Knot the One They Want (Claimverse Book 1)

I pace like a caged animal is clawing beneath my skin, desperate to break free. To hunt, to claim, to make her mine. The urge consumes me, a primal need that threatens to override all reason.

Lake’s scent, a mirror of my own alpha desperation, fills the room. We came back home in the wee hours of the morning, but I’m no closer to cooled off than I was when we left Evie. Not with her sweet scent still softly gracing the halls, even if it’s faint. The drive was supposed to clear my head, but all I’m doing is chasing my thoughts in circles, each one calling me back to her.

Lake sits on the edge of his bed, head in his hands, a sculpture of barely contained restraint.

‘I can taste her,’ I growl, dragging a hand through my hair. ‘Feel her. Fuck, I’ve never wanted anything so badly in my life.’

Lake lifts his head, honey eyes dark with hunger. ‘She’s our mate, Cole. Our omega. Denying her goes against everything we are.’

‘You think I don’t know that?’ The words tear from my throat, frustration boiling over. ‘If Damien hadn’t commanded us…’

I trail off, the memory of her shock and hurt as we left ripping through me like a bullet. The memory of her splayed out and open for us, inviting, like a beautiful flower in bloom, and we had to turn and walk away. Lake flinches, no doubt reliving the same moment.

‘He’s our leader,’ Lake says quietly, but I hear the unspoken accusation. The bitter truth that Damien forced us to reject our omega.

I slam my fist against the wall, welcoming the sting in my knuckles. Physical pain is so much easier to handle than this soul-deep agony of being separated from Evie. The omega we’ve already begun to mark. The omega every inch of me is screaming to take, to claim, to protect. To cherish, the way she deserves.

‘It will destroy the pack,’ I force out through gritted teeth. It’s a reminder to myself more than him. Lake isn’t the selfish one. He’s always thinking about everyone else. As much as I want to say fuck the consequences and claim Evie, I can’t put my own desires over the good of the pack. My loyalty, my duty, is carved into my very bones.

And the strength of our pack is the only thing that kept us together after Daria’s betrayal. The only reason Lake is still here with us.

Lake sighs, a heavy, defeated sound. ‘Damien’s our bond brother. If we defy him, if we take Evie as our mate against his orders…’ He shakes his head. ‘He’ll see it as the ultimate betrayal. Especially after what happened with Daria.’

The mere mention of that bitch’s name ignites a flare of rage in my gut. She broke my brother, shattered his ability to trust. Damien, too. And now Evie is paying the price.

I resume my pacing, muscles coiled tight with the effort of holding myself back. Every instinct screams at me to go to Evie, to wrap myself around her and shield her from the world. To worship her body until she forgets everything but my name on her lips.

‘I need to hit something,’ I snarl, my control fraying at the edges.

Lake stands, reaching out to grip my shoulder. The contact grounds me slightly, his touch a reminder that I’m not alone in this hell.

‘The gym,’ he suggests, understanding in his gaze. ‘We’ll spar until we’re too exhausted to think.’

‘No, you go to your studio. I’ll spar with Damien,’ I growl, not about to let loose this torrent of rage on my actual brother. ‘Or at least a bag with a picture of his face taped onto it.’

But he has a point. Beating the shit out of each other won’t erase the hollow ache in my chest, but maybe it will keep me from doing something I’ll regret. Something that could shatter the fragile bonds holding the Blackwood Pack together.

As we head for the door, I send up a silent prayer. A desperate plea for the strength to resist the magnetic pull drawing me to our omega.

Because if I give in, if I claim Evie like every fiber of my being demands, it will be the end of everything I’ve ever fought to protect.