Page 99 of Knot All is Forgiven

He crowds me, pushing me against the brick siding of the building. This close, his scent is all that exists, an almost too-sweet cheap blackberry wine that conjures feelings of nostalgia for a more innocent time.

"You're not handling this at all, Omega," he growls. "You're burying your head in the sand. We're not descended from ostriches. We're descended from wolves, and you need to act like the Luna you are."

"Listen, jackass, I am doing nothing but processing and handling all of this shit. My whole life got upended, and you're pissed that I'm not handling it exactly how you think I should?" I push against his unmoving chest. "You don't get to decide how I process the trauma you caused."

"You're not the only one whose life got upended!" he shouts, his eyes wild as he glares at me. "We gave up our homes and moved in together to prove to you we could be a pack, only for you to avoid us for months. We moved in with you no questions asked. You don't think our lives are different? That our jobs aren't suffering? We've been living on your scraps for months, and you treat me like I'm a fucking monster for wanting the smallest amount of affection from you?"

He takes a step back, shaking his head. "I fucked up, Jordan. You don't have to keep shoving the biggest mistake of my life in my face. All I want is to love you. To take care of you. But it's starting to seem like you'll find any excuse not to love me back."

I'm too stunned to speak, his words battering against my flimsy defenses and freezing me in place. He doesn't wait for me to respond, and I silently watch my Alpha walk away.

Chapter thirty-eight

"Mr. Stargazer," Glinda saysfrom my doorway. "I'm heading out."

"Thanks, Glinda," I reply, not looking up from the file on my desk despite how dry my eyes are feeling.

"It's getting late. You need to go home." Her voice is gentle but no farther away, meaning she's made the decision not to leave.

Sighing, I push the paper aside and look up at her. "I have work to do."

"No, you don't. You have an Omega to avoid." She slumps into the leather chair in front of my desk, crossing one knee over the other. Her olive green, wide-legged pants look comfortable andchic. Maybe I should find out where she got them and get Jordan a pair.

"She's the one avoiding me." My voice sounds petulant even to me. "It's been nearly a week living together, and we still haven't been in the same place long enough for me to scent her again."

"So force the issue." She raises a brow at me. "I didn't take you for a quitter."

"I'm not a quitter. I'm a realist. And realistically, she hasn't forgiven me yet."

Glinda huffs dramatically. "Oh, poor, pathetic little Alpha. Your fruit basket wasn't enough to forgive thirteen years of silence?"

"Why did I tell you about this, anyways?"

"No idea, but it was the smartest decision you could've made." She drops her purse on my desktop and rifles through it, pulling out her phone and typing away. "Has she forgiven the other two?"

Jealousy rears its ugly head as I think about my packmates with Jordan. "Slime has been forgiven, I think, and Cyrus is … she's talking to Cyrus."

Glinda doesn't look up from her phone. "Okay, and what did Slime do to get back in her good graces?"

"Well, he was always there. Even after we broke her heart, he kept tabs on her. And he begged. I don't mean that figuratively, either." I sigh, remembering Slime slinking back into our room and climbing into the bed we're sharing, smelling like sex and mangos.

I was jealous for more reasons than one.

"Okay, and the big one is talking to her?" Glinda holds her phone in her lap now, her attention back on me. "I mean, I saw his speech on Sin Bin."

"Yeah, that made her uncomfortable, according to Icarus."

"The new Alpha?"

"Yeah. He said she had a panic attack because she felt like she was being forced into making a decision she wasn't ready to make. And I think they fought about it a couple of days ago." My phone buzzes in my pocket, but I don't grab it. I'm sure it's just Cyrus trying to find out if I'll be home for dinner.

Glinda mutters under her breath, and it sounds an awful lot like "stupid Alphas" before holding up her phone. "Check your phone."

I dig my phone out of my pocket and squint at the email preview on the screen.

RESERVATION CONFIRMATION: 2 PEOPLE FOR 8 PM ENTRY TO FIGHT YOUR FEELINGS

"What's Fight Your Feelings?" I ask as I gently set my phone down.

---