Page 29 of Knot So Sweet

We didn’t take away free will. It wasn’t what the MC stood for.

I locked eyes with my enraged enforcer, trying to get him to see reason. My gaze was hard as steel.

A Steel Serpent.

Ghost growled in frustration. His hands rested on the edge of the desk that separated us, his posture tense. He was a deadly alpha, and I knew if we came to blows, he would put up one hell of a fight. I hoped it didn’t come to that, but he needed to back the fuck off.

"What do we stand for?" I demanded, ignoring everything he had been saying for the last ten minutes.

"Why the fuck are you asking me that?" Ghost shot back, his anger barely contained. The tension between us was palpable, a live wire sparking with every breath.

My nostrils flared as I studied him, the scent of his frustration mingling with the remnants of Candice’s perfume. "What does our patch stand for? What does the oath you took mean?"

I pointed at the serpent emblem on his cut, a symbol of our crew’s ethos.

"Honor. Protection. Loyalty," Ghost replied, his jaw clenched as he answered, the words coming out with a measured intensity.

"Protect those who need it," I reminded him.

Ghost’s eyes narrowed, the frustration in his gaze turning into a sharp edge of irritation. "We protect women and children. Omegas and betas."

I nodded slowly, rising from my chair with a deliberate calm. I ran a hand over my beard. "And our little omega? Does she fall under our protection?"

Ghost’s nostrils flared. "Of course," he scoffed, as if the answer should have been obvious.

I leaned forward, my hands braced on the desk, eyes locked on his. "I am trying to protect her fromus," I hissed. "She gets a choice. We don’t take that from her. Ever."

Ghost’s expression softened slightly, though his frustration remained. "You think I don’t know that? I would never force her—"

"She was afraid, Ghost. Is that what you want? Her fear? What would yourbrothersay if he saw you right now, forcinghisomega into submission? What would Chaos think ofus,hmm?"

He growled. "She wanted us! Why are you—"

I cut him off again. "She was terrified, Gabriel!" I bellowed, using his real name for the first time in years. But he needed to understand I would not budge on this. My eyes narrowed as silence fell upon us.

"I willneverforce her. What would Chaos think if he found out you forced his omega into a bond she didn't want?"

He recoiled like I'd slapped him. Calling him anything but his road name was insulting. But bringing Chaos into this? That was a low blow.

Even for me.

But he needed to see this for what it was.

Ghost growled, his fist banging on the desk that separated us. "Don’t fucking talk about him! He will never get to have her. He lost that because of the club. Because of the Hounds."

I stared him down, knowing this was the crucial moment. Chaos and Ghost were meant to share a mate, a pack. Now, I was using that shared history to drive home my point.

Ghost’s anger flared, but there was a flicker of understanding behind his eyes. He clenched his fists, his knuckles white against the dark oak of the desk. The silence between us grew heavy, filled with the weight of Chaos's death and the fact we had almost forced our omega when she wasn't ready.

I could see the internal struggle warring within him, the clash between his loyalty to the MC and his alpha instincts to protect his omega. His shoulders sagged slightly, the fire in his eyes cooling to a smoldering ember.

"You’re right," he said, his voice rough. "I get it. We can’t just push her into submission. It’s not what we’re about. It wouldn’t be honoring Chaos either."

I nodded, feeling a mixture of relief and white-hot fury. Relief that he was seeing things my way, and fury at the loss we still felt from that failed run. From losing a brother.

But Chaos died with honor.

"Exactly. We need her to come to uswillingly, totrustus. If we force her, we’re no better than the alphas who prey on their omegas. No different than a stray. A Hound… Than, Adam Sterling."

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