Page 51 of Chain Me Knot

The chat thread goes dark, and I make sure the message thread is unsaved and unrecorded.

I stare at the black screen, nausea burning the back of my throat as pieces begin to form a bigger and more horrific picture than I could have imagined.

Haven didn't just traffic omegas.

They murdered for them, and the trail leads to someone lurking in the dark—choosing vulnerable omegas and turning them into orphans by design.

Chapter Twenty

Emma

Iwake slowly, consciousness returning in layers. I’m in a room. The walls are painted a soft seafoam green. A white dresser holds a collection of sea glass in a crystal bowl. Everything feels intentionally calming, designed to soothe. This room is beautiful. Perfect, even. Gauzy white curtains flutter at tall windows, filtering the light into gentle patterns across whitewashed wooden floors. However long we've been here, the morning is long gone.

Artwork on the walls shows scenes of beaches—waves crashing against rocks, seabirds wheeling against cloudy skies, sandy shores stretching to distant horizons. So like my imaginary sanctuary.

The bed I’m lying on is enormous. A king-size wrapped in crisp white linens that smell fresh and clean. No basement mustiness, no hospitalantiseptic. The mattress beneath me is cloud-soft. A pile of pillows in various shades of blue and green creates a nest-like arrangement against the carved wooden headboard.

Fragments of memory float back. Being carried from a car, strong arms cradling me against a broad chest. The scent of rich coffee telling me it was Phoenix. He never stopped holding me while we were holed up in that car. Everything else is hazy, lost to exhaustion and heat fever and the aftermath of terror.

Memory of the attack is clearer. The sound of glass breaking, running through the night and the desperate chase through city streets. The way my alphas... no, not my alphas. The way Asher, Soren, and Phoenix protected me. Fought for me. Refused to let me go even when I offered to sacrifice myself.

Movement makes me tense. I’m not alone, but it's just Phoenix shifting in his sleep beside me. They’re all in bed with me, sprawled on top of the covers while I'm cocooned beneath them. Asher lies on the outside of the bed behind Soren and closest to the door, his body positioned between any threat and the rest of us. His olive skin is shadowed with stubble, his dark hair falling across his forehead.

Soren is wedged between Asher and me. His arms are carefully folded, his biceps stretching his mud-smudged shirt sleeves as he sleeps on his side facing me. Even asleep, he maintains a distance, respecting boundaries I didn't know alphas could respect. Phoenix doesn’t distance himself. His arm is draped over my blanket-wrapped form and his body is pressed against mine. His whole front covers my side but even then… I don’t feel smothered. His blond hair is a mess, stubble graces his jaw, but his face is peaceful. All three of them are still fully clothed, rumpled and dirty.

Lethal grace wrapped in devastating beauty.

I shut down that line of thought.

The slight shift in Asher's breathing tells me he has woken first. My attention flies to the biggest threat in the room. His eyes open, unerringly finding mine. The intensity of his gaze gives flight to my stomach. Not with fear but with something else I'm not ready to name.

“Moonbeam. How are you feeling?” His tone is all whiskey and gravel and I stifle the good shiver that works through my body.

His voice wakes the others. Soren's eyes snap open to lock on me. Phoenix stirs more slowly, his arm tightening slightly around my waist before he wakes up. A slow smile spreads on his devastating face as he sees me awake. Their masculine-musk scents wrap around me like a protective cocoon.

Dread should be pooling in my stomach. I should be at least trying to climb out of this cocoon and put a door between me and this alpha threat but instead my body stays languid and relaxed. I make a mental note to give myself a pep talk about basic survival when my senses aren’t attuned to mouth-watering scents and acres of rippling muscles.

“Tough Girl? Are you okay?” Phoenix says. His morning voice is just as devastating as Asher’s, damn him.

“Yes, I…” I pause, considering how I feel. My insides aren’t so hot they’ve turned to liquid and my abdomen has stopped twisting itself inside out. In fact, I’m nicely warm. Toasty. Comfortable. Clean and safe, surrounded by softness instead of concrete.

They saved me. At risk to themselves. And not for the first time either. Last night it was clear we were attacked because of me. It would have been so easy for them to hand me over, dust their hands and walk away because I am too much trouble. Instead, they did what they said they’d do—anything to keep me safe.

I don’t want to voice any of those thoughts, so I settle on a simple truth. “I’m…confused.”

Phoenix chuckles, a sound that should be banned. “We're at one of Adrian's safe houses. Safe, secure and in luxurious hiding.”

“Don’t upset her, idiot!” Soren says.

Phoenix’s relaxed expression tightens. He rises onto his elbow which only serves to highlight the thickness of his bicep. His rich coffee scent coats my tongue and slides down my throat like the best latte. “I’m not upsetting you, am I? I was just trying to say we’ve gone dark, and no one can trace us here.”

Soren sits up. My fingers twitch under the covers to wipe away the smudge of dirt on his sharp jawline. “And safe. We’re safe, Emma.”

“We’ll fill you in, but would you like to get up and shower first?” Asher’s voice is rough from sleep. He slides off the bed and strides to the dresser, muscles flexing beneath his crumpled tactical gear. He begins to open and close drawers like it's his latest mission.

“Everything you need should be in here. Adrian said the house is stocked with everything an omega might need.” He picks through the contents, turning to me with an armful of women’s clothing. They look small and delicate in hands that still bear the marks of our battle last night.

Hands that grabbed me from the bottom of the pool and hauled me back to safety.

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