Page 27 of Harley

I don’t want my hormones to get the best of me. Don’t want my heat to come early and I lose all control of myself. I’m feeling like the room is much smaller than it is...like the walls are closing in on me.

Dash gently touches my back. It’s a sweet gesture, but it’s all too much, too soon. I scramble off Knight’s lap and have to bite my cheek to stop myself whining at the loss of touch, which is silly. One moment of touch in four years, and I’m addicted already.

They all shift toward me, and the omega in me freezes. Too many alphas, their scents more than enticing, and I was not prepared for this. I wait for the alpha bark, forcing me to stop. But it doesn’t come. I should have known it wouldn’t. They’re not Jonathan and his pack. They have proved that already.

“Sweetheart, is everything okay? Did we say something wrong?” Jax asks softly, and my eyes flick to him. He hasn’t moved from where he’s standing, and I’m grateful. His eyes roam my body, but not in a sexual way. More like he’s looking for an injury. He won’t find one...on the outside, that is. I let out a small breath at that. He just wants to make sure I’m okay.

I shake my head and quickly look to Knight. His expression falls, and I can tell he thinks I’m rejecting him. I didn’t mean to do that to him. Fuck. I’m fucking this all up.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t...I...” How do I say I’ve been touch starved for so long that, now, it’s more overwhelming than I expected? Even though I just told them all I want more touch? I wasn’t thinking straight. Touch-drunk?

I look to Knight’s hard length in his jeans—fuck, it’s huge. Oh, god. He’s so big and I’m so small. How will that even fit? I didn’t think about this until now. He lets out a groan as he cups it through his jeans. Oh, shit. Shit.

I squeak and stumble backward, away from him. In a flash, Dash is beside me. Not touching me, but just there. What happened to the confident me? The one who told the world I don’t want to be locked away and become a sex toy?

“Harley. My job as the pack beta is to make sure you’re taken care of, and I’m fucking that up immensely.”

Looking up into his big, brown eyes and sad smile, I feel terrible that he thinks he’s doing a bad job. He’s not. I just don’t know what to do, myself. There are just so many scents, and touch, and all of it is more than I imagined. I’m overwhelmed.

“I’m fucking it up, not you. I just—” I let out a deep breath. “I don’t know, I’m happy to be with you all. I’m glad you are my pack. It’s just, before I was at the Omega House, I was a beta. Then I was whisked away and spent four years with other omegas and betas. The only alphas I knew in that time were Pack Henley.”

Growls sound around the room, and I still. I look to Ace, the pack leader.

“Sorry, Harley. Just the mention of that pack has us reacting. You’re not fucking anything up. We understand all this must be new and different for you. It is for us as well. I’m sure there will be hiccups at the start, but if we communicate with each other, we can hopefully get on the same page. Do you think that sounds reasonable?”

I nod and swallow, grateful he doesn’t think I’m some silly omega. I like how he understands me.

“I think I’m just a little overwhelmed, and I didn’t mean to upset you, Knight. I just freaked out and I overreacted. I felt your...and I realized I’m not ready for that. Not tonight.”

I don’t look at Knight when I speak, not wanting to see that expression on his face again. I didn’t mean to upset him. Instead, I look to Dash. I feel safe with him. I don’t know if it’s because he’s the beta and smaller...less alpha.

“Babe, fuck.” I chance a look at Knight, who’s raking his hands through his hair. “I’m sorry. My body reacts like that to your scent. I never wanted to do anything but hold you. You keep my mind here...” He taps his temple. “You have no idea how long I have waited for you. I would never do anything to hurt you or rush you. Take all the time you need, Harley.”

A lone tear rolls down my cheek. Ace said he was turning feral. That my scent triggered it when we met that day in the diner. I’m the one who started all of this. I caused him so much pain. And now I did it again with my actions. Fuck.

“I’m so sorry I did that. My scent...I think. I believe when you came into that diner, you awoke something in me. Days later, I was an omega, lost and confused. All I thought about was you finding me and claiming me, and now that you’re here...I’m scared.” I whisper the last part. I’m scared of this all being taken away again.

I watch as he crawls to the floor, keeping low and less intimating to my small stature. He reaches his hand out and leaves it for me there on the rug.

“Don’t be sorry. You have nothing to be sorry for. I wish I would’ve known what was going to happen. I wouldn’t have left you behind, Harley. Please believe me when I say that I never wanted you to feel lost or confused. Then or now. This is new for all of us, like Ace said. The alpha in me just wants to hold and protect you. That’s all. I’ll try to keep my body more under control.”

I shake my head. Gosh, he’s just too perfect. Better than my dreams.

“No.” I reach for his hand and place it on top of his. “I was reacting to you as well, and I just...I should have said something, not jumped off your lap like you were on fire.” He chuckles and so does Dash. I look to Jax, who has a huge grin on his face, and I smile.

“It’s not that funny.” I giggle a little. Maybe it was.

“Knight is used to being the second-best-looking here. So, it was good for his ego when you jumped off him.” Jax rounds the couch and ruffles Knight’s hair.

Knight just rolls his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah, old man,” Knight says as he flips off Jax.

“So, who is the best-looking if Knight is second?” I ask, and the room grows quiet all of a sudden.

Did I say something wrong? Ugh, I feel like I’m going to keep failing.

“How about you tell me who is the most handsome of all?” Dash breaks the silence with a wiggle of his brows at me. I know he is just trying to help me out of whatever I walked into.

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