Page 110 of Knot All that Glitters: Part 1

“She’s here!” Footsteps pound toward me. Knees hit the grass next to me, a hand comes to rest on the curve of my back. Why did it have to be him that found me? “Haven, button, what’s wrong?”

I squeeze my eyes closed against the panic in his voice, the worry. All a lie. Designed to make me want to bond him, so he can win a game.

I don’t open my eyes as he scoops me up, rolling me into his lap. My breathing becomes ragged as my chest gets tight and I battle tears. I thought they were all dried up, but apparently I still have more in me.

Jude’s big hand swipes at my cheeks, brushing strands of hair off my face. “Haven, open your eyes. Look at me.” There’sno alpha bark in the request, so I ignore it and keep my eyes firmly shut.

He curses and a second later I’m airborne, cradled in his arms against his chest. His sea salt and driftwood scent wraps around me, and I have to grit my teeth against the urge to nuzzle into him, to gulp down his scent and let it soothe me. I don’t want to be soothed.

No, that’s not true. Idowant to be soothed, but by someone who actually gives a shit about me. Not by this asshole who turned me—my body and my emotions—into a game.

The air goes from chilly to warm, making my skin tingle painfully.

“Is she injured?” Tic asks. A waft of oakmoss and cedar reaches my nose as his warm rough hand cups my cheek, then slides down my body, checking me over.

“Not that I can tell,” Jude responds, rubbing his cheek over the top of my head. “But she’s cold as fuck and her lips are blue.”

Are they? How interesting. I almost want to pop open my eyes and see what that looks like in real life.

“Sauna,” Hale suggests. “To get her warm.”

I want to protest. My skin is already tingling painfully. The sauna will probably hurt like a bitch. “We need to get her out of her wet clothes. That’s a thing, right?” Creed asks, his voice worried.

Tic’s hand comes back to my face, nudging my chin up. “Haven, angel. What happened?”

I don’t answer. They don’t really want to know. They don’t care. Lies. Everything is lies. My entire fucking life. I can’t escape them.

A mournful whine pulls from my chest at the realization and I feel them all bristle at it, feel them all move closer like they want to protect me and tear apart whatever did this to me. Jude’sarms tighten around me and his lips press into the crown of his head.

“Go get some dry clothes for her,” Hale demands of someone, and I hear Tic growl in response. “Do it.”

A moment later, footsteps move away from us and Jude is moving again, too. To the back of the house, the gym, the sauna. “Gonna get you warmed up, button,” he murmurs against my forehead. “Okay? We’re gonna get you feeling better.”

Heat engulfs me, makes me hiss in through my teeth as it tingles over my skin painfully. “I’m sorry,” Jude murmurs. “So fucking sorry.”

A soft purr pulls from his chest as he shifts me in his arms. Two other sets of hands help strip me out of my wet clothes. Their hands are gentle, careful. Not a hint of desire or seduction in them.

If I hadn’t seen what I did, if I didn’t know that this means nothing to them, the careful way they touch me would make me think they actually cared for me, wanted me. That maybe they viewed me as their omega. As precious.

Tic returns. I can tell by his scent joining the others around me. A fluffy towel wraps around me, my limbs patted dry. The heat isn’t so bad now. Less biting.

“She still feels too fucking cold,” Hale mutters, his hands cupping mine. A second later, hot air blows over my fingers. He’s blowing on them, trying to warm them up.

“Let’s get her in her clothes,” Creed suggests. And the same song and dance from before is performed in reverse. They carefully manipulate my body, tugging on swaths of fabric that don’t smell like me, but them. As though they think their scents will help soothe me. Before it would have. Before, I would have loved this attention, this affection. But now it just hurts. Every gentle touch is a knife blade against my skin, every rumbling purr makes me grit my teeth in agony, every murmured word,every promise makes me want to clap my hands over my ears to shut them out.

Lies. Lies. Lies. Everything is a lie.

“Fuck, little mouse, don’t cry. Please. We’ll fix it. Whatever it is, we can fix it. You just need to tell us.”

Tears slip from under my closed eyelids faster at his declaration. Mutely, I shake my head. I don’t know how to handle this. Don’t know how to confront them. If I do, what will their reaction be? Will they laugh, drop the facade, treat me cruelly?

Or worse, will they force me to stay, use their alpha barks against me? Just because they haven’t yet, except for Hale, who freed me from my father’s commands, doesn’t mean they won’t.

Was Hale doing that for me as altruistic as it seemed? Or was it just another way to get more points from me? I won’t deny that being free from my father certainly gave me the impetus to experience everything I could with them. Once I was healed, I threw myself into the physical side of our relationship wholeheartedly.

Fuck how they must have laughed at me, congratulated each other on a job well done each time they fucked me, each time I sucked their cocks, each time I begged for a knot.

No, I can’t risk a confrontation. I can’t risk having them bark at me to keep me here, a toy for them to play with and nothing more. I need to get out, get away, and I can’t do that if they know that I know.

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