Page 43 of Break Me Knot

“Can you please tell me what you’d like me to do?” I duck my head, only looking up when there’s no answer.

“What do you mean, Little One?” Adrian asks.

Gods, he’s going to make me spell it out. “Now that my heat is over, can you explain your expectations of me?”

They could ask anything of me, and it would be their right. Even if I didn’t want to do what they request, they could bark an order, and I’d have no choice but to obey. They could make me kneel on the cold marble all day on my knees and service them if they wanted. They could steal my choice with a simple order. Omega biology is that fucked.

“I…I’m happy to cook. Clean. Obviously. There’s no need to get another employee from Stacey. I’ll clean your offices. And this apartment. I can do it all. You won’t have to lift a finger. I promise,” I say.

Without rules, without expectations, I can’t protect myself. I can’t avoid punishment if I don’t understand their parameters.

The three alphas exchange looks I can't interpret, silent communication that makes my anxiety spike higher with each passing second. Their scents shift with emotions I can't read, and my hands clench in my lap, waiting to learn what price I'll have to pay for the kindness they've shown me. Because one thing I’ve learned is that nothing is for free. Maybe I’ve already outstayed my welcome after my breakdown last night. No alpha wants an omega who is hard work.

I stand from the chair. “I’ve already taken too much of your time. I’ll get out of your hair.”I’m going to leave anyway. Might as well make it sooner rather than later.

Something crosses Adrian's face, an emotion I can't define, but that makes me tense even more. My muscles coil, ready for whatever will come next. Instead, hisvoice emerges soft, measured, filled with something that sounds dangerously like sincerity.

“You're wanted here, Mira. Very much so. If our actions aren’t clear, then let my words be clear,” he says, the tone careful and deliberate, as if making sure I fully understand. “You never have to leave unless you choose to. We want you to stay. Not just for a little while.” His hazel eyes hold mine, willing me to believe him. “We want you to stay forever.”

The words are beautiful. Perfect even. The air leaves my lungs in a rush, and for a moment, I forget how to breathe. Stay?

Forever?

The first thought that slams into my skull is ‘what for’? Why would they want that? They’ve already had a heat out of me. What reason would they want me to hang around longer?

Unless…my thoughts drift down a darker path, but… there was no need for Adrian to hold me after bathing me. Not so tenderly, making sure I was comfortable. No need for Zane to tell me their story. So gently, making sure I understood there’s more to Cole’s distance than dislike. No need to let me sleep in a bed with the softness of clouds. Or to offer me breakfast, for that matter. Or to be kind. Gentle. Patient.

No. It’s clear they don’t want to bond me to them.At least not in this moment,but I still don’t understand why they’d wantforever.

Well…not all of them do.

My eyes drift involuntarily to Cole's back. His muscles are tight under his shirt, his movements precise and strained. He's made his feelings about me clear. Adrian can't speak for all of them; can't force his pack brother to want an omega when he clearly doesn't.

Cole's hands still over the pan. His scent spikes with distress, and with something that smells almost like longing before quickly suppressed. I’m not sure why I can read so much in his scent, but Adrian speaks and I slide myattention to him.

“Cole very much wants you,” Adrian says firmly, addressing both of us. “He just needs time to work through some things. To clear his head.” There's a weight to his words, a history I don't understand. The air grows thick with unspoken pain.

“Cole?” Adrian's voice carries authority now.

Cole turns, plating up scrambled eggs, like he's using the simple task to hold himself together. He sets it next to perfectly crispy bacon and golden toast, a breakfast that speaks of care despite his apparent rejection of me.

“I’ll be in the gym.” His dark eyes meet mine for just a moment, and the pain there slices through me before he stalks from the kitchen.

The plate of perfectly prepared food sits between us like an offering, an apology, or a goodbye. I don't understand how his pain can make my chest ache.

Zane's arm settles around my shoulders, warm and steady. “Cole will come around. Give him time.”

I don’t want him to come around. He shouldn’t have to. I’m the intruder here. The person taking up space that isn’t mine. It would be safer for all of us if he stayed away. One less alpha to distrust. Yet the image of his pain-filled eyes makes something in my chest twist.

I press my fingers against my eyes, trying to ease the building pressure in my throbbing head. Nothing makes sense… not these alphas, not my reactions to them. The tug of war inside me is real and exhausting. As soon as I decide I want something, they turn it around in a matter of seconds. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m omega, or if this heat took so much out of me, I’m not seeing straight.

Maybe I’m too broken to understand anything.

I had no trouble hating Hugo and Lars, though. I never wavered with them. I always wanted to be out from under their radar. These alphas should be no different.

“Please eat,” Adrian says. It's a request, not an order, though he could so easily command me. He's a prime alpha—it’s in his presence, in his natural authority, in the way his scent makes my omega want to submit—yet he consistently chooses not to use that power over me.

I stare at the plate of creamy eggs. Haven nutrition lectures rise in my mind:“A well-maintained omega is a valuable omega, able to service her alpha at all times.”

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