Page 136 of Choosing Their Omega

My Alphas beam at me with pride and I can feel my face heating up. I’m a little embarrassed by my outburst, even though I stand by what I said. But my Alphas just crowd around me and hold me close.

“Your tenacity is one of the reasons why we love you,” Cruz points out. “It’s how we all got to meet you, when you wouldn’t stay in a bad work environment, and you stood up to the guy who tried to harass you.”

“Your courage is amazing,” Miles assures me.

The love of my Alphas has me feeling warm inside and out. “So you’ll let me be there?”

“Yes.” Cruz looks at the others, who nod. He might be the leader of the pack but he still cares about what the others think. It’s why he’s such a good captain for his team.

“But in the meantime,” Miles adds, “let’s go home.”

Lawson doesn’t look too happy. I think he wants to go and beat the Grizzles up right this second. But he has to know that rest is a good idea right now. If we’re going to do this, and we are, then it has to be done properly. We’re going to go at the Grizzlies the right way and with everything we’ve got.

I have to stay the night at the hospital for observation, the men all sleeping with me. Knox takes the bed, curled up around me, and I feel like there’s something he’s still holding back, but I don’t want to push him too hard. Knox is someone who really holds in his emotions and I don’t want him to be forced to show them before he’s ready. I can wait.

The next morning I’m discharged from the hospital, and I can’t wait to get home. I want to see Ben, and I just want to be back in my own cozy nest with the backup jerseys and shirts from my men in it, smelling like my Alphas, smelling like home.

Ben and the dog aren’t home, though, not yet. The babysitter’s taken them both to the park by the time we get there. I suppose it’s a good thing, actually, because now that I’m home I just want to collapse, and I don’t want Ben to see me like that. I don’t want him to see me so upset, and make him worry.

I go upstairs to take a quick shower and wash the hospital smell off of myself, then I put on some comfy sweats that Miles bought me that have the Titans logo on them, and an oversized shirt that used to belong to Lawson.

When I go into my room, to my surprise, I find Knox there.

His eyes are rimmed red and for the first time since I’ve met him, he looks a bit unsure. Lacking in confidence.

“Hey.” I smile tentatively. “Are you okay?”

Knox clears his throat. “Yeah, I just…”

He shakes his head, his words dying away, and I step forward to put my hand on his arm. “Knox, it’s okay if you’re not. Okay, I mean. It’s all right.”

Knox stares at me for a long moment, then he sweeps me into a tight hug and holds me. I cling to him, and I feel tears land in my hair. He’s shaking.

“I could have lost you,” he whispers. “And I couldn’t… I couldn’t survive that.”

I can feel tears springing into my own eyes when I hear him say that. Both because of how much Knox means to me, and how much I wish I could take his pain away, but also how much I know it must have cost for him to admit that out loud.

Knox didn’t want me around, at first. He wasn’t sure about me. And he’s not one for expressing his feelings out loud, anyway. But after he lost his sister… I can’t imagine.

Well, in a way I can. I know how much it hurt me to lose my grandmother, and the idea of losing Knox or one of my other Alphas cuts me to my core. I loved my grandmother. I love her still, or the memory of her. I miss her.

But losing her would pale in comparison to losing my Alphas.

Knox adjust his hold around me so that he can pick me up while keeping his arms wrapped around me, then carries me to the bed. I wrap my legs around him instinctively until he collapses with me into my nest.

I kiss his chest, right over his heart, where I can feel it beating strong and sure. “Are you…”

He seems to read my mind, because I see him shaking his head when I look up. “No. No, I just…”

He sighs and I shift to push myself up, pressing our foreheads together. “I know, and I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. You didn’t do anything wrong.” He reaches up to stroke my cheek and run his fingers through my hair. I’ve lost a hair clip again, somehow, but I don’t mind when it means he can run his fingers through the loose strands and scratch his nails lightly and soothingly against my scalp.

“It’s not your fault that I was scared. I just—I can’t lose you. That’s all. It’s those bastards who are going to pay for it.” Knox’s voice gets choked and he finally, finally lets himself cry.

I gather him to me and soothe him, stroking his hair. He’s so strong and capable and he holds it together, and he doesn’t like to show weakness. But he’s safe with me. I’m his Omega and that means sometimes, while he usually takes care of me, I can also take care of him.

Finally, Knox pulls back a little and wipes at his eyes. “Thank you.”

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