Chapter Thirty-Three

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

NOW PLAYING: VORE - Sleep Token

My chest aches as I exit the backstage area and skirt around the raving fans still waiting by the front. I know I won’t be able to avoid the guys for much longer. Soon, their instincts will make them snap and they’ll drag me somewhere quiet so we can talk. I just need another minute more. Time to gather my thoughts and steel myself for the pain I know is coming.

Screams and shouts fill the air as the guys exit the stage area behind me. The barrier separating the crowd from the performers groans as it takes the weight of their excited fans. Hoping to catch a glimpse of the band. A clue as to who they are beneath the masks. Their shouts drown each other out in their intensity, blending into a medley of their version of devotion.

‘We love you!’

‘Take off your masks!’

‘Sign my shirt!’

‘Marry me!’

‘I wanna ride your knots!’

I barely manage to swallow back a growl as that one carries over the crowd, earning disgusted looks from both security and the other fans. Everyone who follows the band knows they don’t do casual hookups. They’ve been waiting for their perfect match. Their Fated omega. Me.

Sadness is a black hole devouring everything good in my life. Despite the ever-growing connection between us, the burning chemistry, and the promise of an incredible future, we can’t be together. A thought that sends waves of pain crashing through my body. I stumble over my own feet when they hit.

No matter how painful it gets, or how desperate I become, I will respect their decision to reject me. I’ll find a way to survive without them so they don’t carry the weight of my death on their shoulders.

Because that’s what a good mate is supposed to do: protect the ones they love. Even from themselves.

The fans are raving about their new song. Loving the romantic lyrics and sultry notes. My heart pangs. The organ already cracking into pieces. Why did they have to choose tonight to make such a life-changing proclamation? To debut lyrics that spoke of ownership with heated looks promising they want to claim me?

Backing away from the barrier holding the crowd away from the artists, I feel something sharp pinch my arm. Snapping my eyes down, my stomach churns ferociously as I watch a needle pull from my skin. Words drown in my throat. I can’t move. Can’t think past the horror of what just happened. Heat spreads up my arm as the drug courses through my veins.

Lex is immediately at my side, pulling me away from the sea of people. “Omen? You good?” The horror and panic in my eyes puts him on high alert. His phone is at his ear in seconds, dialing Bea’s number and rushing out a quick emergency warning.

“Drugged,” I rasp as my mind finally manages to look past the familiar fire burning through my veins. “Someone drugged me.”

The world sways around me. I can only watch as security goes on high alert. The boys’ head of security tries to force Nebula to move into the rest area away from the crowd, but he is fighting a losing battle. I can tell the bassist is going to win, so I bolt further into the festival.

Lex shoulders his way through the crowd, catching my wrist and stopping me. The air around me fills with my sunflower and honeysuckle scent so intensely I’m sure every alpha in the area is aware an omega nearby is going into heat. Cramps stronger than I’ve ever experienced roll through my lower abdomen, nearly sending me crashing to my knees.

Before I can fall, Lex scoops me up, throwing me over his shoulder. I can hear Brady and Ridley barking ahead of us, clearing our way through the crowd.

“You’re in heat,” Bea chokes out from beside us. I didn’t even notice her join us.

“No shit,” I grit out. Having an incompatible omega so close is driving my instincts wild right now. I can barely resist the urge to scratch the shit out of her.

Moments later, I’m being tossed into the backseat of a car. Bea leans in through the open door, her eyes filled with concern and her voice nasally as she tries not to breathe in my scent. “Lex is getting you set up with a heat suite at one of our trusted hotels in town. Brady will drive you there and Lex will carry you up.” I nod, curling further into myself as another wave of pain strikes. “I’ll alert Shiloh too. We had it written into your contract so there shouldn’t be an issue with you missing Orbital Somatic’s show tomorrow.”

“Bea, close the damn door! We’re moving out!” Lex bellows. My bestie rolls her eyes but listens. The car door slams closed as she backs away to stand next to Ridley. As far from where I’m pumping out hormones like a broken air freshener as possible.

Twenty minutes later I’m sweat-soaked and sobbing as Lex carries me through a private entrance and up an elevator to the heat suite they booked. The small nest is scentless, but filled with soft things. I immediately set to work on arranging it, not noticing the click of the lock engaging as he leaves.

Lying on my side, naked and alone, I let myself be consumed by the need coursing through my body.

Minutes roll into hours, which turn into days as my body is consumed by fire. I’m exhausted. So wrung out I can barely move. I haven’t eaten enough or gotten enough hydration to balance out what I’m losing. Lex tried to stay to help me with the basics, but my scent was too overwhelming for my alpha bodyguard. The hotel was supposed to send a beta helper up, but I don’t think they ever showed. Or maybe I sent them away.

Everything is a hazy blur in my mind from the heat fog.

I hear the main door to the suite click open and wonder if they sent someone else to check on me. Then I hear Bea gag and call my name. “Here,” I croak, “but don’t come in.”

There is silence on the other side of the nest door for several moments before I hear her gag again. “Oms… are you still in heat?” She sounds like she is crying. Probably from the overwhelming power of my heat scent and our incompatibility. “It’s been a week. I thought I’d find you passed out and recovering. Not… this.”

“It won’t stop,” I whine. “Nothing makes it stop. Nothing makes it better. It hurts so much.”

I hear her fumbling before the door cracks open and a phone lands beside me. A call is connected and the speaker button is already pressed. I can see Shelby and Bea’s names at the top. “Hello, girls, how is the tour?”

“Mom, something is wrong with Omen. We need your help,” Bea demands from the other line.

“Okay, what’s going on?” Shelby asks.

“Heat,” I stammer as another small wave of cramps hits. The heat is starting to rise again and I don’t know how much longer I’ll be clear-headed enough to talk.

“She went into heat at the festival last weekend,” Bea explains. “It was unexpected. She started perfuming like crazy after the first show and–”

“Heat. Inducer,” I grit out between clenched teeth.

“Shit. I didn’t know that part. Mom, it’s been seven days of heat and there are no signs of it easing.”

We both hear the sharp intake of Shelby’s breath and her muffled cursing. “There are very few things that would make an omega have such an adverse reaction to a heat. An allergic reaction to the drug they used. Too high of a dose could possibly prolong a heat, and with the mini-heats you’ve been having… There are too many options for me to give you even a solid guess without blood work too. Where are you? Me or one of the other DAU doctors will come administer a stronger heat suppressant to chemically end the heat before it can do more damage.” Her voice fades, but we can hear her shuffling around on the other side of the line.

“I think…” I suck in a deep breath knowing once I speak this truth into the world, I may get my ass kicked by my best friend. “I think it’s because I met my Fate matched mates.”

Bea is too quiet. Her silence only lasts a few seconds before her voice booms through the room echoing in the phone. “OMEN I’M GOING TO KICK YOUR ASS AS SOON AS YOU RECOVER FROM THIS HELLACIOUS HEAT!”

“Sabine Powell! What on earth is your problem?” Shelby scolds her daughter, but I can sense it. Bea has figured it out. She knows who Primordial Covenant is to me. And my bestie is pissed I didn’t tell her.

“Omen’s known she had Fate matched mates since her birthday last year. I wasn’t aware she had MET them until this moment. And she didn’t even tell me!” Bea seethes.

I’ve royally fucked up by keeping this secret to myself, but I was terrified as soon as I learned who they were. A terror that only escalated as I got to know them and learned about Nebula’s past. “Bea,” I groan, “I’m sorry–”

“Don’t you dare try to give me some shitty excuse right now, Omen. I will fight my instincts and come in there to titty punch you. Nudity be damned.”

“You don’t understand,” I cry, but my breath is stolen by another wave of cramps.

“Oh, Omen,” Shelby sighs. “You have to tell them, sweetie. They deserve to know.”

“She should have already told them,” Bea snarls.

“I was going to,” I sob. “The night after their concert in Boston. I’d already talked to Donovan about it, but then this happened.”

“Why didn’t you tell them as soon as you knew who they were to you?” Shelby asks.

“Fear. What if my family finds them?”

“Omen, that will always be a possibility, but you can’t let fear rule your life,” Shelby tells me. I’ve heard the same thing from both Bea and Lex before. I can’t seem to convince my brain they’re right.

“It doesn’t matter now,” I laugh bitterly. “Even if I tell them, nothing will change. Nebula’s sister is the omega my brother Ben rejected. She took her own life after he destroyed her.”

“Oh, Oms. You’re afraid they’ll reject you? After what Nebula watched his own sister go through? They love you, girl. Like the over-the-top, write songs about you type of love,” Bea replies softly.

“I’m not afraid, Bee. I already know they’ll reject me. They hate my entire birth family, me included. As soon as they realize who I am, that's it. The end of the line.”

“You’re jumping to conclusions without giving those boys the chance to decide for themselves. You can’t carry the burden of your family’s evil forever, and if they’re your Fate matched mates, they’ll see that too. All of you deserve a chance at happiness ever after.”

I muffle my sobs from hearing Shelby’s affirming words into a fluffy pillow. I’m terrified. Afraid to give them the power to destroy me. Afraid to hurt them with my secrets. Most of all, I’m afraid of what will happen if they choose me. If they stay and my family finds me… I wouldn’t be able to handle knowing I put them in danger by being theirs.

When the tears have slowed, I shove the pillow away and pull the phone closer. “You have to tell them, Bea,” I start. She tries to protest but I power on. “They need to know the truth before they step inside of this room. We all know as soon as they catch my scent their instincts will kick in and they won’t be able to leave. Give them the choice, Bea. Please.”

“Fine,” she snaps. “I’ll tell them. But you have to face this eventually, Omen. You can’t keep letting your fear of your family rule your life. You have to start living for yourself.”

“I know,” I promise her.

The rest of their conversation fades into the background as the wave of heat consumes me. I’m almost glad I can't focus on anything but my body’s needs. For now, I don’t have to worry about the rejection in my future, only chasing my next orgasm.