Page 40 of Knight Life In Vegas

If I said no, he was going to be devastated. “It’s all right with me.”

“Me too?” OIlie asked, giving them his best puppy eyes.

“There is certainly room for two squires. It would hardly be fair to separate brothers,” replied one of the servers.

Dylan’s gaze was heavy on me, and I simply refused to look him in the eye. I couldn’t. Too much guilt and longing churned through me.

“Are you okay?” Beau whispered.

“No,” I whispered back. “Lancelot is one of my scent matches I ran out on.”

Beau stiffened next to me, focusing on Dylan like he was assessing every aspect of him. It was unfair how good Dylan looked up on that horse. The costume had faux-fur-lined edges and bright gold fabric over chain mail, making his shoulders look even broader than I remembered.

I had no idea what to do with myself when both of my children excitedly went off with the ladies. I kept hawk eyes on them until they were seated between the king and queen at the far end of the arena on a raised dais. At least I could see them from here, and it gave me a good excuse to avoid looking at Dylan. The alpha in question raced off to join the others in another circuit.

“Nervous?” Beau asked.

“I always am when it comes to them.”

“We’ll both keep an eye on them, and if you don’t want to talk to the alpha, I’ll block him.”

That was a small relief.

I was glad my boys would get this experience, but I had been hoping to be able to watch them up close, to see the excitement in their eyes.

It was difficult to focus on the performance with my attention divided, constantly checking on Sammy and Ollie, who looked like they were having the time of their lives. The show had dancing and drums, sing-alongs and sword fights, but I couldn’t properly enjoy any of it. Every time Dylan swept by, I’d get a fresh rush of adrenaline.

“I bet they would let you sit up there if you asked,” said Beau when he caught me watching my sons instead of the knights expertly tossing their javelins at targets.

“I don’t want to leave you alone here.”

Beau dared to slip his hand into mine, giving it a squeeze. “Lucy and I will be fine. Go, if you need to.”

Before I could answer, another of the knights dressed in red paused in front of our section. I glanced up at his face, half of a whine slipping out before I clapped my hand over my mouth. Eduardo was here too?

Fuck me.

He stared down at where Beau held my hand and I sharply extracted myself, heat flushing every inch of me. He didn’t stay long, spurred on by a new portion of the show, but I watched him come together with Dylan and another of the knights dressed in green.

“What’s going on?” Beau asked, shifting Lucy to cuddle her against his chest.

“Another one works here. What do I do?” I wanted to leave. How could I face them both? But my kids… Fuck. The compulsion to slip away into the night again burned bright in my chest, but I couldn’t leave Sammy and Ollie here.

“First, breathe,” said Beau. He looped an arm over my shoulder and his purr stuttered to life, trying to soothe me. I hated that it helped. I tucked myself closer, willing the universe to make me invisible. The music and crowds were so loud around us I could only hear Beau’s purr if my ear was pressed against him, but I needed it, so I scooted closer and tried not to let my panic overwhelm me. The universe hated me; that much was obvious. It didn’t give a damn about what I wanted and was shoving scent matches on me left and right.

“What’s after breathing?”

“I don’t have that answer yet,” he admitted. “Do you want to leave and I can collect the boys?”

I desperately wanted to accept, but that seemed like the peak of cowardice. How many times could I run away from these men? What if there was no escape from fate and the universe would keep making me trip over them at every turn? Was it better to face this head-on, and simply tell them I had no interest in doing anything about the scent matches?

I clung to Beau through the final sword fights of the night, Dylan as Lancelot coming out victorious.

“This is nothing you can’t face,” Beau assured me. “You’re a stronger omega than most, and these alphas will be at your mercy.”

I peeked up at him. “You really think so?”

“I know so.”

---