Knot for a Moment (Slate City Omegaverse, #3)

by Devyn Sinclair

Pulling my hair back into a high ponytail, I tossed my heels and purse into the locker and clocked in. A couple hours of dancing and I could go home and forget that no one ever seemed to choose me.

He saw me, and his face went slack. “Sloane?” All my friends looked at me, now curious about how he and I knew each other. I saw the moment my scent hit him. Saw his body go rigid and his eyes go wide. The air between us tightened. It felt like the ground evaporated even though he hadn’t moved any closer. This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be. Asher West was here. Staring at me. Nothing but fury in his eyes.

“This is why you left?” His words brushed over my skin, bringing back a hundred memories that felt so different now that he was here and now that he knew. Ash pulled back and looked at me. “Why?” What could I possibly say to make it better? That I saw how happy he was and after everything, I couldn’t be the one to take it away from him?

She’d found out we were scent-sympathetic and had walked away. Grief struck me in the chest. What had I done? What could have made her walk away from the one thing in the world she truly wanted?

“I need to find her.” “No,” Gabe said, though it sounded like the word was dragged out of him by force. “Something is wrong, Ash. We both know that if tears are her reaction, chasing her down just to get to the bottom of it isn’t going to fix that. Sloane’s not going anywhere, and she’s going to have to talk to you very soon anyway.”

Gabe laughed softly. “You think I don’t want to go find her right now? I wish I’d caught her on the way out the door and had her pressed up against these windows right now.” “I hate that I can hear the ‘but’ in your voice.” “But,” he said, “she needs to lead this. I don’t mean we’ll let her avoid us, but even if it’s something we won’t care about, there’s a reason she ran from this.”

One day. We hadn’t seen each other for five years. I could make it one day. Even if I had to ask Roman to punch me in the face to do it.

“Have you ever done something you knew was right at the time, and even though you wished you could take it back, it’s been too long, and you just have to live with it?”

Anyway, my heat finished, and I went back to class. I walked in and saw Asher and Vivian in the studio. They were smiling, looking at each other like there was no one else in the world. I don’t think I’d ever seen him that happy. He kissed her, and I remember feeling so happy for them.” Petra froze with her fork halfway to her lips, like she knew what was coming. “Then I walked through the door, and his scent hit me.”

“I… Asher’s been through a lot,” I said. “And we’d already established we didn’t have feelings for each other. He was so happy, Bee. I couldn’t go in there and rip it away. If he’d looked at me like he was disappointed, I—” Even the thought hurt to admit. “It would have broken me. So I turned around and walked out of the studio and never went back.

This show was going to be a delicate balance between pushing my body to do everything it possibly could and making sure I could still walk.

Bracing one hand on the wall, he slipped the other behind my neck, gently tilting my face up so I could see him. “It’s just you and me, blue. Help me understand.”

Tears flooded my eyes even as I tried to hold them back. “I left because you were happy.” He stiffened, but just as quickly I felt him check the instinct and relax his body. Another purr, this time softer, to keep us both easy. “What do you mean?”

“Sloane.” His lips brushed my temple. “Of course I forgive you. Am I pissed at you for leaving? Yes. Am I pissed you would think I would be disappointed you’re my match? A little. But I am not and never will be angry with you for trying to protect yourself. Especially when you thought you were doing it to help me.”

Gabriel tugged on my sweater just hard enough to get me to step closer. That was all he needed. One arm swept around my waist, the other guiding my face up to his. No hesitation and no questions. He kissed me slowly and deliberately, hands holding me against his body exactly where he wanted me. Unhurried. He didn’t have to say the word mine for me to feel it. I was his, and he would take the time kissing me any way he liked.

For the first time in forever, I had someone to help take care of me. This was more than just exhaustion from rehearsal. It was exhaustion from years of being alone.

Our Omega. I couldn’t speak for the others, but it was something I had wanted more than anything. And now that she was here, I was going to love her. Cherish her. And absolutely never let her go.

It still felt too good to be true. She was my Omega. I never imagined I’d get so lucky.

“What are you going to do?” “I don’t know yet,” he admitted. “Figured I should wait until I think I can be in the same room as him without punching him in the face.” “But watching that would be fun.” He brushed his lips over mine. “Don’t tempt me, little one.”

How in the hell did this man have the reputation he did? Everything I’d ever heard about him said he was a genius. The dancers who worked for them were bettered by his teaching, and it was an honor to be in a production he touched. All we’d experienced was a bully who thought Slate City Ballet was his own personal toy box. Who cared if he broke the toys?

Asher’s hands landed on my shoulders. “Sloane’s going into heat.” “Excuse me?” He shook his head. “After everything she’s gone through for this, she wouldn’t leave, and frankly, I don’t blame her. But she knows she can’t do anything about it after tonight. We need to get ready for this. The nest.”

“Okay, Giselle,” she said. “Let’s go murder some men.” “I don’t want to murder them. I want to fuck them.” Claire laughed. The hallway outside the dressing room was blissfully free of scent. “Fine. Murder then fuck.”

“Any grandmother that talks about dick is okay in my book.”

Gabe was hard against my ass, and I wiggled. “Still?” “Sloane, don’t count on my cock being soft around you. Ever.”

“Never underestimate the power of forearm porn, Alpha.”

So that whole time, you watched all of us fall in love and you were alone? God, I’m just going to kill you,” Eva said, lounging in one of Petra’s giant bean bags. Petra laughed. “You can’t kill her now. She’s finally getting dicked down appropriately. That wouldn’t be fun.”

“Anyone else feel like they need to go to the gym and run a marathon?” “If by marathon you mean ‘find and kill a fucker,’ then yes,” Jace said, rage coloring his tone.

“Bratty Omega. Don’t move your hands from this fucking spot,” he pressed my wrists harder into the cushions. “Don’t come without permission from your Alpha. And don’t ever, ever doubt that you’re mine.”

“Well,” Jace said, pulling back. “There’s only one way to start proving you’re ours.” “What’s that?” “Show me what’s mine,” he gestured to the space in front of him, “and present.”

“He reminds me of my father, blue. That cocky, smug attitude like he can do anything he wants and is untouchable. And the fact that it was directed at you makes me want to do something… inadvisable.”

Dion and his Alphas crashed up the stairs a second later, with him bursting into our midst. “The party is truly here. You’re welcome.”