Page 33 of Knot All is Forgiven

"Why in the world would I not find you attractive? You're stunning."

She sighs and rubs her face roughly with her hands. "I've got some food issues, remember? So sometimes my brain goes a little haywire and makes assumptions." She cringes and tries to wiggle out of my grip. "It's fine, I'm fine. I don't want to talk about it."

She's made a brief comment or two about being told she needed to weigh less if she wanted to present as an Omega, but I feel like that can't possibly be all of it to produce a response like this. There was talk of therapy for 'food issues,' but she never elaborated. I want her to tell me everything, to lay it all out there on a tarnished silver platter and allow me to shine and restore it.

But if she's not ready, I can't force that.

"Okay, sunshine. I'm ready to listen when you're ready to talk about it." I stroke my hand down her dark red hair until I feel the shivers in her body stop. When I pull away and gaze upon myOmega, fear and vulnerability still shining in her eyes, I know I'll do whatever it takes to get that look out of them.

Later that day, inthat strange time between lunch and dinner that is perfect for a cup of tea and a cookie or two, I find Jordan standing in the entryway, hands on her hips, glaring at a package at her feet. The top of the box is open, and the paper to cushion whatever is in there is strewn about.

"Did you do this?" she asks without looking back at me. "Did you order this?"

"I don't think so?" At her side, I can see the box's contents, and I wrinkle my nose. "I definitely did not."

Inside are a set of four milkshake glasses. Old-fashioned diner glasses with flared tops. Sort of like the ones in the painting right here in this hallway.

"Milkshake glasses? Maybe it got delivered to the wrong address." I pick up the box and carry it to the kitchen, unpacking it onto the counter. In addition to the box are glass straws swirled with red and white stripes and a cookbook with only milkshake recipes. "This is so oddly themed."

She looks like she's seen a ghost as she stares at these innocuous items, further increasing my confusion.

"Hey, sunshine, why is this upsetting you so much?"

"Do you see that painting?" she says, pointing towards the hyperrealistic painting of an old school diner with abandoned milkshakes on a table with ripped red leather seats. "It's a diner back home. I went there after school often on days I didn't have dance class." She snorts a little sarcastic laugh. "A lot isan understatement. It's where Pack Stargazer and I would meet up."

It takes a few minutes for what she's saying to sink into my thick skull. When it does, anger boils within me. "They sent you these?"

"I… I think so. That's the only explanation, right? I mean, it was our thing. And there are four glasses." She backs up against the cream wall, shaking her head, hands trembling. "They've found me, Icarus."

She used my real name, so I know she's being serious in her fear.

"I know they found their scent match and broke your heart, sunshine, but why are you so afraid of them finding you?" I take slow, gentle steps toward her and grab her quivering hands.

"They found me in the hospital. Told the hospital I was their Omega. How did they know, Alpha? And how did they find me? Have they been watching me? Why would they be watching me? And why would they call me their Omega if they have one?" She slides her back down the wall and sits on the floor, wrapping her arms around her knees. "Haven't they hurt me enough? What could they want from me?"

I join her on the floor, our hips pressed side by side into one another. "I don't know. Do you want to talk to them, to maybe find out?"

She shakes her head vehemently. "No. If they had loved and cared about me the way I did them, it wouldn't have mattered if I stayed a Beta, you know? Your dad married a Beta. They didn't even try to make it work. All they cared about back then was my designation, which is still the case, it seems."

"But how do they know? It's like they knew before you did."

And then it hits me.

They did know before she did.

The realization strikes her at the same time. "One of them was at the grocery store," we both say.

"Which means when they said you're their Omega…"

"One of them scented me." She's on her feet in an instant. "Fuck! Fuck!" Her little feet slap the tile as she paces quickly back and forth. "You can't have two Omega scent matches, can you?"

"I've never heard of it, but I suppose it's possible. In theory. Maybe?"

I feel as unmoored as she does. Has my Omega been matched to another pack? Will she still want me? Will there still be a place for me in her life?

And with this pack that broke her heart?

Fuck.

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