Page 24 of Knot Beneath the Mistletoe

"I'm so sorry." He presses his face into my hair. "I knew they were intense, but this... this is attempted murder."

"O-Over you."

"I'm so sorry." He pushes strands of hair off my face. "I'll take care of them for doing this. I give you my word."

There's silence between us, and I can't stop staring at this handsome man and how I ended up in his arms in this situation.

He blinks, those hypnotic blue eyes catching the faint light overhead, and I find myself sinking into them, trying not to notice how his arms feel like shelter around me.

My thoughts are a storm—the biting cold, the terror, the way he found me... and oh God, he'd seen me completely naked before he wrapped me in these blankets. Heat crawls up my neck despite the persistent chill in my bones.

"Oh look, there's color coming to your face. Good." He rubs his knuckles across my skin, his touch impossibly gentle. "You had me worried."

"Only a minute?" The words slip out before I can stop them.

His expression darkens. "If I'd been even a minute later?—"

"But you weren't," I murmur, trying to stop shivering. "You found me."

"I would never forgive myself for setting all this in motion," The words come out like a growl, possessive and protective all at once. His hand cups my cheek, and I lean into its warmth without thinking. "Rest now. You're safe."

"W-What does that mean?" My eyes are getting heavy, but I fight it.

"Mm? Just rest now."

"Thank you for... for coming after me."

He pulls me closer, tucking my head under his chin. "Sleep," he commands softly. "I'm not going anywhere."

I want to stay awake, to memorize how this feels, but exhaustion pulls at me. The last thing I register is his heartbeat against my ear, steady as a drum, and his whispered words that sound almost like a threat.

"No one will ever hurt you again."

8

KNOX

The sunrise paints Ruby's skin gold.

I can't stop staring at her—the way the early morning light streams through the cabin's window, catching the copper highlights in her messy hair, softening the worried line between her brows. Ruby's curled up in my bed like she belongs there, her breathing soft and even, one hand tucked under her cheek. Last night feels like something from a fever dream—finding her locked outside in the storm, her skin ice-cold, those bastards Kym and Mia thinking it was some kind of joke.

Fuck. My hands clench, remembering her violent shivers, the way she'd practically collapsed against me when I found her. Pure luck that I'd woken up and found her gone from the couch, and I started checking the cabin. If I hadn't...

My insides tighten at the thought, a possessive rage burning through my veins. When Garrett told me about her, said I needed to meet her, I thought he was exaggerating. But that first day she walked into my office, clutching the free trek voucher I'd carefully planted under her door... Christ. Her scent hit me like an avalanche—honey and vanilla and something wild underneath that called to every protective instinct I possess.

Even now, with her sleeping peacefully after the being-locked-outside ordeal, that scent wraps around me like a physical touch. It's subtle, delicate… nothing like the overwhelming pheromones most unmated Omegas put out. There's something about it that makes me want to desperately get closer, to taste...

I push away from the bed before I do something stupid like bury my face in her neck. The wooden floor creaks under my boot as I head for the door, and I twist my head around, but she doesn't wake. Good. She needs the rest after what those idiots put her through.

The cabin's main room is quiet when I reach the kitchen. Mia and Kym are sprawled on the couches where they still sleep, and my lip curls at the sight. The urge to drag them outside, leave them to freeze the way they did to Ruby, burns hot in my chest. It would be so easy. So satisfying to let them experience what they put her through...

But I can already see the headlines:Guide Throws Clients Out In Blizzard.

My fingers dig into the kitchen counter as I fight down the urge. There are other ways to handle this. Better ways. Ways that won't end with my business in ruins.

You two have no idea who you're messing with, I think darkly, watching them sleep. They'll learn soon enough. I tolerated them long enough for the business, even their insistent flirting, but they crossed the line when they messed with Ruby.

The kitchen's pretty bare—we don't keep much here besides emergency supplies—but I know where the good stuff is hidden. The instructors' private stash is behind a false panel in the pantry—premium hot chocolate, fancy granola, dried fruit, the kind of comfort food that makes long shifts bearable. Ruby deserves something better than trail mix after last night.

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