Page 86 of Knot For Keeps

“Why Juniper, I would love it if you did my nails!” I smiled back, and we went over to the table. I ignored the burning pain in my thigh. My walk was more of a hobble now. I sat on one of the tiny padded chairs while Juniper got her nail supplies out.

She started filing my nails, making them neat and tidy. “I’ve had a lot of practice,” she laughed without humour.

“When we leave here, we never have to do our nails again,” I said. Juniper gave me a genuine smile of happiness.

“That sounds like heaven. I dream about just running through the forest, digging dirt with my hands, that sort of thing.” She sighed. “Would a lavender colour be too on the nose for you? I only have pretty pastels because darker colours don’t fit into his picture of how omega’s should behave.”

“Let’s go with the lavender,” I smiled. Halfway through the first hand, I felt the nail file slip easily under my hand, and up my sleeve. Juniper was good at this, she must have perfected being sneaky after years of being watched by cameras.

“How long do you think it will take?” she asked.

“Give me twenty four hours, and I should have a weapon.”

“I’m scared,” Juniper admitted, keeping her focus on my nails.

“I would be scared if you weren’t worried. You're not alone anymore, remember that. Whatever happens, we’ll face it together. If he tries to separate us just say we’re pair bonded or some shit and he can’t separate us. That will make him panic.”

“Is that a thing?” Juniper asked with a frown.

“Kind of. If an omega is super attached to someone they can suffer negative side effects when taken from them. Pain, and this horrible deep sense of wrong takes over.”

“That’s how I felt when I first came here, then I just became… numb. For the first time in a long time, I think I’m starting to feel again. Hope feels like a dangerous thing.”

“Your brother held onto hope for years. When Archer suggested that you might be dead I had never seen Kane so pissed. Both Theo and Archer struggled to restrain him—it was honestly quite scary, but I know he would never turn that anger on me so I wasn’t worried. Kane’s always been so gentle with me.”

“He has? I always said he would be a softie with an omega.”

“He accidently barked at me once,” I admitted. Juniper’s eyes went wide. “I had dropped a glass, and in a panic, he shouted at me to not move, because I had nothing on my feet. He was so worried he barked without even realising it—and he felt so bad about it afterwards. He hadn’t warmed to me entirely by then, but he could see I was shaken up. Barks can be brutal.”

“I guess I’ve been lucky in that regard that Alec can’t actually bark,” Juniper admitted.

“Yeah, when it’s not from someone you trust completely it is horrible. The whole pack was pissed at him, but that night I couldn’t sleep and he snuck in just to comfort me and didn’t say a word.”

Juniper sighed wistfully. “I miss him.”

“Me too.”

ChapterForty-Five

Lavender

The paleness of Juniper’s face was starting to concern me.

Ever since Alec had made it clear he intended to be a part of my heat and chemically kickstart Juniper’s, she had become withdrawn, looking off into the distance and hardly speaking. She had managed to stave off his advances for so long that she didn’t fully comprehend what was happening anymore.

When we were sure we were alone, Juniper unwrapped my leg, using water from the bottle to rinse it. The cut was several inches long and still weeping blood whenever I moved. Juniper sacrificed another of her pink shirts to bandage it, but when I apologised she snorted, insisting she was happy to be rid of the frilly monstrosity.

“How will we do it?” Juniper asked into the darkness as we curled up on the bed together. We were meant to be sleeping, but rest evaded us both.

“I’ll go for his neck. It’s the best place to cause maximum damage. If you get the chance to run, you do it. Don’t wait for me.”

“Wait, no,” Juniper protested. “We—”

“Yes. You’ve been here for years. Get free and find help. Kane will find you and with any luck I’ll be right behind you,” I assured her. “And if not, you know where I am.”

Would I be right behind her? My leg was bad, and I was feeling sicker by the hour.

“Okay. When?”

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