Page 52 of Knot All That Glitters: Part 2

“People, yes, but generally not omegas,” Tic adds his own two cents in and it makes my jaw clench. Even if he’s not wrong. Omegas hate being cold and we have a tendency to freeze our asses off even in the middle of summer, hence all the blankets and sweaters and fluffy socks we wear everywhere. Just about the only time we aren’t cold is during a heat, when we burn with a fever that only alpha cock can quench.

“I’m willing to risk it,” I drawl. “I love hiking, even in winter.”

“You do, button?” Jude doesn’t sound convinced. Really, he shouldn’t believe me, because I don’t know if I love hiking in winter. I’ve never been. The few times I have been able to hit the open trail has been during the summer and the early autumn, usually around my birthday.

Although my father supported me running marathons, he didn’t want people to get the impression I was a granola eating hippy. Wouldn’t have looked good for him.

So no, I don’t know that I love hiking in winter, but I do love hiking. I want to do more of it now that I don’t have my father’s commands holding me back.

Might as well start now.

Hale’s brow furrows. “I don’t think it’s safe out there, mouse. Most trails will be buried in snow.”

“Snowshoes.”

“What?”

“We can get snowshoes!” Oh yeah, I like that idea. “Or maybe cross-country skis! We could go skiing! I’ve never been, but I’ve always wanted to try.”

I bounce on the stool a little at the idea, getting swept away with the image of the five of us all bundled up in heavy winter coats, trekking through the snow, snuggling up in a lodge with a roaring fire and hot cocoa. Even my omega likes the idea, though I suspect it’s the lodge and the snuggling and the cocoa she likes, and not necessarily the trekking through the woods part.

“God, you’re fucking adorable,” Jude says, shaking his head with a grin on his face.

“Adorable yes,” Hale says, but by his tone, I can tell what else he’s going to say. “But hiking in January, no. I’m sorry, mouse. It’s just not safe and we don’t have the right equipment ready.”

My shoulders slump. I guess I’ve gotten so used to them catering to my every whim since they saved me from my father—again—that I assumed they’d say yes to this.

“Next year, baby girl. We’ll rent a cabin for an entire month.”

My mouth screws up as my nose wrinkles. In theory, that would be nice, but I won’t be here next year. As soon as my father is taken care of, I’m going to leave the Calloway pack behind. We’ve discussed this. If they think I’ll change my mind about it, they are dead wrong. It’s purely self-preservation at this point.

Even if, lately, especially with seeing Brian being dragged away in cuffs, my innermost parts have softened toward them. I swear every day it gets a little harder to hold on to my anger, my resentment. To remember why I have to keep my distance.

The ache in my chest as I laid in the rain in the grass. The painful heat they helped bring on. The betrayal of their actions. All of that and so much more.

It doesn’t matter that by the time I found out what they were doing, they’d decided not to use me that way. It doesn’t matter that they have a superb reason for it. My father is a monster and what he did to Janie and this pack deserves retribution.

The fact of the matter is, they still intended to hurt me that way, approached me knowing that I would be ruined by the time they were done with me. They came up with this plan when I was a child. They waited and plotted and watched until I was old enough that they deemed it not creepy for them to approach me. Years. They thought about my ruination for fucking years, and I can’t let that go.

It’s possible they still haven’t let it go. That if their other schemes don’t go according to plan, they might revert to their original one. Jude says he deleted the videos, the pictures, but can I really trust that?

Yes, my omega tells me over and over.Yes, they are pack. They will protect us. They will keep us safe from harm and bond us and mate us and breed us and give us lots and lots of babies.

It’s at this point in her constant pushing that I have to tell her to shut up. Even as that all too familiarwantaches in my chest.

My omega tells me they’ll give me everything I’ve ever wanted.

They tell me the same.

But everything else, all of their actions, their deceit, and my lifetime of experiences, has taught me that alphas are power hungry, control freaks. Once something doesn’t go their way, it won’t take much for them to go back on their word.

One moment is all it would take for them to bark me into submission, for them to turn me into a tool yet again.

So I cannot, under any circumstances, let any portion of my icy resolve to leave them melt.

“Haven?”

I swallow and blink back to the present, finding that sometime while I was ruminating, Jude and Tic disappeared, and I’m now alone with Hale and Creed. My empty bowl is gone, and both alphas are looking at me expectantly.

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