Knot the One They Want (Claimverse Book 1)

The cacophony of excited chatter and the incessant flash of camera phones assault my senses as I scrawl my name across glossy headshot after glossy headshot.

I force a smile, the muscles in my face aching with the effort to maintain the facade of the charming, approachable Asher Caldwell, world-renowned violinist and all-around nice guy staring back at me from the headshot. My golden hair falls rakishly over my forehead, partially obscuring my hazel eyes, and I’m wearing a smile you’d never picture being on the face of a man whose world just fell apart.

And that’s exactly where I was at the time the photo was taken, considering the shoot was scheduled for the day after Daria left us. But the music industry doesn’t give a shit about a little thing like heartbreak.

And the show, as they say, must go on.

All this time later, I’m still not sure much has changed.

My world is still crumbling, piece by jagged piece, and I’m left scrambling to hold it together with hands still raw from the last time I tried to catch the shards. Daria’s betrayal is a wound that refuses to heal, festering beneath the surface of my carefully crafted persona. But her absence isn’t the hardest part of it all. It’s the hole she left in her stead, taking away the one thing that once bonded me to my packmates.

I never trusted her. Not really. But that hardly mattered when Damien was so hell-bent on claiming her as our own. And now, in the wake of her abandonment, it falls to me to be the glue that holds our fractured pack together.

‘I’m so sorry,’ I say to the eager young omega batting her lashes up at me, her scent a cloying mixture of arousal and desperation. ‘I’m afraid I have to go.’

I don’t wait for her response before slipping backstage and fishing my phone from the pocket of my tailored suit. A text from Damien glares up at me, demanding my immediate presence at the estate for an emergency pack meeting.

Fantastic. No doubt another wild goose chase in his relentless pursuit of Daria. The man can’t seem to accept that she’s gone, and she’s not coming back.

The pain we all felt, signifying she had consummated her bond with another alpha–and severing the mark we left on her in the process–made that abundantly clear.

At least, it did to me.

I slide into the waiting limo, the leather seats cool against my overheated skin. The privacy screen is up, blessedly shielding me from the driver’s curious gaze as I let my head fall back against the headrest with a sigh.

The city gives way to rolling hills and towering evergreens as we wind our way toward the Blackwood Pack estate. It’s a sprawling property, the house itself a stately Victorian mansion with a wraparound porch and turrets that make it look like something out of a fairy tale.

Or a horror movie, depending on your perspective.

It’s a massive property built for the ages and completely refurbished with all the modern amenities you could imagine. It’s a property the four of us chose together, long before we found Daria—with the hope that one day, we would share it with an omega.

Our omega.

There’s plenty of room for all of us to have our own space, and we made sure there was ample room for a nest and entertaining just in case our omega ended up liking that sort of thing. But that all went to waste on Daria, who viewed nesting in anything more complex than a bed as a mundane, outdated relic of the past and the ‘frilly’ omegas she always deemed inferior.

None of us cared, really, as long as she was happy. But I was admittedly a little disappointed. I’d always dreamed of having an omega to pamper and spoil and protect, and I felt a bit obsolete as a result. Now the entire place feels like a mausoleum to a life we thought was so certain.

But I know better than to even bring up the idea of cutting our losses and courting an omega who actually wants us. Not only did Daria’s betrayal leave us all licking our wounds and nearly cost the life of one of our own, but it left Damien… changed.

Obsessed.

Our families all gave us a wide berth in those first few months after it all came crashing down, but eventually, the questions started trickling in.

When are you going to take another omega?

Don’t you think it’s time to move on?

I’ve echoed those same questions a few times in my own head, but Damien’s response to anyone who asks always made it clear enough what the answers would be. And for better or worse, he is our pack leader.

Then there’s Lake. He wouldn’t make his opposition quite as plain, and there’s not an aggressive bone in his body, but I don’t know how it would affect him if we took another omega. He barely survived the first one.

The limo pulls up along the gravel drive, the crunch of rocks beneath the tires the only sound in the oppressive silence. I thank the driver and step out into the crisp autumn air, the scent of woodsmoke and decaying leaves filling my lungs.

I take the porch steps two at a time, the old wood creaking beneath my weight. The front door is unlocked, as always. We have nothing to fear from the outside world.

Our demons are all homegrown.

I stride past the grand piano in the foyer, my fingers itching to coax a melody from the keys. But there’s no time for that now. I take the stairs to the second floor, my footsteps muffled by the plush runner.

Damien is waiting for me in the study, pacing like a caged animal in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows that overlook the rear gardens. His dark hair is disheveled, as if he’s been running his fingers through it in agitation. His broad shoulders strain against the fabric of his black dress shirt, and his icy blue eyes are alight with a familiar, feverish intensity.

‘Good, you’re here,’ he says without preamble, his voice tight.

‘Where are the others?’ I ask, glancing around the room. It’s not like the twins to be late for a meeting, especially one called by Damien.

He shakes his head, his sharp jaw clenched. ‘I don’t know. I texted them before you.’

I frown. ‘What’s this about, Damien? If this is another wild goose chase for Daria⁠—’

‘It’s not,’ he snaps, cutting me off. ‘Just… wait for the others.’

As if on cue, the door swings open and Cole and Lake spill into the room, looking a bit disheveled themselves. They’ve been running, no doubt trying to make it here on time.

Lake’s golden hair is tousled, falling in waves around his angular face. His honey colored are wide and haunted, a testament to the pain he carries within. Cole, with his short raven-black hair and piercing gray eyes, hovers protectively at his twin’s side.

‘Sorry,’ Lake says, slightly breathless. ‘I got caught up in a painting.’

Of course he did. Lake is never without a paintbrush in his hand these days, losing himself in the swirl of colors on the canvas. It’s his way of coping with the pain, I suppose.

We all have our methods.

Cole’s lips twist into a scowl, his chiseled features hardening. He, on the other hand, looks like he came straight from the gym, athletic tape still wrapped around his massive fists. ‘What’s going on?’ he asks, his gaze darting between Damien and me.

Damien squares his shoulders, as if steeling himself for our reaction. One he knows won’t be positive. ‘My father just informed me that he went to meet an omega.’

I arch a brow. ‘I didn’t realize your father was in the market for a mate,’ I say wryly.

Damien shoots me a withering look, his blue eyes flashing. ‘Not for him, you idiot. For us.’

Silence descends on the room, heavy and thick. Lake’s eyes widen, a flicker of panic in their depths. Cole’s hand grips his brother’s shoulder, his lip curling in a silent snarl.

‘That’s bullshit,’ Lake growls, his voice low and dangerous. ‘We’re not ready for another omega. Not after…’

He doesn’t say her name, but we all know who he means. Daria’s betrayal hit us all hard, but none more so than Lake. He almost didn’t survive the severing of the mating bond, his sensitive artist’s soul shattered by her abandonment.

‘I agree,’ I say, my tone measured. ‘It’s too soon. We need more time to heal.’

Damien runs a hand through his dark hair, frustration rolling off him in waves. ‘You don’t think I know that? I told the old man as much, but he’s insistent that we at least meet this omega. He thinks it’s the best way for us to ‘move on.’’

Cole scoffs, his sculpted features twisting into a sneer. ‘Move on? Lake barely survived the last mating mark. And now he wants us to just replace Daria like she never existed?’

Lake flinches at the mention of her name, his face paling. Cole notices and immediately softens, turning to his twin.

‘Hey, look at me,’ he mutters, his voice gentler than I’ve ever heard it as his grip on Lake’s shoulder tightens. ‘No one is going to force us into anything, okay?’

Lake nods, but I can tell he’s not sure. Neither am I, for that matter.

Society lets alphas get away with nearly anything except not having an omega past a certain age. And the twins are the youngest of us at twenty-five. Well past the point even the most nefarious playboy alpha is expected to settle down and take an omega.

Especially since we formed our pack earlier than most.

Damien watches the exchange with a grim expression. ‘Look, just because we have to meet this omega doesn’t mean we’re taking her as a mate. We’re just going to have to scare her off,’ he says, his tone resolute. ‘Make my father regret ever suggesting this in the first place. That’ll put an end to the bullshit once and for all.’

Here we go.

I can practically see the gears turning in Damien’s head, no doubt concocting some elaborate scheme to send this poor, unsuspecting omega running for the hills.

It’s not her fault she’s being thrown into the lion’s den. But then again, it wasn’t Daria’s fault, either.

And look how that turned out.

I sigh, already resigned to my role in this farce if only because I can’t in good conscience submit an innocent omega to our bullshit. ‘So what’s the plan?’

Damien’s lips curve into a humorless smile, the expression not quite reaching his eyes. ‘We’re going to make an impression. A bad one. And if that doesn’t work and they try to force her on us, we’ll give her a taste of what life with the Blackwood pack is really like. And trust me, it’s not the fairy tale my father is no doubt spinning.’

I exchange a glance with the twins, seeing my own wariness reflected back at me in their complementary but not quite matching features. We’ve been down this road before, and it nearly destroyed us. Now, someone else is being dragged into it. But what choice do we have?

Our pack is hanging by a thread, and if this is what it takes to keep us from unraveling completely, to get our families to take some of the pressure off… then so be it.

I just hope this omega knows what she’s getting herself into.