Dakota

My head’s buried in the mattress, the thin fabric muffling my gasps as Holt fucks into me, his fingers digging into my waist with a grip that’s sure to bruise tomorrow. Sweat slicks my skin, my body trembling, and I’ve never felt so needy in my life—never been this lost to anything, this desperate. The worst part is the only thing running around in my head is the need for a knot.

More slick gathers around my hole, spilling out with every thrust, making the slide that much smoother. It’s too much and not enough, my ass clenching around him as I shudder, chasing something that doesn’t make any fucking sense.

I’ve taken Holt’s knot before—quick, rough moments when we were too wound up to care—but it’s never been like this, this insatiable hunger clawing at my gut. I’ve already come once, sticky mess streaking the sheets beneath me, tears running down my cheeks because I already need to come again. My body shakes with the effort as Holt leans over me, his breath warm against my ear. “Such a good mate,” he murmurs, “such a pretty Omega.” The words don’t match the way he usually fucks me—hard, fast, all edge and no mercy—but they sink in, cutting through the pheromone haze flooding the room.

His cock thickens inside me, stretching me wider, and I can’t take it anymore. I turn my head, cheek scraping the mattress, and rasp, “If you don’t fucking knot me, I think I’m going to die.”

Holt’s first instinct is to chuckle but that just pisses me off, a snarl forming on my lips before his fingers dig deeper into my waist. “I got you, sweetheart,” he promises and I’m about to tell him off again before he thrusts one last time, his knot catches at my rim, locking us together. I sag forward, a broken moan spilling out, because it’s everything I’ve ever needed.

Holt shifts, pulling me back with him, and we settle onto the other twin bed, my back pressing into his broad chest. His knot swells further, pulsing hot inside me, and he comes with a low growl, heat flooding me. I wrap a hand around my own cock, stroking fast and sloppy, chasing that edge. The next orgasm hits me quick and hard, cum spilling over my fingers as I shudder against him. “This wasn’t supposed to happen,” I mumble, words slipping out, mixing with my confusion

Holt’s arms tighten around me, his chin resting on my shoulder. “But you’ve been off for weeks—why didn’t you say anything?”

I don’t immediately answer because I don’t have a reason, not a good one anyway. “You said you were happy with how things were,” I finally manage, “that you weren’t…” I trail off, unsure how to finish, my mind still reeling with this very drastic change. We’ve briefly talked about becoming an official pack after Roman and I graduated but during those conversations, I was a Beta. Now, I’m not.

He shifts, turning me slightly so I can feel his breath on my neck. “I still love you, still want you. That hasn’t changed. Other things will, and god, it feels amazing with you squeezing my knot, but you will always be mine.” He runs his nose along the length of my neck, his scent calming the panic fraying at the edges of my mind. “Your scent’s settled a little. Feeling better?”

I nod softly, a tiny jerk of my head, Holt alternating to soft, tender kisses along my throat, lips brushing my pulse. “What happened, sweetheart? You were passed out one second and gone by the time Ro got out of the bathroom.”

“I woke up and everything just felt wrong. Like my skin didn’t fit. And then I was fucking around with the pillows and blankets I collected—stacking them, shoving them around—but that wasn’t enough.” I grimace, the memory sharp disconcerting because I felt so fucking out of control. “I only knew one person who could help me rearrange them right, so I went for Maya. But by the time I got there, I needed more than that. I was falling apart—hot, irritable, a fucking mess.”

I shift in his lap, Holt’s knot still nestled inside me, and wince at the flood of shame. “I fucking came in my pants while holding her,” I admit. “I probably terrified the fuck out of her.”

“Yes, but I’m sure she’ll understand. You can explain when the spike’s over.”

I frown, sitting up a little, and the fullness of his knot shifts, pulling a groan from my throat. “It’s over,” I insist, testing the words. “I feel fine.”

Holt snorts, his breath warm against my neck. “Your scent’s still sweet as fuck,” he counters, voice rough with that Alpha edge. “Until that softens, I’m not letting you go anywhere.”

If he thinks I’m going to be sitting here, waiting for him to tell me when my scent returns to an acceptable level, he’s got another thing coming. Mostly because I need to fix this. It’s an instinctual desire, something that if left any longer is going to make me sick. His knot starts to soften, slowly dislodging with a slick, wet pull that leaves me empty.

“I feel fine,” I repeat, rolling off him to sit on the edge of the bed. “I just want to make sure she’s okay.”

Holt reaches for me, hands gentle but insistent. “And I sent Roman to do that,” he says, tugging me closer. “Come here, sweetheart.”

“No, I need—” I start, but then it hits me—a full, bleeding heat surging through my veins. My eyes roll back, head tipping as a fresh wave of slick spills down my thighs. “Holy fuck. That’s… shit.” My body trembles, every nerve screaming for a knot all over again. I stupidly try to push through it, marching to the door but I barely make it before my head is leaning against the cool wood.

“I told you the spike wasn’t over,” he growls, stepping closer.

A whimper tears free as emotions fight my rationale, spilling out in a whine that is more than just embarrassing. “I want to be in my room with Maya and Roman and…”

“Kota, we won’t make it halfway across the quad before I strip you bare and knot you on the concrete. My control’s just as shot as yours.”

Another bout of slick slips down my thighs, my hands fisting against the door. Trying to fight this need isn’t working and in fact, it’s starting to hurt. “I don’t know why I need it so bad,” I confess, half-pleading.

Holt closes the distance between us, his heat seeping into my back, once again calming me. “We’ll talk to someone in the morning, but right now, you need a knot.” I lean forward, ready to bend in half again but Holt slowly turns me around, cupping my cheeks with his hands. “Not this time. This time, I want to kiss you, show you my feelings haven’t changed.”

My instincts roar at that, a desperate yes thrumming through me as he presses against me, all hard muscle and heat, lifting my leg with one hand hooked under my knee. Then he hooks his free hand under my other knee, lifting me completely off the ground. Holt’s the only one who’s ever lifted me like this, and with everything shifting, it feels better than ever, like I’m weightless, his.

He slides back in, filling me with a stretch that makes me moan. My arms loop around his neck, fingers digging into his shoulders as he kisses me—soft at first, lips brushing mine, then harder, tongue sweeping in to taste me. His scent floods my senses, mahogany blending with my lavender, and I melt into it, slick easing the way as he rocks into me.

“We’re going to have to fucking fumigate this room when we’re done,” I pant against his mouth, half-laughing, half-dazed.

Holt chuckles, a rumble in his chest, and thrusts deeper, making me gasp. “I don’t really fucking care,” he growls, “not with the way you’re squeezing me.”