Page 17 of The Twelve Knots of Christmas
“We’re asking for twelve dates.” Jasper’s citrusy scent sharpened as if he were suddenly more anxious, even though he appeared nonchalant about it all.
“We’re your pack. You were meant to be with us.” Balthazar said it as if it were a fact. Jasper gave him a squeeze before lowering his hand.
Were they really? They smelled so good. I wanted to bury myself in their scents, their arms, feel their hard bodies around me. Every Omega nerve in my body whined for it.
“Twelve dates like the twelve nights of Christmas. How sweet!” Miss Eloise hummed her approval.
Sweet? Christmas? No, no. Everything in me skittered backward from them, from all of this. This wasn’t happening. “I can’t. I’m sorry. I have my dream job waiting for me in Califor—”
“A word, Mariska.” Miss Eloise didn’t even wait for me to say something. She looped her arm through mine and led me into the house. “We’ll be back in a moment, gentlemen.”
I set my bouquet down on the hall table and frowned at her. What the hell was going on with her? She’d been my biggest supporter all these years. When things started to go bad with Jack, she helped me break away from his control and consoled me for several nights while I cried myself to sleep. I trusted her more than anyone else.
Miss Eloise closed the big door and lowered her voice. Her usual smile was now flat and stern. “I want you to tell them yes.”
What the fuck? “No!”
“Mariska.”
“You know why I can’t. I’m moving to California in a few weeks. I don’t want to give them false hope or a chance to trap me.”
“They’re not Jack,” she said softly, soothing like a mother with a child. I fought not to fall into her arms and bawl with myhead on her shoulder. Tears blurred my vision. “They’re good men, sweetie.” She reached over and wiped at the few drops that had started to fall down my cheeks. “Scent matched with a pack is a rare thing. And don’t you try to deny it. I can see the effect they have on you. Something had been under your skin all week, and now I know.”
“But… my dream.” I’d worked so hard, my whole heart in it. Helping make wind energy more eco-friendly was what I was driven to do.
“I’m not telling you to give up your dream. Don’t do that for anyone. You were meant to do great things in this world, and I would never stop you.” She rubbed my arms and pulled me in for a hug. “After Jack, you closed yourself off to any relationship ever happening again. I understand, honey, I really do, but this pack could be the one for you. Don’t you think you deserve the chance to find love?”
“Well, maybe, one day down the line.” I wiped at my eyes, blinking away the rest of the tears. “I can’t chase my dream here. My future is in California.”
Miss Eloise took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. She held my hands in hers and looked me directly in the eyes. “Okay. If that’s how you feel, that’s how it will be. But.” She raised her brows. “You’re going into heat, and you’re going to need an Alpha or two to help you through it. What better help than a pack who is compatible with you?”
I swear I heard the sound of my jaw hitting the floor. “I’m not!”
“Oh, sweetie, you are.” She nodded.
“No.” It couldn’t be. My breaths came hard and fast. This was the last thing I needed. “No, no.”
Miss Eloise gripped my hands tighter and rubbed her thumbs over mine. “It’s all right. Sometimes it happens when you meet a highly compatible match. You were never triggeredin the past, and that’s why I knew Jack wasn’t the one for you even before the trouble with him. Yet with these Alphas… I could see how Balthazar affected you at the farm and how you affected him too.” Nothing got past her. She saw things not even I wanted to admit to. “If you don’t want a permanent relationship, make it clear to the pack you don’t want to be claimed. I have no doubt they will help you with your heat, but they’ll be driven to mark you.”
Fuck, I was going into heat. My flushed and oversensitive skin, my blood running hot like a fever, my senses on overdrive, and the amount of time I’d spent fantasizing about those three Alphas over the past week sent me to have cold showers at least three times a day. Pressing my thighs together, I silently noted my panties were soaked with slick.
I was due to fly south in fifteen days. It was the worst time for this to happen.
It didn’t matter that I hated it. God, she was right. I would need help to get through my heat. Sure, I could try to push through it myself, but that would cause it to last longer, and I’d be a mess when I traveled to California.
If I made my position clear to the pack, I could do this. I could keep my heart locked up and get through this heat.
Miss Eloise let my hands go and patted my cheek. “Yet I also want you to at least try to give them a chance. Open your heart a little. You might find your very own Christmas miracle.”
Christmas miracle? Oh no. Not happening.
My resolve came slamming back down. I brushed my fingers over my cheeks again and straightened, squaring my shoulders. “All right. If I’m really in heat, I want it over with fast, so I’m going to need the pack’s help.” It sounded too much like it was happening to someone else, and it made me hesitant again. “Are you sure you’re okay with this?”
She chuckled and rubbed my shoulder. “Oh honey, this isn’t the way I hoped it would happen for you, but I don’t want you to suffer through your first heat. Alphas are designed to help us Omegas. A simple touch or their purr will help a lot.” Her gaze became a little distant. “I remember when I first met Daniel. After one date, I was sent into heat. Families were even more strict then, but he secretly met me in my family’s barn every night to help me through.” She came back to the present with a serious tone. “I will chaperon you on your dates to make certain this is what you want to do and they aren’t pressuring you. Yet in the end, it’s your decision if you want their help and how much help you want.”
Mydecision. “Let’s not make them wait any longer.”
Miss Eloise opened the door for me and I stepped onto the porch to be enveloped in the pack’s heady scent. Every logical reason I had listed in my head shattered, and I had to grip the door frame to keep from running into their arms.
