Page 35 of Knot Your Pawn

Nathan simply grins wider, used to me calling him ‘rich boy’, as I’ve done for most of his life. He drags me along into one of the houses, looking around before he turns to Caleb and Erika, who are in the living room. “Free choice, or are the rooms assigned?”

Erika points to the stairs. “You three are on the top floor. We’re staying on the middle floor. Take any of the middle rooms, leave the outer rooms for the security teams.”

Nathan groans, turning to the stairs, but before he can pull me along even more, I slip under his arm.

“You go drop your stuff off. You don’t need me for that.” And I’m much too tired to be dragged all over the place.

He tries to pout, but it falters when he notices I’m serious. Then he turns around and loudly makes his way up the stairs. He’s the eldest of Erika’s kids, but around me, he likes to act like my little brother. I’m used to it, but he seems to be acting needier than usual today.

I glance to Logan, who was walking behind us, as he’s usually the one best aware of Nathan’s moods, but the guy smiles and shrugs. “He probably just missed you.” He lets out a low laugh and then follows Nathan up the stairs, much quieter though.

Missing people. Yeah, I guess that makes sense.

Standing still for a couple of moments, I take in all the pheromones around me. It feels strange, mixing the pheromones of the people who’ve been my ‘family’ —for a lack of a better word— ever since they rescued me from the Diamonds and the pheromones of my very own pack.

This was bound to happen, both packs coming together. I knew that from the moment Caleb called me ‘Whisper’ the first night we met, but I never put much thought into how or when it would happen.

It’s not under the best of circumstances, sadly enough.

I automatically try to keep track of my pack members.

Vera is excitedly talking with Jorge and some of Erika’s pack members, her bright voice a sweet note among all the chaos. Erika, Caleb and Mathew have moved to the front of the living room, discussing something with Derrick and Jeff —Erika’s head of security.

I’m still missing someone.

Where’s Luca?

I can smell his bitter caramel pheromones in the mix, so he can’t be very far, but I don’t see him anywhere.

Then the door at the back of the house opens, and a gust of wind brings Luca’s pheromones inside, mixed in with others. Of course, while he wants to stay close to the rest of his pack, being constantly surrounded by Vera and Caleb’s pheromones isn’t good for him.

So, him hanging out outside makes sense, more fresh air, weaker pheromones.

As if he knows I’m thinking of him, he turns around and meets my eyes through the window in the back door and he gives me a careful smile.

He’s with Sam —one of Erika’s Alphas— and Jace —the third Alpha in Nathan’s pack— and the three of them seem to be chatting freely, smiling, laughing.

The two Alphas are smoking, a bad habit I know they’ve been trying to break, and Luca is leaning against a table, trying to stay out of the direction of the smoke.

It’s hard to leave the Beta alone for too long. I can’t help but want to protect him at all times.

He’s been through so much shit, in the last days but also in the last couple of years, which makes the need to keep him out of harm’s way even stronger.

I join the three men. The house is too loud. It should be quieter outside.

“You want one?” Jace holds out a pack of cigarettes to me, but I shake my head.

Jace is the newest member of Nathan’s pack, and he looks at Nathan and Logan the same way as I probably look at Luca, protective, a guardian. He seems to have gotten closer to the other two since I last saw them, from what I saw at the airport, but it hasn’t been easy for him.

Because of their shared past, and trauma, Nathan and Logan are very closely bonded, as close as two Alphas can be without a mark, and for Jace to step into that… I know it’s been rough on him, especially in the beginning.

Instinctively, I step behind Luca, wrapping my arms around his shoulders, wrapping him in my pheromones, letting him lean against me. He’s taller than Vera, so I can easily put my chin on his shoulders without having to bend too much.

When he tenses, I tense too, worried I overstepped a boundary. Maybe it’s too soon. Maybe doing this is much too soon —we barely know each other— but then he lets out a long breath and relaxes in my arms.

Okay. So, I can do this. We can do this.

Jace laughs as he takes a few steps back, waving his cigarette in front of him like he’s trying to wave off some scent. “I know you’re really happy and that this is all very new for you, but from your possessive pheromones, you’d think Luca’s an Omega, not a Beta.”