Page 36 of Knot Your Pawn

I want to smack his arm for being so cheeky, but Luca grabs my hand and shrugs.

“It’s not like her Omegas are very Omega-like. Someone has to fill that role.” His voice is soft and his bitter pheromones fill with a note of warmth.

I glance at his face, not sure how to read him, but he seems relaxed, so I put it from my mind. If he’s fine joking like this, then I guess it’s fine with me too.

I wouldn’t mind spoiling him rotten for the rest of his life, and so does the rest of the pack. If he wants to be the one we all take care of, I’m pretty sure he won’t even have to ask, the others are already doing it.

Sam laughs loudly, glancing inside, first at Erika and then at Vera. “Yeah. Vera definitely has the whole ‘looking innocent’ thing down. But do not mistake that for helplessness, she’s very capable of taking care of herself.” His smile falters.

“She had to learn that quickly, much too quickly.” He lets out a long breath and stands up straight. “It’s been a long day. I’m going to see if our bedroom is ready. I’ll see you all in the morning.”

He stubs the cigarette out in the little ashtray Jace holds out to him, and then walks into the house. The sound of voices and slivers of pheromones reach us as he opens and closes the door.

In my arms, Luca tenses, turning his head against me more, blocking out other pheromones with mine, before he actively tries to relax.

“I think he has the right idea.” Jace glances up to the top floor, where Nathan or Logan have opened one of the windows, their voices little more than background murmur to us here. “Though, I don’t know what the other two think about it.” He lets out a light groan. “They had a couple of energy drinks on the plane. I fear that they might stay up until sunrise.”

“No surprise there.” I let out a laugh. “Those two have very messed up sleep schedules at the best of times.”

“Very true. And with college starting up soon, they should really try to get back on a normal schedule, or things are going to be really rough for the first couple of weeks.” He glances up and then smiles. “Ah, well, it’s not like they’re not used to it.”

“How long have you known each other?” Luca’s question is soft.

I look at Jace, but apparently he expects me to answer.

“I’ve known Jace for almost a year now, he joined Nathan’s pack last August. And I’ve known the others for...” I think for a couple of moments. “For well over a decade, nearly two. I don’t actually know how long. Erika and her pack were the ones who rescued me from the Diamonds.”

Luca tenses in my arms, slowly turning to look at me, his eyes unsure. They seem to try to read something on my face, though I don’t know what.

People have all sorts of questions when they find out about what happened in my past, and none of them are fun to answer, to be honest.

I guess going with a true but simplified answer is best right now. “When the Diamonds had me, I had a similar role to what you did. Looking after the kids, doing odd-jobs, stuff like that. Always behind the scenes, never anything of importance.” I was too headstrong and hard to predict.

Plus, they never put female Alphas ‘up front’, too much of a hassle, Omegas and Betas are easier to control.

That seems to relax Luca some, as he slowly nods. “That’s how you know. That’s how you know things without me saying anything.”

“A little.” I tighten my arms around him more. “Though, most of it is because I’ve helped rescue a lot of people while working for Erika. So, it’s not all from my own experience.” Especially since my experience and Luca’s are very different in many other ways.

One of those differences is that Luca is taking this all a lot better than I did at the time. I suspect that being rescued by your pack —no matter how troubling— like Luca was, or being rescued by a set of strangers you have no connection to like I was, has a lot to do with it.

When I got out, that was just the start of many of my problems. Luca has had a lot easier time, having his new pack and his family around him will make a lot of things easier for him.

Not all of it, of course, since I’m sure there are plenty of things he doesn’t want to tell his family. But they’re alive and safe.

I wasn’t so lucky.

And even though I had caring people around me, helping me out, almost becoming like a new family, it’s still different from my birth family.

With our pack together, it’s much easier to notice it. How I needed them, how I needed people in my life.

I don’t want to think about it too much. Mainly because our age differences would have made things really weird if I’d met the rest of the pack back then. But also because the past is in the past.

There’s no upside to thinking about all of this too much, only darkness and pain, and we really don’t need more of that right now.

I’ve got my pack now, and that’s what’s important.

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