“Because you don’t sound fine, and based on Ben’s text, I assumed you’d be over the moon. So why do you sound like you rolled over on the wrong side of a grave?”

“I’m fine.” My voice was strangled, and I definitely did not sound fine. “Promise.”

“Esme.”

“I had a good time,” I told her. “I’m having difficulty believing it happened at all, but it was great. I just can’t talk about it right now.” Fuck. I curled myself harder around the pillow.

A chime came from my phone, and I opened my eyes to a video request from my sister. Sighing, I accepted it. She wasn’t going to leave it alone until she knew.

She was walking down a street somewhere downtown, bodyguards in tow. My little tiny square of camera was nearly black, with my face illuminated only by the brightness of her camera. I was shoved halfway into the pillow so my voice was muffled. “Hi.”

“Holy shit. Esme, are you okay?”

“I told you I’m fine.”

Her eyes went wide, and she leaned close to the screen. “You’re going into heat?”

Nodding, I let my face fall the rest of the way into the pillow. “Hasn’t happened in a while. Too much time with Alphas will do that.”

“Okay.” She snapped into what I called Eva Action Mode. “I’m on my way. I’ll bring you all the things.”

I sighed, squeezing my eyes shut against the newest wave. “I’m okay, Va-va.”

“Sure you are. But I know what you like, and what you need. I’ll be there soon. Oh, and I’m giving the guys your number.”

She hung up, and I dropped the phone onto the bed. The sooner I gave in and let her take care of me, the sooner she’d leave me to my misery. Besides, in another hour the meds would kick in fully and it wouldn’t be nearly this bad.

Instead, I just leaned into the pillows and breathed. I hadn’t even gotten as far as turning the TV on, and that was okay. It was easier just to focus and breathe through pre-heat pain.

I wasn’t watching the clock, so I wasn’t sure how long it was before I heard my front door open faintly. The determined march of my sister’s footsteps up the stairs, and a quiet knock on the door. “May-may?”

“Still alive,” I said. “Meds should kick in soon. Hopefully.”

“Well, I brought you your favorite cake from Oscar’s. And another little surprise.”

I looked up at her long enough to raise an eyebrow. “A surprise?”

“Your pack.”

My eyes went wide. “No.”

“Of course. I told you I knew what you needed, and what you really need is to be helped through your heat by a pack who cares about you and not locked in your bedroom going out of your mind.”