LOGINDimitri told himself he wasn't jealous.He'd told Anya the truth, he was grateful Nikolai had helped. Grateful his brother had been there when he couldn't be. Grateful Anya had survived.But.There was a but. Small. Irrational. Buried deep where the mate bond couldn't quite reach it.He watched Anya and Nikolai at breakfast. The easy way they interacted now. The comfortable silences. The inside jokes that had developed during those three hours when Nikolai had been the one taking care of her.The way she smiled at him. Relaxed. Trusting. The same way she smiled at Dimitri but, different somehow. Special in a way that made something in Dimitri's chest tighten."You're staring," Alexei said quietly. Sitting beside him. "Also brooding. Staring and brooding. Not a good look.""I'm not brooding.""You're definitely brooding. What's wrong?""Nothing.""Liar." Alexei followed his gaze. To Anya and Nikolai laughing about something. "Ah. The jealousy.""I'm not jealous.""You're absolutely jea
The heat broke on the third day.Anya woke up clear-headed. The fever gone. The need satisfied. Her body finally her own again.Dimitri slept beside her. Exhausted. Marked. Her alpha who'd spent three days taking care of her. Making sure she was safe. Satisfied. Cherished.She should have felt relieved. Grateful. Complete.Instead she felt, guilty.Not about Dimitri. Not about the heat sex. That had been, incredible. Perfect. Everything the brothers had promised. She'd surrendered and not broken. Had been vulnerable and survived. Had learned that trust didn't equal weakness.No. The guilt was about Nikolai.About that first night. When heat had peaked and Dimitri was gone and Nikolai had helped. Had given her relief that wasn't his to give. That should have been her mate's.She'd used him. That's what it felt like. Used him because she was desperate. Because she couldn't wait. Because she'd been weak.The shame ate at her.She slipped out of bed. Dimitri didn't wake, he'd barely slept
The heat hit critical at 3 AM.Anya woke screaming. Not from nightmare. From pain. The heat no longer building, exploding. Consuming. Every nerve ending on fire. Every muscle cramping. Need so overwhelming it erased thought. Erased everything except desperate biological imperative.She needed. Needed her alpha. Needed relief. Needed..The door burst open. Not Dimitri. Nikolai."Anya? What's wrong? What..." He stopped. Eyes widening. "Fuck. Your heat. It's peaked."She couldn't answer. Could only curl into herself. Whimpering. The pain beyond anything she'd experienced. Beyond torture. Beyond injury. This was biological warfare against her own body."Where's Dimitri?" Nikolai demanded into his comm. "She needs him. Now."Static. Then Alexei's voice: "He's thirty minutes out. Security issue. Perimeter breach. False alarm but he had to check.""She doesn't have thirty minutes. She's..." Nikolai looked at Anya. At the way she shook. The way tears streamed down her face. The way she could
Anya couldn't do it.She'd tried. God, she'd tried. But the moment Dimitri's hands started to roam, gentle, careful, exactly what she'd asked for, panic set in. Sharp. Overwhelming."Stop," she gasped. "Stop, I can't..."He stopped immediately. Pulled back. Hands up. Non-threatening. "It's okay. We stop. Whatever you need.""I'm sorry. I thought I could...but I can't. I'm sorry.""Don't apologize. Never apologize for setting boundaries." He sat back. Breathing hard. Alpha instinct clearly demanding he help his suffering mate. But respecting her choice. "What do you need? How can I help?""I don't know. Space? Time? I don't..." The heat surged. Painful. Demanding. "Fuck, this hurts.""I know. Heat without relief is, it's agony. But there are other ways. Less intense ways. If you're not ready for... for everything.""Like what?"He explained. Carefully. Clinically. The ways an alpha could help an omega through heat without full mating. Touch. Scent. Presence. Relief that stopped short o
Anya woke up burning.Not fever. Not illness. Something else. Something deeper. Her skin hypersensitive to the sheets. Her body temperature spiking. The need—god, the need, pooling low in her belly, demanding. Insistent.She knew what it was. Had read about it. Been warned about it. But reading and experiencing were very different things.Heat. Her first real heat. The one the suppressants had delayed for years. The one the incomplete bond had been holding at bay.Now biology was done waiting.She stumbled out of bed. The room spun. Her legs weak. Everything felt wrong, too hot, too tight, too much."Fuck," she breathed. Trying to reach the bathroom. Trying to think through the fog of need.The bond pulled. Hard. Demanding she find her mate. Find Dimitri. Let him...No. Not yet. She wasn't ready. Wasn't prepared for what heat meant. What it would make her do. Make her need.She made it to the bathroom. Splashed cold water on her face. It helped. For about ten seconds.Then the heat ro
The heat lasted three days.Three days of Anya locked in the nest with Dimitri. Three days of biology overriding everything. Three days of becoming fully mated in ways that made the previous bond look like a pale shadow.Katya could hear her sister sometimes. Through the soundproofing. Not words. Just sounds. Need and satisfaction. Alpha and omega. Mate claiming mate.It made her feel, strange. Not jealous. Not uncomfortable. Just, aware. That there was a whole part of life she couldn't remember. Connections she'd lost. Experiences that should have shaped her but didn't."It's normal," Nikolai said. He was recovering on the couch. Arm in a sling. But mobile. Functional. "Heat. It's intense. Overwhelming. But it passes. She'll be okay.""How do you know?""Because Dimitri won't let anything happen to her. He's her alpha. Her mate. His entire purpose right now is making sure she comes through this safe. Satisfied. Bonded." He smiled. "Trust me. She's fine. Probably more than fine."Katy