Page 10 of Knot in My Wildest Dreams: Part 2
“Elijah wants to take over Manticore Tech. Your uncle has him convinced that it’s possible.” He sighed, looking skeptical. “The thing is, Elijah isn’t as smart as your uncle. Gideon wants Pack Lockwood out of the way. They’ve become a threat.” His words hit me like a truck. Pack Lockwood was also being manipulated! Sterling continued talking, unaware of how I felt about them. “Serves them right, though. After what they did to you. I didn’t know details about the blackmail plan, or I would have tried to stop that too.” He looked at me, and I could tell that he was being truthful. My mind raced with the new information. I had to tell Pack Lockwood - this went way beyond me. But I didn’t trust Sterling yet to let him know about who they were to me.
“Prove to me that you're my scent match.” I said, watching his reaction. He turned to me, his face pained.
“It will take a while. I use scent suppressants and descenter, as your uncle requests, every day.” I looked at him -reallylooked, maybe for the first time. Sterling had always struck me as distant and untouchable. Handsome in a clinical, almost sterile way. His features were sharp but symmetrical, his jaw strong, his cheekbones clean lines that made him seem corporate and generic.
His eyes had always been intriguing. They were silver, cool and unreadable. They had always unnerved me, those eyes, because I could never quite tell what he was thinking. But now, with the suppressants and the distance between us slipping, I saw something flicker beneath the surface. An intensity, a fire I hadn’t noticed before.
His hair was light brown, thick, and always perfectly kept, like everything else about him. And yet, there was an edge to him I hadn’t seen before. I realized then that Sterling wasn’t emotionless. He was controlled.When needed, he could be cold-blooded, get the job done. But beneath that restraint, was seemingly someone so ferociously loyal - someone who had been fighting for me in silence all along. Someone who had been there for me when no one else was, and I didn't even know it.
And for the first time, I saw him differently. Despite his unorthodox ways, he had been my protector. Maybe even my beta. Could he really be another scent match?
“When it wears off, you will know by my scent.” He said, and I cast him a doubtful glance. If he was being truthful, then Pack Lockwood needed to know right away. I’d have to make a decision, take a calculated risk. Finally, I spoke.
“Let’s go somewhere else. I need you to tell me all about my uncle, and everything that he and Elijah are up to.”
Chapter 10
Liam
Every moment, I was regretting my actions. I’d royally fucked up, and my mate, my true scent match, was now in danger. And I couldn’t do anything about it, because she hated me.
Celeste was many things, but she wasn’t a cold, heartless killer by proxy. She didn’t have it in her. We’d been so certain she was the mastermind behind the massacre at Arkala, the one who’d been behind the atrocities at Harringday once she took over. But in the end, all it took was a single scrap of paper to unravel everything we thought we knew.
Someone was behind the horrible things at Harringday, but it wasn’t her. And the more we pieced things together, the more we realized how much she had been used as a scapegoat. She was being set up as the perfect pawn while others pulled the strings.All signs pointed to this plan leading up to an end, one which was coming sooner than anyone realized. But what I couldn't figure out was why, and who was behind it. Was it her whole board? If that was the case, they could have voted her out ages ago. It had to be something more hidden, more sinister. I was determined to find out, even if it killed me.
I had other problems too - Dante had lied about his part in her kidnapping, effectively ruining her trust in us and going behind our backs. I never thought he’d lie to us. I should have felt it through the bond. Even now, I sought out his emotions through our pack bond, trying to feel for him. But all I could feel was a closed wall, and the echo of pain. I knew he had only done what he thought was right, but it stung that he kept us out of everything. How could our pack function without trust?
I couldn’t trust anyone right now. Everything I thought was true was a lie, and our entire plan was a mess. We were supposed to get proof of Celeste’s misdeeds and out her for the criminal we thought she was. With sufficient evidence, Reginald, the board member we’d reached out to earlier, would be able to tip the scales and give a vote of no confidence and appoint a new board member to take over. A new member who would be a neutral player, once who was friendly to Reginald and would have worked with us in a symbiotic relationship to improve Harringday Industries and clean up the mess that we thought Celeste had made.
But what if that was a lie too? Was Reginald really our ally, or had we been pawns just as much as Celeste had been? Elijah was the one who had been building that relationship with Reginald.
I Dante to update me on what he found out from Elijah. I needed answers. Because everything was bigger than we’d imagined, and I was starting to see just how deep the rot went.
But all of that was dwarfed by the pain in my chest, the growing ache of what I was now missing. Because now I could finally see the one thing I knew was true. Celeste was my mate, and always had been. She was the one person I was meant to protect above all else. And instead of protecting her, we’d destroyed her.
We’d made her life here with us a living hell, forcing her to pretend to be in a relationship with us at the expense of her own reputation. And the whole time, she’d known we were her scent matches, dealing with our cruelty with a strength that I didn’t have. It was torture knowing she was gone, that after all the work we’d done to gain her trust, she found out in the worst way that we were playing her. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. We were falling for her, hard. And all the while, we’d still planned on her downfall. Now, we’d broken her trust, ruining the delicate bond we’d been building all these months.
I looked down at my phone. I’d tried calling and messaging her nonstop since everything happened. I needed to tell her she was in danger, to offer her our hell. She hadn’t answered, except to tell us it was over. But I couldn’t stop. Not when she was out there, not when I didn’t know who had her.
I typed with shaking hands.
Celeste, please respond. You’re in danger, and we want to help. We will do anything!
This time, she finally replied. My heart raced as I read her message.
Celeste:I need to talk to you too. It’s important. But only business. And on my terms.
I was thrilled that she finally replied. At least she hadn’t completely ghosted us. My thumbs moved quickly, trying to show an effort to help her in any way I could, to try to salvage this disaster.
Yes! Anything you want. Celeste, you’re everything to us. We fucked up. I know that now. We were wrong, and I think you know why. I need to know you’re safe. You can’t trust anyone right now.
Her response hit harder than the first.
Celeste:I’m in the safest place in the world.
My pulse roared in my ears.
Where? With who?
