Page 17 of Knot Gonna Lie
“We have to get through today first,” Seth countered as he took a sip of his drink. “We probably should let the others help pick out something.”
“I was going to make it a surprise for everyone, but you insisted on knowing more information.” I paused as I watched a female gamma walk out to her male omega and witness him picking out five alphas—two female and three male—from the lineup. “Another selection has been made. I’m that much closer to my turn to enter The Den.”
The room fell silent as we all watched the rejected alphas leave through their own exits directly behind them. The station was designed to prevent any alpha from engaging with each other before, during, or after the event. Each alpha was placed on a different floor, depending on what omega’s session they’d signed up for, and they were taken to and from the arena via an elevator shaft.
The station didn’t want to deal with nervous alphas crossing paths with those who were rejected. No matter the outcome, I would wait until the green light on top of my elevator told me to enter before going to the arena or leaving The Den’s waiting area.
As much as I wanted to calm my clan’s nerves, the number of questions they had for me was starting to make me feel agitated. I was about to do something that would change my life forever,binding myself to another for eternity to prevent myself from spiraling into insanity, and they wanted every detail of the big picture when I had no clue what was going to happen.
I risked getting in trouble for stealing my brother’s identity to register for her session, and if she ended up rejecting me, I’d risked not only my reputation but my clan’s and my company’s. My clan would lose faith in me and may start questioning my future decisions because of what I’d put them through.
I would look like a fool going through all of this for a female omega I’d happened to help yesterday.
Instantly, a ding rang through the room, alerting me that my turn was about to start. I walked up to the full-body mirror beside the glowing green elevator door and straightened out my tie before turning around to my three betas.
“Wish me luck.”
Stepping in front of the double doors, they slid open, revealing a freshly sanitized elevator capsule. Taking a deep breath, I stepped into my awaiting future.
The fifty of us stood on our designated spots that formed a circle around the room. The metallic floor was covered with a ventilation system that surrounded each green lit-up square, designed to ensure no trace of an alpha’s scent lingered within the room.
We were required to stand within our assigned locations and wait for the omega to approach our area if they were interested. They would have to be within the green lighting on the floor to smell our unique aroma, ensuring that each alpha wouldn’t have their scent tainted by those beside them.
But appearances were essential for some of the alphas within this session, and I wouldn’t put it past them to blame their neighbors for why they weren’t chosen. There were quite a few mature males and one mature female standing within the ranks. Most appeared the same age as me or freshly out of the academy.
How a newly graduated alpha could afford the sponsorship and pass the vetting system was beyond me. But part of the approval was proving that the alpha applicant could provide a lavish lifestyle if the omega demanded it, so the twenty-one-year-olds had to be from wealthy families or were lucky enough to make it big with some discovery.
Clenching my fists, I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths. None of that mattered to me. Elara had sent her caretaker to request that I find a way to get here. I had done so. The only thing that mattered was keeping my cool and not repulsing her somehow. The one thing I didn’t want to do was blow my shot with her.
That was the last thing I ever wanted to do.
I’d promised myself never to get attached to an omega, not before I’d met her on The Den’s floor, because I knew until she had a mark on her neck from me, she wasn’t mine. It only hurt in the long run if I became obsessed with someone I could never have.
That was why I’d refused to allow my fantasies to run wild in my mind. If I did, and she rejected me, it would only crush me after all I’d done.
Yet part of me already claimed her as mine.
I wasn’t like the others in the room who had no idea who she was outside of the profile in the system.
I’d met her. I’d helped her. She requestedmeto be here.
Even though logically they had a right to be here, deep down inside, I couldn’t allow it to be.
They were determined to haveanyomega select them, whereas I only wanted her.
The whooshing noise that radiated from the sliding doors pierced the deafening silence within the arena.
Snapping my eyes open, I jerked my head toward the source of the sound, only to drop my jaw in awe.
Elara stood in the doorway in an emerald dress that hugged her figure as if it were her own skin. The top bodice was see-through, with elegant emerald and crystal swirls to tease any who dared to stare upon her. Her blonde hair was braided tighter than yesterday to display the very thing I had given her.
Around her neck was the diamond and pearl choker necklace that I’d bought her and suggested she wear—a bold display in front of hungry and desperate alphas wanting nothing more than an omega to mark and share their bed with.
Glancing around, I gauged what the others thought. The female alphas were practically salivating as they fixed their outfits and tried to put on a show. A few appeared jealous of Elara as if they hadn’t thought she would dress up the way she had.
But the male alphas?
The other desperate males within the den gazed at her with the same fierce desire as my own. Yet, as I looked upon the omega who had somehow put me in this place, she stared at me as if I were the only one standing before her.
