Page 32 of Knot My Luck

“Hmm? Tell you what?”

“That the guy from the bar and the club the night of your hen do, was the best man at your freaking wedding! I would never have gone home with him if I’d known…”

Nuala throws her head back and laughs. “I didn’t have a clue, babe. I only met the guy last week at the rehearsal dinner.” Her eyes gleam with sudden interest. “I thought he looked familiar, but I couldn’t place where I knew him from. Most of that night is a blurr. Why did we do so many shots? I swear I had a reaction to all the e-numbers in the lurid green liquor… Why? Is something going on between you two? I know next to nothing about him, I’m afraid, so I don’t have any dirt for you.”

Thankfully I’m saved from having to answer her because someone steps into my space.

“Care for a real dance?”

I blink up at the alpha in front of me – Podraig, one of the groomsmen. I remember him from school. He’s tall, blond, good-looking in an easy sort of way, but I barely register any of that past the scent of his interest, the possessive gleam in his eyes.

I force a polite smile. “I was just?—”

“Come on,” he grins, sliding a hand to my waist. “Just one dance.”

His touch ignites a visceral reaction in me. A warning, sharp and instinctive. I try to step back, but he doesn’t let go. My omegahateshaving another alpha’s hands on us, and I’m not too keen either.

A low growl rumbles behind me.

Everything stops.

Podraig’s grip falters just enough for me to yank free, and I barely have time to inhale before a presence looms behind me – heat and dominance wrapping around me like a snare.

“She’s taken.”

Tadhg’s voice is calm, but there’s no mistaking the threat beneath it.

I turn slowly, my pulse skittering. Lorcan stands beside him, dark-eyed and unreadable, but the tension rolling off him is undeniable.

Podraig hesitates, but then his lips curl. “I don’t see a mark.”

Lorcan shifts forward, the movement slow, controlled. “Do you see her wanting you either?”

Podraig scoffs. “She hasn’t said no.”

My stomach tightens. “I?—”

“You don’t speak for her,” Tadhg cuts in, voice low, dangerous.

Podraig’s jaw tenses, but he must see something in their stances that makes him think twice. He steps back, lifting his hands. “Didn’t realise she was off-limits.”

“She isn’t,” Lorcan corrects. “She just isn’tyours.” I really appreciate his distinction. He’s not trying to claim me like an object or a possession, but he’s sticking up for me and making sure this creep gets the message loud and clear without making a scene.

Podraig mutters something under his breath before disappearing into the crowd.

I let out a shaky exhale, only to realise I’m completely caged in, their bodies bracketing mine.

“Are you okay?” Lorcan’s gaze pins me, unreadable. “You ran.”

Tadhg’s fingers brush my wrist, his voice a quiet rasp. “Why?”

I swallow hard, my pulse hammering beneath my skin.

Because I’m terrified.

Because this has changed everything.

Because I don’t know if I can survive wanting them the way I do. Not when they’reCathal’s pack.

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