Page 30 of Knotty Pumpkin

*At my apt. Luke’s inside. Need to take him down once and for all.*

*Saylor has invited you to join her live recording:

“I’m sorry.*

Corey thanks Hudson, his lock on his own concern breaking open as his worry floods our bond, piling on top of my own and causing my jaw to lock.

“Hudson says she’s at her apartment. His guard just notified him.”

I nod. “She texted me,” I say, showing him the messages. His green eyes widen as they lock with mine.

“Fuck,” he growls. “I knew she was strong. Independent. But I never expected she’d go after him alone. After all he did to her… Fuck.” His hands run through his hair, mussing it. “Click the link.”

“He can’t really be there, can he? They tracked him out of town. How would he have gotten back without being spotted?” My chest constricts as my words come out empty. If Saylor think’s he’s there, he probably is. She’d know him better than anyone.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Together, we move away from the party, marching down the street and around the corner towards Saylor’s apartment, our pace only just short of a jog.

My finger hovers over the link for a moment as I hesitate. According to Hudson, she’s already entered her apartment. What if he is there? What if he’s hurting her? We need to know.

Pressing down, I click the link. Instantly, a page loads with a live audio feed. The sound is muffled slightly, so I turn the volume all the way up, holding the phone between Corey and I as we walk.

“Don’t lie to me, Omega,” Luke growls, assumingly at Saylor. “Your scent is drenched in fear and disgust, not relief and happiness. Why is that?”

“That’s not because of you,” she purrs softly. “It wasn’t easy to make my way here tonight. The police are everywhere, Alpha. They want to stop us being together, like we’re meant to be.”

Her voice breaks slightly as she speaks the last few words, forcing them out like they burning her throat. Hearing her call someone other than Corey or I ‘alpha’ has my hackles raising, ready to fight for my girl.

Corey growls as we both break into a jog. He’s feeling the same way. I can feel it through our bond.

How the fuck she’s able to put herself in this position and play this role she’s taken on is beyond me. Our Pumpkin has an inner strength that is utterly incomparable. What is her plan? And why didn’t she share it with us?

There’s a pause and the audio live crackles, making me wonder how long it will last. Again, I wonder what is her plan, and why is she recording it? Her message said she was going to take him down once and for all.

She’s recording him. Calling him alpha and playing along with his sick need to own her. Why would she do that? Unless…

She’s going to record his confession.

From what we’ve gathered, they couldn’t prove everything he did to her, and he got away with only a few years behind bars, with an early release for good behaviour.

If she can record him confess he was planning to mark her against her will—the most heinous of crimes against omegas—he’ll be put away for the rest of his natural life.

“I knew you’d come around one day, Omega,” he purrs and my blood boils, a red haze blanketing my vision as I break into a run, dropping the phone, my only goal to get to Saylor before this twisted fucker hurts her again.

Chapter Nineteen

“Don’t lie to me, Omega,” he growls, the sound sending an icy shiver running down my spine. “Your scent is drenched in fear and disgust, not relief and happiness. Why is that?”

Fuck. I should have known he’d be able to pick my fear up on my scent. The only option is to lie, lead him to think something else is making me feelthat way.

Hating the words before they’ve even formed on my tongue, I swallow against the knot in my throat.

“That’s not because of you,” I purr, my voice low and soft. “It wasn’t easy to make my way here tonight. The police are everywhere, Alpha. They want to stop us being together, like we’re meant to be.”

Looking up at him from my knees, I blink my lashes seductively as the lie falls smoothly from my lips. That is, until the final word. My voice cracks a little as I say, ‘meant to be’, the lie too much for me. Luke and I were never meant to be. I never wanted to be with him.

Noah and Corey are my scent matches, the missing parts of my soul. The three of us are meant to be and I hate speaking otherwise. A shudder of disgust runs through me, and I pray Luke’s ego is big enough that he believes my lies.

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