Page 18 of Knot My Type

The doorknob, rough and tarnished from years of use, catches the light coming through the small window down the hall. I don’t usually pay attention to details like that. But this time, it’s like it’s calling me.

The scent hits me again, sharper this time. Sweet, familiar, but with something I can’t quite place. It’s stronger than before. More intense. And the weight of it pulls at something inside me, something that shouldn’t be this tight.

I stop a few feet from her door. The worn wood feels different beneath my feet, the space closing in around me.

My hand moves toward the doorknob without thinking. I pause, feeling the weight of what’s on the other side. Whatever it is, it’s not what I expected.

There's something layered underneath her omega sweetness, which makes every nerve ending in my body come alive.

My alpha senses are going haywire, trying to categorize what I'm experiencing. But the primal part, the part that operates on instinct alone, and knows exactly what has happened, or rather what is going on.

"Fuck." The word comes out strangled, barely more than a whisper, as realization hits me like a sledgehammer to the chest.

Bonding. They've bonded.

My legs feel unsteady as I make my way down the hallway, my bare feet silent against the worn hardwood. The floorboards are cool beneath my soles, and I can feel every groove and imperfection in the old wood.

I reach Eliana's door and stop, my hand hovering inches from the painted surface. The scent is overwhelming here, so thick I can practically taste it on my tongue. It's like breathing in liquid sunlight and summer rain and everything good I've ever experienced.

Every instinct I have is warring with itself. The alpha part of me has been drawn to Eliana since the day she moved in with her shy smiles and careful politeness—wants to rip this door off its hinges. Not to claim her, because I've always known that wasn't my place, but to protect her. To make sure she's safe. To verify with my own eyes that she's okay.

But the rational part, the part that actually gives a damn about these people as individuals rather than just potential pack members, knows I need to be careful here. This is sacred territory now. Private. Intimate in a way that has nothing to do with me.

I press my ear to the door, the cool wood rough against my skin, and listen. The doors are thin, worn in places, and sound carries through them like the walls are holding secrets. I can hear the quiet stir of movement inside, soft, familiar. Something in my chest eases.

What the fuck?

I can hear soft breathing, almost as if it’s synchronized, and it’s definitely not one person breathing it’s two, because it is so deep and even.

They're asleep, wrapped up in each other and whatever this new bond has created between them. Of course they are—bonding takes everything out of you, especially if it's your first time.

The thought of Eliana going through her first heat, her first bond, without any of us knowing Christ, what if something had gone wrong? What if Fen hadn't been there? What if she'd been alone when the suppressants failed?

The scenarios that flash through my mind make my blood run cold. Heat without a compatible partner can be dangerous, even deadly. Omegas have been known to hurt themselves trying to find relief, or worse. The fact that she had someone, that Fen was there to help her through it...

I lean against the wall, the plaster cool and slightly rough against my shoulder blade. I run a hand through my hair, still damp from my morning shower, as I try to process this.

Fen and Eliana. Beta and omega.

It should be impossible, or at least highly unusual. The textbooks all say beta-omega bonds are rare, that omegas need the hormonal response that only alphas can provide. But the evidence is right there in the air around me, thick and undeniable and absolutely fucking beautiful.

Underneath my shock, underneath the protective alpha instincts that are making me want to check on them both, there's something else. Something that feels suspiciously like relief.

But Fen gets her. He has always gotten her, from the moment he rescued her in the snowstorm, maybe that’s the problem. He thinks that it’s fate which brought her to us, whereas Kael has been dubious about her presence and even if I was keen on having an omega at first, then Kael has given me his insecurities. He’ s an alpha like me, so he thinks that we can’t have any.

He stops when he sees me standing in the hallway like an idiot, his nostrils flaring slightly as he catches the scent. I watch his expression change as his brain processes what his nose is telling him. Confusion first, then recognition, then something that might be hurt shifts across his features before he locks it down.

"What—" he starts, his voice still rough with sleep, then stops mid-word as understanding dawns. His eyes widen, pupils dilating as the full impact hits him. "Is that...?"

"Yeah." I nod toward Eliana's door. "They bonded."

Kael's face goes through about five different expressions in the span of two seconds. Surprise, confusion, something that definitely looks like hurt, and finally settling on that carefully neutral mask I know means he's processing something difficult.

"When?" His voice is carefully controlled, but I can hear the underlying tension. The slight roughness that means he's fighting to keep his emotions in check.

“It must have been last night when we were sleeping. Probably during her heat cycle." I study his face, trying to read what he's thinking behind that impassive expression. "You okay with this?"

It's a loaded question, and we both know it. Because Kael's been interested in Eliana since day one., but in the way alphas are naturally drawn to unmated omegas. Yet, that stubborn part of him doesn’t want to admit it. He's quiet for a long moment, staring at Eliana's door like he can see through it to the couple sleeping peacefully inside. When he finally speaks, his voice is softer than usual, lacking its typical commanding edge.

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