Page 26 of Harley

He hands Harley the beer, and she takes a swig, her face screwing up as she swallows. She looks down at the beer then back up to Jax.

“That tastes bad,” she says, handing it back to him. But before it can get into his hand, Knight takes it and has a taste. His brows furrows

“Nah, babe. It tastes good to me.” He has another mouthful before handing it to me. Harley looks at the bottle as if it offended her.

“Then beer is gross,” she says as I take a sip. It goes down smooth. It’s a good beer. Not bad at all. Maybe she’s never tasted beer before?

“Blasphemy.” I wink at her, and she giggles. But then she stops as she looks over my shoulder. Her face drops, and I can tell what she just saw. Zayd left the room. It’s normal for us, he just leaves without saying a word.

“Don’t worry about Zayd, babe. He’s just a little shy...he’s...fuck, help me out, guys.” Knight gestures for help on how to word Zayd. Hell, you can’t. The guy is complex.

“Zayd, he’s....mute,” Ace finishes for Knight.

I can see the wheels turning in her head. “Mute?”

CHAPTER 12

HARLEY

It's so weird being in their space. Their house smells like them, like they’ve lived here forever...without me. Pack Bentley has a past that I don’t have with them. Getting to know them is going to be interesting. They’re all so different, from what I’ve seen, and not like the alphas I met at the meet and greet, who wanted to claim me and breed me. At least, that’s the vibe they gave off, with their beady eyes and aggressive interest.

These alphas seem more scared of me than I am of them—well, not so much Knight. He hasn’t let go of me once since he met me up on that stage. But the others...they haven’t made a move to touch me or demand I touch them. Things that I was sure alphas would expect. But from what they have shown me so far, these alphas and beta just want to hold me. Feed me. I can sense it—that all they want to do is take care of me.

Even though this pack is my scent match, I need to be careful. I don’t want to lose my heart in here and have it broken. If Veronica figures out how I cheated, then she will take me from them. I know that she would do anything to see me unhappy. I wouldn’t survive if they sent me back to the Omega House or to another pack.

Noticing the tall one—Zayd—leave the room as we are all laughing, I worry that I’ve said something wrong. He's been silent since I got here, and I don't know if it's because he doesn't want me here. I can understand if he doesn’t. This pack seems to have been together a long time before I came along. I don’t want to cause issues between them.

“Don’t worry about Zayd, babe. He’s just a little shy...he’s...fuck, help me out, guys.” Knight waves his hand around to where they are all standing.

This room is small to house so many alphas. But I like it. I love cozy spaces. It reminds me of my home with my dad and brother. Ugh, I need to get those thoughts out of my head. I’m never seeing them again, and it saddens me that I didn’t get to say goodbye to them. Not really.

Zayd is just shy? And what? My heart races...does he hate me? I don’t want to live here and upset the balance in this pack. I would never want to be the cause of a rift.

“Zayd he’s...mute.” Ace’s eyes are on me. It’s obviously not something he says often about his pack member. But I can tell he doesn’t mean it as a weakness. Ace doesn’t want me to think differently of him.

“Mute?” I question. I’ve never met someone who is mute, so I want to make sure I get this right. “He can’t talk?” I whisper, not wanting Zayd to hear us talking about him. I don’t want him to feel like we are going behind his back when he’s just down that hall and can’t speak up to defend himself.

“Yeah.” Ace runs his fingers through his beard. “Zayd can’t speak. Doesn’t mean he’s got nothing to say. He can sign, but he’s not a fan of talking that way. He’s...” Ace trails off, trying to find the right words. But I understand what he’s trying to say. That just because Zayd doesn’t voice his opinions doesn’t mean he doesn’t have them. It doesn’t make him less than. I love that they all care so much for him. The way they all look to where he just left.

“He’s just Zayd.” Dash adds. “He will talk to you in other ways. He’s the best listener. He bakes amazing cookies. But I won’t say more...you’ll find out. Just give him time. He’s...Zayd.” Dash shrugs, and I give him a smile, but it doesn’t reach my eyes.

I can’t help feeling like my being here is already pushing him away. I don’t want him to feel like he can’t be in here when I’m around. I would never think of him any differently just because he can’t speak.

“He lives in his room more often than not, so it’s not unusual for him to go there without saying a word to us,” Knight says, seeming to read my mind. “That’s normal for us, but for someone who doesn’t know Zayd, it might look rude. He works from home, so he’s probably catching up on his job.” Knight strokes my back again, and I look into those eyes of his. I can’t believe this day is real. I’m here. Not at the Omega House.

“Okay.” I nod to them all. He’s just being Zayd. No need to overthink it.

“Just, know that if it got out. We would lose you. No one knows that he can’t… Just if it was known we would be labelled differently. And wouldn’t have been allowed to enter the Choosing Day.” Ace adds, and I understand what he’s saying.

I have heard the rules, they are strict. They don’t want omegas with alphas with disabilities that they can pass down onto offspring. That’s okay with me… until the world changes I have no intention on bringing children into this fucked up world.

God, Knight is beautiful, and all I can think about is how much I want to kiss him. I shouldn’t. I want to get to know them all better before we step over that line and go into the nest. I don’t think I’m ready to be knotted just yet. Hell, I only had my first kiss last week, and that was with someone I had spent six months getting to know. This...I don’t want to rush something and regret it later. I want Gage to be here. He will know what I need. I miss him.

“What’s going through that head of yours?” Knight tips his head to the side. “You can talk to me, Harley,” he whispers as his eyes roam my face, landing on my lips.

His lips are so pink and plump. They look soft. Kissable. I need to stand up before I do that and it goes further. I shift my ass on his lap and freeze when I feel his hard length under me, and he makes a pleased sound in the back of his throat.

The omega in me is thrilled with his reaction to me. My scent. Hell, I’ve been perfuming non-stop since he came to me on that stage, and I’m struggling to think straight with his scent...all their scents in one room.

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