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I am not doing well. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’m actively combusting, still trying not to hump the furniture, and think of how I need a cold drink, a lie-down, and maybe to never be horny again.

The pulse between my thighs says,Hi, yes, remember me? Still here. Still desperate. Could use a break. Or an orgasm. Either is fine.

I lift my head, panting, flushed, but still technically functioning - which feels like a win at this point. My thighs are glued together like I’m trying to hold back a tsunami with sheer stubbornness, and I’m 90% sure my face looks like I just ran a marathon through a sauna.

Like the sweetheart that he is, Theo ignores the rapidly unraveling alpha cage match behind him and focuses in on me like I’m the only person in the room.

“Rhea… this is real. It’s not simple or straightforward - because once it happens, it can’t be undone.”

“I know that,” I snap, even as my whole body is trying to climb him like a tree. “I’m not an idiot. I know what it means. And I’m not asking because I’m confused or overwhelmed or heat-dumb or whatever you’re all whispering behind my back -”

“You’re asking,” Ash cuts in gently, “because you feel us. All of us.”

My eyes swing to him. Then to Theo. Then to Kai - who’s somehow smirking and leaning against the wall like he’s posing for a thirst trap.Typical.

My heart hammers. My skin flushes - not just with heat but full-on rage, because Lucian didn’t come.

Because he stood there in the kitchen like a disappointed headmaster while I sat there dripping in omega shame, as though I’d done something wrong by wanting, byneeding.

And I hate that it mattered. Hate that I waited.

Hate that part of me still wants to punch a wall just thinking about him.

And maybe this is spite. Maybe it’s a full-blown hormonal tantrum.

Or maybe it’s just clarity in the middle of a very sweaty, very confusing identity crisis.

“I’m not a prize,” I say, voice low but sharp. “I’m not a project. And I am definitely not a problem to be solved.”

Thatlands.

Even Kai stops chewing whatever snack he’s managed to sneak into his mouth.

“I didn’t ask for this,” I say, gesturing vaguely to the room, the tension, the throbbing heat coiling in my spine like a ticking bomb. “But it’s happening. My body’s already burned through every suppressant I’ve ever taken, and you three are here, and everything inside me is screaming that I need you.”

I cross my arms, which is mostly to keep from grabbing the closest alpha and doing something I can’t take back.

“If Lucian can’t handle the fact that I want more than just his emotionally repressed ass, that’s his problem. Not mine.”

Kai lets out a low whistle and steps forward, eyes gleaming.

“That’s all I needed to hear. And for the record, if bonding means I get to throw hands with Lucian every time he glares at me, I’msoin.”

Theo groans. “You’re incapable of taking anything seriously.”

“I takeherseriously,” Kai says, jerking his thumb at me. “Everything else is optional.”

Ash steps in then, blocking Kai with an arm like he’s done this before. “You’re not touching her first.”

“Oh?” Kai’s brow arches. “Didn’t realize we were calling dibs now.”

“We’re not,” Theo cuts in, already bracing for impact. “She said all. Not one. Not first.All.”

And that’s when the heat hits me again.

No warning. No grace. Just WHAM - full-body chaos like someone shoved me into a furnace.

I double over, clutching my stomach.

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