Page 79 of Knot Only His

He shakes his head. “No. Tell me. She is going to fucking die. Now tell me what you did to her. I know you had a particular perfume made up for her to wear. I know you insisted she stayed with Colton when they nearly broke up after the accident. You wanted her with him because he never awakened her omega genes. But I did…”

He wipes a tear from his eye. “Please. Let her be who she is meant to be.” Seconds later, he sucks back a breath and says, “Thank you.”

The phone slips from his grip, clattering on the floor. When his knees buckle, I rush forward, catching him before he hits the ground.

He turns to me, tears streaming down his face. “She’s an omega,” he chokes out. “She has an implant in her nipple. Under the nipple bar.”

“That’s fucking illegal,” I tell him.

“I know. But we can’t tell the doctors her mother had it put there. She told me she had her reasons.”

I burst back into the room with Carver on my heels. “She has an implant that tells her body she is an alpha,” I tell Dr. Samuels. “It is under her nipple piercing.”

Dr. Samuels’ eyes go wide. “Are you certain?”

“Yes,” Carver says. “Left side.”

Everything moves fast after that. Harlow is wheeled away to surgery, leaving us in the empty room.

I lean against the window, watching the sunrise paint streaks of pink across the LA skyline.

The antiseptic hospital smell burns my nose, but underneath it lingers the traces of Harlow’s distressed scent.

“Her grandmother was taken when she was sixteen,” Carver’s voice breaks the silence. He sits slumped in a chair, his head in his hands. “Some alpha packs thought they had the right. And Vivian, Harlow’s mother was the result.”

Oliver curses under his breath. Asher’s fingers clench around his coffee cup.

“Vivian helped develop the implant technology to protect her daughters and others,” Carver continues. “She couldn’t bear the thought of history repeating itself.”

“But suppressing Harlow’s true designation nearly killed her,” Asher says.

“I get it. She thought she was keeping her safe.” I run a hand through my hair. “Fear makes people do desperate things.”

“Still, the authorities will want answers,” Oliver warns. “That kind of tech is illegal for a reason.”

I catch Carver’s eye. Despite everything, I see the same protective instinct in him that I feel. “We have to keep Vivian out of it.”

“Vivian is prepared to own up to it.” Carver’s phone starts ringing, he answers, “Hello.”

I stare at Carver as he talks. I still hate that Harlow called for him.

That she wants him.

But does that mean she doesn’t want our pack?

He disconnects and sighs. “That was Bardot, Harlow’s sister. She wants her mother kept out of it. She wants us to blame their dead grandmother.”

I blow out a breath as I shake my head in surprise.

“That works,” Asher says, his voice stiff. “No mother should face charges for trying to protect her child.”

“Thank you,” Carver’s voice cracks. “I know I’ve been...difficult. But Harlow—”

“Is our pack omega,” Oliver finishes. “Whether you like it or not, we all feel it.”

Carver growls under his breath.

“Maybe that’s why you decided to come to the LA Raiders, Carver. Maybe you were seeking your pack too,” I tell him, testing his reaction.

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