Page 46 of Knotted By the Demon

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

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I approached the bed cautiously, my eyes scanning everything Demon had laid out on it. Sofia was already talking a mile a minute, her excitement spilling out as she took in the blankets and pillows. Her energy filled the room, but I couldn’t quite focus on her words. My attention was locked on the bed, on the details, on the thought Demon had put into this.

I reached out, my fingers brushing against one of the blankets, a soft fleece that felt almost too good to touch. The colors caught my eye: red, beige, and blue. The red reminded me of Sofia, vibrant and bold, while the beige mirrored my own pale hair. Then there was the blue, deep and striking. Demon’s color. His eyes.

I glanced over at him. He stood there, stiff, his hands shoved into his pockets, and his jaw clenched. His gaze flicked between me and Sofia, and his nerves were practically written across his face. The big alpha, all muscle and grit, looked almost... unsure of himself. It was a strange sight, seeing someone like him, an alpha, second-guessing himself.

Did he think he’d done something wrong? That we didn’t like what he’d picked out? My chest ached at the thought. Thisman, who could probably tear through an entire pack of enemies without breaking a sweat, was worried about whether we liked what he’d purchased us.

I let my fingers linger on the blue pillow, giving it a small squeeze. Soft, comforting. It felt like him, like safety. I glanced at him again, catching the way his gaze darted to the floor. He didn’t know what to do with himself. Demon, the terrifying rogue alpha, looked like he was about to bolt.

Sofia was still chattering, oblivious to his nerves. I stayed quiet, letting her fill the space. Demon’s tension, though, was unmistakable. I could see it in the way his shoulders stayed locked, the way his hands fisted inside his pockets. He wasn’t used to feeling this uncertain, this vulnerable. And I wasn’t sure he even knew how to handle it.

I wanted to tell him that he’d done a great job, but my attention was now caught on the red fleece that was almost buried down under the other fleeces. It needed to be up more. The red fleece called to me. The thought consumed me, clawing at my chest, demanding my attention. I couldn't ignore it.

My feet moved on their own, closing the distance to that side of the bed, my fingers brushing over the soft fabric. Lifting it in my hands, I hesitated. Its current position wasn’t right. It didn’t belong there. I glanced around the bed, trying to figure out where it belonged. The beige pillow caught my eye.

I moved around the bed and placed the red fleece closer to the beige pillow. That was better, but not perfect. A frustrated hum escaped me as I grabbed the pillow and wrapped the fleece around it, leaving just a bit of the beige peeking out. Still, something felt off. My chest tightened with the urge to fix it, to make it... perfect.

My eyes dropped to the blue fleece. My hands reached for it before I even registered the thought. I draped the blue fleece carefully around the red one, framing it in a way that finallysettled the restless energy inside me. A small exhale escaped me. This felt... right. But the peace didn’t last long.

I scanned the bed again, the itch returning. The blankets, the pillows, they weren’t just objects. They were pieces of a bigger picture, something I needed to create, something I needed to be perfect. I began rearranging the bed, moving the pieces like they held some secret I could unlock if I just got them in the right order.

The beige pillow stayed nestled in the red fleece, framed by the blue. Another pillow found its home near the headboard, angled just so. The soft throws draped and folded until the colors blended into something warm and inviting. My hands didn’t stop until they’d created what felt like an oasis.

A space I could already imagine curling into with Sofia beside me, her warmth tucked against mine. A space where I could hold her, let her laughter fill the silence. A space for her and me and—

I stopped mid-thought, the silence crashing into me like a wave. Turning, I glanced over my shoulder, suddenly aware of how quiet the room had grown. Both Sofia and Demon were watching me, expressions of awe on their faces. My face grew hot, embarrassment prickling at the back of my neck.

“I... I just wanted it to look right,” I mumbled, my voice barely above a whisper. My fingers curled into the fleece beneath them, gripping the soft fabric like it might anchor me. “What you had looked great, but I wanted them to be... more.” I didn’t know how to explain what I’d needed.

Sofia’s face softened, her lips quirking into a gentle smile. “Your nest looks perfect, Little Rabbit.”

My eyes widened. “My nest?” I whispered, gaze dropping to the bed.

Was that what this was? Back at the compound, I’d never been allowed to have a nest. I’d never been allowed to have anything soft. During my heats, I’d had the urge to feel softthings against my skin. I’d had the urge to have soft things in bed with me. Natalie and Nathan had simply given me their dirty laundry to cuddle up with.

And during my heat, I’d loved it. I’d rolled around in their dirty laundry, moving things this way and that way until I’d gotten comfortable. After my heat, I’d been disgusted by all of it. Disgusted by them. Disgusted with myself for having wanted them, even briefly. Disgusted by what I was: an omega who couldn’t survive without a knot, without an alpha. I hated them. I hated myself. I hated alphas. I hated...

“If you don’t like what I’ve purchased,” Demon’s deep voice filled the room. “Let me know.”

I blinked, glancing down at my hands only to realize that I was squeezing the blue pillow so tightly that I’d almost created a hole in it. I released it quickly, tears springing to my eyes. It had been perfect. And I... I’d ruined it. I ruined everything.

“I can provide more for you,” Demon told me, his voice rough but filled with something that made my heart ache.

Fear. He feared I didn’t like what he’d purchased, and that couldn’t be further from the truth. I loved it. No one had ever done anything like this for me before. He rubbed his chin, his massive hands moving like he was trying to puzzle out a problem too big to solve.

“If what I’ve purchased isn’t good enough, I can get more,” he insisted, his tone growing more urgent. “The store’s closed, but I can break in and pay the owner for the damage later. Just tell me what you need, and I’ll take care of it. I swear. Tell me what to do to make you happy.”

I stared at him, my chest tightening painfully. This alpha was willing to break into a store for me.For me.Just to make me happy. My chest felt tight, and I blinked hard against the tears welling in my eyes. He looked genuinely worried, his eyesdarting to me and then away like he was afraid of what I might say.

My throat burned as I tried to swallow the lump rising in it. A tear slipped down my cheek before I could stop it, but before I could wipe it away, I heard Sofia’s soft chuckle. I turned my head toward her, startled.

“I’ve got a feeling we’re all going to jail soon,” she mused before covering her mouth to keep from laughing, her eyes sparkling with amusement.

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