Page 22 of Break Me Knot

“Have we run far enough?” Leah whispers, her voice raw.

Emma shakes her head, leaves tangled in her hair. “Nowhere will be far enough.”

She’s not wrong. We’ve been running for hours. Long enough for the dark of night to give way to the first thin streaks of dawn. It’s nowhere near far enough.

The first bay of hunting dogs cuts through the forest, and ice floods my veins. We freeze, pressing closer together. Emma's heart pounds so hard I feel it where our bodies touch. Leah's quick pants are shaky gasps.

“We have to split up.” The words are ash in my mouth. My throat is raw from running, from suppressing sobs, but nothing can disguise the truth. Together we’re a target. If we split up, we might stand a chance. “The dogs and the guards will have to split up to follow us. They can't follow all our scents at once.”

“No,” Emma sobs, grabbing my hand with fingers like ice. “We stay together. We promised.”

“Mira is right.” Leah's voice shakes. “Three paths.Three scent trails. Better chance that at least one of us makes it. Better chance to tell the truth about Haven.”

“The Daily Herald,” Emma says suddenly, her voice rising with desperate hope. “First Sunday of every month. Personal ads. 'Sisters three seek reunion.' That's how we'll find each other again. Promise me. Promise you'll look.”

It’s flimsy. Too flimsy. If I didn’t have Emma and Leah, I wouldn’t have survived Haven as long as I did, but I care about them too much to give in to the fear of not seeing them again. And not to risk our escape by staying together. None of us can go back.

We embrace one final time, tears freezing on our cheeks. The dogs sound closer now, their baying mixing with the shouts of men.

“Run.” Leah pushes us away, her strength surprising for someone so small. “Run and don't look back. Whatever you hear, don't look back.”

I run until my lungs burn, until my legs are lead. Branches tear at my face, roots try to trip me, but I keep moving. The dogs are still coming. Can't outrun my scent. Can't hide what I am. But through the trees, I see salvation… dark water gleaming in the gray light of dawn.

The river is black and bottomless, the current ferocious but I don’t have a choice. I wade in, gasping as the freezing water rises past my waist, my chest. Just a little farther. Just until they lose my scent. My nightgown billows around my chest, ghost white in the dark.

I take another step and the current catches me, sweeping me off my feet. I swim. As hard and fast as I can. But I'm so tired. So very tired. The water closes over my head and I don't have the strength to fight it anymore. Darkness creeps in at the edges of my vision as icy fingers close around my ankles, pulling down. It would be so easy to just... rest.

At least here, in the cold and dark, I can finally stop running…

“Mira!Mira!”

Strong hands grab me, pulling me from the water. But that's wrong… there was no one to save me that night. No one…

I cough and splutter as Zane’s powerful arms lift me from the bath. Water sluices off me and Adrian wraps a towel around me, their scents thick with panic. The bathroom lights are harsh after the darkness of my dream and for a moment I’m caught in confusion before reality slams back into me again.

It was a dream. Just a dream.

I'm shaking so hard my teeth chatter, the dream-memory of that night still clinging to me like the icy water of that river. It wasn't just a dream though. It was real, it happened, I lived it. I lost Emma and Leah that night, the only friends I'd ever had, the only people who understood what Haven really was. The sound of those hunting dogs still echoes in my ears, mixing with the splash of bathwater. The only reason I lost the guards was the river I’d found by chance swept me miles downstream. God only knows if Emma or Leah found their chance to escape.

The bathroom's steam can't touch the endless cold of that memory. Water streams from my hair, down my face… or maybe they're tears. I can't tell anymore. Before I realize what I'm doing, I'm clinging to Adrian and Zane, seeking comfort I haven't allowed myself in years.

Adrian's hands are gentle on my back while Zane murmurs soothing words I can't quite process but there's tension in Adrian's frame, a barely contained fury that makes me flinch. His scent spikes with anger, bitter enough it pulls me back into the moment. His dark eyes skate over my skin and, oh Gods, water covers the marble floor, soaking their expensive clothes. Their perfect bathroom is ruined because I couldn't even take a bath properly. “I'm sorry. I'll clean it up, I promise. I didn't mean to… I'll fix it—”

“How did you get these scars?” His fingers ghost over the marks on my shoulders, and my back when the towel slips down. The raised welts and thin lines tell the story of Haven's ‘corrections’.

Suddenly, horrifically aware of my mostly naked state, I see myself through their eyes. My ribs are too prominent under pale skin, hip bones sharp enough to cut, muscles wasted from years of inadequate nutrition. Old scars and newer bruises map a history of survival across my body. Self-disgust rises in my throatas I propel myself from Zane’s arms, snatching at the towel to recover my skeletal frame.

“Don’t look at me!” My hands shake so violently I can barely hold the fabric in place. The soft cotton is sandpaper against my over-sensitized skin and I back away until I hit the wall.

I’ve made them angry, ruined their beautiful bathroom, and shown them exactly what kind of damaged omega they've brought into their expensive world.

Now I'll pay for it.

My breath comes in short, sharp gasps as I wait for the correction to begin. Will they use their hands? Their belts? Or will they simply drag me back to Haven, wash their hands of the problematic omega who can't even take a bath without causing trouble?

“Please forgive me,” I whisper, though I don't understand what I'm begging for. Mercy? Understanding? The strength to endure whatever comes next? My teeth chatter and I can’t help the whine that bursts out of me, followed by whispered words that won’t make a damn of difference. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

Chapter Eleven

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