Page 34 of Knot Enough

“You belong to us, Lydia.”

“We made a mistake by rejecting you. Please forgive us.”

“Lydia, stop ignoring us. We understand we made mistakes, but we’re ready to take you back.”

“Lydia, those new alphas won’t keep you safe.”

“As soon as they get what they want, they will discard you like trash.”

“Come back to us. We’ll treat you better, we promise.”

“You have to understand, Lydia, we have needs that need to be met.”

“Do you really think they will want to mark you?”

“You're not even their scent match.”

“Lydia, you're crazy.”

“How dare you ignore me!”

The messages kept going on and on. I took the phone from her without any resistance. She burrowed her head into my neck. I scrolled up and noticed they had been texting her throughout the heat, saying similar things. I could see why Lydia had such a response to Gabriel being marked. Being told the people courting you weren’t going to mark you and that they would throw you away repeatedly over a period of days or weeks, you would start to believe those claims. I’m sure it was worse since she was going through a stressful period of time at the moment.

Gabriel moved behind and looked down at the phone, as well. I could hear the tiniest growl come from him before he forced it down.

“Why didn’t you tell us they were contacting you again?” Gabriel asked Lydia. Lydia stiffened and looked away. I could feel her guilt through our bond.

“I was going, too, but with our heat starting and everything, I wanted to wait until it was over, " she answered.

Finn took the phone from me and looked at the messages. His eyes narrowed, but he didn’t say anything, beyond a short “I’ll go put this in your office” to Graham before leaving the nest.

Sorren moved to Lydia and held her close to him. “Baby girl, when something like that happens, you gotta tell us as soon as possible. We can’t help you or do anything about it if we don’t know.” He explained to Lydia as he stroked her hair. She nodded at his words. Sorren smiled in satisfaction.

“Good girl.” He purred. Lydia pursed her lips at his words, but couldn't hide her happiness at being praised.

“Now that we have that covered. Graham, I believe we were in the middle of something.” Gabriel pointed out before he pounced on me.

Chapter 19

Lydia

It’s been a couple of days since Gabriel and I’s heat. I was relieved that my emotions had calmed down and I felt more like myself. Graham ended up not giving me my new phone back; Gabriel and he decided I should use one of the pack’s phones or a laptop if I needed to do something online. I didn’t mind that compromise, I’ve never been one to need my phone attached to me 24/7. The only things I truly cared about were talking to Corretta and being able to continue writing my books. Gabriel also had Corretta’s number, so I could use his phone to speak to her, and the laptop to edit and write.

The guys took Graham’s words to heart and made it their mission to convince me that they wanted me. They planned to take me out on individual dates to show their dedication. I felt bad that they had to go through all this for me, but at the same time, they did have a point. The Jameson pack had left a bigger hole in my heart than I had realized. It wasn’t fair to the Beckett pack that they had to go through extra effort because of something another person did, but I won’t lie, I did find the effort they put in heartwarming. After several rounds of rock, paper, scissors, Sorren won the first date. He had left all the details of our date a secret even on the day of it.

I was currently in my room drying my hair when Gabriel came in. “Hi! Did you need something?” I asked, putting the hair dryer down to hear him. He moved to the edge of his bed and started fiddling with his hands. I waited till he was finally ready to speak.

“I wanted to talk about what happened during our heat.” He said. I didn’t need him to explain more to know what he was talking about. I huffed the tense air from my chest and sat next to him.

“What about it?” I asked, taking his hand in mine.

“Why did me getting marked scare you so much?” He asked, squeezing my hand. I leaned my head against his shoulder and thought about it.

“I guess, between those terrible messages and my own insecurity to my trauma from my previous pack and my emotions going haywire. I think all that caused me to become scared that this pack would never want me as much as they would you.” I admitted. A slight tear fell down my eye. Gabriel noticed and wiped it away with his free hand.

“You know that would never happen, right? This pack adores you.” Gabriel assured me. I nodded, agreeing with him.

“My heart knows that, but I think my mind still needs catching up. I’m sorry about what I did. I still feel bad I ruined your moment.” I admitted. Gabriel’s eyes softened.

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