“Princess, are you going into heat?”
“I can’t. We’re five days away from the hearing,” I gasped. Panic had my voice rising.
“That doesn’t matter. Conrad and Roxie might have to lead it without us. Your heat is more important than any of that.”
“No,” I argued, shaking my head. “No, it can’t be. This is your career.”
“And you, my omega, are my world.” He said it with so much confidence that it hit me right in the chest.
I didn’t know what to say to that, so I leaned in, running my nose along his neck, nuzzling him. It chased away some of the intensity building inside me until I felt like I could breathe again.
“What is happening here?” Kieran joked as he came in. “Did you miss us that much?”
“She’s heat spiking,” Mason answered before I could deny it.
I made a noise of protest, but he just chuckled. “Denying it isn’t going to make it any better, princess.”
“But the hearing—” I protested again, but they weren’t having it.
“The entire AHA board can fuck right off. They don’t get to tell us how to live our lives.”
“You could lose everything,” I pointed out, hating that it was coming down to this.
“Princess, you’re all that matters,” Wilder said as he joined us. Soon my entire pack was around me. Every scent was like a balm to my spiking emotions, soothing them in a way that only my pack could.
Other voices started to filter in, but Mason was already carrying me down the hall while Kieran turned everyone away for the moment.
“I’ll say something to Coach,” Cade said, falling back. We almost made it to the parking lot when Lennon cursed.
“Fuck, he was the one with the keys.”
They pressed close around me, heading for the back lot to wait. Mason didn’t let me go, but he did shift so the others had a chance to touch me, their hands skimming down my back, offering reassurance.
“Oh look, it’s the biggest puck bunny of them all,” a drunk voice echoed from the parking lot. The words were overly loud and slurring slightly.
The guys let out a collective growl, even the ones who didn’t usually growl. They weren’t having anyone disrespect me, and I loved them for it.
“Why don’t you shut your fucking mouth, buddy?” Lennon bit out.
“Oh look, just another delta getting a little too aggressive, huh?” He had his phone out, recording the whole thing with a look of excitement on his red face.
“Mason, wait,” I whispered, but he was already holding me closer.
“Get the fuck away from there,” Milo’s voice barked from the other side of the fence where their bus was parked. I hadn’t realized they were walking out, but the whole team was approaching the drunken asshole, creating a barrier between him and us.
“Why would you care? She threw you to the curb like laundry.”
“No, we did that to her,” Dean snapped. “She’s just moving on like she should.”
“Shut your fucking mouth and get away from there before I call the police for harassment,” Milo added. “It’ll be all of our word against yours. Do you want to spend the night in jail?”
The lock clicked as Cade jogged up to join us. He must’ve caught the tail end of the confrontation.
“Come on, baby. Let’s get you home. You need time to nest. We’re doing this heat properly.”
“I already have a heat order on standby,” Wilder added. “It’s been in my cart for weeks after you mentioned it was coming. I did the math, and I wanted to be prepared.”
Tears burned my vision as I squeezed my eyes shut, nuzzling further into Mason. He didn’t let me go as he loaded me into the car, helped me settle, and shut the door.
