Knot Without You: An Omegaverse Romance

Chapter 45

Chapter

Forty-Five

King and Steel share one of those weird chuckles when they open the door and watch me sashay out the bathroom with their come trailing down my leg. Positively unromantic except it clearly is a right turn on, considering the heated looks Maverick and Tyson give when I walk past.

Mav goes to climb to his feet but Steel stops him. “After. We’ve all had our fun. It’s time to figure Rex out.”

“And Tris’s other problem,” King adds.

“Is the photographer a now issue?” Maverick asks, slightly panicked.

“No, we’re actually not talking about him. Let me get changed and I’ll fill you in,” I offer, skipping in close to give him a reassuring kiss on the way through.

Maverick follows me in my nest, helping me find some clothes… it’s a freaking disaster in my nest. A very yummy, sex scented nest. There’s no way I’m not taking these blankets with me.

I find a clean pair of panties and decide for safety reasons to add another pair of gym shorts over the top. Maverick insists I wear socks even though everyone else is bare foot which I don’t mind at all. There is something very attractive about Alphas wearing jeans and t-shirts with nothing on their feet. Well, to me there is.

Before we join the others, I grab Mav’s hand. “Focus on me being here, okay.”

“Huh?” He looks at me cautiously, not agreeing to my terms until he knows the facts. I get it, I feel overly snaky at the thought of anyone even looking at them but at the same time I really need all these guys to see that while I want them, I am more than capable too.

I take a step out of the room, deciding it’s better to include everyone in my pack announcement. “Now, before we start, you need to agree to not get all Alpha-ish when we talk.”

It goes down like a lead-balloon, making King snicker until I try to stop him with a glare. Of course he only starts laughing more.

“Fine,” I huff, handing out a shot to everyone before I climb onto one of the big chairs by the fire. “Cheers,” I offer before slamming back the drink.

My lips twist up in a smile as the bourbon burns down my throat. Honestly, I’m not a huge fan of any spirits, but since King came along, I’ve developed a solid appreciation for good bourbon.

Steel looks at Maverick, a grin spreading on his face. “Totally the best WIP for us.”

They tap their glasses, reaching for Tyson and King and then they all slam their drinks back.

King refills everyone’s glass, but I hop up and add ice to mine. If I keep slinging shots back, I’ll be messy in no time at all. While that sounds like fun, we won’t get any resolution.

I look at each of them before I start, knowing what I share is going to include some parts that will be hard for them to listen to, but they need to know. “Within a few hours of King and I meeting I started getting threats sent to my phone along the lines of ‘stay away’. They’re on my phone if you want a look.”

“’Cept whoever sent them decided to escalate pretty quickly. Tristan got attacked and I was sent a photo. The timing matched Rex going after our Southern Sector and then my chop-shop being burnt.”

Steel shakes his head almost as soon as King finishes speaking. “Doesn’t sound like his deal.”

“What part?” I ask.

“Messaging, beating on you. Hitting King’s businesses and his reputation makes a lot of sense, he loses money. Doing a joint attack is a pretty standard approach; split the drama and cause as much damage sends a bigger message. But texting… nah, that’s not Rex.” Tyson nods, agreeing with Steel.

King rubs a hand over his face before taking another shot. “The security footage of the hotel shows two Death Riders entering her room then leaving a few minutes later.”

“You got the footage?” Steel asks and holds his hand out to see it.

“Yeah, I’ll flip it over to you. Their faces are covered but…” King scrolls through his phone. “What’s your number?”

Steel and Tyson talk at the same time, and they have to repeat it before they get an alert on their phone. King watches as the three of them watch the grainy image but I watch him, and he knows it.

His lip pulls to a half smirk because he knows he’s busted. Of course he shrugs unapologetically at me. “I’m not sending it to you. You didn’t need to see it. Still don’t.”

“Says you.” I argue, waiting to hear exactly why King hasn’t shared with me a video of the attack, and why he’s waited so long to tell me he has a copy.

“Yep. I did make a call not to show you because you were dealing with fucking enough. Like all the actual pain from being someone’s punching bag, killer.” He snaps, his hand squeezing his phone.

I stare at him, shocked yet unsurprised but he just stares right back at me in challenge. Our tense standoff lasts a few minutes before I get a tiny nearly indescribable nod of apology from him. I get where he’s coming from, King is all about protection and saving me from crap, but at the same time I need to be at least included in decisions that are about me.

Steel starts watching the screen again. “Without seeing the cut properly, I’m not a hundred percent certain but pretty confident to say?—”

“That’s Grover’s,” Maverick interrupts Steel, pressing play on the device again and pointing at something on the screen.

“Yeah. That’s what I reckon too. See that patch on the shoulder?”

Maverick nods, his eyes locked on the screen still. “He got it to cover the rip when he tried to run from the police.”

“Kind of irrelevant to the story, Mav, but yeah that jacket belonged to Grover. He died about three years ago of a heart attack.”

King’s eyes narrow. “That’s fucking sick if Rex lets newbies wear dead men’s clothes.”

Tyson shakes his head. “No, he doesn’t do that. Official Death Rider gear goes to the next of kin. And Grover had no kids so I’d say it would have gone to Lizzy?”

“Thought you weren’t patched?” King snarls, his mood worsening the clearer it is that Tyson, Mav, and Steel all know an awful lot about the machinations of the Death Riders.

“I’m not. But it doesn’t mean I wasn’t involved, remember.” Tyson wiggles his fingers, “Medically trained means I was dragged into drama in other ways. Grover liked to beat on Lizzy, I helped her on a couple of occasions. Tried to get her to leave him but he kept her addicted to the gear, and to him.”

“And that isn’t a chick in the video, so who did Lizzy give his jacket to and why?” Maverick says, keeping us on track.

“You got a photo of Lizzy?” King growls, a growing wildness to his voice and in his eyes. I hop up off my chair and bulldoze my way past his defences to sit on his lap. His arm circles under me and he holds me tight as he shoots off a text message before he starts absently toying with his ring on my finger. I look up at him waiting for an update. “JB will get on to it, but I need her date of birth and a recent photo.”

“As soon as I’m at work, I’ll get her details and send them over.”

“Tyson!” I hiss angrily, but I’m pissed. King doesn’t let me sit up, his arm around me tightens and his scent becomes more pronounced as he tries to soothe. “That’s against the law. I won’t have you risking your career so we can track down some nutter. This was ages ago.”

“Tristan,” he says quietly, silencing me with a look of challenge before he takes a deep breath to stop the rising tension. He nabs my hand. “I know the risk associated with accessing a patient’s files, but I’ll use any means at my disposal to deal with what I perceive to be a threat.”

Without waiting for a response, Tyson returns to where he was sitting and takes another shot looking unfazed, unaware of the impact of his words. My insides are like jelly and my heart is beating a hundred miles an hour. King drops a hand on my leg. “You’ll get used to having a pack, killer.”

“I don’t want people…”

“It’s not how it works, Tristan,” Maverick interrupts quietly. “Besides, pretty sure you’d be the first to go postal if any of us were side eyed by anyone.”

I look wide-eyed at him, before his words sink in and despite our pack being only days old, I completely get what he is saying. “Okay, I get it. But at the same time…”

“No ifs and butts. We are what we are and let’s make no bones about the fact we’re sitting here today because when we leave tomorrow we’re sorting every small thing out so we can come together properly and live like pack.” Tyson leans back on his arms, looking relaxed and a little smug. It’s a good look on him. Of course, he obliterates me once again when he winks. “I keep telling you I’m not as obvious as King is, but I will do anything to keep you safe. Okay?”

“Okay,” I say, my eyes dropping away, needing a break from the sudden devotion in Tyson’s stare. It’s not that I don’t love it, it’s just a lot managing such big personalities who are ready to do whatever it takes to keep me safe. Tyson clears his throat although it’s as obvious as ‘look at me’. My eyes lift and I’m blown away by how so relaxed, yet so self-assured he is. But then I look at Maverick and Steel, and they have very similar looks on their faces. “I’m not usually a slow learner but obviously it’s taking a while for the fact I now have four bossy Alphas to keep me safe to sink in. Now, what do we do about Rex then?”

“The cunt’s gonna die. That’s what’s going to happen,” King says coolly before taking another shot. I lean forward to nab the bottle and refill his glass but then I have to do the same to the others who seem to have all jumped on board with King’s point of view, sealing the deal with a shot as opposed to a handshake.

“I think I know a way,” Steel says, playing with one of his thick silver rings. He takes a moment, like he’s running through his plan in his head before he takes another shot. “He’s down with El Demonio at the moment.”

King grunts. “Dirty cunts.”

“Like attracts like though,” Steel says softly, taking a slow exhale before he starts to share his plan. “We’re gonna have to split up to make this happen. And that’s what has me second guessing everything.”

“We’ll be right,” King says with a nod. “Tristan is going away for a few days anyway.”

“Huh?”

“Check your phone,” he suggests. And I don’t need to turn around to hear the smirk of satisfaction on his face. “Siderno asked if I wanted to visit. Apparently Raney needs some girl time and we were going to do some business, but if you’re with Siderno, that means Heidi will have her guards with her. You take Big Tom and Tonka, and you’re adequately protected.”

“Making decisions without me again?” I scowl up at him but his mood dips again.

“Something like,” he says quietly, “Just wish we were going to let her know me and you were packed, and you had a pack for the girls to meet. But it’s not safe, killer. I’m asking a lot but if you give us this chance, I’ll make it up to you.”

I can feel his sincerity, through our bond. Like I can feel Tyson’s own encouragement, and Maverick’s pleading in my other connection. I don’t need to look at Steel to know he’s also silently asking for me to accept the opportunity fate has thrown our way.

Still, I nab my phone and read Koz’s invitation to visit my bestie and I’m halfway through my acceptance when I get a booking sheet from the agency. When Maverick’s phone goes off a couple of seconds later, it really is the confirmation of fate having a hand in our plans. I finish off my message to Koz before accepting the job of a day’s work.

“Looks like Mav’s with me,” I say, not bothering to hide the smile on my lips. It will be our first photo shoot as packmates.

“Good,” Steel says and it’s not hard to read how relieved he is that both Maverick and I are out of the picture. His attention moves to his brother. “And you’re gonna have to work like usual, Ty. If this fails, I’ve gotta know you and Mav will be together with Tris. Yeah?”

“What are you thinking?” King asks.

“First up, there’s no way I’m getting El Demonio involved. And we don’t need to because there’s this beautiful deep gully on the way back from the border where they are. It’s the only road really. A tip off to the Feds and half of Rex’s crew are taken out since most of them have warrants out for their arrest. Or they’ll be off their heads still and try to shoot their way out of a bad situation, either way if the number of Rex’s crew is dramatically reduced he’ll be vulnerable, since he relies on them so much. He’ll have no option but to gun it home or stop at a safe house or wait until other members ride back with him.”

“He never rides alone? What a gutless piece of shit.” King laughs, snatching the bottle and having another shot. He holds it out to me. “Lots can go wrong with your plan, Steel. Feds might be in his pockets or even El Demonio’s since it’s so close. But I’m not going to waste an opportunity either. We got a map around here?” he asks, lifting me off his lap so he can go in search of one.

The rest of the night passes with us making plans. Not just plans for Rex but plans about our future too. I feel mostly confident with our way forward by the time we all climb back into my nest, my only real worry is surviving telling Raney and the girls.