Page 37 of Knot Your Pawn

Vera

“Are you okay?” Jorge wraps his arms and his pheromones around me, a note of worry in his cedar scent.

I blink, carefully unclenching my jaw, and I notice that my hands have balled into tight fists at my sides. “Ehh...” I don’t think I’m doing that well. I don’t know what it is, maybe I’m just too tired.

That’s probably it. Exhaustion makes sense.

“I think I should go to bed.” My voice feels strange, like it’s coming from far away.

I want to be in our nest, wrap all our pheromones together, a pack cocoon, safe and warm.

Yes. That sounds like a plan.

“Probably a good idea.” Kenneth, one of Erika’s Alphas, looks around as he lets out a long yawn. “I think it’s a good idea if anyone who can fall asleep right now gets a couple of hours of rest.”

Jorge kisses the side of my head. “Yes. I don’t think any of us have had more than a handful of hours of sleep in the last days, if that.” He sounds calm, much calmer than before we went to the airport.

I think he’s no longer so on edge about Erika, which is good. Because it did make me nervous, the thought that one of my mates and Erika might not get along.

Erika is my best friend, but Jorge is my mate. Even the thought of them not getting along was making me sad.

“Vera?” Caleb appears at my side, and I automatically reach for him, my big Alpha, my protector. He picks me up and holds me against his side as I put my head on his shoulder.

A low and soothing rumble starts up in his chest, easing the tension in my body. He always seems to know when something is up without anyone telling him, usually before I even notice it myself.

“Let’s get you somewhere quiet.” I feel the words in his chest more than I hear them. He’s said them often enough that even if I couldn’t hear them, I’d still be able to know, just from the pattern of the vibrations.

I close my eyes, leaning against him more, letting his pheromones surround and comfort me. There’s a lot more tension built up in my body than I thought, but Caleb’s pheromones make it a lot easier to breathe again.

Though, breathing deeper also lets me smell other people’s pheromones more, which seems to build a different type of tension in my body, a different type of bad tension.

I’m too tired to explore it right now.

Someone takes my hand, and when I open my eyes, it’s Jorge, who’s giving me a soft smile. I pull his hand up and put it against my cheek, rubbing against it, taking in his pheromones too, letting them mix with Caleb’s. He feels so different from Caleb, and that’s good, I need all my mates in different ways.

Caleb’s voice rumbles in his chest as he talks to the guys from Erika’s pack. I barely notice their replies, only focusing on Caleb and Jorge, my pack. My mates.

If I focus on them, I feel good, if that focus breaks, the uncomfortable feelings return.

The cooler night air jolts me somewhat awake, as Caleb carries me out of the house, and I glance around.

It’s the middle of the night. The sky overhead is almost fully dark.

Though I can see the tops of the trees stand out against the glow from the village on the other side of the forest. It’s never truly dark here, not the same way as you get when you’re on some remote island or something. There’s always the glow from the lights of the nearby village.

The village is on this side of Mathew’s grounds, so you can see the glow from the houses here, but the other side, the side that our bedroom faces, doesn’t have anyone living nearby, so it gets truly dark when we look out of the window there.

When we look out of our bedroom or our nest window.

Our nest…

I need to get to our nest.

I need all my mates together in the nest.

I need.

“Wait here. I’ll get the car.” Derrick’s voice surprises me, and when he brushes against Caleb’s arm as he passes us by, I let out a low growl, a warning.