Page 84 of Knot My Band: Part One
My gaze flicks to Dax leaning against the hallway wall. His hazel eyes are stormy, and his inner turmoil puts a twist in my stomach.
He sees me looking and says, “I’m not going in with you three.”
“Man, you can’t seriously be thinking of sitting this one out,” I say, striding over to him, my voice low and edged. “Oli needs all her alphas, and that includes your grumpy ass.”
Dax shoves his hands deeper into his pockets, the tension in his jaw telling me he’s fighting a battle. “She doesn’t need me there or want me. I’ll handle things out here.”
“Like what?” I jab, hoping to provoke him out of this funk. It falls flat when he looks up, his eyes haunted.
“Logistics,” he snaps. “Someone’s gotta fix the tour while you all…” He trails off, but the implication hangs heavy between us.
“Oli wouldn’t want you out here on your own,” Aiden interjects, moving to stand beside me. His soft-spoken naturedoes nothing to hide the steel underneath.
“Exactly,” Chase chimes in, clapping a hand on Dax’s shoulder.
But Dax’s gaze is distant, locked on some invisible horizon only he can see. “No,” he says finally, the word a quiet thunderclap in the charged air. “I haven’t earned the right to be with her during her heat.”
I pause at that, hearing the unsaid part. “But you want to be?”
He looks the most vulnerable I’ve ever seen him as he glances past us and into the suite. “I’ve fucked everything up, and I deserve to be left out. But I’m going to try and fix things going forward.”
Aiden and I exchange a look, a silent conversation. This isn’t just stubbornness; it’s a raw wound for Dax, one we don’t have the luxury of time to heal.
“Fine,” I relent with a sigh.
“If this is only a mini heat, we might be able to make the next show by flight, so I’ll work on that and bring you all food at some point, too. Take good care of her,” Dax says.
“Thanks, brother,” Chase wraps an arm around Dax’s shoulders. “It’s only a mini heat. You have time before the real one.”
“Go,” is all Dax says, a dismissal that carries weight.
As we turn around and toward the nest, I can’t shake the pit in my gut that comes with going forward without my pack mate, but this needs to be about my omega, and Dax has fucked things up with her.
My omega needs me. That’s where my focus will be.
She’s a whirlwind of rose gold hair and frenzied movements as she tears through sheets and pillows, building her nest withan urgency that tugs at something deep within me.
Her scent is burning with stress, and it’s time to step in.
“Jack,” Aiden mutters from beside me, his voice rough with concern. “We’ve got to do something.”
“Already on it,” I say, but my feet move of their own accord as I move to the edge of the threshold.
“Omega,” I call out softly, not wanting to startle her in her fevered state.
She spins at the sound of my voice, her eyes wild and searching. They land on me, and for a moment, there’s recognition—then they cloud over again with the haze of her heat.
“Alpha…” Her voice is a plea, laced with desperation and a need so raw it sends shockwaves through me.
“Hey, beautiful,” I whisper, “Can we come in?”
She nods, and I close the gap between us without thought.
My hands find her waist, grounding her as much as they ground me. Then I’m leaning in, pressing my lips to hers in a kiss that’s meant to reassure, to comfort. But the pull is too strong, the connection between alpha and omega blazing to life instantly.
Her body responds with a fervor that sets my blood on fire, her arms winding around my neck as she molds herself against me.
Aiden and Chase join us, surrounding Oli as the door shuts with a click. And then she’s pulling back and looking around at us, her lips swollen from our kiss.
