Page 13 of Knot All Is Lost: Part 1

“That explains your reaction to the doors earlier,” Rafael muttered, staring into the bowl. “Were you only with that man for two years?”

My face scrunched up at the question. “He’s my father, I’ve been with him my whole life. It was only after he learned I was an Omega that he locked me away until he could sell me.”

All of the men froze staring at me intently, shocked by what I’d just told them.

“Your father is the one who has been hitting you and locked you away?” Spencer questioned, with a look of almost disbelief.

Nodding, I couldn’t quite figure out what they found so shocking. I wasn’t the only kid that got smacked around by their parents. It’s one of the reasons we lived in the neighborhood we did. People kept to themselves because they didn’t want any attention drawn to their own shit. Peggy once mentioned she should alert the authorities that I wasn’t in school, but once I started working toward my GED, she let it go.

“Do you know when this started or why your father told you he felt the need to hit you?” Rafael inquired as he handed me the bowl. “Please be careful, the soup is very hot.”

Using the blanket I shielded my hands as I grasped the bowl and set it in my lap. Vegetables and what looked like chicken floated around in it, making my stomach voice its excitement. Lifting the spoon I slurped some, testing the temperature, and found it hot but not so much I couldn’t eat it.

“My mom died when I was eight, he didn’t drink as much as he does now, but when he got drunk he would hit her. She would lock me away in her room so he couldn’t do anything to me but I knew what was happening. After she was gone Father drank any chance he could. It took me a while to learn if he didn’t see me he would forget I was there. At first I tried to take care of him like Mom did, all that got me was more bruises and a broken arm. After I went to the hospital they called the authorities on him so we moved to the slums where no one gave a shit,” I explained in between bites of soup.

“Then he locked you away when your designation revealed itself?” Nixon asked.

Mouth full I nodded wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. “I tried to run, Peggy from the library wanted to turn me in to the police but I begged her not to. When I went home to get my stuff so I could run, Father caught me. I’d been locked in the basement before for one reason or another but this time he kept me down there for good. Once I almost got away so he chained me to the wall forcing me to take suppressants so no one would find out I was down there. When he came for me earlier today, he told me he’d sold me to the highest bidder and today was the day I would be given to him. That’s why I jumped out of the car while we were on the highway, making it harder for him to come after me.”

It would seem that after so long of being silent and alone, once I got started telling my story I couldn’t stop. People needed to know what happened to me.

It was wrong!

No one, no matter their designation, should be treated the way I was. I didn’t think being locked away for so long had changed me as much as it had. Up until I was sixteen there had still been a flicker of hope for the future, the knowledge that I wouldn’t have to live my life this way forever. Then in the blink of an eye, the reality of the world reared its ugly head and snuffed out all vestiges of hope. Now life was about survival, just making it one more day.

The men didn’t press for any more information, letting me eat my meal in peace while Spencer washed my feet. While I tried not to react, the zings of sharp pain when he had to pluck something out of my foot had me twitching. Father seemed to enjoy it more if he knew how badly what he did to me hurt, it seemed to fuel his rage. So I quickly learned that being silent helped to make things end sooner. It might be more violent as he tried to get me to cry out but the drunk bastard would soon run out of steam.

“I’m sorry Cambrie, there are some pieces of glass that got really stuck in there. I’d hoped the soaking would keep this from being so painful but I’ll try to be as fast as I can,” Spencer said, giving me a reassuring smile.

I nodded and bit my lip to keep my whimpers to myself. A hand settled on my head making me flinch, but I caught the scent of sandalwood and knew it was Rafael. Slowly he stroked his finger through my hair effectively distracting me from what was happening to my feet.

“Let’s give those a little break,” Spencer suggested after a bit. “Can I take a look at your knees?”

Nixon took the empty bowl from me, and I scrunched up the fabric of my dress and tucked it tightly around my thighs so I wouldn’t flash more than I was willing to show. Father had never touched me like that, even though he’d threatened to sell me sooner as a whore if I couldn’t behave. He knew I’d sell for more money as an untouched Omega. Thankfully money was the one thing he wouldn’t risk losing.

I watched Spencer as he started at my ankle gently pressing the rag to my raw skin from the cuff, letting the water wash away the dirt and grime. Then he moved up the leg with smooth, consistent strokes keeping it professional, never once making me feel uncomfortable.

“You have two Alpha partners?” I asked, wanting to fill the silence. My world had been quiet and lonely for too long. I craved conversation with someone even if I wasn’t good at it.

Spencer’s eyes moved to mine and he grinned. “I do, Nixon and Marius. We’ve been together for just a little over five years, and I love them both very much.”

“Did you meet them at the same time?” I ventured, curious how two Alpha males came to share one Beta. I always assumed they would be too jealous to share their affection with more than one person.

“Nixon is who I met first, he interviewed me to work here at the shelter. That interview went from him being all serious and focused on the needs of his business to more of a twenty-questions game. I teased him that he put the ad up for employees as a farce to interview for a boyfriend, not a front desk associate,” Spencer shared, the warmth and love in his voice telling me how he felt about his Alpha. “I got hired of course, but I’ll have you know I was way too overqualified for the job but I’d been looking for something of meaning to do with my life.”

Nixon snorted at this drawing my attention. His chocolate brown eyes glowed with humor as he smiled at his partner, crossing his arms as he leaned back in his office chair. “Overqualified my ass. You told me you were a front desk manager for a hotel but what you didn’t say was that the hotel was so small it only needed one front desk employee a shift. You would have stayed there too if it hadn’t shut down.”

Spencer glared at him. “Everyone knows to pad your resume to put yourself in the best possible light. I didn’t lie, it just might have been silly to say that I managed myself on the dayshift. As for the part of wanting to do more with my life, that was absolutely true. I just didn’t know I’d fall for the two men who want to change the world.”

He must have seen the confusion on my face as he patted my calf reassuringly. “My other partner is Official Marius Stone, the newly elected fourth member of the Council of Four. When we said we had a connection to the government, really we meant we had a direct line.”

My jaw dropped at his words before snapping my head over to Nixon, who nodded that what I’d been told was true. “Marius has been my best friend my entire life, guess it seems fitting we would fall for the same Beta. Oscar, the last Alpha in our pack, went to boarding school with us so you could say that the core of us have been together for what seems like forever. The only other person we haven’t mentioned is Bodhi. You could say we adopted him almost two years ago. He was one of Rafael’s patients from the shelter. So, us bringing you home isn’t going to shock anyone,” he added reassuringly.

“Now we just have to finish getting your feet cleaned up and we can all call it a day,” Spencer announced. “I shouldn’t be too much longer. I got most of it, I just hated seeing you in pain.”

“It’s okay, I’ve dealt with worse,” I shared, wanting to ease his worry. “Do what you need to. I won’t move, promise.”

Spencer gave me a halfhearted smile as he picked up the tweezers. “Why don’t one of you find some shoes for her? I believe Clara also had some clothes as well. We can have Cambrie change into those once she has a proper shower at the house.”

“Agreed, I don’t want her using the open shower here,” Nixon muttered as he left the office.

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