Page 68 of Knot All that Glitters: Part 1

Chapter 17: I can’t escape

The morning I’m set to return home, I wake up with dread sitting heavy in my stomach. I don’t want to leave, but I can’t exactly stay either. Even though I want nothing more than to just hunker down here for the rest of my days, it’s just not possible.

The pack must feel it too because the morning is quiet and unusually somber, with less laughter, longer lingering hugs and kisses, like they don’t want to let me go either. We spend the morning on the couch, the four of them passing me around like a security blanket, so each of them has a chance to snuggle me.

Tic makes me one last lunch, and then I go upstairs to pack. Ren will be here at two to take me to her house, where I’ll wash off the scent of the Calloway pack and replace it with the more familiar scents of the Karlin household. I’ll also leave every single one of my birthday gifts with her. I can’t risk my father finding them and wondering where they came from.

There’s no chance Ren and her family could afford that diamond necklace.

Tic wanders up when I’m almost done, a plastic bottle in his hands. He leans against the door frame, watching me for a moment, before he says quietly, “You sure we can’t convince you to stay?”

Tears prick my eyes, but I blink them away. “I want to say yes, but I can’t.” Moving in with them, with a pack, will definitely go against my father’s longest standing command. We wouldn’t be able to keep it hidden forever, and then I’d embarrass him.

He sighs and pushes away from the frame. “In that case, I want you to take these with you.” He holds out the plastic bottle and I take it without question, but I frown down at the label less bottle.

“What are they?”

He tucks his hands into his pockets. “Vitamins. Supplements. Essentially, all the same things I put in your smoothie every morning.”

My chest warms, and I smile up at him. “Thank you, that’s really thoughtful.”

He runs a knuckle down my cheek. “I just want to be sure you’re being taken care of. Getting the right nutrients. Two a day will do it.”

I toss the bottle into the bag and nestle into his chest, inhaling deep. He buries his nose in my hair and does the same. Like we’re storing up for when we can’t just do this, which is coming far too soon.

“I’m gonna miss you, angel,” he says, sounding slightly surprised by it.

I snuggle closer, fingers digging into his skin. “I’m gonna miss you, too. So much.”

“But we’ll be able to text and talk on the phone, right?”

I nod. “Yeah. I might not respond right away. My father has some… rules about my phone usage during his campaign. But I um… I’ll be able to talk more when I’m free.”

He pulls back and looks down at me. “And we’ll see you at some of those fundraisers and stuff, right?”

I nod and smile up at him. “Absolutely. I can’t escape those.”

“Surely he doesn’t make you go to every one?”

I hesitate, testing out answers in my head to find the one that is the most truthful, but also will hurt me the least. “A few days before the Fourth of July this year, I caught the flu. I was sick for a week and a half, couldn’t keep anything down.”

I wait to see if he puts it together. His brow furrows. “But you were at every one of his events that week.”

I nod. “I was.”

“He made you attend?”

I lick my lips, uncertainly. Now we’re getting into dangerous territory with how I can answer. “It’s what’s expected of me.”

“It’s bullshit is what it is, angel.”

I shrug. He’s not wrong. I was miserable all week, lightheaded from lack of food, exhausted beyond reason. I slipped away multiple times to throw up, especially during the BBQ portion of the event, where I was supposed to smile beautifully and serve hotdogs and hamburgers to the donors.

“Ren’s here,” Creed’s voice calls from the hallway, begrudging as hell. I think if he could, he would tie me up to keep me here.

Tic sighs and loosens his grip on me, letting me finish throwing things in my bag. When I’m done, he zips it up for me and slings it over his shoulder, lacing his fingers through mine to walk me downstairs.

The three other alphas are waiting in the foyer, arms crossed, glowers in place. Even Jude looks unhappy and it’s very… unnatural.

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