Page 11 of Knot All is Crystal
He looks so happy that it’s almost hard to be mad at him for leaving me behind after Mom died.
Almost.
I get that he was younger than I am now and couldn’t be saddled with a kid, but I still don’t understand how he could leave me without a look back.
He didn’t even come to my graduation, and I didn’t invite my pseudo big brother or family because I was afraid of rejection after all those years. One brother who ignores me is more than enough for me.
I set the empty plastic bowl on my table, and Burger jumps into my lap, cuddling up with me as I open my favorite time-wasting app. I flick through the videos quickly, barely lingering on any of them long enough to figure out what song has gone viral right now. I never go to the gym, but an ad for one pops up, and I struggle to scroll away.
A beautiful Omega with blonde hair stands next to a buff Alpha with rich brown skin and a broad smile. They talk about the addition of a daycare to the gym, as well as a new pack pass - a single payment for every member of your pack, no matter how many.
Betas included.
I wince. Betas don’t belong in packs. They can’t be bonded in, and when push comes to shove, no Omega will choose a Beta over their Alpha. But the video doesn’t stop my traitorous mind from briefly picturing Crystal standing beside me, her arm around my waist.
I scroll away from the ad and the fantasy.
FOUR
Sitting in the parking lot,white-knuckling my steering wheel, I try to convince myself this isn’t as bad as life could be. I could be without a home. I could have no job.
I could be dead.
I could have to live with the guilt of not fulfilling my duties to Kieran, and Hannah could get kidnapped and sold.
That sobering thought gets me moving out of the car and into the club. Trey answers the door when I knock, wearing acid-wash denim and a solid black shirt.
“Good evening, Your Highness,” he coos, dragging his eyes up my figure.
“Not in the mood, Trey,” I snap, pushing past him.
He laughs and follows me in, the door slamming behind him. “Fair enough. One day, you’ll realize you’re in love with me.” I scoff, shooting him the bird as I walk away. “Puck was looking for you earlier.”
I don’t stop walking, but look at him over my shoulder. “I know he was. I’ll tell you the same thing I told him. I don’t get in until seven on Fridays.”
He holds up his hands. “Hey, I’m just the messenger.”
I stop at my locker to grab a tiny plaid skirt and a black lace bralette, eyeing it with disdain. I’m not keen to have my thighs on display while I’ve got the tattoo wrap on, lest Kieran notice and say something, but it’s high up enough that the skirt should disguise most of it.
I follow the stairs to the pleasure den to prepare for my shift. The women of the dens are kind, but if I spend too much time thinking about how they came to work here, I’ll lose what’s left of my sanity.
While some ended up here out of pure need because it paid well, and some, like Tati, chose it because they love what they do, others were taken from those they loved and forced to work here to pay off debts.
It’s a position I could’ve found myself in if Kieran hadn’t taken a special interest in me.
All of them are kind women, and they don’t deserve this life.
But how can I save them if I can’t save myself?
“You know you could make a lot more money down here, Queenie,” Tati says, pulling on her high black leather boots. It’s been a constant conversation over the years, but now that she knows my power was shut off, I fear she’ll never stop suggesting it.
I smile at her through my reflection in the mirror as I twist my hair around a curling iron. “I know, but I don’t mind the main floor. Besides, I am not nearly as fun in bed as you.”
Tati snorts before reaching over me to grab her red lipstick. “Please, that cute little doe-eyed Omega thing you have going on? Someone would love to chase you through the forest.”
“There’s a forest down here?”
“Hah!” she barks. “Metaphorically, I mean. The primal room is more like a sexy laser tag course.”
