Page 43 of Knot Dead Yet

Tiergan brought me to a pair of seats near the floor of the arena and beside the stairs. Excellent seats behind the net. Notone person asked for a ticket or ID. All he had to do was smile and shake their hands. Tiergan squeezed my hand before he ran off to the team’s locker room.

Not wanting to draw any more attention to myself, I flipped up the hood of my coat and tucked my hair inside. I then zipped it high enough to cover the lower half of my face. I was just another fan now, and damn was the arena packed.

I took out my phone and scanned through my messages and social media. Lots of people had liked my photos of Sara. No one could believe there was a camel and a desert in the Great White North.

Callista, Aubrielle, and Nicolette had all erupted into conversation and sent questions my way about how I was doing and who was Tiergan in the pics. It was way too noisy to do a group call, but I typed in my responses.

My thumbs rapidly pecked out letters on the screen.I’m alive and well.They already knew about the flat tire and lack of flights out of Winnipeg.I’m still stuck here. If I ever get a chance to talk to my dad, I’ll have him book me a flight or get me to Fargo to catch one.

Callista:Who is the guy with you at the camel?

Nicolette:And a camel? Is it even real?

I chuckled to myself.Sara is real. She’s gorgeous. There’s actually a desert in Manitoba and it’s blooming with a million flowers.

Aubrielle:Sounds beautiful.

Callista:The guy?

I only debated for a second whether to tell them what was going on. I needed to talk to someone. Two of them had been through their first heats and had mates of their own, and I needed to commiserate.The guy is Tiergan Hall. He’s the star goalie for the team Dad just bought. Tiergan is a hunky Alpha and we’re totally compatible. So are the other Alphas in hispack, plus one of the Betas, and a fourth Alpha not in the pack. All on my Dad’s team. Which is a BIG no-no. Except my heat was triggered and you know.

Aubrielle:OMG. A whole pack?!!!

Callista:No, we don’t know! What’s going on? If you’re in heat, you need those Alphas to help. Are they helping?

Nicolette:Holy hell! A whole big pack! Like how many? Three? Four? TEN?!

A giggle burst out of me.Four Alphas. Tiergan, Kane, Maddox, and Casimir. Plus one Beta, Alderic. They’re helping, but I don’t want them to claim me. Dad would totally ruin their lives. End their careers and all that. Nic, Cal, neither of you told us that our heat would be this crazy. It zaps me of all brain power and is just pure torture. Be prepared, Aub. Being in heat sucks.

Nicolette:Isn’t this everything you always wanted? A big group of hunks to serve your every need.

I sighed and ignored the arena announcer as his voice boomed over the speakers.Yeah, it’s nice in that aspect, but no way am I staying in this city and no way can anything permanent happen since they are Dad’s players. So it’s just a temporary thing. I’ll have to find another pack of hunks elsewhere. Preferably in Ireland where they own an ancient pub and castle.

Aubrielle:You’re Ireland obsessed. But how can you, you know, if it’s just temporary with this pack?

I’m not letting them get that far. No one has knotted me.Not that I haven’t wanted it, but since I wasn’t staying, it wasn’t worth the risk.

Callista:You’re in heat. The only thing that will ease it is knotting. I don’t want you to have to go through that pain. And trust me, I know how painful it can be.

Nicolette:Get those Alphas to knot you, girl. Refuse their claims if you think you need to, but I think you should give them a chance. I almost lost my Alphas because I was too stubborn. Plus, I honestly don’t think your dad will react so horribly.

Callista:Uncle Marcos wouldn’t. He just wants you to be happy, Ki.

If he wanted me to be happy, we’d be in Ireland at the moment. I was an afterthought these days, and that’s why he’d have to react as brutally as possible if some of his players were screwing his daughter. My father wasn’t a tyrant like my Uncle Julian, but I was the forgotten child, and somehow, that felt worse.

No one is knotting me.I typed the sentence in with furious taps.I’ll be at your place before a week is out, Nic. Right now the game is starting and everyone is standing for the national anthem. I should go.

I didn’t give a shit about the anthem, but I couldn’t stand them saying Dad would be fine with everything. What I would give for my father to be cool and let me live my life as I chose, for him to understand what made me happy and to respect it. But he didn’t care. Not only did he drag me here to Winnipeg and leave me in a hotel room, he hadn’t once asked about the broken down rental car or texted me wondering where I was and what I was doing.

Aubrielle:Take care of yourself, Ki. Keep us updated.

Callista:Go watch your guys play. Then get them to knot you. Call us tomorrow. Love you.

Nicolette:Have fun and, yeah, get knotted! I want to hear all about it. ;)

A hint of a smile touched my lips.Love all of you. Later!

I closed the chat window and sucked back my overflow of emotions. There would be no knotting. Knotting meant arisk of pregnancy and the Alpha losing control and claiming the Omega. I could not ruin the guys’ lives.

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