Finding Their Omega (Knot Her Pack #1)

by Sadie Moss

This man smells like bourbon, spicy cloves, and honey. It reminds me of warming myself on a cold winter morning, and my heart starts to race in a way it never has before.

Sometimes people make the mistake of thinking Caleb is insecure because he’s so quiet. Garrett never has a problem speaking his mind, Ethan wouldn’t know how to keep a thought to himself if you paid him, and I’m pretty damn opinionated myself. But Caleb’s silence isn’t a lack of confidence. Far from it. He just knows the value of waiting for just the right thing to say.

It strikes me in a sudden rush what he’s doing. He’s covering for me. He’s pretending that he’s my Alpha. He’s saving me.

I’ve never had this reaction to someone before, unless you count the scent of that other Alpha earlier this week. Am I going to be like this around all Alphas now? Swooning constantly? No. I panicked when that other Alpha tried scenting me. It’s not every Alpha. What makes that last guy, and this one, different from the others?

I’m not most Omegas. I don’t want my scent to be intoxicating and delicious. I don’t want Alphas everywhere swooning over me like in the movies. When I hear the almost awed tone they use as they speak to me, all I can remember is how I was once tricked and manipulated. It’s not real, my mind whispers. They don’t really want to take care of you. They want to own you.

Of course the fucker pulls a knife. Just my luck. Somewhere, Garrett’s rolling his eyes and doesn’t know why.

My whole car is doused in the scent of her fear. It makes my heart ache. No Omega should have to be so upset, but especially not this one. I’d want to help out any Omega in distress. It’s just what Alphas do. But I can’t deny that there’s something more about this one. Something that makes me want to rip the world apart until she’s happy and her scent no longer stinks of fear.

“That’s a good girl,” I praise. “Very good. It’s okay. You’re safe now. You’re safe with me. I won’t hurt you.”

I know that I can’t leave her to fend for herself. I have to protect her. I know that it’s illegal. She has to be registered. If I take her in, my pack and I will be breaking the law the same as she is, and we could all get in major trouble. But when it comes to this Omega… something in me growls at the idea of abandoning her. Fuck the law. Fuck the ORD. My pack and I will keep her safe.

Even without her behavior tonight, if you’re an unmated Omega at her age, hiding your orientation with suppressants, it’s a pretty good chance you don’t want any Alphas claiming you. I bet you could convince her, change her mind, a part of me whispers. The part of me that wants to spoil her, to see her nest in our home. To take care of her and make her part of our pack. But I know that’s just my old wishful thinking talking.

I’ve wanted an Omega for so damn long. That’s all this is. It’s just my stupid, silly, busted heart.

I know the others are going to have a hell of a lot to say about me bringing home an unregistered Omega. Especially Garrett.

He smells so very good. I can’t remember ever feeling like this. I tell myself that it’s just the hormones, but I could smell the other Alphas, and none of their scents even really registered to me beyond ‘ew, no.’ Ethan, on the other hand? It’s like his scent was instantly burned into my senses, into my brain.

Ethan’s not just an Alpha with a thing for sports cars. He’s a stinking rich Alpha. Wildly rich. Insanely rich. I can’t afford to breathe in this neighborhood.

The Alpha freezes, then squints at me. He moves closer, brown eyes narrowed, like he’s not sure if I’m actually real. “An unmated Omega?” His scent wafts over me as he draws closer and I have to lock my knees to keep them from buckling. He smells like freshly baked pie, like wood burning in a fireplace, and like a glass of sweet apple cider to wash it all down. Like pure, homespun safety.

“Oh my fucking god,” Garrett mutters under his breath again, and he storms off. I ignore him. Yeah, grumpypants, I’m not exactly thrilled about any of this either. But I follow Ethan as he leads me around the house, pointing out the various rooms.

“She won’t register,” Ethan says. Garrett gapes at us. “You gotta be fuckin’ kidding me.” “What, you thought she was hiding her status all this time for shits and giggles?” Ethan snaps. “And that she’d just, what, throw in the towel and say, oh well, I had a good run, guess I’d better register now?” “You need to know when you can’t fight anymore,” Garrett points out. Ethan scoffs. “Now that’s rich, coming from you.” “The rules are there for a reason. To protect Omegas.” “Clearly she doesn’t feel that way,” Dante interjects quietly.

The coffee machine dings, shattering the silence. I turn and grab a mug, then go ahead and grab three for the others too. Garrett takes his black, Dante takes a touch of milk and one sugar, I take two sugars, and Ethan takes… well, let’s just say no coffee beans were harmed in the making of his drink.

Well, you’ll never figure out a plan if you don’t go downstairs and talk to them,

They’re a family. A real family, one that cares about each other and supports each other, one that’s actually there instead of being constantly checked-out and distant. Something in my chest howls with yearning for that.

Fuck, I’ve never scented an Omega who smells as tantalizing as this beautiful, dark-haired woman does.

“Well, you have friends now,” Dante points out. “You have us.” That warms me all over. Although, I’m not sure you’re supposed to want your friend to pin you to your yoga mat and fuck you until you scream.

low purr starts up in the back of Dante’s throat. “Do you have any idea what your scent does to me?” I swallow hard. “Why don’t you show me?” I whisper.

“So you’re going to drag an unwilling Omega from her home.” Dante’s lips curl up into a parody of a smile. “Good to know. Fine, upstanding public servants, you are.” He calls this place my home. My heart swells with joy in the midst of my fear and despair.

My heart pounds harder with every step I take, and the intense, comforting scents of the four Alphas fades as I’m ushered into a car and we start to drive away. I already miss their aromas and their steady presence, and I twist my hands together on my lap, staring out the window. Will I ever see them again?

“I’m going to make sure my Omega has three meals a day,” Dante counters. “How many times did you forget breakfast or skip lunch working at the shelter?” He’s got a point. “You know, a girl could get used to this.” “Good. That’s the plan.” He smiles possessively at me over the stove.

Caleb’s fondness and commitment to helping me makes me feel validated. Like I’m not some silly Omega he’s putting up with, some rich Alpha who just hands over his credit card while rolling his eyes at his friends going, women, am I right?

“I don’t want to interrupt your work…” “Work can wait,” Dante promises, his voice a low rumble against my throat. “Trust us. We know when we can take breaks. Besides, you’re our priority now. What’s the point of our success if we can’t use it to take care of our Omega?”

The idea of Ethan watching Garrett fuck me makes me flush from head to toe, but it’s not from embarrassment. The Omega in me recognizes that all of the Alphas in this house could be mine if I choose to bond with them, and the idea of being shared between them satisfies something inside me that I can’t even put into words.

“Don’t let go,” I whisper. “Don’t leave me. Please.” I’m barely aware of what I’m saying. All I know is that I want this feeling to last. This feeling of closeness. This connection. “Couldn’t even if I wanted to,” Garrett murmurs gruffly. “And I don’t fucking want to.”

“Are you… cuddling me?” I ask, as I snuggle deeper into his embrace. He chuckles. “Yes. How am I doing? I’ve never actually cuddled before.” The admission from this gruff, stoic Alpha makes me grin, and I press a kiss to the warm skin of his chest. “You’re doing great.”

Marcus’s eyes blaze and I shrink. I remember how he would get when his eyes were like that. “You…” “I am her Alpha.” Dante’s voice is low, so that we don’t cause a scene, but the protectiveness and possessiveness could not be clearer. “You will back off from my Omega.”

“That man,” Dante growls, “is against everything an Alpha should be. There’s no way we’ll let him get to you. We’ll make sure he never has any claim on you.”

I get up to her door and knock. “Ava?” “Sure thing! Come on in!” She sounds like she’s yelling, but it’s muffled. As I enter the room, I immediately realize why. She’s got the coverlet over her head as she’s trying to completely redo the sheets on the bed. I can’t quite hide my chuckle. “You look like the world’s frilliest ghost.”

“My heat,” I blurt out in realization, the last word turning into a moan. “My heat has started.” It’s here, for real this time. There’s no way to stop it or get control of myself. And we’re in Dante’s office.

Ava lets out another plaintive moan, and my Alpha instincts go into overdrive. She’s in heat. Full heat.

“You feel what you do to me?” he whispers roughly. “But I’ve barely done anything.” “You exist. That’s enough.”

Dante is a protector at heart, and I know he’s wanted an Omega to take care of.

Garrett cut ties with his family, and we watched it make him gruff and closed off, distrusting, wounded in a way he didn’t like to talk about.

As for Ethan, it’s obvious they were kindred spirits from the start. One look at each other and they’re both grinning helplessly. That guy was gone for her the moment he saw her at the club, and I wish I’d been there so I could’ve seen the look on his face.

My Alphas deserve better than what’s happened to them. And I know that it weighs on them.

Ethan holds out the dress. “Get dressed, gorgeous. We’re going to paint the town red.” “Blue,” Garrett deadpans. “The saying is red, Garrett.” “And yet, here we are.”

“A noble cause to host parties and charity drives for,” Mom counters. “But to actually get in there… Garrett, you’re from a higher pedigree than this.” “Dogs have pedigrees,” Ava says quietly. “People are just people.” I’m so fucking proud of her. I squeeze her waist gratefully.

“What do you smell like?” Garrett’s rough chuckle teases my ear. He drags in another breath, a purr rumbling in his chest as he exhales. “You smell like strawberries. Vanilla. Lilac.” He inhales again. “You smell like reckless desire.” His arms band tighter around me, molding my body to his. “But most of all, you smell like mine.”

I was so scared of Marcus that I dropped all of my friends and ran away. I was so scared of an Alpha like him finding me that I used blockers and suppressants for years, keeping my distance from everyone. I had no friends, no one to care about me, until my Alphas came along. And now, Marcus wants to take this happiness away from me? Now that I’ve finally found people that I love and I’m building a life for myself? Not just any life, but the life I’ve always dreamed about, the life I’ve wanted for years? Hell no. I’m not going to let him.

I may be an Omega, not an Alpha, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t be protective and angry too. That doesn’t mean that I can’t fight in my own way.

What I told Ethan in the car when we first met still holds. He asked me what I wanted, and I told him. Freedom. I still mean that.

Now, I’m truly free. I get to be the best version of myself, supported and protected by my Alphas.

“It’s okay. I don’t need you to be gentle. I don’t need you to fuck me like you love me right now. I just need you to fuck me like I’m yours.” Relief and heat flare in Garrett’s eyes, and he surges down to press a hard kiss to my lips.

“We’ve renamed our latest product in your honor,” Garrett says. “We’re calling it the AVA Watch. It was already a product for Omegas, so it felt like this was fate.” “It’s the kind of thing that we think you would’ve wanted, back when you first presented,” Caleb adds. “We hope that if someone else is scared the way you once were, this device will help them to feel more in control of their lives and be less afraid.”