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I’m constantly on edge. If I don’t get an outlet for my own desire too, one of these days I’m going to spontaneously combust and blow up our shelter.
I’ve just finished eating when Denver jogs back to camp. He works out every morning. It’s a habit he picked up during the military, he told me. Even though we all get plenty of exercise just with our daily routines in the woods, he needs the structure of a dedicated workout time. I can’t complain, especially since he usually does it shirtless.
Now, he’s glistening with sweat, dripping down his chest and back, lingering in the lines separating his pecs and his defined abs. I lick my lips, wishing he’d let me clean him off with my tongue. The space between my legs is throbbing at the thought, and I shift my hips looking for some kind of friction.
Denver’s hazel eyes flicker to my face, and his expression turns predatory. He knows just how turned on I am, either from my body language or the shift in my scent. The smile he flashes me is pure sex, a promise that he’ll attend to my needs…eventually.
He grabs a white towel from the clothesline, wiping the sweat off his forehead.
“Turkey?” Memphis offers.
“No thanks,” Denver says. “I’m craving something else.”
He’s looking at me like a hungry wolf circling his prey, and I can’t tear my eyes away.
“Enough flirting, you two,” Camden says, standing and stretching. “We’ve got more brush to clear today.”
He’s right. Camden has marked the area where the fire will end, and we’re clearing out everything dry that might catch. We’ve made good progress, but there’s more to do. I collect everyone’s plates to wash while Denver finds a shirt to put on.
Once everyone’s dressed and ready, we start the short walk to the place where we found the Omega’s body. On the way, I pick a few wildflowers to leave by her coffin. It’s not much, but until we’ve given her a proper sendoff, I want to make sure she knows I haven’t forgotten about her.
The coffin Camden built is strong and sturdy. It should make me feel morbid to be near it, but I have a strange sense of rightness. Like the Omega is happy that I’ve found her, and she understands how grateful I am that she’s helping me get away from my own evil Alphas.
“Thank you,” I say aloud, like I have every day. “I’ll be back for you, I promise.”
Leaving the flowers on the ground, I join the Alphas clearing away brush nearby. The ground is empty in the places we’ve already worked on. While Camden uses his wilderness knowledge to identify where the fire will be most likely to spread and where we should cut back any plants, Memphis and Denver offer their brute strength to the project. Memphis cuts down any trees we need while Denver yanks out plants and bushes like they’re nothing to him.
My job has largely been clearing away the trash, which I put on a tarp and drag back toward camp. We burn most of it in the fires at night.
The sun is high and hot in the sky by the time I’ve made my third trek from the wildfire area back to camp. My body feels sweaty and heated, while my limbs feel strangely light. I don’t even notice that I’m feeling dizzy until my body collapses under me, the soft dirt cushioning my fall. I can hear the guys calling out to me, but their words blur in my mind. I feel hands pulling me to a sitting position, letting my head fall forward as my breath comes back to me.
“What happened?” Memphis barks.
“She’s probably exhausted, and the heat isn’t helping,” Denver says. I feel cool hands touch my face, and realize that he’s checking my symptoms.
“Maybe you should lie down,” Cam says, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.
“Don’t worry, I’m fine,” I say. I hate resting while the others are working. It doesn’t seem fair, when there’s so much to do to prepare for the fire.
Denver crosses his arms, stepping close so I feel the full effect of his greater height. “That wasn’t a suggestion,” he growls. “You’re not overexerting yourself and getting sick. If this is heatstroke, the best thing for you to do is get in a shady spot and rest. Don’t bother arguing.”
I feel a rush of heat to my core. It turns me on so fucking much when he orders me around.
“Fine,” I say. Memphis reaches out a hand to help me rise, then scoops me up into his arms.
“You don’t have to carry me,” I object.
Memphis only grunts in response, carrying me back toward camp. I let my face rest against his neck, inhaling the comforting mossy wood and wild mint scent. I trust him to take care of me.
I must doze off, because the next thing I know, I’m lying down in my nest while Memphis holds a cold cloth to my forehead.
“You’re going to be fine, Brooklyn,” he murmurs. His hand strokes my back, steady and comforting. With him beside me, I curl onto my side and fully fall into unconsciousness.
—-------
My body feels like it’s burning. I wake up tangled in piles of blankets, which are suffocatingly hot and rough against my skin. I writhe against them, trying to throw them off. They’re too twisted up around my limbs, though, and my muscles feel heavy and weak trying to twist my way out. Memphis is gone, and it’s just me in the shelter now. I cry out in frustration, the sound broken and strange.
I smell sea salt and sweet clover, and Camden’s coming through the shelter door, eyes wide with concern. Seeing me struggling, he kneels to pull the blankets off.
