Page 75 of Knot Your Possession

I nodded, “Let’s go.”

He grabbed my hand, and we made our way down to breakfast. It was such a little thing, but something I had desperately longed to feel again. The simple comfort and companionship whenever the twins held my hand. Mixed with the new desire sparking between us, I felt giddy. We found Emma, Lexie, Angel, and a bunch of omegas in the kitchen, with a few alphas hovering, too. As soon as Angel saw me, she jumped down from the chair she’d been standing on, darted over and wrapped her arms around my legs, trapping me in place.

“Where have you been?” she demanded to know.

“Uhhh,” I said awkwardly, lost for words.

How do you explain heats to a little kid?It was something she’d need to know eventually, but explaining it to her too soon could cause anxiety. They were so rare; it wasn’t even something the Palace taught omegas about.

Emma approached us quickly. “She was a little worried you’d left without saying goodbye again, even though we told her you were still here.”

My heart broke. My heat had been so all-consuming, I hadn’t thought about what she might think when I essentially disappeared. I hadn’t realized it had affected her the first time, either. She’d been popping up more frequently during my secret travels around the Palace, but I’d figured she’d just been getting older and more mischievous.Had she been following me?

“I’m so sorry, sweetie,” I mumbled. Suddenly near tears at the thought I might mean something vital to her, even though we’d only ever had stolen moments together before now. I’d hated leaving her behind the first time, when Damon, Hunter, and Leif had rescued us, yet Emma had assured me she was fine while I was hiding in the library. I’d briefly considered trying to smuggle her in there. But keeping her quiet would have been impossible and they would have noticed her missing, being the only child at the Palace. I’d figured finding Maia and getting more help had been our best chance for freeing them all. And it had. It didn’t mean Angel understood that, though. Or hadn’t been scared.

River dropped to his knees beside me and stroked her hair. “Hey, munchkin, I’m sorry we kept Ava away for a few days. But we’d never take her away from you, without at least telling you we were going and why. I promise. Okay?”

Angel nodded against my leg, but she still didn’t seem happy, so I disentangled her from my legs and crouched down to give her a big hug. “You’re my girl, Angel. I know the world is a little scary right now, and I’ve disappeared a couple of times, but I’m never going away for good. You’re important to me, okay?”

“Okay,” she said in a hesitant whisper.

“Why don’t you show me what you were cooking, so I can taste it?” River asked her and she perked up. She was wearing an apron someone had made out of a dish towel and had been stirring a pot with Emma’s help when we came in.

“I helped make oats,” she said proudly. She tugged on River’s hand, so he hopped up and let her drag him over to the pot as he sent me a wink over his shoulder. If I thought seeing her snuggle into Ryder was bad, watching the usually stern River let her lead him around had me melting.

Lexie suddenly pulled me into a giant hug that rivaled Angel’s.

“Are you okay?” She whispered in my ear, before she pulled back and searched my face.

“Yeah. Thanks, Lexie. You’re a good friend.”

“Anytime you need someone to help outrun your demons, I’ll be there. Okay?”

I nodded at her, feeling tears well in my eyes. After being so lonely, it was overwhelming how many people I had who cared about me now. In the space of weeks, my family had grown out of nowhere. She squeezed me tight.

“Your emotions are going to be all over the place after your heat. Fair warning. You’re probably going to cry at the slightest thing,” she said, as she grinned at me and wiped away the tear that spilled over my lashes.

“You think?” I asked, mimicking River’s dry tone. A pair of muscular arms wrapped around me from behind as River’s dark chocolate scent enveloped me. Drawn back by my emotions. Lexie instantly stepped back.

“Where are the rest of your guys?” Lexie asked as she looked past us out the doorway.

“They’re, uh, um…”

“Manscaping together,” River finished for me. Lexie burst out laughing as I elbowed River.

“Where’s Maia?” I asked, changing the subject before anyone else could jump in.

Lexie immediately sobered. “She wanted to stay, but she was finding it hard being here and the pregnancy hormones were making it worse. Her guys were picking up on it and losing the plot, so I sent them back to the farm. It didn’t make sense for us all to stay, anyway. It left the farm too exposed.”

“You must be missing Dave and Dio, too,” I said, guilt swamping me. I didn’t want to be here either, but I felt as if I owed the omegas for leaving them behind when we were rescued. That didn’t mean Lexie had to be here, too. “Thank you for staying and looking out for us, but if you want to get back, we’ll make it work.”

“Actually, we have to stay,” Sam said. “At least another day. My guys are bringing in the head of the Network. She’s been living in the mountains, but she wants to come and check on the omegas here. Help figure out how we can best protect them. She should be here in a couple of hours.”

“She?” I asked.

“Oh yeah,” Lexie said, as she shrugged off her longing and got back on task. “Let us catch you up while we get breakfast going. It’s just oatmeal with honey and some toast with jam, but it will fill everyone up.”

Everyone pitched in and we got breakfast cooking in no time. Sam got us up to speed. It seemed he’d been busy collaborating with the Network while we’d been otherwise engaged. He relayed what his team had told him on a phone call earlier this morning. A beta woman called Constance started the Network decades ago and ran it from a safe house she set up in the mountains. Constance built it to everything it was today, but she died the night before the Crash. She’d had an omega, who was about our age, living with her. Her name was Sadie. She’d rescued Sadie and taken her in when she first presented in her early teens. It turned out Sadie had been on her own up in the mountains for weeks, and had been secretly running the Network while Constance had been ill.

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