Page 1 of Knot Shattered
Chapter One
Odette
August 15th
5:36 A.M
My scream shattered the suffocating darkness, wrenching me awake in a tangle of damp sheets. Cold sweat clung to my skin, sticking strands of dark hair to my cheeks, as my heart pounded viciously in my chest. My breath came in ragged gasps, desperate and wild.
You’re safe.My mind chanted desperately, grasping at reality, but the nightmare clung stubbornly to my consciousness, refusing to fade into the shadows of sleep.
I pressed trembling fingers against my eyes, trying to erase the visions burned into them. It didn’t work. They lingered, hauntingly vivid, each glimpse more horrifying than the last.
Chains biting into my wrists.
Cold cement pressing against bruised skin.
Echoing laughter twisted by cruelty.
Their faces remained maddeningly blurred, hidden behind a haze my mind desperately shielded me from. Yet, their voices were painfully clear—mocking, sinister whispers that made bile rise in my throat.
“No one’s going to find you, Odette.”
A rough hand gripping my chin, forcing me to meet eyes I couldn’t remember clearly enough to hate. Pain flaring sharp and relentless with every strike, every violation, every twisted caress.
“You’re ours now.”
I jerked forward suddenly, feeling trapped again, the echo of those words tightening around my throat like a noose. Instinctively, my fingers clawed at my neck, desperate to free myself from a chokehold that wasn’t even real.
Reality crashed in slowly. The comforting dimness of my bedroom, the familiar outline of furniture, and my favorite sweater draped over a chair. But it brought no solace. The memories were getting sharper now, shards of my captivity slicing deeper each night.
My breath steadied just enough for the nausea to hit, forcing me upright and staggering toward the bathroom. Barely making it, I leaned heavily over the cool, smooth edge of the toilet, gagging until nothing but bitter emptiness remained.
Staggering to the sink, my reflection mocked me in the dim mirror: hollow-eyed, ghostly pale, fragile enough to shatter.
“They thought you were beyond saving,” I reminded myself bitterly. “Hell, you thought you were dying.”
I rinsed my mouth and splashed icy water onto my heated skin, welcoming the sharp sting. It grounded me, pushing back against the shadows still trying to drag me under.
Months had passed since I’d been found half-dead outside that hospital, yet the wounds, deep beneath the surface, refused to heal. The physical scars were fading slowly, but the trauma lingered stubbornly, haunting every shadowed corner of my mind.
“Never again.” My voice was barely above a whisper, trembling but fierce.
Returning to bed was pointless. Sleep had become a gamble I lost far too often. Instead, I curled onto my worn leather sofa, wrapped tightly in the heavy quilt Mom had left behind the last time she was here. My little mother-in-law's suite over Mom's garage had everything I needed, including privacy. There is nothing more awkward than going into heat at the same time your mom does. Ugh.
I squeezed my eyes shut again, allowing the familiar scent to soothe me. Henry had warned me about the omegas being taken when I dismissed him. He never even knew I was being courted. I didn’t want to say anything since so many packs before had passed me by. Mostly because I’m slightly heavier than society's standard of beauty. I’d been stubborn, hopeful, desperate for something real. That longing had nearly cost me everything. In some ways, it had.
Now I trusted nothing but the nightmares and my best friends, Fallon and Violet. And of course, Henry, my bodyguard.
The truth was clear enough. They hadn’t just broken my body. They’d broken something deeper, something vital. And as much as I pretended otherwise, I was afraid I might never get it back.
I grabbed the remote and flicked on the TV, desperate for anything to distract me from the echoes still clawing at my mind. Lowering the volume, I let the meaningless noise wash over me, settling my eyes on an infomercial. Some overly enthusiastic guy with teeth too white and a smile too fake was pitching chef knives like they’d change your life, as if something so trivial could matter now.
This city was spiraling into chaos. Fallon and her pack of psychos had managed to dismantle an omega kidnapping ring that fed directly into Violet’s ghost team of lethal alphas bosses. Together, they had torn apart the twisted underground auctions where stolen omegas were being sold to the highest bidder.
But it wasn’t enough. It never seemed to be enough.
Violet’s pack recently uncovered information that some kidnapped omegas had been forced into underground fighting rings. My stomach churned at the thought, imagining terrified omegas forced into brutal violence for sick amusement. It felt surreal, like some twisted reimagining of the Thunderdome from Mad Max. Except instead of hardened, apocalypse-worn fighters, they were delicate, frightened omegas who couldn’t even throw a decent punch.
