Page 102 of Knot So Fast
The problem is, he doesn't want my protection. He wants my position, my success, my life—everything I have that he thinks should have been his if he'd been born four minutes earlier. And now he wants Auren too, not because she's his scent match or his true mate, but because she's mine.
She's ours.
And that's something I'll never let him take, no matter how much it hurts to draw that line between us.
The hallway feels too quiet now, the echo of confrontation still hanging in the air like smoke after a fire.
We're all thinking the same thing, even if no one wants to say it out loud: this is far from over.
Lucius will be back, his fake pack will cause problems, and Auren will be caught in the middle of a war between brothers who should know better.
But for now, we wait.
We stand in this hallway like sentinels, protecting our Omega from the chaos we've brought into her life, hoping that when she's ready to face us again, we'll have figured out how to be what she needs.
All of us together, or not at all.
The elevator remains closed, silent, a barrier between what is and what could have been.
And in that silence, I make a promise to myself and to my pack: we protect Auren first.
Even if it means protecting her from my own brother.
Choosing between blood and bond.
STARTING FROM SQUARE ONE
~AUREN~
The cold cloth on my forehead feels like ice against fevered skin, and I want to throw it across the room just to prove I can.
Instead, I lie there like some Victorian maiden with the vapors, which is almost as annoying as the way my head pounds with each heartbeat. The suite smells overwhelmingly of Alpha - Lachlan's scent still clinging to every surface, mixing with traces of the others that linger like ghosts of the confrontation I missed.
"Is this really necessary?" I mutter, gesturing weakly at the compress. My voice comes out rougher than intended, scratchy from either the shouting at the race or the fever that's apparently decided to make an appearance. "I'm hot enough without turning into an ice sculpture."
Luke doesn't answer immediately.
Instead, he appears in my field of vision holding a glass of water and a handful of pills that look comically small in his palm. His expression is that particular blend of exasperation and fondness that I've come to recognize as his default setting when dealing with me.
"We can do this the easy way," he says, rattling the pills like tiny maracas, "or I can do it the Kieran way. Your choice. Be a good girl and take your medicine."
The suggestion sends an unexpected flutter through my stomach, and I know it's the fever talking when I hear myself say, "I wouldn't mind the Kieran way." The words come out more breathless than teasing, which is mortifying.
Luke groans, running his free hand through his sandy curls.
"Yup, totally the fever talking."
I smirk, feeling more lucid than I probably should given the circumstances. He's not going to do it - Luke's too proper, too careful with boundaries despite our living arrangement. It's part of what makes him such an effective gatekeeper of a Beta, which I do appreciate deep down inside.
Which is exactly why I push myself up slowly, ignoring how the room tilts slightly with the movement.
"Fine, fine," I concede, though sitting up takes more effort than it should. My body feels heavy, like someone replaced my bones with lead while I wasn't paying attention. "Though you have to admit, getting hit with five Alpha scents at once after the day I've had would knock anyone on their ass."
The memory of it makes me shudder - that wall of pheromones crashing into me like a physical force. Each scent distinct but overwhelming when combined: Lachlan's controlled power, Kieran's dark intensity, Caspian's unexpected sweetness, Dex's calculated charm, and Lucius's chaotic energy.
These Omega hormones, already pushed to its limits by the race and everything that followed, simply couldn't process it all.
"The joys of being an Omega," I mutter, pressing my palms against my temples. "Heat waves, potentially triggered heats, and all the fun emotional rollercoasters you get just for existing. Wonderful."
