Page 106 of Ruin Me Knot
Ronan shot her.
Cleared the earth of her putrid presence.
We’re in our own little world in here. A capsule where time passes differently. Nothing seems real. Like a fairytale, but the happy ending is not quite happy, and my heart won’t stop racing in my chest.
Jax cups my face, lips brushing my temple, his breath warm on my skin as I shake. I grip his wrist and look up into his deep, dark eyes. Eyes that would never lie to me. "She’s gone, Sunshine. She will never hurt anyone again. You’re free of her. We all are."
Her death settles inside me, as though Jax saying the words were all I needed to hear, but then another truth rises. Huge, hulking, and so much more than I can carry. A life taken by me.
Hugo is dead.I killed him.
My teeth start chattering again as a new surge of trembling takes over. I can’t stop seeing his throat opening, blood pouring over his hands, my name rising in his final, gurgling plea.
I grip my waist, lost to my mind as the visions grow more solid and vibrant. "I killed him. I killed him. Oh Gods, I—"
"Omega!" My eyes snap open at Gabriel’s sharp tone. "You protected your mates. That was justice. Good Omega. You hear me? You’re a fucking. Good. Strong. Perfect. Omega."
His words sink to that intrinsic part of me that lives separately and together inside of me. We are two. We are one. But in this moment, we overlap because Alpha says we’re good. A good Omega.
Gabriel rests his forehead against mine, his eyes boring into me. "You protected your pack. You fought for all of us. You are so brave."
My Omega hisses, wanting to rip Hugo apart a thousand times over, not only for what he did to us, but for what he did to Mira, Emma, and to every Omega ever thrown into Haven’s Basement. For every single time he caused us pain and terror, and for every single moment he got off on it.
I grip Gabriel’s wrists so tight my nails bite his skin. “Wallace got away! He slipped out while everyone was fighting. He’s still out there,he’s—"
"Officers went after him. Ethan Wallace now has a target on his back the size of this city. You don’t need to carry that, Kitten. You hear me? You did enough. You did more than anyone could’ve asked," Ronan says.
I close my eyes and lean into Gabriel’s comforting embrace while Jax gently strokes my hair and Ronan murmurs softly beside me. I try to steady my breath as the world shifts, with walls collapsing and cages opening, and the hope of reclaiming my own life finally within reach. The threat that haunted every shadow and left its mark on my body is gone. But I know there are other Omegas still out there, some whom I’ve met and some I never will, who are still searching for their own happy ending.
"There’s another Omega. Esperance. Espie, from Haven. I saw them wheeling her away after the gala. There are others, Ronan. I heard them. I heard girls crying, screaming. I know there were other Omegas taken. They can’t all be dead. Please, they can’t…it can’t just be me…"
Ronan’s gaze finds me in the rearview mirror. "Kitten, when we got to you, you were the only one in the building. There were no signs of other Omegas. We swept every room, every cell. We just found you."
"There are others." So many. Too many. Their screams in the night were my living nightmare. "You have to find her. Them. Please, don’t let them die down there. Wallace got away and he’s the one responsible for changing designations. Now he knows what’s in my blood, he’ll try to use another Omega in my place."
Gabriel tightes his arms around me. He winds his fingers through my hair as he guides me to that sensitive place at his neck. I breathe him in like I’m running out of oxygen.
I hear numbers being dialed, then Asher’s voice on loudspeaker.
"Your team needs to do a full, deep sweep of the entire building. Leah says there might be Omegas there. Check every room, locked door, sub-level, every goddamn air duct for clues. If they’re not there, they’ve been taken, and we suspect Wallace is running whatever fucked-up science experiment this is," Ronan says.
"Will do," Asher says, then quieter. "Is Leah okay?"
I just about feel the groan of the steering wheel as Ronan tightens his grip. "We stopped Hardwick in time."
"Thank the Gods. I’ll let Emma and Mira know. They’re beside themselves with worry. Get your Omega somewhere safe and call me when it’s a good time."
I bury my face against Gabriel’s chest, sobs shaking free as grief, terror and relief claw out. Jax’s hand strokes steady circles down my spine, while Gabriel’s heart beats against my ear.
The city flies past in streaks and shadows but now there’s a thread of hope under my fear. Maybe they’ll find Espie. Maybe they’ll find the others. Maybe someone will come for them the way my Alphas came for me.
Unvarnished desire seeps through my marrow. I want their bodies around me, scenting the air thick with belonging. I want them pressed to my skin, to fill my lungs with their safety, to remember my body is mine and I am home and wanted.
I want them anchoring me to this bright and aching miracle of survival.
I close my eyes, suck their essences deep and let their presence coat every raw edge. "Nest. Please, I need my nest. I need you all."
Chapter Forty-Nine
