Page 31 of Knot Alone

Before my mortification can bubble up too far, Graham takes my hand and presses a kiss to my knuckles. We each take a suitcase in our free hands so we don’t have to let go.

Iris meets us at the front door. “Are you psychic?” I tease.

“Mr. Baxter did his intake this morning. I thought it best to stay on call.” Iris offers our names to the receptionist for check-in, then waives us to the elevator. “Also, I’ve gotten several phone calls in the last few minutes from a Mr. Burton-Page expressing… concerns.”

I groan and bury my face in Graham’s shoulder, which is a mistake because I don’t need any more of his scent muddling up my brain. “I’m so sorry.”

“For what? You didn’t do anything.” Iris taps her keycard to take us to the floor with her office.

“Still, you’ve got stuff to do.”

“We have a departmental secretary who enjoys the days when she gets to see how irritated she can make people.” Graham laughs and Iris continues. “She says it’s like a pressure valve to offset all the times she has to be polite.”

“Ah, the joys of customer service.”

Iris smiles at him, and I beat back a flare of possessiveness. “The secretary will handle all Mr. Burton-Page’s calls unless something pertinent comes up. Also, I’ve contacted Mr. Lockridge, and he’s on his way.”

Speaking of pressure valves, I relax against Graham’s side. Linus isn’t here yet, but something in me unclenches at everything coming together better than I hoped. I’m about to spend my heat with two Alphas and I’m not scared at all.

Graham rumbles beneath my cheek. Oh, the calm might be because we’re trapped in another enclosed space where our scents can mix. “Maggie.” Graham groans.

“Sorry.” I press a kiss to his shirt sleeve and step back, keeping hold of his hand.

Graham stares down at me wide-eyed and it takes a moment to realize—oh, I just kissed him. Nothing like what he’s planted on me, but domestic. And that’s the first time I started the touch.

Iris clears her throat, and the elevator opens with a ding. The poor woman has just been standing there watching us the entire time. Iris smiles like we’re puppies. That’s better than the alternative, so I keep my mouth shut and Iris gestures us into her office. My nose prickles at the cleaning products lingering in the air, which is a whole different embarrassment than getting caught kissing my Alpha.

Iris snicks the door shut. “How much longer do you think you have, Ms. Page?”

“If I can keep out of elevators, a few hours.” Iris smiles again and flicks a switch behind her desk. The air purifier ramps up so much it sounds like a jet engine.

“Are you in any pain?”

“A back ache and I had some cramps earlier, but those are gone now.” Iris hums. “I felt like I needed a painkiller earlier, but now I could manage with just a hot pack.”

“Excellent. That means we don’t have to rush too much. But given our unusual circumstances, here is what I recommend. Maggie and I are going to leave you here in my office, Mr. Baxter. You are going to wait for Mr. Lockridge to arrive. Please don’t engage in any behaviors that will require deep cleaning.”

Graham doesn’t bother to blush. “I’ll do my best.”

Iris hums again. “Ms. Page and I will conduct the last steps of the intake process while you two wait. When we’re done, I’ll come back here and do the same with you and Mr. Lockridge. If, in my professional opinion, Ms. Page’s heat is approaching faster than I can complete everyone’s intake, I’ll send you two another caseworker in my place. That way, we won’t keep Maggie waiting. Does this sound agreeable?” We both nod.

Iris rises with a smile. “Ms. Page, please come with me to go over your final intake protocols.” I clench Graham’s hand. But with a slow breath, I peel my fingers away. I understand they can’t bring along an Alpha at all, let alone have one when I’m heat-addled and unbonded. But the thought of leaving Graham behind makes me want to… well, honestly, I want to snarl at the caseworker for suggesting I go somewhere he can’t follow.

Graham gives me a little squeeze. “I’ll be right here, daydreaming about what you and Linus got up to behind that desk.”

I huff out a laugh and manage to stand. I cave just a little and twist around his hand to press a kiss to his knuckles this time, then flee out the door before my face can light on fire. This time Iris doesn’t give me the puppy smile. Her acknowledgment would be too much to handle.

We pause in the hall just long enough for Iris to do a quick flick over the information on her tablet. “I have your reservation here for a standard room, personal surveillance?”

“Yes.”

“Perfect.” Together, we go up a few floors to a hallway that looks like a standard hotel, only with bland carpeting instead of the loud, patchwork of colors that make my eyes hurt. Though, most impressively, the halls up here don’t smell like anything. Neither like Omegas in heat behind these doors, nor like cleaning products.

“First, as requested, this is a personal monitoring floor rather than AV monitoring. Meaning…” Iris taps her keycard against a lock and leads me into a small room full of one-way windows. The space is dark, save for blue lights tucked under a counter that runs the entire edge of the room. The only pieces of furniture are a small fridge under the counter, a rolling chair in the center, and a hardline phone by the door.

“Each monitor observes anywhere from one to four rooms. The monitors are specially certified by the Omega Alliance and our institution. We also require them to have a graduate degree in Omega and Sexuality Studies. It is much harder to become a monitor than a caseworker, if that’s any consolation.”

It is.

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