Page 18 of Knot the Alphas' Feral Omega

It was causing tension in the household. Oliver constantly looked like he was waiting for the other shoe to drop, even though we hadagreedthat we wanted to see where things could go with Lilah if all of us gave her a chance. I knew Oliver was struggling with the idea of leaving Jack behind and moving forward with Lilah—or at least, that’s how he would see it—but...

God, as much as I missed him, Jack was gone. He wasn’t coming back, and he would be furious at the way we had all allowed his death to keep us from moving forward in our lives as a pack and as a family.

Which was why I was...doing reconnaissance.

That sounded a hell of a lot better than the fact I was basically stalking Lilah, so that was the word I was going with.

It turned out that Lilah did have a job. She was a cashier at a tiny boutique that sold clothes far more expensive than most people could afford. The first day I saw her walking out of the house in her black slacks and button-down, her dark hair twisted in a sleek knot at the back of her head, I almost tackled her right then and there. It was impossible that she could look so effortlesslysexy no matter what she was doing or what she was wearing, but it was what it was.

I managed to contain my impulses and followed Lilah to her job. The first day, I watched from a distance, peeking in the windows to make sure she was okay.

The second day, though, I was in the store itself.

I couldn’t help it. I was drawn to Lilah so intensely that it would have scared me if I had been less devoted to her—yes,already. Oliver didn’t understand, but he would get there in his own time. She was our scent-match. We were meant to be together.

I watched Lilah handle customers, skulking around the back racks of the store and mostly keeping to the shadows. It was basically the same thing I’d been doing outside her house in wolf form—but with opposable thumbs.

The way she efficiently checked people out and helped customers find what they were looking for made me smile and yearn for her.

She probably wouldn’t mind if I went up to say hello...but she’s at work. I could pretend to be a customer so she wouldn’t get in trouble. She would know, of course, but...

A tall, broad-chested man stepped up next in line for Lilah, and I snapped to attention, my wandering thoughts going immediately silent. I narrowed my eyes, reaching up to shove my glasses a little further up my nose when they started to slip. The man didn’t have anything in his hands, and as I watched, he planted them on the counter in front of Lilah and leaned in, invading her space.

My every instinct immediately screamed for me to protect my mate from the alpha who was imposing on her space—because even from behind, I could tell he was an alpha. It was the way that he unashamedly took up space and expected everyone around him to immediately give him a wide berth and anything else he might want...

My instincts itched, and I bit back a low growl as I watched Lilah nod politely at the man. Her expression didn’t change from her neutral customer-service face, but I could see the tension in her fingers where her hands were clasped together in front of her hips.

I didn’t have to hear what he was saying to her to see the way she stiffened and stepped carefully back, putting some space between herself and the customer as her lips moved with a reply.

My hearing was too dull in human form to hear what was being said.Fuck.

I glanced around and immediately caught sight of the manager—a tall beta woman with blond hair pulled back in a severe bun—and made my way over to her, tucking my hands into my pockets.

“Hi there,” I said, speaking up without waiting for her to notice me.

She smiled at me, her eyes quickly flicking up and down and taking in my leather jacket, T-shirt, and jeans. If she was judging me for my clothes, it didn’t read on her face. She clasped her hands in front of her and nodded. “Can I help you with something, sir?”

I nodded, jerking my head over to the checkout counter, where I could see Lilah still talking to the pushy alpha out of the corner of my eye. “Yeah. I was just browsing, and I noticed that that man seems to be harassing one of your employees.” I glanced around, then lowered my voice conspiratorially as I leaned close to the blond woman. “He looks like an alpha, and your employee looked a little uncomfortable. I would have gone over there to say something myself, but I didn’t want to cause any kind of scene, you understand.”

The manager’s eyes narrowed a little, and she looked sharply toward Lilah and the man, who was leaning even further over the counter than before. Her eyes narrowed even further—an expression I related to wholeheartedly—and she looked at me with a tight smile. “Thank you for informing me. If you’ll excuse me.”

She turned on her heel and walked over to the counter, and I melted back to my spot at the back of the shop to watch the exchange.

I could see the sharpness on the manager’s face as she stepped up behind Lilah, putting a firm hand on her shoulder and nudging her to the side to face the alpha head-on. The alpha reared back, his entire body stiffening, and I moved enough to see the ugly expression twisting his profile. His mouth moved, and it didn’t take a genius to know that the alpha was cussing out the manager.

The alpha gestured towards Lilah, who had been looking relieved at her manager’s interference, and her expression soured. Anger started to build low in my belly as I watched her snap something I couldn’t hear, and then she turned on her heel and stomped away, tension in every muscle of her body.

I was grateful that she was away from the prick who had been clearly insulting her, but without Lilah to focus my energy on...

I slipped out of the store, taking a discreet spot next to the front door. I had every faith that the manager would put the alpha in his place, and it only took another minute or so before the door slammed open, and the alpha marched out, muttering under his breath.

“Stupid bitch...harassment lawsuit...got to be fucking kidding me...”

He didn’t see me coming. One moment, he was walking out of the store; the next, I was whirling him around with an iron grip on his wrist, slamming him up against the brick side of the building.

“Motherfucker!” His eyes flashed gold at me, and he bared his teeth. The man had bulk on me and was a few inches taller, but the rage and possessiveness flowing through my veins made it all too easy to hold him in place.

“Hey, asshole.” I leaned in, shoving my face in his and watching his face redden from the way I pressed my forearm against his throat. “That woman you were fucking around with? The brunette?” His eyes widened a little, and I leaned even closer, making sure he could feel my breath against his sweaty face as I snarled, “She’s fuckingmine.Mypack’s omega. And I swear to God, if I see you talking to her again—if I see you evenlookingat her again—you won’t be able to knot anyone in the future because I’ll cut your fucking dick off. Do you fucking understand me?”

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