The house was restless. His scent poured through the halls like a storm—sweet, thick, aching, impossible to ignore. Heat clung to the air, sticky and desperate, coating the walls and seeping under doorframes. Every servant kept their heads down, scattering away from the locked corridor where his room lay, for it wasn’t safe to linger near an omega undone, no matter how beloved he was.

Behind the heavy door, Elvis was a mess.

The heat had taken him, sharp and merciless, clawing through his chest and gut until he was half delirious. His nest was torn apart from his pacing, blankets dragged to the floor, pillows shoved aside, sheets rumpled beyond use. His body was flushed, his chest bare and slick with sweat, curls sticking damp against his forehead. His breathing came in ragged bursts, each inhale pulling her scent deeper into his lungs, though she wasn’t even in the room. She lingered just beyond the locked door, and his instincts screamed for her.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. They weren’t bonded, not yet. He knew she was trying to be good, to protect him from being taken advantage of when his body was too undone to think. But the restraint cut sharper than any mercy. His heart and his instincts didn’t know the difference—all he knew was that his alpha was on the other side of the wood, and she wasn’t coming to him.

He stumbled to the door, palms slapping against it, forehead pressed to the cool grain. The thrum of his pulse beat in time with the ache low in his belly, a demand he couldn’t quiet. His voice broke when he called out, half-plea, half-whimper, every ounce of control slipping through his fingers.

“Darlin’, please—please, I cain’t—”

His fists beat against the door, not in anger, but in need. A pitiful rhythm, more begging than force. He slid down to his knees, cheek pressed against the panel as though he could will her through it, tears threatening to sting at the corners of his eyes from sheer frustration and longing. His scent grew richer, heavier, desperate as his body tried to lure her in.

“Don’t leave me in here… I need ya—need ya bad…”