Page 108 of Chain Me Knot

She doesn’t see me yet, lost in her own thoughts. The sight punches relief and that grounded calm only she can give in my chest. My eyes catch on the nest room door cracked open. The gentle glow of the lights inside shimmers across the wide, sunken mattress, bare but inviting, waiting for her touch.

She opened those doors.

After all these days of shutting herself off from this room, this instinct, Emma’s finally taken a step toward making it her own. This is…huge.

I move deeper into her bedroom, drawn forward by the open nest and the fragile hope curled in the way she hugs her knees, staring out at the surf. Thetension that always rides high in my chest eases just a fraction, replaced by pride thick enough to choke me.

Her gaze lifts, catching mine and shimmering with something unsure and brave all at once. My chest fills with a fierce, protective kind of warmth that tells me I’d do anything to keep this spark alive in her. I smile, gentle as I can manage, and nod toward the open door behind her.

“That is a big step, Tough Girl,” I say, letting her see every ounce of pride and tenderness that’s blooming inside my chest. “I’m so damn proud of you.”

She looks up at me and manages a shaky, watery smile, but her eyes are glassy with tears. My gut twists because she’s been in here crying instead of in my arms where I can comfort her. I can’t stand seeing her in pain, especially alone.

I kneel in front of her, my hands bracing on her knees. “Why are you crying, love? Talk to me. Please.”

Her mouth trembles. For a moment she just shakes her head, but then it all comes out in a rush, voice cracking and words tumbling over each other. “I talked to Mira. I needed to hear her voice. I needed my friend. She—she…she gave me this house, Phoenix. She wants me to have it, for good. Gods, can you even believe that? And then, I thought if I opened the doors to the nest it would feel right. But…I stood in there and I… I don’t know what I’m doing.”

She takes a breath, her eyes turning luminous with unshed tears. “I don’t know how to build a nest. I…I thought I could but then I just stood there and stared, but nothing happened. It felt like there was a wall in my brain, Phoenix. What if I can’t do it? What if…what if I’ll never be a proper omega? What if that part of me is just…gone? What if they took that away from me forever?”

Her pain and the horror of what she endured slices straight through me. The deprivation. The cruelty. The way entitled alphas tried to destroy her most basic instincts fills me with a cold, shaking fury. There’s nothing weak or broken about her. Everything she doubts is wrapped in wounds left by monsters.

I take her fragile wrists and draw her hands away from her face so she can see how much I mean these words. “I saw what they did with my own eyes when you were trapped in the basement with the Carmichaels. You had one blanket. One.They left you to freeze and called it caring for you. You had to curl up on that cold, filthy floor and pretend you had something more, when really all they gave you was the bare minimum.”

I cup her face, my touch gentle even with the anger sparking in my chest. “Of course you’re tangled up inside, sweetheart. Of course it feels impossible. Mira’s correct. It’s your right to build a nest, to be safe, to claim comfort as your own. But no one—not one person in your past ever taught you that. They beat it out of you every chance they got.”

I draw her closer, letting my voice soften. “You survived more than most people ever could. You learned to get through hell, not how to be an omega in a world that’s safe. Your doubts? They’re trauma, not truth. That part of you isn’t gone. It just needs time, safety, and choice. Your choice. Let me help you. We can start as small or as slow as you need. I’ll be here for every step, I promise. You’re not broken, not less. Never.” I hold her gaze, desperate for her to hear my conviction all the way to her bones. “You are whole, Emma. And whatever kind of omega you are, is exactly right.”

I gather her gently into my arms, pressing her tight against my chest, desperate to soothe her, to hold her for every day she’s ever been denied even a scrap of comfort. “You’re the bravest person I’ve ever met. You keep trying, no matter how scared you are. You open your heart after everything that’s been done to you. That’s courage. That’s strength. You’re already more omega—more beautiful—than anyone I’ve ever known, nest or no nest.”

I see her wanting to believe me, but uncertainty still clouds her features. So, I push up on my knees, bringing my face to hers until I’m close enough to share her breath.

“You don’t have to prove anything to anyone. You are enough. You are perfect.”

And before she can argue, before worry has a chance to cloud her thoughts, I cup her face and kiss her. Slow, deep, pouring everything I can’t say straight into her mouth until she’s breathing nothing but reassurance, nothing but love.

Chapter Forty-Two

Phoenix

Emma’s kiss is tentative at first, her lips soft and questioning against mine, but then she melts, her body pressing closer, her fingers curling into the fabric of my shirt like she’s afraid I’ll disappear.

I break the kiss just enough to whisper against her lips, “Let me make you feel good, sweetheart.” My thumb brushes the apple of her cheek, tracing the curve of her jaw. “Let me chase away every shadow until all that’s left is just you, just this, just light.”

She whimpers, the sound tearing a path to my soul. “Yes. Please, Phoenix.Make me feel good.”

Then her mouth crashes back into mine, desperate and hungry, her tongue sliding against my bottom lip before diving deep. The kiss turns fevered, her hands fisting in my hair, andfuck, her scent.

That sweet, intoxicating blend of honeysuckle ignites, thickening in the air between us until it’s all I can taste, all I can breathe. It’s arousal, hot and slick and perfect, but underneath it, something deeper. Trust.

My control frays.

A growl rumbles in my chest as I drag her closer, one hand sliding down to grip her thigh, hiking her leg around my hip. She gasps into my mouth as her body arches into mine like she’s trying to fuse us together.

“Phoenix… Please.” My name is a whimper, a prayer, a demand.

I don’t need to be told twice.

My lips leave hers to trail down her throat, nipping at the sensitive skin where her pulse flutters. “That’s it, Tough Girl. Let me remind you how perfect you are.” I murmur against her racing heartbeat. “Can I take this off?” My fingers toy with the hem of her top, brushing the warm skin of her waist.

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