Page 40 of Knot Broken

“Grey—” I growled, but then her response stopped me cold.

“Never.” Now both of us were standing there, staring at her. “I’ve never shifted. Why would I? I’m⁠—”

“An omega,” we said at the same time.

“A beta…” She blinked and then stared at each one of us in turn. “A beta. I’m a beta. You call me omega because it's a kink thing. It’s all part of the fantasy.”

“We call you omega, because from the moment we met you, that’s what you scented as,” Grey said, staring at her with pale silver eyes. “If you’ve never shifted, you’re⁠—”

“A latent.” Ethan jogged up, then shot Grey a dark look. “And I can tell you from experience, that’s really bloody dangerous.”

Chapter 19

Grey

I’d woken up to a quiet house, but for once the stillness did little to settle me.

Because this is not where we’re supposed to be, the wolf growled. Our mate is in her nest. Tex is there and we should be too.

That was never going to happen.

I’d nearly fucking lost it right there and then when I walked into the pub to find all those males clustered around Nadia. Every instinct told me to throw them clear of her, then declare she was mine. But that’s not what Nadia wanted. The fact she chose to sit and drink with them was the only thing that stopped me.

So what held me back from going around to her place now?

A calendar reminder chimed on my phone, but I didn’t need to check it. We had organised to go and help out at a working bee the Taylor pack had set up. Very few foster parents were prepared to take on alpha boys. We were seen to be too wild, too uncontrollable, but Jess always stepped up to the plate. Her house was full of kids and I had been one of them, and that was the same now. The Taylors had heard her saying she’d love to put in a proper garden for the kids to play in, and today we were supposed to surprise her with just that.

So why wasn’t I getting dressed?

With a shake of my head, I forced myself to move, knocking on Ethan’s door as I passed it.

“You ready?” I called out.

“Born ready.” He emerged in some old, faded work clothes, then looked me up and down. “And is that how you’re going?” I was still standing there in a pair of thin athletic shorts and nothing else. “Because while I think the old ducks might appreciate the view, it’s not great for work health and safety.”

“Lock up the house,” I replied. “I’ll be ready in a sec.”

“So are we swinging by Nadia’s to pick them up, or…?”

Ladies seemed to love Ethan’s grin, but right now it just pissed me off.

“No. We can do the work ourselves. Will probably get it done quicker without Tex stuffing around and slowing us down.”

“Righto.” His arms crossed his chest. “So afterwards…?”

I didn’t bother to reply, walking away from him now like I had last night to head into my room and get changed.

“They roped you into this, too?” Jess’ face creased as she came rushing over. The feel of her arms around me and the scent of old roses helped me take a full breath. I went to hug her back, but was too slow as she held me at arm’s length. “You’re too busy to spend your weekend working on an old woman’s garden. Hello, Ethan.”

“Hey, Jess.” He turned and scanned the front garden, the place full of adults and children alike. “Looks like you’ve got a decent turnout.”

“There’s nowhere else I’d want to be,” I told my foster mother, and my tone had her looking up and smiling. “You should’ve told me you wanted the garden redone. I’d have started work on it ages ago.”

“That’s why I didn’t tell you.” Her arm linked with mine as she drew me down the driveway. “Don’t need people making a fuss over me.”

But you deserve it, I thought. If there was anyone in the world that did, it was Jess. When I came to her, I was an angry, violent little shit that had been kicked from place to place for being out of control and she’d seen straight through my posturing. Her calm in the face of my stormy nature had me settling for once. I scanned the building, noting that the gutters needed cleaning and the roof could do with a spray of fungicide, right before I kicked my own arse for not seeing to that earlier. This was the closest thing I’d ever had to a home, and I would do anything for the woman who made it that way.

“Grey.” Fen Taylor stepped up, hand outstretched, and I gave it a firm shake. He’d taught me the importance of that. “Ethan.” He peered over my house mate’s shoulder. “Where’s your other partner-in-crime?”