Page 98 of Knot Your Business

Phillip pales. The reality washes through them in one swift wave, their expressions moving from horror to despair to anger in the span of a few seconds.

“I’m going to kill her,” Kurt says, pushing up from where he sits beside Phillip, dropping his hand in favor of clenching them both. He starts toward the door, his own growl loud enough to drown out Johnathan’s.

I relax at the display. Jasper had been right. They hadn’t been involved. Which makes this much easier… and potentially even more heartbreaking for them. Johnathan stops Kurt with a single hand on his chest.

“Hold on,” he says, his voice firm. “The last thing we need is to alert Sienna that one of Violet’s Alphas is here.”

Kurt shakes his head, his body trembling.

“She set Violet up,” Kurt snarls. “Her perfume would have been enough to set off an unsuspecting Alpha’s rut. She meant for Violet to end up bonded.”

That explains the sorry excuse of an Alpha we found all over her, then.

Johnathan’s eyes flash to mine, the hatred in them palpable.

“Does Violet know?” he asks.

“We aren’t sure.” I shake my head. “She isn’t lucid enough to talk about it.”

“And she won’t be for days,” Phillip says. “Probably not until the end of the week.”

Kurt’s growl slowly fades, the leashed aggression in his body bleeding away the longer Johnathan touches him. Johnathan guides him to the chair he’d been occupying, urging Kurt to sit and then taking his hand as he perches on the chair’s arm.

“We intend to discuss it with her once she surfaces,” I offer.

“And then what’s your plan?” Johnathan asks, tucking his open hand into the pocket of his jeans, his thumb tapping an unheard rhythm. “Do you intend to bring in your family?”

I don’t even worry about him knowing my family’s reputation. Jasper had mentioned Sienna knew. It’s not a stretch that she brought it to his attention as well.

“That’s entirely up to you,” I say. “Let’s discuss the options.”

Forty-Six

VIOLET

My body’s on fire. Need tightens in my core, pulsing through me in waves that leave me whimpering. I roll over, trying to find something to take away the pain. My hand lands on something warm and solid. I move toward it. It smells delicious, and I take a deeper breath.

“I’m here, Sirena,” a deep voice whispers.

My head vibrates with the sound, and the citrus smell grows stronger, though not nearly as strong as the floral one. Another wave rushes through me, and I whimper. The warm body next to me moves, taking its heat with it, and I cry out, trying to follow it. I open my eyes, needing to know where it went, but there’s only a dim light.

I don’t know how I know that the body will fix the pain, that it’ll make the pulsing waves stop. I just do, like I know my heart beats and my lungs breathe.

“Please,” I gasp, my eyes blurring with tears. “Alpha, please.”

A hand cups my cheek, and I turn into it, biting down on the flesh. The voice laughs, and then the heat is back, covering me so completely that I breathe a sigh of relief. It’ll stop soon, the heat will make the waves stop.

My body coils tighter with each driving movement of the heat, each point of contact with… with… my Alpha.

Yes, my Alpha. He makes the pain go away. He runs his lips down my throat and then again with his tongue, his movements growing faster.

“Sei perfetto,” he murmurs against my skin, and I flush.

He says the words like they’re his salvation, and I preen under the praise.

“Cazzo,” he grunts, the sound breathless. The movement stops, holding me just on the precipice of relief. I whimper, desperate to be thrown over the edge. He kisses my shoulder before biting my skin.

His knot locks into place, and I fall off the ledge, tumbling into the blissful relief on a breathless cry.

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