Page 199 of Tangled in Knots

“Yes, I was targeted by Emilia and ROWS, since it doesn’t appear as if I have ties to Minnesota,” I explain. “No one to miss me, and I was working a lot. Emilia had someone infiltrate the shelter. I was dragged down the hall by the woman.”

“Oh my God,” Sue whispers.

“I haven’t had the best track record lately,” I mutter. “Hence my shadow today.”

Jed simply smirks, crossing his arms.

“Tall, dark, and quiet, I see,” Noreen teases. “Emilia is a thorn in all our sides. If I could convince my pack to blow up her house, I would.”

“Good riddance,” Sue says.

“I was told that wasn’t possible by Cian,” I say as we talk. “Something about how she’s too well protected. The issue is she now has a podcast on top of the other platforms she uses to get her message across.”

“I didn’t hear that,” Rebecca says. “A microphone in front of that woman is a dangerous thing.”

“It is when she’s telling omegas what to wear, how to act, and what her version of acceptable is,” I agree. “Emilia is grooming an entire generation of omegas. Anyone who doesn’t fit that description, she moves to sell them at auction.”

“That’s a large charge,” Sue says. I’m not sure why she’s being so combative, but I can play.

“Paula, the girl who tried to kidnap me, had a gun to my head, and told me all about her evil little plan,” I say, batting my eyelashes at her. “Come on, I didn’t think I’d need to bare every bruise the way I had to with the males in your packs to get attention. Are you really no better than them?”

“What do you mean?” Noreen asks.

“I was beaten all to hell when I walked into a meeting with the senior mafia members,” I say, annoyed. “The only reason they listened to me was because I forced them to see that just because they don’t sell people at the auctions, doesn’t mean it’s not still happening. I was walking home and three betas attempted to kidnap me off the street.”

“It’s worse than Aisling told us, and everything we’ve been seeing,” Sue says. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound as rude as I did. It really grinds my gears that there’s no safety for our omegas. My mate is an omega, and while he is in the midst of everything with his alphas, he’s untouchable. Omegas shouldn’t be pressured into packing up.”

“One of the worst parts of Emilia’s podcasts is the fact that she has ideas on when omegas should actively start looking for packs or they’re sure to fall into ruin,” I grumble. “I’m a glutton for punishment, and catch her new ones. There’s three months of content on Omega Link.”

“Isn’t she trying to get them shut down, though?” Noreen asks.

“The podcasts are just a way to get her message out there, the forum doesn’t much matter,” I explain. “The entire reason I’m entering into conversations with the mafia families is because you’re clearly a close knit community who don’t work well with those who are unknowns or possible troublemakers.”

“Mafia men are the troublemakers,” Rebecca says with a snort. “The way my pack talks, though, you should be involved in the community if you’re planning to stay in Minnesota.”

“If gardening isn’t something you enjoy, we do donation drives and such,” Noreen chimes in. “We didn’t invite you here to duke out the politics of you living in Minnesota, Adira. You hashed all of that out already. We want to welcome you, introduce you to our community.”

“Oh,” I murmur, surprised. A part of me thought I’d have to fight to be heard again. I don’t know what their stance is on the packs getting involved with Pack Dresmond and Pack Rock. It doesn’t seem like it matters, I guess.

“Adira is used to having to fight for things of late,” Jed rumbles. “My pack doesn’t have a good reputation.”

“Eh, good reputations are for the weak,” Rebecca says, surprising me with a laugh. “Most of us have wild stories of how we met our pack mates. Hoodlums, all of them.”

“That’s true,” Sue says. “New blood is good for the community, and while we haven’t had any real issues in the last year with disputes or conflicts, I’m not against helping people get out from under a certain rock.”

Her play on words makes me hide my smile, and I begin to feel better.

The rest of the night is spent talking, getting to know people at the party, and not one person mentions what a pain in the ass I am for dragging them into my problems.

I don’t have to be at sea without people. I need to lean in with Pack Dresmond, trust they’ll be there if I need it when I kill Rock.

Yep, totally a piece of cake, Adira.

“Those are some loud thoughts in there, baby,” Jed observes as we leave the party.

“I was thinking about what your dad’s plans are,” I murmur.

“Well, I can fix that. If you promise not to say a word, I’ll call him on the drive back,” he says easily, opening the passenger side door for me.

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