Page 6 of Knot Enough

“For starters, if you're comfortable with the topic, Lydia, we wanted to know why we can’t scent you at all,” Graham asked. The nervousness that had lessened during the alphas’ introductions increased drastically. I tightened my grip on her hand, showing my support while I waited for her answer. I watched her chew the inside of her cheek as she tried to decide whether to tell him. Her medication was always a hard thing for Alphas to be comfortable with. She didn’t feel comfortable going through her heats even with me, so the medication lessened them to the point where they left like bad period cramps. The longer she was on it, the worse her chances of getting pregnant were as well. Since no doctor would operate on an omega to prevent them from having children and birth control wasn’t always 100 percent effective, Lydia didn’t want to take any chances. Alphas didn’t like that much when Lydia talked about it, even if I was okay with her or us never having kids.

“I take medication to stop my heats, but one of the side effects causes my scent to lessen. To be honest, I’m considering going off them. I missed being surrounded by my own scent. I’m planning on discussing options with my doctor to make my heat bearable and still have my scent work,” Lydia said, looking a bit uncomfortable with her confession. I hadn’t known she felt that way. I would support her in any decision made regarding her medication, nevertheless. I squeezed her hand again, letting her know I supported her decision. She nodded gratefully at me.

“I see.Whatever decision you make about it,we’ll support you either way. Now, I saw in your profile, Lydia, that it said you were asexual. I read up on it, but I wanted to know what you wanted to do with your heats since you're considering switching your medicine.” Graham asked, as Sorren and Finn nodded in agreement.

“It’ll be hell for us, but we’ll respect your decision no matter what,” Sorren confirmed with a comforting smile. Lydia nodded in response, not saying anything else.

“Speaking of that. I am open to that happening, but I want to get to know all of you better before we get to that point.” I said. Sorren's eyes flashed in happiness, but I couldn’t make out the expressions of the other two. “But.” I continued. “In regards to Lydia, if she lets you be around for her heats if or when they happen, sex or any kind of sexual acts will always be off the table.” I said firmly. This was the make-or-break part of the conditions Lydia and I had for the pack.

Lydia has never been entirely comfortable with sex. She once explained to me that even when she found her scent match, she never was attracted to them sexually. It was hard to comprehend since sex and sexual attraction are very important to me. I personally loved it. I enjoyed the closeness and connection I had with my partners when it happened, but for Lydia, it wasn’t ever like that for her. She was never interested in or desired that type of connection with people. Lydia found her connection through pampering, time spent together, and acts of service, but she always felt guilty for not being able to give everything to her partners. She wanted to be considered important and irreplaceable, and I reminded her that she was every day. It didn’t matter to me if she couldn’t feel that need; I took everything she willingly gave me and ran with it. She was enough for me even if I never found my scent match. Graham, Sorren, and Finn's eyes widened. Sorren looked like he was going to say something, but I stopped him and continued speaking.

“Let me be clear: if you want to pursue a relationship with her, feel free to, but you have to go into that with the fact she might or will never want to have sex with any of you. She’s never wanted to explore that part of relationships, and I’ll never force her to. I won’t let any of you do so, even if you are my scent match. ” I finished and squeezed Lydia’s hand, turning my attention towards her. Her nervousness had turned to fear as I talked. We discussed beforehand I would be the one to talk about it since she wasn’t confident she wouldn’t back down in fright. I leaned my head against hers.

“It’s going to be okay,” I whispered as I kissed her forehead. The action calmed her, but she glanced at the other three in panic. They all remained silent as Lydia and I waited to hear their reaction. This was the biggest problem for packs when they had courted Lydia before. Everything in me willed them to be okay with her. This was a part of her, and I wouldn’t let them reject a piece of my soulmate, even if our scents told us to be together.

“I’ll be honest. This will be a learning experience for all of us, but we are willing to try if you two are.” Graham said as the others nodded in agreement. He looked pointedly at Lydia and was waiting for her response.

“Okay, I can try.” She said softly, tucking herself closer to me. Graham, appearing satisfied, looked back at me.

“Regarding the next steps, did you two want to move into our pack house for the courting period? With Sorren and I’s schedules, it’s hard to get us allduring the visiting hours of the omega institution.” Graham offered, looking between both of us. Lydia and I both glanced at each other. It wasn't uncommon for scent matches to move in together rather quickly. The bond made the scent matches eager to stay together and stay close to each other. The Institute even had a clause that scent matches are allowed to move in after one meet up. It was very rare that scent match pairings were rejected or split so some people didn’t see much point in waiting, me included. But it wasn’t me I was worried about, it was Lydia.

“Do you want to?” I asked. Her comfort was my primary concern. She stayed silent for a moment, thinking it over. It would be hell being apart from them for days at a time, but I would do it for her.

“I don’t mind.” She finally said, looking back at me.

“That would be a yes to your offer, then,” I said happily as I looked back at Graham. He smiled in approval.

“All right, does this weekend work for both of you? All three of us are off then, so we can help you unpack, " he asked. I mentally double-checked mine and Lydia’s schedules before answering.

“That works,” I said after confirming not once but twice that we were. The weekend was only three days away. I could last that long. I hoped. The conservation started to still at the new information we all needed to process. The beta we met earlier poked her head through the door to remind us that our meeting time was almost over.

The awkward silence continued till Sorren shouted,“great, we’ll go get things ready then!” out of nowhere, popping up from his seat like a weasel and dragging the two with them.

“Oh! Before I forget,” Sorren said, apparently remembering something before taking his second step. He grabbed a pen and a piece of paper from a small notebook he had hidden in his pocket, wrote several digits down, and handed it to me.

“These are our numbers. Feel free to bother us over the next three days.” He said, looking us both in the eyes. “We’ve been dying to meet you again. Sorren hasn’t even washed his outfit since that night.” Sorren added.

Finn slapped him on the back of his head and glared at him before walking out of the room. Graham rolled his eyes at Sorren while the man in question rubbed his head. ‘He’s just shy.” He said with a wink before leaving the room. Graham followed after him after waving us goodbye. I had a feeling these alpha’s were going to be fun.

Chapter 3

Finn

Today was the day both omegas would move into our pack house. The omega institution had a moving company that helped their wards, so we didn’t have to visit the omega institution to help them move their stuff.

Over the last three days, Gabriel has been blowing up our phones, asking questions through texts, or calling one of us to ask about moving in. Lydia, on the other hand, had barely said a word to each of us since the meeting. We all hoped she would get more comfortable around us when they both moved in. Gabriel was an anchor for her, keeping her calm when her emotions ran wild. It worried me that I couldn’t tell how she felt through her scent. Gabriel was easy to read, though I think that had more to do with the fact that he didn’t see the need to hide his feelings around people.

Lately, my nights have been sleepless, consumed with thoughts of Gabriel. His scent was intoxicating, and my obsession only deepened when we met again for the second time. Lydia would also show up sometimes, which only worsened my curiosity. My restless morning was disrupted further by my phone going off. Grimacing, I looked at the screen to see my brother calling me. Our mother must have let it slip we found an omega. He never calls me. I hear from our sister, Lauren, more often than I see River in person.

“What do you want?” I grumbled into the phone.

“That’s a rude way to answer the phone.” He tuts. I could practically see him wiggling his finger at me.

“It’s not when I know you're calling for gossip.” I replied, getting up to head to the bathroom.

“Oh come on, is that how you talk to your brother who’s worried about you? The last thing I want is for you to scare off your new omega like that one girl from that bar we went to.” I grimace at the memory. One look at my tatts and face, she took off running.

“Omegas” I corrected.“And at least I don’t have a delusional obsession with a model.” I retorted as I turned on the sink to wash my face.

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