Page 33 of Knotty Escape
“You three seem decent, but if you hurt her, I’ll choke you all out in your sleep, mmkay?” Wendy’s half the size of these men, but twice as brave as anyone I’ve ever met.
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Wes says with a charming grin.
“Never.” River crosses his arms over his chest, looking slightly offended by Wendy’s threat.
“I can promise you that none of us will ever hurt Lila, and if we did, we’d let her best friend choke us out, if that's what made Lila feel better.” Harrison nods, making Wendy snort.
“Alright then, you can come in and help us pack up.” Wendy pulls the door open for them to step inside, and then we get busy packing.
“We’ll carry everything down. You just take this,” Wes says, as he grabs my pillow off my pile of bags and moves to hand it to me. It brushes against my fingertips as I reach for it, but then Wes is pressing it to his face, inhaling, and then growling.
My eyebrows shoot up as River steps into the doorway. He snatches the pillow from Wes, sniffs it, and then snarls.
“What the fuck?” I ask, wondering if my drool is on the pillow or something, making it stink.
“This needs to be burned. It smells like another alpha,” River grumbles, holding it at arm's length away from his body. I snort, crossing my arms over my chest.
“It’s a clean pillow case,” I shrug, but River shakes his head.
“We’ll buy you a new one,” Wes decides, glaring at it like it’s about to grow wings and eat us. “Toss it back in there.” He nods toward Wendy’s door.
“Alright,” I chuckle, taking the offensive pillow and tossing it through the open door. Wendy lifts her brow at me, and I shrug one shoulder. “Alphas…” I shake my head and close the door, turning back to the guys.
They’re all standing there, waiting. Watching me.
“Is this fucking insane?” I blurt, wincing as they lift their brows at me in unison.
“Maybe, but I don’t really give a shit, to be honest,” Harrison says with a grin, taking a step toward me. “Are you done in there? Everything is packed?”
“Yes, this is everything I wanted to bring with me.” I nod to my stack of bags. I left a few clothes in one of Wendy’s drawers just in case. There is not much else, since most of my stuff is at Larry’s still.
“Good, I’ve been wanting you in my arms all damn day,” Harrison groans as he reaches for me, pulling me against his chest. I melt into the man easily, not resisting the hug one tiny bit.
“It’s only been an hour since we left your apartment,” I remind him, burying my head against his chest anyway.
“I don’t think I’ll be able to go that long between hugs again,” he teases, and then right here in the hallway, he scent marks me. Harrison runs his cheek over the top of my head, and I melt. This alpha makes me feel safe, wanted, and cared for.
In less time than Larry spent courting me, these three men have given me everything my ex never did.
Almost like thoughts of him conjure the asshole, my phone vibrates in my pocket, as the notification tone for his contact plays. I tense up, but don’t like not knowing what he sent, so I pull my phone out and check my message as the anxiety settles in my stomach.
Larry: Fine, but I want you to agree to dinner with me.
I want to say fuck no. I want to tell him to eat shit, but instead, I just let out a long sigh and reply.
Lila: Fine. I’ll be there tomorrow.
When I first told Larry I wanted to grab my stuff tomorrow, I didn’t expect a reply. I also didn’t tell him that I’d be bringing anyone with me. If I told Larry that three alphas were going to be coming too, he’d probably change the locks and barricade the door or something equally insane.
So I’ll just show up tomorrow with my boxes in hand, and say…surprise!
He won’t throw a fit in front of other alphas. He reserves his worst behavior for when we’re alone. Better make sure, wherever this stupid dinner is, that it’s very public.
“Larry said I can come get the rest of my things tomorrow as long as I have dinner with him. He probably wants to try and talk me back into a relationship with him,” I tell the alphas as they start grabbing my things. I let out another heavy sigh, reaching for my smallest bag, when a very aggressive growl rings through the air.
“Fuck. No.” To my surprise, the growl came from Wes, who grips my hips and pins me against the wall. “Unless it’s a group dinner, there's no way in fuck you’re going to dinner with the alpha that tried to fucking break you.”
My mouth pops open, and I’m sure I must be staring at him with wide eyes. Alphas, like omegas, are very possessive. Not usually as aggressively as omegas are, but it still happens.
