Page 22 of Knot Our Omega

I helped Rumor into the truck. She didn’t even stop long enough to greet her mates. That’s how shaken up she was. The guys were already there, having just finished loading the coop supplies.

“We need to go back for the quail,” I said. “Vargas, stay with her.”

I didn’t say why, but he agreed without question. His wolf was so close to the surface, I could see him in his eyes. It was best he wasn’t around people other than pack right now.

Wilder and I worked our way back, and, as we passed Reyna, she snarled at us and said, “If you try and return her, we aren’t giving you shit back. We wouldn’t even take her back. She’s dead to us.”

I growled.

I fucking growled.

I didn’t care who heard me—human or not. She stumbled back. Good. Fuck her.

Wilder and I grabbed the quail and rushed back to our mate. We both agreed, her seeing Reyna again was not a good idea.

On the way home, Rumor was quiet. Silent, even. We didn’t push.

But something changed when we arrived on our pack lands. As if I could feel her relaxing.

“I didn’t think she could hurt me anymore,” she mumbled.

“She’s always going to…”

Chapter Fourteen

Rumor

I hadn’t expected to see Reyna again. Ever.

I preferred it that way.

But when I heard her voice, my blood ran cold. She was there at the same farmer’s market as me.

Why?

It wasn’t the type of place she tended to go. It wasn’t fancy enough; it was too dirty, too beneath her. There was absolutely no reason for her to be there. Was it to find me?

Probably not. She didn’t have a reason to hunt me down, right? She didn’t even try to talk to me. It had to be a crappy coincidence.

And really, I didn’t care what her reason for being there was. It didn’t matter. I wasn’t going back to that market. I couldn’t risk it. Not again.

I only got a glimpse of her. I don’t know why I assumed she was going to be pregnant already, but it caught me off guard to see her there, looking no different than always.

Why the fuck was I thinking about that? Or her at all. She had nothing to do with me anymore. And I couldn’t let her in my head like that. Couldn’t let her take up space, rent free.

I deserved better. I deserved my mates. My pack.

There were still times when I still felt unworthy of all this. But if the Goddess had sent them to me, didn’t that, by default, make me the only person who was worthy?

When we got home, the guys worked on the new coop for the quail chicks, and I went about the very important task of naming them all.

From a quick glance, they all looked the same—but they were each just different enough that I could pick them out.

“I think this one I should call Wilder,” I said, holding up the adorable cuteness.

He turned and looked at me like I was ridiculous.

“See, right here? There’s a speck that’s the same color as your hair.”

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