Luca falls to his knees while Leo catches himself, one hand on Nix’s waist and the other on the edge of the nest.
Next, he hauls Luca up so he can do the same. When all he can smell is himself, Nix considers his job done and falls back on the bed.
After a few minutes of silence, he orients enough to wonder where everyone went. He feels so good, and his purple-green bonds are singing in harmony.
Peering over the edge of the bed, he sees both his mates lying on the floor in a daze.
Leo is the first to speak, and it’s a drunken, slurring tone Nix has never heard before.
“Holy shit.”
They both look at Luca, who is propped up on Leo’s chest, now nursing on his nipple through his shirt, not having had the energy or wherewithal to pull it up.
Whoa.
“What the fuck was that?” Nix asks in a deep whisper.
“That, my sweet mate, is what we call scenting overload. I feel like I downed six shots of tequila. We are going to be fucking hungover. Shit. Good thing Jamie got out.”
Wait.
Jamie isn’t going into that meeting without smelling like Nix, either.
In the blink of an eye, he is off the bed and down the stairs, where he can hear Jamie telling his tale of harnessing static energy to Gideon in the kitchen.
They must hear him coming because they are looking in his direction, both of their eyes opening wide as Nix uses the breakfast bar to propel himself into Jamie’s arms.
His beloved is there to catch him again, and Nix knows any other wolf would want him to be their alpha, too. But he’s Nix’s.
He’s got his hand in Jamie’s curly hair, yanking his head back so he can lick and suck a dark mark where his mating bite could have gone. Maybe he should put a temporary one there, just in case. Two bites would be a sure sign for that person to keep her hands off.
Even though it’s only been Leo that she’s kissed in the past.
The thought makes him angry again, and once more, he’s pumping out more musky vanilla.
“Whoa, kitten. Whoa, now. Let’s let Jay keep his feet. What brought this on?”
He feels Gideon’s arms around his waist as he pulls him off their alpha, whose eyes are flashing red. Gideon has pulled his shirt up over his nose when Leo finally slides into the room, with Luca hot on his heels.
Luca gets the slider doors open, filling the room with the scents of fall and cool, fresh air. It helps slow Nix’s drive to scent all of his mates so much that they are docile and right where he can see them.
Gideon cautiously lets Nix stand on his own two feet before digging around in the fridge for water and juice.
“Holy fuck.” Jamie takes a seat and drinks the bottle of water Gideon hands him, while Leo does the same.
The sharp apple bite of the juice box, paired with the cool breeze slipping through the open doors, helps clear his head. His stomach roils with confusion, and his cheeks are bright red.
How embarrassing.
He’d been jealous of a faceless person from Leo’s past, and why Nix was more concerned about her than any of the hundreds of other people Leo or Luca, or Jamie come into contact with every day, he can’t imagine. Perhaps it’s that Leo’s not kissed any of them. The thought makes him give a short growl that Tsuki echoes as she slips out the door, otherwise unbothered by the kerfuffle.
Luca slides onto the stool beside him and steals a slurp from Nix’s juice box before Gideon can hand him his own.
Nix drains the last of his juice, licking a stray drop from his lips, but it does nothing to cool the heat crawling beneath his skin. His body hums, restless, like an itch just under the surface, waiting to be scratched.
Luca rubs his nose against Nix’s shirt, inhaling deeply before letting out a pleased little sound. Nix nearly shivered at the sensation.
All three of them look debauched, but it’s the way they smell that has Nix’s pulse kicking up—like him. Jamie’s sweat-darkened shirt is clingingto his chest, and Leo is still flushed, his pupils a little too wide. The world seems sharper, more vivid, the scents of his mates stirring something hot and primal in his gut.
