Page 88 of Knot For Keeps

We all sat up straighter at Archer’s announcement.

“What?” I snarled. Alberta Street was the street we had all grown up on, including Juniper. What the fuck was he doing there?

“What number?” Kane asked, his voice dark and dangerous.

“Twenty.”

Next door to the house Juniper had grown up in. I wanted to vomit. We hadn’t returned since Juniper had gone missing, it just didn’t feel right. The small town an hour away hadn’t been home in a long time. Our families still lived there, but we had hardly spoken to them in years.

“I guess we’re going home,” I said.

“Time to get our omega back from that fucker.” Theotwiddled a blade with his thumb.

“As a pack,” Kane said, meeting my eye with a look of determination.

“We’re in agreement,” Theo said, looking up from the knife in his hand. “Once we get Lavender back we are never letting her go. None of this bullshit about kidnapping her—she’s ours. She’s Pack Rowe’s omega.”

“She’s ours,” Archer croaked.

I nodded before looking at Kane. He nodded at me with a gaze that held a lot of meaning.

“The moment we get her back, we bite her—if she wants it,” Kane said.

“Fuck I’m tempted to do it wether she wants it or not. I won’t though, consent is king and all that jazz,” Theo said, raising his hands in surrender.

We were a pack, but we weren’t complete without Lavender.

* * *

The drive to our hometown was tense, we were all wound tightly. What if Rocuhe wasn’t at this property? He was a fucking cop and could get away with shit. Who knew how many tricks he had up his sleeve? Rain pelted the windshield in the dark while we sped through the night. We weren’t going to wait for daylight. Every one of us were armed and ready to fight for our omega.

There were no lights on in the small Victorian property. We parked close, intending to sneak up to various entry points and break in quietly.

That plan was shattered when we heard the loud roar from the woodland at the back of the house. Alec. I would bet money on it.

“Theo with me, Kane and Archer go from the left side,” I commanded quickly before taking off in a run towards the scream.

I followed the sounds of scuffling. Mere feet off the trail, I made out the shape of a figure crouched over someone. The darkness made it hard to discern their figures, and the rain was washing away smells alarmingly fast, but I could tell what was unfolding in front of me. Alec was on top of Lavender, his hand at her throat.

I saw red. Reaching forwards my hands grabbed Alec by the back of his shirt and his hair, ripping him away from Lavender so hard he flew several feet away.

“Get rid of him!” I snarled to the others, turning my attention to Lavender.

I sat Lavender up, checking her over. Every inch of her body was covered in cuts and bruises from running through the forest. There was a startling amount of blood covering her torso, but from one glance at Alec, it was obvious the wound on his neck was the culprit. Had she done that? If I hadn’t been so terrified for her I would have been damn proud.

“Lavender? I called her name as she drifted in and out of consciousness.

“Gage?” Her voice was low and hoarse, the red, ugly bruises on her neck clearly the culprit. Her right eyes were red, like a blood vessel had burst. Lavender whimpered in pain as I rearranged her. Clutching my shirt in her fists she burrowed close to me, inhaling deeply.

“She’s hurt,” I called over to Kane, who was still pummelling the unconscious Alec. His face looked almost carved in. The words immediately stopped Kane’s intense focus on ending Alec, and instead he came and knelt by us, gently reaching his hand out to stroke Lavender’s hair out of her face, looking upon her injuries himself.

“We need to call an ambulance,” Archer demanded.

“We need to take her home—if we call an ambulance she’ll be taken away and we’ll be arrested,” Kane said, looking around. He frowned. “Something smells… odd about her.”

“Of course she smells odd!” Archer thundered. “She stinks of fear, blood and dirt, of course she doesn’t smell normal.”

“No… something sweet.” Kane shook his head, “Never mind…”

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