Page 86 of Knot Your Pawn

She’s one of two people in the pack whose pheromones don’t set off my fear response, and while it’s a relief, I also feel guilty that I can’t do this with the rest of my mates.

Caleb gives her the new mask and throws the old one away.

“Take a few deep breaths.” Riley keeps her voice soothing as she leans close, waiting for me to do it. Then she puts the new mask over my face, making sure it’s properly in place. “This better?”

I slowly reach up, relieved that the screaming in my head has eased and I’m able to move again. The mask is perfectly in place, no gaps, comfortable, as much as can be expected.

“Thanks.” My voice is creaky, and she smiles, touching my cheek carefully, like I’m made of porcelain and could break at any moment.

It’s interesting how the Alphas in the pack treat me, their softness and care. But it also feels good, it feels good to be treated like I matter, that my safety and comfort matters to them.

Riley sits back down on the floor, her back against the couch, the same place as before, almost at my feet, like a barrier to make sure I can’t fall off. Then she returns to reading through what looks like reports of some type.

Caleb has his arm on the back of the couch, his laptop on the armrest, various security streams visible on the screen, but his eyes are on me.

“You’re free to go back to sleep. With the new mask, you should be safe for a couple of hours. I’ll try to keep my pheromones in check.” His voice is soft, like he’s talking to a scared Omega.

And, maybe, that’s what I’m like the most in their eyes: a frail and scared Omega.

Wait.

No.

They might see me as a scared Omega, but they would never presume an Omega is automatically frail. That’s not who they are, that’s not what they’re like.

The Alphas, and Vera and Mathew, they care, they care that I’m safe and comfortable. They treat me like this not because they think I’m lesser or frail in some way, but because they simply want me to feel safe and secure, helping me heal.

The thoughts make me emotional and I fight against tears. I don’t want them to misunderstand.

They’re tears because I’m grateful for having found such an amazing pack.

Caleb lifts the blanket that’s pooled around my waist, raising his arm so I can sleep against him again. It takes me a few moments, but I scoot closer, into his embrace, my heart beating fast, but my brain is still fine.

He carefully lowers his arm, pulling the blanket over me, and starts up his soothing ‘sleep well’ rumble. It works as well on me as it does on Vera, as it eases my heart rate and lets me relax against him.

I don’t fall asleep immediately. Instead, I watch the security cams with Caleb and from time to time I catch glimpses of the reports Riley is reading.

From this angle, I can sometimes spot a date in a header or a security code, though I can’t read any of the text of the reports. Even with that little information, it’s not hard to figure out what they’re about.

They’re from previous times Mathew and his organisation have been in danger.

Mostly, Riley seems to skim-read them, but from time she makes notes or copies something into a new file. She’s really focused on it, her eyes intense, as her lips move, probably mouthing the words she’s reading. It makes the imposing Alpha look almost cute.

The quiet way Caleb and Riley work, each doing their own thing, but clearly appreciating having pack members nearby, is comforting.

It doesn’t take long for me to drift off again.

The table in the library is covered in all the maps and other information we’ve got about the brothel.

We’ve been over them more times than I can count now, but with the raid only two weeks away, we’ve got to pin down the final details.

Plus, with the pictures of the pack in the media these last couple of days, we need to account for the Hearts changing their security and anything else they might get up to.

Derrick has sent a couple of his people to keep an eye on the place around the clock, so that if the Hearts do make any big changes, like moving large groups of people out or receiving suspicious deliveries, we’ll know about it immediately.

They probably won’t change anything structural about the building. Even if they would like to, they can’t simply hire any construction company, they can only use specific ones, and it’s not likely they’ll be able to get to the top of the work list in just a week or two.

But they might add extra security cameras, which means that we might be visible at angles we weren’t aware of before.