Page 46 of Knot Gonna Lie
I looked down at my bleeding palm, at the crystal shard still clutched in fingers that refused to tremble, and felt a smile touch my lips—fierce and wild as winter wind.
“No,” I said, though my voice emerged rougher than I’d intended, scraped raw by fury and violence and the intoxicating taste of choosing my own battles. “My pack protected me. And I protected them.”
“As it should be.” Her gaze moved across the wreckage—overturned tables, shattered crystal, bloodied clothes, and the sharp smell of violence still hanging in the air. Quinn took in the injuries with practiced efficiency: Seth’s labored breathing, Jaxom’s bleeding temple, Luca’s bruised jaw. Her eyes paused on the blood still seeping from my hand where the glass had cut deep.
“Seth.” Her voice was sharp, calm—someone used to taking control in a crisis. “Get your omega back to your ship. Treat her wounds. See to your clan—and get your ribs looked at before they puncture something important.” She pulled a medical scanner from her belt and tossed it to him without missing a beat. “Page me if you need station med. Now go.”
But as Quinn turned toward us, Luca stepped in front of me, solid and unshakable, his bruised body tense with protective fury. The lights caught the sharp edge in his ice-blue stare as he locked eyes on Owen and his family—ready to strike if they made one wrong move.
“Stay. Away. From. What’s. MINE.”
The alpha bark that followed rattled the ceiling and rolled through the room like thunder. Windows shuddered in their frames, crystal fixtures vibrated, and everyone in the restaurant went still under the weight of a true alpha’s command.
The sound hit me like a crack of thunder—first the jolt of recognition, then the surge of arousal that followed without warning. His display didn’t scare me. Not even close. My kneesnearly gave out as slick pooled between my thighs, my body responding to his raw, protective fury before I could stop it. The scent of my need bloomed in the air, sharp and undeniable.
Quinn’s sharp gaze snapped to me, nostrils flaring as she caught the telltale sweetness. “Elara. Drop the weapon. Now.”
The crystal shard slipped from my fingers and shattered on the floor, along with the last shred of control I’d been holding onto. Luca moved fast, pulling me into his chest, while Seth appeared at my side, carefully working the remaining glass from my bleeding palm with medic’s precision.
“I’ve got you,” Luca murmured against my hair, his tropical scent wrapping around me like a shield against the chaos. His lips found my mark with instinctive precision, placing a reverent kiss over the still-tender claim that sent shivers racing down my spine. The simple contact grounded me, pulling me back from the edge of arousal into the warm safety of his embrace.
Quinn’s expression flickered—concern briefly replaced by something harder. Jealousy, maybe. Hurt. Quickly buried under professional cold.
“For the record,” she announced, voice loud and final, for the whole restaurant to hear, “both Alpha Cocos—Eli and Luca—are registered. Both cleared for Den participation. The administrative error was ours—wrong brother on the initial roster.” Her gaze locked on Owen, cold and unflinching. “But it was never your place to challenge another alpha’s bond. And certainly not your business to interfere.”
She stepped toward him, eyes sweeping the battered remains of his so-called support.
“Once an alpha-omega bond is sealed through claiming, nothing can sever that connection except death or mutual dissolution. Certainly not the wounded pride of rejected suitors. No crime was committed here except your own assault on a bonded pack.
“But this ends here. Owen, Keanu, and Marcus—you’re banned from The Den. Permanently.”
“You can’t—” Keanu’s voice cracked, panic bleeding through, shattering his winter-cold composure.
“I can, and I have.” Quinn’s smile was cold, unforgiving. “Station law is clear—any alpha who tries to challenge a completed bond forfeits their right to participate in selection. Permanently.”
The finality in her voice sent a chill through the restaurant like the last breath of a dying star. Owen and his family had gambled everything—reputation, future, the very possibility of ever finding an omega—and lost. Completely.
“This is all your fault!” Owen’s scream shattered the silence as he lunged at Luca, wild and reckless—like a desperate cornered animal. “You ruined everything! You—”
Marcus and Keanu moved with him, their attack fueled by desperation and the sting of failure. But they never reached their target.
Station security stepped in like shadows solidifying, batons crackling as they struck with brutal precision. One hit each—enough to drop all three. The electric charge dropped all three attackers instantly, their bodies convulsing—then went still.
“Drag them to detention,” Quinn ordered, her tone flat—like she was ordering trash to be taken out. “Full medical workup, psychological eval, and prep transfer papers. They’re banned from this station for good.”
As the unconscious bodies were hauled off like broken dolls, Quinn turned back to us. Her expression stayed professional, but beneath it was something deeper—the quiet protectiveness of a gamma who still cared about her former charge.
“Luca.” Her voice carried urgent warning. “Get your clan to your ship. It would be best if you left the station as soonas possible before any more…problems arise. Owen has allies—desperate ones. And word travels fast.”
Through the bond, I felt Luca’s tension—his instinct to stay and fight—but reason won out.
He gave a single, sharp nod. “Understood.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
JAXOM
TheParadise’sfamiliar hull should have meant sanctuary, but the moment we crossed the threshold, the wrongness struck me like a physical blow. An alien scent threaded through the recycled air—sweet omega tinged with stubborn defiance and barely-leashed fear. It wrapped around my consciousness like smoke, familiar yet impossible, dragging memories from depths I’d thought safely buried.
