Knot All That Glitters, Part 2 (FatedVerse #5)

Chapter 12

You’re Leaving Me?

I’m grateful for the drugs in my system. They’re keeping all of my instincts at bay, all of my fear, all of my… everything. Somewhere in the back of my head, I know that without the injection, I would be losing my shit right now. But I’m not.

I’m just laying here in the dark, bound at the wrists and the ankles, body swaying with every turn and bounce of the car.

I urge myself to do something, to escape, but then I just… don’t. A flicker of frustration at myself sparks and then dies.

The car slows to a stop. The engine turns off and I brace myself for this to be the end. Nothing good can come of this. I’m not foolish enough to think my father doesn’t have enemies. I know he does. And undoubtedly those enemies would view me as a weakness.

Maybe I am, but only because he needs me to further his career.

He needs the facade of a loving family man, of a good father, a caring alpha in order to win over his voters. He needs me to show the world instinct suppression is possible, healthy even.

But I have no doubt if it comes down to a choice between me and himself, he will always choose himself.

He won’t give my kidnappers what they want, not to save me.

I blink at the sudden flood of light as the trunk opens. They’ve parked directly under a security light. You know those extra bright lights at the far end of parking lots meant to discourage theft? We’re under one of those, and the stark brightness makes the two men nothing more than shadow as they look down at me. Their nondescript coveralls and the animal masks certainly don’t help.

I expect a certain amount of roughness when they loop their fingers around my upper arms. I expect them to drag me out by my hair if I’m honest, but they’re gentle as they lift me out of the trunk and then lay me on the cold, wet ground. Very cold and very wet, seeing as it’s December and I’m in that stupid flouncy dress, a wool coat and heels.

One man kneels by my head, stroking fingers over my hair. “This is where we leave you, omega. Try not to catch hypothermia, yeah? It’d be a shame if something as pretty as you perished.”

I frown up at him. “You’re leaving me?”

He doesn’t answer, just pushes to his feet and walks away. Leaving me on the icy cement. The sound of a car engine starting, doors slamming, has me lifting my head, but I can’t see anything. The car they kidnapped me in blocks my view. The car they’re apparently abandoning just like me. “Couldn’t have just left me in the trunk?” I grumble, tugging at the zip ties on my wrists. At least then I wouldn’t have water soaking into my coat, my dress. I wouldn’t have such a bone-deep chill creeping into my body.

I mean, it would happen eventually, with the car turned off and no heat, but at least I’d be dry.

I struggle with my bonds for a bit, try to get them to loosen, ignoring the pain of the plastic biting into my flesh. I don’t really understand what the point of this is. Why the hell kidnap me and then abandon me in an empty parking lot? Are they expecting someone else to pick me up?

Maybe this is one of those times that all omegas get warned about. Maybe I’ve been sold. People do that all the time, snatch omegas and sell them to the highest bidder. Only… I think in those cases, the abductors wouldn’t let the abductee out of their sight, right? They’d want to make sure they got paid, and whoever was buying the omega would want to verify that they’re getting the real deal.

This doesn’t feel like that.

Beyond that, I’m sure there are omegas that would have been easier to snatch than some elaborate scheme involving getting my father to his office and- Oh shit. Klaus. They must have done something to him. Right? I think of how long I sat in the back of the car just waiting. At the time, I’d assumed that he was talking with my father, but now I wonder if he was being attacked… maybe killed.

This is a targeted attack. Not against me. As far as I know, I don’t have anyone who would want to harm me for anything I’ve done. Though some groups who protest my father’s actions have made threats against me, said some fairly horrible things about how I’m a shit omega and a traitor to my designation. But they’ve never done anything about it. Or at least my guards have kept them from doing anything about it.

So this must have something to do with my father. Or maybe the Calloway pack.

Though why that would be the case, I don’t know. It’s pretty clear I mean nothing to them. Though from the outside… It might seem like they were devoted to me, still are with the way they were looking at me during the engagement party was anything to go by. It’s not, but I could see someone thinking they looked heartbroken that I was getting married to someone else.

Maybe someone saw that and decided the way to hurt them would be to hurt me.

I almost laugh at the thought.

I should have pushed for more information from the guys in the masks. I should have tried harder to understand what the hell was going on.

I’m not sure how long I lay there, on my side, but it’s long enough for my fingers and toes to go numb from the cold and lack of circulation. I hardly feel the cold anymore, the sting of the wind or the water seeping into the fabric on my body.

Something wet and cold lands on my cheek and I open my eyes to peer up at the clouds that have decided now is the perfect time to release a combination of rain and snow. “Motherfucker,” I mumble to myself.

I need to move. If I don’t, I will catch hypothermia. I will die here in this abandoned parking lot. And I really don’t want to fucking die.

The sound of an engine reaches my ear, faint at first, but growing louder with each second. Someone is coming. My heart lurches and panic tries to take root, but I’m too tired, too strung out on the drugs my father pumped into me. Too numb from the cold and the wet. Whatever’s coming… it has to be better than this, right? The engine roars closer, tires sliding on the slick cement as it comes to a stop.

A second later, someone shouts my name. Or at least I think they do. Maybe they whisper it and it sounds like a shout. Maybe my ear drums are numb too and they aren’t working correctly. Who knows? Someone slides to a stop next to me, hands grip me, haul me upright, off the ground and into a body that feels too hot. I make a noise, a mewling sound as scorching hands grip my cheeks. “She’s alive,” someone says gruffly. “She’s alive but fucking freezing.”

“Gonna kill those fuckers if I ever find out who they are,” says another deep voice, sounding dangerous as hell, completely at odds with the gentle way warmth cups my numb hands. “Fucking fingers are blue.” The pressure on my wrists release and my shoulders scream as my arms flop to my sides.

“Shh. Shh, baby girl, we’ve got you. We’ve got you.” I’m lifted, floating, and then I’m in a place that’s too hot, just like when they carried me into the sauna. It makes my skin sting, prickle. Tears fill my eyes and overflow. Their warmth feels like knives dragging over my cheeks.

I’m nestled between two hot, hard bodies. One that smells like sea salt and driftwood and one that smells like cedar and oakmoss. “Get her out of those wet clothes,” someone else urges and in seconds, I’m stripped down to nothing but my underwear, skin on skin, as they sandwich me between them.

“You’ve got to stop doing this to us, button,” Jude mutters against my hair. One of his big hands holding both of mine, giving me his warmth.

I want to say I had nothing to do with this, but now that the numbness is wearing off, my teeth won’t stop chattering and I can’t make my tongue work. A soft, dry warm blanket drapes over me, over us, and I keep my eyes closed. Not wanting to face the very real fact that I am with the Calloway pack again. That I am practically naked with Tic and Jude in the back seat of a car. That I nearly died on the cement of an abandoned parking lot.

Okay, that might be a little dramatic, but if they hadn’t found me, if they hadn’t come for me, I would have. I definitely would have.

“How?” I whisper one word and hope that they’ll understand what I want to know.

A hand slides onto my knee and squeezes. “You didn’t think we’d actually leave you with your father and let you marry that asshole, did you?” Hale asks. I barely open my eyes to find him in the driver’s seat, one hand on the wheel, the other reaching behind to grip my knee.

“We hired them to take you while we distracted Senator Bell,” Creed says, glancing over his shoulder at me. But only for a second before he looks away, like seeing me wedged between his pack mates is painful for him.

“We should have been there sooner,” Tic murmurs into my hair, arms wrapped tight around me. “But the weather made traffic a nightmare.”

“What the fuck were they thinking, leaving you on the ground like that?” Jude says. I don’t bother answering because it’s a rhetorical question. Or at least I hope it’s rhetorical, and he’s not expecting me to delve into the mind of some psycho who kidnapped me and then left me to die.

“They said they’d get her out, not that she’d be alive when they did.” Hale sounds pissed off as hell about it, too. “Gonna bash their fucking teeth in.”

I shake my head. “Seems like you should have clarified with them what state you wanted me in. If you didn’t, that’s on you.”

Not one of them denies it. They made a deal with a bunch of criminals. They should have been very clear about what they wanted from them. Both Jude and Tic tighten their arms around me for a moment before Tic shifts slightly away. There’s a rattle of pills in a bottle, a familiar sound that now makes me stiffen in dread. If I never have to take another pill for the rest of my life, I’d be happy.

“Open your mouth, angel,” Tic urges. “Part those sweet lips of yours for me.”

My mouth moves on instinct more than anything, my body already primed to listen to whoever tells me to do anything. The drugs in my system making me compliant. Tears fill my eyes at how helpless I feel. How out of control.

“Shh,” he soothes, running a big hand down the back of my head. “Shh, I know.” He slides a pill onto my tongue. “Swallow that for me, okay? It’ll help burn out some of what your father gave you.”

I don’t need the explanation of what the pill does. I’m swallowing it before he’s finished. Again, unable to resist whatever he demands of me. It’s like every command is an alpha bark, even though I know Tic isn’t using one on me.

He thumbs my chin, watching to make sure I swallow, then smiles, pressing a kiss to my forehead. “Good girl. You’ll feel better soon, angel.”

I huff out a breath. My only reaction, because again, I can’t respond like I normally would. Not that I’m doubting him or anything. I’m sure whatever he gave me will help burn out the drugs my father has been injecting me with for the last two weeks. The pills. The suppressants.

But I’m not sure about it feeling better . The only good part of being drugged is that it doesn’t hurt anymore, what these alphas did to me. I’m dreading no longer having the cushion between me and my emotions.

“Ren?” I ask, and he presses his forehead to mine as Jude reaches across my body to pick up my hand.

“She’s fine, button. Right now, she’s creating an alibi for herself, so your father can’t go after her for having any part in this.”

“She wanted to be here,” Hale says from the front seat. “But we convinced her it would be better if she kept her distance for a bit.”

“She’s even going to visit you at your father’s house tomorrow, so long as your abduction hasn’t been leaked to the news.”

That has fear twisting in my belly for the first time in weeks. “No, she can’t go there. He barked at her. He threatened to-”

Tic cuddles me closer. “We know, she told us.”

“As of this afternoon, Ren, Ginny and Moira all have guards trailing them twenty-four seven,” Creed informs me, twisting to meet my gaze, making sure I hear him. “All of them are safe, okay, baby girl? You don’t need to worry about them. We’ll take care of them, the same way we’re going to take care of you.”

I should argue, deny that they have any right to take care of me, but they’ve just saved me from my father again, from Brian Coogan again. They’ve ensured the safety of the three people I care about most in this world. So I just nod and settle more fully against Tic. His fingers stroke through my hair, while Jude rubs the marks left on my wrists from the zip ties.

It feels nice. Too nice, if I’m honest. Dangerously nice. Even with the chemicals in my system, I feel myself melting for them, wanting to forgive the unforgivable.

I can’t do that… not to myself. Not again.

The memory of the pain I felt when I realized what they were doing is enough to make me push away from both of them. Well, push away from both of them as much as I can while wedged between them in the back seat of a car. Which isn’t much. I attempt to make myself as small as possible after sitting up, to keep from touching them.

Both Jude and Tic let me go, but they frown at me the entire time.

Hale makes an unhappy sound when I brush his hand off my knee. “Haven,” Creed rumbles from the front passenger seat. “You need the warmth. You’re practically frozen through.”

“I’m fine,” I say in a slightly robotic voice. I don’t know if it’s the drugs my father gave me or self-preservation. It doesn’t matter.

“Your lips are blue, angel.”

“ I’m fine. ”

I will not let them hold me. Will not let them comfort me. It’ll only hurt worse when the drugs wear off and I’m forced to deal with the agony of what they did to me.

“Haven,” Hale sighs and the skin on the back of my neck prickles. “We need to-”

“If you finish that sentence, I will go crazy wildcat monkey, Hale. I swear I will.” I might sell it more if my voice wasn’t still disturbingly level.

A surprised chuckle from Jude. “What does that entail, button? Because I gotta be honest, it doesn’t really sound like a bad thing.”

“It entails me biting and kicking and scratching and trying to run us off the goddamn road so that I can get away from you.”

“ Baby girl .”

My face folds into a frown. “Don’t call me that.” I twist toward Jude and poke him in the chest. “And you don’t call me ‘button’. And Tic no ‘angel’ from you. Hale…”

“Yes, little mouse?”

My fingers clench on my knees and I grit my teeth. Whatever Tic gave me must be working a lot faster than I would have thought, because I feel . Well, I just feel now. Anger. A lot of anger and frustration. Both of which I can deal with. It’s better than hurt. Better than hopelessness. Better than complete and utter heartbreak.

“Stop it. I know what you are now,” I say, closing my eyes so I don’t have to look at any of them. “I know what you are and it’s not this . This caring, compassionate, possessive version you’re all wearing. So just stop putting on a show. No one here is buying tickets. All of you just stop.”

“What are we, Haven?” Creed asks like he doesn’t really want me to answer.

“Lies and liars all.” I whisper without opening my eyes. “I can’t believe a single word you say to me. So just… don’t say anything.” I hate the hint of pleading in my voice. Hate that the drugs are fading from my system and soon I’ll be just one giant wound, an ache of heartbreak.

Not one of them speaks again. But on either side of me, Tic and Jude… purr for me. A low soothing rumble that, along with the motion of the car, has my head bobbing with exhaustion. I try to stay awake. I do. But the events of the night, the events of the last few weeks, drag me down into slumber.