Page 117 of What We Don't Say: Part Two

She smiles, flushed and soft, then catches my wrist before I can reach farther beneath her dress. “As much as I want to be the one to help you, Star, you need an Alpha.”

The need inside me twists at the word. I whine and tug her closer, unwilling to lose the warmth of her body now that she has promised to stay.

Callie laughs softly and presses her forehead against mine. The sound is full of affection rather than amusement, and she kisses me again when I make another frustrated noise.

Dash sets his book aside and rises from the floor. He rests one hand against the back of my leg, grounding rather than claiming, while he studies my face and the tension gathering through my body.

“Let me go get one before you hurt yourself,” he says.

Callie’s laugh warms my mouth this time. She kisses me once more, slow enough that I follow when she pulls away.

“One?” she asks Dash, still smiling against my lips.

Dash’s hand remains steady on my leg. “I suspect bringing both will be safer for everyone.”

There is no joke in his voice, only warmth and the quiet certainty that he knows what I need without pretending he is the one who should provide it. He looks at me and waits until I nod.

“Bring them,” I say. The words come more easily than they once would have, though heat makes them rough. “But Callie stays.”

Her hand cups my face. “I’m right here.”

Dash leans over the edge of the bed and kisses the top of Callie’s head before brushing his knuckles gently along my calf. Then he leaves the bedroom, keeping the door open behind him.

The empty doorway does not frighten me. Callie remains wrapped around me, and the section of her bracelet that belongs to Dash begins to glow before his footsteps reach the stairs.

I touch the light with one finger.

“He is telling you he is still close,” I say.

Callie looks down at the bracelet and smiles. “He knows what that feels like now.”

Her mouth returns to mine before I can answer. She lowers herself beside me and pulls me against her chest, one hand sliding through my hair while the other moves over my back in slow circles.

I keep touching her. I need the proof of her beneath my hands, the softness of her stomach and hips, the curve of her breast beneath my palm. She does not turn my wanting into something embarrassing or dangerous. She kisses me deeper when my hand trembles and guides my face back to hers when my attention starts breaking apart.

My temporary bite begins to pulse, and the ache in my body deepens until I can't find a position that helps. I press against Callie, then pull away, then reach for her again because every movement feels wrong unless she is touching me.

She follows without complaint. Her fingers move over my face, my neck, and my shoulders, keeping me attached to her while my scent thickens around us.

“I need them,” I whisper.

“They’re coming.” Callie brushes my hair away from my damp forehead.

Sloane’s scent reaches the room before he does. Cedar rolls through the open doorway, warm and deep enough that my body reacts immediately. Idris' quieter scent follows beneath it, dark spice and clean fabric, and the ache inside me tightens with enough force to pull a sound from my throat.

Callie gathers me closer. She kisses my temple while footsteps move quickly through the hall, and her bracelet lights along both corresponding sections before Sloane appears in the doorway.

His gaze finds me first, then Callie wrapped around me. Nothing in his face suggests she should move. He comes to thebed and puts one hand on Callie’s shoulder before touching me. His thumb strokes the side of her neck, and he bends to kiss her hair while his other palm settles against my calf.

“Tell me what is happening, pretty boy,” he says.

I turn toward his hand. “Spike.”

“I can smell it.” Sloane’s touch moves slowly up my leg, stopping at my knee. “Do you want me in the nest?”

“Yes.” I swallow and look past him toward Idris. “Both.”

Idris enters without rushing. He takes in the rumpled blankets, the heat in my face, Callie’s hand at the back of my neck, and Dash standing just beyond the doorway.