Page 14 of Knot Made to Break: Part One

And that nickname…Kitten.

No one had ever used an endearment that didn’t give me a skin crawling sense of dread. But the way he called me ‘Kitten’ was a completely novel experience. Nothing about it triggered me like I’d expected it to. Yet another anomaly I couldn’t explain.

“I…” I swallowed hard, my throat feeling impossibly dry. Pushing myself into a sitting position, I curled into the arm of the couch and brought my knees to my chest. I hugged my arms around them and tried to speak again. “I do. You could have left me there. But you risked your lives… for mine.” The question that truly plagued me slipped free despite my better judgment. “Why?”

The silence that followed was deafening, the weight of it pressing down on me until I thought I might suffocate. I shifted restlessly, clenching my hands into tight fists as I fought the urge to flee, to run until my lungs burned and the intoxicating draw of their scents faded to nothing but a distant memory.

And then Dimitri moved, reaching out to me slowly, carefully. He gave me time to say no, to pull back, but when I didn’t protest, he closed the distance. His palm was calloused yet warm as he gently cradled my hand, sending those same sparks of liquid heat licking along my veins.

The intimate contact stole what little breath I had, every nerve ending in my body blazing to life in a dizzying rush, focused raptly on where his skin met mine.

“We volunteered to get you out, in part because the Valentinos needed to be taught a lesson,” Dimitri growled, “but mostly because no one should treat an Omega like an object. A possession to be sold.”

“Despite popular opinion, most Alphas don’t take kindly to Omegas being hurt or abused,” Giovanni added.

That wasn’t my experience, and they must have seen that in the wince that crossed my face before I ripped my gaze away and dropped my head, hiding behind the curtain of dirty hair that fell over my shoulder.

“The few who taint the many,” Marcus grumbled. “Most Alphas would never deign to hurt an Omega. Everyone goes on about our instincts to rut and claim, but what about our protective natures? That’s just as fuckin’ strong.”

Tommas hummed his agreement, seeming equally put out. “It’s the select few who give us a fucking bad reputation. Omegas are precious and Alphas aren’t so mindless we can’t control ourselves.”

I shook my head, not because I wanted to argue the point, but because I was trying to make sense of everything. “That still doesn’t explain why you risked your lives to get me out of there. You could have been killed.” Indignation swept through me as the gravity of what they’d done for me set in.

Tears pricked the backs of my eyes, threatening to spill over. The idea of any one of them hurt because of me was almost too much to bear.

I wasn’t worth it.

I wasn’t worthanyof it.

A low purr built in Dimitri’s chest, as if he could read my mind and wanted to contradict every single word.

That sound…

Goosebumps raced across my skin like tiny, never-ending mountain ranges. I squeezed Dimitri’s hand tighter, feeling the vibrations transcending from his fingers to mine. A pleasant shiver skated down my spine and my entire body leaned toward him.

I hadn’t even processed what it meant that Dimitri was purring for me before he spoke again.

“You’re our mate, Kitania.”

He’d said the words so softly, yet they detonated within me like a grenade, shattering every fragile barrier I’d erected around myself.

Mate?

No. No, that wasn’t possible.

Scared, terrified, I pulled away, ignoring the flash of hurt that crossed his face, there and gone in a blink of an eye.

I squeezed my legs tightly to my body, trying to hold myself together from the outside in.

The revelation was beautifully devastating, leaving me breathless and reeling.

“Mate?” I echoed softly, blinking, not sure I’d heard him correctly. But he didn’t contradict me. “That’s not… you can’t possibly think…”

My thoughts were a jumble of nonsense as I tried to process. It didn’t make sense. I was tainted. Broken. But these men didn’t look at me like I was damaged goods.

Did they have any idea what I’d endured? Whatthose Alphashad done to me?

I closed my eyes tightly as shame swirled through me, thick and viscous, smothering what little remained of my self-worth. Bile scalded the back of my throat as I curled in on myself, instinctively trying to make myself smaller, to shrink away from their unwavering gazes.

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