Page 54 of Knot Gonna Lie
“Incoming,” Xavier’s voice crackled through the comm, tension threading through his usual casual tone. “Two gammas requesting boarding. Quinn and…Jenna.”
“Shit,” Alleria muttered. “They can’t know we’re here.”
Elara stepped away from me and Seth, calmness radiating from every measured step. Her gaze locked on Nova’s, cutting through the panic.
“No,” she said, her conviction ringing through our bond—steady and sharp. “Quinn won’t betray us. Any of us.”
The certainty in her voice silenced the room. She wasn’t guessing. Sheknew.
Nova and Alleria exchanged weighted looks, prepared to flee. “We should go. Before—”
“Stay,” I commanded, alpha authority threading through the word with power I rarely used, feeling it settle over the room. “If Elara trusts Quinn, then we should too.”
“You’d risk everything for strangers?” Nova spat, disbelief painting her features.
“You’re not strangers.” I looked at Jaxom—his gratitude clear, no hiding it. “You’re a sister of one of ours. That makes you ours to protect.”
The weight of my declaration settled over the room—calming both my clan and our visitors.
My ship. My clan. My omega. Everything hung in the balance.
We could turn them away, protect ourselves, reach Tera without additional complications. Every instinct screamed to shield what was mine from the chaos Nova and Alleria represented.
But stronger than fear was the memory of Elara walking across that arena floor, choosing against every protocol. Of my own desperate gamble with stolen identity. Of Seth’s quiet courage and Jaxom’s steady loyalty during dinner.
We’d all chosen dangerous paths to find each other.
How could we deny others the same chance?
The mess hall doors slid open again, Xavier leading Quinn and Jenna into the room with his usual casual swagger—as if nothing was astray. Quinn and Jenna stepped in, eyes sweeping the room—two omegas, one gamma, and a pack clearly ready to fight for all three. Nothing escaped their notice.
“Well,” Quinn said mildly, a flicker of amusement tugging at her mouth. “Isn’t this a scene.”
“It’s not what it looks like…” Alleria stepped in front of Nova.
“It’s exactly what it looks like,” Jenna corrected, though her voice stayed professional, but a thread of affection softened the edges as her gaze wandered over us. “Two omegas in one location. One on her way to start her journey, and the other hadn’t started hers. The question is—what do we do about it?”
Quinn stepped into our space like she still had jurisdiction—which she did, technically—
checking on Elara with caretaker instincts that would never fully fade. “Nova, Alleria—you need to leave. Soon. The sooner, the better. Time isn’t just running out—and you can’t be discovered here.”
Nova’s composure cracked. “Go where?” she asked, panic creeping into her voice. “The station—”
“Requires alpha sponsorship,” Jenna cut in. “That’s standard. An omega has to be claimed in order to get off the station legally.” She glanced between them. “But you’re mated, aren’t you?”
Alleria didn’t flinch. “Three years. Two heats.” She lifted her chin in challenge. “Bonded in every way but the one the station respects.”
“Then that makes it more difficult, but not impossible,” Quinn said with surprising gentleness. “Find an alpha desperateenough or sympathetic enough to take you both. Someone who needs an omega for stability but nothing more.”
“And how exactly am I supposed to do that?” Nova growled, shooting a glare at Elara’s former gamma. “None of them smell right—and the few I can tolerate won’t even consider taking both of us into their clan. Some choice, huh? So much for ‘omega’s freedom.’”
“You just need to find a reasonable alpha, and not someone like Owen,” I explained, knowing it won’t be easy. “The alpha must be respectable, able to provide properly. Their clan needs to be welcoming—understanding. You can’t bind yourself to someone who’ll make your situation worse.”
“You can’t be picky anymore,” Alleria warned her omega. “But we also can’t be reckless either. Time’s running out. What happened at the restaurant—that’s just the beginning. Alphas on the outside are getting antsy. There are others like Owen—desperate, dangerous. And those outside are going feral from waiting—never earning a chance to step within the Den.”
“Which is why everything needs to be changed,” Elara murmured against my chest, and I tightened my hold reflexively, feeling her fear echo through our bond. “Things can’t continue like this. It doesn’t work.”
“Exactly,” Jenna confirmed. “What happened at the restaurant is not unique. The system’s creating its own monsters through artificial scarcity.”
