Page 170 of Tangled in Knots

What’s going on?

“Where’s the fire, and why are you yelling at me?” Jed asks, walking into the kitchen.

“You need to have that conversation with Adira now, Sir,” Morris rumbles. Fuck, he shouldn’t be able to sound like that.Shh, stop, bad.

Jed takes a deep breath, eyes moving toward me in a very predatory-like manner.

“Is he making you ruin your panties?” he asks. “Why isn’t he on his knees licking up the mess like a good boy?”

“Fuck, this is revenge for yelling, isn’t it?” Morris mutters. “What was I going to do again?”

“Food?” I ask. I don’t even know what my name is right now, I’m not the best candidate to help him.

“Yes,” Morris says, blowing out a breath. It’s cute that he’s affected by Jed this much. I don’t know how long they’ve been together, but Jed’s dirty talk is on point. “Crackers and cheese, protein shake, or something else? You eat like a bird, Adira, so you’re going to need to point me in a direction.”

My stomach clenches in hunger, and I wince. “Protein shake works for now, please. I’m hungry, but my head still hurts a lot.”

“Okay. I’m yelling, Alpha, because you need to put your cards on the table. Tell Adira what you told us last night,” Morris says.

“More secrets?” I ask, somehow unsurprised.

“Yeah, but it’s one that the guys didn’t know either,” Jed says, coming closer. “Can I sit here?”

He tends to do things without asking, so I gaze at him for a long moment before answering.

“Yes,” I whisper.

Pulling out the chair, he sits down, glancing over his shoulder at the living room. “Damon, can you come in here for a second?” he asks.

“Adira, we’re not going to get any work done here,” Damon complains as he walks into the room. “What’s up?”

“I need to tell you about why I was such a dick about the auction,” Jed says. Once Damon sits, brow raised, his older brother winces.

“It’s not a surprise to anyone that Rock is an abusive bastard. I was raised to believe that being pulled from my bed in the middle of the night, to run laps in the rain, when I was six was normal. It escalated to survival trips in the middle of the woods, and eventually my brothers were forced to join me. The more difficult the test, the worse I knew the punishments would be if we failed.”

“This was how Rock conditioned us to be completely lethal,” Damon mutters. “I stopped feeling completely, while Kane gets lost in his mind to his inner demons.”

“The ones that tell him the explosives will make pretty colors?” Jed asks. “Pretty much. Unfortunately, Rock layered more to my responsibilities as the big brother.”

“Does this have anything to do with the way you’d sometimes join us later after we were done with missions?” Damon asks. “You always looked like you were in pain, sometimes your face would be fucked.”

“Mmhmm. I always brushed it off, or said it was Rock talking to me with his fists. Any time a mission didn’t go the way Dad wanted, he'd pull me aside,” Jed says. “He said that we’d either all be punished or I’d take it all. Since his punishments involve selling me to his men to beat the hell out of and other fucked up shit, I just took it. This time, Dad decided to take it even further.”

“What do you mean?” I ask. The wheels are turning in my head, because this all speaks to how much he protects his brothers and his pack. Fuck.

“I don’t have much to do with the auctions,” Jed explains. “He’s never ordered us to do something like this, and he wanted to make sure I couldn’t refuse. Kane was happy to blow shit up,and Damon never much cared about our missions as long as he didn’t have to be around omegas.”

“That tracks,” Damon mutters.

“He first told me Jeremiah had swindled him and to find out where the money was,” Jed says. “Your father never broke, Adira. Dad told us to torture and kill him, standing there, while Jeremiah begged us not to hurt you. My father told him to burn in hell.”

“After that, he pulled me aside, explained what he wanted us to do. Dad said if I fucked this up or failed to bring you to the auctions, that I would find my brothers and I for sale instead.”

“Ophelia doesn’t auction alphas,” I deny, eyes wide. “How is that possible?”

“Ophelia does whatever Dad says. When he’s dead, she’ll be without his protection, and I’m letting that part of the business go. I don’t want to be involved in it,” Jed growls. “There are government agencies that want to know how far an alpha can be pushed in order to make the best possible spies and mercenaries. Damon, Kane, and I would be put on auction separately.”

“We wouldn’t be together anymore,” Damon says softly. “No matter how fucked up things have gotten, we have never been apart from each other.”

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