Page 94 of Beasts of Mine

Tavian made a sound suspiciously close to a laugh.

“Don’t.” I turned toward Tavian before he could get started.

“I didn’t say anything.” Tavian pressed his lips together, his shoulders betraying him anyway.

“You don’t need to.” I returned my attention to Malek, who had the good sense not to look nearly as pleased as Tavian. Now that I knew what I was smelling, the difference was impossible to ignore. I’d worked beside Alphas, traveled with them, and spent months on assignments without giving anyone’s secondary designation much thought. These scents still registered as Alpha, but there was something deeper underneath them that reminded me Tavian, Luca, and Malek weren’t entirely human even while they looked it.

The glands along the sides of my neck tightened. It wasn’t pain, and it wasn’t the beginning of heat. I’d taken my blockers exactly when I was supposed to that morning, and my body wasn’t giving me any of the familiar warnings of a cycle trying to break through.

I was simply much more aware of them now.

Malek’s nostrils flared once.

I caught the movement.

“Then you knew I was an Omega.” The realization clicked into place as I narrowed my eyes at him. Tavian suddenly became very interested in one of the ruined stones beside him. Luca looked considerably more sympathetic.

“We did.” Malek held my gaze, not bothering to pretend otherwise.

“Even through the blockers?” I touched the strap of my field bag, thinking about the medication packed safely inside.

“They’re working.” Luca straightened slightly, his expression turning serious. “Your scent is muted. Our noses are just good enough to pick up your designation underneath it.”

I looked from Luca to Tavian and finally back to Malek.

“How long?” I asked them, even though part of me already knew the answer.

“From the first day.” Malek answered without hesitation, his voice steady. “I could smell it when you came close enough to treat my side.”

“And Luca and I knew when we met you.” Tavian hooked his thumbs loosely near his waistband, some of his usual confidence disappearing beneath the admission.

“Wonderful.” I rubbed two fingers between my eyebrows. “Meanwhile, I was calling you Cat, Menace, and Gentleman.”

“I still like Menace.” Tavian rocked slightly back on his heels, entirely too pleased about that part.

“That wasn’t the point.” I lowered my hand and looked at him. Malek stepped closer but stopped well outside arm’s reach. The smaller distance strengthened the cedar in the air without making me feel crowded.

“You were safe with us.” Malek’s expression lost every trace of humor as he watched me. “Knowing you were an Omega never changed that.”

“I know.” I answered Malek before I had time to question why I was so certain. I didn’t love that they’d known something about me while I’d known so little about them, but I wasn’t afraid of them. I’d trusted all three before I knew what they were, and discovering the truth hadn’t erased that.

A low vibration started in front of me. At first, I thought some large insect had begun buzzing nearby, but the sound was too deep and steady. Then I realized it was coming from Malek.

His chest was vibrating.

“Are you purring?” I stared at Malek, disbelief cutting through the last of my attempt to process everything logically.

“I wasn’t doing it on purpose.” Malek glanced down at himself, his brow furrowing as though his own body had betrayed him. The ridiculous part was what it did to me. The tension across my shoulders eased. The sensitivity beneath my jaw softened, and the tightness I hadn’t noticed gathering beneath my ribs loosened with the steady vibration. My Omega instincts didn’t seem to care that I was still deciding how annoyed I should be with him.

“Oh, that’s irritating.” I glared at Malek while my body continued betraying me by relaxing.

“What is?” Malek’s purr faded slightly as confusion replaced the guarded look on his face.

“That works.” I gestured vaguely toward his chest, not particularly interested in explaining my own biology to three men who could probably smell the answer anyway.

Tavian’s grin appeared almost instantly. Malek caught it from the corner of his eye.

“Don’t.” Malek’s warning roughened into a low growl as he turned toward Tavian before the other man could say a word.