Page 42 of Knot All that Glitters: Part 1

“You do that,” the prime says, running a knuckle down my cheek in a caress that has my nipples standing at attention again. “We want you to be comfortable here, mouse. Whatever you need.” I give him and the other alphas a small smile as I scurry away.

“I’m on the board now, motherfucker,” I hear Hale mutter as I leave the room. My brow furrows. What does that mean? A glance over my shoulder as I keep moving doesn’t give me any clarity on the question. Jude and Hale are eyeing each other, arms crossed. Hale’s got a smug smirk on his face and Jude looks… well, he looks like he did during Monopoly, competitive.

Tic’s looking at me, watching as I exit the room. He gives me a small smile. One that I think is supposed to make me feel more at ease but does nothing of the sort. It only adds to my unease as I hurry through air thick with Creed’s bitter pheromones, up the stairs to the guest room.

Chapter 12: A whole other story

Being with the Calloway Pack is liberating. In more ways than one.

During this week around my birthday, I always feel a little lighter, a little freer. Being able to hang out with Ren and her family, to be in a normal home life situation, is always a blessing. But being here, surrounded by a pack, having them look to me for plans for the day, is a whole other world.

The entire Calloway pack took the week off from their work in order to spend it with me. When I tried to protest, to tell them they didn’t need to do that, Hale had just kissed me silly and told me they wanted to. End of story.

I loved it.

Every morning I wake up surrounded by their scents. Tic has a spread of food for me in the kitchen, more than I could every possibly manage to eat on my own. He always, always has a smoothie ready for me and it’s the one thing he makes sure Idrink all of. Apparently, he’s done research on the nutrients that omegas need to stay healthy and he’s formulated the exact right amount of fruit and veggies in drink to give me a healthy start to the day.

It also tastes amazing, so I don’t mind giving him what he wants and finishing it every day.

I never realized how touch starved I am. How much I need physical affection. My brief visits with the Karlin family are few and far between, and I don’t get any cuddles in my normal life. Not unless my father slings an arm around my shoulder for a photo op.

Other than that, the most touching I receive is from Brian, who likes to put his hand possessively on my lower back to guide me places.

But being here? It’s a whole other story. Hale, Jude and Tic all seem to love touching me, cuddling me. They greet me with kisses on my cheek or mouth, stroke my hair, sit right next to me on the couch even though it’s giant and has plenty of space for them to spread out.

They stroke and pet and love on me so much that it’s almost like I’m a cat or something, and not the mouse that Hale still calls me.

I can’t say I mind though.

At the Omega Academy, they told us that omegas need touch. It helps us feel more settled, safer, balanced. I never really understood that until now. Because I see it, see how the three of them have helped me to feel all of those things, just by being physically affectionate.

Creed, though? He still keeps his distance. Three days into my seven-day vacation and he can barely even stand to look at me. I don’t know what changed. When I’d see them at my father’s events, he seemed to be the one to stare at me hardestand longest, like he wanted to crack open my head and stare at all of my secrets, of which there are many.

But now? It feels like he can’t even stand to be in the same room as me. And yet, every time we sit down to eat or go out on a ‘date’ he’s always there. I can’t figure him out and it’s making me go a little loopy.

I hadn’t counted on them wanting to take me out, either. I spend so much time in the public eye that normally I spend this week holed up, away from prying eyes, with only the occasional trip to the farmer’s market with the Karlins.

So far they’ve wanted me to go out with them every day, but I begged off, saying I wanted to stay at their pack house and be comfortable, to get to know them privately. They’re always disappointed after I refuse and today, well, today I don’t feel like I can.

“Let’s go out for dinner,” Jude says, flopping down on the couch with his head on my lap. I just barely move my laptop out of the way in time. He squints up at the silver device. “Oh hey, I have the same one.” I open my mouth to say they’re a pretty common brand, but he’s already moving on. “Dinner, Haven. Out. I’m starving, and I want to take you out. I want to show you off.”

He’s so adorable. I want to say yes right away, but I have to pause and filter through my commands to see if there’s any that prevent me from agreeing. The only one that comes to mind is not to embarrass my father. But that would only happen if he found out about it. Which would only happen if someone spots us and takes a picture, posts it on the pages of a gossip rag.

Brian has an alert set up for any mention of my father anywhere on the internet, and they wouldn’t post a picture of me without mentioning him.

Jude frowns at me as he reaches up to squeeze the back of my neck. “What’s the problem, button? You don’t want to be seen with us?”

I lick my lips because, well, the truth might hurt him and I want to buy some time, so I don’t lie to him instead. “Yes, and no.” His hand drops with a flop to the couch and he sits up. Panicked, I grip his shoulders, keeping him down, then stroke my fingers through his hair to calm him. “If it were only me I had to consider, it wouldn’t even be a question, Jude. I’d have said yes the first time you said you wanted to go out.”

I use a finger to smooth out the creases on his forehead. Jude doesn’t look like himself when he’s frowning, and he definitely does that as he says, “But you have to think of your father too.”

I look away from him and swallow. “I do. I don’t have a choice.” That’s as close as I can get to telling him the whole truth. “If someone recognizes me, who I am and then posts about the daughter of Senator Bell out on a date with a pack…”

I can’t finish because I don’t particularly care about what it would do to his reputation, but I do care about what it’ll do to my brain. I don’t want to get a migraine while I’m here. Spending six hours in a dark room in pain isn’t my idea of a good time. And then there would be repercussions when I go home.

“It would ruin the public image of you being more like a beta than an omega.” I give a jerky nod and Jude pushes into a sitting position, turning to face me. “Why do you do that? Just to support him? It’s clear when you’re not in public that you’re an omega, Haven. Youactlike an omega.”

I blink at that. “Do I?”

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