Page 29 of Knot Alone

I’m stunned too. But I stick to it. “I said, get the fuck out of my room.”

“Maggie!” Marie gasps.

“No! You don’t get to come in here and shout slurs at me and then be angry when I say them back!”

“You snarled at me!”

“You called me dirty!”

“Because heats are! And you know it! That’s why you’ve never gone to the Center before!”

“I’ve never gone—” Because I felt like they were dirty.

Oh.

I’ve never thought of it that way before. I’ve thought of my heats as inconvenient, and messy, and taking up too much time, which are all just polite ways of saying disgusting. But Charlie and Marie sure as hell don’t deserve to know that.

“I’ve never gone because I haven’t chosen to go before. Why I am going this time is none of your business.”

“You’re going because there’s an Alpha.” Charlie sneers. “The kids said you weren’t in your bed when they went looking for you this morning.”

“I’m going because I’m an Omega and sometimes we need to have heats where there are doctors.”

“You’re not having it because there’s a doctor, you’re having it because of whoever in the hell was on the phone!”

“No, she’s having it at the Center because you asked her not to have it here.” Graham’s voice soothes like cream on a burn. Tension drops out of my shoulders as the roiling heat of his scent rolls through the room and tells me I’m safe.

“What—we didn’t—Maggie!” Charlie sputters, though that might be less about calling him out and more about tossing myself in Graham’s arms.

Graham lifts me up and holds me close to murmur, “Okay?” in the shell of my ear.

“Get me out of here,” I whisper back.

Graham sets me down and reaches for my luggage, careful to keep himself between Charlie and me. “All packed?” I nod, and Graham zips the case closed before he hefts it into one hand.

“I did no such thing!” Charlie comes back to himself half a conversation later. “And we’re not going to let you walk out of here—”

“With a grown woman?” Graham says, steady. “And it’s on her Center paperwork. Confirmed that Maggie had to alter her usual heat routine because of changed circumstances at home. Though, I’ll be letting them know they got it wrong. It’s not ‘changed’ circumstances, they’re ‘hostile’ circumstances.”

“We’re not—”

“Keep your damn voice down.” Graham snaps. “The kids let me in the front door and they can hear you up here yelling at her. Just like they can scent you. Get your temper under control.”

The kids. I hadn’t thought about the kids. I clench Graham’s hand.

“They’re fine. And they’ll stay fine so long as their parents get their shit together.”

“Who the hell are you?” Charlie demands.

“None of your business,” Graham says, though he pulls a business card out of his pocket. “If you need to contact Maggie for any reason over the next few days, this is our caseworker. She’ll make the determination if your contact is important because Maggie will not be answering her phone or emails.” With that, Graham sweeps us both down the stairs.

Despite everything, and despite knowing that the two of them are immediately going to call the rest of the family and tell them the worst possible version of events, Marie is still my sister. I pause at the front door and look up at her watching me from the stairs with narrow, suspicious eyes. “I’ll be at the Center for a few days. Please tell Mom and Dad I’ll call them when I’m done.”

“Maggie. You don’t have to do this. You can stay here.” Charlie says, like it’s a big deal to let me stay in my own damn house when they turned up without warning and told me to leave.

I want to snap, but the kids are peeking around the corner from the kitchen. “I’ll see you in a few days, guys.” The six of them come stumbling out for hugs and questions, all of which I answer with vague replies to pacify their parents. Marie and Charlie would flip if I used the word ‘heat.’

Marie hugs me last, murmuring in my ear, “Are you sure you can trust him?” It’s not really a question. It’s to sow doubt.

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