Page 130 of Just Wait

“You’re a detective now, are you?” I laugh, shoving my hands into the pockets of my jeans. “You should ask them that. I honestly don’t know. They were fooling around when I walked in, but that’s all I saw.”

“You know what, Ten?” Wren stomps toward the bus. “You can take your self-righteous attitude and shove it directly up your ass. Hey, that stick you keep up there will finally have some company.”

I pull my hand to my mouth to cover my laughter.

“You get him, Wren,” Malcolm calls after her.

“I swear to fuck, one of these days, I’m going to snap and toss her over my knee,” Tennyson says, shaking his head as he crosses the parking lot.

“Try it, asshole,” she says, climbing the stairs. “I have three older brothers, and I’ve put each and every one flat on their ass.”

“That’s because you fight dirty,” he mutters, following her onto the bus.

“Parish is right.” Mal chuckles. “They’re definitely going to fuck before this tour is over.”

“Probably,” I admit. “Or kill each other.”

Kincaid stomps down the stairs with his boots hanging open.

“I thought you’d be sleeping with Lumen tonight,” Malcolm says, chuckling.

“She needed a shower,” K says, shoving his hands into his pockets.

“Yeah, I’ll bet she did after how sticky you left her.” Malcolm smirks, obviously enjoying the glare Kincaid shoots his way.

“Do you know how to be respectful of anyone?” Kincaid mutters. “Listen, I’m just going to say it. I fucked up.” He scuffs his boot against the concrete. “Like really fucked up.”

“You didn’t bite her,” Malcolm says. “Her scent didn’t change. Not that I noticed, but I did smell quite a lot of your cum. As long as you didn’t bite her, anything else is fixable. Premature ejaculation happens to the best of us. Just tell her you were really excited. There’s always next time⁠—”

“What happened?” I ask, ignoring Malcolm’s ramblings.

“Oh, it was pretty fucking bad.” Kincaid pulls his hand up, rubbing his face. “I shoved my knot inside her. Luckily, I was able to pull it out before it locked in place, but I’ve never messed up that badly before. It was her scent. She smelled like an omega in heat, and she was hot—like burning up. Burning my cock. Alphas are supposed to be temperature resistant to avoid being uncomfortable during heats.”

“Jesus,” Malcolm says, his eyebrows rising. “What does that even mean?”

“Hell if I know,” Kincaid says. “She told me that she’s been knotted before, and she almost seemed more pissed that I pulled out. I don’t know. Maybe that’s wishful thinking, and I’m projecting because I don’t want to believe that I almost hurt⁠—”

“Nah, don’t beat yourself up. She was with an alpha for a year,” Malcolm says calmly. “I’m sure they fooled around and tested the waters. Have I ever told you about my uncle and his wife?”

“Stay on track, for once in your damn life,” Kincaid groans.

My metaphorical hackles rise, and I take a step forward, jabbing a finger at him. “Don’t be an asshole just because you’re stressed.”

“Aww, man. I hate it when Mom and Dad fight over me.” Mal laughs. “But seriously, he’s like pushing fifty. Hasn’t gone feral. Doesn’t even have the occasional symptom. My family talks about it every once in a while.”

“What does this have to do with what we’re talking about right now?” Kincaid asks, sounding like he’s forcing himself to be less of an ass.

“My aunt isn’t an omega, at least not legally. She smells sweet like one. Can take a knot, based on the chatter I’ve heard, but she never had a heat. Thus, legally speaking, she never presented, so she’s a beta. But also, my uncle hasn’t gone feral so…” He shrugs. “Do with that information what you will. I’ve heard of betas who can bark and purr. Some of them smell like alphas, but they never popped a knot, so legally, they’re betas.”

“I read about that somewhere,” I say, cutting in. “There was a push to redefine designations to be determined by new parameters, rather than the knot or lock and heat cycle requirements they use now. It didn’t fly. Never even made it to Congress for a vote. Mostly because big business lobbied against it. They don’t want to give paid time off to those who wouldn’t be participating in heats.”

“Look, we all know there are some alphas out there who marry betas and never end up feral,” Mal says. “I’m just saying, I think we could be onto one of the reasons why. Those”—he does air quotes—“‘betas’ who smell like an omega, at least to certain alphas. They might not have heats, but their pheromones probably go a long way to keep said alphas from going off the deep end.” He shrugs. “Honestly, I don’t care. I want Lumen. Whatever designation she is, I plan to put all my effort into making a real relationship succeed.”

“We can tell how serious you are about her,” I tell him because I think he needs to hear it.

“I am,” he agrees, crossing his arms over his chest. He raises a finger, pointing at Kincaid. “Are you going to apologize for that bullshit you pulled, telling me not to have sex with her until our test results came back?”

“That was a dick move.” Kincaid sighs. “I’m sorry. I was trying to give you what I thought was solid advice…” His head falls back, shaking as he stares at the sky. “Everything got so intense. I got caught up in the moment. I never fuck without condoms, but shit happens.”