Page 71 of Knot Your Problem

“We can help with that,” came a dark voice from behind me. I whipped around to find Pala leaning on the wall, barely a meter away from us. I glared at him.

“You scared the crap out of me. I think a little pee actually came out,” I whispered, a little harsher than I intended, while my heart was racing.

He just arched an eyebrow at me. Shit, that confession was definitely not sexy talk.Damn ninja alphas. How long had he been standing there?

Pala pointedly looked at the boy I had shoved between me and the wall. “So we’re ransacking the supply closet for his mom, or are we taking them with us?” He asked calmly, yet resolutely. Like it was a given, we were going to help the kid.

I narrowed my eyes at Pala before I turned back to Ziggy. “How many women are hiding in the museum?”

“Three, including my mom.”

My heart dropped. I couldn’t transport that many back right now and it was a long walk to the farm for people who hadn’t had regular meals in days, or longer. Plus, I knew his mom was a fighter. She was a teacher at the local high school and she loved this town. She raised all kinds of hell at local council meetings to get resources for the kids. I knew she’d want us to save the town, not just her.

“Can you hold on for a few days if we get you the food and into a safer place? You’re going to have to lie low too, because we just took out two of their men,” I asked.

“Plus, you now have her omega scent all over you,” Pala added. “You can’t go near an alpha for a day or two or they’ll scent her. They won’t be nice about asking where she is.”

My head filled with curses for not even thinking of that. I’d just put an, ‘I know an omega’ neon sign above this kid’s head. It sickened me that I had put him in even more danger. I was used to being able to hug whoever I wanted without branding them.

I was grateful that Pala had thought of it. I was going to have to show him just how thankful I was later.

Ziggy nodded at Pala, but looked at me strangely. “You weren’t an omega before.”

I sighed as I ruffled his hair affectionately. “Yeah. Long story, kid.”

He groaned quietly and dodged my hand, flattening his hair back down. I tried not to laugh. Even in an apocalypse, teenagers were all the same.

“You need to head back to the bike. We’ll grab some food, head to the museum, then get everyone to the safe house.”

I wanted to argue, but I knew his original argument still stood. If I attempted to go near the museum, I’d lead a scent path straight to it. I’d just started to reconcile myself to the idea of being an omega, because the sex was fan-fucking-tastic, but my new scent was quickly becoming a pain in the ass.

How the hell was I supposed to sneak around and help people if everyone could smell me coming, or smell where I’d been. My anger made my passionfruit scent spike even higher, with a slight, yet sharp, tang of lime entering the mix. I groaned in frustration.

“Fine,” I ground out.

Pala leant down and straightened out one of my fists to hold my hand, brushing his thumb gently across the back. “I know this isn’t fair, but thank you for trusting me to do this for you.”

Cue swooning. I swear I could hear cheesy music playing somewhere. My anger dissipated like smoke on a breeze. I had to stop myself from melting into him as the draw between us intensified and my scent swung back to syrupy sweet passion fruit meringue. Who the hell was this guy? I really wanted to climb him like a tree right now.

I shook myself instead and stepped away. His eyes tracked my every movement.

“Ask his mom why she isn’t in the safe house instead of the museum. She has a passcode. See if there’s anything going on there we should know before you head there. I don’t want you walking into a trap.”

His eyes lit up in the darkness at the smallest evidence I cared about his welfare, and his earthy sage scent sweetened with cinnamon. At the first hit, I covered my mouth and nose with my hand, and tried not to breathe. The pull between us didn’t need to flare any hotter right now.

“Keep him safe,” I begged.

“Goes without saying,” Pala replied calmly.

I turned to the kid. “Listen to Pala. He’ll show you the stop and move signals. Watch him and follow closely. I know you’ve probably gotten good at keeping to shadows and sneaking around the past few days, but he’s a master at it.”

I gave one last glance to Pala, desperately hoping I’d see him again and that he wouldn’t disappear into the night. I refused to be a needy omega and beg him, though. He seemed to sense my unease, regardless.

“I’ll make it back to you, or I’ll die trying.” He declared simply, but the effect it had on my omega was like a firework set off in a soda can. It split me open. It didn’t make it easier to leave or even think coherently. I grabbed him and kissed him hard and fierce, running my hands up into his long dark hair and pulling hard, wanting him to feel as much pain and desire twined together as I did right now.

I groaned as I wrenched myself away and turned my back on him to walk away for the second time tonight. I felt a physical ache settle into my bones and I chanted in my head with every step,it’s not goodbye, it’s not goodbye.

I was going to figure out how to walk towards, instead of away from, this intriguing, beautiful man before the night was out.

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