Page 68 of Chain Me Knot

I search his face, looking for any sign of deception, any hint that this is a trick, but all I find is honest conviction.

“You... you really mean that.” It's not a question, but a realization.

“With every part of me,” he confirms, his thumb stroking away the last of my tears. “What we just shared... that was a gift. You trusting me, choosing me... I can't even begin to tell you how much that means.”

I shake my head, fresh tears threatening to fall. “I'm so fucked up. I can't... I can't even trust myself. My own reactions, my own desires... they’re wrong.Tainted.”

Soren's arms tighten around me, his purr deepening as if to drown out my self-doubt. “No, Emma. You're not fucked up. You're healing. And it's not your fault that healing is hard. You suffered for years.Years, Emma. It’s going to take time.”

His voice takes on an edge, anger simmering beneath the surface, but I can tell it's not directed at me. It'sforme.

“What the Carmichaels did to you... they destroyed something pure. They took your heat, your desires, and twisted them to suit their own sick games. They made you feel ashamed of your own needs, your own pleasure. That shame belongs to them, not you.”

His jaw clenches where it rests against my temple. “They're the ones who are fucked up, Butterfly. They're the ones who are wrong. Not you.Never you.”

His words seep into me, filling the cracks in my soul like the melted gold Phoenix told me about.

I want to believe him. Want to believe I'm not broken beyond repair.

I want to be free from this. Free fromthem.

He tucks damp hair behind my ears. “It’s going to take time to unlearn their poison. Learning to trust your own body again... it's a process but we'll be with you every step of the way. For as long as it takes.”

We. The word wraps around me like a promise. A vow.

A future.

“What if...” I swallow hard, voicing the fear lurking in the back of my mind. “What if I'm never fully okay? What if I can't give you... everything you want?”

Soren pulls back slightly, cupping my face in his hands. His gaze is fierce, determined. “Then we'll take whatever you can give. We'll cherish every piece you're willing to share. Your pace, your boundaries... they're ours, too.”

The conviction in his voice, the steadiness of his touch... they feel like an anchor. A lifeline. A way back to solid ground.

“I don't know how to do this,” I admit, my voice small. “I don't know how to be... normal.”

“Then we'll figure it out together,” he promises. “One day at a time. One moment at a time. You're not alone anymore, Emma. You'll never be alone again.”

His promise is ambrosia to my battered omega soul. All I have to do is believe. Trust.

And hope I’m not making the biggest mistake of my life.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Asher

Soren disappears with Emma down the hall, her slight form swallowed up in his bulk. That familiar twist of envy knots in my chest as he cradles her so delicately you'd think she might shatter.

Gods, I wish like hell it was me comforting her, but I'm not stupid. I know why it can't be me, why it shouldn't be. My hands flex at my side, fingers curling until my knuckles ache, a physical pain to counteract the heaviness in my chest.

“Looks like our omega's finally getting the rest she needs,” Phoenix murmurs from beside me, leaning against the kitchen island, arms folded, a weary expression on his face that belies the constant mask of charm he wears.

Our omega. Hearing Phoenix stake that quiet, comfortable claim sends a surge of both gratitude and possessiveness rippling through me. I shovedown the possessiveness; it's selfish, and I've already been selfish enough with Emma. The ghost of my teeth against her neck haunts every interaction. I scrub a rough hand over the stubble along my jaw, the scratchy sensation a small distraction from the guilt eating through me.

“Yeah,” I mutter, forcing my voice to remain even. “She needs whatever rest she can get right now.”

I wish being here was permanent. I wish she was resting properly in the nest we have in our pack house. The room that’s been empty forever. Waiting for her to fill the empty spaces both there and in my soul.

Still, bitter jealousy burns low in my gut. Soren had her warmth pressed snugly to his chest all damn afternoon, feeling each gentle breath, every tiny hitch of movement as she shifted in sleep. And Phoenix—fuck, Phoenix got to taste her lips as he frolicked with her in the ocean. He saw up front and personal the hesitant trust bloom in her eyes when she leaned into him. And me? I'm the asshole whose reckless loss of control marked her without consent—something she fights every day to forgive.

---