Page 3 of A Very Knotty Halloween (Knotty Holiday #1)

To my utter disappointment, an alpha comes strolling over and takes a seat next to me.

Though his mask covers his face, I can practically feel him smiling through it as he looks at me.

A mop of reddish hair sits on his head, an inch or two too long, and a pair of light, hazel eyes stare out at me from beneath the mask.

He wears a pirate costume that’s perhaps a bit too snug on his body to be comfortable.

“Hi,” he says, and the moment he speaks, his scent hits me: cinnamon laced with something sweet, almost like pumpkin spice with a bit more spice.

“Hi,” I mimic him, taking another sip from my cup. Maybe he’ll get the hint and leave me alone. Or maybe not.

“I’m Jack,” he says, clearly not picking up any hints.

“Hi, Jack. I’m Marnie.” I don’t know why I tell him my name, but the moment I think better of it, it’s too late. My mouth is two steps ahead of my brain, and once my name is out there, I can’t take it back.

“You probably hear this all the time, but you’re very pretty, Marnie.” The compliment flows off his tongue easily, and my stupid omega self preens under it, wanting more.

Still, I manage to keep my composure and say, “Thanks.”

He laughs, and it’s such a sweet sound—a sound I wouldn’t mind hearing more of. “That’s when you tell me I’m handsome.”

I give him a strange look. “I can’t see your face.”

“No, you can’t, but deep down, I think you know.”

I pucker my lips in defiance—which he definitely notices.

Those eyes of his drop to my mouth and stay there, which leads me to say not a word.

Maybe he’s right. Maybe, deep down somewhere, I know I’d find his face attractive.

If his voice and his laugh does this to me, seeing his face would probably be too much.

Jack leans closer to me, and just like that his cinnamon scent fills my nostrils to the point where I can’t focus on anything else. “Can I tell you a secret?” Just the way he asks the question makes me shiver. “We—”

Before he gets the chance to say a word, someone else joins us at the table, sitting on the other side of me, to my right.

Another alpha, this one wearing a red and green striped sweater with his mask.

An über, one who smells of bergamot and citrus.

His green eyes are on me the entire time from beneath his mask.

“You’re missing your claw,” I mutter.

“What?” the new alpha says.

I lift up my hand and flex my fingers. “The knife fingers. You’re supposed to be Freddy Krueger, aren’t you?”

“No,” Jack says, responding for him. “This is just how Damien dresses.” His reply earns him a harsh glare from the other alpha, from Damien, and he quickly adds, “Security wouldn’t let him come in with it.”

Damien shrugs his wide shoulders. “Knives were too real, I guess.”

What I want to know is: what kind of maniac would try to bring in a Freddy Krueger gauntlet with real knives attached?

Obviously they wouldn’t let that stuff in.

Then again, I’m kind of surprised they checked the alphas.

When we were let in, we weren’t patted down or anything.

Although, if you look at violent crime statistics, omegas typically aren’t the perpetrators.

I take a sip from my drink and glance between the two. “So are you two in a pack together?” I watch as the two alphas exchange looks—now would be a good time to see their faces, their expressions. With those masks on, I’m undoubtedly missing something.

“You could say that,” Damien is the one who answers. “So, Marnie, tell us all about you.” There’s an edge to his voice, and I don’t know him well enough to figure out why that edge is there. Maybe that’s just what he sounds like all the time, or maybe there’s more to this than I know.

“I… how’d you know my name?”

Damien shrugs. “I overheard you tell Jack.”

It’s not that I think he’s lying, it’s just… well, with the music playing and alphas and omegas everywhere, it wouldn’t be the easiest thing to eavesdrop on a conversation if you weren’t nearby.

But that’s crazy. How would he know my name already? Unless…

My eyes survey the ballroom, and I spot Cas standing near the refreshment table still, having not moved a muscle. He got himself a drink—not that he can drink it without lifting his mask, and is now standing there like a total weirdo, staring in our direction. Staring at me, more likely.

No way. If he was with Jack and Damien, he’d be over here with them, wouldn’t he?

That’s too far-fetched. I’m overthinking things.

A part of me wants to ask, but I don’t want to seem too inquisitive, like I actually care one way or another—I don’t. So, I settle for saying, “I’m not interesting. You two would be better off talking to another omega.” Yes, please, get up, go away, and leave me alone.

But at the same time… don’t.

“No, I think we’re fine here with you,” Jack says, like it’s the easiest thing in the world, while Damien is busy glancing between us, much more reserved out of the two of them. When I don’t say anything more, he perks up. “Do you want to dance?”

I can see a group of alphas and omegas dancing near the DJ, but I don’t know that I want to join their number.

Besides, dancing with alphas means rubbing up against them, and there’s no telling what’ll happen if any of us gets going like that.

Sabrina would say that’s what tonight is about, but I’m still not sold on the idea of hooking up with alphas I’ll never see again.

Plus, my stepbrother is here. It’s kind of weird.

“I don’t dance,” I say, “but I’m sure there are lots of omegas here who do—”

“But I’m not asking other omegas if they want to dance,” Jack says, deflecting my response.

“I’m asking you. Dance with us, Marnie. Don’t let Damien scare you.

He can be intimidating, but you just have to know how to handle him.

” The alpha winks behind his mask, and my cheeks heat up as I wonder just what that wink refers to.

As if to further emphasize that point, Jack leans in closer to me and whispers, “Don’t worry. I can always show you what he likes, if you’re up for it.”

Ah. Yep. There’s my answer.

It’s not super uncommon, for packmates to be involved with each other, in addition to their omega. When you spend all your free time with someone, things are bound to happen. Still, I can’t say that I’ve ever been propositioned quite like this before.

On Sabrina’s instruction, I wore scent-hiding panties, but we all know if things happen, panties like that can only hide so much slick.

Eventually, something’s bound to leak out and then all alphas around will snap to attention.

Again, I’m probably thinking too much. It isn’t like slick is a Marnie-only problem; every omega here can gush like a waterfall if the situation is just right.

It’s part of being an omega. I always thought it was kind of gross, but alphas go nuts for slick.

With Damien and Jack staring at me, waiting for me to respond, I’m tongue-tied for a good, long minute. My first instinct is to say no, but as I continue to glance between them, as I catch Cas staring out of the corner of my eye, I do something that would make Sabrina proud.

I tell them, “Okay. Let’s dance.”

Jack perks up like he’s a puppy being told he’s going to go outside, while Damien’s body language hardly changes.

That one is much harder to read. Before I can say a word more, Jack grabs my hand and pulls me to my feet.

I’m so shocked at the feeling of his hand in mine—or, rather, how nice it feels to hold hands with an alpha I just met—that I don’t pull back.

I let him lead me through the throngs of tables, to the dance floor.

As we walk, I look around, searching for Sabrina. It’s so dim in here, I don’t see her. She must be behind me, somewhere, or blending in with another group. It’s one of her powers. I hope she’s doing okay, wherever she is, whoever she’s with. For an omega, she can certainly handle her own.

Me, on the other hand? Two handsome alphas approach me and it’s like I turn into a whole different person. Or maybe I owe that response to my estranged stepbrother. Either way, I should shut my mind off tonight and follow Sabrina’s lead, have some fun.

We reach the dance floor, and Jack lets go of my hand so that he can grab my waist and pull me into position.

We face each other, less than two inches between our bodies, his hands on my hips.

It’s almost like he doesn’t want to let me go, like he zeroed in on me immediately and is staking his claim for all the other alphas in the room to see.

It’s kind of hot, when you think about it like that. My inner omega preens at the idea of Jack and Damien choosing me out of all the other omegas here.

As Damien moves to dance behind me, thereby sandwiching me in between the two alphas, Jack leans down, and his mask brushes against my ear as he says, “You really are beautiful tonight. I’ll let you take a bite out of me anytime you want.

” The compliment flows off his tongue easily, and my eyelids flutter shut under its weight.

I like being told I’m beautiful as much as the next omega—which is to say, an awful lot. Compliments and praise are one way to an omega’s heart. Although, it’s kind of weird he added tonight, isn’t it? It isn’t like he’s ever seen me before, so what does he have to compare my looks tonight to?

Whatever. Again, I’m overthinking things. Really need to shut my brain off for good and let it reboot in the morning. I’m twenty years old. I’m allowed to have some fun.

Jack doesn’t straighten out after he says that; he remains with his neck bent, his tall frame angled down to my short one. His masked face dips even lower, to the sash tied around my neck, where he inhales and shivers, like he just smelled the most intoxicating thing ever.

It’s like the two alphas are on the same wavelength, because behind me, Damien does the same: he bends his top half down, angles his neck forward, and brings his nose to the other side of my throat, where he does the same behind his mask.

His hands find my sides near Jack’s, though his grip me a little harder when he growls out, “Fuck, she smells so good, Jack.”

“Mm-hmm. I knew she would.”

Knew she would. Now that’s a weird thing to say about someone you just met, someone you didn’t know existed, isn’t it?

I’m so confused, but being caught in the middle of an alpha sandwich is throwing my mind askew.

Their scents are mixing, mingling, and I feel like I just took a shot of something powerful, something mind-altering.

Though I want to ask Jack what he meant by that, I don’t.

Behind me, Damien sets the pace, matching the beat of the song with his hips, and by the third verse of the song, there isn’t any space left between us to speak of.

Whatever inch or two was there disappears just like that, and I’m pinned between Damien’s chest and Jack’s chest. Two rock-hard bodies, with scents thick enough to drive me insane.

My breathing catches, my heart starts to pump faster. If I want to keep hold of my sanity, I need to end this here and now, but who needs sanity when there are alphas around? Omegas can’t stay sane around alphas. That’s just how nature works. They drive us mad, and we drive them even madder.

I lean my head back on Damien’s chest and close my eyes, losing myself not only to the beat, but the two alphas surrounding me, to the way their strong hands grip my sides. Such large, firm grips, it’s like I’m being swallowed, totally devoured, and I’ll never be seen again.

And you know what? I might just be okay with that.

I lose track of time. I think we all do.

My skin gets hot, and it takes everything in me to not lose my cool as the songs go by and the dancing gets more…

extreme. And by extreme, I mean their hands start to roam, their chests start to hum with low growls, like they’re seconds from claiming me, and a telltale hardness presses against both my backside and my front.

Dancing with these two alphas is making them rock hard, and by the feel of it, neither alpha’s dick is anything to laugh at.

Crap. Feeling their hardness, hearing their low growls… it’s all adding up inside. It’s making me lose my mind. No amount of squeezing my thighs together can distract me from the haze that has fallen upon me thanks to the two alphas.

“You’re ours tonight, Marnie,” Jack murmurs. “You know that, right?”

Whatever internal feistiness is in me does not make an appearance, because I don’t bother trying to deny it, but neither can I speak. The only thing I can do is nod my head, crack open my eyelids and see Jack’s eyes twinkling behind his mask.

Behind me, Damien’s chest rumbles with a growl. “If only we were alone right now, Jack and I would make you ours. Would you like that, omega? Would you like to be claimed by two ravenous alphas?” The way he says it, there’s an almost vicious tone to it, and I can’t lie, I’m kind of digging it.

I’m digging them, as much as I hate to say it. I’m digging them so much that the idea of them claiming me makes my panties dampen.

Ugh, not good. So not good. Losing my mind over two alphas I just met isn’t my idea of a fun time, and yet I’d be a liar if I said there isn’t anything here.

Sometimes the beast inside knows before you do, sometimes the inner animal recognizes the link before any logical thoughts have time to enter the picture.

Sometimes all it takes is a single meeting.

But, for some dumb reason, I can’t stop wondering if Cas is still watching me, if he’s angry that I’m here—or that I’m currently stuck between two alphas that want to have fun with me tonight.

It’s been so many years, I shouldn’t care one bit. Still… a part of me wonders what it would be like if Cas was next to me, too.

God, I need help. Who thought coming to this thing would be a good idea?