Page 162 of Power Shift

My temperature breaks finally, and I accept the abrupt break with a breath of relief. Being sandwiched between Dash and Ronan is great for my omega and her neediness, but not for the unbearable heat. For now, I close my eyes and focus on the wind whipping through my hair and over sweat-slicked skin.

“There’s a security team there. An alpha, right?” Ronan growls, hold tightening possessively.

Landon’s scent spikes, deeper than usual. Darker. “There’s what?”

“Duke and his team are professionals. They’re not there to focus on me, and they won’t even be anywhere near the delivery room.”

“It’ll be fine,” Dash says, his voice tight enough to betray the calm façade he’s going for.

I don’t have it in me to get any further into this right now.

“You’ll have to get over it. The team is there as another layer of protection for Sadie. With Thorne involved, I’m not going to turn away the help. It’s not like I expected you all to be there for this,” I snap.

God, I’m a mess. My nipples won’t soften, and the constant heave of my breaths forces them to rub against my shirt over and over. Not to mention that my every breath is accompanied by strong scents that make me want nothing more than to climb onto Ronan’s lap and ride his cock while Dash helps.

“Fuck,” Jasper groans.

Ronan grips me tight, that deep rumble I love so much starting up in his chest. “You’re perfuming again, Petal.”

“I’m sorry,” I whine, wiggling into the leather seat.

Dash leans forward and stares at the GPS. “We’re only three minutes away.”

I nod and bite down on my lip hard enough for it to burn worse than the last spike did. Landon twists in his seat and stares at me, his eyes dark and aroused but focused. And weary. Definitely weary.

“You need to take care of yourself for me, Briar. I mean it. The moment something isn’t right or you’re in too much pain to be on your own and taking care of someone else, I want to know about it.”

Before I have a chance to argue about him trying to make this about me instead of Sadie, he shakes his head, mouth downturned.

“I know how important this is to you. This isn’t me doubting you or your capabilities. I’m just looking out for my omega.My scent match.That’s my job. Your safety is my top priority always, and I’m going to do everything I can to make sure that I don’t cross your boundaries, but I also need you to know that I will if it’s the only thing I can do to keep you safe.

“This is your first heat after finding us, and from what I’ve read, it’ll be the worst you’ve ever had. The pain will be stronger, and your temperature will spike higher than it has before on your own because your omega knows we should be there helping you through this.”

The backs of my eyes burn as I drop my head to hide the gleam in them. His words crash over me, tearing through the fragile confidence I’ve built like waves swallowing the shore.

“You’ve read about heats?” I whisper.

Jasper releases a breathy laugh. “It’s what he was doing while you were gone with Ronan to try and keep busy last night.”

My heart triples in size and punches against my ribs. It’s almost too much to handle just how much Landon has changed in such a short period of time. The Landon I met that night in the restaurant never would have said those things to me, and he certainly wouldn’t have been spending his night waiting up for me while reading about heats.

“It felt like the least I could do. None of us have to go through what you do.”

“I wanted my first heat with you to be special. So if you wanted to . . .” A sob catches in my throat.

My mind doesn’t belong to me right now. It’s overrun with hormones and this itch screaming beneath my skin to be scratched with knots and teeth and painted with cum. I want thesafety of my nest and not to be stuck in this SUV surrounded by all the men that I can’t have yet.

Sadie’s delivery will be hell for me. I knew that from the moment I bent myself over the bed in the treatment room and let Jasper knot me for the first time.

“We haven’t even talked about whether you’ll all bite me!” I cry out, shaking as another cramp grows low in my belly and my core tightens, slick gushing into my thin panties.

“Let’s talk about it now, then,” Jasper soothes.

I whip my head side to side. “No! Now you’re just going to say what you think I want because I’m in pain!”

Ronan’s hand grows slack around my thigh, and I stare up at him, another sob jumping for freedom.

“Why don’t you want to touch me anymore?” I blubber, a wave of pain stealing my breath. “Is it because I mentioned biting?”

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