Page 49 of Knot All Is Lost: Part 2

Spencer snorted. “Wow, could you be any more Alpha right now?”

Nixon just gave him an irritated look and offered his arm to me. “I’ve been working out about three times a week for the past few years. Working at the shelter means I need to be ready to pitch in however I can, so I make sure my body is able to do that.”

I reached out and gripped his upper arm and when he flexed the muscle bulged, as did my eyes. His arm doubled in size and forced his shirt to its limits. “Are you saying I can get this strong too?”

“No,” Spencer interjected. “There is no need for you to bethatbuff. What we can help you with is regaining and improving your strength from where you’re at now, to someone who can easily carry two trays of food if you want.”

“Now you’re making me sound even more silly,” I muttered, dropping to the blanket. “What would I do if I didn’t have you guys around?”

“When would that ever happen?” Nixon asked as he joined us back on the blanket. “Cambrie, do you believe we see you as weak or a burden?”

“I’m both of those things,” I pointed out.

Spencer and Nixon both looked at me, stunned. Then Nixon shook himself out of his surprise and pulled me onto his lap so I was facing him. “Sweetheart, I’m sorry, I should have realized where this was coming from, but I didn’t.”

Now I was the one who was confused and scrunched up my face.

“Cambrie, you are an amazing woman who has survived so much in her life already. You’re going to have to give your body a chance to catch up to what you need from it now. We’ll be more than happy to help you, show you simple ways to become stronger, but this won’t change the fact we allwantto take care of you.” Nixon shared, reaching out and tucking my hair behind my ear. “Did you know that all men have a strong desire to be needed by their partner? It helps us know that we’re being useful and shows how much we care. Allowing us to do little things for you gives up a chance to do that. None of us see you as a burden, but I know you know that already.”

A mixture of understanding and guilt battled inside me as I processed what he was saying. “So, you’re telling me I should let you help me because it makes you happy and you aren’t irritated by it?”

“In a manner of speaking. You are still finding your independence and all of us want to encourage that as much as we can. If we see you struggling and want to help you, don't let your first thought be, we don't think you’re capable of doing it someday. Right now, you need a little more help but that won’t be forever. Soon, we’re all going to be fighting over the chance to do something for you,” Nixon explained.

I nodded solemnly. “Okay, I’ll do my best to remember that. I just want so badly to take on things by myself that I get mad when I find I’m not at that point yet.”

“Give it time, Little Dove, we are always on your side cheering for you,” Spencer added. “Once we get back home, we can show you where the gym is and come up with some simple things to start with. Right now, I think we all need a little grace on how we are dealing with situations. It's been a wild few weeks and none of us have really found our groove.”

The sound of the back door banging open and Savo charging out with a wave of rage slamming into me, had me gasping.

“What happened?” Nixon demanded.

“Yoram’s been arrested but not before he took out Fredrick and Willem,” Savo informed us. “The rat bastard tried to kill himself as well, but Rick’s guys stopped him. They were all at the second Care Center where he was using the modified fertility drug, but it turns out he’d been working on fixing it without success. Cambrie is his only living child that turned out to be an Omega.”

Chapter 22

Lookingatthetwomen dead lying at my feet, I didn’t know how to feel. The whole thing was a whirlwind of events that happened so fast my brain was finally catching up to what I was seeing. While I’d never been a fan of either man, I never would have wanted a death like this for them. They should have been given the chance to speak and share their sides of the story. It wouldn’t shock me one bit to find out that Yoram had manipulated or promised them things from the beginning.

Did I believe they were blameless? Not in the slightest, but Yoram wasn’t judge, jury, and executioner. Clearly, there were things these men knew that he couldn’t risk getting out into the world. Thankfully, Rick’s men were so well trained they were able to disarm the man before he could blow his own brains out. It stunned me that he would rather take his own life than let us catch him. Granted, there was nothing he could say to make us disbelieve what we’d already witnessed.

Could it be that he was trying to cover his tracks now that we fucked up his plans to send Cambrie to Shearia? This man would never be someone I could relate to. Although, when I thought about it, if he didn’t have his power, what else was there? He didn’t have a single person that truly loved him. His own pack sold him out to get happiness the only way they thought was possible.

“Marius,” Rick called, pulling me out of my thoughts. “We found the girls, and it’s not good.”

Fuck, did the bastard have to ruin more lives before we could figure this all out?

“Have you called for help?” I asked as I followed him out of the back room.

“There are five ambulances on their way, along with some extra medical staff to take samples of whatever they think will be helpful,” Rick answered, shaking his head. “Why the fuck would he be messing with this stuff? None of it makes sense. Clearly, it’s killing more than it’s helping. Why can’t he get it through his head?”

“God, I wish I had an answer for that but I’m struggling with this myself.” I sighed. “At least we won’t need a trial and can just pass judgment on crimes that have been committed in front of us.”

“I hope you don’t mind, but I had one of the guys reach out to your pack letting them know that Yoram is in custody. I thought it might help them feel a little more at ease.”

I clapped him on the back in thanks, only to freeze as we entered a room filled with cots. Five women lay on cots, some of them looking like they were on death’s door. What made matters worse was they were all pregnant.

“No,” I cried, my voice coming out in a cracked whisper. “Please tell me this isn’t real.”

“Believe me, I’m going to have nightmares for a long time after this,” Rick murmured. “I looked them over and they're all still alive, barely, but we’ll do everything we can, Marius. The least we can do is find out who their families are and contact them.”

---