Page 86 of Knot Like Other Girls

All of them.

CHAPTER 26

COLE

I'm gonna lose my fucking mind.

Every instinct in my body is screaming at me to cross the room, to sweep Bella into my arms, to bury my face in her neck and breathe in that caramel coffee scent that's been driving me insane since the moment we met.

But I can't move. Won't move. My back is pressed so hard against the doorframe I can feel the wood digging into my spine through my jacket.

It's the only thing keeping me grounded.

The only thing stopping me from doing something I'll regret.

The others are no better off. They all look like they're about to snap in half from the tension. Even Savva, who moves like a panther, is rigid. All of us, every alpha in the Vanguard Pack, brought to our knees by a single omega's scent.

Not just any omega. Our omega.

Our scent match.

The term echoes in my head, mocking me. Scent match. Like the universe has some sick fucking sense of humor, binding me—this scarred, broken shell of a man—to someone as bright and whole as Bella.

I'd laugh if I wasn't fighting the urge to snarl.

Bella whimpers from the bed, curling tighter around herself as another wave of heat hits her. The sound cuts through me like a blade, my alpha instincts roaring to soothe, to protect, to claim.

I take a step back, nearly stumbling into the hallway. Need to get away. Need to put distance between us before I do something unforgivable.

But my feet won't move. Won't carry me any further than the doorway. It's like there's an invisible tether binding me to this room, to her. Every cell in my body rebels at the thought of leaving her when she's vulnerable.

When she needs me.

Needs us.

Probably the only fucking reason she tolerates me. Because I'm her scent match, and on a biological level, her omega heart understands that. If she could see me clearly, without rose-colored glasses, she'd run screaming. Just like everyone else.

The memory hits me like a punch to the gut. My fiancée. My omega. The woman who swore she'd love me forever, only to look at my ruined face with horror in her eyes when she finally saw me.

"I can't," she'd whispered, backing away from my hospital bed. "I'm sorry, Cole. I just... I can't."

And that was it. Years together, a future planned, all of it gone in an instant because half my face and body were burned and irreparably scarred in an explosion that should have killed me.

Sometimes I wish it had.

The thought slips in before I can stop it, bitter and familiar. I push it away, focusing instead on the present danger. On Bella, writhing on the bed in the grip of a heat she wasn't prepared for. On the four other alphas in the room, all fighting the same battle I am.

A battle we're all going to lose if something doesn't change soon.

"We need to get out," I rasp, forcing the words past the growl building in my throat. My voice sounds like it's been dragged over gravel, rough and raw. "All of us."

Troy shakes his head, a jerky movement. "Can't leave her alone. Not like this. And we can't leave the penthouse with a threat still out there."

He's right. Fuck, I know he's right. But my control is slipping by the second, and I'm not the only one. The air is thick with pheromones. Bella's sweet heat scent mingling with the rum-like scent of alpha arousal from five different sources.

It's a powderkeg waiting for a spark.

And I've seen what happens when things explode.

---