Page 54 of Welcome to Bone Town

“Ow.” Roman rubs the spot I hit on his chest, and I grin. I’ve always had good aim.

Thankfully, our little mate doesn’t notice the exchange. I don’t think she’d like me hurting the professor, even if it wasn’t by much.

“You don’t think…” The nerdy beta’s eyes go wide when our mate nods.

“I feel like I’m missing something here.” I swing my head between Archer and my mate.

“It could be.” Our beta says, ignoring me. “Do you think it really does what they say?” His attention is completely locked on our girl.

“I, uh, think it will… I hope…” She lowers her voice, continuing to talk to herself as if we can’t hear her. “How the hell do I explain this to them without sounding delusional?”

She’s chewing that plush lower lip of hers, so I reach forward and pull it out gently with my thumb. “Explain.”

“I think this might be Lunara’s Relic. And… I need to find it.”

“Why do you need the necklace, love?” I ask quietly.

“What weneedis to find a way out of this hell hole,” Roman growls from the edge of the circle.

Cora turns her head toward him, but I grip her chin and force her face back to me. “Ignore him. Why is this so important to you, little mate? You know I’d do anything for you.”

“You might feel differently after?—”

“Nope. Not possible.”

“Okay, um, yeah, I guess it’s good we talk about this,since it affects all of you.” Her gaze flings toward Roman before looking away. “Well, three of you.”

Interesting. My little mate has secrets. I like that.

“Maybe we should sit down.” She closes the book and picks it up, holding it against her chest like a shield, then walks back toward the fire, leaving the rest of us guessing. And drooling over her ass. Fuck, she looks good. She’s still wearing the shirt I gave her after her bath, and seeing her in my clothes has kept me hard all morning. Pretty sure Lunara should dub me a saint for the control I’ve shown.

She sits cross-legged by the fire. I flop down next to her, grab her waist, and drag her into my lap. She only fights me on it for a second. But even in arms, she curls in on herself. I smooth a hand over her hair. “What is it, love?”

She waits until the other men sit down. Bear and Archer just to the left of us, and Roman on the other side of the fire and a good five feet back. Seems the good professor isn’t ready for her to get a whiff of his juniper and cranberry scent yet. It’s not overpowering—he was probably taking as much scent blocker as she was—but it’s noticeable if you’re close to him.

He crosses his arms, refusing to sit down.

Cora looks at him for a long beat before she blurts out, “I don’t have heats.”

I blink, shaking my head. I must have heard wrong. “Huh?”

“I don’t have heats,” she repeats, as if my hearing is the problem.

“But you’re an omega,” Bear says.

She’s still looking at Roman, and he’s looking back with an entirely neutral expression. For once, I’m grateful for the man’s control. And grateful she’s sitting in my lap and can’t see my face. I don’t know what my face is doing, because I have no fucking clue how to process what she just told us.

“What does that mean, sweetheart?” Archer asks.

Cora takes a deep breath before answering. “I have pre-heat symptoms—like, all the time—but it never turns into a real heat.”

“But you’re an omega,” Bear repeats. Big guy’s in shock. I am, too.

“The doctors think I probably won’t be able to have children. Since… well, you know. And bonding…”

The air sucks out of my lungs like I’ve been punched. The image of my omega with my bite on her neck, round with my child, is ripped from my mind in one instant.

But then I think of her.

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