Nicholas woke hard.

Not gradually. Not with the slow stirring of morning arousal that could be pushed aside with cold water and discipline. He woke to a state of aching, throbbing need that made his entire body tense against the sheets.

His cock was rigid. Painful. Leaking precome onto his stomach in a way that would have been embarrassing if he was capable of feeling anything except the overwhelming, all-consuming need to be inside Lilith.

He lay in the darkness of his bedroom, the pre-dawn light just beginning to creep through the windows, and tried to understand what was happening to him.

She was a body for them to fuck. That’s all she was supposed to be. Payment for a crime. A thirty-day agreement that would end and she would leave and life would return to normal.

Except nothing about this was normal.

For the past eleven days, his wolf, Kael had been increasingly restless. Increasingly focused on her. Increasingly demanding that Nicholas go to her room, throw her on her back, and bury himself inside her until he couldn’t think anymore.

Which was unacceptable.

Nicholas Blackwood did not lose control. Did not allow his wolf to dictate his actions. Did not become obsessed with an omega who was supposed to be nothing more than a transaction.

And yet here he was. Hard enough to hurt. Frustrated enough to consider going to her room right now, consequences be damned.

The knock on his door was sharp and deliberate.

"Enter," he commanded, grateful for the distraction.

Sebastian pushed open the door, took one look at Nicholas on the bed, sheets tented, expression murderous....and laughed.

It was a laugh of complete understanding.

"Well, fuck," Sebastian said, closing the door behind him. "You’re hard."

"Obviously," Nicholas said coldly.

"That makes the two of us." Sebastian moved to the window, looking out at the grounds below. "Or wait..." He laughed again, a low sound. "That makes the three of us, because I can feel Lucian’s frustration bleeding through the bond like he’s about to snap a training dummy in half."

As if summoned by the mention of his name, or perhaps by the shared sexual frustration traveling through their fraternal bond, Lucian entered the room. His golden eyes were blazing. His jaw was clenched so tight it looked like he might crack teeth. He dropped into one of the leather chairs with the kind of aggressive force that made the frame creak.

"Well, good morning to you too, brother," Sebastian said with a smile that was equal parts amusement and hunger.

Lucian looked at him. Saw that smile. His lip curled slightly.

"Better wipe that smile off your face or...." he started, his voice a low growl.

"Or you’ll do what, little brother?" Sebastian cut him off, his tone light but carrying an edge. "You’re barely holding yourself together. You’re in no position to threaten anyone."

Lucian’s golden eyes flashed. He looked away, his hands gripping the arms of the chair hard enough that the leather creaked. His wolf was right there. Right at the surface. Barely contained by skin and will.

Sebastian’s expression shifted. The amusement faded. His face turned serious in a way that made the air in the room shift.

"We need to send the omega away from the estate today," he said.

The statement landed like a physical blow.

Nicholas felt his entire body go rigid. "What?"

"She can’t be here during the full moon," Sebastian continued. His voice was calm. Clinical. Strategic. "We don’t understand why our wolves are reacting to her this way. We don’t understand why Kael and Rhen and Zev are all focused on her to the point of distraction. But I don’t need to understand it to recognize a threat." 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

"She’s a body," Lucian said, his voice strained. "She’s here as payment. For her father’s crime. So...."

"A crime we all know he didn’t commit," Nicholas cut him off. His voice was ice. "You and I both know exactly what happened during that alliance meeting, Lucian. We know why she’s here. And I won’t let you fuck her to death because you can’t control your wolf during the full moon."

Lucian’s head snapped toward him. His golden eyes were burning with frustration and something deeper. Something that looked almost like pain.

"Then why has Zev been restless since she got here?" Lucian demanded. "What is she? She’s wolfless! She’s an omega! She shouldn’t affect us this way, brother! She shouldn’t!"

The words came out as almost a plea. Like he was begging for an explanation that made sense. Like he was begging for this to make sense.

Nicholas understood. Because he was confused too. Because Kael’s obsession with Lilith didn’t follow the rules of wolf hierarchy or alpha dynamics or anything he understood. Because she was supposed to be nothing and instead she was consuming his thoughts.

"I don’t know," he said quietly. And it cost him to admit it. "But I also won’t allow us to hurt her because we can’t control our urges during the full moon. We have managed this curse for years, Lucian. We have learned to survive it. But not like this. Not with her here. Not when our wolves are this unpredictable."

Sebastian nodded once. Confirming Nicholas’s position.

"We will figure out what she is," Nicholas continued. "We will understand why she affects us this way. But not while the full moon is rising. During the full moon, we are barely contained even on a normal night. We can’t risk losing control completely."

He sat up, sheets falling away, not bothering to hide his arousal. Let them see it. Let them understand that this was costing him as much as it was costing them.

"We have to return her after the thirty-day agreement," he said. "Even if she’s broken. Even if we’re not ready to let her go. We still need to return her alive. We can’t start a war with Shadowmere because we couldn’t control our dicks."