Page 21 of Knot All Is Lost: Part 2

Who knew a bunch of old men could be so much trouble? You’d think they would know better, but here we were trying to fix what chaos they’ve managed to stir up. When we got to the main entrance Alton was trying to wrestle the keys out of Marla’s hands.

“Goddamnit, woman, give me the blasted keys right this minute,” he barked.

Marla flinched at the order, but not being an Omega, it didn’t have quite the same effect on her. “No, he did this to save you, and now you’re just going to throw yourself at their feet begging to have him released. Eric would hate you even more if you gave in that easily,” she argued.

Marius and Oscar stepped in and managed to pull them apart as they continued to argue.

“Enough,” Marius ordered, raising his voice loud enough it echoed in the space. “Settle down and tell us what the hell is going on, Alton?”

“Eric found out that tea had trace amounts of hydrangea poison in it. Given enough time, or a bigger dose, it would have killed me, and I wouldn’t even know I’d done it to myself. Those bastards hand delivered my own death to my door for the past month,” Alton raged. “Before I could stop the stubborn asshole he had this whole plan cooked up, and by the time he told me it was too late and the press was here.”

We’d known they’d discovered the poison, but not what kind it was.

“What’s worse is he named Yoram as the mastermind behind this plot to take me out,” Alton added, sinking onto a bench in the hall. “I’m not sure there’s any way to save him without giving them what they want.”

Marius squatted in front of him, resting a hand on his knee. “We learned some incredibly valuable information today, Alton. Let’s not give up hope just yet.”

“Can it help get Eric out of this mess?” Alton questioned.

“It can do more than that, it can bring them all down, but I need a little time to get what I need to prove it. We’re going to find the best lawyers, and if Yoram calls me in, I’ll do whatever it takes to slow down the process,” Marius promised. “We need to head back to our home, but I won’t do that if you’re going to go rogue on us.”

Alton waved a dismissive hand at Marius. “If you think you can save him then I’ll let you try. If it comes to naught, then I’ll do what they’ve wanted since the beginning and resign. With me out of power they won’t have any reason to keep going after Eric.”

“Give me two days,” Marius requested. “I’m so close to getting our Omega home and she’ll have part of the puzzle I need to drive the final nails in the coffin of their political careers.”

“Alright, my boy,” Alton answered, patting Marius on the shoulder. “If you think you can save them both, then I’ll let you try. It might be time to let the next generation step in and take over the hard work from here.”

“Don’t be talking like that, mister,” Marla snapped as she charged over to him. “Eric found an antidote for you to take that will help. You’re not even close to giving up. You hear me?”

“Yes, woman I hear you,” Alton answered as he pulled her down for a kiss. “I’m not giving up, just thinking it might be time to take a step back from being in charge. Haven’t you liked having me around more?”

Marla looked up at us, her face determined. “You need to fix this and fast, he’s becoming delusional. If he stays home any longer he’ll forget we’re not his minions he can order about all willy-nilly.”

I snorted at that, picturing Alton becoming the drill sergeant of getting projects done around the house, and Marla telling him to fuck off. The older Alpha might be feeling his mortality at the moment, but I doubted he was as ready to retire as he thought.

“Come on, Marius, we should be getting back,” Spencer urged. “I'm positive they’ll call you in, and you can’t show up wearing jeans and a T-shirt.”

Always the mother hen, our Beta, but he wasn’t wrong. It was best that we returned to the house and got things settled, so when Cambrie was back home with us, we had it ready. Not to mention, I wasn’t sure when the last time we ordered groceries was. Bodhi was in charge of that for the most part and we just added our requests to the list on the fridge.

The drive didn’t take long, but all of us were hesitant to step foot inside. We’d grabbed what we needed and spent the last three days at Alton’s. Rafael was the brave one who entered first, flipping on the lights in the entryway. The day had been fairly overcast as if it was going to rain, but hadn’t made up its mind yet. Spencer went to the decorative table that had been set up by the stairs and picked things off the floor, placing things in their spot once more. Only one little figurine had broken, a small angel with its wings spread open ready to take flight. Now it wasn’t going anywhere with its wings broken off.

I refused to believe it was any sort of sign about what Cambrie was going through right now. Savo was with her, watching out for our sweet Omega, making me so thankful she wasn’t alone. Heading up to my room, I had just started to change when my phone rang. Looking down at the name on the screen I groaned, it was my mother. We had monthly check-ins and I’d all but forgotten it was the fifteenth of the month. The obligatory day my mother picked when I left for boarding school, when we would speak.

“Hello, Mother,” I answered.

“Nixon, darling, how are you? I heard something awful on the news earlier today, something about one of the Officials being poisoned?” she prattled on. “You don’t know anything about this, do you?”

Breathing a heavy sigh, I sat on the edge of my bed knowing this wasn’t going to be a quick call. “No, Mother, I know just about as much as you do. Marius has been home the last few days, but we expect him to get called in to deal with this mess.”

“Oh? Is he alright? Do I need to send anything over? Has he talked to his mother?” she asked shooting question after question, not once giving me the chance to answer. “You know, I talked to Beatrice the other day, and she said she hadn’t heard a word from him in almost two months. Is everything alright over there?”

This was a question my mother found a way of asking every single conversation. What she really wanted to know was if Marius and I were still with Spencer. While Marius’s mother had no issues at all with who her son chose to love, mine had quite the opposite view. Not only was I in love with a man, I was sharing him with my best friend. Couldn’t I find someone for myself? What about children? What would happen when we had an Omega? It wasn’t right to have another partner besides them. A happy Omega is the most important thing in the world, and how could they be happy if I loved someone other than them?

“Everything is perfectly fine, Mother, in fact, they are better than they’ve ever been. We now have an Omega in our pack,” I shared, not wanting to hide Cambrie anymore.

When we got our Omega back safe and sound she wasn’t ever leaving again. Hell, I’d hire Savo on the spot to ensure nothing like this happened, move him into the house to keep watch twenty-four-seven-three-sixty-five.

“Oh, my goodness! When did this happen? Darling, you should have told us right away. This is a momentous occasion,” Mother gushed. “How did that young fellow you were close with take it?”

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