Page 46 of Knot Broken

“Don’t.” When she turned around and stared up at me, it felt like I saw the mask slip for a second. Fear shone in her eyes, just for a second, before she blinked. “Stay.” Her face was pressed into my chest and that had a hand going to the back of her neck. “Sleep, unless you snore, in which case GTFO.”

“No snoring. Got it.”

I don’t know if I did or not. My eyes got heavy as I stared at the tasteful painting on the wall. I waited for Nadia’s breathing to even out, for it to get slower and slower until I gave into the urge to nap myself, only to wake up some time later to a buzz from my pocket. Pulling it out with a low groan, I saw Ethan had messaged the group chat. Along with a complaint about me never washing my clothes was a message that he was bringing some bags up for us. Slowly, carefully, I pulled my arm out from under my mate, stopping to watch her snuffle, then snuggle back down under the covers.

Which meant by the time I got to the door, Grey was there, opening it for Ethan.

Chapter 22

Ethan

I felt like a fucking arsehole.

Nadia looked so small in that office. Her sweats swamped her, but it was more the way she shrank back in her chair that gave me that impression. So walking away from her made me feel like crap. I should’ve been there, clustering in close, holding her hand, doing something.

But that was the thing a man did for his mate, and that wasn’t me.

Walking up to our front door alone felt freaking weird. The place almost echoed as I got inside. Usually it was filled with the sound of Tex and Grey bickering about some bullshit. Instead, it was just me. Just me grabbing their suitcases out of the shed, then braving their rooms. Socks, jocks, shorts, t-shirts, I grabbed stuff at random from their drawers. Grey’s room was like a military barracks; everything placed in neat rows in his drawers. Tex… I shook my head and picked up half a dozen smelly clothes off the floor and shoved them in a washing basket, knowing I’d need to put a load on, before trying to sort out what I could pack for him.

Doing the sniff test of your friend’s clothes? 10/10 do not recommend.

Once that was done, I paused, looking down at my phone to see if Nadia had texted through a list of things she wanted. Why did I feel a pang when I didn’t see a message waiting for me?

Because you walked out on her when she was facing something really hard, my mind supplied for me helpfully. Because you left her alone in that place, without an explanation or anything.

But what the fuck was I supposed to say?

Hey, I’m enough of an alpha to get myself in trouble, but not so much to be of any use to you? That I remember just how nice those suites are. Me and my mum had stayed in them when they first discovered I was a latent. Those soft grey walls, surround sound TV set up and gaming consoles did little to alleviate the misery that came afterwards. My bones breaking, muscles and ligaments snapping and then reverting back, over and over before…

Chest heaving, I was breathing too damn fast and that was a problem. Staying chill meant no agonising shift, so I focussed on my breathing for a second until whatever the fuck was pacing inside me finally went still. It was then I shot off a message, because if I couldn’t do anything else for Nadia, I could at least bring her stuff to her.

Thanks, she replied, and I watched the little dots dance as she typed more. Helena’s my best friend and she’s got a key. If you could grab the bag she packs, that would be amazing.

You got it, I replied, wheeling the bags towards the front door and then piling them into the car.

“So, which one are you?”

When I knocked on Nadia’s front door, a woman with keen eyes opened it, then looked me up and down.

“Ah, Ethan.” I held out a hand and her eyebrow rose slowly before she took it. “Nadia asked me to grab her bag?”

“You don’t sound totally sure about that.” With a nod, she gestured for me to follow her inside. “I’m still packing so you can come and give me a hand.” Pulling open drawers, she placed items far more neatly in the bag than I had managed for the guys. “Nadia didn’t want you to have to go through her underwear drawer…” Helena did just that, then pulled a wand vibrator free with a smile. “That’s probably why. Not sure why she’s getting all modest now. From what she told me, you know your way around one of these.”

I stared at the device as it landed in the bag, the white plastic stark against the clothes.

“Yeah.” I swallowed hard, remembering the fun we had and wishing we could’ve had more. “You could say that.” Looking up, my eyes met Helena’s steady stare. “So, was there anything else or⁠—?”

“Yes.” To contradict her words, she zipped up the case, then went to hand it to me. I stepped in, glad to take the burden for her. “How come you’re here, when all the rest of the pack are at Crowe Corp?” she asked, but before I could answer, she forged on. “My bestie’s good enough to have hot monkey sex with.”

“Monkey… sex?” I said.

“But when the going gets tough, the not so tough get going?”

I swallowed under her hard inspection. That faint curl of Helena’s lip I understood completely. If she was pissed, how did I…?

“The not-so-tough, get-the-fuck-out-of-the-way of the men destined to be your best friend’s mate,” I replied. Apparently I had spoken the magic words to disarm Helena. “You think I don’t want to be there? Don’t you think I wish my instincts were kicking in, making super clear Nadia belongs to me? I…”

Didn’t know what to say. It felt like the omega and I were complete strangers and utterly familiar, all at the same time. Like I knew how she sounded the moment her orgasm hit, but how she took her coffee?