Page 128 of Knot Their Soldier: Part One
His feet halt, the momentum of his body causing him to waver off balance. He looks up at me with hurt shimmering in his gaze.
It lights a fire of rage inside me.
How dare he act hurt?
I pin him with a challenging glare. “Screw you, Shade! This wouldn’t have happened if you’d all been honest with me from the start!”
Shade looks uneasy but not regretful. It boils my blood. Iknowthey’ve discussed the experiment in the forest and the way Viper and Knox responded to me. It spooked them. They’re afraid that I’ll be stronger than them all. Cowards.
My head is spinning and an unraveling sensation curls in my belly.
“Pretty girl,” Viper rumbles, his soulful eyes imploring, burrowing into me. They beg for my understanding, for me to stop my tirade.
I won’t. Not this time.
I’m not a defenseless little Omega anymore, am I? There is something awake inside me. Something stronger than I ever knew possible.
They should fear me!
I run my hand over my braided hair, tugging at the loose strand. “You didn’t think you owe me some transparency?”
“We don’t owe you a damn thing,” Knox snarls from just behind me.
I whip back to face him and spit a command with more venom than I thought myself capable; “I told you to stay still! Don’t move!”
Anger and hurt sharpen the command, and they slice through his defiance like a hot knife through butter.
His muscles tighten, face frozen in his patented snarl and eyelids lowered. He stops blinking. An immoveable statue of solid muscle.
“It’s about me. It’s happening to me!” I shout at his immobile figure. “And you kept it from me. I get to know what’s going on with my own body.”
His face reddens, and his eyes water as the wind blows in time with my heaving breath.
Weeks of hurt and betrayal echo in my fury.
A bird calls from high above the creaking trees, unaware of the tempest raging below.
“Omega, he can’t breathe.”
It’s Viper’s soft, artificially calm tone that breaks through my veil of anger.
I blink and stare at Knox.
His chest isn’t rising and falling. He’s obeyed me completely. Not a single muscle moves and he’s stopped breathing.
Panic replaces the rage.
“Oh,” I gasp, reality slamming into me hard. I run my hands over his chest, babbling incoherently. “Oh frack.”
“Release him, Halley,” Viper’s deep voice prompts.
“Right,” I nod, halting my frenzied hands. I clear my throat and push the power back into my voice.“Prime Alpha Knox, I release you.”
Knox gasps, spittle flying as he chokes down a lungful of air. He drops to his hands and knees, coughing and spluttering. His usual strength is stripped from him and, for the first time since we met, he looks weak.
The haze drops like a curtain and horror rushes in.
I tremble uncontrollably.
