Page 8 of Knotty Escape
Soft snores reach me as I rearrange and pull a blanket over us. I close my eyes with a stupid smile on my face and sleep like a fucking rock.
Chapter 5
River
“Her scent is…” Westley frowns, staring out the window of my bedroom. He’s leaning against my bedroom door frame, arms crossed over his chest. He’s shirtless, wearing his usual black briefs and white socks.
My packmate loves art and has turned his body into a canvas that he takes good care of. The vibrant colors that swirl across his body in a collection of geometric lines and flowers look alive in the morning sunlight. He’s taller than I, but not as tall as Harrison. Strong shoulders, pale skin, and muscles.
Westley and Harrison were athletes in college, but I was not. I have never been. I work out now, but don’t toss a ball my way and expect me to catch it.
I prefer weight lifting. Cardio.
“Lingering,” Wes finally says, glancing my way. His scent of balsam and cedar reaches me with a subtle hint of desire. Of course, I can feel more than that through our pack bond. He’s irritable and antsy.
But that probably has more to do with the shit show of a date last night. Omegas are delicate. They need to be treated with care and a soft hand. Jessica is an exception.
One that Harrison desperately needs. Explaining to an omega that one of the alphas in our pack goes a little feral during his rut is risky. Omegas talk. If our pack gets a reputation for being too rough with its omegas, then we’ll never find our scent match or have the chance to help Harrison.
When an alpha goes fully feral during his rut, the pain is said to be excruciating. Unbearable.
Someof us are trying to prevent him from experiencing that pain. So while Wes and I sat through a painfully boring dinner, Harrison was having the time of his life with Lila.
Lila…a beautiful name to match her alluring scent of berries and cream. A scent she didn’t have when I knew her. Back then, her beauty was more than enough to draw me in. I spent hours staring at her. I won’t lie.
The second Harrison said her name, I knew who she was. Or maybe I was just hoping it was her.
“What time did she sneak out?” I ask as I climb out of bed and pull on sweats. Wes hasn’t met her. His degree is in communications, so our classes never overlapped. A shame, but Harrison did send us that taunting selfie. She looked just as incredible as I remember. More so, if that's possible.
“Before the sun came up.” Wes shrugs, pushing off the doorway. “Fucker’s still grinning.”
“I bet.” I shake my head, pushing past him and heading for the kitchen. I need coffee.
When we walk into the modern all white kitchen, Harrison is in nothing but a pair of black boxers with red hearts on them and his cooking apron. Well, and his pink bunny slippers that his little sister gifted him for his birthday a couple of years ago.
Wes follows me into the large space as I pour myself a cup from the pot. I like mine black, no cream or sugar. Harrison says it makes me a psychopath, but it’s just something I got used to during my college years.
“I’m making waffles,” Harrison announces, and Wes snorts.
“Sure thing, Donkey.”
“Ha ha, fuck you.” Harrison glares, rolling his eyes at Wes. “How was your dinner with Satan’s vagina?”
“Don’t be an ass.” I sigh heavily, rubbing my brow. Jessica was significantly more insufferable than I had remembered, but she’s still an omega. “She was willing to offer us a solution to our problem.”
“I don’t give a shit if she offered to–” Harrison cuts himself off, taking a deep breath before releasing it slowly. I rest against the counter and watch him with a brow quirked up, biting back my smile. “I will not be going near her harpy–gah! You know I don’t want to, River. She fucked another alpha in our dorm because we wouldn’t knot her. She tried to manipulate us into fucking bonding her! I’m not changing my mind on this.”
“Fine,” I relent, almost cracking a smile when his eyebrows shoot up in pure shock, and he drops his spatula dramatically.
“Just like that?” he asks skeptically, squinting at me like I’m hiding something. I watch him for a long moment, thinking about the way Jessica’s scent had lingered in our dorm for weeks after that day. It had once been a nice floral scent. Sweet, almost like a perfume. Her slick was sour, though, clinging to our sheets, and we had to toss them out because it fucked with our instincts.
But the scent of the omega who spent maybe five hours here last night is so fucking good in comparison, and she didn’t even leave behind her slick and cum. Sadly.
As far as I can tell, they never fucked. He hasn’t showered, and carries her scent with him like a badge of honor. But it’s soft. Inviting. Everything I always imagined I’d want in our omega. Something we didn’t know we were missing.
“Yep.” I won’t force Harrison into the arms of an omega he despises, but I’m not going to sit back and watch as he suffers, either.
Harrison can deny it all he wants, but the fact is, he needs an omega before his next rut. Who knows what damage he'll do to himself without one.
