35. Ellis

35

Ellis

T wo things are obvious the moment we come within view of the car. One, Harrison finally got his head out of his ass and gave our girl an orgasm. And two, we are in deep shit.

We walk up just in time to hear Ava stutter, "You're… you're an omega." One hand lands on her forehead while a manic laugh slips past her lips. "This makes so much sense now! I mean seriously, why on earth would someone choose her over me?"

"I can think of a few reasons," McQuinn mutters under his breath.

I elbow him in the side. Right now, Ava holds our future in her hands. Our chance at the gold. Our reputations. What she does with her knowledge about Meggie's designation will determine it all for us.

"What are you doing here, Ava?" Harrison says.

"Me? This is an Olympics Village shuttle van parked in the lot just outside the Olympic Village. I thought it was my ride to the rugby game."

"You can't say anything." Harrison moves towards his ex, but Meggie repositions herself between them. Her nose scrunches as she glowers at the other woman and lets out the most adorable little growl.

An omega in heat can be dangerously possessive, but Ava is entirely unfazed by Meggie's show of aggression.

"And you're in heat." Ava throws her hands up. "Great!"

Her sarcasm makes me chuckle. It echoes my own feelings. As much as I would love to ride out a heat with Meggie—I've been dreaming about it since the moment I found out she's an omega—now really isn't a great time.

Ava turns to the rest of us. "I'm guessing none of you idiots have a plan for dealing with this, am I right?"

"We wouldn't have to deal with this if someone hadn't taken her suppressants." McQuinn doesn't even try to keep the accusation out of his voice.

Personally, I knew Ava had nothing to do with the missing pills the second we walked up. She's been around long enough for me to tell when she's acting. Her surprise at learning Meggie's designation was genuine.

"You think I did it?" She asks, swinging around to look at the rest of us instead of Harrison and Meggie in the van.

My pack mates all share the same look. We're clearly in agreement that it wasn't Ava. But who then?

When my eyes land on Meggie, it's clear we're in trouble. She's positioned herself on Harrison's lap, facing out so she can rub her ass on his crotch. The guy is as rigid as a board, about ready to snap.

"Sorry," Meggie whispers, stopping now that she's noticed all of us staring at her. "I'm okay. I'm fine. Really. It's just…"

Ava rolls her eyes and waves her hand through the air. "Seriously, what are you going to do about this?"

"Well, we…" I don't know how to finish the sentence, because there's no way we're going to find an available heat suite at a hotel this last minute in a city overrun with tourists. I was honestly considering just driving around and knotting her in the car. A ridiculous idea since heats can last for days if not well satisfied. Shit, days!

I don't know how I forgot that we have another match in a little over forty-eight hours. I've been so focused on Meggie it's been hard to think about anything else. We've got to get her somewhere safe, take care of this, and hope her fever breaks before the final game. I can't even think about what we'll do if it doesn't.

"Get in," Ava says with an exasperated huff and a shake of her head.

She opens the passenger side door and gets in the car. What the hell is happening?

"I said, get in!" Ava snaps her fingers at the rest of us, still standing around looking confused.

"We don't have time to deal with whatever this is." McQuinn crosses his arms and glares at Ava. "If you're going to turn us in, or you're planning to have us drive ourselves right to the committee, or join us for her heat—fuck, I have no idea what you're doing in this car! Get out!"

"Ava." Our pack alpha finally finds his voice.

"Shut up, all of you," Ava says. "I'm saving your ass. That's what I'm doing." Her eyes soften as they land on Meggie. "You okay with that?"

"You can really help?" Meggie asks.

Ava gives our girl a curt nod.

"Okay, then." Some determination comes back into Meggie's voice

"Good." Ava buckles her seat belt and glares at McQuinn. "Unless you want someone else to stumble upon you and learn your little secret, I suggest you get in and drive."

***

We pass the stone facades and clustered windows of the Parisian townhomes and apartment buildings. But the only ones paying attention to the streets are Ava and McQuinn.

I don't know how McQuinn is driving right now, considering the haze of pheromones consuming the car. It smells like summer and sex.

I reach for Meggie, needing her closer, but Harrison snaps his teeth at me and pulls Meggie against his chest. His eyes are glossy and unfocused as he buries his nose in her hair. Oh, boy. The guy looks ten seconds away from going into a rut.

"Ava," Meggie suddenly calls to the woman in the front seat who hasn't said anything apart from barking directions at McQuinn. "Will it make you uncomfortable if I… I need…"

Tears glisten in my beautiful omega's eyes and it's torture, pure torture. I want to give her everything she needs and being stuck in this car, fully clothed, and unable to help her is killing me.

Ava curses under her breath. "Do whatever the fuck you have to do. Believe me when I say my eyes are glued to the road."

"T-thank you," Meggie says. For a few more minutes, she stays fairly controlled and lucid. She doesn't say or do anything more. But it's clear it's getting harder. Her eyes are steadily growing glassier. Her breath comes faster and faster as she worries her lip between her teeth.

Without warning, she crumbles in half, grasping her stomach and whimpering. "I can't… I need… Please, alphas. "

Her head swings from one side to the other, her body shakes, her hips buck and find nothing but air.

Nils puts his hand to her forehead. "She's burning up."

"Are you all just gonna sit there like idiots, or are you going to take care of her?" Ava says without looking back.

"Now?" I ask.

"With you right…" McQuinn takes one hand off the wheel to wave it in her direction. I can see his scowl in the rearview mirror.

"Didn't you just hear her? She's the one who didn't seem to care if I was here." From where I'm sitting, I can see the tightness in Ava's shoulders, the way her head is stuck straight like she doesn't want to risk moving it at all. Her nose is scrunched up like she's smelling something repulsive, and her lips are pinched. She reaches forward and turns the radio up.

I've never felt so much sympathy for another person. It's still not clear where she's taking us, but I know she's trying to help, and this has to be miserable for her. I unbuckle my seat belt. "Harrison, switch places with me."

He growls, teeth only inches from Meggie's neck.

"Shit." I climb over the seat and squeeze between Harrison and Dante. "Let her go, Harrison."

Instead, he pulls her head back and kisses her. Meggie moans and spins around so she can straddle Harrison. Dante and I share a look.

"Let go!" I use my bark, but Harrison barely pauses. With one hand between them, he's already undoing his pants.

Dante's hand lands on my shoulder, worry vibrating through the bond.

"Let go," we bark in perfect unison.

Harrison's head snaps up. He blinks.

Dante and I bark again, Nils and Oz joining in this time.

Harrison shakes his head. He lifts his hands up, like a man with a gun pointed at him. "Fuck, I was about to…"

"We know."

"Again…" He leans as far back as he can, like he's trying to get away from Meggie. His arms shake as he keeps his hands off her.

Meggie whimpers and starts crying. An emotional wreck.

"No." She clings to Harrison's shirt, rubbing her cheek against him. "Touch me, alpha. Please!"

"Come here, sunshine." I take her off of Harrison's lap and pull her across me to Dante.

Harrison looks distraught. And that guilty cloud is hanging over him again. "Hey, it's okay, man. Don't go backwards. She wants you here. She wants you to bite her. You want to bite her. We all fucking want you to bite her. She's ours. But not this way."

He nods, stiffly.

"I don't know if I can control myself," he whispers.

"Let us worry about that," Nils says. "You don't have to be in control all the time."

"We're pack." Oz turns around to look at us. "We're gonna take care of our girl and watch each other's backs so none of us turn into rutting idiots who do something we'll regret. Deal?"

"Deal," we all reply, one after another.

"We've got you, man." I set a hand on Harrison's shoulder and squeeze.

"Um, guys," Dante draws our attention.

Meggie is a whimpering mess on his lap. Curled in on herself and clutching her stomach. She groans, "It hurts."

"We've got you, sunshine." I cast Dante a mischievous look. "And we're going to take very good care of you."