Page 27 of Tied in Knots
When he speaks again, his tone is dark, low and sexy. “They all paled in comparison to just your scent. We didn’t even know your name, or what you looked like, but we knew we wanted you.Neededyou. We have searched for you for three months.”
“I don’t live in London,” I whisper, my stare still locked with his.
He laughs softly. “So we figured. Matt thought you were blowing him off.”
“He’s a dick.” I pout which inadvertently sets the four alphas alight with the flames of desire. They edge in closer to me, their primal instincts going off the charts. I shrink back and fix my mouth into a more neutral expression, trying to ignore their scents which are suddenly overwhelming me in a mix of deliciousness that makes me go a little damp between my thighs.
“He’s all right,” Harvey says to break the tension.
I’ve figured out his role straight away. He’s the buffer. The reasonable one. The mediator. He diffuses situations. Although, him slinging me over his shoulder to whisk me away wasn’t exactly a soothing experience.
“Anyway,” Sebastian says, drawing the attention back to the matter at hand, “We searched and searched and then yesterday, there you were, right in front of us. It threw us off guard a bit. When you ran, it hit us here.” He thumps his chest.
“Who were you running from in the first place,” Xander asks quietly.
My gaze cuts to him quickly and I clear my throat. “No one.”
“Lies, Strawberries,” he murmurs. “I can smell them, and I don’t like it.”
I shiver. I’m not sure if he means the scent of lies or the fact I’m lying to him to begin with. The need to apologise sits on my tongue, but I’m frozen in place. I can’t even speak.
“We will circle back to that,” Benjamin says. “The point is, Faith, that you landed in our lap, and we weren’t letting you get away from us. We had hoped we could have a reasonable conversation with you, explain our side and all that, but you shot off before we could and we were forced to hunt you down. Then you fought like a hellcat and well…here we are.”
“Hmm.”
“The effect you have on us has marked every single one of us. We have all been faithful to the idea of you, Faith,” Sebastian says, his expression one full of deep meaning.
What? No, that’s not possible for alphas. He’s lying.
I raise an eyebrow which shows my disbelief at his comment.
“You don’t believe me,” he states. “Fair enough. We will have to prove to you how much you mean to us. In the meantime, we are so glad you are here, and we hope that you’ll stay.”
“You’re giving me the option to leave?” I squeak.
“Of course. You aren’t a prisoner.”
There is something about his tone that makes me not believe that for a second. They haven’t searched for me for three months and found me, just to let me go. Nope. Not going to happen. Thing is, do Iwantto stay?
“Who were you running from, Strawberries, and don’t lie to me this time,” Xander murmurs.
I let out an exasperated huff. “My stepdad, okay. He is a mean bastard, abusive and was going to sell me to a nasty pack just for the money. I had to get away. So, yesterday, I packed my bag and I left. Then I fucking run into you and had to keep running.”
“You thought he’d sent us after you?”
I stare at Xander, those light green eyes, so pretty, so full of emotion.
“Yes, that’s what I thought. Why wouldn’t I?”
“I’m so sorry,” Sebastian says, which shocks me to my core.
Since when do alphas apologise?
Never, in my experience.
“We didn’t mean to scare you further. That definitely wasn’t our intention.”
“Yeah,” I say with a sigh. “I get that, I guess.”
