Page 97 of Chain Me Knot

“Emma?” Phoenix whispers.

“Just breathe, Emma. One breath in. Release slowly out.” Soren gently rubs my back. Both of them murmur soft, grounding words, clearly trying to draw me back from the horror.

I do as Soren says and the vice around my chest eases. “I'm sorry—I should've remembered—I just…”

I never thought I could forget a single moment from that terrible night, but the mind does strange things to survive. Layer by layer, my subconscious had buried my memories, driving them deeper beneath dense folds of pain and trauma. No one at that auction had openly called him Alpha1465. There had been whispers, ragged numbers muttered desperately from the broken omega who knelt, hollow-eyed, at his alpha's feet. I'd heard them, I realize now. Heard and buried them beneath a haze of terror, the burning agony of heat accelerants stealing clarity from my brain and pushing me past the brink of comprehension. Only when I saw that same omega again—shattered, empty—kneeling beside the silver-haired alpha’s polished shoes, did those whispered numbers resurface, slicing through the layers of my mind with merciless clarity.

Asher tips my chin upward, his gaze trained on me. “It's okay, Emma. You're safe. Just tell us.” His voice is strained. He’s trying to hide his worry. Nausea rises again, but this time I fight it down.

“The big alpha, the one in Pack Carmichaels’ living room right now, is Alpha1465.”

The words fly out of my mouth and do their job. They swing around to view the screen. Asher freezes, every muscle locking rigid around me. Phoenix’s breath hisses between his teeth. Soren stands and stalks over to the laptop, muscles vibrating with tension. Time suspends for one tight, endless moment before Asher runs a hand through his hair. “Alpha1465 is the fucking commissioner.”

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Emma

“You can connect Pack Carmichael to the commissioner. It explains why they want you so badly,” Phoenix says, landing a gaze on me that turns liquid. “Why things have escalated. And why they’ll never stop coming for you.”

Thisis the knowledge I had without knowing it. Frigid dread fills my veins because the commissioner of the entire police force has too much to lose for me to be free.

“Quickly. Turn up the audio,” Asher barks, the quiet urgency of his command slicing through our stunned silence.

Soren darts to the laptop, fingers flying over the keys. We all surge closer around him, pulling together, as our eyes lockon the screen.

My heartbeat thunders in my chest, each echo reverberating through my ribs, pulse roaring in my ears as dread pools sick and heavy in my stomach. Phoenix stiffens beside me, his muscular frame tightening like a coil ready to snap, the deep lines in his jaw ticking. Asher grips me tightly, fingers splayed around my waist, holding me securely in his unyielding strength.

They have me.

Soren adjusts the audio controls, his breath coming out slow and steady, eyes intense and focused, and then voices emerge from the computer’s speakers loud and clear.

I cringe at Matthew’s familiar rasp. “You promised we'd be safe, Axel. You said you'd have her back under control by now. Yet here we are, still waiting for merchandise we paid a lot of money for.”

“Enough money to ensure your loyalty.” James’s voice dips low.

The commissioner gives them a cool smile. “Calm the fuck down. I’ll handle Pack Mitchell myself. My best agents are tracking them as we speak.”

James scoffs. “You've been saying that, and yet they remain ghosts. They’re the best you have, and they got away with our omega.”

The commissioner’s face shadows. “It's only a matter of time. She will be found, and when that happens, she'll be disposed of immediately.”

Matthew stabs a finger at the commissioner. “If by ‘disposed of’ you mean that bitch is hitching a one-way ride to the bottom of the ocean, you’d better pray those alphas give her up soon. She knows too much for her own good about you and us. It’s only a matter of time before she lets something slip and I won’t be taken down by any fucking omega.”

“I also want a replacement. If you have no intentions of returning her, our pack’s needs haven’t been met since she was stolen from us and my balls are throbbing for omega pussy,” Derek snarls.

Nausea rises sharply, bitter and sour. I clutch Asher's forearm, fighting to quell the sickness inside me. They are so brutally indifferent. After everything they've done to me, they don't see me as human, not even slightly. I'm nothing. Less than nothing. Only a body stripped of any value except what they decide to take.I know this. It’s the very thing that has haunted me, but hearing their blatant disregard, their absolute lack of compassion out loud, strikes a fresh blow.

Asher growls deep in his chest, the rumble vibrating against my back. My alphas cluster around me, wrapping me in protective warmth.

“They will fucking pay,” Soren mutters

“Amen to that, brother.” Phoenix cracks his knuckles, restless anger easy to read in every tense line of his muscular frame.

Their scents rise around me, blending and weaving together into a perfect symphony. The alchemy of their combined presence pours through me, spilling into every broken place inside my chest, gently smoothing each shattered edge of fear and shame. I breathe them in, letting their strength sink deep, soothing the rawness of my wounds, filling every fractured corner of my soul with quiet, golden warmth. Like the Kintsugi pottery Phoenix told me about, my alphas’ presence knits my fractured pieces back together, transforming something once damaged into something new, beautiful, resilient. With every steady breath, my pain softens, changing shape until all that remains is a deep, comforting sense of safety that wraps around my heart.

Complete relief.

Whispered muttering sounds through the speakers, an almost silent raspy voice uttering a series of numbers over and over again. The commissioner shifts on the couch and the same poor male omega I’d seen at my auction at his feet is shoved against his massive thighs, clawing at the chain around his neck. “Shut up, mongrel. I told you to be silent.” He returns his attention to Pack Carmichael. “And I told you to fucking relax. No one will find out anything and if she does slip up, who the fuck believes an omega anyway? In the interest of good customer relationships, I'll arrange a replacement for you. Someone convenient, trained just as well as your runaway—perhaps better. In fact, I do know an omega who will suit. She’s outrun her current usefulness, but she still has holes to fuck. She also happens to be your last omega’s friend. Consider her an upgrade.”

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