Chapter 8 - Jet

"We're not sacrificing her, Leon. I'm not explaining this again."

My voice carried weight, hitting the wolf with more than a little of my alpha status pushed into it. Despite the apparent frustration grinding within him, Leon lowered his head, backing up with it down in a show of submission.

The study was crammed full of wolves at present, and a supernatural hum echoed through my blood from tasting Senna. I need to get back to her. My entire body ached to be with her, to bury myself deep between her slick folds, and I was more than ready to end this meeting so that I could.

"Leon, she's been gifted as a breeding omega. We're at the least going to entertain that notion. She smells healthy and capable. If anything, you should be impressed by the way that she handled the excommunication. I've seen stronger wolves die outright."

I was padding the truth, but I wasn't outright lying. What's more, I didn't intend to keep Senna's status as my mate hidden from them for much longer. I just wanted her to accept it as well. There was no point in telling them if she was going to run.

"Alpha," MacKenzie's voice slipped into the conversation gently, "she'll need assessment from a proper healer. That strain can't go without observation. Even if you have claimed her into the pack."

My chair creaked as I stood up from my desk and walked toward the younger wolf. Were it not for Kenzie's status as a healer, I'd be happy to have her on the battlefield with me or out on any hunt. She was as formidable a fighter as her brother and endlessly loyal.

"I trust your judgment, MacKenzie." I put a hand on her shoulder, squeezing gently. "I just want to make sure she's ready for that."

Kenzie nodded, keeping her head lowered for a moment before looking back up at me with her striking ice-blue eyes, practically white.

"Of course, Jet. But you can rest assured, I'll treat her well. She'll have no reason to fear me. I…" Kenzie smiled to herself, glancing down at the floor briefly. "I like her. She smells…right. A good fit here."

"Thank you, MacKenzie. Kaiden," I turned from her toward Kenzie's brother, "we still have the issue of…first beta."

He stepped forward, bowing his head down in the recognition of our collective grief, still so damn fresh. Deacon was barely gone, and here we were, having to fill his position in the pack and welcome a new member.

I could understand my pack's hesitance when it came to Senna, their anger over having to take her in and not be granted that revenge they all felt was more than deserved. They weren't wrong. We did deserve it, but I had no way of knowing that Terrance's fucking ploy would be with my mate. Hell, he hadn't known.

"What would you have us do, Jet?" Kaiden's voice was even as he straightened and tucked his long hair behind his ear.

"Gather the willing and able wolves of the pack. We will hold trials for the position of head beta. You, Grayson, ensure the traditions are upheld for each. I'll need your assistance preparing everything."

Grayson stepped up alongside Kaiden, nodding.

"Of course," they echoed as one.

"You're both welcome to participate. You are both esteemed members of the pack. I would be honored to have either of you at my side as lead beta."

Grayson smirked, elbowing Kaiden playfully in the ribs. His humorous competitive edge dulled some of the lingering grief, and before I knew it, they were practically wrestling with each other in the study.

Kaiden was able to knock Grayson back, sending the tall man into the wall with a soft thud. Grayson shook his head, his blonde locks fluffing around him like a cloud as he grinned.

"Ugh, you two. Can we please chill it with the theatrics?" Kenzie scoffed at them, folding her arms over her chest.

The wave of connection I felt to them all, the normalcy of the moment, nearly brought me to my knees. I needed this more than I realized. I needed my family to be in better spirits, and we all desperately needed a break from the pain.

Gentle hoots filled the room as the wolves pumped each other up for the upcoming trials. There would be several participants, it seemed, and I couldn't help but laugh at their exuberant display.

Clearing my throat to get their attention again, I held up my arms toward them, the fireplace at my back.

"Thank you, my pack, for trusting in my judgment. I haven't led you astray, and I don't plan on starting that now. You all are my family. Family comes first."

Devotion resonated through the pack bond, and the heads before me all lowered before the chorus of preparations and excitement picked back up.

"Trials will begin in the morning, everyone," I had to call out over the increasingly loud room. "Kaiden and Grayson, I expect everything to be ready at first light."

"On it, Jet!" Grayson hollered as he scrambled with Kaiden against the sideboard.

Ugh, young idiots. But I felt better than I had in days. Deacon's loss was still so fresh, but this helped to ease the ache. And Senna's appearance could actually become the miracle I'd hoped for. With her in my pack, nothing was standing in the way of claiming her as my mate fully.

Except, of course, her distrust of me.

It was time to go back and check on her. We needed to have quite a conversation. I only hoped that—

A wave of energy swept through the room like a warm breeze, smelling like roses and almonds. Senna.

"Whoa, what is that?" Leon's voice was heady as the pheromones filtered into the study.

MacKenzie stepped in front of him, scenting the air as she furrowed her brow at his obviously intoxicated expression.

"I don't smell—wait. Wait." She breathed deeper, every other wolf in the room doing the same. "That smells like—"

"A heat," Grayson finished.

Shit.

It wasn't coming from MacKenzie or the other females in the room. It was coming from upstairs—in my room. Senna. It had to be.

A low rumble began to fill the room as the most susceptible wolves lost themselves to the call of an omega's heat. No. She's mine.

As clumsy steps sprinted for the door, I rushed forward, using every bit of strength in my legs to get between the exit and my pack. I landed there first, and the wolves pulled up short. Uncontrollable growls left each of them as the instinct to find and rut whoever was making that heavenly scent overtook them.

I felt it myself, likely stronger than all the others because Senna was my mate, and they would not be touching her.

"Back!" The roar shook the room, cracking out of me like thunder.

My pack flinched back, my alpha claim demanding that they freeze. MacKenzie and a few of the pack's existing omegas stepped between me and the affected wolves.

Kenzie held up her hands. "Go. I'll keep them at bay. If Senna's in heat this soon after the excommunication, she's going to need tending to—fast."

"Stay." I put everything I had into the command, and my wolves whimpered low as they held their ground.

Tearing out of the room and up the stairs, I rushed straight to my bedroom. The smell of roses and almonds grew stronger with every step, and I was losing my damn mind. It was too fucking good. I had to get to her. I had to find Senna and claim her entirely.

My footsteps pounded on the wood floor until I was right outside the door. I reached out, turning the knob and flinging the thing wide before closing it again behind me. I locked the door with my key, securing us inside.

Roses. Almonds. Delicious dessert, better than anything, filled the air of my room, mixing with the lingering leather and pine smell of my own things. Spinning around, I found Senna in my bed.

Naked.

Stalking toward her, I could see the lidded gaze of her heat overtaking her. She clutched the covers, holding them around her bare skin with a white-knuckled grip. She was clearly going through another wave, but she was also very obviously terrified.

It was enough to get me to pause, pulling to a stop right at the side of my bed.

"Senna." My voice was raspy, a hungry growl. "Fucking hell, Omega. You're in heat?"

A pained sob left her, and she nodded as another crest of hormones bloomed out of her, renewing that divine scent.

"I didn't know. I-it's early. The stress…from the ex…fuck." She pinched her eyes closed, her head lolling. "I usually go to Terrance's shed away from the pack or private area. Do you…do you have somewhere…"

"You're not going anywhere." I climbed into the bed, unable to stop myself, but still stayed the smallest bit back from her. "Hells, Senna. I…"

My words drifted as that smell of hers surged again. I was diamond-hard, and I needed to rut that pussy of hers until we were both too exhausted to stand. The mate bond flared within me, and the calming surge that an alpha could offer his mate vibrated out of me in a low purr of sorts.

I'd never made that sound before.

"Jet, please. You can't...you can't just use me and then toss me away."

Oh, damn, I'm not going to make it.

"That's not…that's not what I want, Senna." I chewed on my lip briefly before instinct drove me to inch closer to her, sniffing the air and hunting for that scent. "You're my mate. I want only that. I didn't…oh fuck, sweetness."

She was trembling as another wave of hormones peaked. Senna moaned low, arching her back. I could see the hardened buds of her nipples pressed up against the fabric of my sheets. My sheets. It was making her scent rub off all over my bed, my own leather and pine smell coating her skin.

"You keep…you keep saying mate like it matters. You rejected me. You left me alone."

Her voice was a little stronger as the most recent surge backed off. Senna fluttered her eyes open more, pegging me with a glare.

"I wanted to keep you safe. If it was discovered that a Collins wolf was mated to an Edwards, what exactly did you think Terrance was going to do?"

Reaching for her hands, electricity zapped through me at the contact. I pulled one of them toward me, laying her palm against my chest. Gods above, the feel of her.

"I…" Her voice faded into nothing as I held her hand. She laced her fingers between the unbuttoned halves of my shirt, gripping it tight.

"I'm so fucking sorry, sweetness." I stroked my thumb up and down the back of her hand. "I wanted to protect you. I knew that you were mine the moment I saw you in that damn bar. But…you had no wolf. You were a Collins. I didn't think…I didn't think you'd survive what happened if the packs learned."

At once, Senna hissed as another wave wracked through her. It would get painful now. She needed to fulfill the urge, or Senna was going to be in tremendous pain. How she'd survived through heats alone was astonishing. It wasn't impossible, of course, but I couldn't imagine going through that.

And the longer this went on, the harder it would be to keep my wolf at bay—keep all the wolves downstairs at bay.