Page 8 of Knot Their Girl
“I’m good, thanks. Good luck with… whatever tonight.” She watches as he salutes her and then leaves, and as he strolls away, she adds, “Sounds like he’s doing this to get his parents off his back, too. We have something in common.” She glances up at me. “He’s your friend or something?”
I nod once, and she smiles. I hate how that smile is so… so… goddamned perfect.
“Your talking privileges are restored,” she tells me. “How come you aren’t bonded to an omega by now? You’re the oldest Alabaster, aren’t you? I’m surprised your parents don’t push you to settle down.”
“Mom’s a beta. She’d never force anything on me or my brothers.”
“Oh, wow. I didn’t know your mom was a beta. Still, you’re, what, forty?”
“Thirty-five,” I bite out the words, practically hissing them out, slightly offended at the addition to my age. I’m not fucking forty yet. I still have a few more years until I hit that threshold, thank you very fucking much.
The giggle she lets out then does something me, as much as I hate to admit it. It’s such a light, sweet sound, and even though she’s technically laughing at me, I don’t care. Her laugh is fucking delectable.
Delectable? Jeez. What the fuck has gotten into me?
“You might as well be forty,” she says, still grinning up at me. “You’re old. Alpha or not, it’s only downhill for you from now on. How does it feel to be on the tippy-top of the rollercoaster right now? Whatever you do, don’t look down to see how far to the ground it is—”
If she was anyone else saying those things to me, I’d have a few choice words. Mostly swearwords, but they would get my point across. But it is Raeka, and so I only stand there and bite my tongue instead.
Fucking Rourke. This is his fault. This whole night is completely his fault. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him. I wouldn’t have to stand there and take whatever she said with a grain of salt. I could be doing my own thing. I could be training, or at home trying to decompress.
I’d be alone, like I’ve pretty much been my whole life.
While everyone else my age was busy forming packs during childhood, I never saw the need. Some groups tried to bring me in, but I refused. Didn’t want it then, don’t want it now. Pack life is utterly uninteresting to me. You can’t ever really depend on anyone else other than yourself. A pack is just a pretty lie.
Raeka’s words cut through my thoughts: “Really? Nothing to say to that? Wow. Maybe I overestimated you. Thought you’d be fun, but you’re just standing there, taking it. You might as well get on your back and take it like an omega.”
Okay. That one I can’t ignore.
Grinding my teeth, I take a step forward until I’m beside her chair, and I set a hand on the back of it, curling my fingers around it as I kneel down so I’m closer to her level—and closer to her face.
“You think you’re funny, don’t you?” I ask, my voice so low it would send a shiver down anyone’s spine—and it certainly must affect her in some way, because she sits a little straighter, and she bites her bottom lip. “Raeka Whittenhall. A spoiled, bratty princess from one of the founding families. I bet every alpha you meet is dying to get a taste of you, and you never let them, because you think you’re better than they are—and maybe you are.”
She swallows hard, but she doesn’t look away. I have her.
“I bet you’ve never met an alpha that’ll put you in your place,” I go on, my voice now a deadly whisper. “But guess what? My family’s just as old as yours is. Your status doesn’t impress me, and your attitude? Spend a little more time with me, say something like that again, and I won’t hesitate to teach you some manners.”
Right when I think my point sinks in, Raeka leans closer to me and whispers, “Do me a favor and sate my curiosity, then—how exactly would you teach me manners? My family, all my teachers growing up, even my friends’ parents; they all tried, and they all failed. So,Pax—” She breathes out my name in a way nobody else ever had. “—how do you plan to do it?”
I stare so deep into her eyes I nearly get lost in them as I search for clues on how she wants me to answer. Of course, I have a few ideas on how I could teach this omega some manners,but none of them are acceptable or appropriate to say to an omega who isn’t mine.
One thing is for sure: whoever this girl ends up with is going to have their hands full with her.
Their hands… not to mention other body parts, parts I definitely shouldn’t be thinking about right now.
Out of everything I could say, I settle for saying, “Guess that curiosity of yours isn’t going to be satisfied tonight.” And then I stand up and move a few feet back, giving not only Raeka some space, but me as well.
The longer I knelt there, the longer I was close to her… fucking hell. Even with her stifled scent, she’s doing something to me, and I don’t like it.
When I do that, she whines somewhat, disappointed in me for not furthering the game we tiptoed around—and it’s right then that we both notice we aren’t alone anymore: a pair of alphas had taken up the seats across the round table.
Right. She’s here to placate her parents and fuck up any possible matches. I’d say I’m definitely helping with that, given the expressions on either of their faces. They look like they know they’re interrupting something, and they exchange quick glances with each other as if they’re having a mental conversation only they’re privy to.
This girl. I’m going to kill Rourke for saddling me with the job tonight.
All I can say is, after tonight, she’s going to be Rourke’s responsibility, not mine. After tonight I never want to see her pretty face or those big, silvery-blue eyes again.
Chapter Five – Raeka
