Page 15 of Knot Gonna Lie
How could someone without a mate understand anything about being in a clan?
“My caretaker explained the point of this meeting—”
“Good, then I don’t need to go over the reason you’re here and can get straight to the questions.” She gave me a quick grin before flicking her gaze to the tablet before her. “Do you know what happens in the arena?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Do you know that every alpha standing inside the arena has been vetted and registered to take part in your selection?” She raised an eyebrow and tapped on her tablet with its pen, letting out a hum in thought. “It says here that you have a greater than average number of signups.”
“What does that mean?” I hedged, not understanding why it would matter unless the numbers were abnormally low.
“It means many alphas have taken an interest in you from years of walking around The Center.” She tilted her head, studying me as if trying to solve a puzzle. “Typically, the most signups an omega receives is during their maiden walk. After that, numbers fluctuate as alphas come and go from the station. If you haven’t found anyone after your fifth time in The Den, we start intervening and wondering why none of the alphas appeal to you.”
“How often does someone reach that point?”
“It’s not uncommon…but once they reach ten failed sessions, I usually have to reevaluate whether they’re ready to be claimed.” Sighing, she attached her pen to her tablet and placed it onto her desk with an audible thump. “Honestly, I do everything in my power to prevent omegas from getting that far. I have a reputation to uphold, and those stubborn enough to decline ten rosters worth of alphas make me appear incompetent. Sadly, I have one omega who’ll be having their third meeting with me soon because they keep rejecting anyone I give them.”
“Are you saying that you’re a matchmaker?”
I’d read stories about arranged bondings in the past. Families used their omega children to tie themselves to an alpha’s family. Others sold them to alphas for profit, thinking it was better than being kidnapped and forced—by having the family involved.
This was why omegas were taken away once we hit puberty—so our families couldn’t use us for their advantage, and we were given a safer environment to find a mate and form a pack within the alpha’s clan.
“You can say that.”
She stood and dragged her hand across her desk as she walked in front of it. The way she watched me made me feel as if she were an alpha—not a gamma—and I was her prey as she tried to figure me out. Her fluid movements held a certain grace that I wouldn’t have believed someone her age would possess, and yet, for some reason, I knew if it came to a fight, I would lose just by the amount of power and confidence that radiated from her.
She was a formidable woman, for certain.
One whose wrong side I didn’t want to end up on. But I could see why Quinn and the other gammas looked up to her—perhaps even wished to become the matron’s replacement one day.
What gamma didn’t want to be in charge of not only the safety of all the omegas in existence but also aiding them by playing matchmaker to give them the safest and best opportunity to find a mate without outside pressures?
Leaning her back against her desk, she grabbed both sides and peered down at me like a medic does when they’re about to deliver life-changing news to their patient—only she was in a suit and not a lab coat.
Gripping my chair’s arms, I tried to stifle the unease that threatened to creep up on me. No matter how much calming peppermint she released, it didn’t settle my nerves. I didn’t like her being so close, for I didn’t know her, and she wasn’t mine.Her unfamiliarity and position of power made everything worse, especially when she could know everything about me with a few swipes of her tablet.
She wasn’t Quinn.
Matron Jacques controlled my fate—and she knew it.
My success at finding a mate hinged on the system she’d put in place. And if I failed, it would reflect on not only me but her too.
“Just as sometimes an omega takes five or more times to find the mate that not only smells good but has everything she wants, there are the omegas who know the first time they walk through the door. If you don’t end up discovering an alpha that checks all the boxes you want in a mate, then don’t force yourself to settle just because it’s your maiden run. But.” She paused on that word and shot me a toothy grin that would’ve appeared almost predatory if I were looking at the conversation from afar. “If you end up finding the perfect alpha your first time, it not only looks good for both you and your partner but the system too.”
“Are you trying to convince me to take the first alpha that smells good and appears promising?”
My jaw dropped in shock as I tried to piece together what she was saying.
Had she discovered my infatuation with Mr. Coco? It had just happened yesterday, and I hadn’t thought Quinn would’ve told her, but perhaps she’d been more indiscreet with it all. So was she unofficially telling me that she knew and approved?
“Exactly.” She nodded. “It’s always been said that an omega’s instincts know what they want. Just as an alpha’s first instinct is to protect any omega that whines, and others react to an alpha’s bark at first, even if it’s just a flinch. Being a gamma, I don’t have such instincts, other than to protect—but our allegiance isn’t to just omegas; it branches out to betas as well.
“What I’m saying is, if you have an instinct that pulls you to one—or more—alphas, grab them, allow them to court you, and then decide if they’re worthy of marking your neck. You were drawn to them for a reason. Discover what that reason is.”
“And if I don’t?” I winced at the weak tone in my voice.
Something about what she said placed a heavier weight upon my shoulders than I had fathomed. I knew today was an important day and that The Den was the pinnacle of many beginnings, but I never thought about what would happen if I messed up.
