Page 15 of Knot As It Seems

He catches me staring and winks. “Sister. She used to have really long hair, and she promised that girls dig guys that can do hair. I hope I’m not proving her wrong?”

I shake my head no and snuggle in, sleep coming for me like a train. The guys stuffed me earlier with a sandwich full of so much meat that the bread was bursting, and with all the adrenaline for the day running out and finally feeling safe and comfy for the first time maybe ever, sleep is too inviting.

Before I pass out completely though, I reach out a hand and link it with Anderson’s. “Maybe you should ask me anyway.”

He stills, pressing a kiss to my hand. “Ask what, Fable?”

I open one eye just enough to make sure he hears me. “If you can court me. Last I checked, it’s my decision.”

“Is that something you want?”

“Ask me and find out,” I joke, a smile on my face as I drift off.

“Can I court you, Fable?”

“Duh,” I say ineloquently, fading into unconsciousness.

Eleven

Can I court you, Fable?

Duh.

All my life I’ve been told that if I become the right kind of alpha, everything will be handed to me. If I form a pack with other alphas that want the same things in life as I do, have the same ambitions, get a proper pack house and proper jobs, then we’d be able to find an omega that would tame us and make all the other bullshit worthwhile.

We fumbled this so hard.

I’ve barely spoken to my pack since we found out about Fable, because I’m so damn torn. I’m done being bitter about the situation with Winslow, because as much as I want to blame myself for not seeing through her games, the fault lies with her. She was the one that duped us intentionally and went above and beyond to keep the farce running.

I’m not bad for falling for it, but I will be bad if I hold what she did against this pure, mistreated omega that hasquite literally fallen into our laps. I don’t know her full story yet, but it’s pretty easy to guess. She’s been used and abused, and is in need of somewhere safe and warm to land.

If I were to put stock in what I was raised to believe, then this new alpha that Winslow ruined should be at the back of the line for an omega like Fable, and yet, he’s the only one she wants at the moment.

I can’t bring myself to leave the hallway in front of her door because I need to know she’s safe, need to know nothing will touch her while she’s here. If I could, I’d be on the floor next to her, and maybe I’ll move there later, but I’d be right next to her making sure that no one dared to go near her unless she explicitly asked them to.

So now I have Anderson and Fable’s conversation running on repeat in my head, and I can’t stop hearing how happy she was when she told Anderson to ask her the big question.

I’m going to get left in the dust, and I don’t want that. Don’t we deserve something good after the hell we went through? Could we deserve to have somebody like Fable in our lives, and would she even be open to that?

The rest of the pack has been going back and forth all night since Fable disappeared into her new room, trying to talk sense into Moon who’s being difficult for no reason, trying to talk each other into talking to Fable, trying to decide the best way to go about trying to get her to trust us so we can get to know her, but nobody isdoinganything.

Would she be okay if I left for a while? Can I trust my pack to watch over her while I sneak out for an errand I don’twant to put off?

I peek into the room as quietly as can be, which works out pretty well since I oiled the hinges an hour ago. I needed to be sure I could sneak in here to check on her without waking her.

Anderson is still alert and instantly clocks me entering from the darkened hallway, which goes a long way in assuring me she’s safe.

It’s dumb, but I want to cry at the sight of her asleep in bed, because she’s so damn perfect. So beautiful that I know I’ll never find anyone in this world or the next that can compare to her. And finally, in sleep, she’s become soft like an omega should feel free to be. If she’s sleeping hard and she’s relaxed, then we provided good shelter for her and she feels safe.

I know a lot of that has to do with the alpha lying next to her, and I want to rage on him for getting what I want, which is permission to hold her and be hers, but that just means I have to work harder to get the place next to her I want.

“She doing okay?” I ask him as quietly as I can, not taking my eyes from the omega.

“I think so. Thanks for letting me crash here, I know you didn’t have to.”

“We did actually, because she wanted you here. Pretty sure she’s the one in charge now.”

He smiles at that, then presses a kiss to her brow when something in her dream startles her and she grasps his shirt tighter in her fist. “Well, thank you anyway.”