Page 26 of Chain Me Knot

The relief makes me sag. I’m really here. I’m not back in that basement losing my mind.

“It’s fine. I'm fine,” I mutter, but I do slow down, taking smaller bites. Not because they told me to, but because the sandwich is already sitting heavily in my shrunken stomach. The last thing I need is to vomit in front of them.

Tension ripples between the three alphas. Phoenix shoots Asher a look that could cut glass when he steps forward. Soren's jaw tightens.

“You set the pace here. No one's going to force you to do anything,” Phoenix says, his smile staying steady despite the sharpness in his eyes.

Not yet anyway. They’re being nice, but that can only be for now. Being nice to lull me into a secure place. I won’t forget what alphas are capable of.

“We should discuss security protocols, so she understands how safe she is here.” Soren adjusts his posture, a slight movement that makes me tense, but he only sits back in his chair, his powerful frame seemingly relaxed.

“Not now. Let her breathe first, brother,” Phoenix says.

My head snaps up at that exchange. They're disagreeing. Openly. In front of me. Matthew would never allow Derek or James to contradict him. Any disagreement would be settled with dominance displays, and violence, with someone being put in their place. Usually me.

They talk about me like I'm not here, though. That's familiar enough. Just like Matthew and the others did. Discussing me as if I were furniture to be arranged rather than a person and suddenly anger bursts through me.

“Shecan hear you,” I say, surprising myself, but I’ve spoken before I can stop myself. I sit still, not daring to move an inch, studying them to gauge what my discipline will be.

Phoenix's startled laugh surprises me. It's warm and rich and makes lines fan from the edges of his eyes. “Fair enough. Full disclosure it is. The compound is secure, but we're not taking chances. One of us will be with you at all times.”

“So, this is a prison with nicer guards.” I don’t understand why he’s laughing it off but still I can’t hold my tongue. My emotions swing between numb exhaustion and red-hot spikes. I’m losing control of myself, and I can’t let that happen. If I lose control, they’ll lose control, but I’ll get hurt because of it.

“Emma,” Asher says. I nearly knock over my water glass as I reel away from him. The guilt in his eyes deepens, and an uncomfortable itch starts under my skin.

“This isn't…” he tries again, voice gentle in a way that’s sandpaper on raw nerves.

“Isn't what?” My voice rises, emotions I can't contain spilling over. “Isn't a cage? Isn't another basement? Isn't three more alphas deciding what happens to me? Because from where I'm sitting, it looks exactly the same!”

The silence that follows is brittle, dangerous. My chest heaves and I start to shake as adrenaline releases through my body. My shoulders curl and rise to my ears and my stomach starts to churn. Why am I blurting out these words? Why can’t I stop them falling from my mouth? It’s only going to get them mad, and I know better than to do anything like that. “I’m sorry.”

“You havenothingto apologize for,” Phoenix says, his gaze locking with mine. “From your perspective, that's exactly what this looks like. We can't change that overnight. This is a safe place.Wewill keep it safer for you.”

Soren clears his throat, glancing at Asher before turning to me. “Speaking of full disclosure. This might help.” He pulls a device from his pocket and sets it on the table. “It's connected to our security system.”

I force my shoulders down, making sure I haven’t made the alphas mad, but they seem relaxed. Maybe even concerned. There are no signs of aggression.

I drop my gaze to stare at the device. I’ve never seen anything so high-tech. That’s not a stretch though. My knowledge of the technical world was lost when I turned sixteen and was forced to attend Haven. The only tech I saw after that were movies of how omegas lived to give their alphas anything they needed. To me they were more like omega-porn. Got to love Haven-style ‘education’. “What is it?”

“Information. Control,” Soren says.

Those words hook something deep inside me and I take a longer look at the device.

“May I show you how it works?”

I hesitate, then nod. Sure, if he wants to show me, I’m not going to say no. Every bit of information counts toward the time I’ll be finding my way to my beach. Nothing is going to stop me from getting there, least of all some bullshit bonds I didn’t ask for.

He taps the screen, bringing it to life. “This is a direct feed to every security camera in and around the property. Swipe left or right to change views. Pinch to zoom. Why don’t you try it for yourself?”

He holds it out to me and I take the tablet, our fingers not quite touching. The device's cold metal edge against my palm sends an unexpected jolt through me. The weight, the temperature, the solid heft of it suddenly, violently reminds me of the basement chains.

The tablet slips from my numb fingers, clattering onto the patio tiles. I jump a foot in the air, my gaze locking into him. I freeze, muscles locking in anticipation of punishment, but Phoenix just kneels, retrieving the tablet and placing it on the table.

“No harm done,” he says easily, as if dropping expensive equipment is perfectly acceptable behavior. “These things are built to survive being thrown across rooms by frustrated detectives. A little tumble is nothing.”

Alphas don't just... let things go. They don't just accept mistakes without extracting payment.

Don’t they?

---