Page 36 of Knot Dead Yet

“Stop it!” Kienna stepped between us all. Standing tall, my little warrior, she gave us looks to match our Alpha intensity. “I don’t have it in me to deal with your Alpha posturing bullshit right now. If you guys are here, that means the hockey game is over and my dad will be back soon. So all of you need to go.”

Kane laid a hand on Maddox’s shoulder to stop him from doing anything else. “Kienna, we’re here for you. Get yourself some clothes and we’ll be gone before your father gets back.”

Kienna backed up close to me. I couldn’t hide my smirk at that. She knew she was safe with me. The pack had no idea what they were dealing with when it came to this Omega. If Kane thought he could order her to do anything, he was going to learn very quickly Kienna had will power greater than our entire team.

“What? No.” She tightened her blanket around her.

“Kienna.” Kane couldn’t hide the frustration in his tone as he reached for her.

I moved in front of her. If she didn’t want him touching her, he wasn’t going to get near her.

“Please, everyone.” Alderic slipped by the Alphas of his pack and came to wrap an arm around Kienna. She leaned into him but gave him a narrow-eyed look.

“You told them to come.” Not a question.

“I did,” Alderic admitted and rubbed her arm. “But only because I want to help you. I think maybe you need to find a place for a nest.”

Kienna snorted. “A nest? I don’t need a nest. And even if I did, I’m not nesting anywhere in this city. I shouldn’t even be here.”

Ever patient, the Beta bobbed his head. “I understand your resistance. But a nest doesn’t mean that you’re ready to breed. A lot of people think that, but it’s more of a place that brings you comfort and helps to ease the stress of your heat.”

“I know that, but I’m not nesting in Winnipeg.” She stomped a foot to emphasize it. Stubborn as she was, I did agree with Alderic’s point. She didn’t want to be knotted, so if a nest could help, a nest we had to find.

“A nest doesn’t have to be something permanent,” Kane added, keeping his voice even. “Tell us what brings you comfort.”

“Comfort?” Her jaw hardened and she straightened her back. Wrapped in the blanket as she was, she looked like a Greek goddess. “I’m in the middle of my heat, and I’m compatible with four—FOUR!—Alphas who are ready to tear into each other like feral dogs. Alphas who are on my father’s hockey team. You should all be running away knowing that if he ever found out, none of you would ever play another game of hockey in your lives. There’s no comfort here for me.”

Kane shook his head. “He wouldn’t—”

“He would.” Her certainty with that didn’t concern me. Something flickered across Kane’s and Tiergan’s faces, but that was better for me. Let them run scared. I could offer Kienna a grand future in the lifestyle she was accustomed to. Her father wouldn’t disapprove of me.

“Kienna,” Alderic crooned her name. “We want to try to find some place where you’re comfortable. I want to take you to our pack house.”

Hell no.

“It’s not big and impersonal like the hotel. It’s cozy, and there are tons of snacks. I know you like chocolate.” Alderic flashed her a soft smile. “Plus all of our scents are there, and we can watch over you.”

Not all of our scents. Not mine. No matter how differently I thought of Alderic, like the rest of the pack, he was excluding me again.

“Her father will wonder where she is if she isn’t here.” It was reasonable. None of them could debate that. Not one of uswas her mate. If anyone took Kienna without Birk’s permission, he could have them jailed for it.

“But Kienna needs some place comfortable for the sake of her well-being.” Kane stared me down with a challenge. Yes, I cared about her well-being, but there were other places she could go if we were taking her anywhere at all.

“Who’s to say that’s your pack house?” I didn’t look away, didn’t even blink. I wasn’t looking to fight any of them, but I refused to sit back and let them take Kienna without me by her side.

Kane clenched his fists. “It’s the best place.”

“Says the biased pack leader.”

“Stop arguing about this as if I’m not here.” Kienna put a hand on my arm. Not Kane’s, mine. “I paid a little attention in class when we talked about nesting, so Alderic is right. It’s about being cozy and comfortable. I don’t feel that here, and I don’t know how I’ll feel like that anywhere with my heat screwing me up. Yet I’m willing to try.”

Tiergan grinned and Maddox smirked at me.

“But,” Kienna chased away their smugness. “Everyone is coming, including Casimir. If you won’t let Casimir into your house, then I’m not going either.”

I fought not to smirk like they had. I wouldn’t be that petty. Kienna had spoken what she wanted and she wanted me there. No matter that she wasn’t ready to be knotted, surely she felt the same bond to me as I felt to her, and I would protect her even from my own teammates.

Maddox bared his teeth and Tiergan scowled. If they were pack leader, they’d try to leave me behind, but it was Kane they looked to. Kane’s chest heaved with his breaths. He didn’t like this either, but he didn’t have to. Either it was going to be the way Kienna wanted, or they wouldn’t have her at all.

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