Page 10 of Knot Dead Yet

Kane ran a hand through his hair as he stared the way the Omega had gone. “She’s going to try to make a break for it. Ewan, go outside and stand by the bathroom window.”

My cousin chuckled and headed out of the house. Ewan must have thought this a grand time. The most drama our pack has ever had was in game. Tensions were high out on the ice, especially when we played Chicago. Those bastards threw more punches than they shot pucks.

I was the opposite of my cousin. I needed harmony, and we were far from that at the moment.

“This is a fucking mess.” Tiergan grunted and hit the top of the chair. I winced at what sounded like a small crunch of wood. He didn’t appear to have noticed or didn’t care. “We have to make her see that we want to help her.”

Maddox nodded, curling and uncurling his fingers repeatedly.

Oh no. I needed to make sure it didn’t get worse. “We need to give Kienna some space right now. She’s scared. I mean, if we were any other guys, it would totally look like we just kidnapped her. If she has her phone in there, she could be calling the police right now.”

“She doesn’t have a cell.” Kane shook his head.

From outside, Ewan’s laughter rang. “Hey baby. Coming out for another run?”

“Fuck!” Kienna’s cry had us all tense up again. It was followed by the sound of the window banging shut and more of Ewan’s laughter from the side yard.

The Omega was feisty, and it made me want to smile. I didn’t envy her father though. And now the Alphas of my pack were taken by her. That was going to be a problem on several levels; never mind that she was an absolute handful and smoking hot on top of it.

“We need to talk to her.” Kane started down the hall. Every muscle in his body was rigid.

“Wait.” I held up a hand, braving his glare. “Let’s give her a few minutes. We need to discuss what we’re going to do. I don’t think it’s a good idea to go in there and demand she listens to us. We know we were trying to help, but if she tells people she was kidnapped, who is going to believe a couple of hockey players over a billionaire’s daughter?”

“Fuck, you’re right.” Tiergan wandered over to the kitchen island and leaned on the counter, rubbing his face with his hands. “We screwed up. Right before our chance at the Calder Cup, we fucked it all up.”

“Nothing is fucked up,” Kane stated with steel in his tone. “We will make her understand. We’ll take her directly back to her father. Birk will be grateful. There is no problem here.”

No problem? He was delusional.

“We’re not giving her back.” Maddox folded his arms. I gaped at him. Now who was delusional? Shit.

“We have no choice.” Kane shook his head.

“It’s not our choice. It’s Kienna’s.” I didn’t know if their heads were all a mess or what, but I had to prevent any further damage. Kane was excellent at keeping us working as a team, but we’d never experienced anything like this before. “Look, I know what happened… She’s an Omega. You guys are Alphas. It was clear to everyone there that you’re compatible with her. All of you. Yet you can’t let your dicks think for you.”

“I’m not.” Kane shot back with a growl. “She’s going back to her father and we’re never seeing her again. I will tell her—”

“I’m going to talk to her.” Tiergan tapped his chest and marched toward the hall. Maddox stepped to stand in his way, and the two of them bared their teeth at one another.

“None of you are going to talk to her.” The situation was messy enough. If any of them got within a few feet of her, I didn’t know if they’d be able to maintain control. Or they might fight one another for her. We were a pack, and I was the only one with a level head at the moment. “I’m a Beta. Hopefully far less scary for her right now. Let me go to her and see if she wants to talk. If not, we’ll wait until she’s ready.”

“Fine.” Kane exhaled through his teeth with a hiss and then took in a calming breath. Good, he was getting himself back together. “Okay. You talk to her, Al. Tiergan, you take care of the stuff for your folks, and I’ll go get the SUV. Mad, go take Ewan’s spot. We all know he sucks at being a guard.”

Orders were given. No one talked back. They all went to do their duties. Thank fucking god.

I took off my coat and draped it over a chair before going down the hall gently knocking on the bathroom door.

“Go away.” Kienna’s voice trembled. Was she crying?

“It’s Alderic. The rest of the guys are staying away. Can I come in?”

There was nearly a thirty second pause before the lock clicked. I opened the door and slipped inside, closing it softly behind me.

Kienna sat down in the large soaker tub with a gigantic cat cradled in her arms. She eyed me over top of the gray Maine Coon’s head as she stroked the thick fur. Her pink hair was tussled and her expression was wary. Even scared, she was incredibly pretty. Wide dark eyes, flushed cheeks, and cute pixie-like features.

“I see you found Molly.” I settled onto the opposite edge of the tub. I didn’t want to get into her space when she was nice enough to let me in here.

“Molly, so that’s your name, sweetie.” Kienna stroked the cat’s head, and Molly rumbled with a loud purr. “She was napping in the tub when I came in.”

---