Page 17 of Knot So Perfect Omega

“No. She got a sliver of it in her foot after she dropped it and I took it out.” He went to the pantry and grabbed a broom and dustpan. “It’s not like I came down here and expected to be swept away by her.”

“Pun intended?” I gestured to the broom and then began cleaning up the first aid kit next to the sink. “I wasn’t accusing you of anything, by the way. I’m just a little surprised you’re all worked up over her.”

“You and me both.”

* * *

After a few more hours ofrestless sleep, I finally got out of bed to start my day, hoping whatever had upset Kara was now forgotten. I’d managed to convince Beck to sleep in the guest room and wondered if he actually had or if he’d gone back to his post outside the locked door.

An upset omega was the last thing we needed when we were about to start heavy training for the playoffs. What we needed was a sit down to get to know each other and lay out our expectations of one another. In a way, this was like an arranged marriage, and it wasn’t like the love was going to be immediate.

I showered and dressed in my favorite pair of dark wash jeans that fit my muscular thighs and ass perfectly. I paired them with a solid white Alpha Fit T-shirt. Looking in my bathroom mirror at the Alpha Fit words across my chest, I still couldn’t believe we’d landed a deal with United Alpha Sports.

Not bothering with shoes, I headed downstairs to find Rylan eating a breakfast sandwich and drinking coffee at the kitchen island. Out of the four of us, he was the youngest, and also the earliest riser. It didn’t matter what day of the week it was or how late he was up the night before, he was up at six every day.

“No Kara yet?” I went directly to the coffee maker and poured myself a cup.

“She wasn’t on the couch when I got up.” Rylan popped the last bite of his sandwich in his mouth and jumped up. “I have a gaming date with my sis.”

“That’s where she’s locked herself. Something happened between her and Beck last night.” I sipped my coffee as I walked out of the kitchen area and toward the room in question, Rylan right behind me. “It sucks because the more I’ve thought about having an omega, the more I want it. We don’t want to end up like one of those older packs that start to go a bit feral because they don’t have an omega to keep them grounded.”

“True, but a lot of those packs are in the government or high up in society. But I agree, we are long overdue to have an omega. We should have done this back when we graduated.” Rylan passed me in the wide hallway and got to the door first. “Kara? Open up.” He tried the door and then knocked before putting his ear against it.

I rolled my eyes and grabbed the key from the doorframe. “We’re going to unlock the door. Beck isn’t with us.”

We needed to at least make sure she was okay. It had to be a lot going from an academy where all the students were other omegas and most of the staff were female. She didn’t know us at all besides the brief meeting we had, which wasn’t nearly long enough, and now she was just thrown in the middle of a pack of alphas.

There was something seriously fucked up about Omega Match.

Rylan unlocked the door and opened it slowly, light spilling into the pitch-black room. There was a loveseat and four gaming chairs that reclined enough to sleep comfortably, but it wasn’t an ideal place to sleep. It was dark, though, with black-out curtains, and was the farthest room away from any rooms that had noise.

The four desks that held our computers were all shoved into a corner, the height adjusted as high as possible, and there were dark sheets hanging to make what I guessed was a makeshift nest. It made sense she’d pick this room, but I wished we’d been there to get it set up properly.

Rylan pulled his phone from his pocket. “Fuck, my sister is calling. I was supposed to be on ten minutes ago.”

“Go talk to her. I don’t think you’ll be gaming today unless you plan on moving your shit somewhere else.” I stepped into the room, listening for any signs of omega duress but was met with silence. “Kara? It’s morning. Do you want to come out and get some breakfast?”

I put my coffee on the entertainment center that held more gaming shit. We worked hard, but during our downtime, we liked to play hard too, and for us, that was playing hours of video games.

She wasn’t answering or making any noise, but I could smell her perfume that had accumulated in the closed off room. It made me feel a certain way, and I had to remind myself that now was not the time to get turned on.

But it was definitely hard.

Shaking my head at my train of thought, I knelt next to the enclosed nest and lifted the sheet. She was in there but seemed to have every spare blanket and pillow in the house inside with her, including one from my bed.

One of her feet was sticking out, and I tried to stop myself, but since she wasn’t responding, I needed to make sure she was still breathing. It was a better alternative than diving into the blankets with her when we’d only met for a few minutes.

I ran a finger up the arch of her foot, careful not to touch the bandage. She inhaled a sharp breath, pulling her foot to safety. At least she was alive and hadn’t suffocated under all the shit she was buried under.

“You can’t stay in there forever. What’s wrong?” I crawled under the desks, sitting on the edge of one of the mattresses she must have ordered and had delivered. It was a special nesting one that was waterproof.

“Leave me alone.” The blankets moved like she was rolling over and away from me. “As soon as the Omega Match offices open, I’ll be leaving.”

Leaving? What the fuck had Beck done?

“I don’t understand.” I had been respectful, but now she said she was going to leave, I crawled across the mound of blankets until I got to where her head was and pulled the blankets away. “You can’t just decide after less than twenty-four hours to reject us.”

“I can. And it has been longer than that. You weren’t even here when I arrived.” Her back was to me and her hair was a mess in the bun it was in. I wanted to run my fingers through it and comfort her.

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