Page 64 of Knot All That Glitters: Part 2

“One time. That happened one time.”

I grin at him. I can’t help it. If Haven’s been stealing our clothes, stealing ourscents, that’s a fantastic sign. It means she feels safe here, with us, that we make her feel calm and secure. If she’s falling asleep with our scents around her, it means she feels like we’re pack. No matter what kinds of conversations she’s having with Ren about joining a scent clinic.

Giddiness swells in my stomach, my chest, and I can’t help but let out a little chuckle. Finally. Fucking finally, we have a positive sign that she’s on the verge of… not forgiving us, but maybe trusting us a little more?

Yeah, trusting that we aren’t going anywhere, that we want her, will always want her. Trusting that we’ll keep her safe. That we can provide for her. All things her omega needs to feel secure.

If we can get her omega on board, I’m sure we can get Haven on board too. It’ll take longer, but we’re all willing to put in the work.

“Are we gonna form a pack again?” Jude asks, lounging in the little reading nook, dripping with pillows and blankets and soft white star-shaped lights.

The rest of us go quiet. Hale, Jude, and I stare at Creed, waiting for his reply. He’s the one that broke us, after all. I totally understand why he did. We were assholes, and we didn’t keepHaven safe like we should have, didn’t treat her like we should have.

We deserve him rending our pack bonds. But If I’m honest, they were pretty weak to begin with. The strain of years of grief, or heartache, or hatred and revenge made it brittle over the years. The situation with Haven only made it worse. It didn’t take much for them to shatter.

What we’re building now, the tentative peace, trust, and determination to win Haven back at all costs, feels healthier, stronger. Better than what we had before.

The inkling of a bond is there, but not one of us has fully accepted it, not yet.

I’m waiting for Creed to give the go ahead. To say that he wants a bond with me again. I don’t want to force one on him.

Creed sighs and shakes his head. My heart sinks.

He’s not ready.

All this time, the three of us should have been working to earn his trust back, too.

I suppose we’d thought we could do that by earning Haven’s trust, her forgiveness. After all, if she can forgive us for all the shit we did, surely he could too?

Creed frowns, opens his mouth. Shuts it. Opens it again. But right at that moment, my phone rings. Normally, I wouldn’t answer, but with Haven out of the house, only protected by three guards and not one of us, I can’t let it go.

I battle back the wave of anger at seeing Florence’s name flash across my screen, but then, she’s with Haven at the moment, so I bite back the snarl when I answer. “Florence.”

“A-dick-us,” she growls back at me, meeting my aggression with her own, before she sighs. “Look, I don’t have a lot of time.” That has my skin prickling with unease. We don’t have a pack bond anymore, but the other alphas in the room must feel it because they all stop what they’re doing and look at me.“And you know I’d avoid ever speaking to you again, but I think Haven’s about to do something really stupid.”

“What?” There is no stopping the snarl in my voice, on my face. “What the fuck do you mean?”

I don’t know if she can sense the absolute alpha rage coming on or what, but Ren doesn’t hesitate to tell me exactly what my omega is up to. “I tried to talk her out of it, tried to just take her to my place like we agreed, to keep her there,” she rushes to explain.

“Florence, just tell me,” I grit out.

She blows out a breath. “Haven found the name of a club in Hale’s office. She thinks you guys are keeping things from her about her father, so she decided to check it out. On her own.”

“What club?” I ask, sounding as breathless as I feel. Feeling sick to my stomach. I already know. I know, and the idea of Haven being there, of her setting a single foot inside that place, is enough to make my lungs seize. “What club, Ren?”

“Shock and Awe.”

Chapter 20

Shock and Awe

Getting into Shock and Awe is a lot easier than I thought it would be. But then, I’m in the smallest dress I could find in Ren’s closet, the tallest heels, and I smell like an omega. So I guess they’re sort of expecting me… Or at least someone that looks like me.

The guy who pulls open the door is a beta, but an enormous one. One that looks like he could actually be an alpha, if I couldn’t smell the faint rain drenched mint coming from him. A beta scent through and through.

He only gives me a quick once over, then growls in the imitation of an alpha, “employees use the back entrance.”

My heart thunders in my chest with nerves, but my face is an unconcerned mask with just a hint of embarrassment. “Sorryabout that. First day. I’ll be sure to come in the back from now on.”

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