Page 65 of Break Me Knot

I drop my eyes, guilt churning in my stomach. I understand how he feels… how they all feel. Even Cole. I've seen the way Adrian watches me with those intense eyes, how Cole's distance can't hide his desire. Despite the scars crisscrossing my body, they want me. Want to claim me, to make me truly theirs. The worst part ishow much I want that too. How right it is when they're near, and how empty I feel when they're gone.

“Did you want me for something?” I try to ignore how my body leans toward him, seeking his warmth.

He collects himself, though that spark of excitement returns to his eyes. His smile softens into something that makes my heart trip over itself. “I have a surprise for you.” He grins, and despite everything, curiosity blooms.

“A surprise? For me? What is it?” The only surprises I can remember were unpleasant, but Zane’s enthusiasm is contagious, making me feel lighter. Warmth flutters in my chest at his smile. Maybe I’ll like this surprise.

He laughs, the sound rich and warm, filling the space between us. “It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you now, would it?”

I step toward the door, but he holds up a hand. “You'll need a coat. It's cold outside.” There's an underlying current of protectiveness in his tone that makes my skin tingle.

“Outside?” The last thing I want to do is show my face in public.

“Don’t worry. This is private. Just you and me,” Zane says.

I turn toward the closet where my old coat hangs, threadbare and patched, but serviceable. His scent shifts slightly, a note of something like sadness threading through.

“Will you…use the new one I got you? You'll need to be properly warm for this.” The care in his voice makes my throat tight. How can he make even this simple thing so intimate?

“You bought me a new coat?” Accepting anything from them is a bad idea, but the thought of actually being warm while going outside sounds too good.

“May I come in and get it for you?” he asks, and my heart skips at how carefully he phrases it. Always asking, never demanding. Never pushing past the boundaries I've set, even when I can smell how much he wants to be closer.

“Okay,” I whisper. He enters the room with measured steps and goes straight to a bag I haven't dared open yet, pulling out something that leaves me stunned.He doesn't mention that I haven’t opened any of the other bags, either, which helps more than anything to ease the tightness in my chest.

Everything he does eases the tightness all throughout my body.

The coat is gorgeous, a deep emerald, and long enough to fall to my knees with a fur-lined hood and quilted interior. It's the kind of coat I've only seen for sale in expensive shop windows, not in thrift shops. The kind I never dreamed of owning.

“I...” My voice catches as he holds it out but the hope in his eyes makes it impossible to refuse. His scent envelops me, warm and inviting, filled with an eagerness to provide that makes my omega want to roll in it.

“Try it on,” he encourages softly. “Let me see if it fits.”

Zane holds the coat open. As I slide my arms into the sleeves, I have to suppress a shiver when his fingers brush my shoulders, adjusting the collar. The fur is impossibly soft against my skin, warmer than anything I've ever worn.

I turn around, and his eyes darken, pupils dilating as they sweep over me. But more than the desire in his gaze is something deeper, something that shatters the walls I’ve built.

“I knew emerald was the right color,” he says, his voice rougher than usual. One hand reaches up as if to touch my face before dropping back to his side. “Baby Girl.” The longing in his voice makes me tremble. “You have no idea how perfect you are.”

I have to look away from the naked emotion on his face. It's overwhelming and too real, too close to everything I shouldn’t allow myself to have. Yet, I can't deny that accepting the coat crosses a line from which I can’t return.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Zane

Iflip the hood over Mira’s head. The fur frames her face perfectly, making her green eyes luminous. The rich color brings a flush of color to her cheeks. She's filled out a little since she came to us but there's still a fragility to her that clenches my heart.

She's stunning. I've been around beautiful omegas my whole life—it's part of the job at Pinnacle—but there's something about Mira that sets her apart. The way she moves, graceful even in her uncertainty. The intelligence thatsparkles in her eyes when she forgets to be afraid. The strength that radiates from her despite everything she's been through. Maybe it's because she's our scent match, though she doesn't seem to realize it. The way her sugared scent perfectly complements ours isn't coincidence. Nature doesn't make mistakes like that.

Fury burns in my gut when I catch that familiar flicker of fear in her eyes, the way she still holds herself like she's ready to run. Even now, wrapped in the coat I bought her, there's a part of her that's preparing for everything to go wrong.

As though she expects nothing more.

Why hasn't she told us about Haven? Why did Mercer sign her death certificate when she’s clearly not dead? She’s twenty-five years old and the date of death was logged on her twenty-first birthday, two years before her first heat and when she should have had a pack found for her, yet she clearly isn’t bonded. I’ll be eternally grateful for that chance, but why is she unbonded?

The questions pile up, each one darker than the last. It’s clear something bad happened to her; the scars are testament to that. Bad enough for her to live on the streets pretending to be a beta and living on scraps. In my heart of hearts, I believe Haven is at the center of her trauma.

Thank fuck she managed to hide so well when she did live on the streets. There are alphas out there who force-bond vulnerable omegas, usually the ones not protected by the system. It's what families risk when they don't declare their children upon presentation, but the families who don’t declare their children are the ones who can’t afford the fees.

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