Page 87 of Knot Like Other Girls

"One of us," I manage. "One stays. The rest go."

Roman nods tightly, his jaw working as he struggles to maintain his alpha composure. "I'll stay," he says, the words clipped and strained. "The rest of you, out. Now."

Liam growls, low in his throat. "Like hell. Of course you would choose?—"

"That's an order," Roman snaps, and alpha authority rings in his voice, silencing Liam mid-sentence. "I'm still the pack leader. And I'm telling you to go."

For a moment, no one moves. Then Savva straightens, his usual graceful movement stilted by the effort it takes. "Roman is right," he says, his accent thicker than usual. "We can't all stay. It's not safe. We'll turn on each other."

Troy nods, already backing toward the door. "I'll be right outside," he says, his voice rough, too. "If anything happens?—"

"Nothing's going to happen," Roman cuts him off. "I'm just going to make sure she's safe until the suppressants kick in. That's all."

He doesn't sound convinced.

None of us are.

But what choice do we have?

I force myself to take another step back, then another. Each one feels like tearing off a piece of my own skin, the alpha in me howling in protest at leaving our omega.

Our omega.

I need to stop thinking like that. She's not ours. Not mine. Even if the universe has decided otherwise.

The universe doesn't know shit about what's best for Bella. If it did, it wouldn't have stuck her with a pack of broken ex-soldiers, one of whom looks like he crawled out of a fucking horror movie.

I back into the hallway, nearly colliding with Troy. He steadies me with a hand on my shoulder, and I have to fight the urge to snarl at the contact. Every nerve ending is raw, my temper a living thing clawing at my insides.

"Wait. Cole..."

Her voice stops me dead, my hand frozen on the doorframe. I don't turn around, can't turn around. If I look at her now, with that sweet caramel coffee scent filling every corner of the room, I'll be lost.

"Please stay. Not Roman. You."

The words don't make sense at first. They're just random sounds, jumbled together in a fever dream. Because there's no fucking way Bella just asked for me over Roman. Over any of the others.

"What?" The word comes out like gravel, scraped raw from my throat.

"I want you to stay." Her voice is soft but steady, even through the heat. "Please."

I risk a glance over my shoulder and immediately regret it. She's sitting up on the bed now, those green eyes locked on me with an intensity that pins me in place. Sweat gleams on herforehead, her cheeks flushed pink. Beautiful and vulnerable and everything I don't deserve to touch.

Roman's standing beside the bed, his expression caught between confusion and jealousy. "Bella, are you sure? Cole isn't..." He trails off, but I hear the unspoken words anyway.

Cole isn't stable.

Cole isn't safe.

Cole is fucking broken.

But Bella just nods, her eyes never leaving mine. "I'm sure."

The silence stretches, thick and heavy. I can feel the others watching me, waiting for my response.

"Okay," Roman says finally, wariness still bleeding into his voice. "If that's what you want."

He backs toward the door and the others follow, Troy throwing me one last concerned glance before slipping out. The door clicks shut behind them, and suddenly it's just me and Bella in a room that feels too small and too big all at once.

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