“How are we going to cheer her up after this?” Theo asked, running his hand through his hair. “Do you think ice cream will do it, or do we need something more?”
I raised my eyebrows. The three of us stood in the DMV parking lot, eyes fixed on the front entrance, waiting for Josie to emerge.
“What makes you think she’s going to need cheering up?” I asked with a grin.
Josie had bounced around the house all morning, her excitement about the overturn of the anti-omega driving laws outweighing her usual morning grouchiness. Her joy had been infectious through the bond. Even now, I felt my chest expanding with it.
“No one in their right mind will give her a driver’s license,” Cam grunted. “We’re going to have to pretend to be shocked and disappointed when they fail her.”
He glared at the front doors to the DMV as if it would force Josie to materialize. She had insisted on going in for her driving test alone. None of us had been happy about being separated from her, but I was sure my reasons differed from Cam’s and Theo’s. They wanted to be in there to growl at anyone who looked at our omega. I wanted to watch as she charmed her way into getting a license.
The door flew open and Josie practically skipped out, a massive smile on her face as she held up her new license in the air in victory.
“What. The. Actual. Fuck,” Cam muttered through gritted teeth, forcing a smile on his face as he waved at Josie.
“She had to have bribed them,” Theo responded, plastering on a neutral expression as his shock and disbelief radiated through the bond.
I just laughed and bounded ahead, colliding with my mate and twirling her in the air. Her soft body pressed against mine and I breathed in her happy scent.
“You did it! So proud of you,” I said, sneaking my hand down to squeeze her ass.
She squeaked with a giggle and pressed her lips close to my ear. “Don’t tell the guys, but I think my heat is coming on sooner than we thought. The instructor was super distracted.”
I laughed and pulled her in for a kiss. “You are so naughty,” I whispered, enjoying the shiver that went through her as she perfumed. “Feel free to distract me with your scent any time, precious.”
I ran my nose down her neck, noticing her scent was particularly strong. My cock hardened and my hips automatically pressed into her. Fuck, is her heat coming on right now?
Theo and Cam joined us, sporting the fakest smiles I’d ever seen. Josie snorted with amusement but managed to cover up the sound with a cough. My eyes watered with kept-in laughter. My brothers constantly forgot how easily Josie could read them even before we bonded. Now there was nothing they could hide from her.
“So the instructor thinks you’re ready for driving on roads… with other people on them?” Theo asked, running his hand through Josie’s hair. She leaned into his touch, beaming.
“Yes!” she responded. “In fact, his exact words were, ‘you are the best omega driver I’ve ever tested.’”
“The new law literally went into effect today,” Cam muttered under his breath, running his hand down his face. Josie either didn’t hear him or chose to ignore his comment.
She held up her license for us to see.
“It should be illegal to look so gorgeous in a license photo,” I said.
The grainy image captured her bright eyes and radiant smile. I noticed the star symbol on the side of the license that indicated she was a bonded omega, along with our pack name listed. Josie and the other omegas on the Omega Rights Committee had protested this requirement, arguing that bond status had no bearing on driving ability. But change happened slowly and even this new government had their heads up their asses a lot of the time.
Cam pulled Josie out of my arms and enveloped her in a tight hug. She cuddled into his chest, standing on her tiptoes and scent-marking his neck. The tension immediately melted away from his shoulders. He breathed her in deeply, and his eyes widened.
“Fuck, are you…”
“Oh, that’s the guy who did my test!” Josie interrupted, gesturing at the frazzled-looking beta with a city uniform currently stumbling out of the DMV, holding a backpack in front of his crotch. She gave him a cute little wave and his eyes widened as he fumbled with his car keys.
Theo tugged Josie’s hand into his. “Was he inappropriate with you?” he asked, his eyes shooting daggers at the beta, who finally managed to get his car door open and throw himself in.
“Not at all,” Josie said, her eyes wide. She kept her body firmly pressed against Cam as her eyes grew glassy. Theo leaned down to scent her, and he met my gaze, obviously realizing what was happening.
“I don’t like him,” Cam growled.
“I have to text my friends a picture,” Josie said, handing her phone to Theo. She posed for the photo, holding the license up proudly.
As soon as Theo was done taking the picture, I pulled Josie to my side. I didn’t think she had realized just yet that her heat was starting. My inner alpha felt antsy, the urge to protect our omega growing stronger than usual.
“Your heat is starting, gorgeous,” I murmured. “We’ve got to head up to the cabin.”
“What? No, I feel fine,” she said. But her words were edged with a slight whine.
“Your scent is changing,” Cam said, surveying the parking lot for threats as he ushered her into the car.
“No, this is just a mini pre-heat hormone surge,” she insisted.
“Precious, this is just like the last time you went into heat,” I said gently, getting in the backseat next to her.
She fidgeted in her seat as if she couldn’t quite get comfortable. I moved to the middle seat and pulled her into my arms, gratification hitting me as she instantly relaxed.
“We’ll grab your things at the house and then head up to the cabin,” Theo said as he pulled out of the parking lot.
“Maybe we shouldn’t go to the cabin. What if I can’t make a good nest there?” Her anxiety tainted her sweet scent with its bitterness.
“That’s fine, baby girl,” Cam said, turning around in the passenger seat. “We can stay at the house. Whatever makes you most comfortable.”
“No, but I want to be at the cabin,” she whined, her eyes shining with unshed tears.
Cam and I looked at each other, completely clueless about how to fix this.
“Listen to me, love. I know this feels overwhelming, but we will take care of you every step of the way. We’ll make sure you have everything you need at the cabin,” Theo said in a calm, even tone.
I’d forgotten that omegas didn’t like to make decisions while in heat. Theo made Cam and me read a book on omega heats so we could all be prepared, and I was frustrated I’d already forgotten key details.
Josie didn’t respond. I tilted her head towards me and kissed her on the forehead.
“What’s making you so anxious, precious? Heats are supposed to be fun.”
She was silent for a few moments. “I won’t be in control,” she finally whispered.
Cam reached out his hand to her. She took it tightly in her own and let out a shuddering breath.
“We’d never push you into anything you didn’t want to do,” he said fiercely.
“No, I know. But… what if I don’t remember everything that happens?”
Shit.
It clicked into place why she was so scared. How had we not put this together before? She’d spent so long with that device, preventing her from remembering what had happened to her body. The book Theo gave me said that omegas could go into a heat fog, where the intensity of the hormones put them in an altered state. Sometimes they didn’t remember what happened during parts of the heat.
“Oh, Josie,” I said, hugging her to my chest. I held her to me until the car stopped. I glanced up and realized we were home already.
“What do you want to do, gorgeous?” I asked. “We could get suppressants if you don’t feel ready.”
The door opened and Cam and Theo squished into the back seat with us. I pulled Josie onto my lap so she was straddling me and ran my hands up and down her thighs.
“I don’t want suppressants,” she said, shaking her head.
Theo grasped her hand and kissed her bond mark. “We’ll be able to feel you the whole time. If we sense any distress, we’ll stop everything and make sure you’re okay.”
“You talked to Lilah about your heat, right?” I asked. She and Josie talked almost every day. One time I’d walked into the room while they were video chatting and heard Lilah talk in detail about her last heat. I’d practically sprinted from the room with my hands over my ears. There were some things I didn’t need to know about my baby sister.
“She said they’re really fun,” Josie said, still sounding uncertain. Her fingers fiddled with the strings on my sweatshirt until she huffed and tugged the whole thing off me.
I cleared my throat, and she jolted, staring at the sweatshirt in her hands as if she didn’t know how it got there.
“Fuck. I’m really in heat, aren’t I?”
My lips twitched. “Seems like it.”
She wrapped the sweatshirt around her, pressing her nose to it and breathing in deeply.
“Okay, this is silly. It’s going to be fine. I will have fun,” she said to herself almost angrily as she pulled Cam’s sweatshirt off him. Once she had all three of our sweatshirts wrapped around her, her scent settled into its normal cupcake sweetness.
“I’ll go grab your stuff and then we’ll go,” Cam said, kissing her. Josie immediately wrapped her fingers in his hair and pulled him close, deepening the kiss. Cam groaned, cupping the back of her neck as she whimpered and rubbed her pussy against my cock.
Theo chuckled under his breath before sneaking out of the car to grab our packed bags.
