Page 82 of Knot Giving Up 2

Harrison groans and draws all my attention as he scrapes his teeth along my breast, right over my heart.

One by one, I look at them and tell them how much they mean to me. And one by one, they bite, and I feel how much I mean to them. I’m submerged in waves of love as they claim me for their own. An ocean of their reverence and care. I’m crying and I don’t think I’m the only one.

All I can say, over and over, is, “I love you. I love you all so much.”

It’s hours later when I return to myself, descending into my body from the swirling heavens. It’s like everything has been slightly rearranged inside me as I settle back into my fingertips and wiggle my toes.

A swell of happiness engulfs me. Happiness that’s mine and theirs and ours. I can feel all of them, like something of their essence is now mixed with something of mine. Streams of love connect us to each other, rivers that can never be cut off. I know without looking, without asking, that they’re happy, content, and so in love. Just like I am.

I’m so glad I lost that swim competition and didn’t make it onto the Olympic swim team. I’ve never been so grateful for a failure before. But that failure brought me here. To my men. To my home.

I’ve found my pack. And it’s better than I ever could have imagined. I’m home. Free from secrets. Completely loved. Safe and cared for. I’m theirs. And they’re mine.

47

Harrison

“Are you ready, love?” I look down at my beautiful omega where she sits on the edge of the bed in our nest. Ellis is kneeling at her feet, buckling her strappy heels for her. I can’t wait until this is over and we can strip her down to nothing but those heels.

I’m still in awe that she’s ours. It’s been almost ten days since we claimed her. A week since we got back to the states, and I still can’t get over how incredible it is that we found her. It’s too good to be true.

She smiles up at me, and I take her hand, helping her to her feet.

“Baby girl was born ready for this.” Oz smacks her backside. He’s such an ass man.

“Do we have time to make her feel a little more relaxed?” Nils asks with a hungry look in his eyes.

“I second that, Dr. Hart.” Still on his knees, Ellis slides his hands up Meggie’s legs. Nils preens at the title.

It’s only been two days since he got his acceptance letter, and he still has a long way to go to earn the honorific, but to us, he’s already Dr. Hart.

Meggie pushes Ellis away with a laugh and Dante pulls his bonded up to standing with his good arm. He had surgery on his shoulder as soon as we got back to the states. He's still wearing a sling, but he's healing well. “We’re supposed to be on in two minutes.”

“Killjoy,” Oz grumbles.

Meggie smiles at their antics, then hooks her arm in mine. “I’m ready.”

She looks stunning, my Olympic medalist in her cobalt blue dress and crimson red heels. Our button downs and crisp shirt collars pale in comparison to her. She’ll be a fine governor’s wife someday, maybe even a damn pretty First Lady.

We follow her down the stairs to our living room, where my mother and a film crew are waiting for us. We shifted furniture around to create the perfect backdrop for today. Fitting chairs for all seven of us and my mother in the camera frame wasn’t easy.

My mother gives my omega a kind smile. They only met last night, when we had dinner with her and my fathers, but the two omegas immediately hit it off. I have a feeling we’ll be seeing more of my mother now that Meggie’s around. It stings a little after the years she chose work over me, and I’m skeptical she won’t make the same choices again, but she seems mellower now. Maybe ready to settle down and pass the torch to others.

Before we can say much more than good morning to each other, as we settle into our positions, a man wearing a headset counts down with his fingers. Three. Two. He points at my mother.

“I’m here today with Olympic silver medalists Pack Hart. This is a special segment for me, because one of these young men happens to be my son.” She gives the camera a cheeky smile.

She's a good woman, but she’s the kind who can go months without talking to me and then act like we’re close on national television. Right now, I don’t really mind, because she’s also the one who can help us get Meggie’s story out to the world.

“Today, we’re going to be talking to Meggie Hart, their beta—no, omega—teammate. That’s right, ladies and gentlemen. An omega has played and medaled in the Olympics. And she’s not the only one.”

She gives the camera a pointed look and a knowing smile. “Over the next several weeks, I’m going to be doing interviews with secret omegas who have participated in the Olympics over the past decade. There are more of them than you might think. Some have opted to keep their identities a secret. Others have chosen to come forward publicly. We don’t yet know how the International Olympic Committee will respond, if they’ll allow these athletes to keep their medals or not. But I can tell you, I won’t rest until these incredible athletes are given the recognition they deserve. Athletes like Meggie Hart.”

The cameras turn to Meggie, and she squirms under the attention. I place a hand on her knee and give a gentle squeeze. She smiles, draws back her shoulders, and tells her story. All of it. Her designation. How hard it was to keep it a secret. Daniel’s kidnapping. What he did to her by stealing her suppressants. No one is ever going to want anything to do with that asshole now.

Meggie even tells the world about going into heat right before the final game. Of course, she doesn’t go into detail about it. But she lets the public know. The risk of a surprise heat is the biggest argument people make against omegas taking part in the Olympics. And Meggie survived it. She proved it can be done.

Sure, if her heat had lasted longer, things might not have gone the way they did, but she wasn’t attacked, and she didn’t send the whole Olympic Village into a rut. With the help of an unexpected friend, she was taken care of by her alphas, just like an omega should be. She argues beautifully that with the right precautions in place, other omegas could avoid heats altogether, or have emergency options available if needed.

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