The Light in Us

55. Fallon

55

Fallon

I can’t breathe for laughing.

Teddy is face-down on the floor, his arms and legs twisted at ninety-degree angles as Rowan draws a line of chalk around him on the wood of the hallway to imitate a crime scene. “Fallon, you’re a genius.”

“An evil genius,” Rowan declares, straightening up. “They’re going to lose their shit. I’m supposed to be the responsible one.”

“We’re definitely going to get spanked for this.” Teddy’s eyes look bright as he scrambles to his feet and smirks at us. My laughter fading, I lean forward and press my hand against his forehead. It burns beneath my touch.

“Teddy, you’re hot. Like, really hot.”

Rowan spins, dropping the chalk. Teddy offers both of us a smile. “It’s fine. Not my heat. Just… a warning sign.”

“Already?” Rowan is counting back on his hands. He clenches them into a fist. “Damn. Two weeks out.”

Teddy winks at me. “Brace for impact.”

Rowan grabs his arm. “I want to take your temperature.”

“I’m fine, Ro.” But Teddy sits himself down at the kitchen table as Rowan pulls some cold bottles of water out of the refrigerator, handing one to Teddy and one to me before he starts rummaging in a cupboard.

I take my time drinking, letting the questions gather in my head.

“You can ask.” Teddy is watching me. “I’m an open book, Fallon. Ask me whatever you want.”

“Although you might regret it,” Rowan adds. He shoves a thermometer into Teddy’s mouth. “He’s an over-sharer.”

I play with the label on my water, unpeeling it and sticking it back on as I think.

My own heats… I’ve been putting them off for years. And now, whenever one decides to appear, it’s going to be big .

I blow out a breath. “Does… does everyone help with your heats? Wilder and Zeke too?”

Teddy drums his fingers on the table as Rowan tugs the thermometer free. “Sometimes, but probably not like you’re thinking. Normally only a kind of… helping hand, if Fox or Rowan start running low on energy. Wilder and Zeke always get out of the house when it starts, but they stay close, and then Ro calls them back if we need them. But that doesn’t always happen.”

I nod. “Makes sense.”

Although now I’m picturing all of them… together , and it’s not helping my thought process in the least. Rowan’s cheeks flush lightly, as if he can picture the same thing I can.

I pull myself together enough to phrase my next question, although it doesn’t quite fit the format. “I wonder if our heats will sync up.”

Teddy’s eyes light up. “I would love that.”

He sounds so delighted by the idea that my shoulders sag in relief. “You would?”

“Fallon,” he gives me a stern look. “We’re pack. Family. The more the merrier. Although Fox would lose his mind.”

“Definitely a rut situation,” Rowan murmurs. “God help us all.”

My mind blanks. “Wait – what?”

Fox goes… into rut ?

Teddy grins. “Yeah, our pack leader can go a little off the rails sometimes. Wilder is the one with the feral side, but if Fox loses it, he really loses it. Like… lock us in the bedroom and ride us for days loses it.”

Teddy leans forward as if he’s sharing a secret.

“One time,” he purrs. “We had a heat and a rut at the same time .”

Teddy sighs, but his eyes flicker with heat that echoes in my own body even as he winks at me. “Death by fucking – what a way to go.”

And the longing that hits me at his words… it physically hurts .

So much so that I lean forward, wrapping my hands around my stomach. Both Teddy and Rowan appear at my side within a second.

“Fallon.” Teddy bends to look into my face. “You okay?”

“I’m—,”

Another burst of pain. Like claws raking across my inside, and I gasp with the strength of it. It feels as if my body is reaching for something. Desperately. “I don’t know.”

A wall of heat slams into my stomach, roiling and flipping it as my body bursts into flames. And between my legs—

My whine rings out before I can stop it.

“Call Fox,” Teddy snaps out. He’s not smiling now. “Call all of them.”

I start to protest, but another wave rolls over my body. My breathing increases as Teddy carefully lifts me. “What’s happening?”

As he curls me against him, both of us suck in a breath. My perfume bursts out in a cloud that coincides neatly with the pulse that slams into my pussy. I clench my legs desperately. “Teddy.”

“I know,” he breathes. He’s jogging up the stairs, Rowan behind us. He’s talking into the phone. “Tell them I’m taking her to my nest.”

I shake my head, biting back another moan. “That’s your space—,”

“And I want you in it,” he says firmly. “Unless you want your bedroom?”

I shake my head before I even realize I’m doing it.

I’m not functioning well enough to take in the full splendor of Teddy’s nest. But I can see enough to spot different levels as he strides in. And there’s greenery everywhere, what looks like a full-size, actual tree in the corner, branches overhanging the main space. Hammocks are strung up, wide and comfortable-looking, but he gently places me down into a pile of snug, welcoming blankets that are saturated with his scent.

He sucks in a breath when I bury myself into them, panting. I’m too hot, and not hot enough. A hand grabs mine when I start tugging at my clothes, pulling off my tee. “Fallon. Do you want us to help you? We can wait—,”

I shake my head frantically. Another pulse of slick slides into my underwear, another pulse of perfume. “N-no. Touch me. Please .”

I need them to touch me.

“Okay,” Teddy breathes. I peer up at him and Rowan.

Rowan looks pale. Unsure.

“You don’t have to,” I whisper. And I want to cry even as I say it. “I can wait.”

“No!” He drops down beside me. “God, Fallon. I want to, sweetheart. Teddy too. But are you sure ?”

I don’t answer. Instead, I grab his hand and drag it down. Rowan groans, low in his throat as I squeeze his fingers around my breast.

“Okay,” he breathes. “We’re going to make you feel better, Fallon. Okay?”

Yes.

“Please, Rowan.” I squeeze harder, but it’s not enough. “It hurts.”