Page 7 of Knot Their Safe Haven

"Of course." His smile is knowing. "I thought I'd check if you needed anything for the Haven's medical supplies. That shipment you mentioned last week?"

Always so thoughtful. Always taking care of me in the ways I'll allow.

"I'll send you the list," I promise, very aware of Knox's hand still on my lower back, of Malcolm's eyes tracking the movement.

"Wonderful. Have a good morning, Velvet. Knox."

He leaves, and Knox growls low in his throat.

"One of these days, you're going to have to choose." The thought of choosing any of them as my “sole” lover or the “leader” of this unrealistic pack was beyond amusing to me.

We know that isn’t happening, but he enjoys teasing the thought of being on top and only mine.

The obvious elephant of the room with the ‘we have a kid together’ could have been the hopeful card to get me to only pickhim but all these years of raising him into a man behind the scenes clearly proved I’m not “swayed as easily”.

"No," I say firmly, stepping away from his warmth. "I don't have to choose anything. The movement passed. The world is changing. Maybe it's time we stop pretending Omegas need to be owned to have value."

Even as I say it, I know I'm lying.

Know that every cell in my body wants to be claimed, owned, knotted by the men who've been circling me for years, but my prideful personality matched with wanting men that actually valued me enough to be firm with what they want holds me back from giving in. .

"You're going to regret this," Knox says quietly as if its something that’s never crossed my mind. "When you're lying in that cold bed, touching yourself to thoughts of what we could be, you're going to regret this."

He knows I love when he tosses these instances my way because I’ll never regret the ultimate decision to hold this invisible boundary between us.

Between all of us.

The one vow I’ve kept all these years to ensure I didn’t cave to a group of Alpha who wouldn’t give me their all, and that’s the problem with our dynamic. All powerful Alphas in their league, profession, and birthright, and yet none can fully commit to me the way I need them to.

None of them are willing to work together and be one solid unit for this to truly work in our utmost favor.

And there it is.

That’s the problem.

Because I deserve to be their safe haven, just as I yearn from them to be the center of my safety nest.

None of that can happen when they still each other as competition.

And at this rate, we’re all going to die before we get to experience such, simply out of stubbornness.

I leave without answering, because he's right.

I already do…but I’d rather land in my grave a stubborn fool then lose myself to the world standards against what I want in this damned, forsaken world.

THE WEIGHT OF WHAT WE MADE

~VELVET~

The scent hits me before I see him—leather and rain with that unmistakable hint of bergamot. The scent only belongs to one being that has some power in my existence.

My son is in the building…

In the Omega section where he absolutely should not be…and judging by the lingering sweetness in the air, he's already encountered Astraea.

Just great.

"And what are you doing here?"