Page 57 of Knot All is Crystal
Crystal leans against me,her feet pulled up on the couch as she snuggles beneath my arm. The movie, a romantic comedy about a Beta who was an Omega in disguise, who finds a pack and runs from them, is quiet in the background.
We’ve got to watch with the subtitles on because I’m at pain level: six today, but I didn’t want to miss out on time with Crystal.
“Did you know the actress actually is an Omega who hid her designation?” Crystal whispers. “She presented as a teenager and then basically never left her house. She had to for an emergency or something and was scented by her match, who happened to be a movie producer.”
“That seems like a good concept for a movie or a book,” I remark, running my fingers through her short hair.
She shrugs. “I’ll have to ask my sister. She’s more of a reader than I am, and always makes crazy suggestions. Did you know there is a difference between werewolves and wolf shifters? One of the books she lent me had a chart explaining it.”
“I had no idea.” I laugh as she explains what the difference is, down to the foreskin, which plays a surprisingly prominent role in the book she read. After laughing so hard my side hurts, I pull her closer.
“So what’s your sister like, besides liking smutty books?” I ask, desperate for any taste of who she is. I want to know everything there is to know about my Omega.
“She works hard and rarely allows herself anything just for herself. I was a shitty, entitled teen, and she was so patient with me even though she’d lost her parents too and was barely more than a kid. My niece, Hannah, turns four soon, and my brother-in-law died when Eve was still pregnant. She’s been dealt a rough hand.” Her voice is bitter when she mentions her brother-in-law, but it fades quickly. “They mean everything to me. I’d do anything to keep them safe and make her life easier. I send most of my paycheck to Eve so she doesn’t have to work two jobs, and Hannah can have everything she wants. I rented her a fucking unicorn for her birthday party.”
“A unicorn?” I laugh softly. “I didn’t know you could buy a unicorn.”
“Me neither, but if Mila is having one at her party, Hannah has to have one too.”
“Who’s Mila?”
“The cool girl at the preschool, apparently.” She leans across me to the coffee table and grabs her glass of water. “But it’s worth it. Everything is worth it to see her smile.” Her voice is tinged with darkness, but I don’t have time to bring it up before she spins to face me with a soft smile that melts my heart. “So, any siblings?”
“Nah,” I say dismissively. “I had a friend growing up with a younger brother who was basically a little brother to me, but that’s it, and we’ve long since fallen out of touch.”
“That must be hard.”
I stretch my legs out, adjusting her to settle between my thighs, and lay her back to my chest. “Sometimes I struggle to maintain friendships since I’m in pain so much. People think I’m not prioritizing them, not realizing that sometimes I just can’t put in the effort.” I close my eyes and pull her even closer to me. “I know that probably doesn’t inspire confidence in you about me as your Alpha…”
“I’m not worried about that, Emmanuel,” she whispers. “We all have something. I know you’ll be there when it’s important.”
With her in my arms, I could almost forget that I’m in pain. Her cooling peppermint scent relaxes me in a way nothing has before, and the weight of her body against me is grounding. I ghost my lips across her temple, and she sighs softly.
“This is so nice,” she whispers, almost to herself.
It’s more than nice.
It’s perfect.
* * *
I scrubmy eyes with the back of my hand. The blue light of my computer screen is bothering me so much that I may have to stop working for the day and try to finish the project tomorrow.
Pain level: Four.
But I push through, managing to finish up and turning over the deliverable to my client before flopping down on my bed.
My phone pings, and I activate my screen reader so I don’t have to look at the bright light. I turn off the overhead light with the remote mounted beside my bed as my phone starts to speak.
“Text from: Crystal. Read it?”
“Yes.”
“‘I’m on my lunch and wanted to say hey!’ Respond?”
I smile, picturing her at the table I first approached her at. “Yes. ‘Hi, Omega. I hope you’re having a good day.’”
It’s only seconds before my phone responds again.“Text from: Crystal. Read it?”
