Page 25 of Tangled in Knots

“Yeah,” I grunt. “Find a way for me to be able to be with her at all times. I don’t know if it’ll help?—”

“Fuck, you like her,” Jed groans. “Everything is going to shit, Morris. Kane is two steps away from throwing himself at the little omega. What the fuck is so special about her anyway?”

Stepping away from me, he runs his fingers through his dark curls, making them even more unruly.

“When an omega is scent matched to an alpha, there’s a high probability that she’ll bond quickly with the other pack members. Even if she isn’t a match with the others,” I tell him. “Omega 101 has been drilled into my brain, even if I don’t understand all of the specifics until my sister hits me over the head with them.”

“Your sister,” Jed sighs. “I know you deal with a lot of bullshit with her because of us.”

“You’re stuck with me,” I say, shrugging. My mouth tastes like ass, and I grimace. I need a toothbrush and pasteimmediately. Maybe some mouthwash for good measure. “Are we going to tell them?”

“No,” Jed says, the concern on his face transforming to grim determination. “We won’t tell Adira either. The plan still stands. I have some calls to make. I have an idea of who hates omega auctions with every fiber of their beings. They may be willing to act in our stead as buyers. I’ll find a way for you to join Ophelia’s team as well, explain it’s a favor to my father.”

“If she says something to him, how will you cover yourself?” I ask. As strongly as I feel, I still feel pulled to keep him safe. No matter what, there are many ways this could blow up in our faces.

“I’ll tell him I wanted a full report of her humiliation and abuse,” Jed says flatly. “Dad will believe that.”

“Yeah, he will,” I sigh. “Fuck, this just went from bad to worse in the blink of an eye.”

“It always does,” Jed reminds me, moving around me to open the door. “Go clean up and maybe catch some shut eye now that we aren’t going to be leaving anytime soon. I’ll keep an eye on the patient.”

Shaking my head, I follow him in, my mind filled with doubts and concern. This isn’t going to be any easier today than it will be in a few weeks when we drop her off at the auction house. It’ll be worse being around her, even if we keep her sedated for a lot of it.

However, the proper care and feeding of an omega tells me she’ll have to eat, use the restroom, things that will mean she has to be pulled out of sedation. It isn’t as easy as Rock is making it out to seem to his oldest son.

Fucking hell.

KANE

I’m sitting on the ground next to the little rabbit when my brother stomps back into the room. Morris doesn’t glance into the living room as he continues toward the stairs to climb them. Noting the odd behavior objectively, I decide I’m going to corner and interrogate Morris when I can get him alone later.

Not a lot happens without my finding out, and Jed is acting cagey as hell.

Lazily, I prop my foot up on the ottoman while extending the other past it. My boots are by the wall, taken off when I knew we were staying put. I’m near Adira’s stomach, clear of the tubing for the infusion or her arm propped up by the chair. Leaning my head back until it’s propped on the softness of her body, I make myself look as lazy as possible, the power of my body hidden.

Jed looks at me unimpressed as he strides to the freezer to pull out a pork shoulder.

“Cut the shit, Kane. You are not a lazy house cat in any sense of the imagination,” he sighs.

I still watch with my eyes at half mast as he begins to pull together a meal. It’s well into the afternoon at this point, and my stomach is beginning to complain after three days of fucking and rutting my little rabbit.

“Where’s Damon?” Jed asks disinterestedly, but I know he’s listening to every creak in the house to find him.

He left the living room once I got comfortable on the ground next to Adira. I know he wanted to be where I am, but I’m an asshole. I won’t mince words, I enjoy pushing my brothers to the edge of their patience and then shoving them off the cliff. Especially Demon.

Except, I watched him go downstairs to the makeshift nest we made for her, though for what purpose is beyond me.

“Don’t know,” I grunt, turning my face to bury my nose against the little rabbit’s upper thigh. Demon’s shirt is riding up now that she’s turned onto her side unconsciously, perfect for catching her scent instead of his. Just because she’s drugged and unaware, doesn’t mean she’s comatose and unable to move.

Adira smells like crack that’s been specially made for the Dresmond brothers. I fucking need more.

“She’s unconscious, brother, really?” Jed asks exasperated as he turns the slow cooker on. Without realizing it, I’ve been purring this entire time.

Huh. I didn’t know I was capable of the noise. I can feel Adira relaxing as I do it though, the underlying tension bleeding away. I like the power it gives me, and want to do it again. Especially since I know it’ll piss off Jed.

It probably would surprise people that my older brother is our caretaker. He’s taught us anything worth learning. We all know how to cook, keep house, and cleanly skin a human from their toes up while they’re alive. It’s amazing what kind of answers you can get if you’re careful, and how little matters when you’re not.

Torture is a balancing act of pain and suffering. Those are just a few of our life lessons.

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