Page 44 of Knot the Alphas' Feral Omega

I eyed him meaningfully, and he swallowed, hard. After a moment, he dipped his chin in a nod, and he let out a shaky sigh as he finally answered, “You’re right. I won’t.”

I nodded, and then rose to my feet. It was the best I was going to get out of him right now, and for now, that was enough.

22

Killian

I leaned back against the wall of my bedroom with my legs splayed out in front of me as I looked at Lilah curled up in the middle of the room.

I hadn’t known where to take her after she had lost her shit and shifted back the second that we walked into the house. Clearly, Oliver was triggering for her, along with being back here, but there was no way I would take her anywhere else. She would just get caught and taken right back to Melvin. Keeping her in here with me was the only way I could keep her safe.

I looked down at my hand, seeing the bloody teeth marks where she’d sunk her teeth into me, and grimaced. There was a light knock on my door, and I grunted, “Come in.”

I knew it was Emmett without looking. I wasn’t even sure if we would see Oliver for a few days after what had happened whenwe walked into the house. His face had gone so pale, and the conflict in his eyes—the desire to run fighting with the desire to stay and try to help—had made my stomach twist. I hadn’t turned to him to comfort him, though. I’d needed to secure Lilah, and by the time she had fallen asleep and I had been able to go off looking for him again, he had disappeared.

I wasn’t necessarilyupsetabout it...but it was irritating, even if it was typical.

“Hey.” Emmett’s voice was soft when he walked into the room, and his eyes widened when he saw Lilah’s wolf curled up. Her chest was expanding and contracting steadily with each breath, and I didn’t need a bond with her to feel the pain radiating through her body.

She was stressed, my poor omega, and I didn’t know what to do.

“Oliver didn’t tell me that she’d shifted back,” Emmett said quietly, sitting next to me and leaning against the wall. He glanced down at my hand, his eyes widening at the wound. “Fuck, man. Are you...”

I waved my hand dismissively, wincing a little as the movement pulled at the dried blood. A good night’s rest would have it at least partially healed. For now, though, I didn’t care. “I’m fine. Lilah...”

“She did that to you?” Emmett asked, looking back at Lilah and blowing out a breath as he reached up and ran a hand through his hair. “This is a mess. She’s feral, Kill.”

A pang of pain hit my chest, and I let out a low growl. “I know,” I finally said, my voice tight. “But I don’t know what else to do. She can’t leave.”

A pause, and then Emmett said hesitantly, “She needs to see a doctor. We’re not equipped—”

“She’s not fucking leaving,” I snapped, suddenly stretched so,sothin. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Emmett snap his jaw shut and close his eyes. He breathed slowly and smoothly through his nose as if trying to rein in his emotions, and god, I knew I was being irrational. I knew that calling a doctor and asking for help with ourferalomega was the right call...

But the idea of Lilah no longer being around, of her not being where I could see her, smell her, and touch her, especially now that I had gotten her back and her mother had trusted me to ensure she was safe and not in government hands...I couldn’t fucking do it.

The silence between the two of us stretched out so long that, for a second, I thought Emmett might have fallen asleep. But then he spoke, his voice soft and careful, as if he were afraid of me losing my shit as well. “Are you sure that being here with us is the best call forher?”

I turned to glare at him so quickly that my neck tweaked, but he didn’t back down. He just quirked an eyebrow at me.

I shook my head vehemently. “Where else is she supposed to go?” My voice was more animal than man, and it took a moment before the vibration of my shift calmed from my muscles, and I could take a deep breath. “Her mother is sick, and her friend has other responsibilities,” I finally said, managing to keepmy voice even. “This is the best place for her.” I let out a humorless chuckle. “Besides, Oliver owes her the world’s biggest motherfucking grovel for being such an asshole.”

Another pause as Emmett nodded, then said quietly, “He feels bad, you know.”

I snorted, irritation flooding me at the thought of my Prime Alpha. “I’m sure he does.”

Emmett shook his head. “No, Kill. Really. I went and found him when I got home, and...he’s really messed up.” He swallowed. “He thinks that Jack would be disappointed in him. He thinks that he’s fucked this up irreparably for all of us.”

Caustic words hovered on the tip of my tongue, but instead of speaking them, I looked down at my hand and carefully curled it into a fist before relaxing. The motion didn’t open the wounds from Lilah’s bite, which was a good sign; it was already starting to heal.

When I felt like I had control of myself and wouldn’t say something I would ultimately regret, I finally spoke. “I...don’t think that’s true,” I muttered. “But he did fuck up.”

“He did,” Emmett immediately agreed.

The two of us just sat there for several long minutes, looking at Lilah. I could feel myself spiraling a little, energy buzzing through me and trying to make me stand and pace. I wanted to shift and snuggle up to my omega so she knew she wasn’t alone.

I didn’t think she would be receptive to that right now, but that was okay. I could wait.

I would wait as long as I needed to in order to be there for Lilah when she was finally ready to face us again.

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