Page 49 of Knotted their Beauty

Making my way to the side of the Inn, I try to avoid getting noticed by anyone, or too close to the beach, as I start circling the building.

If Lennox has his dog with him, which I’m sure he does, it would make sense for him to book a room on the bottom floor with a patio in order to make it easy for him to go outside.

Given he most likely checked in within the last twenty four hours, and this place books up fast, he might have had to take something on one of the upper floors. I could also see him taking a second floor room or higher just so he could take the stairs, so if he’s not on the bottom, it could have been intentional for the cardio. He’s pretty fucking fit, afterall. I’m sure he’d take whatever opportunity he can get in order to stay that way.

Upper floor, it is.

I pass a few darkened balconies as I start my search, another with the doors open and the sounds of screaming kids booming out of them, a few more dark, one with a woman performing very enthusiastic oral on her partner, a couple with lights on and no activity, and then…

“Lennox, you son of a bitch,” I hiss as I stop under the balcony he’s standing on.

He sets a bottle on the ground at his feet before he leans on the railing and looks down at me. “I didn’t have you pegged as the obsessing over alphas type.”

“I’ve been trying to get a hold of you for almost a day and a half. You couldn’t even send up a flare so I knew you weren’t⁠—”

“Dead?” He arches a brow and shakes his head. “Not yet. Haven’t really put a lot of effort into it.”

Well, I don’t like that fucking response. “What are you doing here?”

“Resting. Relaxing. Luxuriating.”

“Why?”

“Why not?” He pushes his hair out of his eyes, tired eyes that are less vibrant than I’ve seen before. “I don’t have anything better to do.”

My hands ball into fists at my sides and I take a step closer. “Yeah, you fucking do.”

Lennox scoffs and rolls his eyes. “I really don’t.”

“What? Didn’t get your dick sucked by one of your scent matches so you’re ready to throw in the towel?” I know that’s low, but my anxiety is almost as high as my adrenaline right now, which means my fuse is shorter than normal. “Ready to write the rest of us off because no one hopped on your lap the second they laid eyes on you?”

He clenches his teeth but I didn’t miss the way he flinched. “They don’t fucking need me, Baron. None of you do.”

“You’ve got to be cracked.”

“Not the first time I’ve heard that.”

“And it won’t be the last at the rate you’re going.” I take a deep breath and try to calm my shit down. “They’re going out to San Clemente. The omegas are going to be staying there, together, with their little girl.”

“So?” Lennox uncomfortably shifts on his feet. “Why do I need to be there?”

“Oh, I don’t know, because there’s a fucking serial killer on the loose in that area?” Not that I don’t think Ves can handle himself, or protect Arlo and Cali, but they’re planting temporary roots in the current killing ground, and I think we should be there.

“That has nothing to do with me. Or you, for that matter. Why are you even here?”

I shake my head with an annoyed laugh. “What the fuck is wrong with you, man? Those are our scent matches. Don’t you want to be where they are?”

Lennox just shrugs, and I am seconds from losing my shit.

We stare at each other for a few beats, neither of us speaking or blinking, and it’s almost like his aura shifts.

No, not shifts.

It amplifies, and I feel the wave of sadness roll off of him and crash into me so hard I can’t help but take a step back.

That makes a little more sense.

Why I feel the impending doom, why he’s all but disappeared.