Page 33 of Knotty New Year

“There is no way out,” she said ominously. “I would know.”

I had to stop myself from apologizing to Rain, for bringing up what had to be the worst possible memories.

She had encountered her true mate on vacation when she was much younger, and he’d rejected her flat out. She never talked about it, and I was pretty sure only Soleil and I even knew it had happened.

Her smile was sad and fleeting. “Listen, Candy, if that fucker can’t see how miraculously amazing you are, if he doesn’t understand that you’re the main attraction of his entire life, his fated mate queen, then he doesn’t deserve you.”

“Like you said, it’s a little late now. It’s not like I can take him back for a billion-dollar refund.”

Her dark eyes narrowed as she handed my phone back and got hers out. “No, you can’t. But I can take himdown, Candy. I know a lot of ways to make an alpha disappear. Even one his size.”

“Disappear?” I swallowed hard.

“You think I’ve learned nothing in all my years of watching true crime shows? All it takes is planning, a solid alibi, and a pig farm if we can find one.” She began tapping on her phone. “Give me a minute. Gotta use an untraceable VPN…”

“I don’t want to feed my true mate to pigs!” I blurted out. “I just want him to love me enough that he’ll tell people, that even if his family h-hates me—” I stopped talking and stuck my chin out, trying to forestall the tears I could feel coming.

Gah!Why was I this emotional? I counted back the months since my twelve-month fertility and heat suppressant shot. I wasn’t due to turn into an emotional wreck for at least ten more months, give or take. Was this was what a mate bond did to an omega? Turned her into a basket case?

“What if I’m not enough for him?”

“Candy, Nicholas Paxson is a lot of things, but he’s not a fool. He’s gonna have you locked down and popping out tiny heirs to his billions within a year.”

“But why would he be ignoring me now? This is supposed to be the honeymoon phase, right? Why would he even think sending me off ahead would be okay? I know work’s bad, but… am I mated to a man who won’t put me first?” I whispered aloud, wondering if I’d made a mistake. A terrible, emotionally crushing mistake.

“A mistake? All alphas are mistakes.”

Ugh, I’d said that part out loud? Of course I had. “Not helpful, Rainy Day.”

She lifted one narrow, dark brow. “But true.” She rubbed my shoulder awkwardly. “If he doesn’t end up loving you with every ounce of his being, Candy Kane, he’s the biggest fool ever. And Iwillfeed his dead alpha corpse to pigs if he hurts you. I already told him that, more or less.”

Damnit.The words “if he doesn’t love you” hit me right in the hormones. I wiped away a tear as Rain sat next to me, her own eyes wide, like I’d done something terrifying.

“There, there,” she said, patting my hand. “No crying or I’ll have a panic attack. You know that.” I struggled to control myself, knowing it was true. Rain might not have a lot of emotional intelligence, but she more than made up for it with loyalty, honesty, and dark humor.

“Candy, will it make you feel more in control of your emotions if I let you help me research local pig farms? Or should I just do it quietly, so you can rest?”

“Don’t feed my fiancé to pigs, Rain,” I sniffled.

“Fine,” she grumbled, patting my hand a few more times. “If you change your mind, just say the word.”

“What word?”

Her eyes sparkled with humor. “Hmm. How aboutgrapefruit?”

I fell back on my bed. “I should never have told you about his knot,” I wheezed once I’d stopped laughing. “It’s not actually that big. I mean… a small grapefruit, maybe. Like, a navel orange? Not one of those pomelos or anything.”

“Listen, if an alpha comes at me with half of a baseball bat, and a softball-sized knot at the end of it, I’m running. I don’t care if he smells like Chez Palette on dark chocolate raspberry croissant baking day. I want to keep my intestines where they are, and my cervix unperforated, thank you very much.” She shivered, waving a hand down her tiny frame. “That shit won’t fit.”

“We’re omegas, Rain,” I teased, more than happy at the topic she’d chosen to pull me out of my mood. “We’re literally made for alpha cock and knots.” I smiled, remembering my alpha’s knot. “And breakfast in bed.”

A huge waft of strawberries and cream filled the air around us.

“For crying out loud, Candy.” Rolling off the bed, Rain ran for the window again. “You’re going to make me puke. When’s your next heat cycle, anyway?”

“I got my twelve-month shot in October.”

“That’s right. Maybe your intense odor is a mated omega thing.” She stuck her head out the window, overdramatically gasping for air. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to eat a strawberry tart again.”

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