Page 1 of Knot Your Pawn

1

Vera

My head and heart are all over the place as I lean against the frame of the door to the garage, watching Mathew and Riley hug our new scent match, watch them hold him, comfort him.

While I’m all the way over here…

Luca, our Beta mate, is around the same age as Mathew, Jorge and me, just past his mid-twenties. His height is almost exactly in the middle between Mathew and Jorge —who are the same height, average height for Alphas— and me —the shortest of our pack, short even for an Omega.

He’s got short, soft, brown hair, in that shade that’s not dark or light, a true medium, that probably gets beautiful highlights in the summer. He’s got a slim build, but I don’t know if that’s natural or because of how he’s been treated.

His caramel pheromones are filled with bitter notes, reflecting the pain he’s been under while the Hearts had him. Reflecting all the shit they’ve put him through.

Everything about him makes me want to protect him.

Makes me want to protect my precious mate.

Makes me want to hold him, keep him close, cherish him.

But every time he catches a sliver of my pheromones, he has a panic attack.

I don’t know what has happened to him exactly, but I have some ideas, based on his reactions. Torture, of some kind. So much that it has made him fearful of his own scent matches.

There are few things more evil than torturing someone to the point that they can’t be around their fated mates. But that’s why some people do it.

Because it’s so effective, and will keep hurting them over and over again, both the victim and their mates.

I swallow hard, trying not to get even more upset. Trying to stay calm.

Mathew disentangles himself from Riley and Luca, coming over to me, his face pale, his skin clammy.

Oh, that’s not good. I know what that look means.

I’ve seen it plenty of times in the last weeks.

“Bathroom?” I start walking ahead of him, checking if the downstairs bathroom is available.

His fingers grip onto the back of my dress, like he’d get lost without me, even though he’s been living here for a decade. But I know it’s more out of comfort than anything else, simply needing to be near me, letting my pheromones soothe him.

Luckily, the downstairs bathrooms are empty, and I hold the braid I put in his hair only a few hours ago, as he retches into the sink. Nothing comes out.

Though, that’s not strange, I don’t think he’s had anything to eat since last night’s dinner.

After a couple of minutes, he carefully lowers himself to the floor, pulling me down with him, his face slowly regaining colour. He puts his head on my shoulder, wrapping his arms around my waist, pushing his nose closely against my neck.

I reach up and slowly undo his braid, rubbing my fingers over the back of his head, massaging him, and he lets out a sound that’s almost like purring.

For a guy who’s as scary as Mathew, he’s like putty when he’s around his mates. Especially when he curls up with us, when he needs to be held and comforted, have his Omega instincts met.

I have no idea how he survived for so long without his mates around.

Although, that might be why he’s extra needy now.

Tonight has been quite eventful.

Mathew and Riley went on a mission to ‘retrieve’ —steal— some seeds from a biotechnological research complex and apparently that didn’t entirely go according to plan.

What I understood from slivers of conversation from the guys on the teams that went with them, there were very few casualties, fewer than expected. So, that was a positive.