Page 11 of Knot That Delicate

I considered following her chaotic trail to see if I could figure out where she came from, but I didn't know how far that would be. Besides, it was dark, and even with the best tracking equipment, I would risk getting lost in this woodland. It was dense and dangerous, especially with no signal to communicate with my pack. And the rain was coming down in buckets.

Sighing to myself, I turned to leave and head back towards the cabin. All the cameras were still in place, and I would be watching them like a hawk. Every one of them was installedwith night vision, and I had spared no expense when picking the equipment for my pack's home.

As I turned to leave, I noticed a flash of pink out of the corner of my eye, hardly visible in the dark. Leaning forward, I plucked the fabric off the ground. It was the tattered remnant of a dress.

Despite the low light and the rain blocking my vision, it clearly belonged to her. Lifting the scrap of fabric to my nose, I inhaled deeply. Most of the scent was washed away, thanks to the rain, but I could pick up a hint of strawberries and something sort of acidic, maybe even burnt. Was it the smell of her fear, or was it the smell of someone else? Was it the smell of her captor?

Either way, I needed to hold on to it, so I stashed the scrap of fabric in my pocket and started the trek back to the cabin. I didn’t want to leave any trace of her outside in case someone tried to track her. Daylight would be breaking soon, and then I could reassess and search outside a bit more.

I took my time, taking each step carefully because all of the ground was slick with mud. How the omega had made it this far was baffling. She had to have tracked at least two miles, because our land protruded two miles in every direction. Despite her delicate nature, she clearly had some fire to her, and I could appreciate that.

But having an omega in the same cabin with us all winter long posed multiple issues. We had created nice, peaceful lives for ourselves, and we had decided long ago that we didn’t want an omega. Omegas caused trouble, and we wanted to avoid trouble at all costs.

Except now, trouble had turned up, literally on our doorstep, in a painfully adorable package that smelled far too good.

This was going to be a huge complication, but we were in the situation now, and there was nothing we could do.

The alphas seemed nice enough.

I sat on the floor, crying hysterically, tears rolling down my face faster than I could wipe them away. I couldn’t help but think that these guys weren’t out to hurt me, but still, something didn’t sit right in my gut. For years, my life had been one singular room, and in just a few short hours, everything had changed at such a rapid pace that my mind was spinning.

Instinctively, I knew I felt safe with these guys, but that was probably just my omega biology. Even though it had been suppressed for so long, deep down, I was still an omega, and I still had the instincts of one.

Taking several deep, ragged breaths, I pulled myself together and stood up, quietly leaving the bathroom to look around thebedroom they had kept me in. Well, they hadn’tkeptme in the room—it wasn’t locked. It was the room they had simply put me in. It was nice enough, as I had observed before, but what I hadn’t realised was that there was a window.

Taking a few steps across the room, my footsteps echoing on the hardwood floor, I gently tugged at the window, which came open with ease.They hadn’t locked me in, I thought to myself in confusion. Maybe I was broken from being in captivity for so long, but the idea of an open window felt downright perplexing to me.

Was I going to look a gift horse in the mouth, though? Of course not.

I gripped the windowsill lightly, looking back at the door, towards where the alphas were sitting in the kitchen, then at the open window. I didn’t think they were going to hurt me, and realistically, I thought I would be safe. But did I want to stay in this place, where I didn’t know what would happen? Did I want to risk the potential unknown? What if these guys were monsters? What if they were psychopaths? What if they were just playing nice until they could lock me in their basement? Wait, did cabins even have basements?

Daylight was starting to peek out from behind the trees, despite the pouring rain, so I would be able to see where I was going. I was weighing up the options in front of me. Stay safe, warm, and fed with these three alphas I had never met before, or take my chances at trying to find civilisation.

Kane would be looking for me. I knew that as surely as I knew my name was Juniper. My brother never would have given up on searching for me. Nor would my parents, for that matter. Kane was far more physically fit, though, so I assumed he would be spearheading the efforts to find me. Also, the police. Surely they had to be on the lookout for me. Even though it had been years, they never forgot a kidnapped omega.

I knew logically what my best opportunity was—it was to go and find a Haven. There were Havens all over the country, small sanctuaries that omegas were kept in while they courted a pack. I’d had the option to go to a sanctuary Haven when I was younger, but my family and siblings were convinced they could protect me well enough, and I had believed it as well. To be fair, they had protected me really well. I had never experienced any unwanted alpha advances. But they hadn’t expected a psychopath beta who thought he wanted to be an alpha more than anything, so he kidnapped an omega. That was a little out of left field.

The alphas claimed that I wouldn’t be able to leave, but could I trust them? Maybe they were keeping me here under false pretences. Even if there were a few mudslides and trees in the roads, I could navigate terrain on foot that a car never would.

If I made my way to a Haven, they would be able to contact my brother. My brother and family would only be in one place—assuming they were still at our family home. Considering I had no idea where in the country I was, it was going to be difficult for them to get to me. The staff and other omegas at the haven would keep me safe until they could get my brother a message, and he would come for me.

I absentmindedly chewed on my thumbnail as I looked out at the pouring rain. How far away would the nearest Haven be? If I kept running, surely I’d eventually come across one. Then again, Havens were also pretty secluded because they needed to be fortresses for the omegas inside them.

I didn’t know how long I stood there, staring out at the rain, but eventually, the downpour started to ease, and I knew if I was going to make a break for it, now was the moment.

Taking another quick look around the room, I noticed a pair of battered old boots in the corner, which I assumed belonged to one of the alphas. I scuttled over and picked them up, liftingthem to my nose and taking a deep breath. They smelled like the smaller one...Asher, I think his name was. They were a few sizes too big for me, and looked almost comical when I slipped them on, but they were better than running through the mud barefoot. His pastry, almost bread-like smell clung to them.

I giggled quietly at the sight of my feet in the boots—it was like I was wearing clown shoes. After I strapped them on as best I could, I padded back over to the window, doing my best to keep my footsteps quiet because I didn’t want to alert the alphas to what I was doing. They seemed nice enough, but I needed to be free. I hadn’t fought like hell and kept myself alive for so many years just to be stuck in a cabin in the middle of the woods.

I needed to be free, and I needed to be freeimmediately.

Hauling myself over the windowsill, I sent a silent thank you to the universe that the alphas had placed me in a bedroom that was on the ground floor. It meant that the fall from the windowsill to the ground was minimal and easy, even if it still took the breath out of me.

My feet squelched in the mud, sinking an inch or two into it.How long had it been raining?The ground outside the cabin was like a quagmire.

Straightening my spine, I looked around and decided to go straight on. I had come from the direction the cabin faced originally. At least, Ihopedthat was the case — because I had passed out slightly when Carter brought me back to the cabin. If he had taken any turns or gone any bendy ways back towards the cabin, then my sense of direction could be completely off.

I couldn’t see anything for miles. There was no sign of civilisation, other than the cabin itself.Why on earth would alphas choose to live such a secluded life?

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