Page 17 of Puck Your Charity

I force my hands to stay relaxed. "Where is she?"

"They took her." Finn jumps up from the bench, his hands forming tight fists. "She dropped right there in the hallway. She looked so fragile. I caught her. She buried her face in my neck. She whined for me. I wanted to carry her out of there and lock her in my room. I wanted to knot her until she couldn't walk."

My teeth grind together. The graphic image of knotting the fierce, dark-haired woman sends another jolt of raw heat straight to my cock.

"The charge nurse called security." Finn paces again, his voice cracking with rage. "They ripped me away from her. They dragged her into medical isolation. I tried to fight them. I wanted to bash their skulls in. I had to leave the building before I caught an assault charge."

I grab his shoulder again and force him to look at me. "You did the right thing. Starting a bloody brawl in a pediatric ward ruins our careers and terrifies her. You kept your head."

"She needs us." Finn grabs the front of my t-shirt. "She needs a real cock, Malcolm. They locked her in a sterile room to burn through a presentation heat all by herself. We have to go back. We have to break her out of there."

The desperation in his eyes mirrors the sudden, violent urge rising in my gut.

An unbonded Omega dealing with a presentation heat goes through absolute hell. The pain drives them insane. They crave friction and a knot to stretch them out and ease the fever. The thought of our Omega lying alone on a scratchy hospital bed, weeping for an Alpha, makes my vision tint red.

I take a slow, deliberate breath. Giving in to the feral instincts guarantees disaster. I need to keep the pack focused.

"We plan this out." I pry his fingers off my shirt. "We figure out a smart way to get to her. We don't storm a hospital like criminals."

Footsteps hit the top of the stairs. The basement door swings open.

I turn my head, preparing to manage the rest of the pack before this chaotic news tears our house apart.

distressed pheromones flood the mansion’s ventilation system. The panicked Alpha scent acts like a siren. It takes less than a minute for the others to respond.

The basement door swings open. Lawrence takes the wooden stairs two at a time. The scent dragged him straight out of the shower. He wears a gray towel slung low on his hips. Water drips from his dark curls onto his broad shoulders.

Victor follows right behind him. He wears black track pants and a plain white t-shirt. His icy eyes scan the room. The scent trail dragged him out of his bedroom, too. He spent the entire morning avoiding the rest of us.

The moment they step off the bottom stair, they freeze in their tracks.

The chaotic blend of ozone, cedar, and the sweetness of apple pie hits them both. The reaction happens fast. Lawrence drops his relaxed posture. His spine snaps straight. His nostrils flare wide. His pupils dilate, swallowing the brown irises. Hisexpression shifts in sudden recognition of the unbonded Omega scent clinging to Finn's clothes.

Victor takes a step backward. The color drains from his aristocratic face. His hands ball into tight fists at his sides. I watch him fight his instincts, his chest heaving with rapid breaths to keep the visible surge of arousal and possession in check.

Lawrence glares across the gym. "What the fuck is going on down here? Who smells like that?"

I step to the side. I give them a clear view of Finn, who is back to pacing on the rubber mats. "Finn found our scent-matched Omega."

Victor blinks. He shakes his head, rejecting the concept. "A scent match? We agreed to focus on the playoffs. We lack the time and the privacy to deal with a sudden pack bond."

"Instincts don't give a damn about the hockey schedule." I cross my arms over my chest, watching Victor's denial crumble. "Finn went back to the hospital. He found the woman from yesterday. The guide running the Make-A-Wish visit. Our pheromones sent her into a presentation heat."

Lawrence steps closer to Finn. His eyes go wide with shock. "Are you serious? The fierce brunette?"

"In the middle of the hallway." Finn drags a hand through his messy auburn hair. "Her body went limp. She smelled like heaven. Her slick soaked right through her scrubs. The hospital guards dragged me out before I could claim her."

Lawrence flexes his tan hands. The charming, easy-going mask he wears for the media shatters into pieces. Raw, predatory anger replaces his usual bright smile. He radiates a fierce need to protect. "They put hands on you? They dragged her away?"

"They did what they had to do." I intervene before Lawrence joins Finn's frantic pacing. "She works on a sick floor. Apresenting Omega creates a liability for the patients. The hospital locked her in an isolation room to ride it out."

Victor scoffs. He crosses his arms and leans his back against the metal weight rack. He forces a sneer onto his face, using his classic arrogance to shield his panic. "She reacted to our pheromones. I get it. That means we share a scent match. But we can't claim her. The PR nightmare alone makes it a terrible idea. We leave her alone."

Finn stops pacing. He turns his head. His warm eyes lock onto Victor with dangerous focus. "She belongs to us. And she hates your guts."

Victor frowns, his arrogant mask slipping. "I bolted before the visit even started. I never spoke a word to her."

Finn takes a slow, threatening step toward Victor. "You stood right next to her in the hallway. She glared at you with enough fire to melt your face off while we waited outside the kid's room."