Page 34 of Knot Giving Up 2

I wince as if he’s struck me, but I know he’s right. His eyes soften for just a moment as his gaze meets mine. “I’m sorry, Meggie. I know what a comfort it is to you. But if we hadn’t had warning—”

“No. I understand.”

“You can still sleep with me, gorgeous.” Nils smiles and pulls me onto his lap. His warm embrace helps ease some of the tension.

“We should get to the gym. Today will be a tough game.” Dante stands, rolling out his shoulder.

“So no naked cardio?” Oz whines.

“I’m not done.” Harrison rubs the bridge of his nose even though he isn’t wearing his glasses and normally only does that when he doesn’t have his contacts in.

Dante sits back down. We all look at our pack alpha, wondering what more he’s going to say.

“We’ve had two scares in the last twenty-four hours. Meggie’s blockers aren’t working as well as they used to, which we knew would happen. That means we need to be extra cautious.”

A pit opens in my stomach as my body recognizes what he’s going to suggest before my brain does.

“No more sex. No kissing. No cuddling. No feeling her up.” He makes eye contact with each of us. “If we want to win this, we need to stay focused, and Meggie needs to stay hidden. We can’t have her perfuming in public again.”

“Oookaaay,” Ellis says, dragging out the word. “But in the room it’s fine, right?”

“No!” Harrison snaps. “What if they do another room check and we don’t have a warning? Do you want them to scent her all over this place? We got lucky this time.”

“It’s unlikely they’d do two room checks,” Dante says.

“We’re all celibate for the next two weeks,” Harrison decrees.

“I haven’t even broken in The Buckingham Phallus yet!” McQuinn hollers.

Harrison ignores him. “This is final. As your pack alpha, as your teammate, as your friend, I don’t want to see any of us get caught in the crossfires if this goes south. So no physical intimacy.” His eyes land on Nils holding me in his lap. “Of any kind.”

Nils looks like he wants to fight him. The alpha pheromones in the room surge, so I stand up to keep the peace. “It’s okay. There’s only eleven days until the closing ceremonies. It’s not that long.”

It feels like an eternity, though. How could I have gone so long without sex, not even thinking anything of it, but now the thought of just a few days without my men makes me ache?

“This is gonna be a long two weeks,” Ellis grumbles.

Harrison shoots him a glare. “Put it into the game.”

18

Meggie

This has been a shit day. The longest day since we got here. Our game was rough and we just barely won, 5-4. But it’s not the physical exertion that has me feeling exhausted and irritable. It’s missing my nest. Missing my men. We’ve all followed Harrison’s rules for three days now, and I know he was right to make them, but fuck if it isn’t miserable!

Sometimes I like to personify the omega side of me, and right now that girl is going nuts, clawing at my insides like a caged tiger. Omegas need physical touch and attention, the comfort of a hug and a nest, the warmth of skin, the reassurance of a kiss. I locked my omega side up so deep inside of me for so long I didn’t even realize she was starving until I gave her a feast and then yanked it away.

My skin itches, my muscles are tense, I’m close to crying almost all the time. I don’t feel like myself. It’s like some monster has taken over and she’s pissed. Our match was a great way to let off some steam, but it wasn’t enough.

I crash on the couch the second we walk into the apartment. Ellis sits next to me, but keeps a foot of space between us. Nils takes the only chair in the room. While the other guys disperse to the bedrooms, kitchen, and balcony.

“Wanna watch something?” Ellis asks.

I half-growl in answer and throw my head back against the couch. “I hate this. It would all be so much easier if I wasn’t a frickin’ omega. Why can’t I just be a beta? I hate being an omega.”

The words are barely out of my mouth before Nils is surging out of his chair. His hands land on the back of the couch as he hangs over me like a foreboding shadow. “Don’t you ever say something like that again. I won’t tolerate you disparaging who you are.”

He’s not touching me anywhere, but the heat of him is nearly overpowering. Nils is rarely aggressive with me and sometimes it’s easy to forget he’s an alpha. But right now, he’s all alpha energy.

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