Page 11 of Knot All that Glitters: Part 1

“I know,” I say. “Believe me, I know, but there’s something… off about her.”

“You mean besides her being the dutiful daughter of a man who wants to strip her and all other omegas of their rights?” Tic asks.

I nod. “Yeah, exactly. I just don’t know if she deserves this. Tell me you didn’t feel the same when you talked to her,” I say to Hale.

He shrugs. “I didn’t.” Our prime alpha drops his cigarette and stubs it out with the toe of his dress shoe, before moving close enough to grip my shoulder. “Remind yourself that this isn’t about Haven Bell, Creed. This is about Frederick Bell. This is aboutJanie.”

A fresh wave of guilt hits me, stronger than before, a mixture of mine and my pack’s together. It always happens anytime her name is said. For years, we’ve all had the same visceral reaction. So we’ve avoided saying it, thinking about her too hard. Hale knows this, and he’s an asshole who pulls out her name to drive home a point that she deserves revenge. We all do.

I hate that it always works.

“I know,” I say, hardening myself to the sweet omega I just left. “Believe me, I know who this is really about. I just think we could leave Haven out of it. This part isn’t necessary. We have the other-”

“This part isn’t necessary? This is the only part that truly matters,” Hale hisses at me, fingers tightening on my shoulder painfully. My alpha instincts swell, seeing him as a threat… which shouldneverfucking happen in a pack. We can disagree and argue, but seeing each other as a threat? Hell no. But then, we’ve not felt like a real pack for years… almost ten, to be exact.

This thing with Haven, with her father, is supposed to fix it. I’m pretty sure revenge is the only reason we’re still bonded.

With a growl, I throw Hale’s hand off my body and shove him back. “Don’t fucking touch me.”

Our prime growls back and jerks like he’s going to lunge at me again, but Tic and Jude slip into the space between us. They’re used to this by now, needing to separate us. Tic place both of his hands flat on my chest and presses me back. Not violently, just gentle, even pressure. “Deep breaths, brother,” he mutters, gold eyes latched onto mine. “Hale’s an asshole, but you can’t let it get to you.” I let him urge me back a few more steps, my eyes moving to Hale and Jude, who’s talking to him in a low voice, no doubt calming him down the same way Atticus is doing to me. “Besides, you know he’s right.”

That has my gaze dropping to the alpha in front of me. Tic meets my gaze steadily. “You know he’s right.” He repeats. “Taking Haven from Bell is the blow that will hurt him the way he hurt us. You agreed. The course is set. We can’t stray from the path now, Creed.Janiedeserves better than that.” His voice cracks when he says her name. It always does. Even ten years later, when time and distance should have eased the ache a bit.

My eyes shut as I blow out a weary breath. I can’t say I disagree with them. I don’t.

Janie deserves revenge. We do too.

“I just wish it wasn’t at the expense of an innocent omega.”

“Innocent?” Hale snarls at me over Jude’s shoulder. “You think she’s innocent? Really? Her father is actively trying to passlaws that ban packs in the country. Does she speak out against it? Has she ever once said she disagrees with his policies or his world views?”

I frown at him. “Well, no, but that doesn’t-”

“No!” Hale sounds smug as fuck as he repeats the only part of my statement he heard. “No, she fucking doesn’t. She stands behind him with that polite little smile on her face and claps when everyone else does. She supports his bullshit, Creed. She fucking clapped today when Bell said omegas need to be monitored, controlled. She’s a traitor to her own designation.”

My stomach clenches at his tirade. Again, I want to argue with him, but I can’t. We’ve been watching Frederick and Haven Bell for years, and nothing we’ve seen disproves what he’s saying. Except… I think of the way she reacted to me, the way she seemed to have to force herself to stay in place to even talk to me, the way she said her father wouldn’t approve of a pack courting her, the way her skin went so pale when she realized that’s what we wanted.

“If he believes all omegas should be controlled,” I say, hands clenching and unclenching at my sides. “Don’t you think that is exactly what he would do with the omega in his household? Control her? He’s an alpha, Hale. It would be so fucking easy for him to turn her into a puppet.”

Hale’s mouth snaps shut and there’s a flicker of doubt in his eyes, a moment of hesitation down the bond.Please.I think.Please, let’s find a different way. One that won’t end with me feeling like more of an asshole than I already do.

But my prime lets me down. His jaw hardens, and he gives a resolute shake of his head. “If she’s a puppet all the better. It’ll be easier to make her dance to our tune, to have her give us what we want.”

I stare at him hard. “You’re not actually this callous, Hale. I know you.”

“That’s right. You do know me, so you know I’ll do everything in my power. I’ll do fucking anything to make Frederick Bell pay for what he did to our omega. Even destroy his daughter. Innocent or not, he cares about her, and we’ll use that to our advantage.”

“Remember that you agreed to this,” Jude says, releasing Hale to turn to look at me. “Hell, you’re the one who even came up with the idea.”

I look away from them, my three pack mates, my three brothers, and try to bury the guilt I have for suggesting this course of action. At the time, I was heartbroken and furious and drunk. I’d hated everything to do with Frederick Bell, even his twelve-year-old daughter. The daughter he carted around and beamed at, the one he so clearly adored.

Just like we’d adored Janie.

But ten years has dulled my rage, has cooled my temper into something more streamlined and deadly.

Do I want Frederick Bell to suffer? Hell yes.

Am I willing to destroy an innocent woman in the process? No.

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