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

Chapter 24

Bite Me

It doesn’t take long for Belinda to come through for us. Not long at all.

Of course, she waited until we’d made clear progress with her partner, a sweaty, sniveling little alpha named Howard Hanes that I’ve always hated. We’d decided for the time being the easiest course of action would be to buy a portion of his shares, and then give them to Belinda. While he’d been resistant to selling to her, he has no problem selling to us. The fifteen percent stake he’s sold us will give Belinda the majority.

Of course, what she doesn’t realize is he’s also giving us plenty of ammunition to use against her.

It’s far too easy using them both against each other, and by the end, their club will be in ruins and they’ll both be behind bars… or worse.

Her partner has a habit of recording the private rooms while their clients are occupying them. She doesn’t know if it’s for blackmail or for his own viewing pleasure, but it doesn’t matter. We have video footage of every interaction Frederick Bell has had while at Shock and Awe. Every conversation he thought was private. Every time he nearly beat an omega to death. Every orgasm wrung from his body. We have it all.

Of course, that means we also have video footage of the times we as a pack, indulged him and had sex with omegas as well.

“Haven doesn’t need to see this,” I mutter, pulling my eyes away from the video of one of our first times meeting Bell at the club. He was testing us and we’d done everything we could to pass with flying colors. Makes me sick to think of it now, let alone watch it.

“I don’t fucking need to see this,” Jude groans, shutting down the video and tipping his head back. A little surprising given Jude’s penchant for voyeurism. But then I guess it hits differently when it’s your girl’s father you’re watching fuck. “Think we can just leak all of this to the media and let them sort through it?”

It’s tempting. Damn tempting. But as they are, the videos don’t hide the faces of the omegas. Or us. Or any of the other men Bell made deals with. And while it’s not my first inclination to protect them, the omegas don’t deserve to have videos of them being fucked and beaten everywhere on the internet.

“No, we need to protect the privacy of the others involved.”

Jude groans. “Does that mean I have to edit every one of them?”

I clap a hand on his shoulder. “It means we have to find the most damning of them and edit those.”

Jude groans again. “There are literally hundreds of videos.”

Nearly a thousand.

“Can you write a program that could filter them out for us? Find the most useful?”

Honestly, any of the videos would probably be enough, but we want to do the most amount of damage. Ruin him so completely that no amount of his good ol’ boy, aw shucks personality will get him out of it, like it did when Brian’s treasonous actions were leaked. A few earnest words, and everyone assumed he had no idea what his aide was doing. Utter bullshit, if you ask me.

“I could write a program that could filter for certain words in conversations, but whether they’d be the smoking gun or not…” He trails off his meaning clear.

“Okay, then I guess we need to keep looking manually.”

We go through a few more videos. Each one makes my skin crawl. Jude must be in a similar state, because after a while he mutters, “I need to take the hottest fucking shower possible. And I probably still won’t feel clean.”

I chuckle and clap him on the back. “Same, brother.”

Jude looks up at me with surprise, a dopey smile on his face. “It’s been a while since you called me that. Since you called any of us that.”

I nod my agreement, feeling uncomfortable. “I know.” Jude reaches out and pauses the video, turning in his chair to face me.

“Are we ever gonna talk about it?”

My first instinct is to say no. There’s no need to hash it out. But Jude might need this, might need a conversation. So I guess we’re doing this. “I don’t regret what I did, Jude.” He flinches. I keep going. “Our pack bonds were rotting. You know that. You could feel it as well as I could.”

“Didn’t mean you had to break them entirely. We could have worked on it. Made them stronger.”

I shake my head. “No, we couldn’t have. Not while I was so… angry at all of you for what you were doing to Haven. It was festering, poisoning every interaction, every conversation, and each time you updated that damn spreadsheet, it only got worse.”

Jude sighs, shoulders slumping. “I know. It’s my fault.”

“It’s all of our fault,” I correct. “None of us should have let it get that bad. We were just too focused on revenge. We didn’t take care of our bond the way it needed.”

He looks up at me, a furrow in his brow. “Do you miss it?”

My hand rises of its own accord to press against my chest, to that hollow space that used to be filled with the presence of my pack. “Yeah,” I admit eventually. “Yeah, I do.”

He gives me a rueful smile. “It’s lonely as hell, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.” And it is. I don’t enjoy feeling so alone. “But we’ve been acting more like a pack since I broke the bonds, since we got Haven away from Brian and her father. Even if we can’t feel each other here,” I tap my chest. “It feels… better, doesn’t it? More solid.”

He nods. “Yeah, you’re right.” He peers up at me. “A pack built on mutual respect and love is better than one built on revenge and grief.”

He’s not wrong. Our bonds had barely formed when we lost Janie. We’d had barely a week of being in a pack before she was taken from us. They were always strained, always brittle because of it.

“You think we’ll ever be a pack again?” He asks, and my heart lurches, my stomach swoops and I answer without thinking.

“Aren’t we already?”

As soon as the words form, I feel it. The familiar cords that bound me to three other alphas form in my chest, shining and bright. Stronger. It’s an overwhelming rush of emotions, Jude’s awe, Tic’s gratitude, Hale’s confusion and pride, and my own happiness, all swell in my chest until it feels too tight.

But I welcome all of it.

Fuck, I missed this. I swear as soon as I have the thought, the pack bond in my chest tightens and strengthens. I let it. Grip it, hold on to it. I want to be a member of this pack. Just like before. They’ve learned from their mistakes and so have I.

It feels stronger this time, fuller, like maybe we’d never fully formed before with Janie, before she was taken from us. And then, over time, those already weak bonds fractured and frayed until I broke them entirely.

But this new bond? I don’t think I’d be able to break it.

Jude gives me a bright smile, running his fingers through his golden hair. “Fuck, I’ve missed this,” he says, echoing my own thoughts back at me. I can feel it, his pleasure at being connected again, at no longer being alone.

I clap a hand on his shoulder and squeeze, a grin taking over my mouth. Through the bond, I can feel Tic and Hale, and get the impression that they’re on their way back to the house. A bubbly, effervescent feeling swells in my chest, making my heart feel full. Like the Grinch or some shit.

I laugh. Jude does too. And I know wherever they are, Tic and Hale are laughing as well.

This is what a bond should feel like. This is how it’s supposed to be, not like it felt after we lost Janie, brittle and fragile, cracked in too many places.

“Fuck, man,” Jude pulls me into a tight hug and slaps my back. “Fuck, man, I missed you.”

My eyes sting as I hug him back. “I missed you too.”

As we release each other, an intoxicating scent hits my nose and my alpha lifts his head. My pupils dilate and my breathing becomes ragged. Next to me, Jude seems to be in a similar state, his hands clenching and unclenching by his sides, the front of his jeans tented with an obvious erection.

“Omega,” he growls.

“Omega,” I agree, stalking down the hall. “ Our fucking omega. ” Because I know the scent, acidic pineapple and spicy chili, just as tasty as it’s always been. But somehow more . Now Haven’s scent makes my alpha growl, mine.

I’ve felt this before, felt the bone deep knowledge that another person belongs to me, with me. The first time I caught a whiff of Janie after she presented, I had this same reaction.

“Scent match,” Jude says, sounding dazed and turned on as hell. “Creed, is Haven our scent match?”

I grunt my reply because I can’t manage more than that, not with this need pounding through my body, not when I have to lay eyes on my omega to verify what my body is already telling me.

Haven spins around when we push into her room, eyes wide and her lush mouth parted in surprise. She’s half naked in jeans and a lacy light blue bra, dark brown hair unbound in a tumble around her shoulders. She clutches the sweater she’d been about to pull on to her chest, hiding her tits from us. “What are you doing? Get out!”

We don’t. Instead, we stalk toward her, nostrils flaring as we drink in more and more of her scent. “ Creed, ” she protests weakly when my arm loops around her waist, tugging her into my body. Jude curls his hand into her hair and tugs her head to the side, exposing her neck to us, where her scent is the strongest.

“ Fuck ,” he breathes, nose skating along her skin. “Fuck, button.”

Haven whimpers, pressing closer to me, her nose burying itself against my shirt. “Jesus,” she groans. “Why do you smell so good? Why do you smell like mine ?” She pulls back and I can’t stop the pleased noise that leaves me at her dilated pupils, blown wide, swallowing up the gray of her irises.

“Love the sound of that. Love being yours, baby girl.”

Her brow wrinkles even as she tips her head to get a whiff of Jude. Her knees nearly buckle and the sweet scent of her arousal blooms on the air around us. Jude’s teeth nip at the curve of her neck and it must trigger something because in the next moment she’s slipped from between us and made it across the room, where she eyes us warily, still clutching her sweater like a shield.

“What’s happening?” Her voice trembles right along with her hands and I fucking hate that. “What the hell did you do?”

I blink at the accusation in her voice.

“Nothing, Haven. We didn’t do anything,” Jude says, taking a single step toward her, pausing when she mirrors the movement, stepping back to keep the distance between us.

“No, you did something. You’ve always smelled good to me, but this is… It’s too much. What did you do? I thought we were done with the manipulations. I’m helping you. I told you I would help you. You don’t have to keep doing shit like this.”

“Shit like what?” I ask in a low growl.

She waves a hand between us. “I don’t know! Used an extra dose of pheromones with your cologne this morning? Whatever it is. You need to stop. I’m only human, I can’t resist-”

“Then don’t,” I say, moving toward her, uncaring when she backs up. I’ll chase her halfway across the fucking world if I have to. She won’t get away from me. Not now, not ever. Not now that I know bone deep that she’s mine. “Don’t resist, Haven. You’re ours. Be ours.”

Her frown only deepens as she slips sideways along the wall, angling for the door. I smirk at her. “Do it, baby girl. Run. We’ll delight in hunting you all through the house.”

“Won’t be hard,” Jude says, sounding more animal than man. “With the way you’re perfuming for us. We’ll just follow the scent trail you leave behind.”

“But when we catch you…. Just know we’re going to fucking devour you.”

A gasp, a moan. Haven can’t hide her reaction to us, the way her thighs clench together and a pretty flush flows from the tops of her tits up to her cheeks. She eyes the door again and Jude moves out of the way, giving her an opening.

I watch as she shifts onto her toes, like a runner preparing for the start of a race. Her whole body tenses. I lunge just as she takes off. Her surprised squeal has me chuckling as Jude and I rush after her. She’s quick. Barreling down the hall and to the top of the stairs before we’ve even left her room. She takes them two at a time and then leaps the last four, landing in a crouch like a damn superhero or some shit, before she’s up and running again.

We thunder after her, following her sweet scent and her giggle, half excitement, half nerves. I curse when I realize where she’s heading, though. To the garage and the cars there. If she gets into one of those, she could disappear on us for good.

No, not for good, never for good. But it’ll be a damn hassle hunting her down.

Plus, she’s not wearing a goddamn shirt, and I’d hate to have to kill half of the city for seeing those beautiful breasts of hers in nothing but pale blue lace.

“Haven,” I growl as she grabs the handle to the door of the garage. She’s already got keys in her hand and I have no clue where she snatched them from.

“Fuck off, Creed!” She shouts as she yanks open the door and darts through it. Well, she tries to dart through it, but she slams into something and stumbles back. I rush to catch her, but before I can, Hale does, yanking her hard against his chest.

I watch as his eyes dilate, her scent smacking him in the face like it had to me, to Jude. “Oh fuck,” he snarls, hooking his hands under her thighs and lifting her.

Haven seems dazed as she winds her legs and arms around him, giving in to the inevitable. Because now it is fucking inevitable. It might not have been before, she might have been able to resist us, keep her distance.

But not any fucking more.

Our prime staggers forward, holding her against him like the precious thing she is. Tic follows in after him, a low rumbling growl pulling from his chest when he gets a whiff of our girl, too. “Jesus, fuck , that’s so good.”

The door slams shut and Haven jumps a little in Hale’s arms, pupils blown wide as her instincts take over. “And here I thought the best thing to happen today was being able to feel Creed again,” Hale mumbles, running his nose along the length of her neck.

“It’s not?” She asks, threading her fingers into the back of his hair, holding him against her.

“Fuck no,” Jude says, looking at me with a rueful little grin. “I love you, man, but this is so much fucking better.”

“What is?” Our girl asks in a whisper.

“Scent match,” Hale groans, burying his nose in the curve of her neck. “Fuck, Haven. You’re our scent match.”

“No, I’m not,” she says, even as her head tilts to give him more access, and her legs tighten around his hips. “You already had a scent match. And everyone knows you don’t just get another fated mate. It doesn’t work that way.”

There’s no hiding the pain in her voice. She wants this. She wants us, but she doesn’t believe it can happen. Doesn’t believe she’s ours.

“We’re a new pack,” I say quietly.

“What?” Haven turns her head toward me, eyes wide.

“When you were in the hospital, Creed broke our pack bonds,” Atticus explains, eyes focused on our girl, a feral gleam in them. “Tore them up, nearly killed us to lose him and have you in a coma suffering through your heat because of us.”

Haven leans away from Hale, but his hand on her spine keeps her from going too far. “But you’re a pack now. You never… You never left each other.”

“Creed fucking left us,” Jude says, sounding gutted, and I feel his hurt in my chest. “We spent weeks apart. Weeks where we tried to get to you, tried to make sure you were safe.”

“It wasn’t until Jude finally broke through your father’s security and we saw you just sitting staring blankly at a wall that we convinced Creed to come back, to work with us.”

“The new pack bond just clicked into place,” I tell her. “Literal minutes ago.”

“And as soon as it did,” Jude says, stalking closer to where Hale still has Haven wrapped around him. “Our new scent match clicked into place, too.”

Our girl blinks at him, her pretty gray eyes wide. “ Me ?” It’s a breathless whisper, full of hope that damn near breaks my heart. How did we ever even consider using this girl? How did we ever think we could keep our hearts out of every interaction with her? How did we let her spend a single moment doubting how much we want her, need her, love her?

“ You , mouse,” Hale answers for us.

Tears pool along her bottom lids and her chin quivers. “ Me, ” she repeats, stronger this time. “I’m your scent match.”

Jude, Tic and I move closer to them, until she’s in the center of us. Always the center, always our focus. From now until forever, Haven will be our heart.

“Yeah, baby girl,” I say softly, cupping her cheek and loving when she leans into the touch. No longer trying to keep her distance from us, no longer putting up walls.

“Not letting you go now, button.”

Hale snorts against the swell of her breast, where he’s been rubbing his mouth back and forth. “Weren’t going to let you go before this, either.”

Her brow wrinkles and her arms drop from around Hale’s shoulders, her legs from around his waist, and the only reason she’s still suspended is because of his grip on her. “Little mouse, what are you doing?”

“Put me down, Hale,” she demands, and even though I know it kills him, he does. We decided a long time ago to give her whatever she needed within reason. We won’t let her stroll out of this house and put herself in danger, but if she needs time and space to process this recent change, we can give that to her. Not much time and space, but some.

Haven backs up, putting a little distance between us, hands folded together and held against her chest. “What does this mean?”

I tilt my head, not understanding the question. “It means you’re ours.”

Our girl gets this faraway look in her eyes. “But… I don’t-” She cuts off, sinking her teeth into her bottom lip as she shakes her head.

“You don’t what, angel?”

She sighs. “I don’t want to be with you just because you’re my scent match now. I’m not sure I can do that. Not after what you did.”

It shouldn’t surprise me. It really fucking shouldn’t, but those three sentences fucking rock me, send me staggering back as my lungs seize in my chest. I’m not the only one who feels that way either. All of my pack mates stumble the same way I did.

It’s not quite a rejection, but it’s pretty damn close and my alpha fucking feels it.

Haven watches us with wide eyes, concern on her face. “I’m not saying I won’t… but it’s just… I’m still hurt. I still feel betrayed, like you flayed open my chest and then took a knife to my heart. And I know you say you want me for me and you’ve given up the idea of using me against my father, but…” She blows out a breath.

“You don’t believe us? After all this time with us, after we’ve worked so hard to win back your trust. You don’t believe us?”

She doesn’t meet our eyes. “No, I do. I do. But I still have some doubts. I can’t help it.”

She sounds fucking torn as hell about it. I know her omega has to be pushing her toward us, has to be begging her to accept that this is real. But we fucked that up for her. We hurt her and she can’t allow herself to believe in us.

“You have doubts,” Hale repeats softly, and Haven nods again. “I know how we can wipe away those doubts, if you’re willing.”

Haven eyes him warily and I can’t help but do the same. I don’t know where he’s going with this, but I swear if he suggests letting us bite her, bond her before she’s ready, I’ll punch his goddamn lights out.

He doesn’t suggest that, but what he says makes me want to hit him all the same. “Bite me.”