Page 3 of Knot Your Possession

“It’s okay. We’ve got you,” he whispered so lightly I barely heard. The alpha’s gaze focused in on Cary and his whole body relaxed into Cary’s hand as he breathed out heavily. A heartbeat later, his eyes rolled back in his head, and Cary yelled for help as he dropped.

I felt Nick move alongside me, but we were both too far away. The twins spun out from the shadows of the PMV and grabbed the giant alpha as he fell. They cradled his head gently and lowered him to the ground.

Seeing the twins had been a shock I hadn’t yet processed. I hadn’t seen them in a decade, yet they’d dominated every waking moment of that time. Many of my dreams too. Watching them move like creatures of shadow in front of me made me question if I was awake.

I glanced behind me as I heard Dave call out to Damon. Damon shot me a look, and I nodded at him to let him know we were fine, before he and his mates spun and raced back towards Dave. We weren’t out of danger. There was a pub full of hostile alphas and betas behind us and a lot of injured alphas lying in the street. I had no idea what was happening back there.

I shifted closer to the unconscious alpha on the ground. Nick moved with me. He seemed to have taken up Cary’s place at my side, as Cary checked the alpha’s pulse.

“Is he okay?” I asked Cary. I stared vaguely at the unconscious alpha’s shoulder, not able to look anywhere else as I felt the twin’s gazes focus back on me and Cary raised his head to join them. The world pressed in as the three men focused on me with weighted stares. My Palace training had me straightening my back and slipping on a serene, polite mask. I hated my ingrained reaction, but I felt overwhelmed. I couldn’t untangle any of my complicated feelings for these three men while they watched me so closely.

“He’s breathing, but I don’t know what made him pass out.”

“I’m pretty sure the Palace guys sedated him,” one twin answered. The deep, rumbling voice sent shivers racing down the curve of my back. I forced myself not to react as my body tried to arch into the sound. It was so familiar, yet so different. We’d been teenagers when we’d last seen each other. Reckless, young and naïve. Determined to take on the world for each other. This voice belonged to a man, one I no longer knew.

The sound of a gunshot ringing out had both the twins spinning in place. I dove, without thought, to cover the alpha on the ground, needing to protect him from the threat while he was vulnerable. I jolted as Cary landed, sprawled over both of us, and I felt Nick crouch behind me with his hand on my back. It was the first time either man had touched me, but I had no time to dwell on the precious moment.

I closed my eyes and my breaths seized in my lungs as two more shots rang out in close succession. Cary slid over to cover more of my upper body, hugging my head to his chest. I didn’t think we were the targets. I couldn’t hear shots landing anywhere nearby. But Cary muffled everything as he lay heavily on top of me and his vanilla ice-cream scent surrounded me.

Dread ran its ice-cold fingers along my skin. Too many people I loved were exposed out here, and I couldn’t do a single thing about it.

two

Ilaunchedmyselfontop of Ava and the unconscious alpha below her as three shots fired in quick succession. I was desperately trying to cover as much of Ava as I could while holding myself up slightly so as not to crush either of them. This was as close as I’d ever been to Ava, and despite our desperate circumstances, her nearness was overwhelming my senses and making my heart skip a beat. Every breath the alpha took beneath us also had me on edge, waiting to see if it would be his last.

Not knowing what had made him pass out, or what they may have done to him at the Palace, was messing with my head. I’d fought hard to keep my autonomy in a world filled with alphas who wanted to turn me into their toy. Yet this giant alpha’s lush tropical forest scent, mixed with Ava’s sweetness, pulled at me in a way that was primal and instinctive. The look of relief he’d given me, when I’d placed my hand on his chest, had momentarily stripped me bare. It made me feel exposed, shaken, and really fucking confused.

So I did what I always did. I shut it down. My senses narrowed as I ignored the chaos and danger around us for a moment, something I’d learned to do at the Palace. My focus was only on Ava and the alpha lying vulnerable beneath us. I trusted Nick to keep watch and warn me if anyone approached, as I slipped my hand closer to the alpha to check his pulse. It beat steadfastly against my fingers. Its rhythm was a siren call.

When he’d run at us, I’d stepped in front of Ava instinctively because I hadn’t known him. Yet, for some inexplicable reason, I hadn’t thought he’d hurt her. It had just become a habit.

Protecting Ava had been my life’s purpose since the day I’d first seen her at the Palace, so naïve and innocent, and her scent had marked me as hers. Yet I’d protected her from the shadows, never getting close. Now, despite the Crash and our time on the farm, the barrier I created between us felt impossible to overcome. Yet I knew I now had to figure it out, fast. This alpha changed everything. She’d flung herself over him protectively, without a thought. She clearly felt the same pull to him as he did to her.To us,my mind tried to yell. I shut that down, though.

I felt our fate rushing towards us, as if I’d only been able to hold it at bay for so long, and now it had broken free in a torrent. If I didn’t hold on to her, I feared Ava was going to get swept away in the flood.

A distant yell and a shot rang out from the direction of the pub, followed by one of the nearby twins firing at a building across the street. The echoing cracks startled me back into the moment and the incredible danger we were in, exposed on the street. I could almost feel the bullseye painted on us. I faintly heard Damon yell at Hunter to go, and the same twin took off after him. They both disappeared into the dim depths of the building.

Suddenly, the PMV behind us rumbled back to life from where it had been idling. It maneuvered around between us and the building. It hindered my view, yet gave us some protection. I reluctantly slid off Ava. She shifted off the alpha, too, and glanced up at me briefly, yet searchingly. Her eyes held mine for a haunting moment, that briefly calmed the turmoil within me, before she turned her attention back to the alpha.

“Hey, kid,” the remaining twin, who was hovering near us, whispered. I looked up, startled, but he wasn’t talking to me. He was talking over his shoulder to Nick while he shifted silently to peer around the front of the PMV. “Watch our back and call out anything suspicious you see to me.”

Nick looked startled, too. Yet he still brandished his stun gun while crouched next to us. He peeked at me, and I nodded to reassure him I had eyes on Ava before he turned his back and focused on the dark street beyond us. Nick and I had become fast friends the day Ava and I had arrived at the farm. He’d surprised me tonight, though. He came across as a bit of a tech geek. Yet he’d enthusiastically signed up to become a Honey Badger alongside us, and hadn’t baulked at running into danger to help.

“Are you okay?” I whispered to Ava. She glanced back up at me and those big green eyes pulled me into their depths the way they always seemed to do. They were a deep, cool lake I wanted to dive into. I always felt as if I was falling if I looked into them too long. I’d rarely let myself do it before now.

“Yes, you?” She asked, seeming a little hesitant. We rarely spoke directly to each other, even since we’d found the relative safety of the farm. We’d spent most of our time hiding out together at the Palace in fearful silence. Yet, we’d orbited each other for so long. Two planets caught in each other’s pull but never touching.

I nodded at her as my breath caught in my chest. It was so strange. She felt so integral to my life and yet I knew so little about her. I didn’t know her favorite color or what filled her dreams. She was a mystery and a necessity, bundled up in one gorgeous package.

We sat in awkward silence for a few minutes until a noise behind us had my head whipping around. Hunter appeared, shadowed by the other twin. Hunter slid gracefully to his knees next to me.

“Is everyone okay?” Ava asked, with more than a hint of anxiety. I’d been trying not to think about Lexie and everyone cornered inside the pub.

“Yeah,” Hunter nodded as he checked the unconscious alpha’s pulse. “Damon signaled on my way back. Three down, but none of ours. Whoever the shooter was, they’re in the wind, but we weren’t their target.”

I relaxed slightly. From what I knew of Hunter, he wouldn’t be here with us if he thought the shooter was still in the area or a danger to us. He’d be on the hunt. I had a lot of respect for Hunter. He put everyone at ease with his friendly humor, but it hid a deadly side. I’d seen it the night we’d met, when he and his mates had rescued Ava and me from the Palace.

“Do we know what’s wrong with this guy?” Hunter asked. “He appeared to pass out from where we were watching, but it was hard to see in the darkness.”

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