Page 28 of Knight Life In Vegas

This was ridiculous. I was forty-nine fucking years old and a singular meeting had reduced me tothis. Where had all my well-honed self-control gone? Bewitched. That was what I was. She didn’t even know the power she held over me, and somehow that made it worse.

A feral sound ripped from my throat as I came, desperately holding back her name on my tongue. I rinsed off hastily and took myself back to bed, where I fell into a fitful sleep plagued by thoughts of her.

In the morning I took my surly self over to my son’s pack house. It probably wasn’t the smartest choice, but I couldn’t exactly walk out on an invitation again.

Bryce greeted me at the door. “You look exhausted. Are you okay?”

“I’m not.” I swallowed hard.

His eyes widened with alarm. “Still from last time? Do you need a doctor?”

“They can’t fix what’s wrong,” I said bitterly. “Don’t worry about me.”

“Too late,” said Bryce. “What’s going on?”

With a sigh, I pinched the bridge of my nose. “The last time I was here, I met my scent match.”

Bryce blinked. “Scent match? Who?”

“Charlotte,” I stated flatly.

“What?!” The startled voice sounded behind Bryce, the omega in question coming out of the spare room. Her eyes instantly filled with tears. “No!”

Well…that wasn’t exactly the response I had been expecting, and it certainly didn’t bode well for me being put out of my misery.

Ice filled my veins and my throat closed up with panic. How was thereanother one? What kind of sick game was the universe playing here?

Ava tugged me into the kitchen and pushed me into one of the chairs before setting a glass of water in front of me. “Take a breath.”

“Ava, what the fuck is happening?”

“Your guess is as good as mine.”

Bryce joined us, his father at his heels. Beau looked no better than the last time I had seen him, his shoulders stooped with exhaustion, and purple shading beneath his eyes. I probably didn’t look any better with my body rebelling against leaving my scent matches behind.

“Charlotte, we need to talk,” said Beau.

“No, we don’t. I have had enough of fate trying to shove scent matches down my throat this week and I amnotgoing to entertain another one.”

“Another…”

“You’re numberfourand I simply cannot deal with this.”

“Mommy, you’re here!” Ollie bolted from his bedroom and threw himself at me. I squeezed him tightly, clutching him to my chest as if he were a shield against everything. “Why do you smell burny?”

Fuck. My scent blocker had worn off and I probably had a cloud of omega distress floating around me. “Mommy is just a bit stressed.”

Micah, Jesse, and Luke flooded in from upstairs, quickly assessing the tension in the air.

“Sammy, Ollie,” said Ava, “why don’t you help Micah pick out some breakfast?”

Ollie extracted himself from my arms, and Sammy got himself a hug before Micah ushered both of them away.

Bryce approached me carefully, holding up a hand to tell his father to stay back for now. “Why don’t we go into one of the private rooms and talk things over?”

“I’d rather go home.” I wanted my nest, pitiful as it was. It wouldn’t fix anything, but maybe if I was buried in blankets, my instincts would stop shrieking at me.

“Charlotte,” Bryce said softly, “you know it’s not that simple.”

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