Page 46 of Knot My Sin

My brother is looking for me.

The boy with the intense, light colored eyes, who always looked out for our brothers, but always seemed annoyed with me. I don’t understand why he’d be looking for me. The paranoid part of me wants to know if he’s looking for a paycheck, or to use me. The logical part of me doubts it.

I’ve spent so many years being hurt, I don’t know if it makes sense to open up wounds that haven’t even closed yet. Is it worth it?

“Wren?” Everest pops his head into the room, making me turn. I’m a little embarrassed by the way I fell apart. Keeping my eyes trained on his forehead, I nod. “Come have something to eat, please?”

My stomach is rumbling at the thought of food, even though my throat is still sore. Surprisingly, my body feels better, and I haven’t needed any more intravenous fluids. Standing, I pad over to the doorway.

“Ah, Shaw is getting you clothes and some things you’ll need,” he says, rubbing the back of his neck.

My eyes meet his in surprise, and I take a step back.

“Kicking me out already?” I bite out before I can keep myself in check.

Flinching when Everest moves toward me, I dash around him before moving quickly for the stairs. My body reminds me I’m not completely healed, and I force myself to walk slower.

“You know, it kills me when you act like I’m going to hurt you,” he says with a sigh as he follows me. “I fucked up, didn’t listen to the million screaming details that told me I was wrong for being the ring leader to push you out. I hurt you, but I would never hit you, and I certainly will never be a selfish alpha.”

“I don’t believe you,” I rasp, carefully taking the stairs down. I keep waiting for my legs to turn into wet noodles, but they hold steady for me.

“You don’t have to do a damn thing when it comes to me,” he agrees. “You could choose to refuse me as your alpha, dance naked in the rain, fuck everyone in the house except me, and I’d just have to suck it up. You know why?”

Stumbling on the last step at how crazy his words sound to me, I turn to face him, eyes widening as I take in how big he is. Wide shoulders, broad, naked chest, and thick thighs under his joggers. God, I’m in no condition to check anyone out, much less this alpha. Swallowing hard, I force myself to meet his blue, almost colorless gaze.

“Why?” I ask. It feels as if all the spit in my mouth has dried up as I speak. He shouldn’t pull such a reaction from me, and I take another step back.

Fisting his hands, he takes a deep breath. “I don’t own you. You’re your own fucking person. You want to be our bratty omega? Fine. You want to cuddle? Great. We can’t make you do anything. If we have any say in it, no one ever will again, Lemon Drop,” he says.

“Lemon drop?” I ask. I can’t help but feel a tendril of amusement bubble up inside of me at the nickname. I don’t know if I’ll let him make a regular thing of it. It’s cute though.

“It’s what you smell like to me,” he shrugs. “Flynn just made some, and I imagine it’s what…”

The tips of Everest’s ears turn red, and I can’t help the giggle as I realize he’s imagining what my pussy tastes like. It’s endearing that this alpha is trying to curb his lascivious nature for me.

“I see,” I grunt, not wanting him to see my amusement. He can stew in his embarrassment.

Woah, I didn’t realize I had petty in me. Interesting.

“Anyway, we aren’t here to control you,” Everest mutters. “We fucked up, we want you to be ours, and we are so sorry for it, Lemon Drop.”

“I don’t know what I want yet,” I tell him honestly.

“Wren? Is that you?” Flynn asks. Turning away from Everest, I move to find him as if pulled by a string.

It doesn’t work like that for omegas, not really, but we just have this connection that I can’t explain.

“Before you go in, I need to tell you something,” Everest says, his long legs catching up with me easily. “I want to give you the time to figure things out, so I told your brother I found you. It was cruel not to, but I asked him for time before he comes over like a damn bull through our gate.”

“I still don’t understand why he’s looking for me at all. We weren’t really close,” I tell him. I think I just needed time to mourn the old me, the one that was innocent.

A lot of my childhood still feels foggy, and I have a feeling that’s to protect my mind. If that’s the case, I’m not in a hurry to uncover it any time soon.

“I think you’re both remembering things differently,” he says sympathetically. “Jasper says that you were really independent, so he focused on keeping your brothers in line.”

“No, that’s how I remember it, I just remember he used to glare at me a lot,” I say with a shrug. “I don’t know if I want to see him yet, though.”

“Fair enough,” Everest says with a nod as we walk into the kitchen.

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