Page 16 of Break Me Knot

The apartment door bursts open, the crash echoing through the tiny space and ripping a scream from my raw throat. I forgot to lock the door behind me in my haste to get inside. Three massive alphas fill the doorway completely, backlit by the hallway's flickering fluorescent light.

The same alphas who saw me at Pinnacle.

How did they find me and…

Their scents slam into me, sinking into my skin and dissolving into my blood. My vision tunnels, the room spinning as their combined pheromones overwhelm my last defenses. I try to scramble away, but my body is working against an invisible tide and all I can do is flounder on the floor.

The tallest one moves toward me first, his movements careful as if he's approaching a wounded animal. Which, I suppose, I am. His hazel eyes lock onto mine with a ferocity that makes me want to submit and fight at the same time. His expensive suit is rumpled, tie missing, mid-brown hair disheveled as if he's been running his hands through it all day. Everything about him screams prime alpha, from his commanding presence to the way the other two naturally defer to him.

The huge blond with a warrior build and piercing blue eyes that see straight through me follows. His face is all sharp angles and concern, muscles straining against his dress shirt as he moves. Something about him makes my omega scream in desperate need, which terrifies me more than outright aggression. His scent of dark amber and citrus is a warm embrace I don't want.

But it's the third one who draws my attention the most. Dark hair shields his face, stubble darkening his jaw, and he’s holding himself apart from the others.He won't look directly at me, disgust evident in every line of his body. The leather and pine of his scent carries notes of distress and reluctance. I almost gasp at my luck. An alpha who can’t stand an omega’s scent. Who looks at me in disgust and not hunger.

“What are you doing here! Get the fuck out of my apartment.” I grunt as the next cramp folds me in half.

“Mira,” the prime alpha says. Ice shoots through my veins.How does he know my name?“We can help. You're in heat, in danger—”

“Get the fuck away from me! Who are you?” I push through the pain, trying to stand, but only succeed in crab-crawling into a corner.

The combined force of their scents makes my head spin. I try to breathe through my mouth, but their scents coat my tongue. I taste them.

Delicious.

Dangerous.

“I'm Adrian,” he continues, hands raised in a placating gesture that does nothing to hide his strength. “This is Zane, and Cole. They’re my bond brothers. We're not going to hurt you. We just want to keep you safe.”

“You can't stay here,” Zane, the blond, adds. That means the dark-haired alpha, the one in whom I cause disgust, is Cole. Zane’s deep voice is gentle despite his imposing size. “Your scent... it's getting stronger by the minute. Someone will notice.”

“Tell me something I don't know,” I snap, but they're right. Already my pheromones are filling the tiny space, making all three alphas' pupils dilate. I eye the front of their pants, seeing the massive erections they’re sporting. Even Cole, for all his revulsion, apparently can't help responding to an omega in heat. The sight makes my mouth water and recoil at the same time. At least they’re in as much pain as I am. That’s one consoling thought in all this mess.

“Someone will call Omega Services,” Zane presses. “You're unbonded, aren't you? Hiding?” His shrewd eyes take in my sparse apartment and all it means.

Fresh terror spikes through me and I stiffen against the wall. If only it would swallow me whole. I’d gladly go through whatever portal would open even if itwas straight to hell. Couldn't be any worse than my life now. “I’m not going back. Don’t take me there…”

I imagine the glee on Mercer's face if they served me up in heat, writhing in pain and pleading for any cock no matter whose. She’ll make a fortune out of my misfortune if they do. If it ever got out, the public would be shocked at how she really makes her money. Big hint… it’s not through the wage she pulls.

“It’s okay. If you don’t want to go, we won’t take you. We can protect you,” Adrian says.

I don’t stop my slightly hysterical laugh. “Says every alpha to an omega on the cusp of heat. Sorry if I’m not that naive. Now get out.” I point to the open door and ignore my shaking hand.

Adrian kneels next to me, and I press into the unyielding cupboard door. “We can give you a safe place for your heat.”

I scoff. “Sure you will. Lock me in a room with no windows and no exit. Give me all the knots I’ll scream for. No thanks. Now leave.”

Adrian presses his lips together as his eyes rake over my state. He’s got problems if he likes what he sees. “We won’t take you anywhere like that. I promise.”

“We have a safe place with more than one door. We also have windows.” Zane’s plush lips lift into the semblance of a smile.

“I’m in heat. Not stupid. It won’t matter how many doors are in that room after you claim me.” Everyone knows it’s impossible for a claimed and bonded omega to leave their alphas. It’s what makes omega biology so fucked. The universe opened up one day and thought how it could make life hell, and then they created alphas and omegas. The perfect bulldogs and their fuck toy to do with as they please. No thanks, Satan.

I tense when Adrian holds out his hand toward me. He clenches his fingers into a fist and puts it back on his thigh when I make no move to reach for him. His huge, thickly muscled thigh. Solid enough for me to sink my teeth into. I swallow. Hard.

“No claiming. Just safety,” he says.

And their cocks. His scent carries nothing but sincerity, but I learned long ago that alphas can lie with their pheromones as easily as their words. “And where is this room of safety you’re prepared to let me have?” I stifle the shudder that runs through me at the thought of writhing on the floor of another abandoned warehouse, hoping to hell no alphas scent me. I was lucky once. But twice? I’d be testing the limits of fate itself.

“We're not like that,” Adrian insists, but Cole flinches behind him, his hand going to his neck where I glimpse their pack bond mark and all my get-the-hell-out-of-here instincts ping.

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