Page 117 of Knot Their Soldier: Part Three

My inner Omega squeaks under the intensity of his scrutiny, but I hold it and try to make myself look confident and capable.

"I can help," I say, and mean it like an oath. Whatever chaos awaits us outside our den, I want to face it down as a Pack.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Knox

Day One

Prime Alpha Zero is the soldier on the front lines of this war. He's the face the other soldiers look to for orders, and he's the Alpha who holds their respect. He is top of the food chain.

He also has no interest in being the next General of Blackgate Fortress.

It would be simple for him to claim an office as his and bark orders from there, but Zero isn't a desk jockey. If you want to talk to him, you meet him where he is: with his troops.

The mess hall is at capacity, with every seat filled by hungry Alphas and Betas eating breakfast. It's loud in the familiar way soldier spaces are, metal trays clattering, benches scraping on stone, boastful voices rising, and somebody laughing harder than necessary at a dirty joke.

The moment Halley crosses the threshold, the room changes.

It doesn't go silent exactly, because nothing here ever goes fully quiet, but the noise thins and shifts. A few soldiers stare directly at her with their mouths hanging open. Others turn their heads slowly, looking out of the corner of their eyes, as if they're afraid to look directly at her.

The citizens of Fathim have never been superstitious, and certainly not those in the military. And yet, faced with an Omega who came back from the dead with the ability to force an army to retreat, they're uncertain whether to be fascinated or frightened.

Halley keeps her pace steady beside me, neither inviting their attention nor shrinking from it.

I force myself not to spin her around and march her right back to her nest. I won't though, because she asked to be here, and I don't have any valid safety concerns. That was our deal. Halley doesn't push my boundaries or seek out ways to prove herself, and I get to keep her safe as long as I'm not being unfairly restrictive.

Besides, she's right. I need her with me. It might be manipulative, but Zero has a huge soft spot for Halley.

I also think keeping her distracted will be the key to our Pack surviving the next two weeks with our sanity intact.

Fuck knows I'll need to stay distracted.

My Omega mate might be pregnant. We might be about to become fathers…

Nope.

I slam the mental shutter down hard on that thought.

Zero sits at a long table near the center, not at the head. His tray is mostly untouched. A mug of coffee steams beside a datapad that is already lit with reports. He looks up as we approach, and his eyes assess me with the intense focus of a Prime Alpha.

"Prime Alpha Knox," he says, clipped, nodding at me.

Then his gaze slides to Halley and catches for a fraction of a second, long enough for me to see the flash of guilt and regret behind his eyes. His expression stays controlled, but his hand tightens slightly around the mug, knuckles whitening before he loosens his grip as he catches himself. Yes, that's a weakness I can use.

"Omega Specialist Sparks, good to see you well."

"Good to see you too, Zero," Halley answers, calm and steady with a genuine smile. Our girl holds no hostility toward this soldier, even though it was his presence that set in motion the conflict which killed her.

We don’t sit. The mess hall doesn’t pretend to ignore us, either. The soldiers at Zero's table keep eating, but the way they hold themselves tells me they’re listening, hungry for whatever comes next.

Zero’s mouth tightens. He knows why I'm here, and I just hope he reacts the way I think he will.

"I’m not taking it," he finally says without prompting.

I exhale.

Halley cuts in before I can speak. "And you'll support Knox?"