Knot Without You: An Omegaverse Romance

Chapter 52

Chapter

Fifty-Two

Iliked it better when it was dark. But Rex leaves the lights on now and leaves the door wide open.

He kicks a bottle over the floor towards me. A half empty bottle. “You gotta drink, sweet cheeks, can’t having my kid thinking I’m not being hospital.”

“Hospitable,” I correct him. Staring right through his god-awful eyes to the wall where I’d like to see his brain splatter out.

“You say something?” He stands up, no longer leaning against the door.

“I’m not sure what you’re waiting for,” I say, talking louder than necessary, “It looks you were right, and I was wrong. No one is coming. Not even Steel.”

And yes, there is probably nothing good from me mouthing off at Rex but I’m tired. So fucking tired of waiting and hoping.

He takes a step forward, purposely intimidating but there’s still enough distance between us for me to turn and hide as best I can in the corner. His hands are in my hair yanking me backwards but I’m putting all my weight into going forward, it’s a battle of wills, one that I will undoubtedly lose. He’ll snap soon but that might be better than waiting.

Rex flips our latest clash by shoving me forward and my head slams against the wall before I bounce backwards, hitting him. He steps out of the way and I drop to the ground.

I’ve also stopped begging because much like my screams he seems to love hearing me plead. And it does nothing. So, I figure, why give him any more of me, especially since I’m completely out of fucks to give.

Looking up at him, I can see how I’m going to have to change my tactics again. There is way too much heat in his evil eyes. There’s been way too many women coming and going too, but not for the last while which explains the sicko looking at me like I’m his next conquest.

Rex goes to squat and I push up to scurry back to the corner when the room plunges into darkness. In the next heartbeat, there’s a series of gunshots or maybe they’re missiles being fired because the noise is deafening.

I scream.

Big mistake on my part because it gives Rex a clue where I am. He lunges, and the two of us stumble as we fight in the dark until he gets the upper hand and I get the cool press of a blade against my face.

I don’t think I even remember to breathe, but I must because I swear I get the slightest tease of a scent I know so well. Or scents should I say. Lemon so tart my mouth dries up, blackberries prickly as the thorns on the bush, and bourbon so strong my eyes water.

Outside of the room is eerily quiet after the explosive gunfire. My heart is beating so fucking fast and all the fight and flight instincts I thought I had under control kick out and I’m flooded with adrenaline. It’s not even by choice that I move. I’ve got that much panic in my veins I fucking fly. I don’t know how I escape out of Rex’s hands but I do. I run and run and run until I slam face first into a chest I’d know anywhere in the entire universe.

“King!” I make an ungodly noise, like a cry, a scream all rolled into one.

“Killer, get your ass behind me.” He growls and wrong time, wrong place, but I laugh—stress does weird things to people. I can hear the click of his tongue in annoyance, but he’s happy too. In the next instant, he jostles in front of me before I’m wearing one of his long-sleeved tops. All I can smell is him, all I can feel is his warmth and it seeps into some brand-new deep fucking gouges in my soul.

“Go.” He growls.

“He’s got a knife,” I say, taking a reluctant step away and then another, walking blindly but I manage to walk straight into Tyson who instead of arguing or telling me off simply wraps his arms around and squeezes more life back into me, whispering the sweetest damn words I’ve ever heard in my ear.

He only gives me a few moments, before he barks in my ear. “I got some business to take care of. Go to Mav.”

Same Alpha presence as King, completely different delivery method, and I feel better again. Maybe because I’ve found them or they’ve found me, but the darkness that’s been eating at me seems to recede a little and I see the outline of Mav. I leap at him, of course he catches me and I hide out in his blackberry scent, forgetting for a few moments what I’ve been through. But Mav has always had this ability to make me feel so safe with him, maybe because I’ve seen how he fights. Either way he’s always been so freaking sweet and he’s never shied away from our connection.

“Tristan.” Maverick sighs as he curls an arm around me, his head on my shoulder like he’s the one who’s been struggling to keep it together. Before he can say another word, there’s a noise behind the both of us and we freeze.

“Is she here?” A soft groan from deeper in the dark, carries with it Steel’s butterscotch scent.

“Steel, get back in the fucking truck,” Tyson hisses.

“Bullshit. We’re all watching Rex die,” Steel’s voice is nowhere near as strong as it used to be. But his determination is, “We’re not fucking splitting up again.”

“Jesus!” King snaps. “We were going to be quiet, and you were going to stay in the fucking truck.”

The talking stops but everyone takes a minute to simply reach out to touch quickly, like doing another head count almost to make sure we are in fact all together.

“I brought a torch,” Steel says half apologetically. And the area we’re huddling in lights up.

“To a fucking gun fight,” King growls until his patience snaps. “Enough. Jesus, come on!”

I go to take a reach for Steel but the trauma of what happened between us decides to bitch slap me from out of nowhere. I struggle to get air in my lungs, and my feet definitely stop working. And everyone sees it.

Tyson moves instead, his hand squeezing gently over my hip letting me know it’s okay, and he’s here for me. I take a deep inhale letting the scents of the four of them become stronger than the harsh reminder of seeing Steel. I look at him, deep in his eyes letting him know I hope we’re going to be okay.

Steel takes a shaky breath. “We don’t split up again.”

But I had too, to say the same thing as Steel. “We don’t split up again. Please don’t do that to me.”

I don’t intentionally pump hard on the emotional blackmail, but it comes out like that. I twist, feeling King’s eyes on me and even though I probably would reword what I just said given half the chance, he doesn’t let me.

“You’re right, killer. We can do this different. Maverick get them out of here, and open the tray up for me, lay some plastic sheeting down. Get Tristan a spot in the front, Steel can lie in the back. Tyson can help me deal with Rex. I’d rather take my time anyway.” King reaches for me, and tugs me into his arms again, leaving me with a quick kiss on the top of my head before steering me back to Maverick.

And this time there’s no stressed, panicked laughing reunion. Maverick sweeps me into his arms, flicking his head at Steel to move out.

“Shut your eyes up here,” Steel says without turning around or saying my name when we come to a part of the house. And I know he’s trying to protect me.

But I don’t need sheltering from seeing the aftermath of my pack finding me. I can’t not look. I need to know that the people who helped Rex keep me prisoner and taunt me with their vile words and disgusting groping have paid the price.

Maverick is different to Steel in the way he protects me. He slows down at the first body, the light from Steel’s torch bright enough so I see the littered bodies. “This fucker was Rex’s second in command, Bash. Tyson shot him between the eyes, then spat in his face as he died. And this fat cunt, Cog, used to make our life even harder than what it needed to be. Cog was a fucking rat who liked to make shit up and also reported on every small fucking thing Steel did. I shot him, but I made it hurt as much as possible before the life drained from him. King took out the first few because… well, he was like a bull in a China shop trying to get to you. We all were, Tris. There’s not enough death in this room for what they did to you, but we ain’t done. And we will never be done making it up to you.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” I say, resting my head on his heart and letting the steady beat chase a few demons out of my mind.

“Kind of was. I should have stopped you being taken in the first place,” he says regretfully. He walks slowly around again, so I can see the carnage once more if I want before we go through a doorway.

“Where are we?”

“This is where Steel and Tyson’s mom and their sister lived. When they weren’t locked at the compound.”

“It’s a bit of a shit hole,” I mumble truthfully.

“Yeah. Rex had the money and manpower to fix it up but this way, he stripped them of hope and dignity. Reinforced he was the man they needed to survive.”

I shake my head, and Maverick pulls me in closer rubbing his face on mine, scent marking me up while reinforcing we’re pack and this is not how they’ll be with me.

Outside, the place is surrounded by Fallen members. Close enough to jump into help if needed. Joker is the closest, and he gives me a nod before firing up his bike. Everyone else does the same.

Maverick settles me on the front seat, while he hops in the back and shuffles a heap of gear around. Everything in here is saturated in the scent of them which is exactly what I need.

King and Tyson make their way back in what seems like no time, dragging behind them an unrecognisable Rex. He is stripped to his boxers, every inch of him dotted with marks, bruises, or blood. Parts of him hang at strangely disjointed angles, but I barely look, my attention locked on what is important—Tyson and King.

The both of them are clearly not okay. They look exhausted and haunted, and I don’t think they will ever lose the marks of what happened.

Together they throw Rex in the tray of the truck before walking past me and straight over to an outside faucet to wash down and change. King winks at me as he passes by to speak with Joker.

“Hello, beautiful girl,” Tyson says, wrapping his hands around my face, his forehead resting on mine, breathing me in. “Come on, baby, let’s go.”

As he gives me a quick brush of his lips on the top of my head, I let him know I’m all right. “I’m okay. I just want to go.”

He would be busting to check over every inch of me, but not here. And despite a few knocks on the head, sore spots on my body, I know I’m not in any great danger. I just need to go as far from here as possible.

Tyson helps me lie down on the bed someone set up, covering me in blankets, before he checks on his brother. As soon as King hops in the driver’s side, I shuffle to rest my head on his lap, and he settles his hand around my waist. Tyson scoops my hand to hold in his, resting his other between my thighs and Maverick reaches for my other hand.

I fall asleep, all of us touching, breathing in Steel’s scent.

My eyes burst open, Rex still chasing me, and King’s touch gets firmer. “You’re safe.”

The truck is quiet as I sit up. It’s the dead of night, and I lean through the gap to pull part of Steel’s blanket to cover Maverick before using someone’s hoodie as a pillow for Tyson. Once I’ve fussed over my sleeping pack, and everyone is as comfortable as I can make them, I sit up, snuggling under King’s arm. He leaves one hand on the steering wheel, the other sits under the top of the hoodie, his skin on my skin.

We don’t say a word for miles, until he breaks the silence. “Tristan, you need to check in with the girls. It’s been too long.”

I already saw my bag before and someone had placed my phone on the charger. My heart races, worried about the thousands of messages and missed calls from my girls, but as soon as I realise it’s barely a few I settle back against King and read through them all.

“Not much has happened. How is that?” I ask him.

“Probably felt longer than what it was,” King answers but there’s a detachment to his voice and I twist around to look up at him.

“I will be okay,” I promise him.

He huffs a noise under his breath like a laugh, but it’s not. “Not fucking sure I will be.”

An alert hits my phone interrupting us, and I read it once before closing my eyes and getting ready for an epic showdown with King, and no doubt the others. Once I’ve tripled checked the dates and times and compared them to the date and time on King’s car computer, I take one last breath before looking at my Alpha.

“I have to be at Verdune in four hours.”

“Bullshit!” King roars, scaring the fuck and waking everyone up.