Page 89 of Into the Fire: Before

Yet the SUV still meandered down the overgrown road, swinging headlights in the dark making even me in the backseat dizzy. Taryn was at least sleeping again. God, she still hadn’t even fully descended. She had to be fighting against it with everything she had. During her past heats, she’d go hours and hours without ever stopping. We once went seven hours straight, Taryn hopping between me and the two certified heat attendants we’d booked one after the other, and only stopped when all three of us were tapped out.

“How much further?” I asked.

We’d been following Lin’s verbal instructions all day. Maybe it was paranoid to think the billionaires could find us from our GPS usage. Then again, the simplest explanation of how they knew when Taryn’s heat was set to start was that they’d breached her medical records—Wainwright Corp was the biggestname in designation supplements, after all. Her past heat dates, when she refilled her heat control—all of it was on their own fucking servers.

“We’re close,” Lin said. He was leaning forward between the two front seats, watching out the window. From the back, all I could see was pitch black darkness, the dirt and gravel road bracketed by thick trees with limbs hanging low over the road. Occasionally one would scrape down the side or over the top of the car, like a skeletal finger taunting us the deeper into the mountains we drove.

Good. Because the next time Taryn woke, she’d likely be in a full-blown heat haze.

“When we get inside,” Lin continued, slipping into the role of head alpha, “Brooks and Brea will take Taryn in. Let her choose her space. We’ll unload everything as quick as we can, then Caine and I will set up perimeter.”

I swallowed, nodding.

The car slowed even further before coming to a full stop. I leaned forward, looking ahead into the darkness next to Lin. A huge gate blocked our progress, black iron with gray stone pillars on either side of the road. Ten feet high, at least.

Lin handed something to Caine—a key, I realized a moment later as Caine hopped out and unlocked the gate, letting Brooks drive through before securing it back.

Another quarter mile of dirt and gravel finally opened up, and the Greysmoke Cabin finally appeared. I could only see what the cones of the headlines illuminated, but even that was impressive. A huge A-line facade with big open windows. The view from inside was probably unreal. Dark wood framed the cabin and the four steps onto the deck and to the front door.

Brooks cut the engine, and we all jumped into action. Lin lifted a still-sleeping Taryn from the backseat, and Brooks andI started grabbing as many supplies as possible while Caine unlocked the door.

The inside was stunning, if impersonal. A large brown chesterfield sofa dominated the main space with two matching single seats in front. Behind them sat a huge, floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace, the opening probably three feet tall. It wasn’t an open floor plan, but I saw a large dining table through one open doorway, and a wide staircase through another.

Lin laid Taryn on the sofa, letting her sleep for the time being while he and Brooks and I unloaded the car. Caine, for the most part, stood just inside the door, jaw clenched, eyes glued to Taryn.

I couldn’t imagine what it must be like for him, stepping inside this place he once knew after so many years. We didn’t bother him, allowing him a few quiet moments to adjust and orient himself.

Once the car was unloaded—food, waters, snacks, toys, blankets, pillows, linens, towels, everything we could think of and find on short notice that we might need—Lin touched Caine’s shoulder. He jolted, tearing his gaze from Taryn to look at Lin.

“Let’s secure this place,” Lin said softly, and Caine nodded. He cast one more longing glance at Taryn, who was just starting to stir on the couch, and they turned to leave. Lin paused long enough to leave a kiss first on Brooks’ lips, then mine. Caine, too, gave the beta a solemn nod before reaching up to frame my face, his eyes hard but determined. We stared silently for the space of a few heartbeats, then they were gone.

Brooks

Tarynwokeupinnesting mode. She didn’t want to speak, she didn’t want to be touched. I’d never been party to an omega heat, but that surprised me. Especially after the preview in the car, I thought omegas wanted nothingbuttouches during heat.

“She has to arrange her nest first,” Brea told me softly when I said as much. We were following Taryn throughout the house as she searched for the space she’d claim for the next…some number of days.

I was nervous. Excited, but nervous. Excita-nervous. Anxious in the good way and anxious in the bad way.

The rest of them had done their best to prepare me. Taryn would be all but delirious, moving from one orgasm and one partner to the next. And the alphas would likely be in and out of their own delirium. Which meant the keeping everyone fed, watered, and safe…

…fell to the lone beta.

No pressure.

For her, I could do it. I’d be the best damn heat butler in the universe. I just also selfishly hoped that I got plenty of my own time with my omega.

My omega.

Six weeks ago, I was one of three. I was scared for one of the three—scared that we’d lose him, one way or another before much longer. And the other, between his business deals and my ER shifts, was a sexy ship that kept passing right by in the night.

Then one day I decided I’d had enough. I’d demanded a pack hangout on the rooftop patio, and two beautiful women busted into our lives and changed them forever.

Now I was one of five. Withthreealphas and a magnificent omega of my own.

I was a doctor. An emergency medicine doctor, for fuck’s sake. Life and death were my everyday. Fast actions and fast decisions were my bread and butter.

I could do this. Ihadto do this.

---