Page 21 of My Knotty Mountain Men

I always worried about getting too comfortable with our relationship being that way because someday, she’s going to meet an Omega and join a pack.

And that Omega isn’t going to be me. While I wouldn’t lose my best friend, I’d lose what we have because there’s no way in hell I’d expect her to keep treating me the way she does. It’s not fair to anyone involved.

While I was with the guys, even just for those few hours, I was coherent. I felt like I finally had that. That everything was going to be okay because I had my Alphas. The Alphas I’ve dreamed about for years.

“I don’t want to talk about it here,” I say, pulling back as I try to give her my best fake smile.

She sees through it.

“I’m going to kill them. Whoever they are. Whatever they did, they’re dead.”

I let out a sobbed laugh. “I love you, you know that?”

“I love you too.” She bends down and grabs my bags, refusing to let me help. “Come on. Let’s get back to campus. I’m calling a family meeting.”

“Really?” I groan.

Jenny hits me with a sharp look. “You wanna tell this story three times over?”

“No,” I grumble.

“Then yes, a family meeting.”

“Fine,” I sigh.

The drive back to Calling Wood was filled with loud music and aggressive singing. Jenny looked concerned for only a moment before she started singing the angry break-up music with me, no questions asked. No judgment.

When we get back to campus, Jenny heads for the teachers' compound.

At Calling Wood, Alphas, Betas, and Omegas are all sectioned off in their own compound for safety and comfort.

Normally, an unmated Omega has a Beta bodyguard. Their job is to protect the Omega while they’re on school grounds until he or she finds a pack of their own to take over that job.

Teachers are different. We all live in the same compound. If an Omega graduates and gets a job on campus, we can choose to either be independent or keep a Beta guard part-time.

Both Rylee and I are unmated Omegas, but we chose to go without a guard because we had Jenna and Jenny. Whenever we want to go anywhere or feel like we need an escort when leaving campus, one of the girls comes with us.

Overall, Calling Wood is a safe place. Everyone is respectful for the most part, knowing that if they don’t keep their hands to themselves, and if they don’t have consent, they will be kicked out of school. That's both students and teachers.

Jenny pulls up to my little condo. Best part is... all my besties live in the same building as me.

“The girls are still at work, so they said they would meet us at the cafe,” Jenny informs me. I roll my eyes as she uses the spare key of mine to open the door.

“I can open a door, you know.” I laugh as I step inside.

Jenny just grins before heading into my room to drop my bags off and leaves me to get changed.

Lifting my shirt up to pull it off over my head, I pause, a whimper slipping free. Their scents cling to my clothes, filling my nose.

My belly aches, and it feels like someone is wrapping their hand around my heart, squeezing tightly. I can’t breathe.

Quickly, I pull the shirt off, as well as everything else I’m dressed in, and toss it to the floor. Biting my lower lip, I debate on what to do with them.

The idea of throwing them in the wash, never to be able to smell them again, sends a spike of panic through me.

Grabbing them, I head to my closest and toss them to the floor to be dealt with later.

A heaviness presses on my chest as I move about my room, grabbing clean clothes to change into after my shower.

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