Page 12 of The Knotty Girls Club

“Why? You’re no longer in the Gutter District, pretty girl. You’re in our palace, and we have mutual respect for our pack members. My brother would never get pissed off at me for saving his ass. You’re not even supposed to be here. Once my other brothers are done with their business, we’re going to figure out what we need to do and get you there, okay? I’m sure you don’t want to be here either. It was our mistake, and I apologize for not taking better care to make sure the van had no one else in it. Maybe you can help me out. Where are you from? Did the Dark Alley alpha kidnap you?” I stride closer, ensuring my door closes behind me. If I don’t ask these questions now, I might not get her to open up again. She sees she can speak freely with me. It’s probably the biggest benefit of not falling into the order of the alphas.

Kinsey bows her head, staring at my rug. She’s silent for a minute, collecting her thoughts. I shuffle even closer and ease down on the bed beside her, hoping that my calmness helps diminish her worry. I need to be at her level and not towering over her. The last thing I want is for her to be intimidated by me. It’s a shitty situation, but I will do my best to ensure shit doesn’t escalate even more with my brothers.

“We won’t send you back to her, so you don’t need to be afraid. I just need information. It’ll help us make a better plan. Are you originally from the Gutter District?” I rest my elbows on my knees, keeping my gaze trained on my royal blue and white patterned rug, though I watch her in my peripheral vision.

She laces her fingers together. “I’m not. I’ve only been living there for a couple of years.”

I realize that the only way I’m going to get information out of Kinsey is if I ask the right questions. She’s been trained to only respond with what is necessary.

“Where were you before that?” I shift on the bed, turning slightly to face her. I study the side of her beautiful face, her green eyes glancing at me for a split second. She lets her dark mahogany hair veil her face, cutting me off from getting a good look at her. “What about your pack? Were they unkind? Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m going to assume that if you were hiding your order, then something happened. Was it with the ones chosen for you?” Because I know that situation all too well. It happened with my little sister Holly, and we’re still dealing with the aftermath.

Kinsey rubs her lips together and fidgets, my questions obviously making her uncomfortable. But I need answers. I need to be able to come up with a plan to present to Wilder, because he will be the one to make the final decision. It’s not often that he sways from agreeing with our brothers, but there’s always a chance. Especially when it comes to our personal affairs.

“It’s complicated. I never got the chance to get to know my chosen, and my pack is...dead. I’m alone. You know what happens to omegas under those circumstances.” Kinsey turns her head and meets my eyes straight on, her green depths watering, but she doesn’t cry. And I feel like shit for having to stir up a conversation that clearly hurts her. The scent of her sadness overwhelms me, the sour tang of lemon nearly burning my eyes. “So, I don’t really have anywhere to go. As long as you don’t send me back to the Gutter District, I’ll figure shit out.”

We both know that’s untrue. If we were just to toss her out in another territory, her fate could be far worse.

“How? You have nothing of value.” I regret the comment immediately, because she narrows her eyes at me.

“You went through my bag.” She crinkles her nose and puckers her mouth with her annoyance. The scent of her sadness shifts to anger, and I’m hit with a spicy wave of cinnamon. I haven’t smelled anything so powerful in a while, not even from my brothers, and it sends the hairs on my arms on end.

I refuse to break my stare, challenging her glare right back. She’s feisty as fuck, and it’s her strong will that probably helped her survive all this time. In fact, I know that it was. She isn’t the docile omega many are, probably influenced by her birth pack just like Holly. We made sure she wasn’t ever going to turn into just another omega to submit to alphas. We believe in bending the purpose of our orders, which is why my brothers treat me equally, too.

“Don’t worry, Kinsey. We didn’t touch too much. We just needed to see if you had an ID or anything we could use to figure out who you were.” I clench my jaw and remain expressionless.

“I’m no one. So please, just let me leave. You don’t even have to take me anywhere. I’ll walk.” Kinsey taps her bare feet on the floor, bouncing the bed beside me.

I furrow my brows at the thought of just letting her go. I shouldn’t worry so much, but a part of me knows how unreasonable and dangerous granting such a request would be. “The nearest populated area in Gilded Sands is twenty miles from here. You can’t just walk.”

She groans. “Then give me a ride. Let me take the van. I don’t care if it’s now stolen. I’ll get rid of it as soon as I reach the city.”

“No.” I’m not even going to humor her demands. She’s too desperate to think straight. “I will discuss things with my brothers, and we’ll come up with something safer for you, Kinsey. Why don’t you make yourself comfortable here and get some rest? I can tell you’re tired. I have extra linens and can strip the bed for you.” Or me. My fucking thoughts.

“This place is huge. You don’t have a guest room? I know that Enzo wanted me to stay in his room so he could watch me, but I’m obviously not going anywhere. Not like I could get far anyway. I don’t want to intrude on your space.” Kinsey looks around the room, her emotions settling and her scent fading. I’m definitely going to have to be the one to watch over her. I might be the only one capable of doing it. Enzo really set her off in all sorts of ways, and none of us needs that. They trigger each other.

“All of our guest rooms are in the center of the palace along with the staff’s. We’re not going to let word get out that we have you here. So, no. I’m sorry. You must stay here.” I get to my feet and motion for Kinsey to do the same. I start to grab at the comforter that I took from Enzo’s room to bring her here in, but she snatches it and holds it close, not letting me take it.

If this was any other circumstance, I would overpower her and steal it back, but she looks like she might lunge at me if I try now. This isn’t good. I know she’s doing it out of need, but this is going to drive Enzo crazy. Fucking pheromones. Fucking alphas. Fucking orders. I sometimes wonder how things would be if my brothers manifested as betas too. Though, the king would’ve probably slaughtered us all and made mom try again.

“I’ll just take the couch.” Kinsey doesn’t give me a choice in the decision. She spins and heads toward my sitting area, curling up on the loveseat instead of the sectional. I know it’s because she wants to take up as little of my space as possible, and I feel bad about it, but for being an omega, she seems stubborn as hell. That’s only going to make things a bit more complicated. I know how much my brothers love that kind of thing.

“Fine. Just for the night. I will go get you some more appropriate clothing. My brothers aren’t ready to give me your bag back. I’m sure I can find something around here in your size to make do until then. I need to step out for a bit anyway, so if you need me, just send a text to Enzo. His number is the first one in my phone contacts.” I pull my cell from my pocket and hand it to her. “Please, don’t leave the room. If one of my other brothers finds out, it won’t be as easy to convince them to let you go. Do you understand?”

Kinsey gingerly holds the phone, staring at the lock screen and the picture I have of me and my brothers. “Yes. I understand.”

I dip my chin in affirmation. “Thank you. The code is my name spelled out with the number keypad.”

She bobs her head and turns over on the couch, giving me a view of her back.

I wish I knew what the best thing was to do with her. A part of me knows better than to even consider keeping her here, but there’s a huge fucking part of me that doesn’t want to sentence her to a shitty life or worse if we let her go. Her order will always catch up with her. I don’t know how she did it until now, but it’s obviously not the solution. Next time, it could be far worse for her. I know what the Pack Regime does to unbonded, packless omegas. They’re useless to society without a pack, and there are many who would trade a lot for someone like her.

I shake my head, pushing the thoughts away. I need to put some space between us for a bit before she becomes too overwhelming. It’s not even her order that gets to me. There’s something about her, and I think it’s because of Enzo. As a pack, we’ve always done everything together, and we always expected to claim an omega to be our wife because of the rarity of the order. I would be the last and most likely one to not procreate, considering I can’t ensure such a thing without my body being able to knot. As a beta, I’ve come to accept that my cock is second-best. If I were on my own, I’d end up with another beta, and I’d never have to worry about my children being anything other than a beta. Two betas always spawn betas. Alphas and omegas? Their children can manifest into any order. Plus, I can’t really satiate an omega’s feral needs. But fuck it, I sure can try. I work harder than any of my brothers.

What am I even thinking?Move, Desmond. Get your ass out now.

I stride from my room with the thought and cut right to head toward the hidden access door that’ll take me to what should be our panic room. It’s the only place with halls that princes can use. They all connect to our suites, but there was no way I was going to enter through my wardrobe for Kinsey to see. It would absolutely be even worse than keeping her here. We already risk a lot with her presence. There’s no need for her to get into the rest of our business.

I enter the study and close the door, only looking around for a moment before I open the storage closet and press my hand to the keypad, opening the door. Cool air engulfs me, the concrete stairwell leading down to one of the coldest places in the palace, especially when the temperatures rise in the summer, turning our territory into a desert wasteland. I take the stairs two at a time and jog in the direction of our former panic rooms. I know I shouldn’t go there, but I really don’t want any of the staff to know that I need some women’s clothing. And Holly looks to be Kinsey’s size.

---