Page 4 of The Knotty Omega

“Shit, is shehere?” Oliver asks, bounding into the room. His short blonde hair is pushed back, the colorful tattoos on his arms and the side of his neck on display with the muscle tank top he’s wearing. With the large gauges in his ears, he looks intimidating if you don’t know him. If you do, you know he’s as harmless as a puppy.

As eager as one too.

Mattie raises his eyebrows in a look that screamsI told you so. From the first time I came home after work after CJ accidentally knocked into me while carrying a stack of papers a mile high, they’ve been obsessed. I had felt a little guilty about the secret crush I harbored for her the first few months of her employment, despite Mattie telling me he didn’t mind.

Then they scented her, and Ihadbeen thinking they’re only scent sympathetic...but if Ollie is able to pick it up from the other room, I’m inclined to think it’s something…more.

Hell, even my beta nose can pick up just how special she is.

“No,” Mattie glances at Ollie, who’s searching the room like he might find CJ hiding under the cupboards. “Archie brought home a…souvenir.”

“Score!” Ollie nearly shouts, popping up next to us and plucking the pen from my hand before ruffling my hair and heading out of the kitchen. “Thanks, you little klepto.” He lifts the pen to his nose and takes a deep inhale. “Oh, fuck,” he groans, “it’s like a orange creamsicle I want to lickall over.”

“Hey!” I try to go after him, “That’s—”

“Mine.” He turns and shrugs. “You have plenty of your own already, and you can get more any time you want.”

“She’s going to notice if all her pens go missing!” I call out after him as he disappears around the corner, cackling.

“Let me know if you upgrade to stealing sticky notes. We need some more!!” He shoots back.

I’ll show him. I’ll bring home a shit-load of sticky notes, and I won’t share asingleone with him.

“Cucciolo…” Mattie warns, backing me up against the table. “If you keep bringing her scent in here, you’re going to need to fix the problems you cause.” I don’t need to look at the raging erection tenting his pants to know what he’s referring to.

I give him a cheeky grin, smoothing my hands over the front of his suit jacket, loving how the black pocket square he has makes him look even more put together. “Do you think that will be a deterrent for me?” That earns a low rumble from him as he takes my mouth in a searing kiss. “But,” I place a finger against his plush lips. “I need to talk to you about something. Something having to do with CJ and her alpha.”

Mattie’s brows knit together as he takes a step back. “Oh? What’s wrong?”

“Her alpha…” I rub the back of my neck. “I don’t know if he’s a good guy or not.”

A growl rumbles through his chest, so protective of the omega he’s never even met. “Is he hurting her?”

“I don’t think so...I just get the feeling that she’s not being very well taken care of. Her omega side, that is.”

“What do you need me to do?” He asks, peering at me. He’s not being ornery, he genuinely wants to know what the plan of action should be. If he meets her, it might break him if she doesn’t want us. But seeing the sad, lonely look in her eyes tonight makes me think that maybe, if we can get her Alpha to want in on our pack…

“I’ll handle getting them here. I just need you to have a word with him. Feel him out. See if he really cares about her or not.” It wouldn't be the first time an alpha bonded someone despite the consequences. My pack isn't like that, but I'm not so naive as to think there aren't any like that.

“And if he doesn’t?” He raises a brow. “What then? It’s not like they can break the bond.”

I shrug. “That sounds like a pack discussion.”

“Hm.” He purses his lips, thinking about the situation. It’s a tough one. It’s obvious she’s scent sympathetic to us, if not a true, full on scent match. It’s a delicate situation, one that I don’t want to just come out and say to her, but if her alpha is on board? If she realizes we’re her scent match, and that her alpha is on board, there’s nothing to stand between us. “You want to see if he’s amenable to joining the pack?”

“Wantis a strong word,” my brow wrinkles at the thought of the alpha Cady had described moving into our pack house, “but itisa necessity. If we want her, he’s a part of the deal.” According to her, he’s ornery, reclusive, a bit of an asshole, and demanding of her attention. What kind of guy hates pools? How did she even end up bonded to an alpha like that? How will he handle sharing her attention with five other pack mates?

“We’ll talk to him first, and if he seems like he’d be open to it, we’ll talk to the rest of the pack.” Mattie nods, pulling me into his embrace.

My nose tucks into his neck, deeply inhaling his bourbon and caramel musk. Shit, he smells so good. It makes me wish ABO Magazine didn’t have that high-tech scent vacuum we have to walk through everyday that removes outside scents. There are so many bonded betas and omegas working for the magazine, the floor would be a haze of pheromones if everyone came into work bathed in their mates' signatures.

It would also be beneficial if Cady could scent my alphas on me. It would actually erase this entire issue if we met up with me coated in their scents. I'm only intimate with Mattie, but I'm sure I could talk the other guys into scent marking me. Well, Ollie. Maybe Simon.

Shaking my head, I pull away and take out my phone, opening the food delivery app. It’s not going to do any good to linger on what I wish could happen. “Are Titus and Simon home? I’m going to order dinner.”

“Simon’s picked up an extra shift at the clinic.” Mattie winces. “And Titus…well, you know how Titus has been.”

My mouth sets in a line. Ever since I came home last month with her scent on me, he’s been shutting himself in his office for hours on end or working extra long hours at his private security firm. The scent had awakened something in him.

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