Page 32 of Knot All that Glitters: Part 1

I’ll send you the address.

Chapter 9: Obviously a bad Idea

“Your Uber has arrived,” Ren announces as she throws open my bedroom door.

“Shhh,” I hiss at her, leaving my bag on my bed and hurrying over to her. I tug her farther into the room and shut the door. “You can’t just announce that!”

She tilts her head, sending a fall of silky blond hair over her shoulder. “Why not? It’s what I’m here to do, right? Drive you to my house?” The last question she says louder and toward the hallway, as if someone might be lurking out there to overhear our conversation. “Like a chauffeur.”

I huff a laugh. “Please, Ren.”

“Please, Ren what?” She wanders farther into the room, eyeing what I’ve packed so far.

“Don’t ruin this for me.” Her kaleidoscope eyes pin me with a sharp glare and I immediately feel guilt for even suggesting such a thing. “You know, I just… I need this. I need this time with them,” I say in a whisper, still worried someone might overhear us and report back to my father. “I need to know if this thing between us might actually-”

My best friend’s face softens, understanding painted on it clear as day. “Might actually what, Haves?”

“Be real,” I say so quietly. “That they might be my pack, the ones who’ll get me away from my father.” I swallow as I say the words, my body automatically trying to call them back, to keep from saying anything bad about Frederick Bell. But Ren has been my friend long enough to know what he’s like. Not from anything I’ve said. She’s just smart enough to put together the shitty way he treats me.

She already knows, and for some reason, that makes it easier to work around the commands.

Ren’s brow crumples as she considers my words, and the longer she stays silent, the more my doubt grows. I’m being silly, pinning all my hopes on this pack. But I haven’t had another one interested in me, not since I graduated from AOA three years ago. No pack wants to be seen courting a man who is notoriously anti-pack, anti-designation, and pro homogenization through experimental drugs administered to children as young as six months old. Some doctors even think they should inject the fetus while it’s still in the womb to guarantee they’re born a beta and will never be anything else.

No. No pack wants to be associated with the daughter of that man.

They’ve all kept their distance. And I certainly don’t blame them.

I don’t even understand how the Calloways can support Senator Bell’s policies.

Some niggling part of me secretly hopes that they don’t, that they vote against him every chance they get, but that they keep up the facade for me. To get close to me.

But that’s just the stupid, hopeful heart in my chest.

I know that’s not true. It’s more likely they love the tax cuts to the rich he’s made good on and will overlook his other bullshit in order to receive them.

Disappointing, but I’m sure I can talk them around to a different way of thinking. If they knew what he was really like, I have to believe they would yank their endorsement of him so quickly his head would spin… with any luck it would break his neck and we wouldn’t have to deal with him anymore.

My thoughts must show on my face because Ren abandons the bag and moves over to me, gripping my hands tightly. “I hope that’s true, Haven. I really do. But I just… You know I love you, so goddamn much, and I want you to be safe and happy.” She reaches up to tuck a strand of my hair behind my ear. “I’m worried though. This pack, they support your father. What if you’d just be trading one bad alpha for four?”

The question makes anger bubble up. At her. Which is ridiculous because I’ve literally just been thinking the same thing. But a protective anger burns in my chest as I pull away from her, disappearing into the closet.

“It wouldn’t be the same. They aren’t like him.” I fiddle with my clothes, hating all of them, but knowing that I need to pack something. I can’t just hope that once I’m in their walls, they’ll smother me in their clothing drenched in their scents, but man, I hope they do.

Though the idea of that is so tempting. To be surrounded in the scents of their pack, while being wrapped in their oversized warm clothes.

“You’re right,” Ren’s voice comes from the closet door, where she’s leaning against the frame. “Of course, you’re right. You know I just worry.”

Glancing at her over my shoulder, I give her a small smile. “I know. Believe me. I’d worry about you too if our situations were reversed.” I grab a cardigan off a hanger, pale gray cashmere, the same color as my eyes. It’s one of the few pieces of clothing that I like. Two sizes too big (an accident, but one I adore). It’s soft and cozy and speaks to my inner omega that craves those things.

“But that’s what this week is for,” I tell her, also grabbing a pair of navy slacks and a silk top. I won’t wear them, but I need to bring clothes. “To find out what they’re really like, see them in their element. Make sure they aren’t… that they aren’t like him.”

Ren nods and loops a long strand of her hair behind her ear, frowning at the clothes in my hand. “We already established that they aren’t. But I get what you mean. Are you planning on going to a business meeting with them or something?”

“What?”

She motions at the clothes neatly folded and stacked in my arms. “You’re bringing clothes you would wear to one of your father’s rallies.”

I look down at them. “They’re the only clothes I have. And I have to bring something. I can’t just walk around their house naked.”

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