Page 33 of Knot For Keeps

“Why can’t you just leave things be?” I asked.

“I have been told I’m rather stubborn,” she said, looking up at me. This close she seemed so small, her head hardly reached the top of my chest and she had to really crane her neck to get a good look at me this close.

I took a deep breath. Wasn’t Gage always telling me I should talk about my feelings more, let people know what I think?

“You need to stop mooning over the others,” I growled. “They're not yours.”

Lavender pulled back, her forehead wrinkling in confusion. “I know they’re not mine,” she said. “Youkidnappedme, remember? It’s not like I’m a willing participant in this,” she waved her hand vaguely around the room, “mess of a situation.”

I huffed in frustration, looking away. “You’re having cuddles with a pack of alphas that aren’t yours. They belong to someone else.”

“What do you mean?” Her expression faltered, unease spreading across her face. “And if you think I wanted to play snuggle bug with them then you are even denser than I thought. You saw how sick I was. My hands were kind of tied, buddy.”

“They already have an omega,” I snarled.

“What?” Lavender's jaw dropped and her eyes searched my face. “Who?” she asked, her mouth opening and closing several times, like she wanted to say more, but couldn’t find the words. The air filled with a slightly burnt scent, like caramel that had been cooked too long. She was either upset or pissed, but I didn’t know her well enough to tell which.

“Is it important?” I growled. “Stop charming alphas that don’t belong to you.”

“I-I’m sorry,” she stuttered. “I didn’t mean to, I was just being friendly given the less than ideal situation we were in—none of you ever mentioned another omega. I want to go home, I’m not looking to stay here.”

“I also want that, but until this nightmare is over, don’t get too close to them. Physically you don’t have a choice but you don’t have to be so goddamn friendly with them,” I said, turning to storm out of the room while Lavender tried to find her words again.

I hadn’t taken three steps before something soft hit the back of my head and a tiny, pissed off omega was stomping up to me.

“Hold up—you giant dick features. You’re going to have to explain that a little more, because if you assholes haveanotheromega stashed around here somewhere, I should know!” She glared at me.

It seemed she found her words.

“I don’t have to explain anything to you,” I growled. “You’re a captive here, learn your fucking place!” I said, taking several long strides so I was towering over her.

She didn’t even flinch. She waspissed.It would have been cute if I wasn’t so mad myself. Up close my nose was assaulted with her sweet vanilla and lavender scent.Why did she have to smell so good? Why couldn’t we have been stuck with an omega who smelled like onions, or motor oil?

“Oh trust me, I know my place, and it’s nowhere near this shit show. You keep talking about the others like you’re not part of the pack, what’s your damage?”

“I’mnotpart of their pack. My sister is their omega.” I snarled. Why was she so fucking inquisitive? I was tempted to throw her into the closet and lock it to stop her following me, but that would be a twat move.

“Your sister?” she asked, running her hand through her hair, unease filling her voice.

I couldn’t take it: the burnt sugar, her questioning face. I didn’t have it in me to explain how I failed Juniper, how I kept fucking up at every turn.

So I just turned and left the dumbstruck omega standing in the middle of the room that was meant for my sister.

This time she didn’t follow me.

ChapterNineteen

Lavender

The fucking nerve of that man. He had the audacity to kidnap me, then complain I was being too friendly with my kidnappers? The stupid jerk needed a reality check. Growling with anger I threw a pillow across the room in the general direction of the door, ignoring the fact he was long gone.

They had an omega? Where on earth was she? This nest was clearly intended for an omega, I was obviously the first one in it—there wasn’t even a trace of another omega.

I needed answers, and not the answers a grumpy, overly stoic Kane would give me. That man’s panties were so far up his buttcrack he was forever pissed at the world. I knew who my best shot at getting answers was, so poking my head out of my door to ensure the grump was gone, I padded down the hallway, following my nose.

Archer’s room was the same as I had seen in all his video calls: the cool, muted greys and minimal furniture covered by several computers in various states of repair. The curtains were open and the room well lit, so it didn’t seem overwhelming. The scent of sweet sugar and gummy bears was thick in the air. A few weeks ago I would have been obsessed with such a scent. Now it was a reminder of all the hurt feelings and pain he had caused.

The alpha I was looking for was sitting at his desk, a screwdriver in hand as he took some poor lump of technology apart. I hadn’t bothered to knock when I entered the room, opting to simply storm in.

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