just one: Bay.

He’s the only one who stays seated. The other three snap up like coiled animals.

My scent has already filled the room. Low, heavy growls roll out of them: it's AO mating language, a response to an omega’s call: a direct, "I’ll take care of this. I’m ready for you!"

That’s the kind of promising hum any healthy, virile alpha gives when an omega in heat calls out.

Panic floods me.

Yes, I could fight them off, my power would take care of them easily, but they’re strangers. I don’t want to show them what I can do. The pressure and fear make my legs buckle, and I slam down on the floorboards, knees hitting with a sharp pain, I’m trembling like a leaf.

One alpha is old, probably in his seventies, huge and still imposing. His hair is steel-gray, cropped short. He must have been handsome once, and some people would still call him a sexy grandpa.

The other two are much younger. One looks my age or even a bit younger, black hair with a single red streak at the front. The other looks about twenty-three, with copper hair falling in artistic curls around a striking face and light copper eyes that lock onto me with fierce intensity.

In a second they’re right on top of me, their chests rumbling with ultra-low tones that beta ears can’t catch, promising top-tier sex.

Then something shifts. Their faces flush, and the sounds jump up into a range everybody could hear, a hostile growl.

It’s not aimed at me, duh! It’s aimed at each other. I realize what’s about to go down: a primal alpha fight over an omega in heat. These things tip fast between voluntary and involuntary, a scramble to claim what their bodies demand.

Then the unexpected happens. The only alpha who didn’t respond to my call, Bay, leaps between me and the three, blocking them with his arms held up like a dam.

"Back off, guys! He’s not yours to take!"

The old alpha pauses first, steadying himself; he most likely has more control, more life experience. But the two younger alphas are harder to stop. Their hormones are awake, strongly stimulated by my scent.

They surge toward Bay together. The next second I barely blink, and one of them is on the floor, the other bent over with his arm twisted behind his back in a move Bay nails with brutal effectiveness.

"I told you to back off!" Bay snaps, then shoves the black-haired alpha, who collapses.

"Veyron, Raven!" the older alpha calls, taking deep breaths, fighting his own instincts. Obviously, his age helps him keep a lid on it. "Stop! He’s Uncle Aiden’s guest. Control your fucking hormones!"

The two rise, growling low; their eyes flash red. If they could touch me right then, they’d be in full rut. But Bay stands between me and them like a wall of steel muscle.

"Alright, guys, enough!" Bay growls. "Back up. I’m handling this."

"You gonna keep him for yourself?" the copper-haired alpha spits.

"No, Veyron. I’m not keeping him," Bay says through his teeth. "I’m taking him to someone who can help."

"Do it, and hurry. The scent is getting stronger," the older alpha warns, stepping back. "You could have trouble soon, too."

"Don’t worry about it, Uncle Van. I got it covered."

Bay turns to me.

"Summer, follow me."

But I’m frozen, crushed by the whole scene. I curl on the floor, my hole clenching and spasming out of control, the wave hitting full force. I can’t move.

Bay sizes up the situation, then grabs my arm, hard and unsympathetic, and hauls me up.

His grip is like a steel vise. My skin stings under his hold, like touching nettles. I try to wriggle free, but he probably reads my resistance as a desire to stay, so he doesn’t let go. He drags me toward the patio door.

I hate the contact. It’s unwanted touch.

I try to use my power to push his fingers off by forcing air between my arm and his grip, but for the first time… nothing happens.

What the hell? My power is failing?

I try again, this time pushing a wave of air against his body. The papers on the coffee table flutter, and some drop to the floor, but Bay himself stands wrapped in something like a protective, yet invisible, bubble. Nothing touches him. A barrier holds.

I have no choice but to give in to his lead, whether I want to or not. He drags me behind him, shoves open the glass doors, and hauls me out onto the patio with a low, angry growl.

"That was fucking stupid, Summer! If I hadn’t been there, it could’ve gone really bad for all of you.

Either you would’ve been forced to use your power on them, or they would’ve done whatever the hell they wanted with you.

You let out a goddamn heat mating call, Summer!

You don’t do shit like that around young, hotheaded alphas like my cousins, do you get that? Completely irresponsible!"

"I know," I cry out, my voice breaking. The heat is twisting me up inside anyway, turning hunger into pain, so the ache that usually comes when I speak doesn’t even feel that sharp right now.

"I lost it, I can’t control myself," I choke out, pathetic and desperate. "It’s my first heat!"

Bay storms down from the patio, still yanking me along like I’m some ragdoll, like he’s afraid I’ll slip away. He pulls me toward Snow’s basement.

But right before the stairs, he suddenly stops, as if something clicks in his head. He grips my shoulders and shakes me lightly, maybe to knock some sense into me.

"Summer, focus. I’m not forcing you to go down there. This has to be your choice. If you don’t want him, then get your ass back upstairs," he gestures toward the ladder still visible from here, "and ride this heat out alone. Because none of us can help you, and frankly, no one should. Only Snow."

I just stare at him blankly like a silly calf.

"Why doesn’t my power work on you? It worked on your cousins!" It slips out of me before I can stop it, like it even matters now, when nothing really does. Except for being knotted. Fast.

Bay doesn’t answer. His face doesn’t even twitch.

He just growls, "Focus, Summer! Are you going down there or not? Because if you’re not, then you’re climbing back up, locking yourself in that room for the next few days, and that’s it.

Let us know if you need anything brought up, but those are your only options. "

I snap, "Of course I want to go to Snow," the words come out with a bite. "Yeah, he did some fucked-up shit, but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m drawn to him like crazy.

I ran down here to find him, but in the middle of the frenzy, instead of jumping off the balcony, I ended up taking the stairs! "

"Irresponsible, but fine, the only excuse you’ve got is that it’s your first heat. Whatever." He waves it off and finally lets go of me. "My cousins need to shake this off, and you need to get your leaking ass down there and not come back up until it’s over."

A harsh cramp rips through me, my passage clenching painfully, I must be radiating a storm of heat pheromones. I blurt out another question I shouldn’t.

"One, last thing! Why don’t my pheromones impact you?"

I know damn well there aren’t any suppressants strong enough to block out the scent of heat completely. Allure pheromones can be muted, sure, but heat has its own scent that pulls every alpha in, fires them up. But not Bay. He’s cold, unmoved.

"I’m not your problem, Summer. Focus. Get downstairs and don’t show your face until this is over. Understood?"

I give in, nodding, before a sharp cry tears out of me as another wave folds me forward.

My ass arches on its own, my hips tipping almost level, like I’m presenting myself already. Or picking strawberries. Or suffering from a runaway case of lumbar lordosis.

"Thanks for the save, seriously. Without you, it really could’ve been a disaster!" I squeal through clenched teeth.

Bay gives me a push, forcing me down the stairs. The moment I reach them, the door opens and…

I stop breathing.

Snow is standing in the doorway.

He’s in a black tank top, tattoos gleaming against his tanned skin. His pale violet eyes lock with Bay’s up on the landing, and the exchange is ice-cold.

Then Bay turns without a word and walks away.

And I’m left standing alone in front of the sexy, traitorous alpha.

He looks like my fucking erotic fantasy come to life. His long white hair falls across his chest, muscles shifting under inked skin, that tank top clinging perfectly. Faded blue jeans hang low on his hips, flashing skin and that sinful V.

His expression is hard to read, but what I do feel is clear: an edge of anticipation, waiting for what I’ll say, for what happens next.

"My heat started yesterday afternoon. It’s been going all night," I force out, ignoring the pain and the cramps tearing through me.

"I know," Snow says simply. Nothing else. Bastard.

"You could’ve come," I whisper hoarsely, full of hurt, though really it’s aimed at myself.

"No, I couldn’t, Summer," he says, calm and composed. "It had to be you. Your initiative. Your decision."

Of course he’s right. If he had shown up and knocked on my door, I would’ve taken it as an invasion, a violation of my space. The only way into his arms was by my own choice. And Bay’s push.

"So I came, dammit," I mutter, biting my lip. "You smell good, fresh. Did you just shower?"

Crap, I really just said that.

To cover the awkwardness, I blurt out quickly,

"But that doesn’t mean I stopped hating you, no matter how fucking sexy you look and smell!"