The Judd guy didn’t back away, and Ash finally looked up. If this alpha was in their program, Ash didn’t know him. He was definitely a burly fucker, with a squashed nose and small, mean eyes.
“Like I said,” Ash told him. “Fuck.Off.”
Those mean eyes narrowed. “I think you’ll be changing your tune in a minute, omega.”
A faint whiff of cedar. Ash looked past Judd’s brawny shoulder. He could see Ryder coming up quickly. He looked … frantic, maybe. Furious, definitely. His fists were clenched, and his gaze was locked onto Judd’s back.
Oh shit. Ryder was going to lose it, wasn’t he? He was going to kill this stupid alpha, and the campus cops were going to pick him up and take him away, and then Ash was going to be alone and in heat and?—
“Oh, hey, Ash, there you are,” Spencer’s deep, friendly voice broke through Ash’s panic like a fucking hot knife slicing through butter.
Spiced tea and cinnamon enveloped Ash, chasing off the harsh scent of burned coffee. Long fingers replaced Everett’s on Ash’s shoulder.
He’d come from Ash’s blind side, in the opposite direction of Ryder. Ash peered up at him. Spencer was smiling broadly like usual, but his blue eyes looked … different. Hard. Almost icy. Ash had never seen them like that.
Spencer leaned toward the intruding alpha, never taking his hand off Ash’s shoulder. “What’s up, Judd? Hey, how’s Becky?” Spencer lowered his voice until Ash could only barely make it out. “God, she had one of the sweetest pussies I’ve ever tasted. You’re a lucky man. And while I’m more of a slick and dick kind of guy lately, I still have her number.” Spencer’s grin widened, even as his gaze grew colder. His friendly tone didn’t waver. “I’ll be sure to tell her how fucking helpful you were here with my boy Ash.”
Judd blanched, taking a step back. “I was just making sure he’s okay. You don’t need to?—”
Ryder made it over to them before the panicked alpha could finish his sentence. Ryder’s expression had shuttered, no doubt unreadable to anyone but Ash.
But to Ash, Ryder looked like death incarnate, the fury emanating off his body like palpable heat. “Why don’t you fuck right off before Ash here tears your dick off your body, asshole?”
The blood rushed back to Judd’s face, and he turned on his heel and hurried away, muttering more bullshit to himself while he did.
Another cramp took the opportunity to twist Ash’s insides, and he groaned, buckling to the ground. He was empty. So fucking empty.
“Ash?” Everett asked. “Is this who you want to take you home? These two alphas?”
Fuck, he was a good person. Ash had barely been decent to him, and Everett was apparently willing to stand up to three different alphas for him. Ash owed him a coffee. Or maybe a kidney.
“Yes,” Ash said, because now wasn’t the time for coffee or kidneys. He needed a stupid fucking alpha cock, and he needed itnow. “These two.”
Ryder tugged Ash up and into his chest, slinging Ash’s arm over one of his broad shoulders. Luckily he knew better than to try to pull some bullshit move and carry Ash through the quad.
“Heat rooms?” Ryder asked.
“Or my car’s close,” Spencer offered.
“Car,” Ash said immediately. He didn’t want a random room if he could help it. He wanted somewhere that smelled like his alphas.
Spencer led the pack, and Ash let his eyes fall closed as he shuffled along with Ryder, leaving Everett behind.
“Is that true?” Ash asked Spencer after they’d left the quad. He needed some kind of distraction or he was going to drop to all fours and ask them to mount him in the bushes.
Spencer glanced over his shoulder at Ash. “About my car?”
“About the sweetest pussy you ever tasted.”
“Oh.” Spencer chuckled as he led them through the parking lot. “Can’t remember, honestly. But she made me cookies after. With like stevia and oat flour and shit.”
“Sounds disgusting.”
“Yeah, they were.” Spencer laughed again. “Still, it was nice. Way too nice for that dickhead. I’ll give her a call.”
Ash ignored the inconvenient wave of possessive rage at Spencer’s words. It was only Ash’s hormones talking, anyway. That girl deserved to know her alpha boyfriend was a would-be cheating opportunistic asshole of epic proportions. Ash wouldbe happy to serve as an additional witness, as soon as a barrage of slick wasn’t threatening to turn his pants to wet mush.
“So, what?” Spencer asked as he pulled out his key fob, unlocking his car with the press of a button. “You only go into heat on Mondays?”
