Page 51 of Our Deceptive Heat

I can’t stop looking back at him.

Heat coils under my skin, turning me warm one limb at a time.

Mako and Digs are sitting at the table, and they look feral. Tyr indicates a seat and I slip into it, lifting my chin and refusing to cower.

“You are an omega!” Digs almost shouts.

“I’m aware.”

“An omega! What the actual hell, Auryn? How could you do that?”

I flick him a reproachful look. “It’s a designation, not a disease, Digs.”

He slams his palm into his face and groans. “Since when?”

My temper sizzles. “Since always. I have always been an omega.”

“Why can’t we smell it!” he snaps. “Why did you hide it? Why?”

I stare at him. He knows all these answers. I don’t need to answer this interrogation.

“Because you hid it to be safe. From not just us but everyone, so your father wouldn’t sell you to the highest bidder,” Mako drawls out loud, figuring it all out.

“Omegas are a more highly sought commodity than betas,” I say bitterly.

“So, why didn’t you tell us?” Tyr asks.

I raise an eyebrow. “I didn’t even tell my cousins, and I trust them.”

The bard hits true.

Tyr sits back. “Well, you’re going to have to trust us now, Auryn,” Tyr snaps. “You’re going into heat.”

I open my mouth to protest, but suddenly, the sickness, the aches, the pain, my strange behaviour, it all becomes crystal clear.

My eyes find Envy and lower to his crotch, the wet patch. My slick. The clarity I had in the room, the understanding, returns.

Heat.

I stand up and start pacing.

“I’ll call someone.”

“It's too late,” Tyr says calmly.

“No-”

“Ryn, it’s too late. No one will reach you in time. There’s only one option.”

I stare at him, my head getting light.

“We’re going to have to see you through this.”

I shake my head, a wordless protest. “No, I can’t. We can’t.”

“You don’t have a choice anymore, Ryn.” Tyr is immovable.

I bare my teeth at the huge alphas as I back towards the door, but Digs gets up and crowds me into the corner.

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