Page 20 of Knot a Chance in Hell

Something in me wound me up, making my stomach harden as if I’d been hit with a rockslide. Nicolette wasn’t here. So where was she?

I couldn’t piss her off and drive her away if she wasn’t here. The fact that my plans to make her furious were being squashed had to be why I was so anxious. She, those thoughts, had occupied my mind all day.

“Maybe she’s at Savva’s.” Ezekiel took out his cell and tapped the screen, calling Kodiak’s dad.

We all stood there. Listening to the phone ring on the other end. It seemed so loud, echoing in my ears.

All we got was Savva’s gruff bark on his voicemail: “Leave a message.”

“She’s not there.” Kodiak paced back and forth, tugging at his beard. “Where would she go? And another snowstorm is here. Fucking hell.”

Ezekiel jogged to the coat rack and nabbed his coat. “She could still be at Savva’s. He never answers his phone. He rarely remembers to charge the thing.”

True. The old man hated the thing. He came up the mountain to be alone. He didn’t want the world constantly calling him.

“I’m going to run over.” Ezekiel didn’t even wait for us to reply. He was out the door and tearing down the drive with snow swirling up around him and disappearing him from our sights.

Something yanked me, demanding that I follow. I dug my heels in and gritted my teeth.

“I’m going to go with him.” Kodiak hurried to the door.

“Wait.” Dammit. What was I doing? Let them chase after the Omega. Chances were she was gone, running back to herdaddy. I hated it left a foul taste in my mouth to think it. “What if she didn’t go see Sav? She knows Shae too. She might have gone there or took a snow machine to town.”

“Fuck, right.” Kodiak grunted and fumbled with his phone. Shae answered on the first ring. “Hey, is Nicolette there? … She visit today? … I don’t know… Thanks.” He hung up and shook his head. “She isn’t there, but in town. Nicolette likes being around people. Could be she went to check out Petersburg. I’m taking the truck.”

He sped out as fast as Ezekiel had. I opened my mouth to protest and for him to go see if any of the snow machines were gone since the storm was going to get worse, but he was in the truck and revving it before the thought finished in my head. My stomach tightened further. The need to find the Omega, to make sure she was safe, churned in me.

I smashed a hand on the counter. Fuck this. I shouldn’t care that she was gone. It was what I wanted.

Growling at myself, I told myself to sit on the couch and watch something. Take my mind off this crap. Good-bye Nicolette. Take your sweet pretty little ass back home.

I didn’t even make it to the couch before I had turned myself around and headed to the door. I hated her. Hated her even more for making me feel this… This what? Shit. Stupid Alpha instincts. She wasn’t mine. I refused to let it happen.

“Turn around and sit down, you asshole.” My command came out as a snarl. I would not let the power of an Omega’s pheromones ruin my life again. With Sarah, it wasn’t even her own. And Nicolette wasn’t even mine. She was triggered by Ezekiel and Kodiak, filling the house with her sweet tropical perfume. Any Alpha would be affected, and that was why they were always escorted and kept away from Alphas, because they fucked things up.

I gripped the back of the couch, willing myself to jump over and sit, but my body refused to move. My heart hammered and sweat trickled down my back. Every muscle tensed as I fought against my instincts.

What if she hadn’t gone to town? No way she knows how to drive a snow machine. They were nothing like a jet ski. And if she went to Savva’s, he would have kicked her out and sent her home well before dark. There were too many dangers around here, especially for someone not from Alaska.

Damn this all. I walked to the door to fetch my coat and boots.

I hated myself for giving in. I hated Nicolette all the more for it.

Slamming the door behind me, I jogged over to the shed where we kept the recreational vehicles. When I opened it, none of the machines were gone. Wherever Nicolette went, she went on foot.

Into the Alaskan woods. While it was storming. Alone. None of the bear sprays were gone either.

Cursing, I snagged the keys to one of the snow machines and opened the sliding door. She was going to get herself killed. As much as I didn’t want her here, I didn’t want her dead.

The thought of her in the woods, mauled by a bear, a frozen corpsicle, or broken at the bottom of a ravine, stole the remainder of my common sense. I turned on the engine and didn’t even give it a chance to warm up. I rocketed out of the shed and down the drive.

Fucking Omega. Where would she have gone?

Not to Savva’s or Shae’s or to town. So just a walk. The dogs were gone. Maybe Nicolette thought she could go on a snowy adventure like some idiotic tourist. So many people went missing in Alaska every year because they had no idea just how dangerous it was.

The sun had set and the moon was hidden behind a thick layer of clouds. I turned on the headlights and slapped on a helmet. The motor purred and reverberated off the trees. I could shout for her, but the snow machine was a louder and more consistent noise than my voice.

I went down the drive and to the road. Kodiak had turned left to head into town, so I went right, leading deeper into the forest. Would Nicolette have stuck to the road? Probably not. Adventurous and full of herself, likely she did go walking in the woods. Mitkof had black and brown bears, and sometimes grizzlies came over from the mainland. She was like a bright headed little snack for them, and in heat, smelling as delicious as she did…

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