Page 61 of Tangled in Knots

“You said you’ve been sedated for weeks?” Duncan asks.

Taking a bite of my food, I hum happily. The broth is flavorful and really good.

“I ran from them after my, uh, heat. I could hear them talking about taking me to the auctions even though, well that’s kind of private,” I mutter. “Damon is my scent match and it triggered my first heat.”

“How old are you, Adira?” Duncan asks curiously.

“Twenty-two,” I tell them. “They killed my father on Rock’s orders. Unknowingly, I’ve been taking suppressants for years that my father was giving me. I still am not sure why he’d do that. The guys blew up my house.”

“They’ve always enjoyed a flair for the dramatic,” Duncan grunts. “I’ll explain, I promise. So what happened next?”

“Damon and I are bonded. It happened during my heat, and it’s really strong. I can hurt him without touching him. When I heard that they were still going to sell me, I ran from them, and Damon tripped on a hole in the driveway and shot me,” I explain.

Duncan rolls his eyes as he serves himself some soup as well, and I realize that we’re all eating it. Callum isn’t showing any ill effects from eating it either. This is one the nicest things they could do for me, which shows how terrible my life has been.

“Fucking idiots,” Callum mutters. “So they ended up doing emergency surgery wherever it was that you were.”

“Yes,” I say, not wanting to mention that we were at Morris’ sister’s house. I find myself wanting to protect her and her children for some reason. “I was in pain and unconscious, and I could push my pain at Damon. They realized that if I died, I would pull him down with me.”

Duncan almost inhales and snorts his soup, spraying things as he chokes. My lips twitch as I hand him a napkin. I don’t know if I’ll smile again anytime soon, but that was funny.

“Feisty and vindictive, good,” Callum says. “You’re going to need that.”

“So, are you going to explain why you have clothes for me, shower products, and whatever else? Did you just expect to win me at the auction?” I ask him, continuing to eat. I’m almost full, and I’m trying to finish before he says something that’ll make my stomach cramp.

“Yeah,” Duncan rasps, his voice all messed up from his food going down the wrong pipe. Taking a sip of water, he clears his throat, shuddering. “We simply had to win the auction. There was no other option.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” I mutter, shifting on the stool. My ass is sore, and these wooden chairs aren’t doing me any favors.

Callum reaches behind himself for a pillow that’s there. It’s a flatter one that must go on the chairs and he looks sheepish as he gets up.

“I was wiping down the chairs and forgot to replace the pillows. Hop down, I’ll fix it,” he says, holding out his hand to help me.

My legs are still shaky as I slip off the chair, and I hold onto the counter as he replaces the cushion where I was sitting.

“This should help,” he says softly, helping me back into the chair.

“Thanks,” I say, watching as he nods and goes back to his seat. It really does help the soreness from being spanked by Morris while on stage. I still can’t help but feel ashamed at how I responded to the alphas and the beta.

I should have fought harder, done anything other than what I did.

“Hey!” Duncan barks, and I glance up because he startled me, not because I was commanded to. “Don't go wherever your mind just tried to take you. I swear, we aren’t going to hurt you. We didn’t buy you for the reasons we gave Rock. The auction was private and we had to petition for admittance.”

He’s misunderstanding where my mind went, but I appreciate the effort to pull me out.

“He went through an awful lot of trouble for revenge on a girl who didn’t do anything to him,” I grumble. “My father messed up, but I don’t know anything else about it.”

“Rock doesn’t need much of a reason to decide to ruin someone’s life, Adira,” Callum says. “You didn't have to do anything.”

“Rock’s sons say there was nothing they could do but follow his instructions,” Duncan says. “He runs the mafia family and business, and they are employed by him. Unfortunately, they chose to save themselves over you.”

“They don’t know me or owe me anything,” I mutter. “I’m just a girl whose house they blew up and whose father they tortured and killed.”

“But they do,” Callum growls. “Fate chose to tie you to them. I would do anything for that. Jed reached out to my brother and I saying he needed a buyer who would bid whatever it took to win you.”

“Why?” I ask, my heart beginning to pound.

“They want you,” Callum explains. “Damon won’t survive without you, he’s losing his mind and didn’t want to go along with the auction. There was no doubt, in Jed’s mind, that this was the best course of action, so everything that happened was planned.”

---