Page 128 of Knot What She Seems
Inhaling, I let his scent surround me and breathe deeply. The soothing comfort I feel from the steady strength of his presence has only grown since he helped me through my heat. His huge hand reaches forward and curves over my shoulder before lifting my backpack as if it weighs nothing, then he waits patiently as I shrug out of it.
In silence, we walk toward the wall between the schools. And to my utter shock and annoyance, Colter pushes aside a bush to reveal a gaping hole in one of the walls. He walks through nonchalantly, but steam hisses from my ears as I follow.
“I’ve been climbing over that wall for months!” I grumble.
“Now, no need,” he responds, and though he doesn’t say more, my breath catches as I wonder if he created that hole just for me. To make my life easier. It seems like the kind of thing a psychotically sweet alpha would do.
We proceed carefully around the Eros campus, skirting any populated areas until we get to the cottage he shares with the others, and he heads up first, unlocking the door and holding it open for me.
I enter the living room, and instantly, the dim light and the combination of all of Alpha Team X’s scents makes my stomach flip. Instinct whispers that I should curl up on their couch and just wait for them to come home so they can ravish and then cuddle me.
But what would people say about Ted ditching his own award ceremony? I can’t do that to him. The crown prince has obligations.
After a long, wispy sigh of resignation, I turn to Colter. “Thanks for offering to help me get ready.” I still find it unbelievable that the alpha wants to watch me disguise myself and facilitate this entire secret by covering my scent. But his unwavering support makes me fall for him just a little more.
He gives me space to change while he backtracks across the path we walked with a scent eraser…basically, a disgusting sulphur-smelling incense stick. By the time he returns, I’ve got on Ted’s bodysuit and outfit for the evening—a formal military uniform complete with gold braids and shoulder tassels—and I’ve practically bathed in spray scent suppressors. I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.
After Colter discards the burnt stick in the trash and washes his hands, he carries my backpack to his room and shoves it under his bed while I watch, nervously chewing my lip.
“What do you think the guys will say when they get back and smell me and Ted here?” I ask.
I can see his brows rise and a smirk cross his lips, and it’s obvious what he believes they’re going to think.
“But…won’t they get mad?”
He simply opens the door for me like he did before.
“Aren’t you worried about what they’ll do?”
“Know what they’ll do. They’ll want to fight.” Colter’s grin becomes savage, and one of his scars glimmers as I approach him in the moonlight, wondering at how this gentle man can turn so deadly in an instant. I’m probably wrong for getting turned on by the thought of the four packmates grappling over me and throwing punches, but I can’t help it. The idea that I drive them to violence thrills a secret part of me, and my lower belly heats.
I’m fucked up.
It’s hard to resist the urge to reach for him, but I’m Teddie now, not myself, and all the alphas are strolling across the campus this evening to go to the ball. Too many eyes. So I turn from Colter and head off the porch, toward the front gate.
He falls into step beside me, and we stroll across the grass, dew coating our shoes. A few other alphas shoot inquiring glances our way, and I slide my hands into my pants pockets, feigning a casual demeanor the way I think my brother would.
I’m just Ted, walking next to my sister’s boyfriend.
The thought makes me almost choke on my own tongue because I haven’t thought of anyone as my boyfriend in years. It’s a loaded word but also a strangely inadequate one that doesn’t seem to capture just how important Colter is. How important any of them are.
I squeeze my eyes shut because I can’t deal with this level of emotional turmoil and revelation tonight. No, I’ve got to be on guard—on high alert—because I’ve got to fool both alphas and omegas tonight while avoiding the rest of Alpha Team X. That feels like an impossibly tall order, and I don’t have capacity for anything else right now.
“Hey, roomie!” Sam’s cheerful voice bursts beside me like one of those surprise fireworks that go off unexpectedly. I startle and realize that I was so stuck inside my own thoughts that I didn’t even notice him.
Not a good sign, Brylee. You need to do better,I scold myself even as I give him a bro nod.
“You going to the ball?” I ask hesitantly. Technically, betas can’t legally have a relationship with omegas unless they’re part of an alpha pack. But, I mean, a ball isn’t a relationship.
Sam lifts a conspiratorial hand and faux whispers, “I heard they have crab legs over there. I skipped last time and could have kicked myself. Crab legs are my ultimate.”
A grin lifts my cheeks, and I reach out and punch him lightly on the shoulder. “Well, at least one of us will have a good time tonight.”
Sam bites down on a grin and leans closer, speaking softly because he doesn’t know that Colter knows my secret, though I wonder if he suspects after the other day in the gym. “What? The big hero isn’t looking forward to a bunch of fawning omegas? Isn’t that every alpha’s dream?”
Ugh.
I forgot to factor in all the flirty girls from Darling. Even girls who know about Caran—though most people don’t, due to my brother’s need for privacy—won’t give a damn if they just get half an hour of flirting with the crown prince. They want the gossip material. How the hell am I going to fend them off and keep them from recognizing me at such close range?
