Page 83 of Knot Their Arrangement

Kieran.

He moves with the grace of a trained athlete, each stride eating up the distance between us with incredible efficiency. The sight triggers a memory from earlier when he'd mentioned participating in track and field during his school years. Those skills haven't abandoned him – if anything, they've been refined into something more powerful.

The car is faster, with physics and horsepower giving us an undeniable advantage. But watching him close the gap, his determined pursuit igniting a spark of hope I thought had been beaten out of me, makes me feel less alone.

For one precious moment, as Maharaja navigates around a particularly expensive Bentley, Kieran draws close enough that I swear our eyes meet in the mirror. His usually calm demeanor has transformed completely.

Those mismatched eyes that had watched me with such careful consideration earlier now burn with an intensity that takes my breath away.

He sees me.

He noticed I was gone…

Just before we hit the street, just before the car's acceleration renders the pursuit futile, I catch one final glimpse of his face. The transformation that overtakes his features burns itself into my memory – that serene mask cracking to reveal something primal and devastating.

Anger.

Not the controlled rage of someone whose pride has been wounded, like Maharaja's perpetual fury. This kind of anger moves mountains, reshapes worlds, and leaves no stone unturned until its target is found.

And somehow, my captivity has triggered a monster hidden beneath calm tranquility.

The last thing I see before we turn onto the street before Kieran becomes nothing more than a rapidly diminishing figure in the distance, is the promise written in that anger.

A vow that this isn't over, that my disappearance won't go unnoticed or unavenged.

The realization brings equal measures of hope and terror.

Hope because, for the first time since I fled my wedding, someone with real power might actually be looking for me. Terror because I know what Maharaja and his pack will do to me long before any rescue can arrive.

The car accelerates sharply, pressing me back against the seat. Each streetlight we pass sends daggers of pain through my skull, the concussion making it harder to track our route. But I hold onto that final image of Kieran's face, letting it anchor me as we speed toward whatever horror awaits.

He saw me.

He knows.

And he's angry.

The thought echoes in my mind as the city lights begin to blur, as we head toward the freeway that will carry me back to my gilded cage. Whatever happens next, I'm no longer just a runaway Omega disappearing into the night.

I've been seen.

Acknowledged.

Deemed valuable enough by someone who recognizes my worth beyond breeding potential and business connections.

Someone who looks at cages and sees things to be broken rather than maintained.

Maharaja may think he's won, believing he's reclaiming his property and restoring his wounded pride. But he doesn't understand what he's potentially done tonight.

If I can dare hope whatever connection flourished between Damon, Kieran, and I was true within those sinful walls of Cardinal, I can pray it means I’m worthy of being avenged.

Even if I’m killed in the crossfire.

He's made an enemy of someone who moves through the world like a force of nature, unapologetic and determined to use the power he carries flawlessly to his advantage.

With controlled grace.

That’s all I can think of as dizziness plagues me and my stomach sinks with unease, and I just keep reminding myself of Damon and Kieran’s appearances, hoping for once in my life, that I can be saved.

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