Page 19 of Tangled in Knots

“It hurts,” I grunt, despite hating every moment of vulnerability. Whatever pain my scent match is in, the woman I’m supposed to protect, is clearly reflecting back into my body.

The tether is strong, even if I can’t feel her outside of the pain. Bonds are a strange thing. I’m horribly behind the curve, and I’m struggling to understand what’s happening or how. Fuck, I wish one of my brothers had also bonded with her, but as it is, I have to figure it out.

We’re each other’s only hope right now, since she’s unconscious.

“Get him over here,” Jed roars, laying Adira down on a wood table. Belatedly, I think about how we’re going to end up having to pay for it since it’s getting blood all over it.

“For fuck’s sakes, Damon, my sister isn’t going to care about the table,” Morris mutters, making it clear that I’m talking out loud.

Damn. I never do that. My control is quickly unraveling, my eyes locked onto the passed out omega on the table as they half drag me over as I stumble along. Grunting, I force strength into my backbone and body, reminding myself that I’m a stubborn son of a bitch.

I’ll push as much of it into the fallen princess on the table as she needs.

“Morris, grab the emergency supplies,” my older brother grunts as he rips Kane’s shirt down the little omega’s back.

I can see the blood flowing from the gunshot as I force my knees to lock, gazing at the wound. Pulling off my shirt, I hand it to Jed, unsure if it will help. Swallowing hard, I whisper, “Come on little omega.”

“She’s not going anywhere,” Jed growls, ignoring my shirt in lieu of a stack of towels forgotten on the counter. I think if he could alpha bark her to stay alive, he would. Too bad it doesn’t fucking work on her. “Get it together, Damon. Talk to her through the bond, you’re the only one who can. Use this massive fuck up to our advantage. Get her to stay while I fix this.”

“So you can fucking sell her anyway?” I ask, my grip returning to the edge of the table as I ground myself with the feeling of the wood beneath me. It groans underneath my hands, and my brother gives me a dispassionate look.

“We’ll get to that point after Morris and I patch her up,” he mutters. “Get ahold of yourself, do your part to keep her with us. That’s your job.”

Kane’s deep, rasping breath pulls me out of my glare off with my brother as he holds pressure on Adira’s back with the towel he grabbed, his fingers checking her pulse along her neck. I can see the bandage on her throat that Kane used to patch my biteup when we all came out of our heat haze. I should have been the one to do that. We started distancing ourselves the moment we left her in the nest to shower and change, our cum dried on her body and between her legs. A wave of disgust fills me as I gag, angry with myself.

Too late, a light, feminine voice floats through my mind. Shuddering, I shake my head, aware that my brother, Kane, is gazing at me as if I’m the most interesting thing in the world, despite the little omega on the table. I’m acting even more insane than he typically does, my head jerking and body ticking with every new emotion that doesn’t belong to me.

How do people get used to this?Is this part of the closeness normal alphas crave with their omegas? This goes to show how ruined I am by my father. I want to tell Adira that she deserves so much better than me. It simply won’t do any good for her to know, so I hold back the thoughts the best I can.

Morris walks quickly and determinedly into the room pulling my gaze away from Adira, his hands filled with supplies.

“My sister has kids, so she has extra supplies we can use,” the beta sighs, dropping things meticulously on the table. “Do you want me to get the bullet out or do you, boss?”

Morris is in full control now that there’s a crisis, deferring to his alpha. Closing my eyes, I search through the pain inside of me for Adira. She’s a dull light inside of me, and I wish I’d had more time to get used to this. It feels as if this is goodbye.

That’s unacceptable.

“Adira,” I croon, the sound unfamiliar as I reach out and push her hair away from her face. Keeping my eyes closed, I feel the angry pulse because I touched her. “Get mad, little omega. Come back and fucking yell at me.”

“Didn’t know that was your kink, but I’m here for it, little brother,” Kane grunts. I pay him no attention, mostly because I can hear the strain of worry in his voice.

I open my eyes now that her attention is on me, watching as my brother and Morris work. The kitchen has a bright spotlight over us where the table is, and they’re irrigating the wound to be able to see better.

“It didn’t go all the way through,” Jed says, his fingers moving to her chest to search for it.

Shaking his head, he makes a face. These two have patched up Kane and I enough for me to know that the little omega is in good hands. I just wish I hadn’t tripped on that damn hole and shot her. Shuddering, I wince at the pain waving over me, feeling sick. Her pain is buffering between the two of us. I have to find a way to help her without shutting her out.

Fuck.

“We’re okay,” I breathe. “Come on, baby. You can do this.”

Jed ignores me, the only evidence of my words are the tick over his eye as he picks up a pair of surgical pliers. It’s sad that we have to keep those in our medical supply bag, pre-sterilized for these conditions. Though, his hands are covered in her blood, so normal medical care is out the window.

Pushing the towel away, he cuts a large area of skin in her back to allow him to poke around for the bullet. I’m not typically squeamish, but the person he’s poking inside of is screaming in my head.

“You’re hurting her,” I say evenly, moving around to her head to cup the back of her head. “If you have anything in your bag of tricks to numb her, then I suggest you use it before I punch you in the face, big brother. I can feel everything you’re doing to her.”

Jed flinches, staring down at Adira as if to remind himself that the fragile girl underneath him isn’t just flesh and bone, but also a person.

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