Page 32 of Fated or Knot

“Sorry,” I murmured.

He took hold of my chin, forcing me to meet his gaze. “You have nothing to hide, li’l omega. Not from your mates.”

“It’s a little early to call me a mate, isn’t it?” I protested, though it didn’t have much teeth. Not while he was touching me, even this little bit.

His fingers drifted down my jaw, and this time, as his fingertips drifted, he let me lean into it. He cupped my face, his thumb caressing my cheekbone ever so gently. Stars, even something so basic had me fit to melt.

I wished I could read his thoughts better, as his striking eyes remained unreadable, though they seemed to soften. “Perhaps, but look how you respond to my touch. When you’re in the pack bond… Shall I clue you in to a secret?” His lips took on a conspiratorial slant at the abrupt change of subject. “Hmm. Maybe after I take you to the next store. I paid one of the attendants to do some minor shopping for us, by the way. There’s a place I have to take you to before we return to the inn.”

“Oh, youhaveto,” I echoed curiously.

He returned to spritzing off the prices of my new clothes. “See, that’s the kind of reaction I want to hear. Don’t hold yourself back so much.”

“I’ll try,” I promised. Though that also didn’t have much teeth. We were going to be traveling in an enclosed space with my stepmother. Candid moments would be dangerous.

He offered me a hand up and let me out of the store, passing the perfume bottle back to an attendant on our way out. “We will have the items delivered as soon as possible, sir,” she said.

He nodded and turned a sparkling gaze my way. “The store isn’t far. This way.”

We entered a thinning crowd, with him slowing to stay by my side. I wondered what kind of store it had to be for him to seem excited. We were heading away from the pawn shop, toward a section of the market I hadn’t visited yet. It wasn’t too long before he tapped me on the shoulder and pointed. “Have you been to an omega store before?”

We were coming up on a shopfront with a hanging sign that was just the horseshoe-like omega symbol. “Um, no,” I admitted.

“Hmm. Osme Fen just keeps getting smaller in my estimations,” he remarked, getting the door for me.

“It is very…” I drifted off as I took a look around. My eyes quickly widened when I realized most, if not all, of the items on display were for nest building. Mattresses, pillows, blankets, and more.

“Go ahead. We have time,” Kauz said, nudging me in encouragement.

Next thing I knew, I was face down on a display mattress, vividly imagining taking a nap on it. It had just the right amount of give without engulfing my body, and its outer fabric was thick enough that no quills poked up from the feathers within. Would Kauz buy it for me?

How will you get it onto a train?a more reasonable part of me asked. There probably wasn’t space to haul an entire mattress on board.

Though my body had decided to weigh a hundred extra pounds in my reluctance to leave the mattress, I turned my head looking for Kauz. He’d intercepted an attendant, the two of them talking over a basket the prince held.

I stood before I could really fall asleep and decided to leave the mattresses alone, just in case I encountered an even nicer one. I went to the pillows and bedding section, losing myself to feeling each and every display item. My inner omega was going crazy, wanting to arrange everything anew as the logical lines and stacks didn’t fit her style.

Kauz interrupted the process by resting his hand on my shoulder. “Do you have a favorite fabric?” he asked.

I tilted my head up at him. Hadn’t he asked me this before? But wait…when? We’d just gotten to the omega store.

“Lavir spidersilk,” I answered uncertainly, itching all over with the sensation of déjà vu.

He rifled through the blankets with a hum, producing a folded bundle that was exceptionally thick. “Try this one,” he suggested.

I took it and squished it against my chest, my fingers roaming over the material. Stars, it was so nice. I’d felt it before…last night…

I looked up at Kauz, who was waiting with a kind of knowing expression as hazy memories clicked into place. “You were in my dream,” I practically accused before sucking in a breath. I couldn’t talk like that to a prince. “Sorry, I mean, I had this dream and…”

“You can trust your new pack to free you of anything that would get between you and us.”

Ah, stars. I remembered a quarter of last night’s dream, if not less. But that’d been Kauz and his calm presence at the end of it, not Tormund.

“Let us take you to Serian, li’l omega.”

I was struck breathless by the implications. Had he somehow talked me into trusting him and his brothers subconsciously? If it was Unseelie trickery, I didn’t know what to do.

“Yes, that was me. I’ll tell you more later. We don’t talk about my powers in public,” he murmured. He unfolded the blanket and draped it over my shoulders, pillowing me in its softness. “By the way, this is fleece.”

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