Page 29 of Knot As It Seems

“Was that Moon I saw you with out there?” my girl asks like a total trap.

The other woman, very human and dressed in a trashy body-hugging dress that definitely gives out desperate-to-be-noticed vibes, rolls her eyes and grabs a paper towel. “Obviously. Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of him.”

Fable cocks her head, then gets bold and steps into the other woman’s space. So fucking hot. Fable runs one of her long nails along the woman’s neck, and I’m almost sure she’s letting a little fang pop out, but I know for sure that she’s leaving her scent behind on the woman so that when she gets back to Moon’s table, he’ll know exactly what took his date so long to return.

“You should know he cries when he comes. Like, sobs. Last time, he broke down mid-orgasm and started telling me memories of his dead mother. While he was stillinside of me. Girl to girl, just be careful. I also heard he’s got like, a daycare’s worth of kids he pays child support for because he can’t be assed to wrap it.” Fable pauses and I catch her in the mirror looking the woman over head to toe. “You’re not like the other girls though, so I’m sure you’ll be fine.” Fable gives her a fake sympathetic smile and then pauses, like she forgot something. “Oh. And when you get to his room, don’t ask about the collection of painted toenail clippings in the blue jar. He keeps it right above his headboard on a shelf and he gets really weird about it when other people pay it attention.”

I stifle a laugh as Fable pats the other girl on the back and wanders out of the bathroom, humming to herself. I kiss her on the top of her head as she starts walking back to the table, pausing briefly to steal an ice water off some poor spectator’s table.

I already know what she’s about to do and I whole-heartedly support it.

Fable takes the long way around to our table, so Moon doesn’t see her, though he’s visibly sweating watching the hallway where the bathrooms are, no doubt hoping his date comes out in one piece.

Fable tips the glass over right as she passes by Moon’s table, kicks him in the ankle with her strappy little sandals on, then proceeds to drape herself all over her newly bonded alpha, tipping her head back so her hair brushes the bench underneath them and her bond mark is on display.

Masterful.

Moon’s date stumbles out right afterwards, clearly making excuses to leave the restaurant alone, and Moon’s jawmuscles are so compressed that it’s changing his profile slightly. He nods at the girl as she walks off, and I fill the table in on what our little omega told his date in the bathroom.

They fucking lose it, but we all know exactly why Moon showed up here with another woman, in clear sight of Fable. He wanted Fable to see that he had options, or something, and that her not wanting him or him acting like he didn’t want her, or whatever convoluted mess he’s convinced himself of, isn’t affecting him.

I have a feeling he’s just met his match in Fable. Him and Winslow butted heads quite a bit, sure, but they also seemed to click better than anyone else. For whatever pointless reason, Moon is still in denial about Fable and what she is and he’s trying to stay on his shitty little hill, and Fable has decided she doesn’t really care about the hill at all, and he can choose to believe her or not.

Sixteen

I lug another couple bags of mulch onto my shoulder, letting the sweat slide off my brow. Since going vampy, I haven’t really had the control needed to work the job I’d been at, and even though the pack that seems to have adopted me has mentioned they’re not hurting for money and are fine floating me for a bit, I still feel like I have to pull my weight.

Sometimes, when I think about what I actually lost, I get so mad that I can’t even breathe. I don’t know how many times I’ve spiraled remembering those days I spent with Winslow. Serves me right for falling into a trap of my own making, literally losing my humanity when the unhinged vampire lost her shit and nearly killed me for entertainment. I know her goal was to turn me because it must have amused her at that point of time, but it’s a bit difficult to hold grudges against dead people.

The tradeoff though, finding a pack that’s taking me in and actually teaching me what I need to know about being an alpha,andFable? I wouldn’t change anything.This is clearly where I was meant to be, and on the flip side of that coin, I get mad and spiral when I realize how close I was to never having her.

There’s a certain hierarchy in the vampire world I’m learning, but at the same time, omega needs and omega desires trump everything else. I’ve been kind of avoiding Fable for the past few days because the last time I spent too much time with her, she hinted she wanted me to bond her.

The only thing stopping me is the fact that some of the other guys in the pack might legitimately rip out my throat if I give in to that. I’m essentially dirt under their shoes as far as vampire rules go. I’ve been trying to leave her with other alphas she’s getting close with, encouraging them to have some one-on-one time so they can maybe get to that point before me, but I don’t know how much longer I can hold off.

I’m paranoid as I start dumping out the mulch and spreading it, because it feels as if any second, she could jump out from somewhere and pin me down so she can force the issue.

Not saying I’d hate it, but I rather like my throat attached to the rest of my body and the guys she’s with terrify the fuck out of me. Sometimes I forget I’m also a vampire and I’ll find myself backing away from them, my body sensing danger.

It’s all fun and games until I take too many steps backward and step right into a trap. One second, I’m upright and the next I’m hanging by my ankle and there’s a large rock tied to the other end of the rope I find myself attached to, using the tree limb above me as a fulcrum.

I don’t have to look far to find the mastermind behind my capture.

All five foot one of pure, irritated omega stands about two feet in front of me in all black, arms crossed, foot tapping.

“Fable, what the hell is this? And how did you even know I’d be in this spot?”

“There are fifteen more traps set throughout the property. I knew you were setting mulch, so it was pretty good odds you’d hit one of them. I’ve been stalking you for 45 minutes. You’re completely unaware of your surroundings, you know?”

Blood rushing to my head, I try to look around for other traps, and now that I’m actively looking for them, they’re pretty damn obvious.

Then she pulls out a basket full of snacks and spreads out a blanket and goes to town, offering me bites of fruit.

“Think you can let me down?”

“Only alphas that do what their omegas want get the privilege of standing on their own two feet. I own you, bitch.”

I bark out a laugh, half tempted to do some crunches and let myself out of this mess, but I’m loving this sassy side of my omega too much. “Uh huh. Is that so? How the hell did you get so many traps set?”