Page 30 of Knot Enough

Everything was becoming too much. This was too much. I’m not ready for this. I don’t want to be alone again. I felt a thumb wipe along my face. I hadn’t noticed I was crying. My attention refocused on Gabriel.

“Lydia, what’s going on? Why are you crying?” Gabriel questioned. His voice was growing worried. He wiped away the loose tears falling from my face. I brought my hand to my face to swipe the tears Gabriel had missed, but they were quickly replaced with a sob after I processed Gabriel’s words.

“Come here, baby. It’s okay.” Finn cooed at me. He had placed himself on the edge of my nest, so he didn’t ruin it. I crawled to him and he pulled me onto his lap. He traced circles on my shoulder to try to calm me. Sorren handed him a blanket to wrap around me. I snuggled into the soft fabric.

“Lydia, tell me what’s wrong,” Graham asked. He grabbed my chin, forcing me to look at him. His eyes were hard with worry, and his smile was gone. I didn’t like that. His smile made me feel like things were under control. I get nervous when he doesn't smile. I glanced behind him to see Sorren comforting Gabriel as they watched me. Graham’s quiet dominance had me confessing. Omegas were hardwired to do what their alphas wanted, but the instinct worsened during a heat.

“I don’t want to be alone during my heat.” I pleaded. My tears clouded my vision, making it impossible to see Graham's face.

“Why the hell would we be anywhere but your nest for your heat?” Finn asked with a growl.

“We're not going anywhere, cupcake. If we had it our way, you would stay in the nest for the rest of your life with us.” Sorren added.

“What in the world would make you think otherwise?” Graham asked. His hand remained on my chin.

“Because you all will be focused on helping Gabriel. I don’t want Gabriel to suffer because of me. I figured it would be easier for all of us if I weren’t here. I want Gabriel to be the focus. I mean, my heats aren’t that bad compared to his. It’s not like my old pack stayed for mine anyway.” I gulped down my sobs. My hands moved to wipe the tears from my face. Graham grabbed my hands and kissed me. It was feather light and gentle. I felt myself relax the tension I didn’t know was there.

“Next time, if you're worried about something, talk to us. Don’t make decisions for us again without us to object to dumb ideas like that. You're staying in this nest and you aren’t leaving until your heat is over. We are going to take care of both of you. I think I can speak for Gabriel when I say he will need you here.” Graham affirmed. He gave me a long look before kissing me again. This time, the kiss was firm and insisting. “Do you understand?”

“Yes.” His dominance had me answering him before I had time to second-guess myself. My face was still wet from my tears, but my body relaxed from the early stress I was carrying.

“Good.” Graham nodded in approval. He moved out of the way so Gabriel could sit in his place. Gabriel looked heartbroken.

“I know, heats can be crazy. So I’m not going to be mad about how you thought I would let something like that happen, but I want you to know, Lydia, I need you here. Heats aren’t just about sex and knots. You're my comfort. You're my home. I don’t feel safe unless you're here with me. Don’t ever forget that.” Gabriel said. His voice held a quiet power. I could feel the sincerity of his words hit my heart a thousand times. I nodded at him, not trusting myself to not cry again. I don’t know what I did to deserve these men, but I was so thankful.

“Sorren, go get the bags,” Graham said. Gabriel and I looked at each other in curiosity. Sorren’s face lit up, and he raced out of the room. Within seconds, the man had returned with several bags. Two were placed in front of me, and three were placed in front of Gabriel. Sorren came around and grabbed both our shoulders in excitement.

“Well, go on, open them, " Sorren urged us on. Gabriel beckoned me to go first. I chose to open the orange bag first. I took the wax paper out, finding a small box inside. I lifted the box out of the bag and opened it. Inside was a small bracelet. A little whiff of everyone's scent came from it.

“It has all your scents in it.” I marveled. I immediately unclasped it and put it on my wrist. I lifted my arm up to look at it. The metal and small gems that littered the bracelet sparkled in the light of the nest.

“It’s so pretty,” I commented. A deep chuckle had me looking at Graham.

“I’m glad you like it.” He said. Pride filled his expression.

“You got this for me?” I asked. My heart warmed at the gesture. The Jameson pack didn’t get me a courting gift when I was with them.

“Of course. You deserve it.” He declared. A soft smile came over my face.

“Go on, mine’s next, " Finn urged me. He was at my left side, waiting patiently. I nodded and started to open the pink bag. There was another small box inside this bag, this time more rectangular. I quickly opened it and found a gorgeous bookmark. My fingers glided over the engravings that had items to represent each guy's scent. There were little bubblegum images, watermelons, and pumpkins. The bookmark was adorable and perfect.

“I love it,” I said, getting up to replace the bookmark in my current book with my new one. I was about to go back to everyone when I noticed a message on my phone.

They would never bond with you. Come back, Lydia. We’ll give you the bite marks you crave.

My heart started to beat rapidly in my chest. I shut my bond out to Gabriel. He didn’t need this moment ruined for him.How did they get my new number? We weren’t even at that point in our relationship to be worried about bite marks.Despite my mind's protests, a seed of doubt entered my heart.Of course, they would want to bond with me, wouldn’t they?I would bring the messages up to Graham after the heat. There was nothing we could do about it now anyway.

I returned to our group to watch Gabriel open his gifts, putting all those recurring doubts to the back of my mind. I sat next to Gabriel and leaned against his shoulder to watch him. He glanced at me with excitement before opening his orange bag. Inside was a larger box than what was in mine. Gabriel quickly opened it and found a necklace in it. I caught small whiffs of scent on this one as well. Gabriel admired it before putting it back in the box.

“I don't want it to get dirty. We are about to do a lot of activities.” He suggested. “But, I love it, Graham. Thank you.” Gabriel said, looking away shyly. Graham had a small smile on his face and nodded. The next bag was green. I had a feeling it was Sorren’s from how he practically bounced up and down. I think Gabriel opened his gift extra slowly just to tease Sorren. He was almost overloaded with excitement by the time Gabriel finally took his gift out of the bag. It turned out to be a new pair of bowling shoes. Gabriel checked the size, and they were correct.

“You got me bowling shoes,” Gabriel noted with a teasing smile. Sorren nodded.

“I have a feeling we are going to make a lot of trips there. I can be competitive when I want to be.” Sorren teased. Gabriel rolled his eyes.

“In your dreams. You couldn’t even beat me when I was distracted.” He boasted. Sorren narrowed his eyes playfully.

“We'll see,” Sorren commented before Gabriel moved on to the last bag. Finn’s gift was a credit card. Gabriel looked at it curiously.

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