Page 103 of Pack Choice

But then she’s muttering, muttering about wanting us both, needing us both, how she needs our knots.

“Need you alphas. Need you both.”

And maybe it’s the tone of her voice, so needy, so void of the usual control and snark I hear so often in her voice, but something slaps me hard around the face, my Goddamn conscience.

We shouldn’t be doing this. We shouldn’t be taking advantage of her like this. She’s high on heat hormones. She doesn’t know what the fuck she wants.

But it isn’t me. And it isn’t Ford. We’re no pack. We don’t come as a pair.

We’d rip her apart in a heat. Two lone wolves fighting over the one omega. It could be fatal.

I’m not prepared to risk that.

“Stop!” I bark at them both and the omega goes rigid in my arms.

Ford looks up at me and I see the haze of his rut dissipate enough for him to know it too.

“This isn’t right. She can’t have us both. We can’t do this. It would be taking advantage and … and freaking dangerous.”

Something flashes in Ford’s eyes and then he’s taking a decided step back from the omega. I follow suit. And the little thing lets out a string of irritated curses that would have me chuckling on any other occasion, any other occasion when I wasn’t so damn hard.

“Take her home,” I tell him.

He nods but before he can move, the omega falls to her knees clutching her belly and wailing.

Shit. My gaze meets Ford and we both know what the other is thinking. She’s not going to make it home in time.

“River has an apartment one block from here,” I tell Ford.

“River.” His top lip curls in disgust. “Will he be there?”

“No, but I have the code to get in.” He gave it to me in case I ever needed a place to crash late at night. But I’ve never used it. I always make a point of being home. Even if it is later some days than I’d like. “It has a nest,” I say, knowing that probably makes the whole thing sound worse. Yeah, River is a player with a nest in every home he owns. It’s still the best place I can think of to take her. “She’ll be comfortable there,” I point out.

Ford stares at me for a moment and I can almost see the rusty cogs grinding in his head.

Molly moans a second time. This time louder.

“Fine,” he says, “what’s the address? I’ll need to let Silver know what’s going on.”

I pull out my phone and look it up, all the while trying to ignore the omega groaning beside me, smelling wetter and wetter by the minute. I find the address and pause, looking up at Ford and glaring at him. Can he be trusted? Her brothers seem to think so. Then again, he’s already fucked her once. I bet they wouldn’t trust him so much if they knew that.

“You won’t take advantage of her?”

The tendons on Ford’s neck strain.

“Shit,” I mumble, because the dude may be a fucking ex-marine or something but he’s only human. Guarding an omega while she’s writhing a round in heat, begging and pleading to be fucked. Only an alpha with super powers could withstand that kind of temptation. “I’ll come with you,” I say. “That way we can keep each other on the straight and narrow.”

We both glance Molly’s way. She looks back at us both with hunger in her eyes and I suspect I may be setting myself up to fail. But, hey, I’ve always been a sucker for a damsel in distress. It’s my kryptonite. It’s led to my biggest fuck ups. No, that’s not entirely true, it’s also led to the best thing in my life.

“Come on,” I tell Ford, “let’s get her out of here before everyone else shows up for work.”

It won’t be for long. Before we know it her brothers and his pack will show up and take her home to her nest.

* * *

Of course,the problems with damsels in distress? They never act in the way you expect them to. It’s why they end up finding themselves in distress in the first place. They don’t make the sensible decisions. They don’t play by the normal rules.

Molly was never an omega to play by the rules at the best of times. On the verge of a fucking heat, she’s a nightmare.