Chapter 50
FIFTY
KNOX
I dreamed in a strange, jarring manner.
Thistle’s scent was all around me. She was here, holding me. She’d never leave. But then…
I was dragged back to the nightmares.
I was looking for Thistle.
I was going to bite her at last, but then—there was panic in Bambi’s eyes as she staggered toward me in the Misfits’ quarters. The others were trying to drag her into the safe room, but she wouldn’t go.
Her eyes were filled with tears as she gripped me, and it didn’t matter if she couldn’t talk.
I knew.
Carrion’s guards had been waiting outside the ballroom, and my blood had run cold.
I hadn’t processed much.
Only the fact that once again, I hadn’t bitten her.
Once again, I’d let her down, and now…
But something snagged in my vision. Thistle’s Bunny, and beside it on the floor, a way out.
I’d caught the security off guard, my fist slamming one back. They’d thrown me to the floor, clearly not wanting me dead yet, and as I fought them, I managed to close my fist around the small bracelet.
When I woke, my brain felt like it was packed with cotton wool. I cracked my eyes open, inhaling the cool scent of frosted moonflower.
“Thistle…” The words were barely audible, my voice weak.
But… I was alive.
We’d made it out alive.
Ace had figured it out…
Thistle had too. One of the last things I’d seen was her blocking Rogue from trying to stop Ace killing me.
Shit.
“You absolute brat.” I blinked at Vance’s voice, startled into focus. The room slowly sharpened around me. I was in her nest. Vance was seated on a chair beside the bed, Callum at his side, peering up at me from a laptop balanced on his knees, looking relieved.
“Me?” I croaked.
He was smiling. “She’s been here every moment for a fucking day, and the one time she goes to see Bambi in the garden, you decide to wake up.”
“Shit.” I blinked, propping myself up as the room came into focus. “Wait—Bambi’s in the garden?”
Most of the people we got from the Ring hid in their rooms for weeks before venturing out.
“Yup. Omega’s brave,” he said, pressing a cup of water into my hand. “She had it as bad as any of us, but she’s out there in a few weeks? Thistle’s working some magic, too. I didn’t believe Poptarts would actually work as bait, but she’s getting some sun, so what do I know?”
“Well, that’s good.”
I eyed Rogue, who was asleep across the bottom of Thistle’s bed.
“He uh… hasn’t left,” Callum snorted. “Wasn’t sleeping for a while either, but Petal gave him drugged tea because we all thought he was going to lose it. Started growling at shadows by the window.”
“Well, that’s…” I cleared my throat. “Utterly embarrassing for him,” I said, though it was hard to take my eyes off Rogue where he sprawled across the foot of the bed.
Not… what I expected.
Neither was the way it twisted my heart up just a bit to see it.
“Oh. Shit. I have to bite in.”
Damn.
I couldn’t miss another minute.
“You really do. She tried to lodge her neck against your teeth a few times, but apparently intent is what matters.”
I chuckled, running my fingers through my hair, though I still felt off.
“It’s about time,” Callum said. “You deserve it.” I glanced at him, but the looks they were both giving me made it hard to argue.
It wasn’t long before the door burst open and Thistle and Bambi squeezed through with arms full of boxes of Poptarts.
Thistle froze, eyes meeting mine, and within a second, all the Poptarts spilled from her arms.
“Daddy?”
I tried to prop myself up, but my arms were weak. It wouldn’t have mattered though, since Thistle launched across the room like a rocket.
She slammed into me at full speed, knocking the breath from my lungs. Next thing I knew she was straddling me, setting Bunny down, and tying her hair into a bun.
“What are you—? Pffftt! ” I cut off as she tilted her head and jammed her neck against my mouth.
I almost choked on a strand of her hair, but when she pulled back, her violet eyes were full of fury.
“Bite me!”
“Right here?” I asked, eyes sliding to Vance, Callum, and Bambi, who was loading Poptart boxes onto the bottom of the bed, her gaze curious as it flicked our way.
“If you wanted it to be romantic you should’ve done it the first time!” Her voice sharpened as her fists closed on my shirt and she shook me. “Bite me!”
“Okay!”
“I think…” Callum said. “We’re good to leave.”
Bambi glanced at them, then hurried to follow. She paused, though, backing up to snatch one of the Poptart boxes from the bed before rushing out.
My teeth brushed Thistle’s neck, heart pounding like a drum.
Her fingers dug into my waist, a whine of frustration slipping out as I didn’t complete the bite. She was trembling, her scent collecting in the air like a thundercloud. I swallowed back the sting of fear.
She deserved better.
Next thing I knew my teeth were digging into her skin, and a bond exploded to life in my brain.
It was as if every fibre of her being was buzzing to accept the bite because there was no pause before a whole new pack bond slammed into me.
My chest tightened as I felt her.
Her , and not Bella.
No cruel, twisted Alphas.
A bright, moonflower goddess.
A bond I wanted.
I didn’t get happily-ever-afters—at least, I wasn’t supposed to. But this bond felt warm. Safe. It was connection, not chains—I could feel it from the first brush of it against mine. I was shaking, and blinked something hot and wet from my eyes.
Thistle choked out something I couldn’t understand, and then she was sobbing, curling up beneath the blankets and burrowing in next to me.
“I love you,” I told her. “I love you so fucking much, Little Doll.”
Rogue jolted awake at the addition of a whole new Alpha in the pack. He staggered to his feet, eyes wide, hands up like he was fending off attackers.
“Fuck.” He rubbed his eyes, then stared. “Oh…”
He got up, then almost fell as he made for us, rubbing his head. I wondered what Petal had given him.
“We’re a pack!” She shook me, then Rogue as he sank onto the bed beside her, then lifted Bunny up, fists seizing him so tight I thought he might rip. “We’re a whole pack!”
Thistle was completely different to the bond I’d had before.
Bella had been a void, cold to the touch.
But the Omega at the centre of this pack…
I didn’t think it was possible for a person to feel that much joy, but Thistle was a neon paint splatter across my mind and soul.
With each breath I took, that essence tangled with me, drawing a smile across my own face.
“Where’s Ace?” I asked.
“Last I checked he’d passed out in your office, face stuck to your keyboard.”
“How’d he get into that?”
“Vance. He was on a rampage trying to get tails on every Ring member trying to flee.”
“They’re running?”
“Oh yes they are. Whole thing fell apart. Bella vanished, then Carrion. No one knows what happened, so you can imagine the rumours.”
“And Ace is tracking them down?”
“Said he gave Bella a head start, but that’s just so the chase is more fun,” Thistle said, a little hum of happiness in her chest.
“You… alright?” Rogue asked me.
“Yeh. Feel fine.” I don’t know what was in that poison, but it didn’t feel like it had any lasting damage.
“He just fake killed you, didn’t real kill you, though. And—” She leaned close, teeth digging into my arm for a second. “I think he likes you.”
“He fucking better. I saved all of your asses.”
She grinned for a moment, positively glowing, but then it all fell away. “Um…”
“What?” I frowned, on high alert.
She just stared at me. “Are you… better?” she asked, unsure.
“I feel fine. Why?”
“Cuz uh…” She trailed off. But she didn’t need to say more.
Oh.
Shit.
I met Rogue’s bewildered eyes as a colossal wave of moonflower heat washed over us.