Page 7 of Knot Enough

“Ouch.” River said overdramatically. “All I’m saying is when they arrive, smile, be a gentleman, do what I do and they will be eating out of your palms.” I rolled my eyes at his words. They didn’t seem scared of me when we firstmet, but they could have been hiding it. I wasn’t sure I could win them over the way River would, but I didn’t want to fail when I hadn't even started.

“I gotta go. They should be almost here and I have to get dressed.” I tell him quickly before hanging up on him. I might not be able to change the way my face looked, but I certainly wasn’t going to neglect my hygiene.

Once I had gotten dressed, I went down the hallway to the living room to find Sorren on the couch. His leg bounced impatiently despite him looking at his phone. He had been the most annoying to be around the last few days. Every chance he’d get, he would talk about Gabriel. He was also the only one who could get Lydia to talk to him over the last three days. I was jealous that he was having such an easy time bonding with them when I had difficulty even thinking of something to say.

It couldn’t really be helped, though. Sorren had been raised in a house full of omega siblings and an omega mom. The other teenagers teased him about it constantly when he presented his designation because of how ‘unalpha-like’ he was. Graham and I tried our best to prevent the teasing and bullying from getting to him, but it still affected him. Now though, that softness and all those years surrounded by omega hormones were paying off.

Graham was nursing a fresh cup of coffee on the other side of the kitchen table where I decided to sit too. He has been the most patient throughout this whole ordeal, but I had caught a glimpse of his bed and several articles of clothing on it to absorb his scent. The bastard was already preparing for their heats or if they decide to start stealing our clothes to make their nests. I looked down at my watch to check the time.They should be here any minute.

“Do you think she’ll get comfortable being around us?” Sorren asked out of nowhere. I thought about his words. It was easy to see how excited Gabriel was about our matching, but Lydia had remained closed off to most of our attempts. I had little idea why she was so cold, but I hoped she would relax once she got used to us.

“I’m sure your friendliness will soften her defenses.” Graham comforted Sorren. I chose not to say anything. Getting her to open up would take more than a few friendly words and gestures. Despite my feelings on the subject, Sorren seemed to perk up at Graham's encouragement.

A few more minutes passed until there was a knock on our door. Before we could get up, Sorren had bolted out of his seat and ran to the door. Both Graham and I were looking forward to this day, but it was easily Sorren who was the most visibly excited. I remained seated at the table and waited for Sorren to return. It didn’t take long to be able to smell watermelon and mint along with bread and vanilla from Gabriel, but a brand new scent nearly had me groaning.

The most delicious combination of strawberries and cherry blossoms filled the room. I noticed Graham taking an equally deep breath as me. Before wecould recover from the scent, Sorren, Gabriel, and Lydia had walked into the kitchen. Gabriel glanced around excitedly, moving back and forth on his feet like he was itching to run around and look at stuff, while maintaining constant conservation with Sorren. Lydia was next to him, holding a small backpack. My nose told me the strawberry and cherry blossom smell was coming from her. She looked ten times more uncomfortable than a teenager getting a physical. I had a feeling people, especially alphas, focusing their attention on her made her nervous.

“If you want, you can look around the house while the moving company brings stuff in. Sorren can show you around while Finn and I help the movers.” Graham said, directing his words to Lydia, showing a rare genuine smile. Graham always had a smile of some sort on his face. It was his way of protecting himself against the world. It was a few years since he started plastering them on his face, but Sorren and I managed to decipher them.

Sorren and I were both excited about finding our omega, but Graham wanted it the most. He was the only one of us who grew up in a pack household and got to experience a healthy family dynamic. Between Sorren’s omega mom and sisters and my beta parents, we spent most of our lives trying to find what being an alpha meant to us rather than wanting to find an omega.

Gabriel looked at Graham excitedly. “Can we really?” Gabriel asked, barely holding all his excitement in his body.

“Of course, this house is your home now. You should be comfortable in it. Come on, I'll show the bedrooms.” Sorren confirmed what we were all feeling. He turned to walk down the hallway that lead to all our beds, including Gabriel and Lydia’s nest. Gabriel grabbed Lydia’s hand and dragged her down the hallway after him.

I grinned at the sight before getting up and following Graham out the door. You could easily tell which boxes were Gabriel’s and which were Lydia’s. Every time I grabbed one of Gabriel’s boxes, I would get a whiff of fresh-baked bread and vanilla, which made me want to go find him and bury my head in his scent. With Lydia’s, there was only a slight hint of that berry and floral scent. The smell was so brief that I almost doubted I even sensed it, which left me craving more.

They didn’t have much stuff to move, so the process was pretty quick. When Graham and I were done, we headed off to find Gabriel and Lydia. We were both aching to be in the presence of their scents again, which was odd to me. I figured we would quickly grow attached to our scent match, but I didn’t think I’d feel anywhere close to this emotion for another omega, too.

We ended up finding them in Sorren’s room, where he was showing off all his movie posters signed by actors when he directed the movies they starred in. Gabriel and Lydia looked towards us once we entered the room. I was pleasedto find that Lydia looked more relaxed than when she had first arrived. Graham seemed to be right about Sorren’s friendly demeanor affecting her.

“Everything’s moved in if you want to start unpacking your room and nest,” I said, pointing behind me to indicate the room on the opposite side of Sorren’s. Gabriel had requested that Lydia and he share a room and nest, so we set up the room for both of them.

“Definitely!” Gabriel said, jumping up. He held his hand to Lydia and helped pull her up from where they sat on the floor. They had to tiptoe around the movie posters to avoid stepping on them. I offered my hand to Gabriel when he got close enough. He looked down at it and back at me with an appreciative look before he gripped my hand and used it to step over the last movie poster. Lydia also easily crossed it, though she didn't let Graham help her.

Once Gabriel had let go of my hand, I tried not thinking about the tingles it sent through my body or how right it felt touching him. I also tried not to think about how touching Lydia would feel if she ever felt comfortable enough to let us. All of us followed the two omegas as they went to their room. They bypassed everything in it and headed directly towards the door that contained the nest. Lydia and Gabriel went into it and glanced around it. My breath stopped. I hoped they liked what they saw. Omegas could be very picky about where their nests were, and with that in mind, we kept the area pretty bare. My breath finally released when I heard Gabriel purr in satisfaction. Gabriel spun around to face us while Lydia continued to look around the room.

“Thank you for the nest. We really love it, but I have a rule about it.” Gabriel said, looking at all of us, worried. With Lydia’s situation, I wasn’t surprised they would have conditions. “None of you are allowed in here unless Lydia is okay with it, but that isn’t covering my heat. If I want you to help me, then you’ll be allowed in, but you aren't allowed to touch her unless she says otherwise; besides that, Lydia has the final say.” Gabriel continued looking at us firmly. We all nodded; we knew building trust with the skittish omega was essential. It sucked that something in her past had made her cautious of alphas, but I was determined to prove we weren’t like whoever hurt her.

“Whatever you need to do to feel comfortable, do it. Don’t worry about our feelings. We want the two of you to be happy and safe here.” Graham looked into Gabriel’s eyes. I saw Gabriel’s face redden slightly at the attention for the first time. It made me wonder how red I could get his body.

“Thank you, I appreciate it. Now, with that said, Lydia and I are going to unpack the boxes in our room. You three are welcome to help,” Gabriel said, clapping his hands together.

“Of course,” I agreed without a second thought. I wanted to continue to bask in their presence while I could, without seeming like a weirdo. If I had it my way I wouldn't leave either of their sides for a second.

“I’ll order pizza!” Sorren yelled as he ran out of the room to grab his phone. He’s never been good about having his phone on him, which led to him making our numbers the second point of contact for actors or writers who wanted to talk to him about projects. Graham silently rolled his sleeves up as we stepped back into the room. The omegas shut the door to the nest. The entire room was surrounded by boxes except for a bed.

“Let’s get started then,” Gabriel said, going to a box and opening it. Lydia moved to a different box. I decided to start with the boxes that say clothes since that would be the easiest thing to do while also not worrying about whether or not I was putting things in the wrong place. I pointedly ignored anything that said underwear, wanting to respect their privacy. Sorren came back in after several minutes and started helping as well. Within record time, the pizza had arrived, and almost two-thirds of the boxes were done; Sorren left and returned quickly with several pizza boxes.

“I wasn’t sure what you two liked, so I got different kinds.” Sorren set down the boxes on a couple of sturdy cardboard boxes. He left and returned with several cups, plates, and napkins. Most of Gabriel and Lydia’s belongings had been unboxed by now, making the room feel more lived in. We all collectively decided to take a break and enjoy the food. Gabriel and Lydia sat beside each other while we sat around them. Lydia started to get her own plate when Sorren shooed her hand away. She looked perplexed by his actions.

“Let them spoil us, Lydia,” Gabriel said, pulling her into his lap. I gripped my hand, resisting the urge to do the same to Gabriel.

“Damn right. Just sit back and relax.” Sorren said, opening all three boxes. “Which kind do you want?” He asked as he grabbed a paper plate. Lydia stayed silent for a moment before replying hesitantly.

“Cheese, please.” She said as she held out her hand to grab the plate from him.

“I’ll eat whatever; I’m not picky,” Gabriel replied, watching Sorren and Lydia’s interactions. Sorren quickly filled a cup with water before handing it to her. I saw their hands brush lightly against each other. Lydia’s eyes widened before her face flushed for a second. Gabriel chuckled at her reaction, grabbing his plate and the cup from Sorren. This time, Gabriel intentionally brushed his pinky against Sorren’s hand. He laughed as he watched Sorren’s eyes darken for a moment.

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