Page 216 of Knot Their Soldier: Part Three

I shift my jacket over her automatically, covering what I can, already calculating sightlines, angles, what the desk hides, what it doesn’t.

Halley lifts her head and looks at me, still dazed, and entirely too calm for an Omega knotted outside of her nest with a stranger close by.

"It’s okay," she says softly. "Let them in. They obviously need you."

My grip on her hip tightens. "No, Princess. Not while we're like this."

Her mouth curves. "It sounds like it can't wait for your knot to go down."

That is not the point.

The point is that she is bare under my jacket, wearing my collar, and still stretched around my knot.

Her territorial instincts should be reacting as strongly as mine, demanding privacy and safety while she is vulnerable and knotted to me. Instead, she smiles at me, nods, and smooths a hand over my chest. "I trust you to keep me covered and safe."

The words hit right in my possessive Alpha hindbrain, and I growl lowly in approval.

My Omega has faith that I can protect her.

Halley’s eyes warm with amusement. "Also, I’m your mate. I think people can survive seeing me sitting on your lap."

I look at her, at the smug little satisfaction tucked into her expression, and inhale through my nose. "We smell like sex. They'll know that we're knotted."

"Maybe," she says, shrugging with no shame at all. "I don't mind them seeing proof of our love."

I took the role of General to protect Halley because the only way to control what was demanded of her was to become the person with the authority to make those demands. I’ve been a leader my entire life and trained for it since childhood, so I knew the position would claim my time and make me responsible for everyone in this fortress. Halley understands because she feels that responsibility too. These are our people, and we will defend and serve them through rain, hail, shine, or knot.

I sigh in resignation.

I gather the front of my jacket tighter around her, check that she is covered, and settle her more securely against my chest with her nose tucked into my throat.

I kiss her temple once more, and school my features from a knot-blissed Alpha into the stern expression expected of Blackgate Fortress's General Knox.

I raise my voice.

"Enter."

Chapter Fifty-Three

Halley

By the time Knox drives us through Blackgate’s outer gate at the end of the mission, my legs feel like jelly and my hands are shaking.

The mission went well, but there was still bloodshed.

A Human scouting team pushed farther up the mountain than they should’ve, nosing around, following signs of activity left by our daily patrol patterns.

I stepped into their path, sank my voice into their minds, and sent them away with a brand-new memory.

"You found nothing."

"Stop scouting in this direction."

It worked.

Honestly, I wasn't worried about it failing. Now that I've done it, it's like I've unlocked the code to using the Omega Command to its full extent. I'm unwaveringly confident that as long as I have the support of my Pack and can draw on our bond, I'll be able to summon it when I need to defend my people.

That doesn’t mean it’s free.