Her Knotty Beta (A Very Knotty Valentine #1)

Chapter 1

ONE

Suki

You’ve been matched!

Iread the message again, making sure I had read it correctly.

Alpha Net thanks you for offering your services to an Omega in heat. We are glad to see such interest, especially on our release day over Valentine’s weekend.

As a reminder, you are to show up to 621 Cherry Ln. at noon today to help Theodora (Teddy) Rodrik with her heat. Thanks to our extensive background check, we know you’re an 85% match for each other, and perfect for the job!

Your goal is to take care of Teddy during her heat, which includes making sure she drinks water and eats, and upon request, knotting her.

If at any time you would like to refuse participation, please see the contact information at the bottom of this message.

Someone will reach out and find a suitable Alpha to take your place.

A little about Teddy as seen on her profile:

This is her first heat;

she’s a sweet Omega with a competitive streak;

she loves traveling and moving from place to place;

her favorite color is sunflower yellow, and

her favorite movie is Batman P

A sharp laugh escaped me. I wondered what she had in mind, but I’d save that conversation for later. She knew what the surface of what I liked, and for now, that would be enough.

Suki: I’m glad. :D Rest if you can for now.

There was no response after that, so I set my phone down and shook out my hands, anxiety and adrenaline shooting through me as the countdown truly began.

I had a few hours to go through their attachments and checklists and make sure I was ready for what was about to happen.

We could be locked up for a day or upwards of a week, so I hoped Teddy was right and had everything we needed for this, mainly everything she needed.

I moved into action, hoping the busy work would keep the anxiety away for now. A small smile came to my lips, and a giddiness I hadn’t felt in a while filled my heart.

I could do this. An Omega needed me. Teddy needed me. And I was happy to be of use.

My internal pep talk ran through my head as I sent out notices to family, friends, and my work, letting them know I’d be away for a few days.

They knew all about Alpha Net too, and although none of them signed up, they were supportive of my decision.

Thankfully, I was a consultant with flexible hours, so this was being viewed as pseudo-volunteer work.

As long as I didn’t overdo it and kept both schedules updated, I was in the clear.

The next step was a shower. I cleaned every part of me three times, wanting to be free of as many outside scents as possible in case Teddy was sensitive to them during her heat. The water was near scorching, but it also worked as a distraction as I scrubbed and scrubbed again.

My short hair dripped behind me, the suds flooding the porcelain floor as I rinsed out the shampoo one last time.

I should have purchased scentless shampoo, but were things ever truly without scent? I didn’t think so. By the time I got to her house, my pheromones would have coated every inch of me, hopefully obscuring the smells anyway.

Grabbing a simple T-shirt dress, bralette, and underwear, I threw them on, topping the casual look off with white tennies. They were very clear that any clothes we wore might be ruined, depending on the nature of the Omega, and I could bear losing these.

With a small bag of toiletries and a few other sets of clothes, I was off.

My car beeped as it unlocked, and I slid in after tossing my small bag into the backseat.

I automatically started the car, put on my seatbelt, then—I stared out the windshield, the blue sky and sun bearing down on me as the anxiety kicked in again.

What if I was the wrong choice? What if this went wrong?

I took a deep breath, my hands gripping and ungripping the steering wheel. “It’s all going to be okay. You’ve done this before, Akasuki. Nothing is going to go wrong. Teddy will be there, ready and waiting for you to help her. You got this.”

With one last breath and a quick check to make sure Teddy hadn’t messaged me, I keyed the address into the GPS, put the car in drive, and I was on my way to Teddy’s.

I only had to do it once. If this didn’t work out, I could call it quits and remove myself from the program.

I had to remember that I was chosen for a reason.

Teddy was probably scared and unsure about this whole thing, wanting a calming presence, or maybe my kinks resonated with her.

Either way, it was my job to reassure her that it was all normal and okay, that she needed to trust her body as I needed to trust mine.

The drive was fairly short, maybe twenty minutes. In total, it had only been around two hours since I had received the message and hit confirm that I was taking Teddy on as a client.

Refusing to dwell on my chaotic thoughts, I grabbed my bag and hopped out of the car after parking in the driveway.

This was it. It was time to meet my Omega for the next few days.

After knocking on the door, I stepped back, keeping in mind the script Alpha Net had given me to memorize. Seconds ticked by, then finally, Teddy opened the door, and I sucked in a breath as her pheromones washed over me.

Strawberry, vanilla, and something more vibrant, more earthy, underneath it all.

It made my nose itch like my body was telling me something was wrong, but my mouth watered anyway, the Omega pheromones laced with impending heat wafting over me.

They drew out my own, mingling with my bergamot and green tea scent.

Teddy stood in the doorway, dark gray eyes growing wide behind thick rimmed glasses.

Her curly brown hair fell to her shoulders, a few inches longer than my black hair and far more jubilant than the pin-straight strands I had.

Her golden skin was made brighter by the white crop top and light-blue denim shorts she had on, and I noted that she was taller than most Omegas, only a couple inches shorter than I was at 5’10”.

In a word, she was radiant, even without the pheromones messing with my head.

“Theodora Rodrik?” I asked, following the script. When she nodded at her name, I continued. “Thank you for choosing Alpha Net. I’m Akasuki Tanna, and I will be your Alpha throughout this heat.”

I had been worried about the little speech, wondering if my voice would fall flat as it sometimes did, but instead, it flowed with an air of joy and confidence.

“Is there anything you need before I enter?” That wasn’t part of the script, and I had already asked, but I’d rather be safe than sorry.

I knew once I walked in, our pheromones would go crazy, refusing to let us go long enough to make the journey to the store for food or water.

If we needed something, now was the time to go and get it.

“No. I have everything we need right here,” she said, her voice meek as she shook her head, reiterating her message from before.

There was a glint in her eyes, and it sparked something inside of me.

The feeling was foreign. I didn’t know what to make of it, so I ignored it, my duties being more important at the moment.

“Then may I come inside?”

Teddy stepped to the side and held out her arm, welcoming me in.

“Yes, of course. Please, come in, and make yourself comfortable. My nest is down the hall, last door on the left.”

The door shut a little too quickly behind my back, and I jumped.

Every Omega was different when it came to their heats, and Teddy seemed to be timid with an edge of…

My inhale caught something, the scent changing in the room, the strawberry and vanilla fading away to something thicker.

The room grew hazy as I turned around, the pheromones nearly suffocating me.

The docile stature she had before was long gone. Instead, she stood tall, wiggling her fingers in a flirty wave as her gray eyes shone with deception, not a lust-induced haze as I knew mine were.

“What’s going on?” The room spun, and I crashed to my knees in front of her. She knelt down and sprayed something in my face. It smelled of roses and stung my eyes. “What did you—”

“Oh, nothing much, just a little gas to knock you out for a few minutes. It’s safe. Promise.” Her voice was too cheery, too calm for what she was doing to me.

“What?” I slurred out as she leaned in closer, her scent flowing to my nose, giving me one brief second of relief from the gas filling my lungs. But it wasn't strawberry and vanilla. No, Teddy smelled of lime and eucalyptus, a scent that made my mouth water far more than the previous one.

“I’ll explain later, Suki.” She brushed my hair behind my ear, a strange action for the predicament she held me in, but I felt myself leaning into it, wanting more of her touch.

“Just know I’ll be here when you wake up.

We’re going to have such a fun time together,” she nearly whispered into my ear, her voice dropping to a husky level of need.

The pheromones were getting to her too, but somehow, I knew I was the only one who would fall to them.

“Night, night, my Alpha. I’ll be seeing you again shortly. ”

The last thing I heard was her laughter, maniacal and yet so enticing, before I collapsed to the ground, wondering what delectably deceptive things Teddy could possibly be up to.