“She is notyouromega, Zayd. She is a grieving widow. Show respect.” Strykr’s words must have found some recess of Zayd’s mind still capable of logical thought. His expression and stance soften just before the doors slide shut between us.
I stand there, supported by the women on either side of me, feeling more alone than ever.
“The medical comb is just around the corner here.” Angie squeezes my arm reassuringly.
Willow presses her cheek to my shoulder. “Everything will be okay. We’re here for you, Layla.”
I’ve lost my husband, and even though I’ve never had the desire to bond with an alpha, I’m lost without Zayd. As sweet and supportive as Angie and Willow are, it’s not their touch and comfort I crave. My body aches with a need I’ve never felt before. A need I know only an alpha can fill.
Shame buckles my knees when we enter the medical comb. Willow and Angie brace themselves to catch me. My body hasnever betrayed me like this. I should be sick with grief. While I feel the loss of my husband in the pit of my stomach, I also feel something else. Something I don’t even want to admit to myself is there.
When I recall the hard muscle and soft skin of Zayd’s arm beneath my hand, I can’t deny the desire that strikes a heavy rhythm in my core or the wetness soaking my thighs.
“What’s wrong with me?” I’m shaking, fighting back a scream as Razyr positions a needle on the crook of Sutton’s arm.
“You’re still in shock, Layla.” Angie and Willow guide me to a chair next to one of the many hospital beds lining the outer walls of the honeycomb-shaped room.
“No. It’s not—Oh, God.” Blood fills the syringe stuck in Sutton’s arm. I double over trying to stop the flow from my traitorous loins.
“You don’t have to be here. We can take you to your room. You can get some rest. Something to eat—Oh, shit,” Angie’s eyes widen when she sees the evidence of my shameful arousal darkening my jeans. “We need to get her out of here. Not even Razyr can resist the scent of this much slick for long.”
“Oh, my god, it hurts. Why does it hurt?” I double over, crippled by the pain.
“Shit! She’s going into heat. Fast! What the hell?” Angie gasps.
Like a distant thunder, the growl of alphas, following the scent of my slick, barrels down the hallway.
Lightning fast, Razyr bolts to the door, slapping his hand on the pad. The door whooshes shut, and he taps a code that I can only guess has locked us in and the others out.
The muscles in my core are on fire.
I scream, desperate for relief. “Help me! Please!”
“She needs an alpha,” Razyr grips the edge of one of the hospital beds. “I need my omega.”
“I’m sorry, Layla,” Angie says, leaving me to go to Razyr.
Razyr shreds Angie’s clothes from her body and bends her over the bed. When he pushes his pants down his hips, letting his massive cock free, I hate myself for wanting it. For wanting to push Angie off the bed and take her place. Let Razyr fill me up and ease the pain in my core.
“This is so wrong. What the fuck is wrong with me?” I cry.
Willow doesn’t answer. Her eyes are closed, her body completely still, like she’s not even here.
Seconds later, a male voice booms beyond the battle the alphas are fighting against the locked door. Soon, the hallway falls silent. Only half the problem solved.
“I need that,” I tell Willow through my tears and the pain wrenching my gut, gesturing at Angie and Razyr still barreling into her from behind. “Can an alpha do it without claiming me?”
“Yes,” Willow says, worry written all over her face. “But it’s not easy for them. And it’s dangerous. If you get caught up in the act and ask him to claim you, he will. And we don’t know your category yet. That alpha could die.”
“Zayd. Get Zayd. Please. He promised not to claim me. I trust him. Please.”
Willow closes her eyes and goes still like before. “He’s on his way.”
Guilt takes hold of me again, spotting my dead husband only a few feet away from me.
I’m sorry, Sutton. But it hurts so bad. And there’s nothing you can do to help me anymore.
Like the words in my head were a prayer that reached the heavens, Sutton gasps.
