“Oh, baby,” he says. His voice is rough. “What happened?”
Sedona opens her eyes. She looks at Tex. A smile touches her lips.
“I’m in heat,” she gasps. “Don’t just stand there.”
Seth groans. His rhythm falters. He slams into her one last time. He holds still, his back bowing.
His knot locks.
Sedona gasps, her eyes rolling back. She climaxes again, her body milking him.
Seth collapses forward, catching himself on his elbows. He buries his face in her neck.
She sighs, and her body goes limp, the tension draining out of her muscles. The feverish haze seems to lift, replaced by a satisfied exhaustion.
She dozes off almost instantly.
Seth carefully rolls them to the side, keeping them connected. He pulls the blanket over her hips.
He looks at me. Then at Tex.
The silence is heavy.
I stand up. My hand is covered in her slick, and I wipe it on my jeans.
“Well,” Tex says. He rubs the back of his neck. “That’s... new.”
“She went into heat,” Seth says. His voice is hoarse. “It came on fast. I couldn’t get her to the clinic. I couldn’t leave her.”
“We need to work together,” I say. The words are clear. “To get her off. To get her through this. We can’t fight over her. Not now.”
Tex nods slowly. He looks at Sedona’s sleeping face. The anger, the jealousy—it’s all gone. Replaced by protectiveness.
“I think I might need to call Grant,” Tex says. “Cancel my event.”
“Tripp will be glad,” Seth mutters. He presses a kiss to Sedona’s shoulder.
“I don’t care about Tripp,” Tex says. “I’m not leaving her.”
We stand there. Three brothers. A pack.
Sedona stirs.
She blinks her eyes open. She looks at Seth, still locked inside her. She looks at me. She looks at Tex.
She smiles, a soft, happy smile.
“You’re here,” she whispers. “All of you.”
“Yeah,” I say. I brush a curl off her forehead. “We’re here.”
She closes her eyes again and snuggles into Seth’s chest.
The heat will come back. It will be a long few days. But looking at my brothers, looking at the woman we all love, I know we can handle it.
We have to.
Because she needs us.
