Page 73 of Knot Your Romeo

Eli stirs beside me, his green eyes blinking open slowly. When he sees me looking at him, a soft smile crosses his features—not the guarded expression he usually wears, but something open and hopeful.

“Good morning, sunshine,” he says, and the endearment that once made me protest now fills me with warmth.

“Afternoon,” I correct with a laugh. “We’ve been asleep for hours.”

“My body feels like I’ve run a marathon,” Jude says as he shimmies to the foot of the bed, stretching languidly.

“I’ll run a bath,” Beck says gently, pushing away from me and off the bed. I feel his loss immediately, but if this is just for my heat—for Jude’s heat—I’ll have to get used to that pretty quickly.

“What happens now?” I ask, propping myself up on my elbow. Fearful of what I’ll hear, but needing to hear it, anyway.

Beck turns at the bathroom door and all three men exchange glances, and I can see them weighing their thoughts carefully.

“Anything you want,” Eli says slowly. “If you want this Emmie, we can give you it. But I’ll not make you do anything.”

“And what would that mean, exactly?” Jude asks, looking at Eli and then me. I understand his fear. He let his guard down with me…with these alphas. And I don’t want Jude to run again. I take his hand in mine, stroking his knuckles as I say, “We come together.”

Beck runs a hand through his tousled hair. “We can make that work.” He turns to Eli, who nods.

“We can. Like a pack,” I say, testing the word. “I like the sound of that.”

“It won’t be easy,” Beck continues, his expression growing serious. “Two Omegas. Your age. Romeo. And we’re going to get judged by others. Jude’s job... None of that will be simple.”

“When has anything worthwhile ever been simple?” I counter. “Besides, I’m tired of living my life based on what other people think is appropriate.”

“Your mother,” Eli says quietly. “She won’t approve.”

The mention of Mom makes my chest tighten with guilt and anxiety. “No, she won’t. She’ll think you’ve manipulated me, that I can’t trust my own feelings. She’ll say it’s just my Omega being weak.”

“And she might not be entirely wrong,” Beck says with brutal honesty. “We have influenced you, Emmie.”

I sit up fully, pulling the sheet around me. “Do you think I can’t tell the difference between manipulation and genuine feeling?”

“I think it’s complicated,” he replies carefully. “I think we all need to be honest.”

“Then let me be honest,” I say firmly. “Yes, you’ve all affected me. Yes, my biology responds to your pheromones. But I’m not challenged by scents. My honey scent is manipulated too. It’s not my actual scent. I’m here because of my heart, my mind, and also it’s my choice. I wanted to be here. And if you can’t see that, if you think I’m just some helpless Omega who can’t make herown decisions, then maybe we don’t know each other as well as I thought.”

Jude laughs.

I glance at Beck. “That’s why I know I’m not scent matched with Romeo. So he shouldn't be a problem.”

The silence that follows my words is heavy with tension. Then Jude laughs again—a soft, amused sound that breaks through the seriousness. “She’s got you there,” he says to Beck and Eli. “You’re so busy trying to be honorable that you’re insulting her intelligence.”

“Thank you,” I say gratefully, turning to Jude. “I feel you all more than I smell you.”

“Feel?” Beck’s expression shifts, understanding dawning.

“I’ve been making my own choices since I was sixteen,” I tell him. “When my scent profile came back, and—“ I hesitate. I feel these men, but telling them everything feels dangerous. Luckily, Eli reaches for my hand, intertwining our fingers and not pushing me for what I was going to say.

“So what are you choosing, Emmie? Really choosing, with no pressure from us?”

I look around at the three of them—these complicated, damaged, wonderful men who somehow fit together in ways that shouldn’t work but do. Beck with his protective instincts and hidden vulnerability. Eli with his gentle strength and artistic soul. Jude with his gentle wisdom and fierce loyalty.

“I’m choosing all of you,” I say simply. “I’m choosing to see where this leads, even if it’s messy and complicated and completely outside social norms. If you want me, that is.”

“Even if it means standing up to your mother?” Beck asks gently.

“Especially then.”

---