Page 34 of The Knot Before Christmas

Will is over to me in a second, grabbing it. “Nice work,” he says. “This will help a lot with bringing the wood back to the house.”

I preen. Ifuckingpreen at his praise before horror slips over my face.

Huffing at myself in annoyance, I follow after him and help load up the sled.

“I’m sorry,” Will tells me after a few minutes of silence.

“Sorry about what?” My brows furrow as I look over at him.

“For Nick. He’s not actually going to hurt you. He might be a dangerous man, but it would take a hell of a lot for him to hurt a woman.”

“He sure did look like he wanted to strangle me,” I mutter as I keep putting wood on the sled.

“Oh, he did.” Will chuckles. “And a whole lot of other things. Your mouth,” Will says low.

My eyes flick up to his and my belly flutters. “What about my mouth?”

His eyes drop to my lips and warmth blooms in my belly. Everything inside me screams for him to kiss me.

“The way you talk to him.” He clears his throat, eyes darting up to mine. “It only turns him on more.”

My lips part in surprise. “Really?”

He grins. “Don’t tell me you weren’t dripping when he shoved you up against that wall. We all smelled you, Nova.”

My cheeks heat, and I look away. “It’s because he’s my scent match and was touching me. It’s nothing more than that. I have no control over my reactions.”

He hums and goes back to loading the sled.

“Do you hate me as much as he does?” I ask Will as we pull the sled back to the house. More like he’s pulling it and I’m trailing next to him. He’s making a new path as I walk in the footprints he made on our way here.

“I don’t hate you, Nova,” he answers, not looking at me. “I don’t even know you.”

“Do you want to?” Why am I asking him that? I don’t care what he thinks of me. I don’t.

Yet, as I wait for him to answer, I feel like I’m losing my mind.

“What's the point? You don’t want anything to do with us after we leave here. It’s better if we don’t.”

Hurt blooms in my chest. “Yeah. Right.”

He comes to a stop. “Ian has himself convinced you’re going to be his.”

“Really?”Why does that send a bolt of excitement through me?

“I know you don’t want an Alpha, you made it clear enough. But I can promise you, Ian is the best choice if you were to pick one. The fact is, we’re scent matched, and if you're not at least with one of us during your heat, you're going to set yourself up for a long life of complications. Long term suppressants can fuck up an Omega’s body. And being put under during your heat is just as bad, if not worse. Don’t punish yourself by denying something you want because Alphas in the past have screwed you over.”

My eyes narrow as my nostrils flare. How dare he tell me how I should and shouldn’t feel. “It’s not just that. I have no interest in being some Omega for Alphas to breed and control. I will not keep my mouth shut and be a good girl. I am who I am, and I will not change for anyone.”

“The time you spent with Ian, has he ever once told you to shut up, to watch your mouth, or tell you to not do something?” Will’s eyes narrow. I don’t say anything, my heart pounding because I know the answer is no. “Exactly, because Ian isn’t like that. He’s never been like that. He’s not looking for an Omega to fuck, breed, and control.”

“Why are you so okay with your brother being with me, even if it means leaving your pack?”

“Because I love my brother. This life we live, he’s never wanted any of it. He might be able to spill blood alongside us, but it doesn’t mean he likes it. He wants a life with someone he can love, spoil, and worship. He’s been dreaming of an Omega and would have already had one if it wasn’t for us. We’re the reason why he held off on his happiness. But now he’s found his scent match, and I can’t take that away from him. Nick might not like it, but he would learn to let it go.”

I look away, biting my lips together to stop myself from asking him why he doesn't want to fight for me to be his. Because I don’t care what he thinks. I don’t care if he wants me.

Lies, lies, lies.

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