Page 52 of Knot All that Glitters: Part 1

We’ve been so focused on getting revenge on her father for what happened to Janie, that we didn’t consider what we would do if Haven decides to get revenge on us.

Staring at her now as she holds my face in her small hands and earnestly promises not to hurt me, I’m not sure I would do anything. If, after all of this is over, Haven Bell decides she wants to burn my world to the ground, I think I might hand her the fucking match and hold my arms wide in welcome.

“You’re safe with me,” she repeats, making sure I understand, that I hear her.

“I know,” I say gruffly, lungs tight, heart thumping wildly in my chest. “I know, baby girl.”

Thumbs still stroking, she leans her forehead against mine and closes her eyes. “Good. Now, will you kiss me like you mean it?”

I laugh, fighting the urge to tell her I do mean it. Every touch, every glance, every kiss is real for me. Even if it’s not the case for my pack mates, it’s true for me.

I kiss her again, instead, telling her with my mouth what I can’t say with my words. My tongue parts her lips and I get my first real taste of Haven Bell, pineapple and chili, lime and a faint floral note at the end. It’s fucking delicious.

I want more.

I want everything from her.

But I know I won’t get it.

And I won’t be another alpha that takes from her, only to break her later.

So I end the kiss well before I’m ready, pulling back and away from her, noticing when Jude swipes up his phone and tucks it into his pocket. The look on his face is enough to letme know by the end of the day I’ll have my first points on the scoreboard.

It makes me feel fucking sick.

Something must show on my face, because Haven’s smile falls, a flicker of confusion on her face. But then Jude’s draping an arm around her shoulders and nuzzling into her neck, kissing along her skin. “Mmm, maybe we should head home and get something to eat.”

Our girl laughs, looking at the spread of picnic food we didn’t finish. “Really? You want to eat more?”

He playfully nips along her jaw, and her eyes flutter closed. “I always want to eat, Haven. Always. And apparently, I really love feeding you. So let’s go do that.”

She gives a dazed nod, firmly under the spell of the pack golden retriever. “Yeah, that sounds good.”

“We also need to clean up those scrapes,” Tic says, glaring at her knees and the blood smeared there.

Haven laughs and leans over to kiss him. “It’s fine. I’ve had worse than scraped knees before.”

“But what about scraped knees and palms?” Jude asks, lifting her left hand to press a kiss to the abrasions.

“That too.”

I get the impression that she means a lot worse, and I want to ask about it, want to know if her father is even more of an asshole behind closed doors, but bite the words back. She’ll tell us about it when she wants to, if she wants to, if she can.

The way she reacted to Hale barking at her has me more and more certain that she’s not entirely in control of her own actions, not where her father is concerned.

The five of us work together to pick up the remains of our picnic and in minutes we’re heading back to the car. Or Jude and Tic are heading back to the car with Haven tucked betweenthem, but Hale keeps me in place with a hand on my arm, holding me back from following right on their heels.

“You need to get on board with this,” he growls at me. “Fucking fast. If she leaves or cuts us off because of your hesitation, because you aren’t all fucking in, then that will be onyou. Our failure will be on fuckingyou.”

I fold my arms over my chest and meet him glare for glare. “You sure that’s what you’re worried about? Failing on this one facet of our plan? There are plenty of other fucking things we can do to get revenge, Hale, and you know it.” I drop my arms and my aggressive stance, willing him to see that I’m not the enemy here, I’m not his rival. “Just admit you don’t want her to leave because you actually fucking like her, want her. Please, Hale.”

His jaw flexes as he looks across the field to where Haven’s laughing, probably at something Jude said. “This is the path,” he says tonelessly. “We agreed this is the path, Creed.”

I blow out a breath in disappointment. “She doesn’t deserve this. You know she doesn’t.”

His hand claps onto the back of my neck, turning me to follow them. “Maybe not. Doesn’t change that we’re doing it. Do you need a reminder of why that’s the case?”

I know what he’s asking. The stockpile of photos we have on hand just in case one of us falters, just in case we started to doubt if revenge was the right course of action. The ones that display a broken and beaten omega, dead eyes and shattered body.

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