Page 10 of Tangled in Knots

ADIRA

It hurts. I’m breathing through the cramps, but it is slowly ramping up. If what the alpha said is true, this is going to get a lot worse.

“What is the purpose of delaying an omega’s heat?” I ask, desperate to know. It was always Dad and I against the world. Why would he do this to me?

“Grooming, though your father doesn’t seem the type to touch his daughter inappropriately,” Jed says, lips twitching when I snarl. “Could he have had a buyer? Dad doesn’t touch the skin trade, though. The auctions are different in his mind. What happens after omegas are bought doesn’t matter to him.”

“Secrets are fun to unravel,” the one with the red hair grins savagely, ignorant of the pain and sorrow that have to be clear on my face. “I’ll have to dig into his records a bit later, emails, all of it. There’s more to this than meets the eye.”

Yeah, no shit.

Fire moves through my body, twisting it. Eyelashes fluttering as my body contorts, I make noises I’ve never heard before. I need blankets, a dark room, and some toys. I don’t want anything from these alpha holes.

Absolutely…

Fuck!

“So pretty,” the redhead grins. There’s a red line across his neck from where I tried to kill him. I don’t know what I was thinking, but I was tired of sitting and doing nothing as they carried me further from my ruined home.

An auction. I’ve read about these on the darker chats. They’re cautionary tales for omegas, reminding us to be good little boys and girls so we don’t end up being kidnapped.

Oops. Guess I already screwed that up.

It feels like there’s an inferno ramping up in my body, and I force down the whine threatening to come out.

“I can do it alone,” I gasp instead. “I just need some vibrating help is all. It’ll be fine.”

“My sister is a beta, but her best friend almost went mad, when her mates got stuck across the country last year when they were moving. She spent her heat alone and said it was the worst?—”

“Shut up, Morris,” the alpha with the bark hisses. I close my eyes, trying to weigh my options, but it’s hard.

There are three knots in the car, strawberry shortcake in the air, and my scent match, looking at me curiously. I can feel my traitorous pussy clench over empty air and I whimper. God, this already hurts so much. These alphas can’t be my salvation. It’s not fair.

“Your first heat is likely to be bad,” the red-haired alpha croons. “Mmmm, let me between those creamy thighs and clean you up. All of that slick is going to waste, little omega.”

“Why is this my circus?” the alpha leader groans.

“Relax, Jed, don’t you want to know? It’s been an age since we’ve shared a girl, much less an omega,” the red-haired alpha chuckles.

“Names, fuck!” Jed roars. It would almost be funny if I didn't burn with need. Peeking up, I see my Cedar-scented scent match staring as if he can’t figure out if he’s scared of me or wants to devour me. At this point I would rather the latter.

It would be nice to have sex once before being sold, even if it is under my body’s duress. There are no good decisions right now.

“Let’s be honest, Kane is right. I’m sure her value will drop if we bring Ophelia a broken omega,” my scent match sneers. A part of me craves his name, while the other doesn’t want to know any more about him. “It would piss Dad off if he doesn’t get his money back.”

“For fuck’s sakes, Damon,” Jed sighs. I can feel myself lose a part of my soul as I hear his name. My scent match is beautiful, but his dead green eyes show that he doesn’t feel the same connection to me as I have to him.

I read once that scent matches were becoming more and more rare, and it may be for the best because this is underwhelming to say the least.

“Complain all you want, but Demon is right,” Kane huffs softly. He seems to be drifting closer and closer to the edge, making me worried that he may tumble into the trunk with me.

Jed reaches out, cuffing the crazy alpha by his collar. “Down boy,” he mutters when Kane growls at him.

This is going to get really bad.

“It could,” Jed says, surprising me. I stare up at him with widened eyes, making him smirk. “I can’t read minds, you’re speaking out loud, Adira. We’re going to have to get some water in you soon.”

Is he being nice to me right now?

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