Page 96 of Knot Gonna Lie

“Since the claiming.” The admission was nothing compared to their goodbye kisses. “It feels...”

“Like missing a limb?” Stella squeezed my hand. “Like the world tilted off its axis and you’re the only one who notices?”

Yes. Exactly that. The vertigo of separation when every instinct screamed to follow, to stay close, to never let them beyond reach of desperate hands.

“It gets easier.” Maia guided us toward the main dome’s exit. “The bond settles. The anxiety fades. But that first separation after forming?” A laugh, dark and knowing. “I cried in three different shops and bought enough nesting silks to drown in. And I’m not even an omega!”

“I threw up.” Stella’s confession came wrapped in remembered embarrassment. “Right in the middle of the crystal vendor’s stall. Sylas had to carry me home and wouldn’t leave my side for a week after.”

Their stories wrapped around me, proof of survival, of bonds that stretched but didn’t break. Outside, the purple sky had shifted toward lavender, and somewhere across the villa, my pack conducted business that required closed doors and omega absence.

“The plaza’s only a short walk.” Stella tugged me forward, into a world that suddenly felt too large without pack shadows at my back. “And I promise, once you see the selection of heat supplies, you’ll forget all about the separation anxiety.”

A lie, sweetly meant. Nothing could make me forget the ache of distance, the way my skin felt too tight without their touch, the way each breath came harder without their scent filling my lungs.

But I walked forward anyway, flanked by women who understood the particular agony of being left behind, even temporarily. The path wound through rainbow grass that caught morning light like scattered jewels, toward a market that promised distraction if not relief.

Behind us, the villa held my alphas and their secrets. Ahead, the plaza waited with its own form of salvation—the kind that came wrapped in silk and possibilities.

The bond stretched with each step, a silver thread pulled to its limit but holding firm.

Three hours. Four at most.

I could survive anything for that long.

Even the howling absence where my pack should be.

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

ELARA

“I’m so glad you offered to take me here.” I beamed as I wrapped my arms around my two female betas. “I’m having so much fun.”

“We’ve been wanting to have a girl’s day trip,” Stella replied, glaring at a male attempting to get near. “We are all claimed. Back off.”

The male’s eyes shot up as he raised his hands in surrender and backed away.

“Stars, I’m sick and tired of everyone wanting to get a sniff.”

“Elara’s heat hasn’t started, but her omega scent is still sweet,” Maia warned, glancing over her shoulder. “Annoying as it may be, we will have to deal with it while in public.”

“I refuse to allow them to ruin our day,” I announced as I tugged my girls toward a nearby stall with samples of fabrics on display. “I need help decorating the villa.”

The bazaar put the Center to shame.

I had thought the station’s shopping center was the place to be, boasting a variety of goods from around the galaxy, but this outdoor bazaar was all that andmore.

There was nothing quite like the feeling of walking in the open, with the gentle ocean breeze in my hair and the sun peeking through the large fabric umbrellas that protected us from its rays.

With my betas’ help, I was able to order enough rugs, blankets, and pillows for my pack’s dome. Even though I was told that it was in my rights to decorate the clan’s common main house, I preferred to make another trip with the whole clan and have us all take part in making the common area our own.

A jewelry booth caught my eye, and I halted our progression in the middle of the walkway.

“What is it?” Stella asked, pressing her body against mine as if she was about to protect me from some unknown enemy. “What’s wrong?”

“We need to check out this stall.” I jerked my head toward a pair of graying betas. “I want to get something.”

“Go ahead.” Stella jerked her head toward the booth, her wild red hair bouncing. “We’ll make sure you have the privacy you need.”