Page 8 of Knot So Perfect Omega

She moved a few pillows against the headboard and sat against them, bringing her tiny bottle of alcohol to her lips and drinking it in one gulp. “No. I believe you.”

Relief flooded my system, and I scooted next to her, putting my head on her shoulder. “The fine for backing out of a match is too much for me to not go... I can’t stick our parents with that burden.”

Kara dug in the bag and pulled out a package of peanut butter cups. “And if you start to throw around accusations about the matching system being broken or wrong, the government is going to rain hell.”

“Fuck, Kara. I can’t join a pack. I feel like this is being forced on me. Do you think it’s karma for saying they had shrimp dicks?”

One of the many reasons the alphas that ran our government didn’t take lightly to omegas and packs backing out of matches was because then it might create a domino effect. If a pack matched with an omega who refused to go after already matching with them, that pack might become possessive anyway. It had happened in the early days of the matching system, so now there were financial penalties great enough to prevent it from happening.

We both were lost in our thoughts as we had our fill of chocolate and booze. I eventually pulled out my phone and pulled up one of Brian’s active social media accounts. He mostly posted pictures of the team during games and some behind-the-scenes pictures during practices and interviews.

Me:Hi. This is Kayla Sterling, and I was trying to contact one of the guys, but they don’t seem to check their messages. Can you have them check?

The message was read almost immediately. Did this guy not sleep?

Brian:What is this regarding?

“Seriously?” I showed my sister, and she rolled her eyes.

Me:I matched with them, and I thought they were going to put my sister. Neither of us put them on ours.

Brian:Are you rejecting the match? Have you notified the Omega Match offices?

Me:They said there wasn’t an error, but there has to be because I didn’t list them or any pack, for that matter.

Brian:What are you suggesting?

“Careful,” Kara warned. “We don’t know this guy and he’s being pretty cagey.”

Me:I need to confirm the match with them because if there’s been a glitch of some kind, it needs to be remedied.

Brian:It wasn’t a glitch. I’ll see you on Monday.

Me:Can you please have one of them contact me? The match email doesn’t have their phone numbers because they’re ‘celebrities.’

The message stayed unread for a solid minute before I threw my phone on the bed in frustration. “This is bullshit. I’m just supposed to get on a plane on Monday with no contact information for them?”

“Maybe you should give it a shot.” Kara got off the bed and went to her dresser to pull out pajamas. “Are you staying here tonight?”

I nodded. “What do you mean,give it a shot?”

“Well, think about it. You go there, be your charming self, they send you back, and boom! You’re a hundred thousand dollars richer. You can start your business.” Kara threw a tank and pajama shorts at me. “Or you can fall madly in love with them, and I can live vicariously through you.”

“Did that alcohol go straight to your brain?” I got up, feeling slightly buzzed myself. “I can’t do that!”

“Why not? It’s the perfect opportunity for you to get your start-up costs and show just how fucked Omega Match is.” Kara rarely cussed, and I gasped. “My guess is they put the wrong name down, and when there wasn’t a match, they paid to have it happen.”

“Then you should go. Say you’re me.” I crawled back into bed, leaving my clothes in a heap on the floor. Kara immediately picked them up and folded them to put on her desk chair.

“We’re twenty-two years old, Kayla.” She sat on the edge of the bed and grabbed a scrunchie from her nightstand to tie her hair back. “They would know immediately, and who knows what the fines would be? Do you think our parents are going to want that?”

I sighed because she was right. “You aren’t mad?”

She lay down and flicked off the light, dousing us in darkness. “I was, but if no packs want me, then maybe I’m doing something wrong.”

“You aren’t.” I checked my phone one last time for a message from Brian. “I bet you anything, I get to their house, and they’ll realize they put the wrong name. We’ll be back to drinking contraband liquor and chocolate together in no time.”

“I’m sorry I told you that you were dead to me.” She whimpered and leaned in to hug me. “Maybe you’re onto something about not caring about this whole omega role business. It consumed me, and now look at what happened. It almost ripped us apart.”

---