Page 60 of Knot Gonna Lie
The sound hung in the office air like an admission of guilt.
“You’re bonded.”
Eli’s words cut through my euphoria like a psyblade—sharp and direct, each syllable dropping into the silence like explosions in the void of space. My eyes snapped open to find my brother leaning forward in his chair, every line of his body sharp with sudden attention.
Dread flooded my system, cold and merciless, chasing away the warmth of Elara’s emotions like a sudden blizzard on a sunny day. I sat frozen, watching understanding dawn across features that shared too much with my own reflection.
“It happened quickly,” I said, the words feeling inadequate even as they left my lips. How could I explain the force of inevitability that had driven me to risk everything? “On our final day on station. We’d wrapped up deliveries and trade talks, so I gave the clan a day to pick up a few luxuries before departure.” The half-truth sat heavy on my tongue. “That’s when I saw an omega being cornered by a desperate alpha…and stepped in.”
Eli’s eyebrows rose and then narrowed. “Where was her gamma during this harassment? And how exactly did a rescue evolve into a bonding?”
The question I’d been dreading, wrapped in my brother’s characteristic precision. I took another sip of whiskey, using the gesture to buy precious seconds while my mind raced for the right words—truth balanced against revelation, honesty without confession.
“Her gamma was attempting to defuse the situation,” I said carefully. “But something compelled me to act more directly. The alpha was…persistent in his advances, unwilling to accept refusal.” The memory of Owen’s hands reaching for Elara sent fresh anger coursing through my veins. “After the incident, the omega sent her gamma to our vessel with a request—she wanted me to register for her debut session in The Den.”
Eli leaned back, fingers steepled under his chin—same habit he used when we argued over shared toys and divided responsibilities. But his gaze tracked me differently, sharp and measuring, like he was reassessing a person he thought he understood completely.
“I was under the impression you weren’t interested in claiming an omega for a while. That you were sane, and completely under control,” he said slowly. “Your focus has always been on expanding our company’s reach, maintaining our competitive edge in the health industry. You’ve consistently declined opportunities to participate in Den selections.”
“I was,” I corrected, feeling the weight of absolute truth in those words. “This wasn’t planned, Eli. It was instinctual—something beyond rational calculation.” The bond pulsed with Elara’s distant contentment, reinforcing my conviction even as guilt gnawed at my conscience. “After hearing directly from omegas about their treatment—not whispers and rumors, but their lived reality—I knew intervention was the right choice.”
Even if I used your name to do it. Even if I committed fraud to stand in that arena. Even if I’ve built our future on borrowed identity and desperate lies.
The thoughts crashed against my consciousness like waves against unyielding stone, but I kept them locked behind a careful expression and steady voice. Some truths were too fragile for transmission through communication arrays, too important for the impersonal distance of holographic displays.
I needed to tell him the truth in person…and pray to the Stars he would forgive me.
Eli straightened, planting his elbows on his knees. The casual interest slipped away, replaced by something sharper. His eyes narrowed, like he was starting to piece together a bigger picture—recognizing patterns he hadn’t seen until now.
“What exactly is happening on that station, Luca?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
SETH
The mess hall’s holographic displays painted Tera’s azure surface across our curved viewport—a world of endless ocean dotted with floating continents that drifted like emerald islands through crystal-blue sky. Atmospheric readings scrolled in gentle cascades of data, promising warm breezes and breathable air that wouldn’t require environmental suits or filtration systems.
Paradise, just as our ship’s name suggested.
Something that our clan needed to stay at after years of endless hard work…and the catastrophe that we’d just left. The only positive thing about it was that our most recent excursion to Syzygy Station resulted in Elara, our clan’s omega.
“I still can’t believe he won’t tell us what kind of place he bought,” Maia groaned, her engineering stylus tapping against her vidtablet in frustrated rhythm. “The suspense is killing me. What if it’s some tiny cabin with one refresher?”
“He wouldn’t do that,” Jaxom scoffed, grunting as he placed a crate overstuffed with things Quinn had told us Elarawould enjoy eating on the kitchen counter. “That would be a downgrade to what we travel in now.”
“Knowing our alpha, it’s probably a compound,” Stella countered, her psyblade singing against the metallic rod in long, practiced strokes. “He doesn’t do anything halfway.”
“Could be underwater,” Tobias added with theatrical despair. “You know how he loves his privacy. Underwater dwellings also use less land, and have more sustainable resource management—”
“He wouldn’t,” Sylas protested, though uncertainty colored his voice. “Would he?”
I stood at the preparation station, steam rising from the fresh pot of herbal tea I’d brewed—a blend designed to ease the growing restlessness in our omega’s system. The atmospheric readings from Tera suggested the planet’s unique electromagnetic field might accelerate heat cycles, something I’d need to monitor carefully once we made planetfall.
My gaze drifted to where Elara sat curled in the window alcove, her empty teacup cradled between her hands like a talisman. The ship’s overhead panels cast a soft bioluminescent glow, washing her profile in muted gold and rose—catching on the healing mark at her neck, a quiet declaration to the galaxy that she was ours.
She looked contemplative, peaceful—but I caught the way her fingers traced the cup’s rim in restless circles.
The space beside her remained empty where Luca had been sitting before his brother’s transmission called him away. Even absent, his tropical scent lingered in the cushions, a phantom presence that made her lean into the spot he’d vacated as if seeking comfort from memory alone.
