Chapter 7 - Senna

My senses were still going haywire as Jet left the room. Jet. That's his name. My…no, don't do that to yourself.

I looked around the room. It was clearly Jet's bedroom, and there were several telling items scattered about. But first, I went to the curtains and drew them back, letting in the natural light. Sun washed over me, and I stilled a bit.

I'd been kept in dark, dank chambers for too long. If I could taste this bit of sunlight on my skin before dealing with whatever was coming next, I might be able to face it slightly better.

"Huh, pretty."

The windows revealed a frankly great view of the large plot of forest around the massive house. Jet's room overlooked the opposite end of the property from the front door. Winter white blanketed the large, open yard before the wood's tree line dotted the landscape with imposing pines.

As I turned to inspect the space with better light, I couldn't stop myself from being distracted by the ease in my chest. I'd never known what it felt like to be fully claimed by a pack. It was…way too fucking nice. Fury that I could do absolutely nothing about built in my veins as the fact that Terrance could have done this at any time haunted me.

"Stupid fucking bastard. None of us."

I shook my head, slumping onto the plush bed. None of the Collins pack understood this feeling. Most of them seemed okay with it, and maybe there were some who were fully claimed. But certainly not the omegas. Not the lowest of us.

Certainly not me.

Absently stroking my hand across the smooth covers, I looked down at the bed again. The deep gray blanket and sheets were extremely neutral, lived-in swaths of fabric that draped across the massive bed.

My eyes followed the line up to a dark wood bedpost. Beyond that, up to the ceiling, similarly colored beams ran across the top of the room, and lighter sheets of wood filled up the spaces between them. With muted, gray-white plaster walls, the ceiling grounded the room in the airy expanse.

"It looks like his style," I remarked to absolutely no one.

Still, it was true. I could see and smell Jet in everything around me. The leather and pine of his natural scent clung to the soft bedding, unwittingly calming my frayed nerves. I didn't want to be soothed or pacified, and still, I couldn't stop the natural release of tension from my shoulders as I breathed this place in.

An intricate, deep copper chandelier hung from the ceiling where I counted the number of beams running across it. There was nothing better to do, after all. The bulbs were off, though, so I got up and looked for a switch. Near the exit door—which was, of course, locked—was the switch plate, dressed in a matching deep copper color.

Turning on the fixture above the bed, more light illuminated the space. The floor was apparently made of the same material as the ceiling but arranged in Vs across the room. I roamed over the space with my eyes, trying to find something I could hate.

But it was all so beautiful.

The window spanned the entire wall at the rear of the room, and it felt like I could step out into the forest and run. Wind howled around the house, a comforting wail of nature. More artwork was also hung on the walls in here, paintings and watercolors of the woods—of wolves—and I just knew that these were done by members of the pack. I could sense it.

When I paid more attention to the right-hand wall from the door, I allowed myself to feel appreciation for the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. Dozens of books lined each shelf—old and worn and frequently read.

I walked over, dragging my fingers across the leather spines. I could understand why Jet's scent matched the tomes. They were so alike, bound up bits of knowledge only gained by those willing to put in the work. Because I could also sense just how closed-off Jet was, that little bit of our pack connection whispering it to me.

It's not just that, and you know it. It's the mate bond; it's trying to fully establish itself.

Moving away from the shelves and not willing to sit on that damn bed again to drown in Jet's scent, I sat on the floor in the center of the room.

Even the rug here was soft, and I silently cursed him and his fucking pack. My pack.

How the fuck am I supposed to live here? I can't just walk around the alpha who fucking rejected me. Why did he accept this damn trade?

Jet knew well enough that I didn't have a wolf. He'd seen it that night. Why on earth would he accept a wolfless shifter as a breeding omega? He couldn't possibly be okay with potentially birthing more shifters without wolves. Was he just delaying killing me? But then why take so long? Why claim me as a member of his pack?

My mind spun and spun like a damn top, and just like a top, I tipped right over. Letting myself fall to my side, I curled up into a ball, bringing my knees to my chest. I was exhausted and cold and hungry. I'd never once had a good meal in my life, and the slops I'd been given this morning were very much gone.

If Jet didn't come back and feed me soon, I was going to pound on that door until someone gave me something to eat. Undignified, to be sure, but I wasn't above demanding or even begging for food if it meant I got it. I had to do worse back with Terrance.

At times like this, I'd search for the hidden stash of human food I kept under the small mat that was my bed. I'd chow down and then hide the evidence. And if I was cold, I'd go to the old steam house at the edge of the property that no one used and set a fire in the old pit.

I couldn't do that now.

Tilting my head up, I noticed the other door in the room. No doubt it was a bathroom. I wonder if he has a bathtub?

Getting up, I took off the stiff boots I still wore, kicking them beneath the foot of the bed. I padded to the other door, and sure enough, it was a bathroom—and there was indeed a tub.

A big one.

But I didn't have any of my things, and I had no clothes to change into. I wasn't about to walk around the room naked or in a towel, and the thought of crawling back into the clothes I was wearing made me flinch. No, thank you.

Still…

A bath sounded too tempting to resist, and I just couldn't stay cold like this. Which was, of course, a little strange. I didn't understand why I would be chilled. I'd been out of the cold for a while now, and my natural body temperature was high like all wolves. Why would I be so damn cold and not able to warm up?

As soon as the hazy answer began to filter up from the depths of my subconscious, my body was hit with a wave of need. I crashed to the bathroom floor, my knees hitting the beautiful cream tile.

"Oh, no. Please, not now."

My words were a pained tumble of syllables as the cold embracing me was swiftly replaced with a scorching heat. My temp would be higher than even an alpha's now, my body rocked to the core with surging hormones.

My heat was here.

I'd survived plenty alone and uncared for, but not one so soon after an excommunication. I didn't know if I'd be able to manage it after already going through all that. Worse, that innate part of me, the thing closest to a wolf that might influence a proper shifter, pointed out that I didn't have to do this alone.

Absolutely not. I'm not giving into Jet's damned mate bond.

But I was wracked with another pulse of hormones that drove me right back down to the cool floor when I tried to stand up. I hadn't done anything to prepare. I didn't have food or water or a den. What was I supposed to do without at least a place to hide in solitude as the frenzy overwhelmed me?

Struggling through another pulse, I scrambled to my feet, turning on the water. If I could regulate my body temperature a bit, I might slow it down. It wasn't a proper surge yet, either. I was only in the first few minutes. I had time to get somewhere dark and safe, but that was only if I was let out of this damned room.

The rushing water sound eased my nerves, even if it felt way too fucking loud. Fumbling with my clothes, I stripped down and stepped into the cold water. The shit practically steamed as my heated body entered it, but the surge backed off.

"Okay, there we go." I sighed as the water cooled me like I'd just had a fever, knowing full well it wouldn't last. "Fuck, how am I going to face Jet again like this? I'm going to want…"

The words died off, but I knew exactly what I would want. I'd want to jump Jet's fucking bones. I'd want him to…breed me.

Ducking my entire body under the water, I closed my eyes and tried to get that fury in my heart to back down. Sounds dulled, and an unearthly stillness filled me as I did my best to get to a place where my body didn't exist. It's how I handled all the other heats alone. I could do it now. I could.

Coming back up for air, I was hit with the pungent aroma of my own smell.

"Oh, fuck, really?"

There was no way in hell that scent wouldn't reach Jet. Hell, it was going to filter through the entire damn house. I wasn't truly mated. Jet's claim wasn't mixed with the fragrance, and every damn wolf in this house was about to come pounding on that door if they smelled me like this.

It was the other reason I always went somewhere alone to endure my heats. I was not about to let any of the male wolves in the Collins pack touch me. And many had tried when I'd been young and not as good at picking up on when it might be coming.

The other omegas and female wolves back there would just let themselves be rutted through their heats. There was little concern for them about getting pregnant with our record of terrible numbers, and even Terrance had tried and failed to breed several of them.

When a shiver finally cut through me, I knew my temp was good enough to get out. I wrapped myself in one of Jet's fluffy, deep-gray towels and padded through his room, looking for something to mask the smell. There wasn't much in the way of options. There was a fireplace, so I settled for that and then cracked a window.

The heavy rose and almond scent faded some, and I slumped down onto the floor again, still wrapped in Jet's towel. I didn't want to put on my clothes. I didn't want to put anything on.

A rut. More than anything, what I desired, what I needed, thanks to this damn heat, was a rut. I needed Jet to breed me, and if he did have sex with me now, I really was more than likely going to get pregnant.

Could life back off on the damn curveballs? I need a break.

My skin was still humming, and another wave crested over me. I picked up on that leather and pine scent of Jet's coming from his bed. Without even thinking, I crawled up off the floor and under the covers. I rolled around in them, coating myself in his aroma.

Taking complete control, my body writhed in the sheets, my legs scissoring as my core ached for him to fuck me. Oh, hell. I'm going to be useless like this.

And then I heard the doorknob turning.