Page 7 of Knot Your Problem

“Fuck, Maia. You need to try and back away from them.”

I was getting desperate. Brute force would not solve this. I knew that. Dio and I were outnumbered and strangers here. Damon had been wary and confrontational when we arrived, and our truce to defend the farm was precarious.

His show of dominance just now made challenging Damon suicidal, but I’d do it for my sister. I owed her if everything Damon had alluded to was true, and she had been tortured at the Palace while I was gone. I wouldn’t let anyone else harm her.

Before I could move to intervene further, a sultry voice said, “She can’t and doesn’t want to, anyway.”

I stilled. That sultry voice coming from so close behind me had my entire body alight with need and anticipation.

“I’m pretty sure she’s in heat,” she clarified.

“What the hell is a heat?” Dio asked her, bouncing his gaze between everyone in front of us while he moved to my other side. He leaned in closer and took a deep breath, mesmerized.

“Oh shit, what the fuck is up with her scent? It’s like a sexual napalm, and it’s pulling at me,” he said as he quickly stepped back again and tried to adjust his junk discreetly. I elbowed him hard, and he let out a loud grunt.

I couldn’t scent anything or feel anything more than Maia’s usual scent, which was stronger and sweeter. Another woman stepped forward. I think she had been kneeling next to my pink-haired beauty, but she seemed unharmed. A man jerked forward to hold her back when Maia hissed at her like an angry kitten. He was barely standing, he looked like he’d put up one hell of a fight.

I caught a whiff of dark cherries and ice cream coming from them. They were clearly omegas, and I think they were the pair Damon, Leif, and Hunter had rescued from the Palace last night.

But neither created any pull within me, unlike the woman I couldn’t scent. Interesting.

I needed to find out what the hell was going on.

“Shit, even I can feel that. This is bad,” the male omega grunted. He looked like he was trying not to breathe any more than he had to for basic survival.

“Damon, you need to get her out of here now. When the heat starts, it deepens her scent and draws alphas in,” the female omega said. “She’s definitely in heat now, and she’s going to set off every alpha in the area that’s unrelated to her. We don’t need an alpha frenzy on our hands.”

So I wasn’t reacting because I was Maia’s brother?If that was the case, and every alpha here but me was going to respond to Maia’s scent, we were in some serious shit.

Leif and Max had hogtied the intruder alphas with duct tape brought by a young beta, Nick, but it would only hold as long as they were willing. Any of them could break through if they became motivated enough. For an alpha in a frenzy, it would be like tying them up with string cheese.

“Lexie, you’re in charge,” Damon ground out around clenched teeth, staring at the object of my intense desire, and my hackles rose. I didn’t want him looking at her right now, but at least I had a name.Lexie.

He must have a lot of respect for her if he trusted her with the farm and security with a bunch of strange alphas here.

“Get Dave down here and let him know Sam has backup on the way,” Damon continued, not paying me any attention.

I looked at my watch quickly. My team was ten minutes away, coming in hot in a helicopter.

“Keep people away from our cabin. Feel free to smack around any alphas who get out of line. Get the other women on board if you have to. We’re relying on you,” Damon added.

“I’ll help her,” Sirena, piped up. She had been full of surprises today. I didn’t know her, but we’d researched her family while undercover. I couldn’t believe no-one here knew she was Ronan’s sister until today. Her relationship with him, if there was one beyond blood ties, hadn’t stopped her from pointing a gun at him to defend Maia.

Lexie looked at Sirena suspiciously, though, as if she didn’t trust her. Which had me on edge. Before Lexie turned and nodded at Damon quickly. He grabbed Maia and swept her up in his arms. Maia immediately moaned and started kissing and sucking his neck.

I went to turn away, but Max was suddenly in front of me. He was barely in control and breathing hard, but he was doing a little better than his mates appeared to be. Not by much, though. Betas weren’t as driven by scent as alphas, but he seemed to be picking up his mate’s intensity. Probably something to do with the two bite marks he was sporting on his neck.

Leif looked a hair’s breadth from throwing fists. At the same time, Hunter was glaring death at everyone around us, holding one hand protectively on Maia’s back.

“Can you back up Lexie and help Dave secure the farm? Lexie is our sister.”

Lexie was their sister? How was she all of their sister?But that was a question for another day.

“Can you promise me you won’t hurtmysister?“ I demanded. Fear and desperation for Maia were coming out in anger, making my voice growl dangerously low. I’d just found my sister and now they wanted to take her away while she was vulnerable and had just been attacked. All my instincts rebelled.

Max was in my face instantly, a ballsy move for a beta. “We wouldneverhurt your sister. She’s our mate,“ he growled, low and angry.

Leif instantly stepped up behind Max, but Dio got in the middle of us before any fists flew, pushing me back.

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