Page 62 of They Love Me Knot (Starsfalls Omegaverse #2)

I rub Daphne’s thigh comfortingly since she’s still sulking, holding in my laugh so I don’t draw Alister’s ire.

I don’t know how I didn’t notice Feliks hanging around Daphne in all the time I’ve been watching her. I guess I’m not as good at stalking as I thought.

Which is probably a good thing.

“Since I like you guys, I’m fine with you taking my clothes. Although we weren’t exactly dating at the time you stole them,” Daphne says, giving us a hard look. “But as I’m sure you know, omegas love stealing their mates’ clothes, so I get it.”

We thank her for forgiving us, but there’s more I need to apologize for.

I draw Daphne’s attention back to me before saying, “I let my past mess up my future, and I’m sorry for that.

I haven’t treated you well, and I know words can’t make up for it, but I hope you’ll give me a chance to show you with my actions that I can be the alpha you deserve.

I’ve been to therapy over the years but obviously didn’t put in my best efforts.

I’ll keep going and finally face my issues for myself and so I can be there for you.

I’m sorry that I hurt you, and that it took me so long to accept you’re nothing like my ex. ”

I stop myself there. I could go on forever about how sorry I am and how much I care about Daphne, but I want to give her time to think.

Daphne holds her stomach like she feels sick, and I go cold, afraid she’s going to tell me to never speak to her again.

“I understand how a bad relationship can hurt you and make you want to avoid relationships forever. I went through a rough breakup before moving here and vowed that I would never date again, especially alphas,” Daphne says, fidgeting with the hem of her shirt.

I squeeze her hand in support. I haven’t heard about Daphne’s previous relationship before. I don’t know if Alister just didn’t tell me, or if she hasn’t told him much about it either.

“I know how difficult it can be to trust again, but you’ve all helped me heal. I planned to avoid pack living before we met, and now I want that with you and the other alphas I’m dating. You haven’t met them yet, but I want—well, someday at least, I want to be in a pack with all of you.”

I think my heart stops and I’m having an out-of-body experience or something, because I can see the four of us from above.

Daphne sitting like a queen, the three of us arranged around her, her loyal, loving subjects.

At the same time, I’m in front of her, memorizing the shape of her face, the light in her hair, the exact moment she said she wants to pack up with us .

Alister and Feliks are having similar thoughts because they’re also staring at Daphne, and I can feel their awe in the bonds.

“Um, but I know it’s too soon to talk about that, or if—if you don’t want—” Daphne stutters.

We rush to reassure her we want to be in a pack with her too, stumbling over each other to profess how much we care about her and want to be in a pack with her too.

Despite our jumbled confession, Daphne smiles, her scent sweetening into creamy vanilla blooms (and maybe something else? I can’t quite catch it, but it almost seems like there’s another edge to her floral scent, extra sweet and nectary).

Alister and Feliks hug her, and I wrap my arms around her legs, putting my head on her lap.

I was so relieved when Daphne didn’t tell me to fuck off and never talk to her again. I never imagined she would say she wanted me to be part of her pack now. Not until I proved I deserve her.

Daphne sinks into our embrace, Alister and I purring, Feliks stroking her hair. Daphne pets my hair in return, and I melt into a puddle right there at her feet.

I soak up Daphne’s touch after weeks of craving her, floating blissfully, until she lets go.

I open my eyes just as Daphne lets go of her stomach. I don’t want to ruin our moment, but we really need to figure out if she’s sick. Her health is more important than my attempt to repair our relationship.

Before I can ask, Daphne says, “What made you decide to tell me this today?”

“I didn’t plan to do this today and take attention away from your big award, so I’m sorry about the poor timing.

But I overheard you talking to Alister earlier, and when you said you could never break up a pack…

that was the final argument I was using to justify my prejudice against omegas and romance.

When my ex-pack found an omega, I was the only one who didn’t get along with her.

Eventually they chose her over me, severing our bonds.

I couldn’t accept that my packmates weren’t who I thought they were, and I blamed the omega for changing them and pushing me out. ”

“It’s obvious now we weren’t the right fit to begin with, and I’m glad I left. It freed me to find a new pack with the best packmates. I pushed all my lingering resentment into blaming my ex-pack’s omega and took that rejection out on others. I’m so sorry, Daphne,” I apologize again.

I wish I’d gotten my letter out, I’m not sure if I’m explaining this coherently.

“I didn’t realize you were bonded . That must have been awful, breaking the bonds with your packmates like that. Were you bonded to the omega too?” Daphne says sadly, stroking my cheek.

I press my cheek into her hand before answering.

“No, we hadn’t bonded her before I left.

Breaking from my packmates wasn’t as bad as losing a pack with bite bonds, or so I hear.

I still wouldn’t recommend it, but I recovered well enough to be open to new packmates and didn’t have any trouble forging new bonds,” I say, nodding at Alister and Feliks, though really I’m mostly rubbing my face against Daphne’s hand.

“That’s such a traumatic thing to go through, I can’t imagine how hard it must have been. It’s no wonder you’re still getting over that. I’ve heard severed bonds sometimes cause people to—” Daphne pauses, blinking back tears.

A growl slips out, though why I’m acting like that could scare away the dark thoughts I don’t know. I press closer to her, Feliks and Alister doing the same.

Whether it was my growl or our touch, Daphne sniffles but calms down without letting any tears fall.

I can’t have her crying for me, I don’t deserve it. My princess is so sweet and empathetic, upset on my behalf even after the way I acted.

“I’m so glad you found a great packmate so you weren’t alone.

I understand how it feels to be rejected for an omega.

I was with my ex-pack for years before they dumped me for a new one.

We weren’t bonded though, so it’s nothing like what you went through.

I think I’m mostly over it, but I can’t promise something won’t resurface.

I don’t mind that you have a past, Ciro, everyone does.

If you’re willing to move forward together, I’d like that. We can start fresh,” Daphne offers.

“I’d love to,” I choke out, overwhelmed by her quick forgiveness. I don’t deserve her.

Daphne smiles, eyes shining with tears again, and wraps her arms around me. I hug her back and kiss the top of her head, rubbing my jaw against her hair to scent-mark her. My alpha is purring happily with our omega in my arms.

But after a minute of savoring our hug, I look up at my pack mates .

I zeroed in on Daphne using the singular of packmate. Does she not realize Feliks is part of our pack? Did Alister not tell her about our packmates? How did Feliks meet her then?

Before I can figure out what’s going on, Daphne pulls back from our hug and says, “While we’re confessing things.

I’ve been meaning to tell you, Feliks, how happy I am that we met and how much you mean to me.

The weeks we’ve spent together have been the best time of my life.

And that goes for all of you. But if I hadn’t met Feliks first and let him show me how safe and cared for I can be with a partner, I wouldn’t have been as comfortable dating alphas. ”

Feliks tears up, and I’m happy watching them hug, glad they were there for each other when I wasn’t.

We clearly have more to discuss, though to get everyone on the same page. I thought it was just because I’ve been avoiding everyone that I’m out of the loop, but Alister is just as confused as I am that Feliks knew Daphne before we did.

I don’t want to interrupt their moment, despite my burning desire to know everything about Daphne.

I tense, sensing other alphas approaching, but my alpha relaxes when I realize it’s our packmates.

“Have you seen—” Kieran stops short, staring at Daphne.

“Did you find her?” Sterling asks, rushing up behind him.

“Oh. Hi. These are the other guys I’ve been seeing,” Daphne says, and then introduces us like we don’t already know each other.

“So you’ve been dating Feliks and Alister… and Ciro?” Kieran asks, while Sterling stares, wide-eyed.

“Yes,” Daphne says.

“Is this everyone you’ve been dating? The five of us?” I ask.

“Yes,” Daphne says, scent tart and anxious.

“I should have told you about our pack before,” Alister says, squeezing her shoulder. She visibly relaxes under his touch, listening as he tells her we’re all members of Pack Fleur .

“All this time…I was dating the same pack? I didn’t even realize you had other packmates,” she finally says.

“I’m sorry, Daphne. Sterling and I didn’t introduce you to them at first because we were still getting to know each other and we didn’t want to overwhelm you.

By the time we should have mentioned them, you told us you were seeing other people.

We were selfish and didn’t want to scare you off by telling you we had three other packmates to bring into the mix.

Not everyone wants a huge pack. I’m sorry we didn’t tell you sooner,” Kieran says.

“I guess that makes sense. But you didn’t even tell each other you were dating me? Are you trying to hide me?” Daphne tears up again.

“I’m sure I’m to blame,” I cut in. “My packmates don’t tell me about their dates since I don’t react well. We never did pack dates because of that, and they got used to dating on their own or with just a few of them on a group date. It’s not a reflection of how much we care about you.”

Daphne buries her face in her hands, and I panic thinking she finally realized how much I messed everything up.

My mind spins, trying to think of how to fix this, when she giggles.

“Are you okay, kitten?” Feliks asks.

“I’m fine. I must be more tired than I thought, or I’m getting sick. I don’t know, it’s a lot to process. I think I should go home and rest like you said,” Daphne says, lifting her head and rubbing her eyes.

“We kept things from you, that would overwhelm anyone,” Sterling says sadly.

“Sterling and I were coming to celebrate your award. It’s your day, Daphne, we didn’t mean to upset you and make it about us,” Kieran adds .

“It’s fine,” she says again, rubbing her stomach.

We should have been working together from the beginning.

I hope it’s not just selfishness that’s making me want to ask this now, but I think giving her some stability and security in our affections would help her feel better.

We’re all here, and I’m already on my knees…

I take Daphne’s hands and kiss the back of them.

“We care for you so much, Daphne. You’re sweet and kind and stubborn and creative. Now that we all know about each other, I want to ask what I’m sure my packmates and I have been thinking for weeks. Will you do us the honor of letting us officially court you?”

My packmates add their agreement and encouragement.

“What do you say? Will you let us court you, princess?”

Everything narrows down to this moment, and of all the ways this could have gone, the outcome isn’t one I ever anticipated.