“Close. Need samples.”
That was all I could say, my eyes boring into his, pleading for him to just do as I said, even as a weird little whine escaped my lips.
“Meet us at Riley’s lab. Things have escalated way faster than expected. She’s beginning to transition. Yeah, I know, I didn’t expect it either, but…” His eyes were blazing silver as they slid to me, just staring at me with this curious alien warmth. “But our girl, she needs tending, and she wants that done in the lab, so meet us there pronto.”
The locks on the car doors were engaged as Mark and his pack emerged, eyeing us warily, but Fen already had the motor running, getting us out of the carpark and down the street at speed. He managed to rein that in once we were on the road, his eyes scanning the streets for dangers.
“Go left onto South Terrace,” I said on a groan, my body flexing against the seatbelt. In some ways, the restraint was exactly what I needed, pressure on my skin, forcing me to stay where I was, but in some ways, it was the exact opposite. I stared at Fen as he chanced a look at me for way too long, imagining the belt being replaced by his arms, his body pressed hard against mine, but he jerked his eyes away and followed my directions.
“Holy shit!”Candy gasped out when I almost fell out of the car, my hands clamping down on my breasts. They felt hard somehow and swollen—so swollen, I could almost feel the pulse of my blood into the veins running through them. “Jesus, Riley, what’s happened?”
“She’s transitioning,” Fen snapped, scooping me up into his arms, and I didn’t even protest. “Breathe me in, love.” I obeyed automatically, pressing my nose to his neck and taking big lungfuls that seemed to settle me. “You lot wanted to study how omegas reveal? Well, you’re about to see it up close and personal.”
They talked about something, but the sounds came out all muffled and distorted, as if the conversation were being held under water, only becoming clear when the others came. My head jerked up as those spicy scents pushed through, infiltrating and meshing with Fen’s.
“Hey there, Riley girl.” Blake’s voice was so soft, so warm, it was like a soothing blanket all over my skin, and I found myself reaching for him, his arms opening in response.
But Fen held me where I was. There was a slight growl, a sound that had me squirming in Fen’s arms, but for what? I didn’t know, just feeling an awful restlessness that I couldn’t seem to shake off.
“What the fuck, Fen?” Haze snapped, shouldering forward.
“She’s perfuming,” Colt said, breathing in deep, and when he did, his eyelids fluttered shut for just a second. Then when he opened them again? A slow, carnal smile spread, one that reminded me just how good that mouth felt, right on my—
“We need to get her home, on our territory,” Ryan said with a frown. “We need to protect her.”
“We need to get her upstairs,” Candy insisted, my lips peeling back from my teeth at the sight of a woman so close to my mates, but she just shook her head slowly. “This is what she asked for, to study this. Is this” —she waved vaguely at me— “a permanent state?”
“She’ll come back online after we’ve tended to her,” Fen informed her.
“OK, so tell me what the hell that means on the way upstairs, because this is what she wants.”
When the woman swiped a card and opened up the elevator, the smaller space, the way it compressed all of our scents settled something in me, which would’ve been perfect, but for her… I eyed Candy suspiciously, even though she kept a scrupulous distance from us. My men, my pack, they were all clustered close, their skin touching mine, helping hold me until we were whisked out again, through doors, too many doors, and into a harshly lit space.
“Riley?” the woman asked, and I growled then because she was coming closer, even though her hands were held up in surrender. “You called me, remember? I was settled in for a long weekend of dick, and you made me send them home. You wanted to document what’s happening to you.”
It felt like my prefrontal cortex rudely shoved whatever haze I was simmering in to one side, then I blinked, seeing and feeling everything as if for the first time.
“Shit…” I hissed, then fought my way out of Fen’s arms, my alpha setting me down on my feet. “Get the blood pressure cuff, the ECG, and some needles for a blood draw. Fuck, what else do we need?” I swiped my hand across my forehead, feeling it was slick with sweat. “A thermometer and some swabs for fluid samples.”
“There’s my girl,” Candy said with a grin, then scurried off to do my bidding.
Chapter 29
“…an ultrasound of my breasts to try and look at what’s causing the swelling,” I said as I paced back and forth. “Like, are we talking increased blood flow or lymphatic swelling? Mammary gland engorgement?”
“Riley,” Fen said, but I waved him off.
“Maybe a… Uh! A pelvic ultrasound for sure,” I ground out as I felt a sharp stab not unlike period pain twist inside me.
“Riley,” Colt said, moving forward, but I shied away.
“Do we do a brain scan? I don’t think I can sit still for an MRI or CT,” I said.
“Maybe after…?” Candy nodded to the guys that ranged at my back, her face twisting in concern, and that was what let me know there was a problem. Usually, me fighting a wave of intense sexual need would’ve had her rolling in the aisles, but right now?
“No, we need to capture as much data as we can while I’m like this,” I insisted, because I knew something she would never understand.
Right now, there were two Rileys. One was a beta and a scientist, who was rubbing her fucking hands at the opportunity this presented. I could do whatever the hell I liked with my own body and beg for forgiveness afterwards. But the other? That wolfish whine in my body was just as alien as the deep throbbing need that pulsed inside me. I had to fight my feet to stop them from walking closer, the soft Lycra of my bra feeling intolerably coarse right now. My nipples ached, I ached, for them. It was like that persistent, nagging feeling of a toothache, but this one promised all of the pleasure if I just…