Page 96 of Break Me Knot

My lungs scream for air as I reach the ramp to the next level. The incline burns my calves, but I push harder. Faster. The sound of pursuit grows closer, Hugo's angry pants and Lars's cursing echoing.

I burst onto the next level, darting between parked cars. My scent trails behind me like a beacon, but I can't help it. Can't control the terror that makes it sharpand sour. There’s no outrunning them. But there is one thing on my side. Where there’re cars, there are exhaust fumes and leaking oil and the stench of rubber tires that will somewhat mask my scent. Diving behind a large SUV, I press my back against its wheel. My heart pounds so hard I worry they'll hear it.

Heavy footsteps approach, and I curl into myself, making my body as small as possible. Just like hiding in my closet, except this time, I'm not hiding from shadows of the past. This time, the monsters are real, and they want to take everything from me.

Lars's voice bounces off the concrete walls, each word designed to cut deep. “Come out, Omega. You know you're nothing but a wet cunt.” His footsteps echo from somewhere to my left, the sound mixing with the distant hum of traffic. “Your alphas will tire of you. They all do. You're damaged goods, sweetheart. Used merchandise. How long before they realize what a broken little toy you are?”

His words don't penetrate like they once would have. I know better now. I've felt real love, real protection, real care. I've seen how real alphas should treat an omega: with respect, with tenderness, with equality. I've experienced the difference between control and protection, between ownership and love.

Lars, Hugo, Mercer, Elliot… they're the broken ones. Broken in ways that can't be fixed, twisted into something inhuman by their own choices.

The nest I built this morning seems like a lifetime ago, all those soft blankets and twinkling lights, the careful weaving of our clothes and scents into something beautiful. But it’s real. I couldn’t have built anything so beautiful if it weren’t for my mates. The memory gives me strength. Mercer wants to drag me back into darkness, but I've finally tasted sunlight.

Hugo's heavy breathing suddenly sounds too close. I drop to my stomach, scrambling under the next car over. The rough concrete tears at my sweater, at my palms, but I keep moving. I pull myself through the cramped space. Dust and oil stain my clothes as I wiggle forward, every scrape against the concrete threatening to give away my position. The space is claustrophobic, but I push through the panic. I'm not a helpless omega anymore. I'm stronger now. Braver.

I emerge on the other side just as Hugo's boots appear where I was seconds ago. My muscles tremble with exhaustion and fear, but I force myself to keep moving. I'm halfway to another car when I realized staying low and moving beneath vehicles might be safer than darting between them. The concrete has already scraped my palms raw, but it would be worth it to stay hidden. My heart leaps with the plan, a moment of hope in this nightmare, but when I scamper out from underneath a 4WD a hand clamps down on my arm, yanking me upward.

Wet paper scent surrounds me as Elliot drags me against his chest, his grip bruising. Blood from his broken nose drips onto my lavender sweater.

“Got her!” His voice rings with triumph. “I've got the omega!” His satisfaction is palpable, made worse by the wet sound of his breathing through his broken nose.

I thrash in his grip, my omega screaming in revolt at his touch. Everything in me rejects this contact as a violation. I claw at his hands, kick backward, try everything Cole taught me, but Elliot's ready this time, anticipating my resistance. He bands his arms around me and uses his much stronger strength against me.

“That's the only free shot you'll ever get,” he snarls in my ear, his breath hot against my skin.

I don't care what he says to me. I bare my teeth and sink them into his forearm. His scream is high-pitched, tearing through my ears.

“Fucking little bitch!” He spins me around and his hand cracks across my face.

The impact snaps my head sideways. Black dots dance across my vision as pain explodes through my skull. My ears ring, the sound drowning out everything except my own thundering heartbeat. The parking garage tilts and spins around me as I sag in his grip, my legs giving out. I taste blood where my teeth cut into my cheek.

The screech of tires rips through the garage. Then comes a roar, not human, not entirely alpha, but something more visceral. It resonates through the parking structure, making the air vibrate with fury. The sound strikes something ancient in my omega hindbrain, recognition of an apex predator's rage. Car alarms blare, and even the concrete trembles with the impact of the sound.

Adrian slams into Elliot, shoving him off his feet. One moment he's crushing me against him, the next he's simply gone. The sudden release sends me spinning, my already dizzy head making the world tilt. I slump against a nearby car, trying to make sense of what I'm seeing through my blurred vision.

Adrian has Elliot pinned against a concrete pillar, one hand around his throat. My mate’s normally immaculate appearance is gone, replaced by something feral and deadly. His suit is rumpled, his hair wild, his eyes blazing with an inhuman gold light. His cedar is burned fury, sharp as jagged glass. Every line of his body speaks of uncontained violence.

“You dared to touch my omega?” Adrian's voice is barely human, each word dripping with lethal promise. His fingers tighten on Elliot's throat, lifting him until the other man's feet dangle above the ground. “You dared to put your hands on what's mine?”

Despite his position, despite the death grip on his throat, something unhinged gleams in Elliot’s eyes. “Yours? That worthless thing? I have more value than she ever will. Working with you from the ground up but you never saw that, did you? The money you pay me for what I do is nothing. You owe me and that useless cunt will finally pay me out—”

The crack of Adrian's fist meeting Elliot's jaw cuts off more words, the sound gunshot-loud in the enclosed space. But something in Elliot has broken loose, some deep delusion finally surfacing. Blood sprays from his mouth as he continues to rant.

“She's nothing! I'm the one who's been loyal! She’s nothing. A worthless omega. I'm the one who deserves—”

Adrian's roar drowns out whatever Elliot thinks he deserves. The sound is pure alpha rage, pure protective fury, pure justice. I watch in horrified fascination as my prime alpha gives himself over completely to his base nature. His hands move with terrible purpose. There's a wet crack as Elliot's collarbone snaps, the sound like a branch breaking in a storm. A meaty tear follows as Adrian's fingers dig into flesh, rending expensive fabric and skin with equal ease.

Blood sprays across Adrian's white shirt in an arc of crimson as he literally tears Elliot apart. Elliot screams, the sound cutting off in a gurgle as Adrian's hands find his throat again. There's another crack, louder this time, and Elliot goes limp.

I should be horrified. I should look away from this display of savage violence, but my omega recognizes this for what it is: nature's law being enforced. An alpha protecting what's his. This isn't murder; this is judgment. This is consequence.

And I have no pity.

I turn my head to see Zane and Cole engage in a brutal fight with Hugo and Lars. Zane moves like liquid mercury, dodging Lars's wild swing to retaliate with savage precision, but Lars, desperate and cornered, fights dirty. He pulls a knife, the blade glinting under fluorescent lights. Zane's shirt turns crimson as the blade catches his arm, but he doesn't slow. If anything, the wound makes him more dangerous. His citrus scent explodes with rage as he catches Lars's knife hand, snapping it backward until bones crack.

Lars screams and the knife clatters to the ground. Zane kicks it away, his face a mask of cold fury. “You touched our omega,” he snarls, bringing his heel down on Lars's knee. The crack and scream blend together.

Hugo, meanwhile, roars and charges at Cole. Their bodies slam into parked cars, denting metal panels under the force. Hugo manages to land a punch that makes Cole stagger, blood spraying from his split lip, but Cole recovers and drives his knee into Hugo's stomach, following with an elbow to the base of his skull.

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