Page 66 of They Love Me Knot (Starsfalls Omegaverse #2)

Sterling

I stir the vanilla bean custard, getting it ready to fill the vanilla sugar cookies when they’re out of the oven. The other cookies are already done, cooling on racks spread across the counters.

It’s a good thing I freeze a lot of cookie dough, so I’m prepared for emergencies like this. That way, it’s easy to make a variety of cookies for Daphne on short notice.

Although I mixed up several new batches and baked those too…but still, it’s important to always have cookie dough in the freezer. It's actually on my emergency preparations list, along with having a backup generator so the fridge and oven work.

If it comes down to it, we have a wood-burning stove too. Ciro grumbles that in an actual emergency we shouldn’t be wasting firewood on baking cookies, but I still think he would fire up the stove for me. Especially now that we have Daphne.

I’ve always been worried that Ciro would never want a mate. Now I feel bad I missed the signs that he was struggling to accept his feelings for Daphne because I was so fixated on her myself.

That won’t happen again. We’re finally working together like a true pack should, all because of Daphne.

Alister called Anicka to let her know Daphne will be out on heat leave and asked Poppy to take care of things at Daphne’s house so she doesn’t have to worry about anything.

Well, Daphne isn’t worrying about anything now , but after her heat, she would be concerned about missing work or leaving her houseplants unwatered.

We’ll need to prepare better for her next heat. None of us want to leave to get supplies even while Daphne’s asleep in case she wakes up suddenly and needs us.

I’d prefer she move in with us before her next heat, but I’m not sure if Daphne will want that.

I eye the fridge for the third time in as many minutes, wondering if there’s room for a honey lemon three-layer cake with honeysuckle jelly filling and brown butter elderflower buttercream.

Daphne loves my cakes as much as my cookies, but I didn’t want to start anything that would take too long to bake.

Plus the fridge is currently full of hearty, nourishing foods, courtesy of Alister’s giant food delivery at the beginning of Daphne’s heat.

It’s mostly pre-made meals, but there are some fresh ingredients for when we have time to cook.

Feliks enters the kitchen while I swap another batch of cookies out of the oven.

“Have you made anything with protein?” he teases.

“You know I haven’t,” I mumble around my finger.

He catches my wrist and pulls my hand away, stopping me from chewing on my thumb.

After ensuring I don’t start biting again, Feliks circles the kitchen island to get to the fridge, pausing at the salted pansy cookies with pistachios and dark chocolate.

“These have protein,” he says, picking one up and taking a bite.

“Oh, right.” I always forget how nutritious nuts are.

Feliks rummages through the fridge, pulling out carrots, a giant green onion, and a slab of something. I don’t pay much attention, too busy watching the numbers tick down on my timer.

“Do you think she’ll still want to bond after her heat? I mean, not right away, but in general, one day, maybe?” I blurt out.

Feliks pauses, his knife hovering over the leek. “I think so.”

He slowly resumes slicing and adds more quietly, “I hope so.”

That distracts me from my meltdown. I mean, countdown.

It’s not like Feliks to be unsure. That’s not like any of my packmates, really. They’re the ones to comfort me or calm me down when I’m upset.

I hope they don’t hide their worries from me because they think I can’t handle it.

“I know Daphne will bond with us someday. She already agreed to let us court her, so I’m sure she’s looking toward bonding. I’m sure our courting will go well, and eventually she’ll want to join our pack,” I say confidently.

There, I can be confident if it’s for my packmates. Or Daphne. She always brings out the inner strength I never knew I had.

“Right,” Feliks says.

I frown at his back .

That was a great pep talk. What else could I have said to convince him Daphne wants to be with us forever?

Feliks isn’t listening to logic. What do my packmates do when I’m being unreasonable?

I move up behind him and grip the back of his neck. Feliks drops the knife, and it clatters on the counter.

“Daphne likes us, and we like her. We will bond someday,” I say in my deepest, growliest, most commanding voice, doing my best Alister impression. Although Alister isn’t really growly, he just has that authoritative air.

Regardless, I think I did an amazing job of acting as confident as he is.

I wait proudly for Feliks to agree with what I said and feel better.

Feliks chuckles, and my confidence falters.

“Alright, Sterling, you’ve made your point. Daphne wants to be with us, and everything will work out. What I saw when she bit me proved she cares deeply for us,” he says.

I blink in surprise, forgetting for a moment that I’m supposed to be comforting him.

“You could tell that just from her little bites? How? I was too focused on our feelings in the moment to notice anything else,” I say, flustered.

Feliks sighs and I think he’s not going to answer, but finally he says, “I didn’t at first, but as Daphne kept biting me, I looked to see how she felt beyond the heat haze to ensure we’re taking good care of her.

It’s habit for me to check our pack bonds and make sure they’re still there.

Daphne’s bond works similarly, so that’s probably why I was able to look deeper than her feelings at the time. ”

“Why would you need to check the pack bonds? Of course they’ll always be there,” I say .

Feliks grabs the carrots and starts peeling one.

I growl, but I can feel his amusement at my tough act in the bond. I suppose the growl isn’t very convincing when he can sense that I’m forcing it out.

“I check our bond because it doesn’t come naturally to me, so I explored it to see how it works.

And also because…none of you have done anything to make me feel like this, but sometimes I worry about being a beta,” Feliks says, mood sobering.

“I’m sure I can trace that fun little insecurity back to my childhood and not feeling good enough for my family, so now I regularly check our bonds to make sure your feelings about me haven’t changed. ”

I release his neck and turn him around to hug him, holding tight. Feliks slowly wraps his arms around me and returns my hug, resting his forehead on my shoulder.

“That’s why I didn’t tell anyone when I met Daphne.

I was going to introduce you eventually, but I wanted her to get to know me first. I thought if I did that, I wouldn’t worry that our omega only tolerated the beta in the pack, instead of actively wanting me to be here,” he says, a slow, halting confession.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Daphne right away either,” I say. “I only tried to hide her because we had such an embarrassing first meeting, and I wanted to show her I could be normal before I brought the rest of you in. It has nothing to do with you or anyone else.”

“Oh. And just so you know, I only told Kieran about Daphne because he caught me panicking that I couldn’t find her, and he offered to get an investigator to track her down, but only if I told him who she is. I didn’t leave you out specifically,” I add on.

Feliks shakes in my arms, and I squeeze him tighter, afraid I’ve only upset him more, but after a moment I realize he’s laughing.

I sigh and relax my hold. Comforting people is harder than it looks. My packmates always make it seem so easy when they calm me down.

“How did you lose track of her?” Feliks asks between laughter.

“She ran away after we met. It’s a long story, and it doesn’t really matter,” I grumble.

Feliks claps me on the back, and I let go, glaring as he wipes the tears from his eyes and waiting for his laughter to subside.

He’s saved from my ire when the timer goes off.

I leave Feliks to his giggling and take the very vanilla cookies out of the oven.

“Thanks, Sterling. I feel better. I didn’t realize we all had interesting meet-cutes with Daphne. We’ll have to fill each other in later,” he says.

“Really? What happened when you met her?” Did he slip in food too?

“Well…it ended with us having sex at Queen of Hearts,” Feliks says so deadpan, it takes me a minute to process what he said.

“What? You—what?? When we met, Daphne ran away after sitting on my lap. Why did I scare her off?”

Feliks is too busy laughing to answer.

A spike of lust cuts through the bond, and we jump into action. Feliks shoves the ingredients back in the fridge and pulls out some of the ready-made meals. I start opening packages and reheating them.

I pile a plate with cookies and box up the rest for later.

We work quickly so we’re ready to feed Daphne once the others have knotted her .

It’s been much more difficult to get Daphne to eat than I expected. I guess that’s why they impress upon alphas to care for omegas in all aspects, ensuring they eat and drink and rest enough, because omegas clearly don’t have the same self-preservation instincts during their heat.

We’ve found it’s easier to get her to eat when she’s stuck on a knot and can’t squirm away to look for another one.

Feliks has the best luck feeding Daphne for some reason. I’ve noticed she always accepts food from him even if she hasn’t been knotted.

I can usually get her to eat a cookie, but I know she needs more nutrients than that.

I’ll have to get Feliks to teach me his secrets once this heat is over.