Page 11 of Break Me Knot

No amount of double pay is worth this.

I push off the wall on shaky legs and walk into the next office. Dark amber and citrus zest fill my lungs before I can stop from inhaling, a bold, complex scent that reaches past all my defenses just like the first one. The amber is deep and rich, like honey aged in oak, speaking of warmth and protection, while the citrus adds a bright, sharp note that makes my head spin. It's sophisticated yet playful, powerful but not overwhelming.

“No,” I whisper, but my body betrays me again. My eyes drift closed without permission, my throat working as I swallow. This scent is completely different from the leather and pine, yet it affects me just as strongly. It pulls at something deep inside me. Something I've denied exists at all.

This can't be happening. One alpha scent affecting me like this was terrifying enough, but two? The dark amber enfolds me, seeping into my pores. I press my hands against my face, trying to block out the scent, trying to understand what's happening to me. Is it the failing suppressants? The proximity to my heat? Or is there something about these particular alphas that bypass all my carefullyconstructed walls? Something that speaks to parts of me I've locked away so thoroughly I thought they were dead?

Either way, it's dangerous. So dangerous.

I clean what I have to clean and stumble into the last office, already shaking from the effects of the first two scents. My uniform is damp with sweat, and slick soaks through my underwear, making the rough fabric cling uncomfortably to my thighs. Just one more. One more and I can escape this nightmare and crawl back to my apartment to endure this heat I now know is inevitable, but when I cross the threshold, the scent of smoked cedar and spiced vanilla and prime alpha slams into me. The cedar speaks of ancient forests and protection, deep and rich like old-growth trees after a storm. The vanilla isn't sweet and simple. It's complex, spiced, warming, like vanilla beans aged in expensive bourbon. The combination is devastating, overwhelming.Perfect.

My body's reaction is immediate and violent. Every muscle seizes, my nerve endings firing like live wires under my skin. The cramp that tears through me is unlike anything I've ever felt. Not pain, not pleasure, but something that transcends both. My body is trying to turn itself inside out. Every cell is awakening and screaming for something I've denied. My vision tunnels, dark spots dancing at the edges as my consciousness tries to cope with the overwhelming sensory assault.

“Alpha,” escapes my lips in a broken whisper, the first time I've uttered that word without hatred. This time I’ve said it with hunger.

The vacuum pack slides from my shoulders as my knees give out. I try to catch myself on the doorframe, but my fingers are numb, unresponsive. My skin is on fire, every nerve ending raw and exposed. Slick flows between my thighs, my body preparing itself without my permission, responding to this alpha's scent like I was made for him. The world spins and I fall.

When consciousness returns, I'm lying in a pool of my own scent, sugared lilac and vetiver flooding the air around me. The sweet, delicate floral notes twist with the earthy, smoky depth of arousal in a way that is unmistakablefor an omega in heat. The scent that I've hidden fills the space completely, a beacon to any alpha within range.

Sweat soaks my uniform, plastering the cheap fabric to my overheated skin, and slick coats my thighs, making movement uncomfortable and messy. Dawn paints the city skyline in shades of pink and gold through the windows, and horror crashes through me. Hours. I've been unconscious for hoursand my scent is everywhere. Rich and ripe and advertising omega in heat. I stagger to my feet, using the wall for support.

Have to get out.

Have to get home.

Have to get to my nest, pathetic as it is, that thin mattress and scratchy blanket suddenly seeming like paradise compared to here. My vision swims in and out of focus as I stumble toward the foyer, toward escape. Each step sends another wave of pain through me.

That's when I see a shadow detach from near the bank of elevators, solidifying into the form of an alpha. Tall, powerful, radiating the authority that only prime alphas possess. His scent of smoked cedar and spiced vanilla hits me but it’s fresh, alive, so much more potent than the lingering traces in his office.

My body betrays me instantly. Violently. Slick gushes through the already wet fabric of my uniform. My omega recognizes something it wants—no,needs—even as my mind screams in denial. My knees buckle as another wave of heat crashes through me, drawing a whimper from my throat that I can't suppress. Everything in me wants to submit, to present, to beg this alpha to take away the mania under my skin.

The alpha roars, the sound reverberating through the empty space, through my bones, through every omega instinct I possess. Movement behind him draws my attention, two more figures emerging from the shadows. Their scents bloom in the air, leather and pine, dark amber and citrus. The three alphas whose scents have already torn down my defenses are now here in the flesh. Three pairs of eyes lock onto me, all showing the same raw hunger.

Survival instinct kicks in. I don't think, don't plan; I just move. Away from the alphas, away from their devastating scents, away from everything my body is screaming for. My feet slip on the polished floor, leaving traces of my scent with every step away from them. The thunder of alpha footsteps, the collective growl of predators chasing prey follows me into the service corridor.

But I'm not prey. I won't be caught. I won't be claimed.

Even if every cell in my body is begging for exactly that.

Chapter Six

Zane

Adrian’s scent spikes. Alarm, recognition, and something deeper reverberates through our connection. He’s taken two steps into the foyer, just as we do every day, and stops short so fast I nearly ram into his broad back.

Then the most exquisite scent I've ever encountered hits me. Sugared lilac, sweet and delicate, like crystallized flower petals melting on the tongue. It twines perfectly with the earthy, smoky notes of vetiver, creating a complexity that squeezes my heart. Sweet liquid drips onto my tongue, the distinctive taste of bonding venom making my eyes widen in shock. The scent leaches into every surface, every corner of the space, and sends a message straight to my cock. The combination is intoxicating. The recognition is instant.

Perfect.

Omega.

Mine.

I peer around Adrian at the most beautiful creature I've ever seen. She's tiny, fragile, drowning in a cleaner's uniform that does nothing to hide how thin she is.Toothin. Long auburn hair falls in waves around a face that stops my heart—huge green eyes glazed with fever and fear, lips swollen and pink, cheeks flushed and shining.

Cole's scent explodes around us, too, sandalwood and rain blending with my own urgent citrus. Recognition hits all three of us: she'sours. The knowledge is not just instinct or biology. It's a fathomless understanding that we’ve just found a piece of ourselves we didn't realize was missing.

This can't be happening. Not here, not now, not in our offices at dawn on what should be a completely ordinary day. And yet her scent calls to us, confirming she’s the one being on this planet who will complete us.

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