Page 2 of Believe it or Knot

I tilt my head up to glare at him, even as I melt into his body. “Terrified of me? Jesus, you came storming up here looking ready to kill her. She was terrified of you.” The thought of that makes my stomach twist uncomfortably. I don’t want her to fear us—or anything. It’s a feeling I don’t fully understand, seeing as I’ve exchanged all of four sentences of conversation with her, but it’s there, all the same.

But then, I’ve always had a soft spot for pretty things, and the beta on the other side of this door is definitely pretty. Not the polished pretty I’m used to in my line of work, but a wild kind, untamable.

Looking at all that shiny wavy black hair, those aqua eyes, and her bare toes got me hard. Like instantly hard. That doesn’t happen with anyone but my pack.

Rafe hums and kisses my bonding bite, before lifting his hand and knocking on the door three times. I lean back against him as we wait, inhaling his winter forest scent, letting it soothe my omega, anxious about the girl inside the house.

“Come on, conejita,” Rafe calls, sounding amused as hell. “We know you’re there. We’ve seen you.”

Another minute passes and then the door cracks open, one aqua eye coming into view, followed by more and more of my beta. In the time since she slammed the door in my face, she’s changed into a pair of tight jeans. Her shirt is the same, but she’s put on a bra—shame, honestly, she should always go around with her tits free—and I can see the lacy white strap where the fabric drapes off one tan shoulder. The bright white draws my attention to the freckles that dot her skin like brown sugar or chocolate sprinkles. My mouth waters with the need to lick them.

She’s tamed her wild mane of dark hair into a bun at the top of her head, and I feel a moment of loss that she’s hidden it from me, from us. I want her to always be wild for us.

I grin at her, and I can feel Rafe doing the same. Still wrapped up in Rafe’s arms, I hold out a hand. “I’m Liam.”

“I know who you are,” she whispers, not meeting my eyes. There is no reason her knowing me should make my chest puff up with pride. Lots of people know me. But that she knows who I am makes my omega purr. She eyes my hand uncertainly, then slides her fingers into mine, warm and soft, but calloused. The feel of her skin is nearly enough to make me drip pre-cum, but I grit my teeth and keep my gaze neutral. “Sorrel… Forbes. Sorrel Forbes.”

“Sorrel.” Both Rafe and I murmur her name, shaping it on our tongues. It makes my omega so fucking happy that my alpha seems to be as affected by her as I am.

I stretch my lips into a beaming smile. “Well, Sorrel, I’m hoping you can help us. Our car broke down.” I hitch a thumb over my shoulder down her long driveway. “We tried to call for a tow, but neither of our phones has service.”

Sorrel nods. “Yeah, that’s a problem out here. No service.” She’s still standing halfway behind the door. She glances over her shoulder, her teeth chewing on her lower lip in a way that both makes me want to bite it myself and simultaneously chastise her for abusing the poor thing. The latter instinct wins out, my thumb tugging the flesh from between her lips.

“Don’t do that, lovely,” I murmur, swiping my thumb along the moist, pink flesh. “Looks like it hurts.”

Her breath puffs over my hand, and her eyes slip closed for a moment before she opens them. “I um, give me like five minutes and then you can come in and use my landline… or my internet? Or whatever and call for a tow.”

“Five-” Rafe starts, but she’s already closing the door again. I lean my shoulder against the doorjamb and smile up at my alpha.

“She’s so fucking pretty,” I comment, as a few thuds sound from inside the house, like she just ran by the door. “I want to keep her forever.”

Rafe narrows his eyes at me before edging to the side to peek in through the window. His mouth curls into a smile at whatever he sees. “Don’t get your hopes up, Liam. You can’t just claim someone because your omega wants them.”

I move next to him and see what made him smile. Sorrel is barreling around her living room, scooping up discarded clothing and a battered notebook with one hand and wiping down the coffee table with the other. She’s flushed and flustered. I wince when she bangs her knee against the corner of the table, making her hop to the kitchen where she starts frantically loading dishes into the dishwasher. I take the time to run my eyes over the rest of her house. It’s a single open room, half of it vaulted to the roof while the back half has what looks like a loft. There’s a staircase on the left side of the room, a fireplace on the right. The kitchen is tucked under the loft. And I spy a door that must lead out the back of the house to the lake.

It’s decorated in an explosion of colors that seemingly shouldn’t go together, but they somehow do. The shelves around the fireplace are a bright magenta. The couch is a deep teal with yellow and orange throw pillows. In the kitchen, the cabinets are a bright navy blue. It’s eclectic and sort of weird, but I love it.

Sorrel spins, still looking frantic, and both Rafe and I duck away from the window, cursing. “Let’s pretend we can’t get a tow until tomorrow,” I say as we move back to the front door.

“What? No.”

I’m nodding already though. “Yes. She’ll let us stay. We can get to know her. Convince her to come home with us.”

Rafe shakes his head. “Liam…”

Logically, I know I can’t just adopt a person like you can adopt a pet. I can’t just see someone and decide they’re mine and make them change their whole lives for me. Logically, I know that and that Rafe is right to warn me against it, but… my omega heart is very rarely logical. It wants what it wants, and it usually wants it right now.

My heart has very little patience.

I hit him with the puppy dog eyes, the ones that no one in my pack can resist. “Please, Rafe… Please? I just want to see if this connection I’m feeling,” I tap my chest, “will go anywhere. It’s just one night. Please? I know you want her too.”

He sighs and shakes his head ruefully. “You know I can’t deny you anything.” Then he gives me a stern look. The one that never fails to turn me on a little bit because of the daddy vibes it gives off. “But if she doesn’t offer to let us stay, you will not try to hint that’s what you want. She’ll feel obligated, even if she’s uncomfortable.”

“Deal,” I agree quickly, before he can change his mind. If he straight up told me no, I’m pretty sure I’d go full on bratty omega and earn a punishment. So I’ll take what I can get.

The door cracks open and my lips curve into a smile. A real smile, not the one I put on for interviewers or the press, not the one I put on with the fans. But the one that usually only comes out around my pack.

Sorrel pokes her head out, looking so damn adorable it makes my chest ache. She gives me a shy smile. “You can come in now.”

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