Page 14 of Knot in My Wildest Dreams: Part 2
They came closer, curt and efficient, their hands running over us in a quick pat-down. Once they felt sure, they ordered us into the car. It felt odd and reckless to do things this way, but I didn’t care.
Because none of it mattered. All that mattered was that Celeste was at the end of this road. I’d fall to my knees if I had to. I’d bleed. I’d beg. Whatever it took to pull her out of the shadow of pain she was in, and put her back in my arms where she belonged. And I’d do anything she asked, just for a moment to be in the same room with her again.
Chapter 15
Liam
We were driven to Pack Valence’s compound, with security following us as we stepped out of the car like we were prisoners. Every instinct screamed that we’d walked into a trap, but deep down, I knew that Celeste wouldn’t do that. Not to us. She wasn’t capable of that kind of malice, no matter how badly we’d treated her. I could feel it in my chest, where our bond should be, where I was missing the one person who should have been my mate.
The estate was grand, as was to be expected from Pack Valence. We walked into a house with high ceilings, tiled floors, and old money dripping from every corner. Of course she’d come here. They had power, resources, and safety. They were helping her after we’d turned our backs on trusting her. And I hated every second of it.
Every thing in me pulled at me to challenge them, to fight this pack to get Celeste back. It felt so wrong for her to be here with them. She was our match, not theirs. It pained me, making my skin itch and my nerves raw, to be here in their house, knowing that Celeste chose to stay with them. It was torture.
We were led into a massive sitting room, where I finally saw the one thing I’d been searching for - Celeste. She sat on a chair as though it were a throne. My chest tightened so hard it almost hurt.
Relief crashed through me so strongly I nearly staggered. She was safe. Right in front of me. Beautiful beyond words, and looking less and less likely to ever forgive us.
Even with her face guarded, even furious, she was breathtaking. The light caught in her hair, and she sat with a regal posture. Her perfect eyes looked down on us with detachment, but I could sense an anger simmering just underneath. I’d never seen her look more powerful. And yet, to me, she was still the same Celeste who had smiled in those rare, unguarded moments, whose laughter I craved to hear again, whose scent had haunted me every night since she left.
The members of Pack Valence were stationed nearby, watching from a distance. Their stances were protective, daring us to move too close. Celeste looked at them with gratitude, and I felt the jealousy boil inside me that these alphas were near her. But I had no right to feel that way after what we’d done. Finally, she looked back at us, her eyes icy and guarded, with none of the warmth I used to feel from her. My knees nearly buckled.
“Celeste,” I said, my voice breaking before I could steady it. I stepped forward, ignoring the hostile energy from the alphas guarding her. “We were wrong. About all of it. About you. I should’ve seen the truth sooner. I -” my throat clenched tight, “ - I’m sorry. I’ll spend the rest of my life making it right if you let me.”
Beside me, Vigo’s voice cracked. “Please, omega. Forgive us. We didn’t know. We didn’t see you.” He bowed his head, raw pain rolling off him in waves.
Dante, the quietest of us all, didn’t try to approach her. He just looked up, his eyes more vulnerable than I’d ever seen, and dropped down to his knees. “Celeste, I’m sorry.” His voice was choked up, and he looked like he was stuck between wanting to run to her, and to run away.
Celeste stared at us, letting us stew in the silence, watching us with a neutrality that hurt me all the way to my bones. I wanted her to show some emotion, anything. Finally, she spoke, and the words gutted me. “You would have thought I was still the enemy if I hadn't pointed out the impossible date on those falsified documents.”
She let the words sit in the air, letting us absorb it as I felt myself heat in shame. She leaned forward. “And where would I be right now? If you thought that all those atrocities done under my name were true?” She sat back, her lip curling in disgust. “Let me guess. I’d be arrested by now, the press dragging my name through the dirt, and removed from my position. That’s where I’d be.” Her words landed with finality, and several of Pack Valence’s members growled.
I’d never felt so awful in all my life. Because she was right. I couldn't defend it. Even if we thought it was the right thing at the time, to take down the monster behind the Arkala massacre, and so many other violations, we still didn’tseeher. We would have turned on our own mate. And now, knowing we were wrong, we’d come groveling back to her, expecting what? For her to forgive us? When she’d essentially saved herself by looking more closely at the paperwork? I hung my head in shame.
Vigo was losing it next to me. “Please, Celeste, we want to help you!” He was practically shaking with emotion as he looked at her, his eyes pleading as he got on his knees. “Despite everything, our only desire is to get you out of this! Someone’s framing you! Trying to destroy you!” He shouted, and Celeste just smiled sadly.
“Oh, I’m not the only one that was set up to be framed, Vigo.” I whipped my head up, wondering what she was saying.
“What are you talking about?” I asked carefully. She leaned forward, setting her face on her fist.
“I found out quite a bit. And while I considered letting you self-destruct, I’m not quite as cruel as you. Your pack was part of this conspiracy, too. Someone is working against you.” Her words cut through me, and I stepped backward.
“Celeste, the papers make you look like you orchestrated everything at Harringday. This has nothing to do with our pack.” I started, wondering what misinformation she’d been given.
“No. Everything was planned out, and you were led right into the trap that was supposed to destroy me. You thought I was your enemy, when the real traitor was beside you the whole time.”
I blinked. “What are you saying?”
Her gaze sharpened, then she sighed. “My uncle has been working against me for years, without my knowledge. He was the mastermind behind everything.”
I sat back, stunned. Her own uncle?
“How?” Vigo asked, and I saw Dante rear up in anger. If her uncle was behind everything, then he was the one ultimately responsible for Arkala.
Celeste continued. “He has several board members on his side, who are in agreement to place him as CEO and overthrow me. They are outnumbered, but by persuading the rational board members that I was messy, my uncle thought he could unseat me sooner.” She looked at each of us carefully as we took in her words.
“When that didn’t work, he came up with an ingenious plan to oust me. You’ll know all about the first one. It was supposed to happen the night of the Darlington Ball.” My mind flashed back to when we’d planned to get her to miss the vote.
“But Celeste, that wasn’t your uncle. You know that. We already told you it was us.” Dante said, his face riddled with confusion.
