Page 24 of Knotted By the Demon

The way he knelt there, his focus entirely on her, was captivating. It wasn’t just the act itself that touched me. It was the way he handled her, the way he seemed to balance his strength with gentleness. I thought alphas couldn’t control their strength. I thought they hurt others because they had no choice.

My father had been an alpha. But he’d known his secondary designation was omega. He learned that after I was born and triggered a designation change in him. That’s how my parents learned I was a catalyst. And they kept that secret hidden. And my father embraced the change that came over him every so often.

I’d even heard him tell my mother that he’d felt intimidated in the presence of other alphas all his life, as if he didn’t belong, didn’t fit in. And now he knew why. He felt comfortable as an omega. My father had been the gentlest alpha I’d known. And I’d thought it was because of the omega gene that had been dormant in his DNA.

Now, I was wondering if I was wrong about that, too. My father was one of the good alphas. The only good alpha I’d known until now. It had nothing to do with the omega gene. It had everything to do with the man that he was. And Demon was the same. He was a good man, a good alpha, despite being rough around the edges.

When the last of the ropes fell away, he sat back on his heels, his gaze lingering on her legs for just a moment before he stood. His scent, smoky and earthy, was thick in the air, and I couldn’t help but breathe it in. It wrapped around me, warm and comforting, like a soft blanket, making me feel safe despite the storm brewing outside.

Sofia stretched her arms above her head, wincing slightly but grinning all the same. “Well, that’s better. Thanks for finally letting me go.”

Demon grunted, crossing his arms over his chest as he stepped back, giving her space. But his eyes never left her, and neither did mine. She was standing now, rubbing her wrists, and I couldn’t ignore the way her presence radiated through the room. She was fearless, this beta who had no reason to be so calm around an alpha like Demon.

And yet, she was. I glanced at Demon, then back at Sofia. My heart thudded in my chest as a thought struck me, unbidden and not entirely unwelcome. What if this wasn’t just about survival? What if this was the beginning of something else entirely? Something I wasn’t sure I was ready for, but now that the thought had formed, it was starting to take root in my mind, my heart, my body.

Demon took another step back as if trying to distance himself from us when I wanted him to do nothing more than come closer. I.. Greek Matthews... wanted an alpha to come closer. My omega was waking up from a long nap and making me think and feel things that were foreign to me. Yet... I kind of liked them. More than kind of.

Demon’s towering frame cast a shadow over us, or maybe that was just my omega’s overactive imagination. His intense blue gaze flicked between Sofia and me as if he were trying to decide something. Finally, his gravelly voice broke the silence.

“There’s a shower you can use,” he growled.

I blinked at him, stunned. A shower? For us? My gaze dropped to myself, and my cheeks warmed as I took in my appearance, a stark reminder of what I’d endured. The boxers I wore were threadbare, stained, and barely covering me. I looked nothing like how an omega should look. More shame filled me.

Natalie’s harsh words drifted through my mind,“You’re such a letdown. We wanted an omega. But the only time you remotely resemble an omega is when you’re in heat. You don’t like our touch, you don’t like soft things, you don’t even like yourself. What the fuck do we keep you here for when you can’t even switch others into omegas for us. A fucking waste of genes is what you are.”

I tried not to let the embarrassment show, but my fingers twitched, itching to tug at the hem of my boxers, as though I could somehow cover more of myself. I was too used to being on display. Too used to feeling exposed. And yet... the thought of a shower, of warm water washing away the filth of my past, made something in me flutter with excitement.

A shower.I’d never had one before. I’d bathed, sure, but that was nothing like a shower. In the pack, there had been no privacy. My baths consisted of going behind my alphas’ cabins and utilizing the barrels of rainwater they’d collected. I’d had to bathe that way even when it was freezing cold outside, with my body shivering as I hurried to clean myself under the watchful eyes of my alphas.

I wasn’t allowed to do it on my own because they feared I’d try to escape. I’d been leashed before going out. One of them would always hold my collar, making sure I didn’t step out of line, as though I could run anywhere with them standing so close. Plus, there had always been guards surrounding the perimeter.

Even before my captivity, when I was a child, my baths at home had been in a small tub. Never a shower. My mother had always filled it for me, checking the temperature of the water, making sure it wasn’t too hot. I could still remember the smell of her lavender homemade soap and the way she’d hum to herself while waiting for me to finish.

She’d called me her sweet boy back then. That had been before everything went wrong. But a shower? That was new. I’d seen them before, of course. Sometimes, in the houses of the pack members when I was forced to clean for them. While leashed, of course. I’d always wondered what it would feel like to have water raining down over me, hot and constant, like a warm embrace.

Would it be like standing in the rain but better? The thought filled me with a strange, almost childish sense of wonder. It was pathetic how excited I was about the idea, but I couldn’t help it. The sheer novelty of it made my heart race. My gaze flicked to Demon, and I swallowed hard, unsure of what to say.

Usually, when alphas noticed you were excited about something, they used that against you or took it away from you when you misbehaved. Sofia broke the silence first, her voice light and teasing.

“See, big guy? Youdohave manners.” She stretched, her fiery hair catching the light as she grinned at him. “A shower sounds amazing. Thanks.”

Her thanking him seemed to embarrass him. The more I studied this alpha, the more intrigued I became, and the stronger the desire for him to be my alpha,ouralpha, grew.

“The cabin only has two bedrooms,” Demon informed us. “I can sleep on the couch,” he added, nodding toward the worn but sturdy piece of furniture near the fireplace. “You can each have one of the rooms to ride the storm out after your showers.”

His words should have been comforting, even generous, but instead, they sparked a fresh wave of panic inside me.Alone. The thought of being shut away in a room by myself sent my heart racing. Memories clawed at the edges of my mind—cold, dark spaces where I’d been locked away, left to rot, or called upon only to suffer.

I turned to Sofia, hoping she could see the silent plea in my eyes. I didn’t have to say anything. She seemed to sense the fear that was spiraling inside me. Her gaze softened as she stepped closer to me, her presence a calming balm to the storm brewing in my chest.

“We’ll share a room,” she stated, and I’d never been more thankful for a person in my life. I rose to stand beside her as she turned her attention to Demon. “Big guy, you should keep your room. You’ve already fed us. Now you’re letting us use your shower. We don’t want to intrude too much.”

Demon’s jaw tightened. I don’t think he liked her words. Yet, she hadn’t said anything bad. Everything had been polite, respectful. Yet, he was looking angry. We’d angered the alpha. His gaze shifted to me, lingering for a moment too long on my face. Something flickered in his blue eyes. His scent deepened, slipping past the blockers he was using, seeping into the room.

I nearly swayed on my feet as the smoky, earthy fragrance washed over me, impossibly alluring and utterly overwhelming. Pure alpha. And my omega wanted more of it. All of it. Sofia sniffed the air, her brows furrowing as her gaze shot back to Demon. Her lips parted slightly, her eyes widening in surprise.

“Is that smell coming from you?” she asked, her voice tinged with awe and something naughtier, something that had my omega wanting to gift her with our slick.

Damn it. I’m so glad they can’t hear my thoughts.

---