Page 25 of Salt and Knot

“I’m okay, and I didn’t get heat stroke,” I reassure her, my mouth twisting with irony. “Not exactly.”

“Oh thank god. I’m glad. I was about to start calling around the hospitals⁠—”

“I went into heat,” I blurt out.

Elaina lets out a squeak of horror. “That’s so bad! Do you need my help getting to a clinic? I can⁠—”

“And I’ve been with an alpha.”

There’s resounding silence from the other end of the phone. Then a soft, “Fuck.”

I think of the blurry time when I was in full, fated mate induced crazy heat and Dylan was at my side. And the way he won’t leave me now, his hand on my foot that’s draped over his thigh. Everything feels better when I’m touching him. My mate.

“Is he in the room with you?” Elaina asks, low and urgent.

“Yes.”

She audibly sucks in a breath. “Okay, that makes it complicated. Can you tell me where you are?”

“I don’t actually know, exactly,” I confess. “I’ll ask him⁠—”

“No!” Elaina yelps. “Don’t do that. You mustn’t anger him. Alphas can be violent when they feel they’re going to lose something of theirs.”

I think of how understanding Dylan was about me stealing all his clothes for our nest. “He’s not like that.”

“You think so now,” Elaina warns darkly. “But he’ll have you in the kitchen as soon as you blink.”

“He made breakfast, actually.”

“What?” Elaina says more slowly. “The alpha?”

I check sideways if Dylan is watching or listening, but he doesn’t seem to be.

“Yeah. Fed me.” I feel shy about telling someone about how intimate Dylan and I have been. It’s weird.

“And you’re sure he’s an alpha?” Elaina sounds a bit sceptical.

“Definitely. There’s no mistaking. He’s huge, muscley, and his dick… Um…” I trail off.

Elaina laughs. “Okay, he knotted you. An alpha then.”

“And…” I pause because I’m going to sound insane. This is insane. “I think he’s my fated mate.”

“You are shitting me,” Elaina states levelly. “That doesn’t happen.”

“There was this thought in my head, like…” I can’t even begin to describe how it felt. “It was in my blood. And his scent, his scent is amazing, Elaina, it’s so delicious. Like fresh air on a day it’s windy and just the right temperature. Crisp and…” I struggle for the right word. “Salty. He smells like the ocean if you bottled it.”

Huh. He smells like the ocean?

I file that observation away for future examination when my friend isn’t freaking out.

“A really intense smell?” Elaina asks quickly, her scepticism evident.

“Yes.”

“And how did you know?”

“I just…” I shake my head, even though Elaina can’t see me. Dylan is focussed on his computer screen, but he reaches down, seemingly mindlessly, and begins to stroke my foot in circles, massaging it. I bite back a moan. Every touch between us is edged with magic. “It’s difficult to explain.”