Page 4 of Knot Dead Yet

“It can’t be that bad,” Nicolette said. “I thought Alaska would be incredibly boring, but it’s wonderful here. There’s so much to do.”

“Like your hunky lumberjacks?” I interjected with a suggestive tone and got a giggle from her.

“Kienna, listen to me.” Callista had her I’m-being-so-patient-with-you voice on. “Go back to the hotel, order room service, and watch a movie. Talk to your dad when he gets back about wanting to leave. Uncle Marcos is very reasonable.”

“Not about hockey,” I grumbled. And that’s all I’d been hearing from him lately. Maybe if we came there for one game, but no, he had to buy a team and get super involved. Totally ignoring his daughter. Again. Hurt and bitterness made my throat tighten. “I’ve already made up my mind. I’m heading south.”

“Please don’t cause any trouble. I’m calling your dad.” Callista hung up, and I gritted my teeth. It didn’t matter. She’d only get his voicemail. But still, I knew they joked about me being a troublemaker in school, but was that how they still saw me?

“Be careful, Kienna.” Aubrielle’s soft voice trembled. “This… I can’t. I’m sorry. Bye.”

Then there was one.

“Are you going to lecture me too, Nic?”

“Nah, I know what it’s like to feel lonely and bored.” Thank God for Nicolette. She’d always been the most sympathetic to me. “Maybe when you get to Fargo, you can hop a flight and come here. The snow’s melting and we can go out on the boat. Just chill and have some girl time before Calli’s wedding, since we’re not doing a bachelorette party because she’s having the baby.”

“Hey, I offered to hire a stripper to come in and pump milk from her while dancing and she said no.”

She laughed, and I could imagine her throwing back her head as she did so. “If my guys wouldn’t tear that stripper apart, I’d say you hire one for me when the twins come.”

“Noted.” I chuckled and stared up above the cityline at the night sky. “Yeah, I think maybe I’ll come your way. Likely my dad’s going to be with the team for the rest of the season.”

“I know it’s not Ireland, but there are a few cozy pubs here.”

Fuck, I wanted to hug her. “Thanks. I’ll text you when I get to Fargo and figure out flights. You’re the best.”

“Love you lots.” The dogs started barking on Nicolette’s end. “I’ve got to go. Take care and drive safely.”

“Love you too. Bye, girl!”

I ended the call and dropped my cell on the seat beside me. Tears momentarily blinded me, and I let them fall. The world romanticized being an Omega. The special females who could bond with Alphas and breed more Alphas, because, in the end, that’s all that was important. What they didn’t want the world to know was how isolating it could be, how limited your social life and career choices were, and how scary it was for the majority of Omegas to think they might accidentally have their heat triggered by a random Alpha.

I never felt the isolation until after we graduated from school, and I didn’t know what I really wanted to do with my life in terms of a career. I only recently turned twenty-one. There was so much living I wanted to do before I settled into a job. As for being scared of Alphas, that was never me. I’d gone to so many parties over my teen years and my family had introduced me to many Alphas over the past year, but never had I felt any connection. Something in me had to be broken.

Wiping away my tears, I breathed out the last of my self pity. I was going on an adventure. As an adult, I didn’t have tostick around some place I didn’t want to be. Screw the chaperon law and whatever other Omega bullshit.

I pulled the car up beside the pumps and filled the car with gas. Realizing I’d need snacks for the road too, I grabbed my purse and went inside to pay and load up on sweet treats. I also nabbed a local paper which featured stories about the recent killings by the serial killer, ‘The Manitoba Hangman’ in the area. The police found a new connection with lilies being at all the victims’ homes. It would be good reading material for the flight to Alaska. The tattooed woman behind the counter complimented my pink hair, and I exited with a smile and a sack full of sugar and caffeine.

With my mood boosted, I said hi to everyone I passed and opened my car door to hop in.

“Miss.” An older man with a receding hairline and black rimmed glasses gave me a little wave from the other side of the pumps where he was gassing up his car. “You forgot to put your gas cap back on.”

I glanced back and laughed. “Thank you.”

Shaking my head at myself, I screwed the cap on and flipped the cover closed, and waved to him as I left the station lot. The roads were clearly marked, and I easily hopped onto seventy-five south. It wasn’t busy at this time of night, and I turned up the radio and dug into the bag for a chocolate bar. A fantastic start to my adventure.

I sang and munched as I cruised along. The city faded behind me and there was nothing but darkness and a few other cars to keep me company. The oppressive feeling of isolation crept up on me again, but I cranked the volume and drowned it out.

A sound like a gunshot shook the car and I screamed, instinctively covering my head. The rental was suddenly beingpulled to the left and neared the center line toward an oncoming rig. Death by eighteen wheels!

I screeched again, my heart pounding, and yanked the wheel to the right. There was a flump-flump-flump which set a rhythm in my ears along with the ringing from the bang. “The tire.” Saying it out loud calmed me down. “Damn tire popped.”

I hit the four-ways button as I pulled over to the side of the road and stopped.

Breathing heavily, I rested my head against the steering wheel and let my heart rate return to normal. I peeled my hands off the wheel and rubbed them on my thighs. “It’s no big deal. Just a flat tire.” I wasn’t stranded in the middle of nowhere.I was fine. “Everything’s good. Flat tires happen all the time.”

I repeated that to myself a few more times until I nodded with it. “A flat tire. It’s not a problem.” I got out of the car and went to the trunk. When I was sixteen, I had a boyfriend named Danny who taught me how to change a tire and quite a bit about cars. It wasn’t a proper thing to teach Omegas, and that’s why I eagerly ate up everything he had to say. “I can do this. I can do anything I want.”

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