Page 29 of Knot All Is Lost: Part 1

fourteen

Theworld’smostsoothing noise surrounded me. It called to my soul and told me everything was alright. I was safe and right where I belonged. The aroma of spicy cinnamon made me think of the roasted almonds my mom used to make in the fall. They were a favorite snack of mine that died when she did. Refusing to wake from this dream and face the reality of my hellish life I snuggled deeper into the warm fluffy blanket.

It was only when the sound got louder, and the blanket moved I realized it wasn’t a dream. My eyes popped open, and I sat up to find Oscar sleeping next to me, his body wrapped around mine, with my face nestled into his chest. I didn’t know what to do.

Do I stay until he wakes up? Would he be mad if I left the bed while he’s still sleeping? What if I wake him up?

In my experience, no man liked to be woken before he was good and ready. Father would come out swinging if I was too noisy or I would even end up locked in the basement so he could get his goddamn rest. The purring came to an abrupt stop as Oscar opened his eyes to meet mine. He seemed just as surprised as I was to find me here.

“Good morning?” I said hesitantly. “It seems you fell asleep last night when I did and didn’t leave.”

His face morphed from confusion to panic as he released me and sat up. His hands were moving so fast but I couldn’t understand anything he was trying to tell me. Running a hand through his hair he growled in frustration and climbed out of bed to storm out of the room.

I gazed after him, utterly confused as to what had just transpired. Was he mad at me because I couldn’t understand him?

Moments later Oscar was back dragging a bleary-eyed Bodhi with him. “What the fuck is going on? God, I’ve never seen you this pissy first thing in the morning. Why am I being dragged into this?”

Oscar clapped his hands loudly in front of Bodhi’s face, shocking the poor Beta into wakefulness before signing furiously at him. Bodhi watched carefully until his brows shot up and his jaw dropped. “You what?! How could you do that? God, I knew Nixon was having a tough time keeping himself in check but you?”

Oscar snarled and pointed to me, then to himself, and signed what looked like he was telling Bodhi there was no chance of something happening between us. Were Oscar and Bodhi partners? Did he think I’d done something to cause problems between them? Oh god, I had to fix this.

“Bodhi,” I cut in. “Nothing happened, he came to turn my light off and scared me. When I calmed down he offered to stay with me till I fell asleep. Nothing else, if he is your partner I’m sorry I didn’t mean to overstep or ask him to do something that would cause problems. It’s clear Oscar is upset about staying here all night and I just want to make it clear that nothing happened. I would never ever come between someone’s relationship.”

Bodhi gaped at me like I’d grown a second head. “Cambi, what on earth are you babbling about? God, it is too fucking early for this, and I haven’t had a drop of coffee.” He drove his fingers into his shaggy hair and scrubbed at his scalp in irritation. Then he took a deep breath and dropped his hands and turned to face me. “Start from the beginning for me please, Cambi. Numbnuts over here isn’t making any sense, or I’m still half asleep. Either way, I’m not following what went down and why he’s upset and why you think we are in a relationship.”

I crawled to the end of the bed and sat cross-legged clutching a pillow. “Marius dropped off some books for me to read and I got so sucked into the book I didn’t realize I’d fallen asleep. Oscar noticed my light was still on and came to turn it off. He startled me and I had a panic attack, but he calmed me down. He shared some music of his with me, then offered to stay until I fell asleep. When I woke up this morning he was still here… I think it surprised us both. Then he stormed off and grabbed you.”

“Okay, now some of what he was saying makes sense, but that doesn’t explain why you think he or I are upset? Also for the record, we are best friends, not lovers. Not that I don’t love him because I do, just not in that way,” Bodhi clarified.

Oscar didn’t seem convinced about that but didn’t comment as he waited for my answer.

“He said something that got you mad, then he motioned to me then him in what I took as a clear sign of not interested,” I explained.

Bodhi rubbed his face a second before walking over to sit next to me. “Cambi, that is not at all what that meant. He was trying to tell me he didn’t do anything inappropriate with you while he was in your bed. Oh god, why am I left to explain this? Rafael should be the one to go over the Alpha, Omega, birds, and the bees.”

“What does this have to do with sex?” I asked my brows scrunching together. “I might not have gone to school and gotten that talk, but you read a romance book or two and it’s not hard to learn what you need to know.”

“There is a difference between knowing something in your brain and your body reacting to a situation happening in the moment. An Omega’s perfume is like crack to Alphas, especially an Omega that is the right fit for their pack. The Alphas smell just as addictive to the Omega drawing them closer together. When that happens sometimes an Alpha can go into rut, a phase where they become hypersexual and the only way to fix it is to have sex… lots and lots of sex. It’s somewhat the Alpha version of going into heat for Omegas,” Bodhi educated, his cheeks turning a rosy color with his embarrassment.

I blinked at him a few times as my brain sifted through that bit of information, then when it finally made sense I gasped covering my mouth. Bodhi flinched a little as if he felt guilty for telling me.

“Wait, so you think Oscar was in danger of going into rut just by spending the night with me?” I asked, dropping my hands.

Bodhi scratched the back of his neck as he nodded. “Nixon was showing signs of it, so was Rafael last night. Marius had an Omega sister so he knew what to expect but Oscar’s never spent time with an Omega. So I got mad he would put himself in a position that could have potentially upset you. He was telling me off and explained nothing happened but sleep, the best night’s sleep he’d ever gotten I should add.”

Now it was my turn for my cheeks to heat up thinking I might have helped with that. I couldn’t think of a time I slept as soundly as I had last night. I didn’t even dream I was so deeply asleep.

“The real reason Oscar woke me up and dragged me in here is because he was worried he’d overstepped and wanted you to know he was sorry. He wasn’t trying to be forward, he had every intention of going to his own bed but fell asleep,” Bodhi added, placing a hand on my knee. “I’m sorry your first morning with us turned out to be so chaotic. We aren’t used to having a woman around, much less an Omega. So forgive us men as we blindly stumble about trying to do the best we know how.”

I couldn’t help but smile at them. “There is nothing to forgive, it was just a whole bunch of misunderstandings, and my lack of being able to communicate with Oscar correctly.” Pausing I covered Bodhi’s hand with my own, shocked at how small it was compared to his. “Will you teach me sign language? Then there won’t be any more misunderstanding and we won’t have to drag you out of bed.”

Bodhi nodded, then nudged me with his shoulder, his gaze catching mine. “Sure thing Cambi, but until you can manage on your own, feel free to come to me when you need help. No matter what time it is,” Bodhi demanded, pointing a finger at me. “I’d rather be there to help than have you take something the wrong way like you did today.”

“I can do that,” I answered with a shy smile and my cheeks flaming hot. Then my stomach decided that was the best moment to voice its need for food. Apparently giving it two meals yesterday had reawaken it, and I was hungry.

“Guess now would be as good a time as any to get breakfast started,” Bodhi said with a sigh. “What time is it anyway?”

Oscar held out his watch for him, Bodhi gasped and grabbed the Alpha’s wrist. “That has to be wrong, it is not seven in the morning!”

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