I gently cup his cheek with one hand, brushing his smooth skin with my thumb. He blushes cutely, leaning every so slightly into my touch.

"Landon," I whisper, and he releases a small whimper that makes something inside of me snap.

Fire ignites in my core, burning me from the inside out. I gasp, snatching my hand away as the fire spreads throughout by body.

"Easton?" Landon calls out in alarm. He reaches for me, but the soft brush of his fingertips makes the fire burn so much hotter. Hissing, I scramble away from him. What started out as an innocent touch has somehow ended with the overwhelming desire to bend Landon over this couch and fuck the life out of him.

Oh, fuck. This is my heat, isn't it?

'Mateo!' I shout through our mind link. 'Get to the pack house! Now!'

Without waiting for his response, I close the mind link to stay focused on keeping in control of my body. My erection is already painfully hard, pressing against the confines of my jeans. Landon's scent is ramming into me like a damn truck, making it nearly impossible to hold back.

"Easton?" Landon whimpers, his blush spreading down his neck. "What's happening? Your scent, it's..."

He doesn't finish that sentence, and he doesn't need to. As wolves, we're able to pick up the scent of our kind. While mates have more distinct scents that are unique to that couple, wolves can still sense the more natural scents. Just as Landon's scent is heightened to me, I don't doubt that my scent is heightened to him. Hell, I don't doubt the entire pack would be able to sense my pheromones.

My ears twitch as I hear feet pounding up the stairs, and Mateo bursts through the door. He's on his guard ready for a fight. But when he doesn't see anyone attacking us, he furrows his brows in confusion.

"What the hell, man? I thought you were in danger," Mateo growls. I narrow my eyes, and he pauses as his nose twitches. "What...?"

"I need you to get Landon home," I order lowly, trying to fight off the heat. "I need you to keep him safe."

"You're sending me home?" Landon questions, hurt filling his eyes and making Elias whimper. "Why? Did I do something wrong?"

"No, pumpkin! You—" Another wave hits me, and I choke on my sentence. Landon rushes over to me in alarm, but his touch only makes things worse. Mateo suddenly lifts Landon and yanks him away. I snarl, going crazy at the sight of another male touching my mate.

"He's in heat," Mateo explains to Landon, whose blush deepens. "When you touch him, it makes it worse. You smell that? Those are his pheromones. We need to get you home before he loses it."

Landon glances back at me. "I want to help."

Mateo grins and pets his blonde hair, making me growl. "You're a nice kid," Mateo says to Landon. "I'm glad Easton has mate like you. I'm Mateo, by the way. His Beta."

"I know who you are," Landon deadpans. "There isn't a wolf in this pack who doesn't know who our Beta is."

"Right," Mateo chuckles. "Come on, lets go. Easton, I'll be back in a bit."

Mateo ushers Landon towards the stairs, ignoring all of his protests. My claws dig into the carpet as I try to restrain my possessiveness; the need to claim Landon only growing whenever Mateo touches him. Once they're gone, the fire nearly consumes me. Being away from my mate is causing me physical pain. I clutch at my chest, gasping for air.

My lips are pressed tightly together as I suppress my growls, not wanting to alarm my family upstairs. It feels like less than a minute passes before Mateo returns.

"What do you need me to do?" He asks, kneeling next to me.

"Lock me in my room," I pant, sweat starting to collect on my forehead. "I'm a danger to Landon like this. I need to be locked in my room until it passes."

Mateo hesitates and I growl a warning. Resigned, my Beta stands and tries to help me to my feet. I hiss, trying to pull away from him. His touch burns, but not in the pleasant way Landon's did.

"For fuck's sake," Mateo growls. "I'm not going stand around all night for you to get to your room."

I shout when he lifts me off the ground, flinging me over his shoulder. My body spasms as I try to get away, but his grip is solid iron. He carries me upstairs, effectively ruining my plans to keep my family in the dark.

"Easton?" My mother steps out of her bedroom, rubbing her eyes as my dad stands behind her. "Mateo? What's going on?"

"He's in heat," Mateo repeats, making me groan in embarrassment. "He needs to stay locked in his room so he doesn't go after Landon."

Mateo drops me on my ass in the middle of my room. The door is slammed shut before I have the chance to escape. Elias temporarily takes over my body, ramming into the door futilely. My head throbs from the impact as I sink to the floor, with Elias whining loudly for our mates.

This is going to be a long three days.