Page 74 of Knot All That Glitters: Part 2

Betrayal hits out of nowhere. I don’t know why. I supposed based on what Jude just finished asking of me, I would have assumed he’d be the last person to get them to let me go.

“You did?” God. I’m on the verge of crying again.

“Don’t look at me like that, button.” He runs a hand through his golden locks. “It was more of a give you the illusion of letting you go. But I’m certainly not going to let you date anyone else right away. That would probably kill me.”

“Us,” Tic adds. “It would kill us to watch you date another pack, angel.”

“But that’s crazy.” I throw up my hands in frustration. “You can’t expect me to just… not look for a pack! To be alone for the rest of my life.”

“Who said anything about you being alone?” Creed asks, moving closer. They all are, actually, stalking into the kitchen until they’re surrounding me. “You’ll be with us, and we’ll be with you. That’s how this ends, baby girl. Surely you can see that.”

“Don’t call me Shirley,” I mutter, turning back to my laptop and regretfully closing out of the intake form. I’ll fill it out laterwhen not surrounded by swinging dicks. Maybe Jude will forget to write his little code and it’ll go through. I certainly hope that is the case.

No matter what they say about us being together, about them carry the burden of my safety, I don’t think I can trust it. Really, they only have themselves to blame.

They approached me with nefarious intentions, lied and manipulated me from the beginning. Nevermind that Creed says he didn’t want to be a part of it. He didn’t put a stop to it either, didn’t tell me what was happening. He let me fall deeper in love with them, knowing how it was going to hurt.

“It’s late,” I mutter. “I’m going to bed.”

I should have just done that rather than coming down here on the pretense of making tea. I was filled with righteous anger and the need to take solid steps for my future. But it’s well after midnight now and I just need to sleep.

“Little mouse,” Hale calls after me as I head up the stairs. “We’re still gonna talk about what happened tonight. You will not get out of it.”

“Oh, goody,” I murmur, just loud enough that I know they’ll hear it.

“Wait, Haven,” Tic calls after me, drawing me up short. I watch as all four of them jog toward me, up the stairs, until I’m once again surrounded by them.

I arch my brows, waiting, and I swear all four of them blush a little, looking anywhere but at me. “Did you need something?” I ask when they all just stand there for an unaccountably long time.

Hale winces and grips the back of his neck. “This isn’t really how we planned on doing this.”

When he doesn’t say anything else, I lose patience. “Do what? Keep me from going to bed? Is this punishment for going off on my own? Sleep deprivation?”

Creed growls. “We aren’t punishing you.”

“Let’s just show her,” Jude mumbles, looking downright bashful.

Tic’s hand pressing into the small of my back and urges me up the rest of the stairs. I frown when we bypass my bedroom door and then my heart rate kicks up when I realize where they’re taking me.

I want to dig in my heels and refuse to take another step forward, but I have no doubt if I do, one of them will just pick me up and move me where they want me. So I’ll let them do this. Let them show me a room I have no business stepping foot into.

I swallow thickly when they pause outside the door that leads to the nest. The only room in the house I haven’t been inside. Why would I when it was undoubtedly meant for someone else? For Janie? It’s not my space. It never will be.

Tic nudges me forward, and my hand trembles as I reach out to the handle, my heart cracking just a little more when I curl my fingers and push the door open. I don’t enter. Just stand there on the threshold. Blinking into the dark of the room.

The smell of fresh paint reaches my nose, the clean scent of freshly washed sheets and blankets, and all four alphas of the Calloway pack.

Jude reaches into the room and flicks on the light. Where I’d expected it to be bright, instead a soft glow lights up from the inside, the lights dimmed to keep from being too harsh. There’s a wide hallway leading into a larger space, the walls on either side lined with cabinets.

“Take a look,” Creed murmurs right next to my ear, making me jump forward, my feet feeling clumsy as I make my way down the hall. My heart is thundering and my legs feel like mush, and I don’t want to go in here. I don’t want to see the space they made for their omega, their fated mate.

But with four alphas behind me, I move forward until I can see the beauty that is the nest. Misty forest walls. Cream, grey, greens, and blues everywhere. Shelves lined with books. Soft cushiony rug, beanbag chairs and meditation pillows scattered across the floor. A giant bed takes up one side of the room, draped in a dreamy, creamy canopy and dripping with fairy lights. I want to dive into that mountain of pillows and curl under all those blankets and sleep for days.

My omega urges me to do that, to claim this space as my own… but it’s not. It’s Janie’s. They built this for her, and even though it’s exactly the nest I would have made for myself, I can’t claim it.

I clear my throat, lick my lips and don’t look at any of them as I make myself say, “very pretty.” I can’t bring myself to say more, not when I’m struggling with my omega to keep my feet rooted to the ground.

I’m so focused on my internal battle that I barely notice that the alphas haven’t said anything in response, that they’re all watching me, waiting for me to do something. Butwhat,I don’t know.

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