Page 8 of Omega on the Rocks (Pubbin’ Mates #1)

“Try me!” she yelled, stepping closer, crouching down. I felt her hand on my back—warm, human, terrified.

I flinched.

And then I broke.

“ I need him, ” I whispered, and it felt like something inside me shattered when I said it out loud. “I need him, Jules. I can’t— I can’t do this, I can’t breathe. It’s too much—it hurts. Oh God, it hurts so bad—”

“Who?” Her voice cracked. “Who do you need? What are you talking about?”

“My mate,” I sobbed. “I never told anyone. I’m not— I’m not human, Jules.”

She froze. I felt her hand hover behind me, uncertain now. “What…?”

“I’m a shifter,” I forced out. “Wolf. Omega. I’ve been hiding it—my whole life, I’ve been hiding. I thought I could run from it, from him, but the bond—Jules, the bond is real, and it’s ripping me apart. My body—it’s calling for him, and he’s not here.”

Tears burned down my face. I couldn’t even lift my head.

“My slick won’t stop. I can’t walk. I can’t think. It’s not going to stop until he—until he claims me, and I’m going to die like this if I don’t get to him.”

“Jesus Christ…” she whispered.

I heard her breath catch—whether in fear or sympathy, I didn’t know. Probably both.

“I need you,” I begged. “Please, Jules. I need you to take me to him.”

“But I don’t— Mal, I don’t know what’s happening—”

“His name is Keiran. I don’t care if you don’t believe me. I don’t care if you’re scared. I need you to take me to him. Or I’m going to lose my mind right here in this fucking alley.”

I reached for her, grasped at her wrist with all the strength I had left. My fingers were shaking. My body was soaked, the scent of heat thick in the air now, and I was falling— freefalling.

“Please,” I whispered. “I don’t want to die alone.”

Jules didn’t answer at first. And then, slowly, carefully, she wrapped her arms around me and held me up. I felt her swallow against my shoulder.

“Okay,” she whispered. “Okay. We’ll find him. Just hold on, Mal. I’ve got you.”

I sobbed into her shirt, clinging to her like she was the only thread tethering me to reality. Because she was. Until Keiran could come… She was all I had.

“Mal, talk to me,” Jules murmured, practically dragging me toward her car. “You have to stay with me. Tell me where to go as I get to the turns.”

I couldn’t open my eyes.

I couldn’t think past the crushing weight in my gut, the pulsing between my legs, the molten ache deep inside that screamed to be stretched —to be knotted.

My knees buckled. Another wave hit, harder than the last. I screamed, sharp and raw, echoing in the alley like a wounded animal.

“I can’t—” I choked. “I can’t hold it anymore—Jules, I need him—I need to be bred—I need to be— fuck, please— ”

Her hands tightened around me, keeping me from collapsing. “I’ve got you. Just hold on.”

She shoved the car door open, helped me inside, and slammed it shut. My body shook, drenched in slick and shame and need. She climbed into the driver’s seat, buckled with shaking fingers.

“Tell me how to get there,” she said as she started the engine.

“Highway Nine,” I whispered, barely managing the words between clenched teeth. “Right before the overlook—there’s a dirt road. Two boulders mark the entrance… and a rusted road sign—half fallen.”

“And after that?” she asked, already pulling onto the road, eyes wild.

“The trail splits,” I gasped. “Take the right fork. You’ll think it’s the wrong way—it’s overgrown, steep. But keep going. You’ll see a wooden fence with blue paint, just barely visible through the trees.”

I tried to suck in a breath. Failed.

“Then what?” she urged.

“There’s a clearing behind the fence,” I wheezed. “His cabin’s there. You won’t see it until you’re right on top of it. It hides. He hides. ”

“Got it,” Jules whispered. “I’ll find it. I’ll get you there.”

And as the next wave of heat slammed into me—hotter, crueler, emptier than all the ones before—I believed her.

I had to. My fingers slipped on the leather, my body soaked with slick. It was everywhere—soaking through my pants, dripping in hot, humiliating streams. My thighs stuck together. My scent filled the car in an instant, sharp and sweet and desperate.

“It’s okay. Okay, I’ve got it,” she whispered.

Another wave hit. This one was brutal. I screamed, legs kicking out, arching so hard my back cracked. My vision went white. I clawed at my pants, yanking them down, needing the pressure gone, needing anything. The cold air hit my slick-coated skin and I sobbed with relief—but it wasn’t enough.

It would never be enough without him.

“Jules—” I begged, teeth chattering. “You don’t understand—his knot—it’s the only thing that’ll stop this. I need it. I need him inside me—deep—full—tied. My body won’t stop until I’m claimed. ”

“I believe you,” she said softly, and I could hear the fear and awe in her voice. “I don’t get it, but I believe you.”

Tears flooded my eyes. “He’s the only one who’s ever touched me during a heat. I trusted him. I— I ran. I told myself I could live without him. But I can’t. I’m breaking.”

She was silent for a long beat as the engine roared.

Then: “We’ll get to him.”

“Faster,” I begged. “Please. Jules, I don’t care if you get pulled over—I’ll die if I don’t feel him again. I need to be claimed—I need to feel his knot lock me down and fill me until this agony stops. ”

I doubled over, hands pressed between my legs, trying to soothe the fire—but it only made it worse. The emptiness, the gaping void inside me throbbed with every heartbeat. I needed to be filled, to be stretched, to be used.

Every second without Keiran was a second closer to madness.

“Drive,” I whimpered. “Drive like hell. Please.”

Jules didn’t speak—just gripped the wheel harder, white-knuckled, and pressed her foot harder on the gas. The tires skidded and kicked gravel, but she didn’t slow down, not even when the forest thickened and the sky turned violet-black with dusk.

The boulders. The overgrown fork. The fence with blue paint like bruises in the trees. And then—The cabin.

It came into view like a salvation wrapped in shadow. My heart lurched. My whole body seized with anticipation. I clawed at the door before the car fully stopped. But the moment I stumbled out, collapsed to my knees in the gravel and wet leaves, I knew.

The scent was muted. Keiran wasn’t here. The cabin stood silent, dark, empty.

“No,” I gasped. “No, no, no—” I dragged myself to the porch, fingers shaking as I reached for the handle. It wasn’t locked. It didn’t need to be. No boots by the door. Just the muted scent of him having been here. No Alpha.

He was gone. My legs gave out and I crumpled against the doorframe. My body trembled, seized. Slick soaked my skin, pooling beneath me in warm, humiliating streams.

“Malachi—” Jules was behind me, breathless, terrified.

I screamed. Loud and ragged. A sound that didn’t sound human—because it wasn’t.

“ Where is he? ” I sobbed. “He promised—he said if I needed him— "

I curled in on myself, digging my fingers into the wood floor, gasping as my spine arched with another wave of unbearable heat.

“I need him,” I keened, voice shattering. “Jules—I need his teeth in my neck—I need his knot in me—I can’t—I can’t do this without him.”

My body knew he wasn’t here. It punished me for it. My slick turned to a flood. My pulse thundered. My vision flickered with black stars. My core ached so violently I couldn’t tell where the pain ended and I began.

“I’m gonna die,” I choked. “It hurts—it hurts— ”

Jules dropped to her knees beside me, her hands hovering helplessly, terrified to touch me, afraid it might make things worse. And she was right. Nothing helped. Only him. Only Keiran. I was unraveling. I was being ripped apart from the inside out.

“ He’s my mate, ” I whispered brokenly, voice gone hoarse from screaming. “He’s my fated. And I—I thought he’d know—I thought he’d feel it—”

Then I screamed again—sharp, feral, ruined.