Page 8 of Knot All that Glitters: Part 1

This man is one of my father’s supporters. He’s a guest at this party. I am under strict orders to be polite and to speak when spoken to. So I can do this. It’s okay for me to stay here and talk with this alpha so long as I don’t do anything that might embarrass my father.

I take a deep breath in through my nose and let it out slowly, before tipping up my chin and meeting his gaze. Here inthe shadow of the trees, I can’t make out the color of his eyes. Only that they are dark, and I don’t think they’re brown.

“I know,” I say with certainty. “I know you won’t hurt me.”

His mouth twitches into that smile again, small and pleased. “Good. I’d hate to think you felt unsafe with me, or any member of my pack.”

I tilt my head and he follows the movement, latching onto the exposed skin of my neck before meeting my eyes again. “Why’s that?”

“Because we have every intention of courting you.”

He says it so casually that the words almost don’t register. “What?”

“We’re planning on courting you, to be our omega,” he repeats, inching just a little closer.

Shock keeps me rooted, but then the words sink in and I feel my cheeks go pale. “I can’t- You can’t- That’s not-”

I cut off the words, snapping my teeth together so hard they audibly click. A furrow appears between his brows and he reaches out to brush the tip of his finger over the back of my hand gently. I’ve never felt a touch more than I feel that soft swipe.

“We can’t what, baby girl?”

I take a deep breath and let it out again, fighting against the urge to make a polite excuse and run away. He came to me to state his intentions, to state his pack’s intentions, straightforward and to the point. He deserves for me to be the same.

“My father doesn’t support pack life, Creed.”

“Yes, we’re aware.”

He’s going to make me spell it out for him. “He won’t approve of me being courted by a pack. I can’t allow it.”

“You can’tallowit?”

I grit my teeth against the urge to tell him everything. If I even try, the result will be a migraine that will knock me on my ass until tomorrow, and I want to see Florence tonight. I need to see her, my one bright spot in the ever present darkness that is my life.

“I can’t,” I repeat, because I really can’t. Or at least Ishouldn’t. I’ve never been given a direct order to not let a pack court me, to not entertain the idea of bonding, mating, being a packed up omega. But it would only take one instance of my father hearing about me spending time with a pack for him to correct that oversight. One command from him, and I’d probably get a headache every time I talked to anyone who is a part ofanypack, let alone one that wants to court me.

It must say something about how lonely I am, how much I want this, that I’ve even considered allowing it for a moment.

The furrow between his dark blond brows deepens. “Why is that, Haven?”

My father has me so wrapped in alpha commands that I have no autonomy.The words are right there on the tip of my tongue. I want to blurt them out, to shout them in his face, to relieve myself of this burden that I’ve carried for so long. But I’ve been commanded to keep it to myself. To tell no one what he’s done to me.

“He wouldn’t approve,” is what I say instead. It’s the truth and not anything he doesn’t already know.

“And his approval matters to you?”

No!“Yes.”

He hums and runs a knuckle down my cheek, moving a little closer. “Well, I hate to break it to you, baby girl, but we don’t give a fuck about your father’s approval. We want you, want to spend time with you. Get to know you.”

It just doesn’t make any sense. I know some packs will search out single omegas and date them for a while to see ifthey want to bond with them. Hell, all the packs that I met at AOA were only interested in me because of my designation. They cared very little about getting to know Haven Bell. But it made sense in that setting. The omega academies help compatible packs and omegas find each other. But out here in the real world? Surely the Calloway pack can find an omega without so much obvious baggage as I have.

That they know my father will disapprove of a relationship between me and any pack means they know this will likely end without a bond. Why would they put in the effort? I mean, they could just go to AOA and meet ten omegas who would scramble for a chance to pack up with them.

No, there’s something else going on here. The Calloway pack wants something, and it sure as hell isn’t me.

Which means they must want something from my father. It’s not the first time this has happened, someone approaching me thinking I’ll get them an in with Frederick Bell, that winning my affection means winning the affection of my father. Little do they know that our entire relationship is fake, a farce put on for the media and the world. They’re always disappointed when they realize that Haven Bell is nothing more than a pretty adornment.

This is the first time I’ve wanted to let someone use me to get to my father, though. Isn’t that… dangerous?

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