Page 95 of Chain Me Knot

Emma

My voice trembles at first as I reach into memories I locked away because I didn’t want to tarnish them in the filth of that basement. Doing that would have broken me more, but bringing them out, as hard as it is now, is better than keeping them locked away.

I lean into the strength of Asher's chest, soaking in the quiet patience radiating from Phoenix and Soren. “My childhood was happy. My parents were both betas. Ordinary, loving parents who never expected their daughter to present as an omega. We lived in a small house on the edge of town, close enough that I could walk to school, but far enough away that we had fields behind our back garden. My room had large windows that looked out onto those fields.”

I pause as the memories rise behind my eyelids.

“I loved those windows. At bedtime, I'd beg Dad to lift me onto his shoulders so I could see over the hedges at the edge of the yard. He'd tuck me against him, tall and safe, and he'd say, 'Tell me what stars you can see tonight, Emma.' And we'd stay out there counting stars until Mom had to come out and scold him for keeping me awake.”

Asher brushes the hair back from my face, his thumb warm and gentle along my temple. “It sounds beautiful.”

I nod, the ache in my chest growing heavy.

“When I presented as an omega at sixteen, it felt like the ground tilted beneath me. Everything became uncertain.” A shiver runs down my spine at the memory. “I was terrified. Suddenly, there were all these new laws applying to me, rules to follow that neither of my parents fully understood. All we knew was that presenting meant I had special requirements, special needs. The law demanded I attend The Haven Institute, which claimed to be the best place for omegas like me.”

Soren frowns, fingers brushing along my arm in quiet reassurance. “I’m sure that was a different kind of scary. All I can say is that it’s stopped with Sylvia Mercer’s death. No new omegas have to go through that again.”

Thank the gods something good has happened from this mess and I know my alphas are—were—at the center of enforcing the positive change.

A sad laugh slips from my lips. “I cried for days at night, quietly, so my parents wouldn't hear. But they believed they were doing the right thing. Even though they knew how upset I was, and even though I sensed they couldn't afford the tuition, they assured me everything would work out. They said Haven would give me a better life.”

I pause, swallowing hard. Silence fills the room. When I speak again, my voice is hollow, shaking with suppressed horror.

“I’d only been registered for three days and was still at the normal beta school so I could say goodbye to my friends, when the principal came to my Math class. She took me to her office where guards from The Haven Institute had already arrived. She told me my parents had died in a car accident and that, given I hadno other family, I was to be taken to Haven immediately because it was the best place for me.” I shudder, pressing deeper into Asher's protective embrace because that was the farthest thing from the truth.

Phoenix draws a sharp breath. Soren's jaw flexes, his grip around my hand. Deep-seated anger floods our bond, hot and fierce. I lift my head, searching Asher’s dark eyes, seeing the untamed fury burning. “Asher? Why are you feeling like that?”

He hesitates, clearly reluctant to burden me with more pain. “Emma, there's something else you need to know. There's a connection between you and Mira. Her parents also died in an accident, just like yours.”

I nod. “Yes. Mira and I spoke about that. Our shared grief was one of the things we first bonded over. It felt impossible that we'd both lost our families the same way.”

“It's deeper than that. Both wrecks were officially attributed to brake failure under identical circumstances. We think—” he hesitates again, clearly unwilling to hurt me, yet determined for honesty, “—we thought the accidents were deliberate, and now with the same signature turning up on our warrants, it’s more than likely.”

My heart thrashes painfully against my ribs. “Are you saying my parents might have been murdered?”

“I’m so sorry, Moonbeam,” Asher says.

His words shatter something fragile inside me. Tears spill down my cheeks, the sudden grief raw and overwhelming. “They were just good, ordinary people. They didn't do anything wrong. They didn't deserve…if I hadn’t presented as omega they’d still be alive!”

Phoenix wipes away my tears, his thumb brushing tenderly over my cheekbones. “Emma, none of this is their fault or yours.”

I hear the truth in his words as determination pulses through me. It takes tremendous effort to steady myself again, but beneath crushing grief, fierce determination builds slowly. I understand this pain and these ugly truths won'tgo away if I close my eyes and hope. No matter how horrifying, these memories can't claim me anymore. I'm tired of silent fear.

I push forward, my voice quiet but steady, pulling painful scraps of memory from the dark depths of my heart. “The Haven Institute isn’t what they say it is. At least not to orphaned omegas. That place is a nightmare. At least it is to those taken to the Basement.”

Not every omega disappeared into the Basement, never to be seen again. Before they dragged me below, I saw the difference money made. The wealthy omegas flourished upstairs—catered to, shielded, given every comfort their parents could buy. Even those from average families had choices: smaller dorms, simpler meals, fewer outings. Not luxury, but never cruelty. The real abuse was reserved for girls like me—the ones with nothing, no one. We were the invisible ones, sold off to cover our so-called ‘fees.’ Mercer and Hardwick needed a mask for what they were really doing, and some got to play along on the surface while the rest of us paid their price.

“What did they do to you, Emma?” Soren asks, his voice steadying and gentle.

Drawing a shaky breath, I begin describing incidents I've never spoken aloud to anyone, apart from the omegas trapped with me. “We were alone. Isolated. Given no beds, just a thin mattress on the concrete floor. They gave us one blanket each, and it was always cold. Sometimes, it was so cold I couldn’t feel my limbs.”

I grow lost momentarily in the chill of memory, the heavy weight of misery dragging at my bones. The constant, gnawing hunger that hurt so much. “I was desperate for something comforting, something instinctual. So once—just once—I tried folding my blanket, shaping it into a small, pathetic nest on the mattress.” My cheeks burn with deeper shame, my voice lowering. “Hugo found me.”

Asher growls, deep and low in his chest, but my words won't stop. They pour out of me, flooding past the gate now that it’s been cracked open. “He was furious. Stripped me naked, dragged me to the industrial freezer. He poured a bucket of cold water over me—then—then he made me—present for him.” My voice breaks with shame, humiliation choking in my throat. “He used his alphabark to force me, even though I fought it, even though it tore something apart deep inside me.”

Asher’s arms tighten around me. Phoenix curses under his breath. Soren’s fisted knuckles whiten, yet his expression remains supportive.

“I worked for hours. Fed scraps barely enough to survive. I spent every minute trapped in fear, never knowing what they'd do next, how they'd punish me for whatever infraction they thought I’d made.” My voice shakes, but anger ignites beneath the feelings of shame—strengthening my resolve because this is something they do need to know. “Sylvia Mercer and Evelyn Hardwick oversaw everything. They ordered our ‘training’. Watched Hugo and Lars enjoy whatever cruelty Sylvia and Evelyn demanded.”

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