Page 6 of Chain Me Knot

Everything that's given him the nightmares I've talked him through for the past decade.

Forced claiming.

Non-consensual bonding.

The very crimes he's dedicated his life to prosecuting. And now he's become what he hates most.

But the omega... Gods, the omega. Not just any omega, but ours.

Ours.

Our fatedscent-matchedomega. The omega who will complete our pack in a way no other can. The chance of finding her was miniscule and now he’s force-bonded her with the potential to ruin anything we might have had with her before it had a chance to begin.

His mistake is monumental. For him. For us. For her.

The sight of her pitiful condition makes me physically ill. She's barely more than bones draped in filthy rags, her skin ghost-white where it isn't mottled with grime and bruises. The chain around her ankle has rubbed the flesh raw, an angry infection creeping up her leg. Her blonde hair hangs in matted, filthy clumps, and she's so thin I can count every rib through what's left of her shirt.

How can anyone treat a human being like this?

I catalogue her injuries even as my instincts scream to protect. Even as I feel Asher's horror and self-loathing crash through our pack bond with enough force to make me stagger. Severe malnutrition. Dehydration. Multiple infection sites. Possible sepsis from the ankle wound. And those are just the physical injuries. The psychological trauma...

She'd scrambled into presentation position when Asher opened the cell, her movements speaking of long practice and desperate fear. The acrid scent of her fear still clogs my nostrils. Even now, unconscious in his arms, her face shows no peace.

What have they done to her?

What havewedone to her?

Because that claiming bite—as wrong as it is, as much as it goes against everything we believe—has just made her our pack omega.

Asher will never forgive himself.

And our omega might never recover from his rash action.

A sound escapes Asher that breaks something inside me. Part whimper, part growl, pure anguish. He clutches our unconscious omega to his chest, rocking back and forth like he can somehow protect her from what he's just done. Self-loathing resonates through our bond, blackening the air with its thickness.

Phoenix collapses beside them. His hand trembles as he reaches for her, hovering over her like he's afraid she'll shatter at his touch. My knees hit the concrete floor moments after his.

Asher lifts his head, and the hollow look in his eyes will haunt me forever. “I couldn't...” his voice cracks. “I couldn't help it. The moment I scented her...” He drops his gaze to her unconscious form. “She's ours. She was always meant to be ours.”

She’s our scent-match, and because of that we can bond her outside of her heat, where otherwise a bond can only take place between an alpha and omega during their heat. Then I see the other bond marks marring her shoulders. Cruel, half-formed claiming bites that can mean only one thing.

She’s only partially bonded.

“Holy mother of gods. Those claiming bites,” I wheeze.

A half-bond is the ultimate form of torture. All the violation with none of the responsibility. This is calculated evil. These monsters would have deliberately created an uneven bond to maximize her suffering. To ensure she'd feel every ounce of their cruelty while remaining blind to her pain. It would have been done to her during the delirium of her heat without her consent. Outside a scent-match, it’s the only way to bond an omega.

“This is inhuman. How could they do this to such a precious creature?” Phoenix chokes out.

“She's not going back to them,” Asher growls, the sound vibrating through the concrete walls. “They'll never touch her again. Never. I'll kill them before I hand her over.”

I've never seen him this close to feral, not in all our years together. I can’t imagine the psychological torment she’s lived through. Rage builds in my chest. Those alphas had this precious omega, and they treated her likethis? Chained her like an animal? I start cataloguing charges—abuse, neglect, illegal imprisonment—the alpha in me hollowing out because, as bad as they are, those charges won’t stick because she’s an omega. Not with the current laws.

The alphas upstairs in cuffs, Pack Carmichael, are officially her pack. They can do whatever the fuck they want to her. It’s legal and fucking bullshit.

But now,so is Asher.

And she’s our scent-match, which trumps their bond.

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