Page 68 of Knot Giving Up 2

I catch up with her just before she gets into the driver’s side of the van.

“Hey, why are you doing this?”

“None of your business.”

“Ava.”

She sighs and leans against the car door. I cross my arms and don’t back down. We both know I wasn’t her biggest fan, quite the opposite, but I’m starting to think there’s a side of Ava I never saw, and I’m too curious to walk away now.

“I have two omega sisters. I know how much pain an omega can suffer if they’re not cared for during a heat, and how vulnerable they can become.”

I nod, and we look at each other for a minute. I think this is the first time I’ve ever really seen Ava. “Thank you.”

“Get the fuck in there.” She says, walls coming back up as she discreetly tries to wipe her eyes with her sleeve.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “We won’t forget this.”

She waves me off, climbs into the van, and doesn’t look back.

37

Meggie

Why are we here? We’re supposed to be in my nest. I need my nest. My nest, and my alphas. The scent of wood smoke and summer nights surrounds me, but it’s not enough. Where are the rest of them? I need them.

I whimper and squirm in my alpha’s arms. Why are there layers between us? Why is there anything between us?

Everything feels wrong. My skin is too tight. My clothes, coarse and itchy. The lights are blindingly bright. My stomach cramps, my insides aching to be filled. So empty.

“I need…”

“Shh,” his husky voice calms me only slightly. “I’ve got you, love.” The pet name makes me think of old whiskey and sex on the floor by a fire. My alpha. “We’re almost there, and then I’m going to take care of you.”

Yes, that’s what I want. My alpha to take care of me. All of my alphas. I need them touching me, kissing me, fucking me, knotting me. Biting. I need their bites.

“P-please. Can’t… wait.” Words are hard. Too hard. I kiss him and rub myself against him as he carries me.

“Fuck.” His steps falter.

“This room,” someone says. “In here.”

No, not someone. Another alpha. Mine. Minty kisses on porch swings.

I try to pull my shirt off, needing to remove the repulsive barrier. But can’t manage it.

Finally, my alpha is setting me down on a soft bed. Not my bed. Not my nest. It smells like laundry detergent and the chemical smell of cheap scent neutralizers. But it’s a bed, and a bed is what I need.

“Knot me,” I beg. “Please, alpha, knot me.”

Someone takes off my shirt. Sandy beaches and pineapple cocktails. Someone else slips off my shoes and pulls off my sweat pants. Strong oak trees and summer breezes.

My alphas.

My pack alpha—the one I haven’t had. He hovers over me, naked, finally naked. I caress his skin, petting him, unable to get enough.

He turns his head to the left, looking at another of my alphas. A bouquet of tiny white flowers drenched with summer rain.

“You’ll make sure I don’t bite her?” My alpha asks.

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