Page 52 of Tied in Knots
“I wouldn’t do that. I don’t judge.”
He faces me again with a soft smile. “I know. I’m cagey about it. Some people don’t like it.”
“I’m not some people.”
He leans over to kiss my nose. “No, you aren’t, and you deserve better than me including you with them.”
“Can I ask you about the other omegas you were considering before?” I’m wildly curious.
“Of course. What do you want to know?” He is curious himself where I’m going with this.
I don’t really know, if I’m being honest. “Were they pissed off when you didn’t choose them?”
He smiles. “I have no idea. We put all of our effort into trying to find you. Are you worried they will turn up here and demand why you and not them?”
“No,” I snap, defensive because I’ve been caught out without even knowing what I was worried about in the first place. How didheknow?
“Well, if they do, you don’t have to worry. You are our mate. You have been since that night Matt came home from being with you. You may not know it yet, but we do.”
I sit back then and relax in his arms, enjoying being held by him.
“There’s something you should know,” he says after a few minutes of soothing fire-staring.
“Okay…”
“We asked your brother to contact your stepdad saying that he hadn’t heard from you and was worried. He is back with your mum and him now. While he’s there, we tasked him with finding out who the pack is that tried to buy you.”
“Oh,” I say and sit up again, concern filling me from my toes upwards.
“He’ll be fine,” Sebastian says quietly. “Your stepdad won’t hurt him. Derek is capable of taking care of himself.”
I nod slowly. I hope he’s right. “What will you do once you find out?”
“Pay them a visit to inform them that you will not be joining them.”
His cold tone chills me to the bone.
Suddenly, a wave of emotion sweeps over me, and I let out a strangled sob. I stand up and start to pace in front of the fire. “My mum!” I shriek. “You have to get her away from him. You can do that. Arrest him or something.” I spin back to him, the plea brimming with my tears.
He gives me a cautious glance before he sighs. “He hasn’t committed any crimes that we can prove,” he says steadily. “I'm sorry, Faith, officially we can’t just burst into his house and arrest him.”
“Why?” I shriek at banshee level. “You are all powerful, you can do whatever you want! Why won’t you do this?”
He stands up and regards me cautiously. My change in temperament has caught him by surprise. I know the sudden shift is hormones. I’ve been mostly okay since my pre-heat started with a weepy moment here and there in private, but this is going full force now with Sebastian as the enemy who won’t help me.
I hiss at him when he approaches me slowly, his hands held out as if he’s trying to capture a scared rabbit.
“Faith,” he says calmly. “Come to me.”
“No! You don’t understand. He hurts her every day. She is a shell of who she used to be! Please, Sebastian, help her! Help me.”
The wave of anger crashes over me and dissipates as quickly as it rose and when he reaches me, I let him take me in his arms. Now all I feel is utter sadness.
My sobbing becomes uncontrollable, and my knees buckle with the agony my heart is feeling that I’ve been trying so hard to keep at bay, to be strong for her and for me. He sinks to the hearth with me, stroking my hair and kissing the top of my head.
“Faith,” he says quietly. “I said officially. If you are prepared for the consequences of what you ask, we will take care of him for you. Anything for you, Faith. Anything for you.”
I hear his words and it calms me.
