Page 69 of Knot So Broken

I don’t allow myself to feel the pain that losing her caused. Not now anyway. I refuse to allow my fathers to see my grief, especially when theirs‘ is still so raw.

I lead Kennedy towards my father’s office, having no doubt in my mind that he will be there.

I knock once before a gruff voice replies, “Come in.”

I turn to Kennedy, giving her a reassuring smile before opening the door. Stepping into the room, I find my father exactly as I expected.

His dark mahogany desk takes up the majority of the room. Paperwork is stacked in haphazard piles over the space yet I know he knows exactly what is on every piece of paper and where to find what. He has an interesting way of cataloguing his work, that's for sure.

He knows where everything is and no one is allowed to touch his stuff.

Victor's dark brown hair is starting to ashen into a dark grey. A pair of glasses sits perched on his nose, which only seems to accentuate his deep green, almost olive, in colored eyes.

He looks up from whatever he is working on and smiles bright when he sees who it is.

“My boys!”

Getting up from his desk, he walks around it and makes a beeline straight for me. He engulfs me in a hug, slapping my back as he chuckles. It hasn’t even been a week since I last saw my dad but that doesn’t matter. It could have been a few hours for all he cared but he would still have given us the same reception.

He steps away from me before turning to Jax and then repeating the same welcome with Ledger. Once done, he turns to Kennedy.

He frowns for a moment before his eyes light up. A mixture of happiness, relief, shock and excitement blooms in his eyes. I don’t miss the hint of grief in his expression. It's slight, but it is still there.

“You found your mate?” He rips his gaze from Kennedy to look at me.

I nod, unable to stop myself from smiling as I look down at my Omega. She is looking at my father with an unreadable expression on her face. I can’t quite gather her feelings through the bond either.

Shock? Excitement? Disbelief? Terror maybe?

The latter confuses me but it makes sense as Victor takes a step towards her and she jolts, hiding behind my back.

I growl, unable to hold back my natural reaction to feeling my Omega terrified.

My father jumps a good few feet away from us, holding his hands up in submission.

I turn to Kennedy, grabbing her in my arms as both Ledger and Jax crowd behind her. Each of us are touching somewhere on her body. Even though the logical side of our brains know she isn’t hurt, we still need to check to make sure we didn’t miss anything.

“It's okay, Omega.”

“I...I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to react that way. I just...”

“It's okay. You're okay,” I say the words in the hopes that they will become real for her.

She eventually nods, pulling her head up from where she had it buried in my chest.

Jax and Ledger take a step away from her but they don’t go too far, making sure that they are well within arms reach of her.

“I’m sorry, boys. I didn’t mean to scare your Omega.”

I hear the sincerity in my father‘s voice as I turn back to him. I keep my arms wrapped around Kennedy, keeping her pressed up against my body. I know that having her this close to me will help her to calm down. Or calm me down.

“It’s alright. I’m sorry that I reacted that way. I just...” Kennedy trails off before looking down and fiddling with her fingers, almost like it's a nervous tick.

“You don’t need to apologise to me,figlia.My name is Victor. It’s incredible to finally meet you. I have been hoping for years that my boys would find their mate and I am beyond thankful that they have finally found you.”

Kennedy looks up at dad and gives him a small smile. I watch as some of her confidence comes back to her. That fight that she held tightly to before coming back to the surface.

“It's great to meet you too. My name is Kennedy Hayes.”

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