Page 86 of Knot the One They Want

"Rest now, sweetheart," Asher murmurs, pulling the blankets over us. The soft materials of our nest envelop us, a physical manifestation of the love and security I feel.

I snuggle into their embrace, surrounded by their warmth and scent. As I drift off, I feel a sense of peace I've never known before.

The wounds on my soul are healing.

CHAPTER 39

DAMIEN

The scent slams into me the moment I step through the door, stopping me dead in my tracks. Evie's honeyed sweetness, usually a subtle tease in the background, now screams through the mansion.

Amplified.

Deepened.

Ripened to an intoxicating, dizzying perfume.

She's in heat. And she's not alone.

A red mist descends over my vision. My inner alpha snarls, hackles rising as the primitive need to claim my omega claws through me. To shove the others aside and mount her, mark her, fill her with my seed. The urge is so visceral that I'm taking a step toward the stairs before I catch myself.

No. I can't. I have no right.

Jaw clenched, I force myself to turn away. To put one foot in front of the other until I reach my study. The thick oak door closes behind me with a resounding thud, but it's not enough. Even here, Evie's scent mocks me. Calling to me. I can picture her too clearly, flushed and panting, green eyes glassy with need as she writhes on silk sheets...

A growl rips from my throat. I seize the crystal decanter from my desk and fling it at the wall. It shatters in an explosion of amber liquid and glittering shards. But the brief violence does nothing to ease the storm inside me.

Raking a hand through my hair, I stalk to the window. The night presses close, my reflection a dark shadow against the glass.

Evie deserves better than me.

After what I did... how I treated her...

Self-loathing twists like a knife in my gut. It's one thing for me to give up trying to push her away, but wanting her like this?

There's no denying it. Evie has burrowed under my skin, embedded herself in my very bones.

And then there's Daria...

I exhale harshly, my breath fogging the glass.Daria. The name alone brings a familiar ache. I loved her. Trusted her. Believed the pretty lies she whispered as I planned to make her my mate. My omega.

Only to have her rip out my heart.

The rational part of me knows it's over. Has been for a long time. But letting go of the hurt, the bitterness that has driven me for so long, feels like surrendering. Like she wins.

That doesn't even make sense.

I can realize that now. Asher and the others were right all along. It's not loyalty that's motivated me, or even love. It's pride, plain and simple.

Pride that almost cost Evie's life.

Maybe I loved Daria once, or maybe she was right. Maybe she was never anything more than a possession to me. Maybe that's really why she left. And maybe the soul-rending rage I felt when she walked out that door was more indignation that for once in my life, I wasn't the one pushing someone else away.

I've never been good at being told there's something I can't have. And from the newest toys and finest schools in my childhood to entire corporations, houses, cars, and even people now that I'm a grown man, the things I can't have are few and far between.

Daria was one of them.

I thought it was love, but now…

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