I know this song well, and I lean into that, letting my voice blend with his as we go from the first verse into the chorus. It picks up a little there, and the crowd reacts with approval, someone whistling sharply and pretty much everyone clapping along.
Before I know it, we’re coasting in the final refrain, Cash playing the ending melody while I take the last lines of the song on my own, my voice ringing out as the last notes of the song die away.
Cash’s smile blooms bright, and the crowd practically explodes with applause, making my ears ring with it. There’s a rush of accomplishment and joy that’s intoxicating, and I laugh, soaking up the feeling of finally doing something like this.
Cash takes my hand, drawing me forward so I can do a little bow, and I feel giddy and alive in a way that I haven’t in years.
“Thanks, y’all,” Cash says, and we step down from the stage.
I wait for that feeling of adrenaline to pass, but it doesn’t. It keeps coursing through my system, and suddenly I feel off balance and strange. My heart is still racing, and I’d chalk it up to not having come down from the high yet, but there’s a warmth to my skin and a kind of restless energy bubbling in my veins that I can’t shake.
I’ve been feeling off all day really, but I figured it was just nerves. Now I’m not so sure.
There’s still the rush from performing, the feeling of celebration that I did something like that, but in the midst of it, something shifts in me. Something I can’t ignore. I get hit by a wave of sensation that almost knocks me over as it leaves me woozy and makes spots appear in front of my eyes.
I blink, staggering as I try to stay upright, and then it hits me.
I’m perfuming all of a sudden, and I realize with dawning horror that my blockers have failed completely, right here in the middle of the bar, with half the damn town packed inside.
My skin is burning hot, and the woozy feeling is amplified. The scent pouring off me is unmistakable—rich and sweet, calling to every Alpha in the bar.
I don’t quite understand what’s happening to my body, but I know it’s bad.
And Alphas around me are starting to react to it. Where they were focused on the stage before, now their gazes are turning predatory, their nostrils flaring as they pick up on my scent.
This is the worst place to be for this, and I can feel panic starting to rise in me like a spiral. I look around desperately, not even sure what I’m looking for.
My heart won’t stop racing, and I feel like I’m on fire. I can’t focus, the room seeming to swim around me while I try to keep my footing. Everything is heat and sensation, and my mouth goes dry with a desperation that doesn’t even feel like my own.
But it’s all me. It’s all coming from me, and when the Alphas in the bar lose the last of their rationality?—
Before that can happen, the crowd parts.
“Move,” I hear someone say in a deep, commanding voice, and people spring out of the way. “Get the fuck out of the way.”
Everett comes walking over, leading Lincoln and Cash as the three of them surround me protectively.
And—oh fuck.
Their scents have always been compelling, even alluring, but now? Now they hit me and they hit me hard. It’s like they’ve taken on an intensity that I can’t ignore. My world is narrowed to the smell of them, Cash’s honey and hay, Lincoln’s woodsmoke and whiskey, Everett’s cedar and coffee. Nothing else is getting through, and I’m locked in on them.
My scent is clearly affecting them too, and Everett’s fingers are as rough as his voice as he catches my chin in one hand and makes me look at him.
“What’s going on?” he asks. “How do you feel?”
“Bad,” I manage to choke out. “Something is wrong. I—my blockers aren’t?—”
“Shit,” Lincoln swears, and Everett glances at him. “It’s heat,” he says. “If her blockers aren’t working, that explains the scent and the—” He gestures to the room at large, the looming pulse of Alpha energy that they’re barely keeping at bay. “She’s going into heat.”
“Fuck,” Cash echoes.
“We need to get her out of here,” Everett declares. His voice is still that deep, rolling growl, and I know it’s my fault he’s so affected. “Now.”
Chapter 26
Harper
All three of them turn into human shields, keeping everyone else away from me as they usher me out of the bar. All I can really focus on is one of their hands in mine—Lincoln’s, I think—as Everett and Cash clear the way to the door and then into the parking lot.