Page 133 of Knot All is Crystal
His pupils are blown out, his hair disheveled, and his lip curled up in a sneer. Blood is splattered and smeared on his white shirt.
Gage’s blood.
I barely make it to the wastebasket before I’m sick inside it.
My sweet, wonderful Beta, what did he do to you?
“Oh, don’t be so dramatic, Crystal. You’ll get over him.” His voice is a sharp drawl that feels like daggers in my ear. I don’t want to see him. I don’t want to look at that blood on his shirt because if I do, I will have to accept that something happened to Gage.
Right now, I can pretend that maybe Kieran got a nosebleed or something and came back up here to change before he goes down to meet his son, whom he is so happy to see that he welcomes him into the fold.
That’s the best-case scenario.
But Kieran doesn’t give me that choice.
He grabs my wrist and yanks, my arm screaming at the force of it. He spins me to face him, and I see the drops of blood on his shirt, and my stomach recoils again.
“You smell incredible,” Kieran growls, shoving his nose into the crook of my neck. “You always smell good, but it’s so much stronger today.”
I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from screaming. His proximity makes my skin crawl, and the bite on my neck aches.
He’s not supposed to be here.
Not supposed to be so close.
He’s not my Alpha.
An unbidden whine escapes from me at the thought of my Alphas. They must be so worried about me and Gage. What is Maverick going to do if he loses us both?
“Oh, someone is needy,” Kieran laughs, completely misinterpreting the treacherous sound. “Is that why you smell so strong?”
Trying to keep my face placid is a losing battle because a cramp hits, and I double over, panting through the pain.
It’s worse than it’s ever been.
I wonder if grief makes a heat harder.
But I can’t think like that.
I cannot preemptively grieve my lost life or Gage. I don’t know if he’s even hurt. He could be just fine.
Slick drips down my thigh, my body betraying me at the worst possible time.
It’s impossible for Kieran not to scent my pheromones, even if he isn’t my scent match. I watch his pupils blow out wide, nearly eclipsing the iris, and his nostrils flare. “Are you in heat already?”
He spins me around, bending me in half as he pushes the faded blue ends of my hair away from my neck. He grips the pained flesh tightly and chuckles.
Terror oozes through my veins.
“My bite is fading already. Interesting. If you are going into heat, this is the perfect time to stake my claim for good.”
I drop to the floor, sobs and whines filling the air as the fear of becoming his Omega forever overtakes me. I crawl across the floor, trying to get to the door, even though I know escape is futile.
Kieran’s rich, booming laugh fills the office around us. “Come now, Queenie. You’re being so dramatic. There are worse things in the world than being my Omega. You’ll never want for anything again.”
“Yes, I will,” I moan, ignoring the urge to rub between my legs and instead digging my fingertips into my abdomen. “I will always want my Alphas and my Beta.”
“Oh, that’s easy then. I’ll just kill your Alphas.” I didn’t think I could feel any more fear, but that did it. “Just like I killed your Beta.”
