Page 12 of Heat Clickbait
"I should probably mention," I said, trying to maintain some semblance of rational thought, "I haven't had a heat off suppressants in over a year. I don't... I don't know how this is going to go."
"Then we'll figure it out together," Nova said, and the certainty in his voice made something in my chest unclench.
"Together," I repeated, tasting the word. It had been so long since I'd allowed that word to mean anything real.
The nest embraced us all, six people who'd been strangers hours ago, now connected by biology and choice and something that felt bigger than both. Outside, the internet was probably losing its collective mind. Inside, in this carefully crafted space that had been waiting for me without knowing it was waiting for me, the only thing that mattered was the way their scents mingled with mine, creating something entirely new.
"Welcome home," Ghost said quietly, and I realized with a start that's exactly what this felt like.
CHAPTER SIX
Callie
The first wave hit like lightning down my spine, electricity crackling through nerve endings that had been dormant for over a year. My back arched off the nest's carefully layered fabrics, and the sound that escaped my throat wasn't quite human — something between a keen and a growl that made all five Alphas freeze mid-movement.
"Fuck," I gasped, fingers clawing at the cashmere blanket beneath me. "It’s…oh god, it's actually happening."
The carefully controlled pre-heat symptoms I'd been managing shattered like sugar glass. Real heat, the kind that turned Omegas into creatures of pure biological need, rolled through my system with the force of a tsunami. Every suppressant I'd ever taken, every moment of control I'd maintained, meant nothing against this onslaught.
"Temperature's spiking to 102," Ghost said quietly, eyes on his phone where the biometric monitors were screaming warnings. His thumb swiped across the screen, and the zone around me cooled by several degrees, but it barely touched the inferno building under my skin.
Milo was already moving toward the kitchen annex, his instincts taking over. "She needs electrolytes. Protein. Something easy to digest?—"
"Milo." Nova's voice carried Alpha command that made even me shiver through the heat haze. "Food can wait thirty seconds. Look at her."
They all turned to really look at me then, and I saw the moment my scent hit them properly. Not the pre-heat sweetness from earlier, but the full biological demand of an Omega in active heat. Their pupils dilated in unison, a synchronized response that would have been fascinating if I could think beyond the ache building between my thighs.
"Your ruts," I managed, watching Nova's hands clench and unclench, Crash's bouncing still completely, Blitz's muscles coiling like he was about to spring. "I'm triggering your?—"
"Don't worry about us," Nova interrupted, but his voice had dropped into that gravelly register that spoke directly to my hindbrain. "This is about you."
"Bullshit." The word came out sharper than intended, but another wave was building, and I could feel my body preparing for it like a surfer reading an incoming swell. "This is about all of us. Pack heat, remember? We're in this together or?—"
The wave crashed over me mid-sentence, and my vision whited out. When it cleared, I found myself surrounded. They'd moved without me noticing, forming a tight circle with their bodies, their combined scents creating a cocoon that made the heat bearable even as it stoked it higher.
"Together," Crash said, and for once, his energy was focused entirely on me. "We've got you."
Milo pressed a water bottle to my lips and this time I could taste a hint of citrus and salt for electrolytes. I drank greedily while his other hand smoothed over my hair, the gesture both soothing and grounding.
"The house is secure," Crash reported, his usual chaos channeled into protective efficiency. "Doors locked, security system armed, phones on do not disturb except for emergency contacts."
Ghost held up his tablet, showing me camera feeds of the empty street outside, the privacy fence that blocked any view of the house, the complete bubble of safety they'd created. He'd thought of everything, even while fighting his own biological response to my heat.
"Michelle knows we're offline for at least 72 hours," Nova added, his business mind still functioning despite the way his breathing had gone shallow. "She's handling all communication, all platforms."
They'd coordinated without speaking, each taking their natural role in the pack structure. But there was something else happening too, their scents were changing, deepening, taking on that edge that meant their ruts were beginning to sync with my heat.
"You're all—" I started, but another wave stole my words. This one brought a rush of slick between my thighs that made me whimper, my body preparing itself without any input from my conscious mind.
"We know," Blitz said softly, and when I looked at him, his green eyes were almost black with dilated pupils. "We can feel it too. The pull."
The nest itself seemed to amplify everything. The fabrics they'd scented over months created a feedback loop of pheromones, mine calling to theirs, theirs responding to mine, around and around until the air itself felt thick with need.
"I want—" The words stuck in my throat because what I wanted was everything, all of them, all at once, in ways that my rational mind would never allow but my heat-drunk body demanded.
"Tell us," Nova commanded gently, and that authority in his voice made more slick pool between my thighs. "What do you need?"
"Touch." The admission came out desperate. "I need, someone needs to?—"
