Page 43 of The Knotty Omega

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“So let me get this straight,” Grady looks at us from behind his desk, wiping his glasses with cloth. “You scheduled a date with a pack, showed up, and it turned out to be Archie’s pack? And you guys are a scent match? Not just scent sympathetic?”

I bite my lip and nod. “Yes, sir. We have't discussed bonding yet but if you need me to have the OMS send over records of our scent compatibility, I completely understand —”

“No, no, that won’t be necessary,” he gives a tired sigh, sitting back in his chair, “I have to say, Cady, I really expected you to give me some trouble over this. But finding a true scent match? Not many packs can boast that. I’m happy for you, kid.” He looks at Archie and smiles. “For both of you.”

A sigh of relief escapes me and I grip Archie’s hand tightly. I really thought he might think I’m faking the whole thing. This time last week, I was so desperate that I wouldn’t have put it past me.

“Thank you, Grady, we appreciate it.”

“I hope this goes without saying, Cady, but you can consider our deal done and fulfilled, considering there's no way someone can walk away from their scent matched pack.”

Archie, who had only served as moral support thus far, speaks up. “Yeah, not like we’d let her walk away at this point anyway.”

Grady snorts and shakes his head. “About the OMS article though...I still think you should write it, even though it all wrapped up fairly quickly."

"I completely agree," I tell him quickly. I've already started.

He brushes us off and we both stand, before I turn back to him. “Oh, um Grady?”

“Yes?” He looks up at me expectantly. While I don’t know if the attack on my apartment really had anything to do with my work as the Knotty Omega, he should know, just in case.

“On Saturday, my apartment was broken into and vandalized. They wrote ‘pack-wrecking bitch’ on my mirror. I haven’t done anything lately that could be considered pack-wrecking…unless someone knows that I’m the Knotty Omega.”

Grady’s face turns hard. “Did you call the police?”

Archie chimes in. “Yes, and one of our alphas owns Lone Star Security, so he’s handling the investigative aspect of it.”

Grady nods, his expressions still shut off. “Good. Let me know if anything changes.”

We thank him again and head out of the office. As soon as we shut the door behind us, the scent of angry beta reaches my nose and I turn to find Laura staring at where our hands are joined, and she looks like she’sseething.

“Oh, give me a break,” she hisses, rolling her eyes. “You won’t get away with this, Cady. Do you really think we’re all that stupid?”

“What the hell are you talking about, Laura?” Archie snaps, moving slightly in front of me in a protective way.

“You don’t think it’s just a little convenient that the beta who’s been lovesick over a ‘taken’ omega is part of a pack that’s ‘scent matched’ to her?”

Damn, those are some aggressive finger quotes.

“Take it up with Grady, if you have an issue with it.” I snark, pushing past her and pulling Archie behind me. “Who I mate with is nobody’s business, least of all yours.”

We’re almost out of earshot when she calls after me, “You should really be more careful. Your column makes a lot of alphas angry, and one day you’re going to piss off the wrong pack!”

We hurry out of there, hand in hand before exchanging a look.

Was Laura somehow involved in the break-in at my apartment? “We’ll tell Titus what she said later,” he says quietly before pressing a kiss to my hair.

***

Dear Knotty Omega,

My pack and I are courting an omega. Well, sort of. The issue is, she’s only looking for a pack to help her through her heat, but somewhere along the way we fell for her. Hard. How do we tell if she feels the same way? What if we tell her our true feelings and she walks away?

Help!

An Alpha with Big Feelings

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