“It’s manageable. The aspirin helps.”
“And your cycle? When was the last time you were in heat?”
She freezes, her embarrassment palpable. “I... I don’t know.”
“You take heat suppressants?”
She shakes her head.
“You’re late?”
“I don’t know,” she repeats, looking down at her hands. “I... before. When I was using. The pills, the whippets... it wrecked me. I haven’t had a real heat since... since before Maisie. My body is just... confused.”
I process this. It explains a lot. The drugs scrambled her biology. Now that she’s clean and safe, her body is trying to reset itself. It’s fighting to find its natural rhythm again.
“Sunshine, I think you’re going into preheat,” I tell her, dipping my head to kiss the pulse point on her throat.
“No. There’s no way.”
“I think we should set up an appointment with Dr. Hale soon, but I’m like, fifty percent sure. You told us you’ve been clean from drugs for a while. I think your body has healed itself back.”
She shakes her head, panic rising in her eyes. “I can’t be in heat. What am I going to do?”
That confuses me. “What do you mean? We get you through it. We’re Alphas, remember. Amber, I’ve spent my life waitingfor you. You think your biology is going to scare me off? I’m an Alpha. I was built to handle you.”
She relaxes against me, her breath tickling my collarbone. “You’re not disgusted?”
“I’m honest,” I say softly. “I would never be disgusted by you. I want everything you have to give.”
She lets out a wet laugh and buries her face in my neck.
“How long have you been clean?” I ask, nosing her hair, inhaling her scent again. The metallic tang is still there, but it seems fainter, or maybe I’m just getting used to the layers of her.
“Years,” she says. “Since before I ran.”
“Good.”
“I think you may be right. My hormones are just... waking up,” she murmurs against my shoulder. “Which explains the mood swings. And the horniness.”
I grin against her skin. “I noticed.”
She grinds her pelvis down on my thigh, and I have to bite back a groan. The friction is electric. We sit there for a long time, just breathing together.
The anger I felt earlier at the thought of her facing that man alone is leached out of me, replaced by a deep need to claim her.
Then her phone rings on the coffee table.
She jumps, her heart rate spiking against my side where she leans. She looks at the screen, her face paling.
I know what she’s thinking. It’s what I’m thinking, too.
Maybe it’s Luke.
“It’s Norah,” she says, swiping to answer. “Hello?”
I listen, tracking the panic rising in her voice instantly.
“Norah? What? What’s wrong?” Amber is on her feet in a second, her hand gripping my knee tight. “Okay. Breathe. We’re coming. Stay there. Don’t push yet. We’re on our way.”
