Page 7 of Knot All that Glitters: Part 1

I flick my gaze around, double checking that I’m alone. “He has a business dinner. It’ll probably go pretty late.” Even if he doesn’t, it’s not like he peeks in at me while I’m sleeping. No, he just assumes that I’m a good girl tucked up in bed.

“Good. I need to fucking vent.”

I chuckle. “And I love to listen to you vent.” It’s something I wish I could do, but it’s one of the standing commands. Never badmouth my father for any reason to anyone, even Ren, who would never repeat it. She knows how bad that would be for me.

“Please tell me we can meet,” my best friend begs. “Please. Please.Please.”

I laugh. “You know I’ll do anything for you, babe. Just tell me when and where. And I’ll be there.”

It takes some finagling to work around the commands my father has in place, but I’ve long ago reasoned out why it’s okay for me to go to drinks with Florence. My body no longer immediately rejects the idea like it did when we graduated from AOA and he dumped his first layers of commands on me.

The crack of a twig behind me has me pushing away from the tree and spinning, heart thundering in my chest. If it’s Brian, I’m screwed. So fucking screwed. He’ll know I’ve been sneaking out with Florence, that I’ve been doing things my father views as unladylike or embarrassing to him. When really all I’m doing is seeing my best friend in public. Millions of people do that every freaking day.

When I turn, I find not Brian but Creed Calloway watching me with those depthless eyes of his. His big hands are tucked into the pockets of his slacks and his posture is relaxed. But it doesn’t fool me or my omega one bit. He’s a predator watching his prey.

And I don’t hate it.

“Shit,” Ren says into my ear. “Giles is glaring at me, even though we have two minutes left in our break. I gotta go. I’ll text a time and a place to you. Love you!”

“I love you too,” I say back automatically, my lips feeling slightly numb. Hell, my whole body feels numb and tingly. Florence hangs up without another word. I drop the phone to my side, still staring at Creed.

His dark gaze follows the descent of my phone, one brow arched. “Boyfriend?” The single word is rumbled and dark, as though he hates the idea that I might be dating someone. A shiver works over my body and my nipples pucker, pressing against the padding of my bra. Honestly. Thank god for padded bras. The last thing I need is Creed Calloway, Senator Bell's supporter, seeing my physical reaction to him.

I lick my lips and shake my head. “Best friend.”

His relaxed posture relaxes even further at that and a teasing grin pulls at his full mouth. “Good.”

“Good?”

He nods and takes a step closer. “Yeah. Good. I’d hate to beat the shit out of some unworthy fuck just for daring to get close to you.”

Huh. I shouldn’t like that as much as I do. But I’ve spent the last week under the heated gaze of this man and his pack, feeling their eyes on me like a possessive caress, and my omega loves it. Loves the attention and the feeling of being claimed. If not verbally, then in the way they watch me.

I’ve never had this sort of reaction to an alpha or a pack.

My eyelids flutter closed, and then open again, only to find him much closer. A tendril of his scent reaches my nose, faint and slightly chemically, like he put on descenter this morning, but it’s wearing off.

“I’m Creed,” he says, like I don’t already know.

“Haven,” I reply, softly. Part of me is clawing at my chest to get away from this man. A warning that something bad is going to happen if I stay here. But I think it’s just my father’s commands talking. Part of me knows Frederick Bell would have a problem with me standing here in the privacy of the trees having a conversation with a packed up alpha.

His head tilts and his dark eyes run over me again, drawing out another shiver. “You know I won’t hurt you, right?”

Run!A part of me screams, because Idon’tknow that. Not with how my heart is thundering and I feel cornered… but like… the good kind of cornered. I want him to come closer, to cage me in with his body and run his nose along my neck. I want him to bite me.

Badly.

I swallow down a whimper, and he watches me do it. Watches as I take a single step back, away from him. “Haven, baby girl,” he says quietly, softly, one hand reaching out to me, looking pained. “You’re safe. I promise you’re safe.”

I shake my head, more at myself than at his assertion. He doesn’t know what I’m battling here. The years of commands I have to sift through to just stay put, to keep my feet rooted to the ground and not skitter away like the mouse Hale called me a week ago.

“Yes,” he says firmly. “You’re safe. I won’t hurt you. I won’t letanyonehurt you.”

My omega, starved for attention, affection and security, purrs at the protective statement. But he doesn’t actually mean it. Not for me, Haven Bell. He doesn’t know me, doesn’t know anything about me. He doesn’t even know what my scent is. I’ve buried it under too many chemicals, ordered to by my father.

There’s no way he actually wants me. It doesn’t make any sense at all.

That thought has my body settling somewhat.

---