Four hours turned into three turned into two and suddenly I was back in Kael's room with the sun setting outside and my skin trying to crawl off my bones while four alphas watched me like I might shatter.
Maybe I would.
The heat had gone from manageable to brutal in the span of twenty minutes and now every breath felt like fire in my lungs, every touch of fabric against skin like sandpaper, and the ache low in my belly had turned into a demand my body wasn't asking politely about anymore.
"Off." My hands were already pulling at my shirt, fingers clumsy and shaking. "I need—everything off. Now."
Riven was there before I could blink, helping me strip out of clothes that felt like they were suffocating me, and then I was in nothing but underwear and even that felt like too much.
"Better?" His hands hovered near my shoulders, not touching but close enough I could feel the cool of his skin.
