Page 42 of Knot the Alphas' Feral Omega

There was a part of me that wondered if I needed to sign anything, but Killian didn’t let me out of his sight. He didn’t let me away from him, period. He kept his arms wrapped firmly around me as Oliver discussed things with the Director. Then, when the Director turned on his heel and walked away, glancing over his shoulder with a sour look, Killian just leaned downtowards me and brushed his lips up against my ear, murmuring, “Let’s go, baby girl.”

I didn’t look back towards the building as we drove away, and I steadfastly ignored Oliver in the front seat, choosing instead to focus on Killian in the backseat with me. His arms stayed wrapped tightly around me as we drove away from the building that had quickly become my own personal hell.

The drive was silent, and it felt like it was over far too soon. That was a good thing, though, because the longer I spent with Oliver, the more I hurt. The fracture in my chest seemed to be protesting Oliver’s closeness, and as much as I wanted to fix that, I didn’t know how to.

All I knew was that being near Oliver hurt, and memories of his face when he had rejected me were playing on a loop in my mind, over and over and over again. I didn’t have the same traumatic memories associated with Killian, so I focused on him. I could tell it bothered Oliver that I wasn’t acknowledging him, even if he didn’t say anything.

Thankfully, neither Killian nor Oliver expected me to talk, and by the time we pulled up in front of the packhouse again, I was ready to go to sleep. I hadn’t realized how exhausting being in human form was, especially after living in my animal mind for so long. I sighed softly as the car came to a halt, and Killian helped to undo my seat belt, then gathered me gently in his arms and scooted me out of the car without letting my feet touch the ground, even for a second.

“Come on, baby girl,” he said softly. “I’ll take care of you.”

I took a deep breath and then nodded, my stomach twisting unpleasantly as I looked up at the packhouse. It was just a building, just a collection of wood and bricks and concrete, and yet...

And yet, my heart started pounding again the second we walked up to the front door, even as I stayed as far away from Oliver as I could, glued at Killian’s side.

Breathe. Just. Fucking. Breathe.

Still, I couldn’t keep my head from spinning as the sound of the lock unlatching echoed in my mind, and then the door opened, making me stiffen.

Killian looked down at me with concern in his eyes, but I forced myself to walk forward, brushing past him as I followed Oliver into the house. I could do this. I could do this. I coulddo this...

The second I was past the front door of the house, though, everything inside me crumpled, and my shift happened before I was even aware of it starting.

A snarl ripped through the air, and before I had a conscious thought, I landed on the ground on all four feet. I bared my teeth as my vision tunneled, and I immediately darted to the side.

I could hear a deep, mildly frantic voice trying to calm me down and coax me back, but I couldn’t see. My eyes closed halfway as I darted around, trying desperately to escape the building, desperately trying not to panic even more than I already was.

My heart thundered in my ears, and when a hand appeared in front of my face, I didn’t think twice. I just lunged out and sankmy teeth into the flesh, ignoring the tangy burst of blood over my tongue as I shook my head back and forth, trying to get the person to back off. The scent in my nose was familiar, but my brain couldn’t think—wouldn’tthink—beyond the panic.

“It’s okay, baby. It’s okay.” The words filtered in through the fog of panic in my brain, but I still didn’t recognize the owner of the voice. Before I could shake my head even further, though, a firm arm wrapped around my middle and trapped me against a hard body. I dropped the hand out of my mouth with a loud snarl, throwing my head back and forth, desperately trying…something.

“It’s okay.” I was picked up, and then there was another male voice, one that made me toss back my head and let out an aggressive, high-pitched howl. Pain radiated from me, both psychological and physical, as I tweaked one of my shoulders with my aggressive thrashing. I was barely aware of the fact that I was being carried away from the voice that had caused me so much distress until it was gone, and I could relax just the tiniest bit.

“It’s okay, baby.” The voice was thick with sadness and distress, and I whimpered, wiggling some more but not trying as hard to get away now. Exhaustion flooded my body, and I knew that if the person who was carrying me set me down, I was going to fall asleep so fucking fast. My body cried for the rest, and I whined softly as I threw my head to the side, bumping against the soft warmth of the body that was holding me but doing nothing more than that.

“Come on, right in here. It’s okay. You’re fine. You’re safe.” A door opened, and then my nose was flooded with more of a familiar scent that made me relax slightly more. The scent thathad made me panic was almost nonexistent in here, and when the arms holding me lay me down, I flopped onto my stomach and let out a low growl even as I snuffled and curled up into a tight ball.

“Fuck, Lilah.” Then, there was gentle pressure on my head as my tail flicked up and covered my nose.

I growled again, but the sound was already softer and less aggressive than it had been before. I wanted to fight,neededto fight, but I was so fucking tired, and god damn it, I needed some rest...

Things were supposed to be better here. Not...this...

The faint thought filtered through my animal brain for a second before it faded away, and then I closed my eyes.

I needed to sleep. Maybe things would look different after I got some rest.

21

Emmett

When I finally made my way back from the office for the day, the house was quiet and empty. I quietly closed the front door behind me as I entered, setting my keys down on the side table with barely a clink of metal against wood.

Without going to look for her, I could already feel that Lilah was back in the house.

I would have known even if Oliver hadn’t informed me that their retrieval mission had been successful, along with some choice expletives concerning Taylor Marcus, the man who ran the facility. I had already made a mental note that I wanted to look into the man and his practices against the patients there, but that was something that needed to wait until we had a little bit less stress and a little bit more time.

I kicked off my shoes and slowly made my way through the house, my head swinging this way and that as I looked for Oliver.

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