Page 43 of Knot Broken

I... reached for an answer and couldn’t find one. Surely there should be some sort of instinct kicking in, telling me that the guys were the ones I wanted to spend the rest of my life with? Instead, I just felt a tight snarl of emotion sitting heavy in my gut. Seconds ticked by. Everyone was staring, obviously needing some sort of indication of how to proceed, but while the need to answer was pressing me hard, my throat worked, and nothing came out. While I struggled to use my words, he didn’t.

The sound of shouting in the hallway got louder and louder. We all saw the blurry shapes of people storming past the privacy glass, right before the doorknob was tried, then the door was kicked open. Tex, that was my first thought, and why did that idea ease some of the tension inside me? Imagine my surprise to see Grey standing there. Ethan and Tex were at his back, but he was the one gripping the doorframes. The sound of claws dragging through the metal filled the air, right before he launched himself at me.

“My mate,” he growled, the declaration echoing around the room, right before he picked me up and held me close to his chest. “Mine to keep safe.” His nose was buried in my hair and he took a deep breath in. “Mine to see through your first shift.” With a scowl, he surveyed the room, but that expression softened slightly when Tex drew closer. “Mine to protect.”

“Ours.” Tex grabbed my hand. “How we doing, omega? You want out of here? We’ll make that happen, because we can work shit out.”

“Sorry.” The men that had been introduced as Riley’s mates appeared in the doorway. “We gave the guys the run down and Grey’s wolf had thoughts about that.”

“It’s OK.” Riley regarded the room with a small smile. “Emotions have to be running high.”

Was that what this was? The ringing in my ears, the strange thrum of tension and the way my entire awareness was centred on all the points where my body pressed against Grey’s. My hand twitched, then moved more deliberately, sliding across his powerful lat to draw small circles there.

“Or you can’t.” Ethan swallowed and then shook his head. “I’ve been through a partial shift and I… I wouldn’t wish that shit on my worst fucking enemy.”

“Nadia.” The one Riley had called Colt stepped forward. “You’re the omega, so you’re in charge of what happens here. The omega always chooses, and if you just want to pursue medical treatment on your own, we’ll make that happen.”

Why was everyone asking me all of these big fucking questions? I woke up with the capacity to choose a TV show and that’s about it, but as I turned to face Tex and Grey, some strange instinct had me moving. Good men’s aftershave was always a turn on for me, so perhaps that’s why my head quested forward, nostrils flaring as I breathed Grey in. Spicy, woody, it made my nose tingle and saliva fill my mouth as I drew closer. This was insanely intimate, especially as the man had made clear he didn’t want to be touched. So why did he let out a low rumble of satisfaction as my nose trailed along his neck?

“Goddess…” I hissed. “You smell edible.”

“Both of us?” Tex grinned, but there was something vulnerable in his eyes. My hand shot out, hauling him in closer as I closed my eyes and breathed him in too. Piney with an edge of sweetness to it, it was a lighter, head clearing scent. I let out a little sigh of pleasure.

Only to open my eyes and see everyone in the room was watching.

“Yep,” I replied, even as my cheeks burned bright red. With a pat on Grey’s arm, he set me down, if grudgingly so. “I…”

It felt like my head was filled with cotton wool and all of these people were demanding I make a really important decision. My hands turned over and over in front of me, but my nails looked reassuringly normal now.

“I just want to get back to my life. Things were getting better, and I was…” Staring at the grey carpet, I had a realisation. “Starting to get better at asking for what I want.” Squaring my shoulders, I nodded. “I don’t know if I want to shift ever. I’ve never felt like I had a wolf…” My voice trailed away as I felt that weird sensation again. Like I needed to move my feet or something within was doing just that. With a shake of my head, I turned towards the guys, because they were the ones that needed to hear this. “I’m hungover and tired and just want a big greasy burger and a nap right now.” Small snorts of amusement went up around the room. “We were having fun. I want more of that. Can’t I have that?”

“What do we have to do to keep Nadia safe, doc?” Tex said, looking over my head at the others. “Whatever it is, I’ll do it.”

“If I was going through this when I was still a latent.” I turned to see that Riley was talking to me. “Then I’d sign up for inpatient care.”

“What…?” I breathed.

“We have amazing facilities here,” Candy said. “It’s like a five-star hotel. Hot tubs and big comfy beds and awesome food. I tried to persuade Riley that I was a latent once, just so I could crash out in one of the suites.”

“There’s nothing latent about you,” Riley said, her eyes narrowing as she stared her colleague down. “You’re completely overt in every way.”

“But work…? My place…?” As my vision went out of focus, my mind raced. “Maybe I could get clearance to work from home?”

“We’d be happy to talk to your employer and provide the necessary paperwork to make that happen.”

It felt like discussions were held around me, not with me, as I sank down into a chair. Wolf, omega⁠—

“Hey.” I looked up as Tex dragged a chair over to my side and then he took my hand in his. That warmth, those calluses, that strength allowed me to let a big breath out. “I know this isn’t what you wanted. It sure as shit isn’t what I had planned. Before…” His lips twitched. “I had it all rehearsed inside my head, ready to tell you.”

A thumb brushed across my knuckles.

“What were you going to say?” I asked in a low voice only we could hear.

“That the moment you walked into that office, my body was set alight and I’d never craved anything like that burn.” His eyes studied my face as if he was seeing it for the first time. “When you touched me, my heart tried to beat its way out of my chest to get to you. Nothing felt as right as when my lips touched yours. Then…”

That boyish flush had me smiling despite the apparent life or death scenario.

“Everything else that happened was pretty bloody amazing. When you left, I should’ve followed. Would’ve, if I hadn’t started arguing with Grey. Not being able to find you.” His fingers gripped mine. “That damn near killed me. I was about to grab Brendan and shake your contact details out of him.”