Page 201 of Tangled in Knots

The details in between don’t matter, they’ve always been for Morris and I to work out, so my father won’t ask too many questions there. He’s used to the seamless way my pack and I work.

“I’ll give you GPS coordinates to plug into your phone to drive up to the house. It’s in the middle of nowhere, while still in Minnesota. You’ll dump her on the front porch and leave,”Dad says smugly.

It’ll be a cold day in hell before I ever leave him alone with her. We'll find a way to be able to have eyes and ears on her while we double back. I’m not losing her to an auction or my father’s madness again.

Absolutely not.

“Done,” I lie again. “Anything else I need to know? Are we needed for a relocation of the omega afterward?”

“I don’t know if there will be anything left,”he muses. Reaching out to Adira, I grab her hand to give her something to hold onto. Her other hand is clamped on her mouth, holding in the sobs.

I need to end this call now.

“Understood, we’ll play it by ear,” I grunt. “I’m almost done with my drive, so I’ll need to let you go to update everyone. Is there anything else I need to know?”

I’m only asking so he can’t complain that I rushed him off the phone. It also doesn’t give him the opportunity to conveniently forget to tell me something. My father’s ego knows no bounds.

“Don’t fuck this up,”he growls.“You know what’s at stake. The same rules apply as last time. Pack Rock will be in full attendance to make the little omega pay for the sins of her father. Existing is sometimes a worse fate than being swallowed, Jed. By the end of this, she’ll wish her cunt of a mother had.”

The line goes dead and I roar, “Adira breathe!”

A sobbing keen is what I get in response, and I curse under my breath. Yanking the wheel to the side, I park in a small lot of a gas station.

We’re currently on a desolate backstretch of road driving back to Minneapolis, but it’s better to park in a safely lit area than the side of the road.

“It’s okay, you’re safe,” I chant as I yank off her seat belt and pull her into my lap to hold her tightly.

I knew she had panic attacks, but it’s incredibly scary to witness.

“Let it out,” I rasp into her ear. “My father is a vile, disgusting man who gets off on hurting you. I’m so sorry you had to hear all of that and listen to me become the person I don’t want to be anymore.”

“He wanted to burn the Kellys in their own house!” she wails. God, this little omega. She’s more worried about her friends than her own hide. “They can’t be around me. Jed, I’m not any good for them.”

“Shh, that’s not true, baby. Nothing is going to happen to them,” I murmur, picking up my phone and dialing Duncan Kelly.

I need backup for this one.

“Hello?” Duncan answers. “How was the party… Adira? Whose dick do I have to cut off for making you cry?”

“My dad’s,” I answer. “He shared his plans with me for her kidnapping. I knew he’d be licking his wounds, and I was right. Adira wanted to listen to the call, which I agreed to, because I didn’t want there to be any secrets between us.”

“Except your father is one of the worst alphas on earth,”Duncan groans. I can practically see him scowling at me from here. “Short Stuff, talk to me. Take a breath.”

Adira takes a gasping breath, shuddering. Turning her head, she shoves her nose into my neck, and I realize she’s trying to ground herself.

Familiar scents, feelings, and textures can help pull people out of a panic attack. Until Damon went dark and numb, he had some really terrible attacks where he’d pass out from being unable to breathe.

“He’s awful,” she keens, crying. “I don’t want you to get hurt, Duncan. I couldn’t handle it.”

“Duncan, I have a date, time, and place for the kidnapping,” I murmur, rubbing Adira’s back. “I’m not too worried about Rock tracking this call, because Morris figured out how to use the satellites so it can’t be tracked as long as I keep it short. I’d rather do this in person tomorrow, though.”

“Yep, tomorrow,” Duncan grunts. “Adira,he may be awful, but evil dies when you kill the person housing it. Salt the fucking earth and throw lye over it to make sure of it. You’re so damn strong. Hold on for a little longer. Nothing is going to happen to Callum or I, okay?”

“Duncan?” I say, closing my eyes as I breathe in Adira’s sweet scent. “He mentioned Quinn on the call out of nowhere. I’ll be torturing any information I can out of him in her honor.”

“Quinn,”he whispers wistfully. “A part of me wants her to be alive so badly. The other part wishes she wasn’t.”

“Don’t say that,” Adira says, sniffling. “I’m realizing that living is always better than death. I get the chance to dream and grow, change the things I can. That’s so much better than having died from that gunshot in the snow last December. I hope she’s out there and that you find her.”

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