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But then the other alpha caught my arm.
“Let me go,” I bit out with a growl.
“In just a second. You look pissed and I want to make sure you’re not going to be mad at her,” Jae-Sun’s dark eyes were locked on to my face, his own expression calm. Once he was sure I wouldn’t run headlong for the hallway, he let me go again.
“Why would I be mad at her?”
After the brief explanation from Leith, I pretty much knew exactly how everything had gone down. An alpha rut was hard to resist and Artie’s was nearly impossible for me and Leith, so it stood to reason that Ciara wouldn’t be able to resist it either.
I also had a sneaking suspicion that if I dug around in Artie’s bathroom I would find an old bottle of heat suppressants that was nearly empty.
He’d hung on to them for gods knew how long even though he had two alphas to service him through his heats now. He should have stayed home if he knew his heat was coming, but on some level I think he went to practice on purpose.
An alpha in rut—especially a heat driven rut—would do whatever their omega asked of them. Hell, if Artie asked me to jump off of a bridge during his heat I would probably do it. Ciara had never experienced a heat rut before and it had probably hit her like a truck.
Jae-Sun’s lips pulled down into a frown. “Just… There’s no going back at this point so we need to figure out how all of this works together. If you yell at her or make her feel like it’s her fault she’s liable to run.”
Sucking in a deep, calming breath, I forced the tightness in my shoulders to relax. “You’re right.”
“You’ll quickly learn that I usually am,” the man joked with a wry shake of his head before he held out his hand. “I’ve never met you in person, but I did listen back to your Olympics commentary. I’m Jae-Sun Park, but most people call me Wiz.”
“Enzo Santoro,” I introduced myself, giving his hand a firm shake. “And I take it you’re going to stick around with this pack then?”
Wiz nodded resolutely.
“Where she goes, I go,” he repeated again. “I was just about to bring them water and snacks, but do you want to take them instead?”
My mouth suddenly felt dry as the bundle of anxious nerves that had been tangling about in my stomach tightened. I’d been able to momentarily forget about them because of my focus on Wiz, but now it was all coming back with a vengeance.
Accepting the little grocery bag full of bottled water and easy-to-eat snacks, I kicked off my shoes and headed for the back hall.
It was quiet, deceptively so, and I nearly choked on the mixture of oranges, apples, and cinnamon that was leaking out from underneath the door.
Opening it, I squinted into the dim room and found Leith on the floor, naked and propped up against the bed. His head was laid back and he was staring up at the ceiling and looking as if someone had sucked the soul out of him.
“Lei?” I whispered, watching as he jerked to attention.
“You’re back, how’d you get here so fast?” he asked with a rasp.
Pulling a bottle of water out of the bag I handed it to him and waited until he drained the entire thing before answering his question.
“I managed to find a seat on the next flight out,” I said, crouching low so I could get a better look at him. “You look like shit.”
Leith’s chuckle was gravelly. “Thanks for that. He ran me ragged for about an hour until she woke up and then it was her turn again.”
The alpha pointed over his shoulder to where the forms Ciara and Artie were softly snoring behind the sheer curtains of the four-poster nest.
Leith’s voice dropped and I had to lean in closer to hear him. “I didn’t sleep with her, Enz, I just helped Artie out. I think the bonding helped keep his heat shorter—almost as if it did what it came for and was satisfied by the new bond.”
We exchanged a meaningful look that told me that Leith had the same ideas about Artie’s heat that I did.
“You could have—slept with her I mean. At this point there’s no point in holding yourself back.”
But Leith shook his head. “Nah, I want our first time together in four years to be done with a clear mind and neither of us have that right now. What about you?”
“What about me?”
“Are you going to pursue her?” Leith’s green eyes were intent on my face, trying to gauge any shift in my expression which I fought to keep neutral.
