Page 59 of They Love Me Knot (Starsfalls Omegaverse #2)

“I don’t know if I can do this,” she finally says, looking at me with tears in her eyes.

My heart cracks, each of her unshed tears drawing a drop of blood from my heart.

“Do what?” I ask through numb lips.

The only reason I’m able to speak at all is because of the slim hope that she’s not talking about us.

I need to hear her say it’s something else, anything else.

“I can’t keep going like this, pretending everything’s fine. It’s been weeks! If Ciro doesn’t want to be with me, just tell me,” Daphne begs, lips trembling .

“He does want you, I’ve never seen Ciro so interested in an omega.

It might not be obvious if you don’t know him, but he cares for you.

I know his silence after the attempted bonding isn’t the best way to handle things.

I already planned to talk to him about it after the fair so we can work through it and move on together. Please, just give him a bit more time.”

Ciro does like her, I’m sure of it. He’s been blocking our bond, but that just proves it. If he didn’t care about Daphne, he wouldn’t care if I saw that in his thoughts. He’s hiding because he’s scared of his feelings for her.

Daphne takes a deep breath, and blinks away the tears.

“That doesn’t seem true,” she says, voice firm. “Ciro might be attracted to me, or his alpha wants an omega, but he doesn’t even know me. If Ciro doesn’t want me, I wish you would be honest and tell me. I won’t break up a pack, so if Ciro doesn’t like me, then there isn’t a future for us.”

I kneel before her, still holding her hand to my heart, trying to stop the bleeding.

“Please, grant me more time. Ciro has been so busy with the festival I’ve hardly seen him, but I’ll find him tonight and tell him he needs to talk to you.

He was in a bad relationship before we met, and he avoids the subject.

He hardly talks about it, even with me, so I didn’t want to tell you without his permission, but that’s why he’s acting like this.

It’s not an excuse, but there is a reason he’s afraid of relationships.

I can tell you about it if you want, or if you give me some time, I’ll have Ciro tell you himself. ”

Daphne slumps and says, “I know it’s difficult to move on from a relationship that ends badly, but I can’t wait forever for someone to decide if they’re ready to be with me.”

“Of course not, I would never ask you to do that. You deserve to be treated like a princess, courted, cherished. This is my fault. I should have tried to help Ciro sooner, so he’d be ready for our mate, for you. I know he wants you, Daphne, and I’m sorry we hurt you.”

I press my face to her stomach, begging her, “Please, please give us a little more time. We’ll work through this and never do anything to hurt you again.”

Daphne puts her hands on my shoulders, and I panic that she’s about to push me away. I prepare myself to let go, touching her for the last time, and inhale her comforting, warm, sweet vanilla scent to memorize it.

But she doesn’t push me away, running her hands up to stroke my hair, lightly dragging her nails across my scalp.

“I can wait a little longer. We’ll talk about it again after the festival when things are calmer.

I’m just…tired, and that makes it harder to handle these thoughts, the uncertainty.

I didn’t mean to freak out like this today.

I don’t want to lose you, Alister, or Ciro, but I can’t continue on this way, trying to stay positive when each day it seems more hopeless that he actually wants to be with me,” she says.

My alpha is riding me to fix whatever is upsetting my omega, and it feels like he’s pouring adrenaline in my veins, while my mind is panicking and trying to shut my body down.

Neither is helpful. Gut reactions aren’t going to solve this, I need to be able to think clearly.

“I’m sorry, you’re right. We’ll work on our communication so that nothing like this happens again. Thank you for giving us more time. I—” I cut myself off before finishing the sentence.

Even though it’s how I feel, now isn’t the time to say it. Not for the first time.

I kiss her stomach instead, squeezing her hips. I would never get over losing her .

“Will you be okay for now? If you’re this worn out, perhaps you should go home and rest?” I say, the only thing I can think of to help her at this moment.

Daphne still says she’s going to finish out the day, and I acquiesce to her decision. I don’t have the right to force her to rest even though she clearly needs it.

I kiss her cheek goodbye, leaving her at the front of her booth, and stop just around the corner, slumping against a building.

I take as deep a breath as I can manage, my chest tight. There’s no point in dragging Ciro away from the fair right now. I need to make a plan and fill the others in before we sit down and talk through our options.

If I have a plan, I can stay calm and collected, so my emotions don’t get in the way. If I’m too busy panicking about losing our omega, I won’t be able to help anyone.