Page 64 of Knot Forgotten

My fingers massage the back of my neck as I stare sightlessly down at the half-empty containers. She would have eaten more before she left for class if I hadn’t distracted her with kisses. Her perfume still hangs in the air, making it really difficult for me to be sorry about that.

I’m an addict, and she is my drug. I will never get enough of her, always searching for my next fix. If she disappears from our lives again, I’d find her and drag her back.

Fuck. Frustration fills me, and I yank my fingers through my hair and turn away from the table. My thoughts are all over the place. Yet, all I can really think about is having Erin in my arms, regardless of the possible consequences for us both.

That single thought hanging in the air prompts me to move. I’m out the door and toward her second class of the day before I can stop myself. I know her schedule by heart, learning it the second I knew who she was because I had to know everything about her.

Settling onto the bench in the commons area I know she will have to walk through, my leg bounces with pent-up energy. Even my palms are sweaty as if I’m waiting for a first date. I snort to myself, wiping my palms down my jeans. I’m not some schoolboy with a crush.

This is more.

Erin is my omega. My pack’s omega. None of us will be satisfied without her. We knew it as kids, and we know it now. And I need to follow Riley’s lead and claim her.

I tap the screen on my phone, checking the time. Five minutes. My leg bounces faster. Can I do what needs to be done?

My thoughts are pierced by Willow as she approaches.

“Hey, Cameron, where have you been? I’ve missed you,” she says, sinking onto the bench next to me. Her hand lands on my leg, and it feels as if a thousand fire ants start stinging the shit out of me. I don’t want her to touch me, but I’m frozen to the spot.

“Willow.” Her name sounds like a frog's croak coming from my throat, and I glance down the hallway I know Erin will come from. “Now is not a good time.”

Her hand edges higher. “But I can do things for you. Things I know you like.” She brushes my dick through my jeans, and I jump to my feet, putting some distance between us. Her lips form a pout as she stares up at me. “Cameron,” she says, my name a whine on her tongue.

I wet my lips, glancing back down the hall again. No sign of Erin. Willow is on her feet now, closing the distance again.

“When is a good time?” she asks, pressing against me, her hands flowing all over my chest as if she can’t decide where she wants to touch first.

I capture her wrists and hold them. “Never, Willow. It has been weeks. Take a hint.”

A choked laugh pops from between her lips. “Take a hint? I did things with other people sexually I wouldn’t have done. For you.”

“You enjoyed yourself, didn’t you?” I say almost cruelly. I know she did.

She gasps. “You’re broken, Cameron. Maybe you should seek help. Not being able to come around anyone isn’t normal.” She hits back with enough force to knock me over if I didn’t already know that what she is saying is the truth.

I release her wrists, and she stumbles back, her fingers going to the place I held her and rubbing the spots. “I know. I’ve always known that I’m fucked up. I use omegas to get off. Hell, I use betas too, and anyone that would do what I wanted.”

“Fuck you!” She flips me off with both hands as she backs up. “I’m not a toy.”

As she storms away, my eyes drop shut, a tension headache forming behind them. I rub the bridge of my nose and inhale as I open my eyes again. Erin stands ten feet away, and the look on her face is one of betrayal and acceptance. Her shoulders straighten, and her fingers curl over the straps of her backpack.

I know if she hadn’t heard the conversation, she can smell Willow’s flowery perfume in the air, clinging to my shirt, because it is all I can smell.

“Rin,” I say, reaching out for her.

She backs away, shaking her head. My heart beats faster in my chest. “Weak omegas, Cam?”

Her words are the final nail in the coffin I built for myself. She is trembling, and all I want to do is hold her, but each step I take toward her, she takes two steps back. Retreating from me. Running.

“Not you, Rin, never you,” I say. Moisture gathers in my eyes, and I blink it away. Crying won’t solve anything. It doesn’t matter if it feels as if she holds my heart in her hand, ready to smash it to pieces for the stupid words I said. “Please.”

I’m not sure what exactly I’m begging for, but when she turns away from me and sprints down the hall, her bag bouncing off of her lower back, I give chase. She can’t run from me again.

In the space of less than two classroom doors, I snag her wrist and tug her into an empty and open room to our left. Once inside, I pull her toward the supply cabinet at the back of the room. A Biology lab. A variety of items line the shelves: beakers, lab coats, microscopes, and tons of things I probably could never name. I shut the door behind us, the light from a high window the only illumination in the room.

She yanks her wrist out of my hold and stares up at me, anger blooming on her cheeks. “You don’t get to do this, Cam. Drag me into another supply closet with some other girl’s scent all over you.”

I can’t control my breathing, my breaths coming in short, sharp pants as I stand in front of the only exit either of us has. Without thought, I reach for the bottom of my shirt and tear it off, tossing it onto a rack behind her. Then I reach into my pocket for my inhaler and take two quick puffs as I watch her.

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