Page 153 of Queen of Diamonds

A rut, I realised.

In response to a heat he could feel. Vicious and overwhelming from years of agony and drugs—a heat he had created.

I smiled, shifting again over Kyan’s length, letting out a little breath of satisfaction as he held my hips, drawing me closer.

53

KYAN

The first wave of heat came to an end at last.

Two days.

Two fucking days just for wave one.

My dick was sore. I didn’t even know that was a thing that could happen to Alphas.

I mean, it didn’t matter. There was no part of me that cared how much my dick ached, not when we were taking care of her like we were.

I was the one on Ace duty right now. I would keep him alive until she said otherwise—even if only just.

It was as I was making the final adjustments of the bindings, I’d just returned to myself, when I heard the buzz of my phone.

A smile crossed my face as I checked it.

My delivery was here—at fucking last.

The others might not have noticed, but I had—I’d been looking for it. Sure enough, there were times, over the last days, when Glade had stared toward the cell, something longing in her expression.

I’d even caught her slipping from the pack bed and hovering at the door, lip caught in her teeth as she clutched the doorknob, like she was daring herself to go in.

I knew what it was she needed.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Knight growled, as I stepped back into the living room, arms bundled with a massive bouquet of roses, the scent choking up my lungs unpleasantly. But I would sacrifice anything for my Oasis.

Glade, who’d been dozing in Zed’s arms, happily settled on his knot, snapped to attention immediately, eyes wide as she stared over at me.

Luckily, Zed seemed to have deflated, because the speed at which she bolted from him told me she might not have cared either way. She rushed over to me, eyes wide, stopping at Knight, whose arm she grabbed as if for support.

She was so cute, peering around him like I would bite, one of our massively oversized T-shirts covering her to the mid-thighs.

“Are you fucking mad?” Knight demanded.

“It’s a gift,” I said. “A… first heat gift.”

Was that a thing?

If it wasn’t, it should be.

But Glade was staring at the bouquet, eyes glassy and fixed on it like a cat. I thought she might even follow it around the room if I moved it.

“Is this what you need, Oasis?” I asked.

The sweetest sound of desperate need rose in her chest as she stumbled from Knight—who tried to reach out to grab her just too late—and drew up before me.

Oh… boy, if I thought she’d been feral before.

Her eyes were wide, and she was shifting around the bouquet like a curious mouse, occasionally lifting a hand as if she was going to take it, then drawing back with a frown.

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