Page 224 of Awakened

“Idril!”

I turn my head, searching for Caelan through tear-filled eyes. I can hear him speaking, but I can’t see him.

“Omega, take a deep breath in with me, alright?”

Who is that?

“That’s right. You’re going to be just fine.”

“Back up, Daxen. You’re too close.”

Daxen. Caelan.

Two Mates.

Two Mates. One who betrayed me.

Is that why? Did Daxen betray me because he knows, deep down, that there’s something wrong with me?

I’m panting. Sweating.

Oh Fates… oh Fates… I can’t freaking breathe!

I rip my shirt off, uncaring of who’s here or what they might see. I just need out of these clothes. They’re too tight. Abrasive. Like sandpaper against my skin.

I strip off each layer until only my bralette and sleep shorts remain. Only then do I feel like I can inhale properly.

“I can’t—I can’t⁠—”

I don’t even know what I’m trying to say. I can’t get the words out. Can’t make them make sense. I’m too lost in my anxiety. It’s strangling me, making me fight for every lungful of air.

I press my hands to my stomach. My skin is burning up. Like I have a fever.

A sharp ache spasms through my abdomen, right under my palms. I groan, but it quickly devolves into a whine. The pain is both sharp and dull at once, like a thousand blunted knives ripping through my insides. I’ve never felt anything like it. Like someone’s ripping me apart and shoving boiling stones inside my gut.

Boiling stones with razor-sharp edges that scrape and stab against my insides with every freaking breath.

Oh gods, what’s happening to me? What is this?!

My vision starts to blur, and I really start to panic. Then, like an answer to my prayers, Caelan appears right in front of me. He reaches out and cups my face in strong, blessedly cool palms.

I can’t think. Can’t make decisions. But my Omega knows what to do. So when she pushes forward, I don’t fight her. I shove my face into Caelan’s neck and take gulping, greedy lungfuls of his scent. Maybe later I’ll look back on this moment and be embarrassed, but right now I don’t care about anything other than getting closer to my Alpha.

“She’s having a heat spike.” Daxen’s normally calm voice is wavering, like he’s struggling to get words out. His own scent spikes, bleeding into the room and making me moan.

“She needs⁠—”

“Don’t,” Caelan snaps, pulling me to his chest and wrapping his arms around me, shielding me from his Packmate’s view.

There’s a lethal, dangerous edge to Caelan’s voice. I don’t dare look up, terrified that if I do, I’ll see rage on Daxen’s face. He hates everything related to Omegas. I’m sure he’s wondering even now if I did something to send myself into my first-ever heat spike just to manipulate him.

The memory of the look of disgust on his face makes my skin hurt. Suddenly, I don’t want him anywhere near me. I don’t want him near me, or my Mate, or my Nest, or anything at all.

“Get out,” I grind out the word between clenched teeth, face still buried against Caelan’s neck.

“What, sweetheart?” His voice is gentle, and the last thing I want Caelan to think is that I'm talking to him.

A cramp rips through my stomach. This one’s so sharp I can’t hold back the desperate whine that rips up my throat. I press my hands harder against my midsection, half-convinced that if I glance down I’ll see my organs spilling into my hands.