Page 36 of Knot My Luck

Tadhg grabs my arm, holding me back. “Cathal, stop!”

Lorcan straightens, wincing. “I thought she was a beta. But I haven’t been able to get her out of my head. Then I saw her here, and we realised we’re scent matches. It triggered her heat.”

My chest heaves with fury. “Was Devlin the ‘something’ you had to take care of earlier?”

Lorcan’s silence is all the answer I need. I lunge at him again, but Tadhg tightens his grip on my arm, forcing me back.

“So you fucked her? My omega?”

Lorcan’s eyes flash. “Ouromega. And yes, because she was in pain. She needed me. And when I couldn’t be there, Tadhg was.”

Betrayal slices through me, and I turn on Tadhg, landing a punch to his gut. “You too? You had no right! You know what she means to me!”

He doubles over, gasping, then looks up, eyes fierce. “And what the fuck does that mean, Cathal? That you get to claim her now? After everything?”

I grit my teeth. “I never stopped wanting her.”

Tadhg lets out a humorless laugh, wiping blood from his lip where his teeth must have cut it. “Yeah? You sure as hell didn’t want her when you told her she wasn’t good enough. When you shoved her aside because she was a beta and didn’t fit into whatever picture-perfect alpha fantasy you had for yourself.”

His words hit like a gut punch, knocking the breath from my lungs.

“I—”

“No,” he cuts me off, stepping closer. “You don’t get to run after her like you’re the only one who matters in this. Not when you made her believe she’d never be enough for you.” His voice wavers, anger and something deeper bleeding through. “You broke her, Cathal. And now you think you can just take it back because fate decided she’s yours after all?”

My stomach twists. Then my brother adds the final nail in the coffin with his next words. “I love her too, Cathal. I always have.”

The weight of his words hangs between us, heavy and undeniable. The truth we both knew, but never dared to voice. Fuck. I’m not ready to be reasonable about this, not when my alpha is roaring at me to go after her and make her see she’s mine.

Lorcan shakes his head, voice tight. “She deserves better.”

The betrayal burns hotter now, because it’s not just about Devlin – it’s the fact that they’re right.

I thought…well, I thought when Tadhg found Lorcan, that would change things. We were a pack of convenience, and I assumed that whoever I ended up with would be mine and mine alone, because they already had each other. But Devlin? She was never meant to be theirs.

Before I can respond, Lorcan steps forward, his voice firm. “Enough. This isn’t about us. Devlin is out there, alone and in pain. We need to find her.”

His words pierce through the haze of my fury, bringing me back to the reality of the situation. Devlin is the priority. Whatever conflicts exist between us, they can wait.

I take a deep breath, forcing myself to focus. “You’re right. We need to find her.”

Without another word, we set off into the night, united by a common purpose: to find Devlin and make sure she’s safe.

The cold night air cuts through the heat of the reception as I step outside, my pulse thrumming with something I refuse to name. Not panic. Not desperation. Just the sharp, singular focus of an alpha tracking what’s his.

I follow the others as they scan the parking lot, their voices a distant murmur, but I already know where she’ll be.

When we were younger, whenever she got upset, Dev would steal her dad’s keys and hide in his car until she calmed down. She liked the feeling of being enclosed, of walls pressing in just enough to make her feel safe – but she needed the windows too. She needed to see. Needed the assurance that no one was closing her in.

Maybe it should have been obvious then that she’d present as an omega. Maybe I should have seen it. There were other signs too – things I missed, or worse, ignored. Too impatient. Too fucking reckless. I thought we had time. I thoughtshehad time.

I was wrong.

Some things never change. And neither has she.

My chest tightens as my gaze lands on her – tucked inside a car, her head bowed, her fingers locked around the steering wheel like she’s holding herself together by sheer force of will. The faint glow of the dashboard lights catches the glimmer of wetness on her cheeks.

She’s crying.

---