Page 58 of The Knotty Omega

A girls night sounds divine. It’s been great getting to know my pack, but it would be wonderful to have some non-alpha pheromones around the house.

“Yeah, do you guys want to come here? I don’t think I should go out considering the whole apartment break-in thing.”

“Sure! Send us the address? How about in an hour?” Hannah asks and Wren sounds her agreement.

“Send me your orders for the Phuket Palace,” I grin, and hang up the phone.

Forty-five minutes later, I figure I should probably let my alphas know what I’m up to.

Titus doesn’t answer. Instead, I get the joy of him stomping into the upstairs den, where I’m gathering up snacks and blankets and wine for our girls night.

“Do you want to explain to me why you invited a random, strange alpha into our home with nobody else here?” Titus practically snarls, his roasted marshmallow scent smelling more burnt than anything.

I try not to let his irritation rattle me, so I just raise a brow, continuing to strategically lay out blankets so I can spray them with scent canceller before the girls use them. I doubt Wren’s alphas would be happy about her coming home smelling like my pack. “You’re here, Titus, otherwise I wouldn’t have said he could come. Plus, he’s not a random alpha. He’s my friend’s alpha, who also happened to be my bodyguard when I was going through the OMS. You even met him at our first lunch.”

Titus shakes his head. “It doesn’t matter, I don’t know him—”

“He’s been background checked by the damn OMS, Titus, and deemed safe to guard unbonded omegas. Are you telling me that you would do a deeper background check before inviting anyone into your home?”

He lets out a frustrated noise, “No, but when it comes to my omega—”

“Am I your omega though?” I snap, throwing the blanket down on the couch as my anger bubbles out of me. “You don’t talk to me. You sure as hell don’t get to know me, or act like you even care outside of physical bodily harm, which is the bare minimum of a decent human being. Quit the hot and cold shit, Titus. It’s getting old.”

Before he can answer, the doorbell rings, and I push past him to go downstairs and let my friends inside.

***

Three hours later, we’re all fairly tipsy on wine and giggling like school girls when Mattie and Archie come home. Reggie ditched us an hour ago to go lay down somewhere and Titus and Brennan are downstairs in the kitchen, giving us space. For all the grumbling Titus did, once he found out that Brennan had been a sniper in the marines—expert marksman — he warmed up and they started talking about their days in the service.

“Tesoro mio,” Mattie murmurs, pressing a kiss to my hair as he passes by. “Have you ladies enjoyed yourselves?” he asks my friends.

“Yes, thank you,” Wren says quietly, suddenly shy.

“Holy hot Italian billionaire, batman!” Hannah gasps, “You’re Matteo De Lucca!” Then she smacks me with a pillow and hisses, “Why didn’t you tell me one of your scent matches was Matteo De Lucca?!”

“I am,” he gives a friendly smile, and my beta comes on my other side to press a kiss to my cheek.

“I did!” I defend myself. “I remember telling you all of their names…” Then it hits me. “Oh, I only said ‘Mattie’, didn’t I?”

“You were inAlpha Central’stop ten hottest alphas five years ago, right below James Patterson, the alpha who won the National Humanitarian Award last year!” Hannah gapes, then her cheeks grow pink as she’s quick to explain, “They have that magazine all over the waiting room of the salon I work at.”

I gawk at my head alpha. “You never told me you were in a magazine.” Not to mention so close in ranking to the alpha who helped pass the Omega Privacy Act. It takes a lot to be considered for the National Humanitarian Award.

Mattie gives a sheepish grin and Archie smirks at me. “He was so embarrassed. Ollie and I bought every copy we found and plastered the pages all over the house.”

Wren giggles at that, then seems to loosen up a little.

The front door opens and closes and the bounding steps tell me Ollie just got home. “Oh, Tinkerbell!” he calls out, landing at the top of the steps with a jump. “How’s my favorite little fairy?” He asks, coming over and pressing a hot, dirty, open mouth kiss to my lips.

“Oliver!” Mattie chides, making Ollie pull away while I chase his lips. “We have company.” He nods pointedly at my friends who are now giggling wildly and I throw a pillow at them.

Ollie only grins wider. “Good evening, ladies. I’m Oliver, but anyone less formal than Mattie calls me Ollie.” His eyes catch on Hannah's pink hair. "Hey. Do we have any cotton candy?"

“Ollie, this is Hannah and Wren.” I point to each friend as I say their names and he gives a lavish bow.

“A pleasure to meet you.” He winks at me before turning and talking over his shoulder, “I’m going to go wash all the scent of my ten hour work day off. I’ll catch you guys later.” Only a moment later, we hear him nearly shout, “Oh! There’s my cat son!”, making the three of us dissolve into giggles.

With that, Archie and Mattie say goodnight, and my friends give me disbelieving looks.

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