Page 41 of Knot Letting Go

My heart thudded hard in my chest. “Was she scared? Last Friday Lorenzo said something to scare the shit out of her. If she knew—”

“No, that’s not it. She never saw the guy.” Evander continued to stare me down and turned his head to one side, giving it a small crack. “She’s in heat, isn’t she?” I leaned forward with my hands in fists ready to deck him if he said he even went near her. She was mine. He nodded. “Yeah, that’s what I figured, and you’re the Alpha who triggered it. I can tell. Don’t worry, bro. I love Callista, and no other Omega’s scent can entice me, but it’s still clear to me she’s in heat. So back the fuck off. You couldn’t take me on your best day.”

“Wanna try?” I didn’t know why I was pushing it or even why I wanted to fight with him, but I couldn’t stop myself.

He shook his head and didn’t budge an inch. “I made sure to keep as much distance between us today, but she’s been trying to hide it. She did good this morning, but after lunch, I could see the pain in her eyes and her scent was off the charts. You need to go take care of her, man. Callista would kick your ass if she knew you were letting her friend suffer.”

“I’m not letting her suffer.” I growled and turned to look up the stairs. “She’s just been avoiding me.” I knew she’d been in Konstantin’s room as I’d caught her scent in there yesterday, and strangely, that didn’t piss me off as much as thinking any other Alpha touching her. Not that I’d ever shared with anyone else, but knowing she was taken care of when I wasn’t theresettled some of the fierce Alpha instincts in me. Yet she’d been avoiding me since I tucked her into bed after our pussy eating fest at the pool. Now she was hurting and didn’t reach out to me or Konstantin. “Are all Omegas this stubborn?”

I hadn’t meant to say that out loud, but Evander chuckled. “Yeah, man. They are, but don’t let them fool you. That girl needs you.”

“How long has she been up there?” I was already heading to the stairs. It didn’t matter, really. Aubrielle’s well being was what was important.

“Nearly two hours. Go take care of your Omega.” Evander then called after me as I took the stairs two at a time, “Tell her not to worry about Lilli. We’ll entertain her.”

Yes, good. I tore down the hall to the nanny’s suite and burst through the door. Aubrielle’s sweet scent was everywhere, but she was nowhere in her room. Fuck! “Aubrielle!”

Not in or under her bed or in her closet or in her bathroom. I ran for Lilli’s room and then abruptly turned for Konstantin’s. No way she’d be in Lilli’s room but if Konstantin helped her…

I flung open the door to my brother’s bedroom and hollered for Aubrielle again.

Not there, but she had been. Her scent wasn’t as strong as it had been in her room. So she had left the kitchen and come to her room only to go… where? My room?

I grunted with each step I raced up the stairs to the third floor. “Aubrielle!”

Not in my room or the game room or gym. I was seeing red. Where was she? She needed her Alpha. If an Omega went too long without finding relief during heat, it could do permanent damage to her.

The roof!

I climbed the stairs up and out in record time. But she wasn’t there. “Fucking hell!”

She needed me and I couldn’t get to her. I didn’t want to screw things up. Even if she never wanted to see me again after her heat, I couldn’t abandon her now.

Pacing the length of the roof, I wanted to yank my hair out. “What am I going to do now? Call her on her cell? Would she even answer?”

Then I saw her.

Curled up in a nest of blankets in the garden, hidden by the hedges. No one would see her walking by, but from up here, I could see her gorgeous hair splayed out as she writhed on the ground. It was as if I could hear her whimpering from three stories up.

I nearly jumped off the manor in my need to get to her.

Why she was hiding in the garden, I didn’t know and didn’t care. I practically flew down the stairs and barreled out of the house. Aubrielle needed me, and I needed her more than I ever thought I could.

CHAPTER NINETEEN - Aubrielle

The only things that kept me anchored to my sanity were Quill’s and Konstantin’s musky Alpha scents on the towel and blankets around me. I’d hoped the fragrant smells of the garden and losing myself to memories of my mother would bring some relief to the pain, but my Omega body wanted what it wanted. By the time I realized that only being knotted would satisfy my heat pangs, my legs were too shaky to stand on, and I’d left my cell in my room.

I’d hoped that I would pass out from the agony, but each twisting cramp only sent another rush of adrenaline through me, forcing me to stay locked in this miserable waking reality. I muffled my cries in the blanket. Desperate, I tried to smother myself, but I couldn’t do it.

Never had I wished to not be an Omega before. I could follow the laws and be happy having lots of babies, but go through my heat, oh God. This was worse than hell. I couldn’t believe that this torture was worth being an Omega.

I writhed on the ground and dug my fingers into the soil as another pang lanced through me. It was like a great monster had chomped down on my guts and was twisting its head from side to side as it tried to rip them out. Yet at the same time, part of the pain was that I was feeling empty.

“Aubrielle.” My name sounded far away, like an echo of a memory. A voice I knew but my tears washed it away before I could grasp it.

I was in so much pain that I was hearing things. Likely on the door of insanity. Maybe I’d be the Omega other Omegas would whisper about as a warning not to go through your heat unattended.

“Aubrielle, baby. I’m here.” The voice was accompanied by a caress. Someone brushed my hair from my face. Someone male and deliciously citrusy and, God, it was Quill!

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