Knot So Perfect Omega (Omega Match #1)(45)

She rolled onto her back, her fists going to her eyes and rubbing. “Huh?” She sniffed. “I’m fine.”

“Did you stop taking your pills?” Beck started stroking her arm. “If you’re about to start your heat...”

“I’m still taking them.” She let her hands drop to the blankets covering her. “Even if I am about to start my heat, it’ll be mild. Nothing I can’t handle.”

“Maybe she should come with us.” Rylan went and shut the door to the balcony. “She can stay in the hotel suite, and we can post some guards outside.”

“If she’s about to be in heat, it’s not safe for her to travel.” Rio adjusted himself in his boxers. “We either need to withdraw from competition or-”

“No.” Kayla sat up, the covers dropping to show her flushed, naked chest which she quickly remedied by pulling a sheet to cover herself. “You guys have been working your asses off for this. I always run hotter during my heats. I don’t think that esquites agreed with me either, but I’ll be fine.”

Fine usually didn’t mean she was actually fine.

“Beck, where’s your thermometer?” I asked, heading for the bathroom.

“Left drawer.”

I grabbed it and came back, ready to stick it in her ear. She batted me away with an annoyed whine. “Let me go back to sleep. I don’t need my temperature taken.”

“Let him take your temperature.” Beck’s alpha bark had the boner I’d popped quickly deflating. “You’re as stubborn as a mule.”

Falling back onto the pillows, she glared up at Beck as she turned her head to the side. “I’ll show you a mule when I kick you in the balls.”

“Do it.” Beck was back to stroking her arm, and the only reason I knew he was talking to me and not telling Kayla to kick him was because he was looking at me.

Too bad. I would have liked to see her put him in his place.

I put the thermometer in her ear and pressed the button, pulling it out when it beeped. “Ninety-nine point eight. That’s a little elevated.”

“Kayla.” Beck put his hand on her cheek. “Say the word and we’ll stay.”

“I don’t need you guys to stay. What I need is some sleep.” She pulled the covers up sharply over her head, forcing Beck’s hand away and hiding herself from our concerned stares.

Beck growled and stood. “You’ll call us if anything changes. Do you understand?”

“Yes. Now go before you miss your flight.” She didn’t uncover her head and we all shared a brief look before leaving the room. We didn’t need to correct her that the plane could wait.

“What are we going to do?” I started pacing in the hall. “We can’t leave her.”

“She wants us to go. We’ll go.” Beck strode back toward his new room.

Rio had been awfully quiet, and I turned to him. “What do you think we should do?”

“Honestly? She’s been going through heats for years, and if she says she’s fine for us to leave...” He seemed unsure and rubbed a hand over his face. “We can come back right after the game.”

“I don’t know. It feels wrong to leave her when she’s going into her heat. I don’t care if she’s been handling it before now.” With one last look at her door, I followed Rio and Rylan back toward our rooms.

“It’s not how we feel about it. She’s fiercely independent, and as much as it goes against some of our instincts, if we don’t listen to her, we could ruin things with her. Let’s go, like she wants, and use this as fuel to win.” Rylan might have been the youngest, but sometimes his words made so much sense.

He was right that she had her own way of dealing with her suppressed heats, and if she didn’t want us around then we had to respect that.

Even if it felt wrong.





CHAPTER EIGHTEEN





Kayla





Light streamed through the windows, and I whimpered, throwing the blankets off me and letting the cool air from the ceiling fan chill my sweaty skin. I hated that I had the urge to lie naked in the middle of the bed and also pile every blanket known to man on top of me.

I blindly reached for my phone, knocking it off the nightstand and onto the floor. With a groan, I rolled over, letting my arm hang over the side of the bed but having no energy to actually grab it.

My entire body ached, and my panties were soaked through with slick. What I needed was a cold shower and an orgasm. I should have known my heat was going to start, but it made no sense when for years I’d been consistent with timing and intensity.

And this? This was much worse than any of my suppressed heats.

“Different environment, Kayla,” I muttered, trying to reassure myself that this was normal and all I needed was to take care of myself and the worst of it would pass in a few hours.

But I’d been saying that since the night before and now there was an ache building in my core that I feared would turn into cramping.

I shuddered at the thought of the pain from the heat when I’d first emerged. It had been so awful I’d been ready to go find any alpha off the street to fuck me to take the pain away.

I managed to get my body to cooperate and scooped my phone off the floor before sitting up on the edge of the bed.