Page 30 of Tangled in Knots

It doesn’t matter how long we’ve lived in the Midwest, Jed still acts as if snow offends him.

“Nope,” the beta grunts. “I won’t be able to see most of the drive, and that’s miserable. Rock can wait it out while this clears.”

That’s the closest I think I've heard him come to telling Rock to fuck himself. Interesting.

Jed ignores it as he continues. “Dad is going to reschedule the auction in the meantime, and has asked that we keep Adira drugged for as long as possible.”

“I hope you have plans for a catheter or something, or we are definitely ruining your sister’s couch, Morris,” I state, reminding them of human biology. “She’s going to have to piss with all of those fluids being pushed into her.”

“Fuck, I don’t know how to do that,” Morris says with a wince. “I’m going to need to help her to the restroom soon. It’s been hours and I changed the banana bag.”

“Amateurs,” I grunt, continuing to eat. “Think about the nuances to your plan before you end up giving the couch an unexpected golden shower, brother. What other holes do you have in your plan? I will thoroughly enjoy pointing them out.”

I’m not typically this much of a snarky jerk, but I don’t like any of this. I enjoyed being strangled by my little rabbit, seeing her spark. Jed is proposing to snuff it and reduce her to a vegetable until we drop her off at the auction house. I’m sure they have a wicked cocktail to get her upright afterward too. Ophelia isn’t one of the best madams in the business in name only. She earns it.

“Fine. Dad basically wants her kept relatively docile and comfortable while she recovers until we drop her off. That’s the plan. Happy?” Jed asks. “I don’t want her pulling any of you into her orbit. There’s something off about Adira. Her innocent act isn’t fooling me. What if her father planned for her to go off her suppressants while he was gone?”

“Impossible,” Demon grunts. “He begged for his daughter’s safety. What if there’s a reason he had her on suppressants?”

“She’s a sow to fuck and impregnate,” Jed says indelicately. Demon doesn’t show any reaction, but I still feel it enough for the both of us. “Jeremiah wanted to choose when her heat happened. I just don’t know for what purpose specifically.”

“It’s too late to pick through his papers now that it’s blown sky high,” I say, shrugging. I’m not sorry I blew it up. It was fun, and I rarely begrudge myself life’s amusements.

“I’m aware,” Jed says dryly. The only reason I notice it is because I haven’t taken my eyes off of him as he glances quickly behind me. Hmm. If he didn’t care, he’d be avoiding Adira at all costs. “Morris, you may want to rouse the omega if we don’t want to have to relocate her due to her bladder.”

The beta is done with his food thankfully, but I don’t doubt that he’d get up immediately either way. He’s a good little soldier unless there’s a reason to say something to the contrary.

The fact that we’re in this house is an excellent example of that.

Twisting in my seat, I watch as Morris stops the flow of the fluids in the tubing and removes the needle from her inner arm. He takes special care to hold a piece of gauze to her skin to help it clot before he tapes it down.

“Adira,” he murmurs, picking her up in his arms. It seems oddly intimate and careful as his locs even seem to curl around her body. “I’ll wake her up in the bathroom. Don’t wait for me.”

Nodding, Jed turns to gaze at Demon. “I hate to say this, but you’re my weak point on this, little brother. How do I know you’re not going to fuck this up?”

“There’s no way to reject an omega once a bond is in place, is there?” Demon asks uncaringly.

There are a lot of things that I know about my baby brother. One of them is that he never goes out of his way not to care, he simply doesn’t. This feels forced. Hmmm.

My brothers are both keeping secrets.

“No,” Jed says, jaw dropping in surprise. “Once the bond is in place, it’s for life.”

“Your proposal is that I cut myself off from a part of myself for the rest of my life, correct?” Demon asks. It almost feels as if he’s picking apart Jed and our sperm donor’s plans as emotionlessly as possible.

Demon is simply checking boxes instead of fighting. It’s harder for Jed to dispute his logic this way.

“Yes… I mean, shit,” Jed mutters. “I am proposing that you give up the omega for now. In the long run, you won’t feel what’s happening to her, and she’ll be shielded from any of your possible reactions.”

To the various people who will rape her.Good talk, big brother. Stellar conversational skills. Leaning back in my seat, my lips twist at how terribly this conversation is going.

“What happens after the ‘for now’?” I ask. I may as well engage in my favorite thing: stirring the pot. “Are you saying we’ll find her later? If not, then you really are suggesting that Demon cut off a limb. Did you not see the way that she affects him as his scent match and bonded mate, Jed? We’ve done a lot of fucked up things, this one may take the cake.”

“Good girl,” Morris rasps as he brings Adira back in.

Our eyes snap to the little rabbit that whimpers in pain. I wouldn’t be too happy to be woken up to piss after being shot and having surgery either.

“I have antibiotics in the IV to help you, sweetness,” Morris rumbles, surprising me. He’s not a soft man. We’ve been involved together for years, and it’s all hard, rough, and tumble with a dash of familiarity and affection.

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