Page 71 of Knot Their Girl
His brows furrow, and he holds up a finger. He sets down his drink and disappears. It’s a few minutes until he’s back, his tablet in hand, and he types out:Whatever it is, I’m sure she has a reason for it.
“She better,” I grumble, leaning on the counter and tensing my fingers into knuckles. The thought of her hiding something monumental from me makes me furious. I’d never hurt her, never lay a finger on her, but boy, I can get pissed.
You might be overreacting,Colter warns me.
“And what if I’m reacting just fine?”
Just let her explain when they get home. Don’t yell at her.
I bite back anything angry I might’ve said in response to him. I absolutely should not let a beta tell me what to do; he has absolutely no authority over me—but he’s right. Too pragmatic for his own good.
You’re worried about her, Colter types out.I am, too, but you can’t jump down her throat.
I grind my jaw. “You’re right.” I don’t like admitting that, but it’s the only thing left to say at this point.
After I chug some water, I take the pouch and go sit on the bottom of the stairs, waiting for Raeka and Gideon to come home. Colter comes with me, though he doesn’t sit beside me. He’s tucked his tablet into his hoodie’s pocket, the square poking out against the fabric.
Every minute that passes by feels more like an hour. It’s fucking torture sitting there, my mind racing, not knowing what the truth is. I’m upset at Raeka for hiding whatever it is, but I’m also worried about her. What if she’s secretly addicted towhatever this is? What if she has a medical condition and doesn’t have much time left? Fuckity fuck fuck.
An eternity passes, and finally Raeka and Gideon stroll in. By that point, I’m too anxious to let her beauty flabbergast me. She stops the moment she sees me down the hall—or, more correctly, the moment she sees what’s in my hands: her secret pouch and the injections within. Her beautiful eyes widen, and she looks like a deer in headlights, an expression very much unlike her typical self.
Gideon steps around her, coming closer to me as he inspects what’s in my hands. “What is this?” he asks me, but I don’t look at him. I’m too busy staring at Raeka, who’s still motionless a good fifteen feet away. He realizes I’m staring hard at her, and his blue-eyed gaze follows.
“Well?” I huff with a frown. “Care to explain what the fuck this is, Raeka?”
“I—” She breathes hard, fiddling with her gloved hands. “I need to use the bathroom?” The question comes out in a squeak, and she tries to hurry past me, but I’m faster.
I stand and block her path, clutching the unzipped pouch tightly. “No,” I say. “Living room, now.” I don’t use my dominance on her, but I don’t have to. My tone tells her enough: I mean it. She’s not going to run from this. She’s going to sit down and tell us the truth.
She looks like she wants to bolt, but in the end, all she does is hang her head low and march to the living room, where she sits in the center of the couch.
I set the pouch on the coffee table, right in front of her. Gideon and Colter are behind me, though I can tell the latter wants to go sit beside her and comfort her. Now’s not the time for that. Now’s the time for the truth.
“I found it hidden beneath your mattress,” I told her. “I thought I’d wash your sheets for you. Imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon this… whatever the fuck it is. What. Is. It?”
“Are you sick?” Gideon asks, sounding much less severe than me. “Are you addicted to some kind of drug? Whatever it is, Raeka, tell us. We can help—”
She laughs, but it’s a bitter sound. “Help? No. Nobody can really help me, unless you can change the omega condition.” Her nostrils flare, and just like that she’s no longer a deer in headlights; she’s her fiery self.
She stands and yanks off her gloves, one after the other. “They’re scent dampeners. Inhibitors. Whatever. I’ve been giving them to myself ever since I turned twenty-one, right here.” She points to her right inner elbow. “Leaves a bruise sometimes, but that’s nothing a bit of makeup can’t handle.”
“What—why would you take scent dampeners?” Gideon asks while I do nothing but stare at her and wait for more of an explanation… although, I guess, deep down, I already know.
“Because I didn’t want to be lured in by any tasty alpha smells!” she shoots back, fire in her eyes. “Because I didn’t want to become a sniveling omega who turns into a puddle of slick anytime an attractive alpha comes around! Because Ihatebeing an omega.”
The last words are thrown out with such vehemence that even Gideon winces. Colter looks saddened, while I feel… I feel what? Ashamed that I got so angry about them when I really should’ve known, or at least suspected, that they were her way of feeling in control? Disappointed in her for feeling like she had to resort to such measures to exist in this world, or maybe disappointed in the world itself for pushing her to this point?
Fuck. I’m an asshole.
Holding her head high, she hisses out, “Can I go now, Mr. Alpha, or is there more?” This time, the nickname isn’t said ingood fun; this time it’s hurled at me like a knife, and my inner alpha can do nothing but lower its head and let her flee the room.
Raeka hurries out of the room, and I hear her stomp up the stairs shortly after. Colter goes after her almost immediately, and Gideon stands beside me, his expression knotted with concern. He wants to go after her, too. So do I.
Comforting omegas is in an alpha’s nature. Comforting your omega is like your only damn job, the only one that really matters.
“We’ll let them talk for a bit,” I say. “Let her calm down some, but we need to show her we can move past this. She needs to know she doesn’t need to take this shit.”
“I agree,” he says. “I’ve never heard of this stuff. I’ll call the family doctor in the morning, see if there are any side effects we should watch for. I don’t know how often she takes it, but it sounds like she’s been taking it for a while. If it messes with her sense of smell, I can only imagine it messes with other things.”
