Aaaah, my body hurt like hell! I opened my eyes with difficulty and assessed the situation I was in. I saw the waking city before me, everyone already going about their business; the window cast a vivid light, a blue more forgiving than our blood; the surrounding noise hinted at how late it already was; the ground beneath me was unbearably hard, and yet a warm source was…

I suddenly sat upright. A warm source? The ground? I looked down and, of course, found the metal where I had fallen asleep the night before after admiring the city. More importantly, I saw Ravenne’s sleeping body, his mask resting on his chest. The pheromones he released while unconscious were barely restrained, as though sleep allowed him to surrender completely. It was intoxicating.

Their electric nature had softened into pleasant little tingles that endlessly teased my body. His scent… I had no idea what exactly he smelled like, but it was something that seeped relentlessly into every fibre of my being, making me shiver over and over. It was sharp and tangy. I found myself wondering whether any flavour could come close to it, or whether the only way to know what he tasted like was to devour him.

I leaned a little closer to Rabbit Mask and breathed in that sweet fragrance. The scent rushed to my head so suddenly that dizziness struck me. Deep inside, I felt something slip beyond my control. It was like… like everything had suddenly exploded; like something trapped inside me had surrendered too. I shot to my feet, desperate to get away from Ravenne. I pressed a hand over my nose and rubbed the bridge of it.

I thought I had fucked up. And Ravenne’s goddamn pheromones clung to me like actual… suction cups! I hurried down the ladder and back inside the hideout. It felt as though Ravenne’s fragrance literally covered me, and no matter how much I washed, it would never leave! No. I could feel… something rising. Something was building. Fuck, what was happening?

"Oh, Dante! I was just looking for you. Are you—"

I reluctantly shoved Malik away. The Greys’ scents had never bothered me since my arrival. On the contrary, every one of them had soothed me, but now… it was the complete opposite. In fact, I wasn’t even sure I had ever truly smelled all their pheromones before. I recognized none of them. I ran up the stairs, desperate to get away from it all. Fuck, I was almost nauseous, and my chest… it was so tight!

I reached the bathroom and ran water into the tub before plunging myself beneath it. I was so hot—it was hell. I lifted a trembling hand to my forehead, hoping to feel my temperature, but it told me nothing. When the bathroom door opened, Malik stood there, worry etched across his features. He practically threw himself down beside the tub and pressed a hand to my forehead. He was cool. It felt unbelievably good.

"I think I fucked up," I muttered.

"You’re safe here. Tell me what happened."

His voice held an indescribable tenderness, like… a mother’s. I closed my eyes, soothed in my mind, though not in my body. His hand stroked my cheek reassuringly.

"I went up to the roof with Ravenne yesterday, and we fell asleep there. This morning, I… His pheromones weren’t as aggressive, so I sniffed him like an actual dog. I think it went straight to my head."

The urgency in my voice couldn’t have been clearer. Speaking required a superhuman effort. I was so thirsty…

"It’s all right, Dani. This is the first time your body has been exposed to so many pheromones. Apparently, it enjoyed them quite a lot. It’s a normal reaction."

Normal? I glared at him—or at least, I tried. I hurt like hell!

"Your nature wanted to latch onto Ravenne and experience all of this a little," Malik chuckled. "It’s simulating a heat to get some attention. Ravenne must have smelled very good for you to react so quickly."

Attention? Fuck, was this what Oren had been talking about?

"I didn’t take my meds this morning, I…"

The door flew open again. Oren stood there. He strode forward with purpose, tore off his jacket, and sent it flying. I straightened in the tub as though my body were obeying the newcomer’s silent command. In a shared, almost perfectly coordinated movement despite no words having been spoken, I raised my arms around Oren’s neck as he bent down and lifted me by the waist.

His fragrance overwhelmed me as easily as Ravenne’s had earlier. I tried to resist, but I couldn’t. I breathed deeply against his throat. His scent was so powerful there. It was sweet—so, so sweet—and thick. I felt as though I were drowning in syrup, but fuck, it tasted good. I clung to him more tightly as he stepped into the bathtub and sat down with me.

"Malik, go get one of his channelers, will you? He’ll struggle to regulate his pheromones on his own. It’s too soon."

I melted against his chest. My trembling fingers clutched his shirt while his palms massaged my lower back.

"And an inhibitor?" Malik asked.

"He isn’t truly in heat. I’m afraid his body might react badly if we deprive it of its freedom again, so no. But I want you to go and get Ravenne."

Malik nodded and hurried away beneath Oren’s laughter. The sound sent an avalanche of shivers through my lower stomach.

"So, what does it feel like to truly experience your body for the first time? To finally be yourself without all those drugs suffocating you?"

"It hurts like hell," I complained with a moan.

My thighs pressed against his, seeking even more contact, and he seemed to understand because his hands left my lower back to lavish attention on my legs.

"But it feels fucking incredible too. I feel like… my entire body wants more. Like every inch of my skin is erogenous."

Oren rewarded me with a booming laugh that died when I pressed my lips to his throat. The flesh beneath my mouth broke out in shivers. I inhaled deeply again, trying to fill myself with even more of his fragrance. His pheromones surged before retreating into him again, as though recalled. Malik was right. Oren only gave the illusion that he controlled them. It frustrated me that he refused to let them overflow.

I shifted higher onto his thighs and knew that even if his face remained neutral—though still smiling as always—his body betrayed him. His cock was hard against mine. I met his gaze and shuddered. His yellow, slit pupils revealed nothing, but when I looked more closely… I noticed his lips, barely parted, releasing a thin, uncharacteristic stream of air. He was affected too.

I couldn’t stop myself from smiling, satisfied that I could have such an effect on him. I exhaled a breath as hot as my body, utterly blissful. Oren’s head fell back with a heavy exhalation before he growled.

"You have no idea when you’re releasing your pheromones or how powerfully. You do it with such innocence that it makes it even more arousing."

That last word sparked a fire in my lower stomach. Did that mean he found me arousing? The thought made me drunk on a new kind of desire. He wanted me? I melted against him again, my lips brushing his jaw while my hips rolled back and forth against his, our bodies rubbing together. Yet… he remained so restrained! His hands refused to move even as his pheromones poured every ounce of his desire into me. Desire made his scent burn.

I was about to complain when the bathroom door opened again. This time, it was Ravenne. He was so tall he filled the doorway. My body reacted differently to him than it had to Oren. This time, it went completely still, as though a single movement might bring about my end. Oren turned toward him and couldn’t help laughing. I had no idea what had amused him so much, but I stayed out of it. Ravenne held his rabbit mask in one hand.

"Come in and close the door before the scent reaches the others. We need some privacy."

Ravenne obeyed and approached with slow steps—so slow that I suspected he was carefully controlling them to conceal something else. It took a few seconds, but his scent sank into Oren’s until the two fully tamed one another, then overwhelmed me together. I closed my eyes beneath the divine sensation. My entire body caught fire, and despite the suffocating heat, their pheromones felt like caresses, as though they were covering every inch of me in kisses.

Oren cupped my face in his palm and urged me to tip my head back so his lips could find their way to my neck. I moaned, startled by the emotion sweeping through me. It was… so different from Ivan and Break. Here… I was dying to melt beneath his mouth, to offer him my chest so he would give me more attention, to surrender my entire being to him, to bare my nape. And when my pleasure-clouded gaze met Ravenne’s, it only grew worse. I wanted it from him too.

“If you could see your face, Ravenne…” the other man chuckled against my throat. “Don’t try telling me you don’t enjoy the show. He’s like this because of you.”

Ravenne searched my eyes for the truth, and all I could do was blink, no longer capable of giving him any other answer. Then he pulled a small pill from his pocket. Oren held out his hand, and Ravenne gave it to him without protest. Their pheromones saturated every tiny fibre of my being, and while their scents brought me so much pleasure, so much heat that it almost hurt, I wondered what it was like for them. What did I smell like? What were they feeling? What did they want? I wanted more.

Break and Ivan had always taken care of me, at least since they arrived. It had happened naturally. I remembered the first time I had offered them my throat; the first shiver of well-being beneath their attention. In prison, we had neither ruts nor heats. I had never felt the need or desire to touch myself, to have sex. I had never smelled pheromones, aside from a few faint traces erased by suppressants. Oren and Ravenne were… powerful, burning, almost painful.

I felt desire. For the first time in my life, I truly wanted someone.

And I felt myself going insane.

I wanted more.

Oren clearly knew how to care for an omega. He placed the pill on his tongue beneath my feverish gaze, then pressed that eternally smiling mouth to mine. It wasn’t a kiss—or at least, it wasn’t how I had imagined kisses. His hand held my head firmly to keep me from escaping. My hair tangled around his fingers as he pulled my head back. His tongue pushed forward savagely, forcing its way inside. It was wet, as though the bathwater had been replaced by his saliva, and it tasted as sweet as his scent. The small pill slipped into my stomach with it.

When he drew back, his ever-present smile had returned, but his eyes were heavier now. They held the same fever burning through my body, though his remained far more controlled. He returned to my neck while his hands once again stroked my thighs. I wasn’t naked, and yet… it felt as though I were. It felt too good. So good that, with another shudder and a moan, I came inside my clothes. Oren let out a warm laugh, but his hands never ventured anywhere more intimate.

Even though I wanted them to.

Then the bathwater shifted, and I startled beneath the crackling sensations wrapping around me. Even without seeing him, even without anything obvious, I knew Ravenne was there. His scent fizzed across my tongue, and the last of my strength deserted me. My body collapsed against him. His hand slid around my throat like a snake before climbing to hold my cheeks. There was no violence in the gesture, but his nature screamed in his place, pouring possession into the touch. My eyes rolled back, suddenly lost beneath the sensations.

Ravenne’s lips joined Oren’s.

Or rather, his teeth did.

He began nibbling at my nape, occasionally letting his tongue slip between each bite.

“Look at you,” Oren mocked. “After acting so difficult until now.”

Ravenne didn’t answer him. He continued his gentle bites.

I had never appreciated Jill’s decision to fasten that collar around my neck. Coming from anyone else, it would have looked like a master collaring his dog, and I hated that feeling. Yet I still hadn’t tried to remove it. The reason was simple: Jill might have been clumsy about it, but my protection depended partly on that piece of metal. Omegas could be vulnerable. It was a fact, and maybe I should have thanked him. Logically, I should have.

But right then, fuck, I hated him even more—because without that damned thing, those two could have…

Fuck, I wanted them to bite me.

Until I bled.

Until it sank into my DNA and my flesh.

Until everyone understood that I, too, could belong to someone.

And that thought, combined with Oren’s languid kisses, Ravenne’s nibbling, and both of their scents, made me come again. I felt drowned in new sensations, new fragrances. It was as though twenty-one years had suddenly caught up with me, and it was exhausting. I felt as though I had been trampled until I was reduced to mush—because how else could I explain being this tired when I had done nothing but receive attention?

I felt myself slipping away. My vision blurred, and my body tingled until it stopped responding. Ravenne and Oren inhaled at the same time, and while the first released a low growl, the second put what they were feeling into words.

“Fuck, you smell so good, my little bunny.”