Page 51 of Knot Gonna Lie

Heat rose between us—not just from instinct, but from something real. Gratitude twisted into want, connection turning into something harder to resist.

“Seth,” she breathed against my mouth, my name a benediction and a plea. Her hands roamed my chest, fingers tracing the edge of a particularly dark bruise with featherlight touches that made me shudder.

I tried one last time to be the voice of reason. “Your emotions are heightened. You’re not thinking clearly—”

“I’m thinking perfectly clearly.” She pulled back just enough to meet my eyes, her own blazing with determination. “You’ve spent your life healing others, caring for others. When was the last time someone cared for you?”

The question shattered the last of my resistance. My hands rose of their own accord, cupping her face with trembling fingers. “Elara…”

She leaned into the touch, her eyes fluttering closed. “You are everything I want in a clan member…Everything I want as my first pack member.”

My heart skipped, brain scrambling to catch up. “What are you saying?”

She gazed at me, eyes locking onto mine, desperate need pulsing between us—not just heat, not just instinct. It was want. Choice.

“Would you be mine?”

My breath caught. For a second, I couldn’t move. Couldn’t speak. The words hit harder than any blow I’d taken in that restaurant, knocking the air out of me in a way I hadn’t expected.

“Elara…” Her name left my lips like a prayer, like a warning, like a plea.

This wasn’t just attraction. This was trust. Real and raw and terrifying.

I cupped her cheek, gently, like one wrong move might break the moment.

“Are you sure?” My voice barely made it past the lump in my throat. “You don’t have to—”

She cut me off with a look. Steady. Certain.

The same determined look she held at dinner.

How could an omega carry herself so…fiercely?

“I want you,” she growled. “Why do you deny me?”

I swallowed hard, thumb brushing her cheek, trying to memorize this moment forever.

“Because I’m honored—stars, Elara, you have no idea what this means to me.” I looked away for half a second, ashamed of the truth clawing its way out. “But I don’t—”

Her fingers fisted in my hair, yanking me forward until our foreheads nearly touched. Her scent flared with frustration and something fiercer—determination.

“Stop,” she bit out, eyes blazing. “You don’t get to decide you’re unworthy. Not of me. Not of this. You either accept me…or you don’t. But stop acting like you don’t belong in my pack.”

The force of her voice, the fire in her gaze—it shattered whatever was left of my doubt.

Nodding, I slowly let out a breath. “Yes,” I said, rough and certain. “I’m yours.”

The moment the words left me, something settled. Tension gone. Doubt gone. Like I was finally fitting where I was meant to be.

“Star blazes you are,” she hissed, climbing onto my lap. “I want you in my nest.”

When she kissed me again, I was lost. My hands fisted in her hair, pulling her closer as days of hidden desire exploded between us. She responded with equal fervor, her body pressing against mine with intoxicating heat.

The kiss turned fierce, desperate, all gentleness abandoned as we poured our need into each other. Her nails scraped lightly down my chest, and I bit back a groan of pure want.

“Elara,” I gasped against her lips, “we should stop—”

“No,” she whispered, fierce and breathless, clutching my shoulders. “Don’t think about that unmated omega. You’re mine. Not hers.”