Page 12 of Knotty Nights

I didn’t mean to stare. It was just… movement did something to me. I’d often creeped myself out by people-watching, studying the way they occupied space or analyzing the way they turned or touched things.

I could lose hours simply watching someone from across the room.

Jazmine was a pleasure to observe. She moved in her space fluidly, like she was familiar with every inch and every nook. She brushed her fingertips across a few glass containers before picking up a vase, and I noticed her shoulders were slightly misaligned under the robe. Perhaps she favored her right side? Most people did.

As she straightened, I watched the way her robe swayed around her legs when she closed the short distance between the cabinet and the kitchen island. Every shift of her weight, every little flick of her wrists, every sway of fabric—nothing escaped my notice.

Movement made sense. Coupled with pheromones, it told me things about people that words simply couldn’t.

I told myself to keep a distance, but it was hard not to take up all the space in the small kitchen with the breadth of my frame. As surreptitiously as I could, I pressed myself against the countertop across from the island and gave Jazmine space to work on the flowers.

“An omega paying an Alpha for companionship isn’t something to be proud of,” she said, her eyes trained away from me.

A grimace fought its way to the surface.

“I don’t think any less of you, Jazmine. Dating is hard.”

She scoffed slightly as she trimmed the ends of the roses with a meticuloussnip.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to coddle me,” she said quietly, glancing up from under her lashes. “I’ll be honest with you, Atlas—I turned forty last month and it forced me to take a long, hard look at my life. I didn’t like what I saw.”

“Why not?” I asked, gathering the shorn ends of the roses to place in the compost bin.

She shrugged, causing the edge of her robe to fall slightly off her right shoulder. More skin—the dark expanse of it made my mouth water.

I couldn’t imagine an omega like her having any trouble liking what she saw in the mirror. Didn’t she realize how painfully attractive she was? How soft she looked? How I could imagine burying my nose into the nest of her hair and breathing in the scent of her skin…

“I’m peri-menopausal,” she said quickly. “My Heats are few and far between, and my doctor says I might have a few more if I’m lucky. That’s why I…”

She swallowed hard, turning away to fuss with the roses in the vase.

“That’s why you decided to try AlphaNet,” I completed for her. “To celebrate one of your last Heats.”

Her smile was sad, emphasizing the creases along her mouth.

“I got tired of enduring them alone.”

Her scent was working on me, slowly shaving away the modicum of decency that every Alpha was trained to put up as a child. We were told to keep our spirit animals under lock and key, but sometimes…

I inhaled a thick cloud of Jazmine’s scent. God, it wasn’t her full Heat yet, but it was close enough that my Alpha was cataloguing the changes. She was sweet around the edges, warm in the middle, with just a hint of earthy spice. Her shifting pheromones clung to the air like steam.

She kept smoothing her robe as she moved, as though she wanted to make sure that her skin was covered. She breathed a little too deeply, her chest rising and falling beneath the fabric. I wondered if her omega instincts were kicking in behind her ribs, waiting for permission to be set free.

I felt the pull of her Heat like a thread tugging at my belly.

She blinked hard, swaying on her feet.

Was she fighting it?

I reached out to place my hand on hers, stilling her nervous movements. God, her hand was so small under mine.

“You don’t have to endure this Heat alone,” I said, edging closer to her warmth. At her nod, I pressed myself against her back, trapping her between me and the island.

Oh,she was soft.

I breathed in the scent of her skin, filling my lungs with heavy gulps of her sweetness.

It had been so long since I’d held anyone in my arms—maybe I’d forgotten what it felt like. The deep, instinctive ache filled my chest, awakening the annoying beast that screamed to do more than justholda willing omega.