Page 49 of Her Knotty Alphas

This time I do snort, ignoring Cady's smirk as I type. Somehow, I think that Enzo really would allow Titus to hit them if it made me feel better.

Me

That won't be necessary. I'll just take the scents for now.

But…thanks.

Enzo

I'll keep the offer on standby,reinita

When Archie and Titus return from the house twenty minutes later with four full trash bags of scent-soaked material, it's all Ican do to not rip it from their grasp and empty out the bags right here in the living room.

Instead, I do the polite thing, which is thank them for pillaging my scent match's packhouse. "Thanks you guys, you didn't have to do that."

"Don't mention it," Archie grins. "It's always fun to watch Titus go into ass-kicking mode."

Cady frowns. "Hannah said no killing."

"Therewasno killing, angel." Titus chuckles, dropping his two bags at my feet. "Just some…stern words about getting their heads out of their asses."

"Oh, and you wouldn't knowanythingabout needing to get your head out of your ass, would you?" Cady teases and Titus lets out a little grumpy huff.

"Hey now, I'm just glad I had Matt to…assist me. I'm more than happy to play that role for these guys."

"Oh! And the ginger one sent back cookies." Archie holds up a Ziploc bag of what look to be chocolate chip walnut cookies. "Nice guy. Seemed stressed though."

"Yeah. Having Titus help you get your head out of your ass will do that to you." Cady, Archie, and Titus all look at me for a beat of silence before bursting out laughing.

My chest feels lighter than it has all week, the faint scents of my pack wafting up to meet me, and my best friend and her pack here to support me.

I've never built a nest with pack scents before. It's…exhilarating. Their blankets are layered on the bottom so I get a hit of their combined scents if I sleep on my stomach. I weave a cinnamon and clove shirt in the top left corner, right near tobacco and leather. The opposite corner gets a pair of lemony-mint blacktea pajama bottoms, and a sweatshirt that reeks of coconut and sandalwood. The rest of the bags, which I had dumped out on my mattress, fit along the sides of the barriers I've built like puzzle pieces. Finally, both my omega and I are satisfied, and I collapse into the nest, sleeping better than I have in years.

Chapter 21

Hannah

Two more days have passed since the whole finding-out-I-have-scent-sickness-and-also-Charlie-is-my-scent-match debacle, and I have to admit, I'm feeling better than I thought I would. Their scents in my nest have helped me sleep the best I have since I moved out here, and even now, as I'm finishing styling my clients hair, I find myself humming under my breath. I've had some time to think about how I feel about the rest of my alphas keeping Charlie a secret from me.

Secretmight be a strong word. It's not like I had even spoken to Enzo and Noah more than twice. When weweretogether, we were learning about each other, they wouldn't have any reason to bring up Charlie. Andreally, it's been just a little over a week since Titus' party where we discovered the true scent match.

Am I going too easy on them? Maybe. But I'm really,reallytired of fighting everything tooth and nail when the whole point of the scent match is for it to be easy. Well, easier. A giant neon sign that says, "Okay, you can stop looking! Here's your perfect match!"

I guess spotting the sign is the easy part. It's finding your way to where the sign is pointing without having your heart ripped out along the way that presents the challenge.

As I unravel the last tendril of hair from the curling iron and hold it briefly in my palm to let it set, I think about the sweet texts I've been getting from each of the guys the last two days. Even Austin, since I asked Noah for his number so I could thank him properly for the cookies. Noah and Enzo both said the same thing, that they hadn't set out to keep it a secret but they can understand how finding out how I did would make me wary.

Having my feelings validated helped me be more receptive to them, because really, I want this to work. I don't know what I'm going to do about Charlie, though. I don't see how I can ever be the center of a pack that he's a part of unless he promises to not try to get physical with me.

"You'd look cute with short hair too." My client, Hailey, a twenty-year-old omega, smiles at me from her seat, jolting me out of my thoughts. She had hair down to her elbows before this, but wanted a cute short bob that hit just above her shoulders. It suits her.

"That's sweet of you to say." I return her smile in the mirror before grabbing my hairspray dousing the curls. "I've actually been thinking of going shorter."

"You should!" She nearly bounces in her seat. "With the purple in your hair, it would look almost like an ombre effect!"

Glancing at my hair that's piled on top of my head in the mirror, I have to admit she's right. The way my brown hair is growing out makes it almost look intentional. My attention quickly shifts back to Hailey, and I grab my wide-tooth comb, carefully combing out her hair into soft waves.

"There," I fix a piece of hair in front of her face, "what do you think?" Handing her my hand-held mirror, I spin her chair around so I can see the back.

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