Page 4 of A Very Knotty Halloween (Knotty Holiday #1)

Marnie smells like heaven. Like chocolate-covered raspberries.

I want to run my tongue all over that body and taste every inch of her.

I shouldn’t have these thoughts so soon, especially considering we’re in public—we’re not in the hunt part of the night yet—but it’s such a strong urge I can’t deny it.

I thought she was gorgeous from her pictures, but tonight, with that gothic vampire dress and those cute little teeth in her mouth? She’s even more stunning.

It’s impossible to dance with her and not get an erection, and based on the way Damien’s scent is so thick in the air, he’s fighting his own hard-on, too.

Funnily enough, he was the one who was most resistant to the idea of coming tonight.

Damien is a year older than me, at twenty-two, but we’ve always been a pack together.

I’m the one who’s eager to get an omega for our pack.

Of course, our pack isn’t just the two of us… but I don’t know if she’s ready for that information yet.

How much longer is this party? I want this night to progress so we can get her alone. The other omegas in the room smell nice, sure—most omegas do—but none lure me in like Marnie. Her scent is notches above the rest, a goddess among dirty peasants, and I, for one, am ready to worship at her altar.

After we dance for a while, Damien says, “Get us some drinks, Jack.” It’s not an order, but it doesn’t need to be.

I want to make sure our omega is well-refreshed for what’s coming.

We’ve never done this before, obviously, but I’ve heard the hunt is like a haunted house-slash-maze, to the point where you think you’re chasing after your omega, but you’re really running around in circles.

God, I can’t wait.

While Damien brings our omega to a table for a breather, I dutifully go to fetch us something to drink.

Have to refuel and stay hydrated, though the masks needing to stay on is a bit of a damper.

I make it to the refreshments table and grab us three cups, and as I fill them up with some kind of fruity punch, I glance around, searching for the third member of our pack.

I don’t see him anywhere. He must be in the shadows somewhere, alone. Maybe he’s rethinking this whole thing, or maybe he’s playing his own little game. Doesn’t want to show his hand too soon.

I don’t get why. This was his idea to begin with.

Whatever. His issues aren’t mine.

The cups are pretty small, so it’s not hard for me to take all three of them back to our table.

I set one before Damien and one before Marnie, and then I take the seat on her other side.

It isn’t easy to walk around with such a raging erection, but I don’t think I’m the only alpha in the ballroom currently fighting his body’s natural reaction.

“Thank you,” Marie says before she takes a sip.

“You’re welcome,” I tell her with a grin. “At least somebody has manners.” I shoot a look over her black-haired head at Damien, who probably frowns at me beneath his mask. All I can do in response is chuckle and take a sip from my own cup.

Damien’s never been one for manners. He’s…

let’s just call him rough around the edges.

To someone on the outside, he looks like a complete psycho, but to those he cares about, he’s a teddy bear.

Mostly. He can be a little rough when clothes are off and he’s in the heat of the moment, but I think that’s just part of being an über.

I know, I know. I’m in a pack with two übers. Don’t know how I wound up here.

No, wait. I do.

Friends since elementary school. An unofficial pack since middle school. Once we presented, the pack became official, and we’ve been inseparable ever since. As for me and Damien, well, an alpha has needs, and occasionally those needs are fulfilled by other alphas.

“So, tell us about yourself, Marnie,” I say, wanting to know absolutely everything about her.

For some of these alphas and omegas, tonight might be about having fun and letting loose—and don’t worry, we’re going to do just that—but it’s more than simple fun for us.

We came here for her, and we’re going to leave with her, whether she knows it or not.

When she shrugs, I look to Damien for help, and Damien takes the reins of the conversation: “You going to school or something?”

“I’ve been going to school online,” she says with another shrug. “My family, um… we’re kind of just average, so we don’t really have the money for me to go to an omega college or anything.”

“There something you want to do? A career you want?”

Her brows furrow, and she glances between Damien and me. “I’m surprised you’re asking. Don’t most alphas assume their omegas will stay home and pop out baby after baby?”

I tell her, “We’re not like that. I mean, don’t get me wrong, the idea of putting a baby in you is hot as fuck, but we’re not here to push things like that on you if you don’t want that. If there’s something else you want to do, we’re all for it. Right, Damien?”

Damien nods.

I can tell she doesn’t quite believe us, but she eventually says, “It’d be cool to do something with numbers. I’m pretty good at math.”

“That’s so random, I love it.” I might sound a little too eager, but that’s because I am eager. I’m eager to get to know her, to find out all her idiosyncrasies, her likes and dislikes, what makes her tick… and of course what she likes in bed.

Marnie takes another sip of her drink, then runs her hand through her long, wavy black hair. “What do you guys do?”

“I’m going to school, actually,” I tell her. “I’m getting a business degree before I hop in the family business. Dad’s orders. And Damien has an internship at Alabaster Security. If he proves himself—”

“If,” Damien cuts in, shooting me a frown. “I think you mean when. It’s only a matter of time until they see what I’m capable of.”

“You guys have a house together?” she asks.

Damien and I share a look, and he’s the one who answers her, “We’re renting right now, mainly so we’re out of our parents’ houses. But don’t worry, a good alpha saves every penny he can so he can make sure his omega is comfortable.”

“I think what he’s saying is that,” I pause, “once we have an omega in our pack, we’ll look for a house together.”

She chuckles softly. “You guys sound like you’re in the market for an omega.”

“Maybe we are,” I whisper, leaning closer to her. “Are you in the market for some alphas?”

Her dark eyes are wide, and she runs her tongue over her teeth—mainly over her two sharp canines.

“I… no?” As she says it, it comes out more like a question, as if she’s wholly unsure of herself.

“I mean, tonight’s supposed to be just fun, right?

Not about finding a pack. This isn’t the Omega Garden. ”

“So, are you saying you’re going to be at the Omega Garden looking for matches soon?” I say with a grin even though she can’t see it.

“No—”

“Why not?”

She looks down at her lap and fidgets. “That place is for… not for omegas like me. Founding families, the rich ones—I told you, my family is average. We’re not poor or anything, but we aren’t well-off, either.”

Damien speaks, “Pretty sure there’s no cost to be a part of it, if that’s what you want to do.”

Marnie laughs. “My dad still doesn’t face the fact that I’m an omega, so talking about that place is off the table. I’ll be fine. There are other ways to find packs—”

I nod sagely. “Like coming to the Halloween Hunt.”

“Yeah—wait, no. No—”

I grin like a madman, and Damien sounds like he’s matching my grin with one of his own, although his is probably a bit more wicked as he says, “Don’t worry.

By the end of the night, we’ll show you exactly what it means to be our omega.

Call me psychic, but I don’t think you’ll be able to resist us, omega. ”

She forces out a laugh, but it’s weak, and I can tell her willpower is already crumbling. “You guys are… something else. Are you sure there isn’t another omega here that you’d like better? I’m really not that interesting.”

“Stop saying that,” I tell her, setting a hand on her knee. I meant it as a comforting gesture, but then I realize we just met tonight. Crazy how easy this all feels. Like I’m caught in a dream and I don’t want to wake up.

“If you don’t want to talk about yourself, then let’s talk about what’s going to happen later tonight,” Damien muses, setting a hand on the chair behind her.

The way he studies her, he eats her up, and he doesn’t even try to hide it.

“We’re going to claim that scarf, and we’re going to hunt you down. You a fast runner, Marnie?”

It’s only because I’m hyper tuned in, but I notice how furiously she blushes, as if her mind is already in the gutter. Good. Mine sure is, and I know Damien’s is, too.

“I don’t know,” she whispers. “I’ve never played this kind of game before.”

“Oh,” Damien says, his voice dropping an octave, “it’s no game.

It doesn’t matter if you’re fast. It doesn’t matter if you’re the best hider.

We’re going to hunt you down, and when we find you, we’re going to tie you up with that scarf and take turns feasting on you.

” He growls out, “Fuck. I’m getting hard all over again. ”

The omega between us blushes harder at his crass words. “You’re pretty confident in your abilities.”

All Damien does is shrug and say, “When you know, you know.”

“Ignore him,” I tell her, although he’s not lying.

Once we’re on the hunt for our omega, it won’t be a game anymore.

It’ll be real. It’ll happen fast. And once things start, there won’t be any stopping.

“Are we making you nervous? Are we… being too much?” The last thing I want to do is scare her away, but dulling down our personalities isn’t something I want, either.