Chapter 16

“A plan, Matty. Give us the plan,” Alessandro reminded him as he drove across town. “Speak. Something.”

It was a good thing he had his second with him. Otherwise, Matthew would have run the car off the road.

“Get her. Kill anyone in the way. I kill Antorelli.”

They had already discussed the plan inside and out. Other teams would go first to reduce the chances of Matthew getting shot. He hated not being in the lead, but more than one Alpha had pointed out that, without him, Gabriella wouldn’t find peace... and the only wounds he should be taking was from her nails as he knotted her.

Fuck, every thought about what he was going to do to her, what he was going to say to her, nearly sent him over the edge. She was his, his Omega, and she was waiting for him. Waiting for him to save her, to knot her and breed her and mark her and worship her for hours on end.

“Fuck, we all know you’re thinking about fucking her, but remember, there are other Alphas in this car. Chill on the pheromones.”

Matthew glanced over his shoulder to the other Alphas all crowded into the back of the vehicle. Their eyes were all averted, either out the window or in their laps, which he appreciated. He couldn’t explain why he was losing his shit, but they would understand one day, when they found their Omega—if they could.

“I just... I need her. I need her, or I need to punch everything between me, and her and—”

“Yeah, you need to be an Alpha, we know. But if you were already in a rut, you would be swinging now and probably ripping the doors off the car. You’re not so you’re still in control. Let us fucking breathe, man.”

Matthew snorted but tried to calm himself and concentrate on breathing. They were close. Real close. Gabriella was a smart woman, independent, and able to defend herself. He almost pitied Petyr Antorelli, knowing she would demand his death be as painful as possible. Still, that didn’t quell his Alpha side. The Alpha in him wanted to protect her. Wanted to prove he was worthy of her. Wanted to show that he had what it took to keep her safe.

She was grabbed from a club she should have been safe in and taken, and held prisoner, all while going into heat. No Alpha would ever allow their Omega out of their site during their heat, but he had been in denial. Not only had he pulled himself away from her and driven off, but he had kept her waiting for him to return. He had done all of this with the best of intentions, but he fucked up. He was a fucked-up Alpha. He had massively fucked up.

And now she was in agonizing pain only he could satiate, if she truly was aching for him. He should grovel, after he rescued her from the fucker who dared to take her.

The vehicle wasn’t fully stopped before Matthew threw open his door and climbed out, but an Alpha was quick to step in front of him, while someone else grasped the back of his shirt, yanking him toward the car door. Another hand grabbed his collar, and he looked over his shoulder, ready to shoot whoever it was.

Alessandro’s eyes were thin, and he wore a determined look. “Let the others go first. You’re no good to Gabriella if you’re fucking bleeding out. She’s going to be a goddamn mess. Let them clear a fucking path.”

His second was correct, but he still wanted to push forward, to go to his Omega. He couldn’t smell her, nor could he hear her, but he knew she was close, deep in his soul. Soon, her pheromones would be flooding his senses, and he would have his hands full of her.

Whatever intelligence he had left in his brain agreed he should wait.

“Fuck it, fine,” Matthew grumbled, forcing himself to breathe.

He wasn’t in a rut yet, or else he would have charged off, flinging away any friend and foe who stood between him and his prize. They had until his Alpha side could no longer stand to wait.

Could be minutes. Could be seconds.

“They’re in,” Alessandro announced, which was good because Matthew was far from paying attention. “They can smell her. Whoa .”

At the mention of Gabriella, Matthew charged forward again. This time, he slipped out of Alessandro’s grip. There was no stopping him, not when he had confirmation she was inside. As soon as he could smell her, his rut would kick in, and he would be feral for her.

So fucking close, in heat and waiting for him. He could only imagine her scared of what was happening to her, with fucking Petyr Antorelli pawing at her, leaving his stink on her. He would bathe her and care for her and wrap his pheromones around her like an expensive coat he couldn’t fucking afford, and he would spend the rest of his life apologizing to her.

“Don’t think so,” Tommy announced before the butt of his rifle hit Matthew in the gut, taking the air from his lungs. “At least let them figure out what floor she’s on.”

“We’re getting too old for this,” Alessandro agreed behind him. Matthew groaned as he looked over his shoulder. “I’m going in. You will fucking follow . And if you can’t, I’ll have Ricky shoot you in the leg so you can’t run straight into trouble. You don’t need a working leg to fuck her so be grateful I’m not shooting you myself.”

Matthew grunted again, accepting Ricky’s hand to help him up.

Tommy darted in front of Alessandro and through the open door.

Good. He should fucking run. He would get two fists to the gut as soon as Antorelli was dead, just so he would remember his place in the pecking order.

“Go.” Matthew shook his head, trying to clear it. “Right behind you.”

The rest of his team headed in through the open door and took a deep breath. He had been on the verge of his rut for what seemed like hours—maybe even days—all thanks to Gabriella. She had already sent him over the edge once, thanks to her propositioning him—then the fucking phone call jolting him out of his stupidity and now...

Shit, had that only been a few hours earlier? Time no longer made sense. Nothing did. Nothing in his life had made any sort of sense since Gabriella walked into it.

As he stood, staring at the building where she was being kept prisoner, he had to breathe. Everything would make sense again once she was in his arms. Soon. So very soon. He just had to keep himself sane until he reached her... and not go into rut at the first sniff of her Omega pheromones, which were, apparently, now in full heat, given the way the guys had all put on their nose plugs before entering.

Should he have done the same? Probably. Yes. Yes, he would plug his nose. Only until he reached her and then he would bask in her scent, truly, for the first time. No more teasing, hints, or faded pheromones. He would breathe her in, straight from the source. Soon. So fucking soon.

“Shit, get in here, Matty,” Alessandro called. “There’s blood and it’s from than the guys we’ve shot.”

Spurring into action, he was no longer lost in thought. It was happening. He reached into his front shirt pocket to grab the nose plug and shoved it on, then headed through the door.

Scent had always been one of his most reliable senses, given how pheromones could tell an Alpha so much. Things like fear, desire, sickness could clue him in in by ways he never considered until the first time he wore the plug. They typically only wore them when entering a medical or waste facility—or if too many Alphas were going hard in the gym. So, to wear the plug when he knew his Omega was nearby felt wrong. He should’ve been following her scent, not the sounds of the other Alphas but...

Right. Rut. He would go into a rut and probably kill any Alpha between him and her, friend or foe. He appreciated the others for plugging their noses, no longer taking in her scent. Good. Good friends. Good.

Because her scent was for him and him alone.

“More old blood down here, but it’s just a few drops,” Ricky called out. “Not enough to be worried.”

Matthew followed Ricky’s voice. “If she’s bleeding, you should all be worried.”

It wasn’t much. Probably only as much as a bloodied nose or a small cut.

“Second floor is cleared,” Ben called out from above. “Working toward the third, but the scent up here is faint.”

“Keep clearing, so we know there’s no one else here to catch us unaware,” Alessandro instructed, not that the Alphas weren’t already trained to do just that. “We’re heading down.”

Matthew followed his team, stepping over the bodies who had once stood watch. Grunts and the occasional shot rang out, but for the most part, it looked as though his men were incapacitating rather than eliminating.

Alessandro nudged at one who was clearly dead, and Matthew peered down at him, his eyes narrowing.

He knew this one’s face, although he couldn’t place it exactly.

“This is the one that shot you in the arm,” Alessandro said. “Which confirms some of my earlier suspicions.”

“Do I want to hear this right now?” Matthew asked, not interested in anything that would keep him from Gabriella.

“Do you want to hear this? No, but your girl needs to know that the team who tried to take us out, the only option for her to pick that first night, is working for the nephew of her father’s right hand. Where do you think he got the cash?”

“You’re right. I don’t want to hear this right now,” Matthew snapped as he stepped around his second.

“Matthew—”

“You’re insinuating the boss wanted us dead.”

“And that he wanted Gabriella’s first mission to be a failure,” Alessandro added on, his gaze pointed. “Before you take Gabriella home... Shit, we’re going to have to keep this place locked down until the two of you are done with your thing because she’s not safe to go home.”

“We already know that,” Matthew huffed. “Out of my way. I need to—”

“The boss wanted us dead, Matty. Not Marco or else he wouldn’t have shared Gabriella’s location with us and not Petyr. He wouldn’t have known about the mission. This was orchestrated from the top. Fucking think, Matty—”

“The only thing I can think about right now is Gabriella somewhere in heat without me. Out of my fucking way.”

“You’re a goddamn liability,” Alessandro snapped. “Fine. Let’s go. You can fuck her while we’re all in danger and sitting ducks.”

“You’re in danger if you don’t move,” Matthew growled, his rage swelling.

He didn’t want to talk about dangers to himself or others when Gabriella was still trapped. He didn’t want to talk about others wanting him dead when another Alpha wanted to mate her. He would rip Alessandro apart if he wouldn’t get out of the way.

“Fuck it.”

Tommy’s words were the only warning before Matthew was yanked backward and landed on his ass as Alessandro ran down the stairs and Tommy ran back toward the door.

He was going to tear Tommy to shreds and then Alessandro—

Fuck. He was... Even with the nose plug in, it wasn’t enough. He could sense her, could taste her. He was going into a rut, and his men were buying themselves just enough time to clear his path.

“Move it,” Alessandro shouted. “He’s losing it.”

Was he? Was he losing it?

A glance at his shaking hands confirmed it all. He was losing his mind, losing control.

“Get this fucking door open and move out of the way.”

Matthew pushed himself up off the floor and charged down the steps, reminding himself to breathe slowly and keep calm.

Gabriella. She was close. Yes, he was going into a rut, but she would be in his arms soon. Gabriella. She was here. She had to be here.

“. . . Can smell her thick in the air, so she has to be...”

Ricky’s broken phrase told him the other Alpha was trying to be quiet. Gabriella was definitely down there, and he had more proof than just his gut instinct.

“Move,” he growled, the only warning he would give as he surged down the stairs and headed down the hallway.

The ground floor and up was very modern and expensive, but down the stairs looked more like a compound. Lights were bright, open doors all heavy metal, and the walls were solid concrete. The basement was similar to something Matthew had seen used by the wealthy to keep their Alpha offspring contained while unmated. They had likely built it in preparation for Petyr’s ruts. It was vile to think Gabriella would be held hostage in such a space.

The door in question, the one Alessandro had told them to open, was now wide open, with Ricky pressed against the wall. His second was nowhere to be seen, so Matthew kept moving, hoping no others stood in his path.

A shot rang out, the first Matthew had heard, louder than any of the others. It had come from ahead, and Alessandro cursed. A scream pierced his surroundings and then a second shot.

Gabriella. Had Petyr shot her? Was Alessandro injured?

Matthew turned a corner.

Another heavy door stood open, the only one in the hallway. Someone was begging beyond it, but his mind was too flustered and his control too weak for him to process. Something clanged, followed by cursing and then he was through the door.

Blood was spilling into the room, and Alessandro was in a cell and there was a gun and more cursing and—

None of that was what held Matthew’s attention, nor did it matter.

The only thing, the only person he could see was Gabriella.

Gabriella, with a gun in her hand, aimed directly at a bleeding Petyr Antorelli.

She was magnificent, holding her skirt with her free hand and somehow still in her heels, with dried tears on her face, and anger radiating off of her.

“Gabriella.”

It was all he could do. All he could say. Her name.

“Matthew?”

This question was one he didn’t like because his presence shouldn’t have been a question.

Had she thought he wouldn’t come for her? She had to have known. He had said he would come. That he would always come for her.

Fuck.

“What just happened?” he asked.

That was probably a stupid question because it was obvious that she had outsmarted Petyr and shot him twice, but Alessandro was in a cell, and Petyr was still breathing, and she was too fucking far away from him.

The gun was in her hand, and he deserved to be shot for making her suffer, so he wouldn’t close the distance. Not quite yet. Not until he had her forgiveness.

Hopefully, it would come soon because whatever control he had before was slipping fast in her presence.

“I shot him,” Gabriella answered, the sarcasm thick. “And then Alessandro ran in the room and locked himself in the cell!”

“An angry woman with a gun, an Alpha in rut and another one bleeding? Figured I was safer in here.”

“I could shoot you through the bars.”

“I can take a few gunshots. Don’t think I would survive Matthew’s fists, however.”

Gabriella blinked. “Ohhh... Okay?”

That made perfect sense to Matthew.

“What’s that on your nose?” she asked, cocking her head and darting her attention to Matthew. “Is that a plug?”

“Yeah,” he answered awkwardly. “So that I couldn’t smell... you know...”

“Huh. Okay, then.”

Everything was not okay.

She wasn’t lowering the gun, but she also wasn’t aiming it at him, so Matthew stepped closer, thankful for the nose plug.

It was slipping, though, so he had seconds before he would take in a deep breath of her, and he wouldn’t hold his nose any longer. Not now that he knew she was safe.

Petyr was still on the ground, bleeding out. Surprisingly, he wasn’t healing fast, given how Matthew had smelled the other man, who was in his own rut. He had a wound in his right shoulder—far from anything important—and another in his upper leg, which had taken him down. He was impressed.

“It was a good shot,” Matthew complimented, hoping to bring Gabriella’s attention toward the situation and back toward him with the gun lowered. “I’m impressed.”

“It was a terrible shot,” Gabriella corrected and lifted her arm. “My arm can’t stop shaking. I was aiming for his dick.”

Matthew couldn’t help himself and laughed. Of course she was aiming for his dick. His girl was ruthless. And of course, her arm was shaking. She was in heat.

At the sound of his laughter, however, she dropped her arm and cried.

Fuck, why was she crying?

And why wasn’t he holding her yet?

“Ask her why she’s crying, dumbass,” Alessandro called out.

Raising the gun, she pointed at his second, and Matthew stepped in front of it.

If Gabriella was going to shoot anyone other than Petyr Antorelli, it should be him. He was the one who had fucked this all up.

“Gabriella, look at me. Why are you crying?”

“You left me,” she snapped.

“Yes. For your own safety.”

“You knew I was an Omega.”

He knew it would hurt her if he confirmed it, but he would be truthful all the same. “I suspected, yes. That night, I knew it for certain.”

“I threw myself at you.” Her voice cracked on her words, tears welling. “And you pull yourself away from me, ran from me.”

“Yes. Yes, because I knew—”

“You’re an idiot! I was an Omega, throwing myself at you and—”

“I’m an idiot. An idiot who was in love with you but scared that I—”

“My mate is an idiot.” She laughed. “Unless you don’t want me, which would be absurd because I’m fucking hot and amazing and I’m holding a gun at you right now and why are you grinning?”

It was confusing, the laughing and the crying all at once.

Was he grinning? Fuck yeah he was grinning—a stupid, big ass grin because she had called him her mate, and she knew she was an Omega, and she was safe.

“I want you. I love you. And I’ve wanted you from the start.”

“Good, because if you didn’t, I was going to shoot you.”

“Fair enough.”

He was still staring at her and her back at him, with the gun in her hand, aimed at his chest. She wasn’t speaking, wasn’t moving, and her gaze moved from his eyes to his torso.

Was she still planning to shoot him? He would understand after how she had suffered due to his actions, but she wasn’t pulling the trigger.

Pulling his plug off, he took a deep breath. The scent slammed into him, a mix of memories flooding him.

She wasn’t just going into heat any longer—she was well and truly in heat. Perspiration dotted her temple, and her skin was flush. The shaking should have clued him in on how far gone she was, and the way her gaze was unfocused was alarming.

She was fully in heat, surrounded by Alphas, with a gun in her hand and survival on her mind.

This could only play out one of two ways, and he knew which way he preferred.

“Gabriella, so help me. If you’re going to pull that trigger, then do it, otherwise, I’m going to—”

She dropped her arm immediately, and he charged to her. Grasping her hair, he lifted the bulk of it from her hot skin, and rubbed his wrist against the raised gland on her throat tried to push through. She was in heat, in pain, ready to be knotted, and melted in his arms.

She backed up as he pressed her against the desk. He placed his gun on the desk, then groped along her hand to grab her weapon as well, setting it beside his own. He didn’t need her shooting him or anyone else who walked in the room, but she was too far gone for any more discussion.

The only thing his Omega could understand would be his touch and his embrace. With another deep breath, he sank further into his own desires and destruction.

“Look at me,” he growled, pulling her unfocused gaze up to his own. “Gabriella. Omega . Look at me.”

As she drew her focus to him, he looked at her parted lips and the way she was arching her back. He gripped the desk she was leaning against, giving him a bit of leverage, and he slid his palm from the back of her neck to across her collarbone and down to her hips. Even though he wanted to hike up her skirt, to sink to his knees and taste her, Antorelli groaned, and Alessandro’s scent lingered in the room.

He had to get her out of there—and fast.

“Everything hurts,” she whispered, her eyes filling with tears again. “It’s all so hot and it hurts.”

“I know,” Matthew murmured as he lifted her off the floor and onto the desk. “You’re in heat. You’ve been in heat and you never should have been left on edge for so long but I’m—”

“Take me out of here and make it go away?” she asked, her voice cracking again. “I’m... I don’t want to beg, but it hurts so bad, and I’m so tired of fighting it. Of fighting off him. I’m—”

“Fuck,” Matthew groaned as he dipped his head in, nudging at her throat gland with the tip of his nose.

A shudder ran through her, and the moan following sent shockwaves into him. He felt himself growing stronger, felt his cock hardening in his pants, and felt his own desires coming to the forefront.

There was no more pushing it off. He was entering his rut, but they were not yet alone.

“I never should have left you,” he growled. “I thought I had pulled away fast enough. I didn’t want you to go through this until you knew—”

“It’s too late to apologize for what could have been,” she gasped and shook her head. “We can talk about this later. Right now, I just—”

He pulled back and saw how wide her eyes were. Her pupils were blown, lips still parted, and whatever control over herself she had was fleeting. She needed him, his touch, and with every second, they were wasting time and drawing her agony out longer.

“Let’s get you out of here,” Matthew insisted, a softness he had never known settling into his chest. “It won’t be safe until we’re away from this place.”

He wanted to destroy still, wanted to bash in skulls, and spill blood and demolish anyone who stood in his way. But with Gabriella feeling like shit, shaking and in pain because of him... He could see it, the softness an Omega could bring to a hard Alpha. His desire to care for her, to comfort her was nearly as loud as his desire to protect her and twice as strong as his desire to obliterate everyone around him.

She was still wide-eyed, her focus glazing over once more, but then he realized, in horror, she was also crying again.

Fuck, what had he done this time?

“What—what did I do now?” he blustered, looking over his shoulder at other Alphas peering down the hallway. “Stop fucking looking at us like that. Can’t you see she’s in fucking pain?”

“Stop yelling,” she sobbed as she hit him on the chest with a tiny fist.

A bloody fist, which he caught and sniffed. Not her blood. Petyr’s?

“Good girl,” he murmured without meaning to, but she pulled her fist away and hit it again.

“I am angry ,” she snapped and smacked his chest again. “I am not an emotional person, Matthew. Passionate, yes, but I am not the sort of person who starts crying when they are mad, so the fact that I am crying should fucking terrify you right now because I... cannot... stop!”

Her teeth were gritted, and her fist kept hitting his chest. Yes, he was terrified, but there was no way to fix what was wrong until they were away from this place.

“It’s because you’re in heat. It will all be better when we’re away from this place and I can—”

“Why haven’t you kissed me? I tried to kiss you and nearly did and you pulled away from me and now you’re not kissing me! I... I shot a man, to keep him from touching me because the only Alpha I want touching me is you and you still haven’t kissed me. I just told you I want you to knot me and breed me, that you are my mate and I’m pretty sure I’ve been dreaming about you but that dream has been feeling more like a memory than a dream lately and... and... why are you staring at me like that? Fucking kiss me already!”

Staring. Was he staring? Yes, he was staring because there was no blood left in his brain. It had all run straight to his cock.

Whatever gentle softness he had been feeling before was now gone. Anger flooded his entire being. Although he was angry at himself for keeping her waiting while figuring out how to care for her, his rage was mostly directed at Petyr for bringing her to an unsafe place. Every Alpha who was still watching them as they fumbled through this was fueling the fire.

It was time to stop thinking about all the ways he had fucked up and start unfucking them.

Afterward, they could talk about everything else, like that little dream mention and what to do with Petyr Antorelli.

But, first—

Matthew picked up one of the weapons beside Gabriella’s leg. “Did you shoot him with his own gun? The ultimate disrespect.”

The gun was far too heavy for her and a bit showy for his taste.

“I didn’t exactly have a gun strapped to my thigh,” she snapped.

Feisty. He liked her like that.

“Put him in a cell after we’ve left and make sure he’s alive when we come back,” Matthew ordered. “I’m taking her to the safe house Bertino gave us. Lock this place down. No communications out. Everybody, lay low until she knows everything and can start making decisions.”

“Know everything? What do you mean? What’s going on?”

“Your father sold us out, Gabriella. Sold all of us out.”

“I know.”

“You know?”

“I was kidnapped by someone from within the family, Matthew. I’m not an idiot.”

He stared at her before realizing he was still, stupidly, wasting time.

It was time to stop doing that.

Gabriella wrapped her grip around his own on the gun, and he passed the weapon over. He expected her to set it down, but she shot in Petyr’s direction.

The Alpha on the ground let out a yelp.

“I’m going to kiss you now,” he warned.

“Oh, are you? Because, I’ve only been telling you to do it for fifteen minutes and—”

Pressing his lips to hers, he finally proved himself. He fucking meant it, meant every word about wanting her, wanting to worship her and breed her and knot her and—

Gabriella moaned against his mouth, and Matthew was gone. Her body arched into his, and he moved his hands to her hips, then under her thighs to lift her, needing her body closer. With her hands in his hair, she tugged at the short strands. He growled into her mouth, deepening the kiss, just as her nails trailed the back of his neck, then dipped into the back of his shirt. He groaned at the cut of them into his skin, feeling his pumping blood and her pheromones wrapped around them both, mixing with his own.

She was in heat, his Omega, and he was entering his rut, ready to be her Alpha.

His perfectly soft, demanding Omega. His beautiful Gabriella. His—

“Fuck.” He jerked away from her kiss as she bit his lip, hard enough to draw blood. “Fuck, you little—”

Kissing her again, he tasted his blood on her tongue and hiked her higher, trying to grind himself against her sex as her skirt slid up her knees. He loved her dresses, loved the way they hugged her body and her curves, showing off the soft roundness of her belly and the thickness of her thighs.

But he was about to rip it off her.

Fuck it, he really would.

When he stepped back, her feet hit the ground before sinking onto his knees. With her dress in both hands, he parted her legs, but the fabric held fast, likely well made. Fuck it. This was what a knife was for. Whipping one from his pocket, he flicked it open before cutting her skirt from her upper thigh down to the very bottom.

The fabric fell apart, revealing a leather garter. Fucking hell, this woman...

“You could have had a gun strapped to your thigh.” He gazed at her and hooked his knife to it. “Until we get you one, I want my knife on you at all times.”

“Put your mouth to better use, Alpha, or I’m going to—”

His mouth moved to the inside of her thigh, just above the buckle of the leather garter and sucked at her skin, wanting to leave a mark. His mouth could do all sorts of things a lot better than talking. His cheek brushed against something soft and burning hot, and he realized it was her gland and that—

“Okay, that’s enough. Either kill me or fucking leave already.”

Matthew jerked his head up to turn and look at where the voice had come from, growling and standing as he reached for his gun.

Who the fuck was watching him care for his Omega, and why were they not leaving?

He was ready to shoot, when he realized it was his second in the cell, his back turned and hands over his ears, as if that could stop Alpha hearing.

“Take the fucking vehicle and go. Don’t make me listen to this.”

“Fuck,” Matthew muttered, remembering Alessandro had locked himself in there. “The cell keys. Where are they—”

“I have them right here. Grabbed them when I locked myself in here. The keys you should be worried about are in the car. Go. Please. Fuck. I’m drowning here.”

Right. Shit. Right.

“Thank you,” Gabriella said loud enough that everyone in the basement could’ve heard. “Fuck, thank you. Keep yourselves safe. I’ll, we’ll figure things out—”

“Go. We’re with you but not in this. Shower before we see you again. Fuck.”

“Okay, yeah, Matthew, let’s— What are you doing ?”

So much time had been wasted, and Matthew was over it. He was getting her the hell out of there. Immediately.

He lifted Gabriella over his shoulder, her ass high in the air. She kicked, which was beyond fucking attractive but also increased his instinct to fight. He wanted to fight. He wanted to throw fists and do a whole hell of a lot more than he had done on his way in. He wanted to fight and fuck, and he was ready to fight on his way to fuck.

“Unless you want me to kill every Alpha I see on the way out—whether they be friend or foe—shut up, Gabriella, because I’m ready to eat you out against the wall right here. And I will do it and then I’ll have to kill everyone who heard your screams. Do you understand me?”

For good measure, he slapped her ass twice. She yelped with the first and moaned with the second. Her essence flooded his senses, and he shuddered again, remembering that she was in heat and that, yes, he had smelled this scent.

His dreams that seemed more like a memory were starting to give him the impression they were truly that.

“Hurry,” she begged.

Yeah. He was going to do that.

Hurry.

Because enough time had already been wasted.