Knot the Witch Next Door (Knotty Streak Omegaverse #3.5)

CHAPTER ELEVEN – Carmilla

It tore my soul to pieces to send Deacon away. But if I didn’t do it at that moment, I would never do it, and I couldn’t be the one who ruined his relationship with his family. No matter how much he protested it wouldn’t matter, it did.

He said he wanted to be my mate. Fuck. I hadn’t hoped… Okay, I’d more than hoped. I made wishes on falling stars.

Not long after I heard the leaves crunching as Deacon walked away, my heat gripped me again. I moaned and writhed, trying to furiously masturbate the aching need away. But now that I’d had him knot me, nothing would quell the pain except Deacon.

And I couldn’t have him.

I’d done the right thing. Family was too important.

Pain rocked my body. I cried and kicked at the trunk of the tree as if that could knock the agony free. So many times during the night, I wanted to call him. All it would take was one quick text and Deacon would make this torture go away. But if I did, I’d let him claim me. Oh to have him bite me as he knotted and make me his mate.

I refused to screw up his life to make mine easier. I would not destroy his family because I wanted Deacon as mine. Nor would I risk the best friendship of my life to replace it by a marriage that would only be empty without my bestie and his family’s love.

Never had I known misery before this. The searing pain in my body and my flowing slick that was like a pool of torment. Worse were the pangs of heartbreak. Everything he had said was like a reflection of what was in my heart.

Deacon would wait for me forever.

Fuck. There would never be anyone else for me.

Wretched anguish slashed at me from every level. Eventually I passed out and woke to my dad calling me from the yard.

“Carmilla, sweetie, are you in there?”

Morning light streamed through the windows. I’d twisted myself up in the blankets and curled up on a pile of pillows. Every muscle shouted in protest. It was like I just had an all night workout, and even as I sat up, the throbbing between my legs reasserted itself. My heat was nowhere near done with me yet.

“Carmilla?” Dad was directly under the tree house now.

“I’m here.” My voice cracked from being dry, and I dug around to find a bottle of water. I took a sip and peeked out the window. I could see the top of his head with his blond hair tousled by the breeze. “Sorry if you were worried. I was reading and fell asleep.”

“Ah, my little night owl. All cozy in her nest in the tree.” Dad chuckled.

Nest . The word slapped me totally awake. I looked around me at all the blankets, pillows, snacks, and comfort items. Shit. I was nesting in my tree house.

No one could see. I couldn’t let anyone know.

“Your mom and I are going to the flea market. Did you want to come with us?”

It was one of my favorite things to do on Sunday mornings. There were so many little treasures I’d discovered over the years and made incredible crafts from them. Speaking of which, last night’s craziness put me behind schedule.

“I’d love to, but I didn’t finish my packaging last night. I need to get that done and send everything out today.” My stupid heat would just have to be put on the back burner. I couldn’t let my business suffer because I was an Omega.

“Do you need us to stay and help?” My heart swelled. That was my dad. I loved it so much that he was always looking out for me. Family really was so very important, and I knew that Deacon would see that eventually.

“I’m okay.” No one needed to know that I wasn’t. “See if you can find any good trinkets for me to work with at the market. There would be a ton of Halloween stuff out now.”

“You got it, sweetie. We’ll stop off at the store after and bring home the stuff to make beef stew.”

The more he talked, the more I wanted to have my parents hold me and tell me everything would be okay. I never had any secrets from my family. We were all very close, and they always supported me in what I wanted to do. Even when I had silly ideas of being a child investigator solving mysteries and being an internet sensation by ghost hunting. My folks never told me I was being unrealistic, and my business was a success because of their confidence in me.

Would they be disappointed in me if I told them about Deacon? I could imagine my father marching over to the Graves’ house and demanding Deacon marry me. He’d only be looking out for his beloved daughter, and Deacon would do it. He already said he wanted to be my mate. But would it matter to them if it would ruin Deacon’s familial relationships? And mine with Rosemary?

Instead, I said, “Yum. Sounds good!”

It sounded hollow, no matter my love for beef stew in the fall. Yup, I hated hiding things from my parents. After my heat was over, never again.

My dad waved good-bye, and I waited until I heard the van leave the driveway before I scampered down the ladder. I rushed inside and took the maximum dose of ibuprofen to try to help with the pain of my heat. Yet even a hot shower seemed too much against my sensitive skin. Dressing in an over-sized pumpkin hoodie and sweatpants didn’t help either. It only made me imagine Deacon’s fingers caressing me, his lips brushing kisses all over and taking them down low between my legs.

Push through it . That’s what I had to do. I needed to get those packages out today.

One order after another. I broke down in tears twice because of the pain. There were only a few left when it got so bad, I fell to the floor and couldn’t get back up.

I couldn’t let my parents find me like this. And if they did, I couldn’t tell them Deacon triggered my heat. With no compatible Alpha, I would have to ride it out. There had been cases where Omegas died with no relief.

I didn’t want to die. There was so much to live for. Like more of Deacon’s kisses.

Dammit!

Reaching up, I nabbed my cell from the table and opened my contacts.

I stared at Deacon’s name. One click. That’s all it would take. He’d be here in less than a minute. Fuck, I loved that I knew for certain he would take care of me.

That’s why I didn’t click on his name. I couldn’t ruin his life.

My parents would hurry home if I called them too. Yet they did so much for me, and they had enough to worry about with my mom’s illness. They didn’t need that extra weight on their shoulders.

Tears blurred my vision. That left one person. I didn’t want to call her either, but even if I did manage to package the last few orders, I wouldn’t make it to the shipping center to send the big load of products out.

My best friend. I loved her so much.

I tapped Rosemary’s name, and she picked up after the first ring.

“Hi Milla! How are you feeling today?”

“Not so great.” My groan of agony was not faked. “Could you pop over and help me with the last of my packaging and then take them to be shipped? I’ll give you my business credit card… and…”

Agony gripped me and I curled up in a ball on the floor.

“I’ll be right there.”

A minute later there was a knock at the front door. I couldn’t get up to answer, and after another round of knocking, Rosemary let herself in. “Milla?”

“In here,” I croaked.

She came into the room and gasped as she saw me on the floor. She ran over and went down to her knees to gather me to her. “Oh my God! You’re burning up and sweating like crazy, girl. You shouldn’t be working when you have a fever like this. Let me help you to your room and take your temperature. Do you feel like you need to go to the emergency room? Where are you folks?”

“No emergency room.” The whole town would know I was in heat by dinnertime if she took me there. “Cold shower. Mom and Dad are at the flea market.”

I shook the entire time Rosemary helped me up and led me to the elevator near the front foyer. Good thing we had one in the house for my mom as I didn’t think I could handle stairs at the moment. Even better that Rosemary handled big, scared dogs at her job, so she wasn’t wilting under my weight.

“Carmilla, what are you doing? I know you’re dedicated to your business, but if you’re this sick, you shouldn’t be out of bed.” She chastised me as she shut the elevator door and hit the up button. “I really think you should go to the hospital though. Even without taking your temperature, I can tell your fever is really bad. You can’t die until after my wedding. No one else is qualified to be my maid of honor.”

I managed a squeaky little laugh. I was the worst friend ever. If she knew I’d slept with her brother… I couldn’t stop myself as I started to cry.

“No, honey, it’s okay. You’ll be okay.” Rosemary rubbed my back. The elevator dinged and she helped me shuffle down the hall to my room. “Can you get into the shower or do you need help? I’m going to get you some meds—”

“No.” I shook my head and climbed onto my bed. Another wave of pain lanced through me, and I tried to muffle my cry into my comforter. My instincts told me to run out to the tree house. I needed to be in my nest.

“I’m freaking out, Milla. I’m turning on a cold shower. You’re going in clothes and all.” Rosemary dashed into the bathroom and water sprayed against the tiled floor of the shower. She came back to fetch me, but I clung to the bed.

It was now or never. “This isn’t a fever. No meds will help.”

“What? You’re—”

“In heat.” I barely got the words out. I was at once petrified and relieved.

“Oh shit.” Rosemary ran her hands through her hair and blew out her shock, calming herself. “Okay. In heat. Damn. But when? How?” She wrung her hands together. “Oh no. Was it yesterday at the farm? There were lots of people there. You came into contact with an Alpha. Fuck! What a crappy friend am I to let my friend out of sight and get triggered by some random Alpha.”

“No! It wasn’t your fault. Not your fault.” I refused to have her believing she did anything wrong. She always had my back. While it would be easy to go with her story—it would was logical and so convenient—I couldn’t let her take any blame. But if I told her it was Deacon…

I sucked back a sob.

“Yes, it was my job as your escort.” Tears shimmered in her eyes. “Your parents trusted me. You trusted me. I’m such a shit. I just got so wrapped up in myself—”

“No.” I forced myself to sit and grabbed her hand in both of mine. “You are the very best of friends. Don’t ever think otherwise. It wasn’t your fault. I was already… I already…” Fuck this was hard. But I could not let her think she was responsible. I’d rather she hate me than think ill of herself. “My heat had already been triggered before then.”

Rosemary blinked several times and wiped her eyes, keeping her one hand in mine. “But when? You’ve not left the house for over a week because you’ve been so busy making the last of your Halloween crafts.”

I was no witch tied to the stake crying my innocence. I was guilty, and even worse, I had enjoyed every hot second with Deacon. Swallowing hard, I opened my mouth and whimpered. Be brave, Carmilla. Don’t let your bestie think she’s a bad person .

“Last week, when Deacon came to fetch you…” It was all I managed to get out before another wave of pain surged through me. Letting go of her hand, I writhed on the bed. My vision went black and red on the edges.

“But he… You…” I glimpsed out of the corner of my eye as the realization hit her. Her jaw dropped as her eyes went wide, and then she looked away from me. Looked away and slumped her shoulders.

Rosemary hated me now. I’d lost my best friend, but at least she wouldn’t carry any guilt with her. She deserved the happiest of lives, and I wanted her to have it even if I wasn’t a part of it.

I buried my face into the blankets, panting and trying not to scream. I deserved every second of agony. My suffering was the price I needed to pay for betraying my best friend and everyone I loved, and I would endure it forever if I had to just to ensure they were happy.