Page 50 of Knot Gonna Lie (Syzygy Omegaverse #1)

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

ELARA

The training deck stretched before us, utilitarian gray broken only by equipment racks and the circle of clan members already warming up.

Stella moved through combat forms with lethal grace, each strike cutting air with practiced precision.

Her auburn hair caught the overhead lights as she pivoted, transforming from security guard to warrior in the space between heartbeats.

“About time.” She straightened, wiping sweat from her brow. “Thought I’d have to drag you from that nest myself.”

Heat crept up my neck. The morning’s intimacy still clung to me—Seth’s careful hands checking my palm, Jaxom steadying me as I dressed, Luca making breakfast for the clan.

He wasn’t as skilled in the kitchen as the others, but the effort mattered.

The way my pack cared for me made me feel as treasured as I hoped I made them feel.

Domesticity that felt foreign, yet achingly right. The memory of their bruises beneath my fingers, the way they’d submitted to my inspection—it all lingered like phantom touch.

“She needed rest.” Luca’s hand pressed against my back, warmth bleeding through my training clothes. The simple athletic wear felt strange after days in his shirts and borrowed luxury. “Yesterday was—”

“The restaurant fight proved she needs this.” Stella’s eyes hardened, soldier overtaking friend. “Station omegas learn submission. Renegade omegas learn survival. Which do you want to be?”

The question hit deeper than she knew. The blood and terror of my last night on the station still lived under my skin—Owen’s gamma hand reaching, my grip tightening on my broken crystal weapon, the savage satisfaction of striking back, of defending myself.

But beneath that triumph lived terror. Without my pack’s intervention, without their strength...

“I want to protect myself.” My voice stayed steady, even as my chest tightened. “And them.”

Something in Stella’s expression shifted—approval with an edge of respect. “Good. Then we start with basics. Your body’s your first weapon, your instincts your best guide. Everything else is refinement.”

The clan closed around us, their presence heavy but steady. Tobias leaned against the wall, deceptively casual, eyes sharp. Maia adjusted sleek bands on her wrists—gravity dampeners repurposed from her engineering kit. Sylas stretched slow and deliberate, scars writing history across his arms.

Even Xavier stood at the edge, detached but present.

Our conversation from the night before hovered between us—his admission that my scent meant nothing to him, not repulsive but incompatible.

The understanding we’d reached an agreement.

He’d do his duty if needed, nothing more. The boundaries gave us both peace.

“First rule,” Stella said, beckoning me forward. “Omegas have advantages alphas ignore. Lower center of gravity. Flexibility. Size that makes you harder to pin. Use them.”

I stepped into the circle, hyperaware of my pack’s attention.

Seth stood near a med kit he’d set up despite protests, gray-blue eyes shadowed with worry.

Jaxom flexed his bitten hand unconsciously, the mark still fresh enough to ache.

Luca radiated alpha pressure, his instinct to shield me barely contained.

“Tobias.” Stella’s command cut sharp. “You’re up.”

“Seriously?” His grimace betrayed his reluctance. “I’m not fighting—”

“You’re teaching.” Stella’s tone brooked no argument. “Slow demonstration. Show her how alphas typically attack, let her feel the patterns.”

He pushed off the wall, each step exaggerated with obvious reluctance, telegraphed. When he reached for my arm, the movement came so slow I could track every muscle’s engagement. His grip stayed gentle, careful, but even that careful touch sent my instincts screaming.

Not pack. Not mine.

“See how he grabs?” Stella circled us, sharp-eyed. “Control first—arms, shoulders, always. Your advantage? You’re smaller, faster. Don’t let them get that grip.”

Tobias dropped my arm like it burned, retreating with visible relief. The space he gave me felt respectful, not dismissive.

“Again. Dodge this time.”

His reach came slow. I twisted away, Stella’s words guiding me. Instinct and flexibility worked together, movement flowing more natural than I expected.

“Better. Again, faster.”

We repeated the pattern, speed increasing incrementally. Duck, twist, pivot. Each successful evasion built confidence, my body remembering rhythms I didn’t know it knew. When Tobias finally managed to catch my wrist, Stella was there instantly.

“Size doesn’t matter if you know leverage.” She guided my free hand against his grip. “Thumbs are weak. Twist sharp, pull down.”

I tried. His hold broke, surprise flickering in his eyes.

“Good.” Stella’s approval warmed something deep. “Now offense.”

She demonstrated strikes—palm to nose, knee to groin, fingers to eyes. Brutal efficiency. No wasted motion, no flourish. Each move drilled into me until repetition blurred into instinct.

“Your turn, Seth.”

He left his med kit reluctantly. Seth’s style was different from Tobias’s—clinical, precise, like surgery. Each move calculated for maximum effect with minimum energy. His scent—lavender and citrus—calmed the part of me that wanted to bare my throat.

Pack, my instincts recognized. Safe but still wrong for this exercise.

“Harder for you,” Stella observed, watching me struggle against instinct that demanded submission to pack members. “But necessary. Threats don’t always come from strangers.”

The words carried weight beyond training—hinting about her haunted past with her old alpha. In space, in the corporate world we’d soon enter, danger wore familiar faces. Even Eli, Luca’s own brother, might prove hostile.

Seth’s next grab came faster, more authentic. The defensive twist felt wrong, every fiber screaming against fighting someone I’d claimed. But I managed it, breaking his hold with the technique Stella had shown.

“Better.” Seth stepped back, nodding, his professional mask not quite hiding his pride. “You’re learning to override instinct with logic. That’s crucial.”

“Jaxom.” Stella’s gesture brought my newest pack member forward.

He moved with surprising grace for someone who claimed no combat training.

But I’d seen him in the storage bay, the efficient way he’d hefted heavy crates, the strength hidden beneath careful control.

When we engaged, his touch sparking neither rejection nor submission, but something different—partnership.

The sparring felt more like dancing, give and take, teaching me to read an opponent’s intentions through stance and breath. Jaxom let me practice throws, his body going pliant when I hooked his leg, letting momentum and leverage compensate for size difference.

“Excellent.” Stella’s approval rang genuine. “You’re understanding the physics. Now—”

“Me.”

Luca stepped forward, and the training deck’s atmosphere shifted. Alpha presence filled the space, primal and overwhelming. This was the predator who’d claimed me, whose marks still throbbed at my throat. Fighting him felt like defying gravity.

“This is grim reality of what you’ll face out there.” Stella’s voice carried grim truth. “Alphas who won’t hold back, who see omega and think prey. Show me you can handle it.”

Luca approached with none of his packmates’ restraint.. His movements carried the hunt, fast, real. His grip closed around my arm with bone-deep strength, and my body betrayed me—terror tangled with arousal, instinct to submit warring with the will to fight.

My body wanted to submit, to bare my throat, to let him take whatever he demanded. But beneath that instinct, new knowledge bloomed.

But I remembered what Stell had taught me.

Thumb weak. Leverage. Strike.

I twisted inside his reach, elbow driving toward his core. He blocked easily, but the attempt earned Stella’s grin.

“Yes!” Stella’s excitement cut through everything. “That’s it exactly. Use their strength against them.”

We continued, Luca gradually increasing intensity while keeping it safe. Each successful defense, each managed escape, built something crucial—not just skill but belief. The certainty that I wasn’t helpless, that station conditioning hadn’t broken something essential.

When I finally managed a throw—hooking his leg while using his own momentum—Luca let it happen. He hit the mat with controlled grace, but the victory was mine. The clan erupted in cheers, Tobias whistling appreciation while Maia clapped with genuine delight.

“My omega.” Luca’s voice carried from the mat, pride and possession tangling into something that made heat pool low. “Magnificent.”

The praise shouldn’t have affected me so strongly, but my body responded like he’d touched me. Tomorrow we’d reach Planet Tera. Tomorrow, everything would change. But today, surrounded by clan who’d become family, learning to defend what was mine—today felt like becoming.

“Again.” I offered him my hand, challenging. “Faster.”

His grin turned predatory as he rose. The clan leaned in, ready to correct, to teach, to witness. Hours blurred into sweat, bruises, laughter. Stella’s commands, Xavier’s cool suggestions, Maia’s demonstrations—gravity itself became part of my training.

By the time Stella called halt, every muscle ached, body humming with new knowledge that might save my life. Or theirs.

“Shower. Food. Rest.” Her tone softened, pride under steel. “Tomorrow brings enough challenges without facing them exhausted.”

The clan dispersed slowly, the afternoon’s unity lingering. Xavier returned to his bridge, maintaining the distance we’d negotiated. The mated pairs drifted toward their quarters, Tobias’s hand finding Maia’s waist while Sylas pulled Stella close.

“You did well,” Seth murmured, fingers ghosting over a developing bruise on my forearm. “Though I should examine—”

“Shower first.” Luca’s command rumbled with promise. “All of us.”

“Lead the way, alpha.” The title tasted like power on my tongue, watching his eyes darken in response. “Show me our nest.”

We moved through the ship together, my pack, my chosen, the ones who’d bleed for me and who I’d kill to protect. The combat lessons had taught me more than defense—they’d shown me I was capable of protecting what mattered.

Tomorrow could bring its challenges.

Tonight, I had everything I needed.