Page 33 of Knot the One They Want

I swallow hard, forcing myself to hold his stare. "Of course I did. It's tradition." The words come out steady, belying the fear churning in my gut.

I can see the irritation flash across his face, the tightening of his jaw. But beneath it, just for a moment, there's something else. Something hungry and hot, a flicker of desire quickly smothered.

Steeling myself, I lean back against the pillows, fighting the urge to cover myself as their gazes follow the movement. With shaking hands, I let my legs fall open, the silk robe parting around my thighs to reveal the vulnerable flesh beneath.

"Welcome home, alphas." My voice wavers on the words, breathy and strained. An offering. A plea. Just like we were taught to present ourselves on our mating night in the advanced omega courses.

For a moment, the air crackles with tension, their eyes darkening with unmistakable want. Even Damien seems affected, his gaze lingering on the smooth expanse of my open thighs, the exposed hollow of my core as I keep myself spread for them, vulnerable and waiting. I hold my breath, waiting for them to pounce, to claim what is now rightfully theirs.

Cole swallows audibly, his Adam's apple bobbing in his throat as his unfathomable eyes lock on what I've exposed. Beside him, his brother makes an audible sound, something between a sigh and a growl. Even the ever composed and dashing Asher's eyes darken and he mouths something that looks suspiciously like, "Fucking hell…"

But then Damien's expression hardens, that familiar coldness settling over his features like a mask. He turns away, and the others follow suit, their backs to me as they file out of the room without a word.

The door closes with a soft click, but it might as well be a gunshot for how it shatters me. I stare at the polished wood, my vision blurring with tears I refuse to let fall.

Rejected. Humiliated. Unwanted.

I lay there for a few moments, open and dismayed, before the realization finally settles on me.

They're… gone. And they're not coming back. These four alphas who brought me here took one look at me presenting myself to them, more exposed and vulnerable than I've ever been with another person, and they just… walked away.

I curl in on myself, a wounded animal licking its wounds in the safety of its den. But there is no safety here, no comfort to be found in the nest I so carefully crafted. It mocks me now, a symbol of my own foolishness.

Tears burn behind my eyes, but I refuse to let them fall. I won't give them the satisfaction, even now that I'm on my own.

A low, keening sound escapes my throat, raw and primal. The sound echoes off the cold walls of my so-called nesting room, a testament to my pain and humiliation.

And then, like a match to gasoline, the despair ignites. Fury floods my veins, hot and vicious. How dare they? Howfuckingdare they?

I lunge to my feet, grabbing the nearest pillow and hurling it across the room with all my might. It hits the wall with a dull thud, wholly unsatisfying. I need more. I need to destroy something, to tear apart this mockery of a nest just as they've torn apart my dreams.

My hands shake as I rip at the blankets, finding a small flaw in the seam and shredding the soft fabric between my fingers. Feathers explode from a down pillow, floating around me like snow as I tear it to pieces. I'm dimly aware that I'm sobbing, ugly, heaving cries that wrack my entire body.

So much for holding the tears back. Not that the alphas are anywhere to be found. I'm pretty sure I heard the rumble of a car engine a few minutes back, anyway. They couldn't even be bothered to spend our mating night in the same house.

"Is this what you wanted?" I scream at the empty room, my voice hoarse and broken. "To humiliate me? To break me?"

I grab a vase from the nightstand, some priceless antique no doubt, and hurl it at the mirror. The crash is deafening, shards of glass and porcelain raining down in a glittering cascade. My reflection fractures, a thousand broken Evies staring back at me with wild eyes and flushed cheeks.

Good. Let it break. Let it all break.

I tear through the room like a hurricane, leaving destruction in my wake. The carefully arranged nest is decimated, blankets strewn across the floor, pillows gutted and leaking stuffing. I upturn the mattress, sending it crashing to the ground with a resounding thud.

My knees give out and I collapse to the floor, surrounded by the wreckage of my possessions, my nest, my hopes. The adrenaline drains away, leaving me hollow and aching. I curl in on myself, pressing my forehead to the cool hardwood as sobs wrack my body.

How could I have been so naive? To think that I could win them over, that I could carve out a place for myself here? I was a fool, blinded by fairy tales and outdated notions of true mates and happily ever afters.

I have to leave. I have to get out of here.

But where would I go? Home?

The thought immediately brings a bitter laugh up my throat like bile.

Home, where Vivienne can sneer at me and say, “I knew it”?

Home, where Tristan can smirk and tell me he would have done the same damn thing if he were one of them?

Home, where my father can give me that all too familiar look of appointment before trudging back to his office to find the next poor soul he can foist me off on?

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