Page 37 of Knot the One They Want

I look away, my throat burning. I can't accept that. Iwon't."No. She's nothing. A passing temptation to distract us from putting our pack back together. The way it always should have been."

Even as I say the words, they taste like ashes on my tongue. A bitter, choking lie. Because Evie is already branded on my soul, an indelible mark. A craving that howls through my blood, demanding I claim her, possess her, lose myself in her honeyed depths.

But I won't surrender. I'll fight this pull with everything I have. Even if it destroys me. Even if it means shattering what's left of my soul into jagged shards.

I meet Cole's knowing gaze, my resolve hardening to diamond. "We're done here," I bite out.

Then I turn on my heel and stalk away, Evie's phantom scent mocking me with every step.

CHAPTER 18

EVIE

The shower water runs pink as it swirls down the drain, my blood mixing with the scalding stream. I wince, dabbing gently at the raw wounds on my neck. Four jagged crescent marks, angry and inflamed. They stopped bleeding briefly after the ceremony, but when I woke up the next morning, it was like they were fresh.

I have no idea how to treat a partial mating bite. This definitely wasn't covered in omega finishing school.

Teeth clenched, I wrap a gauze bandage around my throat, around and around until the white strips conceal the damning evidence of last night's humiliation. I can still feel their sharp canine teeth in me, marking me, making promises in front of our friends and family they had no intention of keeping when we were alone.

Nausea rises and I swallow hard, bracing myself against the cold tile. I will not throw up. I will not be weak. Even if I feel like a brittle shell of myself, hollow and aching.

I thought I knew what to expect when I was paired with the Blackwood pack. Every omega dreams of the day she's claimed by her alphas and whisked away to begin her new life as a cherished mate.

I'd been so hopeful, so naively confident that I could charm even the roughest, most hardened men. Isn't that what I'd been trained for? Bred for? The perfect, poised omega, ready to submit sweetly to her alphas' every whim.

What a fool I was.

A vain, silly little fool who actually believed the pretty lies they tell us to convince us to sign over our fates to the first alphas willing to take us.

Addie's always had the right idea.

I emerge from the bathroom in a cloud of steam, limbs leaden, a throbbing ache building behind my eyes. The chaos I wrought on the room last night waits for me, an unwelcome consequence in the sobering light of morning. I begin the long and messy process of cleaning the remnants of my ruined nest. At least it's a distraction.

I finally manage to get the bed and what's left of the linens back into some semblance of order. The maids are going to have some questions when they see what's in the trash bags stacked by the door. Ignoring the tray of food left by the maid outside my door, I crawl back into the nest and curl into a tight ball under the covers.

The events of last night replay mercilessly.

I never expected them to romance me, seduce me, shower me with affection as they claimed me. But not this…

Not for them to see me spread open, presenting myself to them, making myself more vulnerable than a person ever could be, only to be flat out rejected. Ignored.

A broken sob escapes me and I quickly muffle it in the pillow. I can't erase the memories that are seared into my mind. The cruel glint in their eyes as they turned and walked away.

I've never felt so lost and alone. So worthless. I'm officially mated to the Blackwood pack now but I'm not truly theirs. An omega is supposed to feel safe and protected in her pack.

I just feel like a prisoner.

Or worse, a toy that's already lost its appeal.

I have no idea what to do or what happens now. Where do I belong if not with my alphas? How will I face them after exposing such vulnerability? Such weakness?

Despair threatens to swallow me whole and I burrow deeper under the covers, desperately wishing I could hide forever.

But I am a Beaumont.

And a Beaumontneverlets anyone see her break.

A car engine rumbles to life outside, tires crunching on the gravel drive. I strain to listen, holding my breath until the sound fades into the distance.

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