Page 26 of A Pack of Honey
Once she's out of sight, we exhale a collective breath. Hunt slumps against the counter, but Jess’s back finds a wall, and he slides to the floor with his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands. His hair tumbles around him.
Cole just looks at me, jaw working, still fighting the last edges of a rut. Finally, he nods. "Good job."
Because that could have ended everything for us.
"You too," I say. If he’d fallen into the easy embrace of his alpha for even a moment, we would have followed him. Our alphas would have forced us. He let me handle it instead of trying and failing to do it himself, with his alpha riding him so hard. He cares more about Sunny than his own ego, and that takes a great pack leader. We all just sit for a long while, taking it in. I don't know how long.
Hunt pulls our clothes out of the—blessedly—waterproof duffels. A feature I found ridiculous when we bought them, but I am grateful for it now. We dress, turned away from each other and in silence. Once clothed, we move to the dining room table just off the kitchen.
"Shit," Jess hisses. "I wouldn't blame that woman if she calls the cops on us.”
Cole tenses, but Hunt just grunts. "Came to save us from the storm, and we almost…" He trails off. He doesn't need to say what we almost did.
"What do we do, Hoss?" Jess asks Cole. Cole runs a hand through his hair and looks at each of us.
"We do what she says, " he says with finality. If she wants us to leave, we go."
"But—"
Cole growls. "If she wants us to go, we go. She doesn't need to be worried about the people trying to hurt her farmandus. If we're not the solution, we shouldn't be here."
Sunny
OnceI'moutofsight of the alphas and at the stairs, I silently sprint to my room, quietly shutting the door behind me. Sitting on the edge of my bed, my omega finally lets go. I perfume so hard I won't be surprised if the guys downstairs can scent it. My hands won't stop trembling. Sure, there's a sharp undercurrent of adrenaline, but it's the clenched heat in my core, the slick running down my thighs, and the thundering of my heart that's most encompassing.
It's my desire.
When all four of them were dripping, nearly naked, in my kitchen, looking at me like I was their sole reason for living… it took all of my self-control not to run from them on purpose. To get them to chase me and give me everything I've desired from them, but haven't allowed myself to acknowledge.
If I get my vibrator out right now, can they scent it? Hear it? I've been getting it out every day since they arrived. But they were in the yard and far enough away to never know I was doing that. Now, they're in the house.
I groan in frustration, but decide it's best not to. I peel off the silk nightgown and toss it into the corner, where it lands with a wet slap. I'll deal with it tomorrow. Then, I get my body and hair as dry as possible with a towel before pulling on the fluffiest, most frumpy pair of sweatpants and hoodie I own. Usually, it would be too hot for this outfit in summer, but the chill from the cold rain is bone-deep.
When I head downstairs, I pull up short before the doorway to the kitchen. The guys are talking, and I've always had a problem with eavesdropping. My grandma used to catch me doing it all the time when I was little, and she'd scold me for it but then smile and wink. She wasn't ever really angry—not in my whole life.
"What do we do, Hoss?" Jess's voice floats out the door.
"We do what she says." Cole this time. His voice is gruff, like his alpha’s still holding the reins a bit. But he also sounds resigned, defeated even. My heart squeezes. "If she wants us to leave, we go."
I stop breathing. Go? My omega feels like she's trying to claw her way out of me. She wants to run to him and tell him never to leave. But wasn't this what I wanted from the beginning? To prove that they couldn't fit in here?
It was, but not for this reason. Being alphas and having a rut attack aren't things I hold against them, just like they wouldn't hold a heat spike against me. Especially since they did everything they could to avoid it.
Ruts in scent-sensitive matches are avoidable if you follow two simple paths. You don't have to become sexual. The solution is to separate the omega and the alphas completely, like separate towns or, better yet, states. That way, there's no way to scent each other and trigger the rut. Or, you spend time with each other. Including physical touch but not necessarily sexual touch,so that the alpha and omega psyches become attuned. Like immersion therapy.
But this in-between we've been maintaining, where they're around me all the time but not allowed to come near or care for or touch me? That's what was the ultimate trigger tonight. That wouldn't have been an excuse. They're expected to control their alphas, and they did, but this arrangement hasn't helped.
"But—"Jess starts to protest. His voice sounds gutted. Cole growls.
"If she wants us to go, we go. She doesn't need to be worried about the people trying to hurt her farmandus. If we're not the solution, we shouldn't be here."
If I want them to go. This is it. I have the power I've sought this whole time. Send them away without them trying to return or talk me out of it. So why does the thought of this big, beautiful house being empty again for breakfasts and dinners make my heart squeeze? Why does the thought of them driving away sound so damn sad that tears prick the edges of my vision? I need to go in before they scent me and realize I'm eavesdropping. I've hardly formed a decision when I push the kitchen door open. They're not there. So I walk around the corner to the dining room. They're sitting at the table. They've all thrown on sweats and T-shirts. Every set of eyes swings to mine. Wary and upset and desperate and resigned.
There's a long pause before I speak. "Come on. I'll show you the rooms."
Absolutely shocked expressions meet this invitation. I don't stop to explain. I just turn to go back upstairs. The guys pad up behind me. The second level of the farmhouse is a large circular hall surrounding the stairs, which continue to the third floor.
"Those four are open, but there's not much in them. Clean sheets are in the closet over there." I gesture toward a door inbetween the four rooms. "That one's my door." I point to the one furthest to the left.
