Page 48 of Knot Gonna Lie (Syzygy Omegaverse #1)

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

ELARA

The nest room breathed with the rhythm of sleeping bodies—Luca’s tropical storm, Seth’s bright citrus, Jaxom’s stormy cedar, weaving into something new. My pack. The word still felt foreign, yet their scents had already tattooed themselves into my skin. As much mine as I was theirs.

Sleep eluded me.

I slipped from the tangle of limbs, careful not to wake them. Luca’s arm tightened reflexively around air before easing again. Seth murmured something incomprehensible in his sleep. Jaxom’s hand searched blindly across the sheets, curling into the warmth I’d left behind.

The corridors whispered with recycled air, the hum of distant engines. My bare feet made no sound against the cold floor. I wasn’t running—just seeking. Something unfinished scratched at the edges of my consciousness like a splinter working its way deeper.

Xavier.

The observation lounge door stood open, amber light spilling across the hall. He sat silhouetted against the stars, a mug steaming between his hands. His reflection in the viewport tracked my approach—winter given form, beautiful and remote as distant nebulae.

“Couldn’t sleep either?” His voice carried no surprise, only weary acknowledgment.

I settled into the chair across from him, tucking my legs beneath me. The leather creaked, still warm from someone else’s presence. “The nest feels off still.”

His laugh came bitter as burnt coffee. “I’m not pack material, Elara. Surely you’ve realized that by now.”

“That’s not what I meant.” The truth sat heavy between us, unspoken but understood. His scent—crisp mountain snow and steel—stirred nothing in my omega instincts. No pull, no hunger, no recognition. Just... absence. “But we need to talk.”

“About my behavior during game night?” He took a long sip, eyes averted my gaze. “I suppose I owe you an apology.”

“You owe me honesty.”

His fingers tightened around the ceramic.

Through the viewport, a distant star collapsed into itself, beautiful in its destruction.

“You want honesty? Fine. Your scent is wrong to me. Not repulsive—that would be easier. Just… nothing. My biology doesn’t recognize you as anything beyond another person sharing air. Two members of the same clan.”

The admission should have stung. Instead, relief eased through me. “And mine doesn’t recognize you.”

“Yet you’ve claimed three of my clan brothers in as many days.” No accusation colored his tone, only observation. “They follow you now like planets orbiting a new sun, their entire gravity shifted. Even those you haven’t marked watch you with a wonder I’ve never seen before.”

“Is that what frightens you? Change?”

“What frightens me is Eli.” The name hit like a stone in still water.

“Luca’s brother won’t understand this. He won’t accept it.

Their empire—two alphas building something impossible together—depends on trust. And now?

” He gestured at me. “Now Luca has you. A secret omega. A pack forming without Eli’s consent. ”

“Luca will tell him the truth—”

“Will he? When? After your heat when the bonds are irreversible? After you’re carrying his children?

” Xavier’s gaze finally met mine, sharp as steel.

“Eli isn’t just his brother or business partner.

He’s the other half of an empire built on trust. When that shatters—and it will—Coco Pharma burns.

Our medical supplies that keep three systems’ populations stable?

Gone. The research that might finally crack the much needed hope for our dying species? Destroyed.”

The weight of his truth pressed against my lungs. I’d been so focused on my pack, my needs, my escape from the Matron’s protective cage that I hadn’t considered the larger implications. “You think I’ll destroy humanity’s future.”

“I think you’re a catalyst,” he corrected. “Neither good nor evil, just... inevitable. Like stellar drift or molecular decay. You arrived, and everything began unraveling. Not through malice, but through nature itself.”

“I never asked for this.”

“No. But you embraced it.” He set his mug aside, deliberate.

. “During game night, watching everyone respond to you... I saw our clan’s destruction written in their eager faces.

The careful balance we’d maintained, the professional boundaries that kept us functional—obliterated in mere days.

By your presence… if those who aren’t in your pack. ”

“They were dying, Xavier. Slowly. Quietly.” Jaxom’s words echoed in me, resonant and true. “When did you last see Luca happy? When did Seth stop hiding behind data and research? When did Jaxom start believing he deserved to stop drowning in the guilt over his sister?”

“Happiness and functionality aren’t synonymous.”

“No. But one without the other is just another form of imprisonment.” I leaned forward, willing him to understand. “I’m not trying to destroy your clan. I’m trying to build something that includes it. A pack within a clan, boundaries respected, everyone given choice.”

“And if I choose isolation?”

“Then I respect that.” The words came easier than expected. “I don’t need you to want me, Xavier. I don’t even need you to like me. But we need to coexist on this ship, especially with Planet Tera approaching.”

He studied me, something shifting in his expression. “During your heat…”

“You won’t be expected to participate.” I cut off that line of thinking immediately. “Luca, Seth, and Jaxom are enough. More than enough.”

“But if medical necessity demanded it—if your life hung in the balance—I would do my duty.” He exhaled as the admission seemed to cost him. “I may not feel the pull, but I’m not so cold as to let you die for my comfort.”

“It won’t come to that.”

“You can’t know that. First heats after suppression can be... unpredictable.” He rose, moving to pour another mug from the thermal carafe. The domestic gesture felt strangely intimate in the starlit darkness. “Tea?”

“Please.”

He prepared a second mug with precision—two sugars, no milk, somehow knowing my preference without asking. Our fingers brushed as he handed it over. No spark, no recognition, just skin touching skin.

“I owe you an apology,” he said finally, returning to his seat. “For calling you a disruption. For implying you were turning us into animals. That was... cruel.”

“But not entirely wrong.”

“No. Not entirely.” A ghost of a smile touched his lips. “Though watching Tobias attempt to maintain dignity while Maia claimed him in the supply closet yesterday was… entertaining.”

Laughter bubbled up before I could stop it. “They weren’t subtle.”

“Subtlety died the moment you arrived.” His pause lingered. “Maybe it needed to. We’d become too careful. Contained. Perhaps disruption was necessary.”

“Even if it costs you everything with Eli?”

“That’s Luca’s choice to make. And yours, I suppose.” He met my gaze steadily. “I’ll support whatever decision comes. Not because I accept you as both crew and clan, but because I accept him as my alpha and captain. If he believes you’re worth it, I’ll defend it.”

“You think I’m wrong for him.”

“I think you’re inevitable.” The word landed like truth. “From the moment he scented you, every other path closed. He would’ve burned the station to ash for you.”

Through the bond, I felt stirring—three distinct consciousnesses reaching through sleep, searching for me. My absence had registered, worry beginning to bleed through.

“They’re waking,” I murmured.

“Your pack.” No mockery colored the words. “They’ll come for you.”

“Yes.”

“Luca won’t like finding us alone.”

“Luca trusts me.” I rose, the chair sighing. “And now he can trust you too.”

“Can he?”

“You just admitted you’d save me, despite feeling nothing.” I moved toward the door, pausing at the threshold. “That’s more than many clans can claim.”

“Elara.” My name on his lips stopped me.

“I need you to understand something. My rejection isn’t personal.

In another life, another biology, perhaps we might have recognized each other.

But in this one...” He spread his hands, helpless.

“We’re parallel lines. Close, traveling the same direction, but never meant to intersect. ”

“I know.” And I did. The absence of pull between us felt almost peaceful now—one less complication in an already tangled web. His scent didn’t call to me, nor did mine to him. We were to be clanmates, and that was okay with me. “Thank you for the honesty.”

“Thank you for not trying to collect the whole crew.”

This time my laughter came freely, genuine. “Three of eight isn’t bad odds.”

“Tobias and Maia—”

“Are each other’s. Always.” My head lifted at the sound of approaching footsteps—Luca’s stride, Seth’s lighter pace, Jaxom’s careful shadow.

“Same goes for Stella and Sylas. They’re so deeply bonded to each other I’d never dream of interfering.

Plus, their scents are pleasing but aren’t mine —but each other’s.

” Their scents were stronger now, calling to me, as their bonds grew closer.

“Just as you’re bonded to this ship, to keeping everyone safe through the void. ”

“Someone has to watch the stars while everyone else watches each other.”

They appeared as one, tension bleeding away when they saw me unharmed.

“Elara.” Luca’s voice carried alpha authority barely leashed, his gaze tracking between Xavier and me. “Everything all right?”

“Perfect,” I intercepted before instinct could flare. “Xavier and I established boundaries.”

“Boundaries,” Seth echoed, tone suggested clinical interest barely masking concern.

“The healthy kind,” Xavier supplied, rising with his empty mug. “Acknowledging incompatibility without animosity.”

Jaxom’s gaze darted between us. “You’ve reached an understanding.”

“We have.” I pressed myself against Luca’s side, feeling tension drain from his muscles as our bond confirmed my contentment. “Xavier won’t be pack, but he’s clan. That distinction matters.”

“And during her heat,” Xavier addressed Luca directly, “I’ll maintain bridge operations. Unless medical emergency demands otherwise, I won’t interfere.”

“But if it does?”

“Then I’ll do what’s necessary.” His promise was steady. “I may not be pack. But she won’t die on my watch.”

Luca studied his pilot for a long moment, alpha instincts warring with trust built over years of shared survival. Finally, he nodded. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet.” Xavier moved past us toward the corridor. “We reach Planet Tera tomorrow. Eli’s expecting you, and he’s going to get your truth. That conversation won’t be pleasant.”

“I’ll handle Eli.”

“You’ll try.” Xavier paused at the threshold, looking back. “For what it’s worth, I hope you succeed. Despite my reservations, seeing you happy—truly happy—makes the disruption almost worthwhile.”

He left, shadows swallowing him.

We stood in the lounge, stars wheeling indifferent beyond the glass.

“You scared us,” Seth admitted, composure cracking. “Waking to find you gone—”

“I needed to fix what was broken.” I reached for him with my free hand, drawing him into our circle. “Xavier deserved better than being painted as the villain for not wanting me.”

“He insulted you,” Jaxom growled. “You didn’t deserve his ire.”

“He spoke truth filtered through fear.” I found Jaxom’s marked hand, drawing him closer. “Can any of you claim you weren’t afraid when I arrived? That change didn’t terrify you even as you craved it?”

Silence answered. Agreement.

“Xavier chooses duty over desire. That’s not wrong, just different.” I looked at each of them, my alpha, my mates, my chosen pack. “We’re building something new, but not at the cost of destroying what exists. The clan remains. We exist within it. Distinct, but not separate.”

“Poetic,” Luca murmured against my hair, inhaling deeply. “Also smart. If we can maintain clan cohesion despite pack formation...”

“Eli may accept it easier,” Seth finished.

“Will that matter to him?” Jaxom asked softly.

“We’ll make it matter.” Luca’s arms tightened around me. “But that’s tomorrow’s fight. Tonight…” His lips brushed my throat. “Tonight, our omega rests. Our pack needs rest.”

“Our bed awaits,” Seth agreed, already steering us back. “Back to your nest we go.”

The nest room welcomed us with warmth and tangled sheets. Luca curved against my back, Seth pressed to my front, Jaxom’s hand resting on my hip.

Peace filled me. Xavier remained on the bridge, watching stars, keeping us safe.

His absence wasn’t rejection—it was balance. Not everyone needed to be everything. Sometimes, parallel lines served their own essential purpose, maintaining distance that allowed others to intersect.

Tomorrow would bring Planet Tera, Eli, and consequences we couldn’t fully predict.

Tonight, though, we were complete.

The clan would survive. The pack would thrive.

And between those truths, we’d build something worth defending.