Page 5 of Knot All That Glitters: Part 2

I spin and heave into a nearby garbage can. Bile and liquor climbing up my throat to splatter the plastic liner. I keep heaving until there’s nothing left, before straightening and swiping the back of my hand over my mouth. “Tell us,” I demand.

“You sure you want to fucking know?” Creed eyes me and then the garbage can. “Think you can handle it?”

I give a jerky nod, even though I’m not sure I can handle it. This feels like Janie all over again. And I barely survived the first time around. There’s no way I’ll survive this.

“She’s currently in a medically induced coma, drugged to get her through the rest of her heat with as little pain as possible.”

“That doesn’t answer the question,” Tic says hoarsely.

“I know.”

I growl and take a step toward him, done with his bullshit. He may have known from the start who Haven would be to us, but that doesn’t mean he loves her more than the rest of us. We deserve to know what the fuck happened to her. Deserve to know just how much we have to make up to her, what we’ll need to beg her forgiveness for.

He lifts his eyes to meet mine again, and I stop dead. Dread filling my stomach. Just fucking knowing whatever he says next is going to destroy me. Destroy us.

“Florence found her in a freezer,” Creed says, voice devoid of any emotion. I don’t know how that’s the case, how he can be so detached as he tells us this. “It didn’t have any electricity, thank fuck. But she was all alone, locked in a fucking walk-in freezer and going through her first fucking heat. A heatweforced her into.”

Nausea rolls through my stomach. Fuck. She must have been in so much pain. My omega. I did that to her. Creed swipes open his phone and then shoves it at me. I look down at the picture. It’s Haven. Her skin flushed with fever, hair sweaty andlank, eyes glassy with lust and need, but her mouth is twisted into a grimace of pain. And there are scratch marks all over her body, mostly on her stomach, like she tried to claw out her womb, the part of her that was causing her so much pain.

“Look at her,” Creed says in that same monotone voice. “Look at what we fucking did to her.”

Tic snatches the phone out of my hand, a low growl coming from him that turns into a whine when he sees the photo. Creed’s right. We did this to her. We touched her, coaxed her into her sexuality. We started feeding her tiny amounts of medication to counteract the suppressants she was taking, to make her more eager, more pliable in our games. Nevermind that it stopped being a game a long time ago, that being with Haven changed from revenge to… a necessity. She’s here, in this hospital, because of us.

Our fault.

Every scratch on her perfect skin.

Every ounce of pain she’s felt.

Every tear on her cheek.

All of it is our fault.

Jude collapses into the chair next to Creed. “I didn’t mean for her to find the pictures, the videos. They-I kept them because they’re so goddamn hot. My personal spank bank filled with my omega. It wasn’t… It wasn’t to keep score anymore.”

Creed scoffs. “I’m fucking done.”

A chill shivers down my spine. I don’t think he means he’s done with the game. He was technically never a part of it. He never reported any of the things he did with Haven, never recorded it. The only points he has on that spreadsheet are because we added them for him.

“What do you mean?” Tic voices the question I can’t.

Creed raises his eyes to meet mine. “I’m done with all of it. With revenge. With this fucked up pack.”

I know what he’s going to do before he does it. “Creed, no.”

But it’s already happening. Shredding his connection between himself and the rest of us, pulling the already frayed bond, snapping the strands one by one. I cry out, hand going to my chest as Tic and Jude do the same.

“Creed, man, please don’t,” Atticus gasps, tears in his eyes. “We need you.”

Creed stares at him, then me, face impassive. “Haven and I want nothing to do with you.You will not see or speak to my omega. You will never look at her again. You will not contact her for any reason.”

Creed’s dominance rolls over me, taking root. Fuck. I knew he was strong, that the main reason he isn’t our prime is because he just isn’t interested, but I didn’t know he was this fucking strong.

Tears spill down my cheeks. Not just from the pain in my chest from the shattering bond, but because I know without a doubt that this command he’s giving is going to stick. That the three of us will not break its hold. “Creed please, don’t. We need her, same as you.”

Jude drops to his knees in front of our pack mate, not above begging. “She’s ours too. We fucking love her.”

Creed stares down at him, lip curled in a snarl. “You love her so much you couldn’t delete a score card from your computer.” He looks at Tic. “You love her so much you drugged her.” His eyes fall on me. “You love her so fucking much you wouldn’t even consider giving up your revenge for her.”

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