Page 15 of Knot the Alphas' Feral Omega

Emmett pursed his lips and hummed softly before saying quietly, “Nobody is saying you need to do it tonight. Killian would understand if you weren’t able to give her the bite. He would be upset, but...”

Emmett’s words trailed off as I shook my head. “I don’t think so,” I said. “I saw the way he looked at her. I’ve never seen Kill like that before. He’s smitten, and...”

Emmett sighed. “You’re right,” he finally said.

The silence that settled after his statement felt almost too heavy to break. I knew that, in that moment, Emmett was feeling the loss of Jack as keenly as I was. Our packmate had always been the most level of us, willing to call each of us out on our bullshit, no matter how we reacted. He would have been the perfect second in the pack hierarchy if we ascribed to such archaic views of packhood.

He wasn’t here, though—and Emmett was right. Even more than Killian, Jack had been vocal about his desire for an omega—a mate to balance us out, care for us, and soften each of our rough edges.

Claiming an omega without Jack felt wrong, but the idea of never even trying in respect to his memory...if anything, that felt even more wrong.

“I’ll try,” I finally said. My voice was rough with sadness but clear and strong. In my chest, my wolf hummed softly as if content with my decision, and Emmett nodded, not saying a word. “I don’t know if it’ll work out,” I warned him. “But...I’ll try.”

Emmett smiled and nodded again. “Okay.”

8

Lilah

Killian practically vibrated with nervous energy as he drove me back home, and I couldn’t stop myself from smiling at him anytime I glanced over. My wolf was surprisingly content, and I couldn’t stop myself from humming quietly as I looked out the window.

Killian’s scent filled my nose, and that, more than anything, soothed some of the ragged edges of my emotions. I had the feeling that my presence had dropped a bomb in the middle of the pack last night, even before the events that had occurred.

I flushed at the thought, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Killian grin, his nostrils flaring a little as he no doubt scented my arousal. He reached out with his hand to link our fingers together, and my stomach—and wolf—settled at the touch of my mate.

My cheeks burned, and I looked at our joined hands and then at Killian again. “Can I ask you something?”

He stopped at a red light and frowned, then nodded. “Of course you can, baby girl.”

I looked ahead and saw the traffic jam that had made him frown. Red and blue lights flashed in the distance, the clear source of the holdup—probably an accident.

“There was a lot of tension this morning, right?” I started hesitantly. “With Oliver and Emmett. That wasn’t just me?”

Killian hesitated and then slowly nodded. “Yes.”

I blew out a breath and squeezed his hand even tighter, letting his scent soothe me. “Why? Was it just...I mean, was it me?”

I hated how hesitant my voice sounded and how my wolf was curled in a tight little metaphorical ball in my chest, whining and begging for comfort. I felt the tips of my ears tingling, and I had to force myself to calm down so that I didn’t partially shift by accident.

I hadn’t partially shifted involuntarily since I was young, and in the past twelve hours, I’d had to contain my partial shift more times than I could count. It signaled how my wolf was begging for this pack, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about it.

I wanted them; that was clear...but could Ihavethem?

Killian was silent for a tense minute as the car slowly crawled through traffic, the cars in front of us slowly merging into one lane. My instincts had been right; I could see a nasty accidentcorralled off by the cop cars, a three-car pileup in which the middle car had been crunched almost beyond recognition.

Finally, Killian sighed, and when I peeked at him out of the corner of my eye, there was a new sorrow I had never seen there before.

“I can’t tell you the whole story, because that would be unfair to do without the pack,” he said somberly. He glanced my way, and I nodded to confirm I was listening. He continued, “But I will tell you that Oliver has...complicated feelings about taking in an omega to the pack. He has for some time. Ever since...”

He hesitated, and I lifted his hand to brush it against my cheek, rubbing there for a moment on instinct. I couldn’t explain why I did it, only that it felt right, and I was gratified to see Killian relax a little bit.

“Ever since?” I prompted softly.

“We had another pack member when we first declared the pack,” Killian said sadly. “He’s no longer around, obviously. And that has left an impact.”

My stomach swooped out from underneath me at the grief that was written all over his face, and I lifted his hand again, this time scent-marking the tender inside of his wrist where I could feel his pulse fluttering strongly. I didn’t need to ask why this mysterious fourth member of the pack was gone; the reason didn’t matter when it affected Killian—and clearly Oliver and Emmett, too—so deeply.

“I amsosorry,” I said, trying to project every ounce of sincerity that I had into my voice.

---