Page 58 of Her Knotty Alphas

"Yeah." He swallows, then presses one last kiss to my lips before letting go and throwing an arm over my shoulder. "I just have to grab my gym bag and payment for the fight. Then we can get out of here."

Noah took a ride share to the warehouse, so the three of us ride back in Austin's truck, the center console flipped up and me and in the middle. The warmth of their bodies on their side of me settles my omega, and before I know it, I'm falling asleep on Noah's shoulder.

I'm woken up when the car parks, and Austin carries me into the house. But weirdly…there's a light on in the entryway.

Enzo is awake.

We're sat in the living room, lined up on the couch while Enzo paces in front of us. Suddenly I'm transported back to when I was fifteen and came home past curfew, waiting with dread to see what my punishment will be.

Austin was able to tell him the gist of everything before he dragged us all in here, and now we wait. What for, I'm not exactly sure.

"So, not only did both of you leave without telling your packmates where you were going, but you also put our omega in danger by taking her to anillegal underground fighting ring?" He spits the last words, and I've never seen Enzo this upset. Hell, I'd never seen him even a little upset, but now he's pissed and I can't help but feel like we jumped into the deep end of the pool without any floaties.

Austin's shoulders slump. "I know, I—"

"I made him take me," I tell Enzo quickly. "It's not his fault. I threatened to just follow him in my car if he didn't let me come with him."

"You…" he pauses his pacing, pinching the bridge of his nose, "preciosa, it is your alphas' job to protect you. That is when Austin should have come to me, and I would have handled you. "

"Handledme?" I ask, half out of genuine curiosity, half out of horniness. Apparently angry Enzo really does something for me. "By spanking me or something?"

"If I had to," his eyes are hard, "you being in danger is something that I willnottolerate, Hannah."

Fuck. Is it hot in here?

"I had to leave," Noah grits out, his hands clenching. "I almost bonded her. My demons—"

"We are apack." Enzo's eyes are full of fire. "It is high time we start acting like it. If the demons start to descend upon you, you come tome, andIwill set you straight." His fist pounds on his chest once, and not for the first time, I see the predator that Enzo is. Apex.

"Not to mention, those fighting rings…they're notorious for being omega-trafficking hotspots." His eyes don't soften in the slightest as he looks at the three of us. "The shit I've seen would give you nightmares. They recently took down almost all the other illegal rings in the area, but there was proof they were dealing in omegas. Andouromega was marched right into the wolves' den. Austin, if you had taken your eyes off her for even a second—"

"This wasn't one of those rings." Noah meets Enzo's eyes, shocking the hell out of me. "Your brother and I are the ones who fed the information to the feds to shut those other rings down. This onehelpsomegas. Sets them up with new identities if they need to start a new life. I wouldneverstep foot in any of those other places."

Enzo is quiet for a moment, regarding my other alpha with intense eyes. "Understood. But…if we hadknownthat, if you had told us that you sometimes go fight, your omega wouldn't have been worried out of her mind enough to wake up Austin and demand he take her there."

"Yes, sir." Noah says quietly, looking down.

Enzo sighs, walking in front of Noah and crouching down. "I know it's been just you and Austin for a long time, pup. But you aren't alone anymore. You don't have to handle these things yourself for a second longer. We're here to help shoulder your burdens." Then, Austin and I watch in awe as Enzo leans forward and wraps Noah in his arms.

Noah is stiff at first, his arms hovering. Is he going to push him off? Curse him out? But my question is answered when only a second later, his shell crumbles. Noah lets out a shuddering gasp as his hands fist the back of Enzo's shirt. They stay like for a moment, Enzo, the rock against which the waves break, ever enduring as Noah puts himself back together on his shoulder.

I feel a hand on my knee, and look up to see Austin giving me a sad smile. I don't know a whole bunch about Noah's childhood or what he endured before he came to live with Austin's family, but I hope that we can all be a family together, just like this. There for each other in our weakest moments, and our strongest victories.

It's easy to see how Enzo fell into the role of head alpha since they joined up. What other alpha would have the courage to let you know your mistakes, but also be a shoulder to lean on? It feels like it's been forever, but somehow also only a few seconds when Noah finally lets Enzo go. Enzo stands, holding out a hand for Noah, and he takes it, letting him pull him up. "We're all still learning what it means to be pack," Enzo says, looking into Noah's eyes and then glancing down at Austin and me. "Weshould all get to bed.Reinita, I think your alpha needs you tonight."

Noah takes my hand and leads me back up the stairs, where we leave Austin and Enzo to their hushed whispers. This time, I pull off my pants, and he hands me a t-shirt to change into. We crawl into bed together under the covers, and I find myself falling asleep, dreams of my pack filling my head.

Chapter 25

Hannah

I'm in a good mood today. I woke up to Noah wrapped around me like an octopus, and I got to wake him up by trailing kisses down his neck. We made out like a couple of teenagers in his bed until I had to get up or risk being late for work. So now, here I am, happily humming to myself despite getting broken sleep since I decided to drag Austin to an underground fighting ring in the middle of the night.

I still haven't told them about my scent sickness though. I really don't see why I have to, as long as I'm managing it. Really, getting your mates scents is just part of being an omega, right? As I set my timer on my phone, I smile at my client in the mirror. "That color is going to process for thirty minutes, and then I'll check on it. Can I get you anything? A water or soda?"

"Oh, I'm okay, thanks. I'll just read my book." The woman in my chair grins back at me, pulling out her Kindle.

"Okay, I'll be back in a little bit." I'm halfway to the break room when my phone rings, and I pull it out of my pocket, and frown when I see Brody calling. He had me send over all the voicemailsand texts to his email, which I did, so I'm not sure what else he could need.

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