Page 106 of Knot Happening

I'm still processing these thoughts when I hear the sound of multiple cars in the parking lot outside my building. They're here. My alphas are here, and in a few minutes, everything will change forever.

The knowledge sends another surge of heat through my body, stronger this time, making me whimper softly with need. I can smell them now, even through the closed windows and the distance of two floors. Their scents are sharp with anxiety and protective urgency, and underneath it all, the unmistakable musk of alphas responding to their omega's call.

When they knock on my door, I’m already on my feet, padding barefoot across the apartment in the oversized t-shirt and shorts I'd slept in. The simple movement sends waves ofsensation through my oversensitive body, and I have to pause with my hand on the doorknob to catch my breath.

"Belle?" Theo's voice comes through the door, quiet and controlled but edged with concern. "We're here. Can you let us in?"

I open the door to find all three of them standing in my hallway, still wearing yesterday's clothes like they'd thrown them on without thought and rushed over immediately. The sight of them makes my heart clench with affection even as my body responds to their presence with another surge of heat.

"How are you feeling?" Felix asks immediately, his eyes scanning my face with the attention to detail I've come to associate with his architectural mind.

"Hot," I tell them honestly. "Needy. Scared. Ready."

Marcus steps closer, and I can see him scenting the air around me, his pupils dilating as he processes the pheromones I'm apparently broadcasting. "Belle, your heat is stronger than last time."

"Because I'm not fighting it," I say simply. "Because I want this. Because I want you."

The admission hangs in the air between us, more honest than I've ever been about my desires, and I can see the effect it has on all three of them. Their scents spike with want and possession and something deeper that might be love.

"Are you sure?" Theo asks quietly. "Belle, once we do this, once we bond properly, there's no going back. You'll be ours, and we'll be yours, in every way that matters."

"I know," I tell him. "I've known since that night you found me in the library. Maybe I wasn't ready to admit it then, but some part of me recognized you. All of you. You're my pack, and I want to make it official."

Felix reaches out to cup my cheek, his touch gentle despite the tension radiating from his body. "What do you need from us?"

"Everything," I whisper. "I need you to take care of me, to claim me, to make me yours. I need you to help me through this heat and then never let me go."

The words are barely out of my mouth before Marcus is moving, sweeping me up in his arms and carrying me toward the nest I've created in the corner of my living room. The sudden contact with his body, warm and solid and smelling like home, makes me moan softly with relief.

"Easy, sweetheart," he murmurs against my hair. "We've got you. We're going to take such good care of you."

He settles me carefully in the center of my nest, and immediately I'm surrounded by their scents, stronger now that they're close. Felix and Theo arrange themselves on either side of the nest, close enough to touch but giving Marcus space to take the lead.

"Marcus first?" I ask, looking between them. Some instinct I can't name is telling me that this is how it should be when Theo found me at the library, and showed me his passionate commitment to building something meaningful.

"Unless you want it differently," Marcus says, his voice rough with carefully controlled want. "Belle, this is your choice. Everything that happens here is your choice."

"You first," I confirm, reaching for him. "Then Felix, then Theo. I want all of you, but I want to bond with each of you individually too. I want to understand what each connection feels like."

Marcus's eyes darken at my words, and he moves closer, settling beside me in the nest.

Marcus hand is against my cheek, and it sends electricity shooting through my entire nervous system. Marcus's touch is warm and sure, his palm rough with calluses from construction work, and the contrast against my fevered skin makes me shiver.

"God, Belle," he breathes, his thumb stroking across my cheekbone. "You're burning up. Your skin is so hot."

"Then help me," I whisper, leaning into his touch. "Please, Marcus. I need you to touch me."

His other hand finds my waist, fingers splaying across my ribs through the thin fabric of my t-shirt. Even that simple contact makes me gasp, my body so sensitive that every touch feels magnified.

"Tell me what you want," he says, his voice rough with restraint. "Belle, I need to hear you say it."

"I want you to touch me everywhere," I breathe, my hands fisting in his shirt. "I want to feel your hands on my skin. I want you to make me yours."

That's all the permission he needs. Marcus's mouth finds mine in a kiss that starts gentle but quickly becomes desperate. His lips are firm and demanding, his tongue sliding against mine in a rhythm that makes heat pool low in my belly. I can taste coffee and determination on his lips, can smell the way his scent is shifting toward something darker and more possessive.

When we break apart, both breathing hard, his eyes are almost black with desire.

"I've wanted this for so long," he confesses, his hands beginning to roam over my body with increasing urgency. "Everynight since I met you, I've imagined what it would be like to touch you, to claim you, to make you mine."

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