Page 8 of Knot Gonna Lie
Scientists hadn’t been able to change this fundamental truth—and due to our past, most resisted such attempts. People didn’t want history repeating itself, allowing alphas to claim the first omega they encountered and gather armies of betas beneath them. The universe already existed in fragile balance as society settled into our new structure. I wouldn’t want to experience an uprising if something went catastrophically wrong.
Who would resist a super alpha? Or a super omega?
Gammas would probably retain their resistance, but their numbers only equaled current alphas and omegas combined. They wouldn’t be able to protect all the betas who comprised most of the population.
It would fall to them to eliminate whoever tried to tip the scales.
“Unfortunately, it seems I was correct,” Quinn announced, instantly drawing my attention to her. The frown on her face was enough to crush my hope for tomorrow. “Mr. Coco isn’t on either your roster or the universal one.” She pressed several buttons on her vidscreen, and her eyebrows shot up in surprise. “But it appears your mystery man has been approved as eligible to enter The Den. He simply hasn’t registered himself.”
“Are you saying there’s still a chance he might after today?” I shot upright and climbed from my nest like a woman possessed. Grabbing my caretaker’s hand, I locked eyes with my dearest friend and released a whine that seemed to rise from my very soul. “Can you please find him and tell him I want him on my roster?”
“And yours alone?” Her mouth curved into a teasing smirk.
“Yes!” I pleaded, shaking her arm and making her tablet dance in her grip. “I don’t want any other omega stealing him fromme.”
“But what if there’s someone else who smells better? Whose appearance steals your breath away? Who promises you a mansion filled with servants to command?”
“I don’t care!” My eye caught a glimpse of him on her tablet, and instantly I stopped shaking her, pointing at the alpha whose scent still lingered in a ghost of memory of my last summer on Earth—like sunlight breaking through a cold, forgotten season. “I wanthim. And I don’t want to live with ‘what-ifs’ if I don’t have a chance with him inside The Den.”
“The things you make me do, Elara.” Quinn sighed as she waved her hand over her screen and powered down the tablet, securing it to her belt like a sword sheathed after battle. “Since I wasn’t able to give you a gift because he paid for your jewelry, I suppose I’ll have to locate this alpha before tomorrow and convince him to register for your roster.”
“Exclusively.”
“Yes, exclusively for yours.” She combed back my hair from my face, tucking it behind my ears before cupping my cheek. Her brown eyes searched mine as early morning fog flooded my senses like a benediction. “I’ll attempt to convince him, knowing it will bring you happiness. If you end up choosing him and you both succeed, it will be the greatest gift a gamma can offer their omega. An alpha they approve of.”
But as she spoke these words of hope, Quinn’s tablet chimed with an incoming message. She glanced at it, and her expression shifted like clouds gathering before a storm.
“What is it?” I asked, noting the way her fingers tightened around the device.
“There’s something you should see to prepare for tomorrow,” she said quietly, manipulating the screen until a live feed appeared. “Today’s final ceremony is beginning. Would you like to watch?”
The Den’s arena filled the display, and my breath caught as I witnessed a male omega walking among the assembled alphas with graceful confidence. His movements were deliberate, purposeful, as he approached each potential mate with careful consideration.
Unlike the frenzied selection stories I’d heard whispered in corridors, this omega took his time. He spoke with each alpha, sampled their scents, studied their reactions to his presence. Some alphas seemed surprised by his measured approach, clearly expecting the desperate claiming behavior that omega heat supposedly inspired.
But this omega was different. Controlled. Decisive.
When he finally made his choices—selecting three female alphas and two males—he did so with the certainty of someone who understood exactly what he wanted. The rejected alphas departed with dignity rather than the bitter disappointment I’d expected.
“He’s not in heat,” I whispered, the words tasting strange on my tongue. “But why would they let him enter?”
“You’re right, he’s not,” Quinn confirmed softly. “He’s been allowed to The Den four times over the past two years whenever there’s a last-minute opening, always refusing to get off the suppressants. He’s searching for something…”
Watching this omega’s ceremony sent tremors of doubt through my certainty.
Was I moving too quickly? Was my fixation on Mr. Coco merely the product of approaching heat, or something deeper?
As if summoned by my thoughts, heat bloomed beneath my skin—slow and consuming, like a fever taking hold. My breath hitched, shallow and fast, and suddenly my clothes felt too tight, too heavy against skin that burned from the inside out.
“Quinn,” I gasped, pressing my hands to my chest as panic fluttered like caged birds against my ribs. “What if you’re rightabout me not thinking clearly? What if this attraction to Mr. Coco is just biology manipulating my judgment?”
She moved to me swiftly, pressing the back of her hand to my forehead with practiced efficiency, her scent strengthened once more, wrapping around me like a thick blanket of morning dew and reassurance.
“Your temperature is elevated,” she murmured, concern etching lines around her worried gaze. “But you’re not in full heat yet. You still have choice, Elara. You still have agency.”
“What’s the story behind Coco Pharma?” I asked, trying to focus on something other than the pull he had on me. “Who is he beneath all of it—and why create a company like that?”
Quinn’s fingers moved with practiced speed across the tablet, files flashing by too fast for me to fully process. I leaned closer, scanning each page that blinked to life, trying to catch a name, a detail—anything that might matter. Every flick of her hand brought up more files, more possibilities.
