Page 48 of Knot Quite Ready

Benevolent? Not a chance.

“It doesn’t matter what I say anyway,” he mutters. “The wheels are in motion, and by the time my useless excuse for a son finds you, it will be too late.” He removes his hand and guides me toward the bed. Nope, not going there.

I get a spike of adrenaline and kick him forcefully in the balls, and when he doubles over, cursing up a storm, I run away from him and down the corridor. When I try a door on this level, I can scream when I find it locked. Instead, I turn and make my way down the huge staircase and skid around the corner, only to run slap-bang into the beta from earlier.

“Going somewhere?” he asks with a bored tone. A roar from upstairs makes us both cringe and Miro vaults, fucking vaults from the top of the stairs all the way to the bottom in one jump. My anxiety ratchets up at the sheer anger coloring his face, the whites of his eyes are prominent, and I instantly regret my decision to run.I’m so not going to get a coupon for the Kidnapper’s Hotel Spa now.

“If you want to act like that, it comes with consequences Omega,” he spits, hauling me into his arms and strides down the hallway and through a door that leads down some concrete steps with a small cot bed in the corner. He pushes me to the bed, a lot gentler than I was expecting, and I bounce a couple of times. “It could have been a lot nicer for you if you cooperated with me. Such a shame that you decided to take the harder route.”

He looks down at me as I try to straighten myself, his gaze blank as I struggle with still being cuffed. His head turns, and he lets out a hum, “You know Aneira, yes…I know your name, even before I was hovering outside the Council meeting,” he says as my eyes must give away my surprise.

“In fact. I imagine I know more about you than you do. Anyways, despite my view on Omegas in general, you are quite tempting with your spirit. Omega’s in this pack learn their place quite quickly,” he chuckles darkly. “I haven’t seen spunk like this in quite a long time. I admit I am intrigued, and if your little display in the car was any indication, you are quite strong as well. Hmm, half of me is quite proud that my son tried to settle for a strong mate.”

My eyes narrow, “What do you mean, tried? I am his mate. There is no try about it. It’s all been recognized in front of the council, and we are it, for life.” Although I may not have been there for a formal announcement, I feel the truth in my words. Even without the damn announcement, we were fated, mated, and bonded. Which, I think, with savage glee, makes Miro even more fucked than he was before. Not only did Harailt pretty much effectively take away his position as Alpha of this pack, but he also kidnapped an Alpha’s mate. Can he be killed twice? Well, make that three times, I want my round.

Wait, The bond!

Keeping my face blank, I reach deep within my soul and try to feel the bond between Cas and I.Nothing.I choke back a sob of panic as I feel my pulse thrum throughout my body, my heart squeezing painfully. Inside, Agatha is frenzied, throwing herself against the confines of my head. The need to be with my mate makes me almost delirious, but no matter how hard I try, our bond feels muted. Fuck, me. I feel almost frantic as I take in the dark void in my heart where Cas fills it so thoroughly. Logically, it has to be the cuffs. The silver is blocking the bond. Otherwise, I’m dealing with a moon block charm that was not made by one of my friends.

He smiles at my internal struggle. “Semantics. You’re here now, arent you? Do you know how long it’s taken for me to find you?”

“What do you mean?” My voice is thick with holding back unshed tears, anger, and annoyance. I try to clear the madness taking hold and play it as cool as possible.Hope it’s working. Otherwise, I probably look constipated.

“I mean…I don’t know how you evaded being found, but, “ he shrugs, a crazed smile taking over his face, “we have been searching a little more actively for about a year. If you are still confused, your grandfather has never stopped looking for you. In fact, the bounty for your return is quite high now, obscene, really. It was a pain in the ass, but you’ll be worth the stress.” He turns away to leave the room but not without a few parting words, “Oh, and if you are trying to reach Casimir through your bond, you can stop, those silver cuffs are laced with a special charm. Your bond is muted. And soon, it will be severed. The perks of blood magic.”

My ears ring as his words sink in. The door slams behind him, and a lock clicks into place. My grandfather? My bond is going to be severed? Blood-magic? My breathing turns shallow as my head spins, and the reality of my situation punches me in the face. Despite my very bleak predicament, or maybe because of it, I feel myself teeter on the edge of unconsciousness. I know I should fight it, try to figure out a plan to escape, but despite trying to stay conscious, I feel the blissful darkness take over.I’ll fight later, clearly, I need a panic nap.

* * *

I groanas I come to a few hours later. Oh, Consciousness, we really have to stop meeting like this. In the past few hours, I’ve been unconscious more than at any other time in my life, and I can certainly do without it. At some point, while I was passed out, my cuffs were removed but still left to dangle from one wrist. Still blocked, but at least I can choke someone the fuck out.

I push away the fact that someone was in here while I was vulnerable, and I pull the thin sheet that covers the mattress over my body as I realize how freezing it is. Although, it does nothing to take away from the cold seeping into this room. My stomach rumbles, reminding me that I haven’t eaten in a long time, but there is nothing I can do about that I focus on what I can do, which is…nothing.

Fuck, okay. Strategy.

Miro said that my grandfather has been looking for me, which I figured as much. But that effectively puts me in the path of two asshole Alphas. One who I have been planning to murder and the other who I would eat if he weren’t seasoned in parsley-laced cocaine seasoning.

Then there is the whole blood magic thing which, assuming it is only used to break the bond and not turn me into a mindless attack wolf, I can’t worry about, seeing as it’s nothing my fangs or claws can fight against. So whatcanI do? Right now, I have a sheet, a mattress, and vomited-covered clothes. Weapon-wise, unless Miro suddenly develops OCD, I am sorely lacking. I bite back a growl of frustration.

“Good morning, Omega, or should I say afternoon?” Miro’s voice comes from the outside of the room, and a clang verberates throughout the room as the lock disengages. I was so focused on how to utilize a mattress to cut off a head that I never heard steps coming toward the door. I barely notice the door closing behind him and the lock sliding into place, locking him in the room with me as the smell of food permeating the air in his wake is enough to make me hyperaware of my gnawing hunger.

“I brought you some food,” he says in a cheery tone, and he steps closer, dressed in a tux and holding a large tray with steaks. “I’m not going to have you passing out again,” he adds with a sneer, as if my passing out is offensive, and places the tray in front of me.

I inhale everything on the tray in record time and wash it down with the juice. One day, I’ll tell my children that I held out for 42 months and walked a thousand miles in the mud to escape, but right now, I wanted more fucking steak.

Miro’s smile stays frozen in place, and he blinks.“Well, that was mildly disturbing,” he says, taking the tray from me and putting it on the side. “Now. We don’t have much time before you’re needed in your new pack, so you might want to get in the shower to get the stench of vomit and depression off.”

“Sorry, my imprisonment offends you. ” I’m not sorry. “How about you take the time to ease that inconvenience by expanding on your earlier bad-guy speech? You say that my grandfather has been looking for me, but you fail to mention any other details.”

I’m stalling him, keeping him here as long as possible to hopefully give Cas time to figure out how to unmute our bond and find me. Or that Storm hacks the Pentagon and uses satellites, Shia Lebouff, and the Transformers to locate the all-spark…aka, me, before I’m moved around again.

Hopefully, it’s not painfully obvious.

“I did say that I would give you answers. And I’m aware of what you’re doing. Stalling me.”

Damn.

“It’s actually…adorable.” He says the last as if the word hurt comes out of his mouth. He stands and starts pacing the floor while I hold in a shudder. I don’t want Daddio… okay, no… Miro, calling me any words of endearment. He makes me feel so… ick. He stops and whirls around to face me.

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