Page 35 of Knot Now Knot Ever

“What?” I blurted, looking between Eli and Tanner. “Are you saying that Fawn and I are the only two who don’t know?”

Both men nodded, and Tanner looked incredibly uncomfortable with the whole matter.

“Apology accepted,” Fawn said, then gestured for Eli to continue. “Now hurry up and spill the tea so we don’t have to pretend we’re having an orgy to explain our absence.”

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to smack Fawn or laugh about the fact that was his go-to plan. However, the threat did the trick, and Eli gave us the basic breakdown of what happened with his sister. At one point, I had to cover my mouth to keep from gasping in shock at the revelation the ex-boyfriend’s mother was a Scent Matcher.

“The lawsuit I have against her is for harboring a fugitive and abuse of power for covering up what happened to the first Omega as well as with my sister,” Eli explained. “None of it was directed at the Scent Matcher organization as a whole, which is probably why I didn’t think they’d try to pull a stunt like this.”

“Let me get this straight. Mr. Noble wants us to join him for a press photo op to prove you’re not going after his company?” I questioned.

“In a nutshell, yes,” Eli confirmed. “His hope is that doing this will keep the public from turning on the Scent Matchers and see it was simply one bad egg out of the bunch.”

All of this was becoming too much, and I leaned against the sink, pressing my palm to my forehead. Memories of the days after my fathers died and the media frenzy that followed was not a time I wanted to remember or experience again. If we went out there and told the world we were a pack blessed with the rare situation of having two Omegas, they’d never leave us alone.

“I-I can’t do this,” I whispered.

Eli pulled me into his arms and started to purr, letting the sound offer me comfort that no words could. “I’m so sorry, Lyra. I never expected something like this to happen. It kills me that I got everyone involved when that was the last thing I wanted. Unfortunately, I’ve put our pack in a position where we’re stuck between a rock and a hard place. Either we do this press appearance and deal with unwanted attention for a little while, or we leave without saying a word. If we go with the latter choice, the media will hound our pack every waking moment until they get their pound of flesh. Doing this means we get to control the story instead of them digging into our pasts to find the story they’re looking for, even if it’s not true.”

Clinging to Eli, I tried to calm myself and stop the shaking. He was right. If we didn’t give them something, they would create a story that would sell paper. “Okay, but I don’t want to speak,” I said, accepting the lesser of two evils.

“That’s perfectly fine. I got us into this, so I’ll deal with them,” Eli assured me, pulling back so he could kiss me. “I’m so sorry, my petal. If it were anyone but my sister, I would pull the lawsuit and forget this ever happened.”

“No, I understand that, and I might not like them dragging us into this, but what that woman did was unforgivable,” I shared, nuzzling into his hand that rested on my cheek. “The way you protect those you love is one thing I admire about you.”

Eli’s whole expression softened, and I saw just how much it meant to him for me to say that. “How I deserve to be this lucky, I’ll never know, but I don’t plan to question it.” He kissed me again before turning to face the other two. “Shall we get this over with?”

With his arms wrapped around Tanner’s waist, Fawn watched us with a sappy expression and nodded. “I just have to say you two are so fucking cute together. God, I love seeing people I care about so in love,” Fawn said with a little sniff as Tanner nuzzled his face in his Omega’s curls.

“Don’t get all sappy. You know how easily you cry, and then you’ll have puffy eyes for the camera,” Tanner warned affectionately.

That had Fawn snapping out of his melancholy mood and rushing over to the bathroom mirror. “Oh, thank fuck I did a full beat today.” He then turned to me and unzipped a pouch I hadn't noticed him wearing. “Here, let me add a little more color to your cheeks and lips so you don’t look like the walking dead on camera.”

Before I could argue, Fawn was blending out a cream blush on my cheeks with his finger. With the same blush, he tapped it on my lips before taking out a clear gloss. Instead of putting it on me, he applied it to his lips, grinned, and cupped my face. Fawn dived in for a kiss, pressing our lips together for a moment, then pulled back with a dramatic-sounding muah.

“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to try that with someone,” Fawn announced, chuckling to himself as he turned my head to face the mirror. “It really worked too.”

Sure enough, my lips were slightly glossed, my cheeks looked rosy pink, and then he pulled down my hair so it fell in soft waves over my shoulders.

“Perfect, now we don’t have to use the orgy excuse. No one could blame a person who wasn’t expecting to be on camera for a little primping,” Fawn pointed out.

“What about us?” Tanner asked, but his smirk told me he was kidding.

Fawn grabbed the man by his jacket and pulled him into a kiss with a lot more tongue than ours had been. “There, now you have some gloss too.”

Tanner burst out laughing as he cuddled Fawn to his chest, kissing his Omega breathlessly. “You sure about skipping the bathroom orgy, Fawnie?”

The Omega’s eyes were glazed over with pure enjoyment, but the question had him snapping back to reality. “Don’t tease. You know I have zero issues with public sex or getting caught, but we have to respect Eli and our angel. We’ve already been here too long.”

“All right then, let’s do this,” Eli decided, taking my hand and leading the way back to Mr. Noble.

When we arrived at the elevator, Duncan was back and looked none too pleased. “Is there anything else you require, or have you made Mr. Noble wait on you long enough?”

“Duncan,” Mr. Noble scolded. “My apologies. Duncan is rather overprotective for a Beta. However, if you’re ready, the press is waiting for us in the lobby.”

“After you,” Eli answered, gesturing for the man to proceed.

On the elevator, Eli tucked my arm through his, ensuring I was close by his side. Leaning down, he whispered. “If I have to step up and talk to the reporters about the lawsuit, I want you to go to Tanner. This is my fight, and I plan to keep it that way.”