Page 101 of Knot All That Glitters: Part 2

“You bonded them?” He sounds like he can’t believe it, like the concept is so foreign to him. “You stupid little bitch you bonded to a pack?” He’s shouting now, spittle flying from his lips. “Became their goddamn little slut? An animal forever driven by instincts, by crass urges and fucking?”

In the past, his rage would have been more than enough to make me shrink, to make me shrivel up into the submissive little omega he wanted me to be. But now? Well, now I have bonds with four men who are positively flooding me with reassurances, with strength, with resolve.

And I am unmoved by the anger of the alpha who has controlled my life for far too fucking long. “That’s generally what happens with fated mates.”

Behind me, I hear Florence suck in a sharp breath. “Haven.” There’s a tinge of happiness in the way she says my name. And that says something about who she is. That even in this moment, possibly the worst moment of her life, caused by me, by the man who calls himself my father, she’s happy for me, glad that I found my fated pack.

“Fated mates!” Frederick Bell roars. “Fucking fated mates? That is bullshit! It’s nothing more than biological impulses, you stupid little whore.”

I shake my head. “It doesn’t matter if that’s what it is. They are mine and I am theirs. What we do or don’t do together has absolutely nothing to do with you. Do you understand me?You no longer control me or my actions or my thoughts or my feelings. You arenothingto me.”

The anger seeps out of him so quickly I almost stumble back a step, almost give up my defensive position in front of Ren. It’s eerie how quickly he gets himself under control. How fast he goes from blowing his top to complete calm.

In a move I’ve seen a million times, he smooths his tie into place, straightens his suit jacket, then slicks back his hair. In a matter of seconds, he’s no longer the raging feral alpha, not in control of his emotions. Now he’s back to the senator.

“Is that so?” He asks pleasantly enough. His interview voice. “Should we test that theory?” A shiver travels down my spine as he pins me in place with his gaze. Eyes so very similar to mine. “Pick up the hammer.”

There’s an alpha bark in his tone, but it doesn’t hit. Doesn’t stick. Doesn’t make my body move against my will. Hale’s command is still the only one in place, keeping me safe from my father’s will.

My lips curl into a knowing smirk.

“Haven?” Ren’s scared voice hits my ears a second before I realize the command wasn’t for me.

I glance over my shoulder to find her hand curled around the wooden handle of a much smaller sledgehammer than the one used on her already shattered knee. My head whips back around to the man watching us impassively. “Stop,” I tell him. “Let her go.” My bonds with my pack are full of anger, worry, and still some of that reassurance. They’re on their way. They’re almost here. I just need to stall for a bit longer. But something about the way Frederick Bell is looking at me tells me that’s not going to happen.

He’s reached the end of his already short patience and he’s ready to end this. To force me to comply.

“Are you going to do as I say?”

I shake my head. “I can’t.”

“Pity.” He doesn’t look away from me, reading every emotion on my face. “Take that hammer and smash your other knee. It might take a few tries, so keep going until it’s done.”

“Haven!” Ren sobs. I don’t look at her. I don’t have to in order to know she’s fighting the command. The hammer is probably poised in the air and shaking with the force of his bidding. She’s fighting, but she won’t be able to last long, and I absolutely refuse to let her hurt herself.

“I know what I have to do,” I murmur. “I know.”

A victorious smile curves my father’s mouth at the same time Ren shouts at me, “Don’t you fucking dare, Haven!”

But I do. I do dare. Oh, god, do I fuckingdare.

He doesn’t know what hit him. Literally.

One moment, he’s standing there grinning at me. The next he’s stumbling back, headfirst from the force of the bullet I just put in him. It’s not a clean shot. Not right in the center of his forehead. I’ve never shot anyone before, but I have fired a gun. There were a few times when he dragged me to a gun range as a publicity stunt to show that omegas didn’t need to be protected by alphas. That with the right tools, they were completely capable of protecting themselves. It was probably the only time I agreed with anything he said.

There’s a loud thud that has me spinning around, dropping to my knees in front of Ren again, reaching up to cup her wet cheeks. The hammer is on the ground next to the chair, her knee intact. Thank god.Thank god.

“You okay?” I wince at the stupid question. Of course she’s not okay. How could she be? But she nods and curls her fingers around my wrists.

“Yes. I’m okay.” Her eyes flick over my shoulder to where I know the body of Frederick Bell is laying on the floor. “You shot him.”

I nod, wiping tears from her skin. “I did.”

“Haven, you shot him.”

“I know. I wasn’t going to let him hurt you again.”

She nods resolutely, before leaning forward to press her forehead to mine. “Yeah. He won’t hurt either of us again.”

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