Page 183 of Knot So Social

“Wait!” I hiss. “Put something in my mouth. I don’t want to wake her.”

Joel flails around until his hand lands on one of the discarded cushions Willow likes to keep on her bed. He positions it in front of my face, and I bite down on the thick corner.

“Ready?” Jeremy whispers.

I nod.

He chomps down and I jerk in shock. Alpha pheromones flood through me, potent and foreign. I tense against the invasion. For a single moment, the scents in the room are so vivid I can see them as colors. Swirling white Jasmine, coppery clay, and green rosemary. Even my own pale scent swirls in between the others. Our four separate breathing patterns roar like storms in my ears. Heartbeats become audible.

I stiffen, senses overloaded. And then, through the hot, swirling mess comes a calm. More like cheerfulness. The essence of a man who loves the guitar and helping others, cooking a good meal, and having a laugh. A glass half-full man.

I gasp around my mouthful, accepting the flow of Jeremy’s presence as it swarms through me, settling in my consciousness.

One down, one to go.

Joel rolls until he can reach my forearm where it wraps around Willow. I release my grip so my arm flops out into his hands. He glances at me for confirmation, and I nod.

His teeth descend.

I squeeze my eyes shut again, the onslaught of senses as powerful as the first time, but not as shocking. Joel’s essence swirls through me, more rigid than his brother’s, the alpha spirit close to the surface. It comes with a fierce sense of loyalty, the need to occupy his hands constantly, and the laser focus of a scent-match alpha always attuned to his omega.

I suck in a huge lungful of air as the newest bond sinks into my psyche. It’s like I forgot to breathe for a minute there, overwhelmed with new sensations.

The scents in the room settle as the new pack link sinks deep, adding another awareness to the back of my mind. I lean against Jeremy with a weary sigh. I grew up as an only child, wondering what it was like to have a sibling, knowing I never would.

But now, suddenly, I’ve gained two brothers.

Jeremy massages the sore spot on my shoulder, his touch speaking volumes.

“You can return them tomorrow, when your hands are free,” he murmurs by my ear.

I nod in silence.

United, we all settle down on the beds, finally relaxing after a whirlwind of a day. Joel pulls the comforter up, tucking it carefully over our omega before wriggling in at her back.

Jeremy drifts off first, his breaths heavy against my neck. Joel follows him soon after, a protective arm looped over Willow’s waist. I lay awake, a half-smile curving my mouth. But it fades as my omega stirs and rolls onto her back, breaths growing jagged and slurred words spilling from her tongue.

I kiss her cheek and pull her nose to my throat until she relaxes. With a shaky sigh, she sinks deep into bliss.

But despite the beauty of our union, her shattered life lurks at the door, waiting for her to wake. No one knows what the morning will bring.

Chapter fifty-seven

Willow

I wake with a jolt, the memories of yesterday slamming through me. I wait a moment, for the paralyzing panic to follow, but it doesn’t. Maybe it’s the scent of my three alphas lying heavy in the room, or the grounding ache of three bite wounds on my body, but the despair remains dormant.

Doesn’t take away the nausea in my stomach when I consider that Boss Omega is probably done for, especially since I haven’t put out a statement yet. But lying snuggled into Alessandro’s chest, with a heavy hand locked around my waist from one of the brothers, it’s like their arms form a cage that banishes the crushing weight of failure.

I lie still for as long as I can manage before my body protests, digesting all that’s happened to me. I, Willow Sheldon, an abandoned omega, actually accepted a pack’s bonding. And even though I search for it, I can’t find even a speck of regret.

I just needed to meet the right men to realize not all alphas are jerks. Which leads me to ask: Have I been too harsh on alphas all this time on my channel? I smile to myself as all the bigoted comments telling me to get back in my nest come to mind. No, I can be as harsh as I like, so long as I remember that it’s not all alphas.

My alphas aren’t like that.

Even knowing I’m a broken liar, they still held me close and begged to help. They also stopped me from doing something so stupid, I can’t believe I even considered it.

I ease upright. Jeremy’s snoring into Alessandro’s back, which means the solid arm over my hip belongs to Joel. I shift it off me with difficulty; even in sleep my alpha doesn’t want to release me.