Page 104 of Rest In Knotty Pieces

Mitchel turns to Yvonne. “Go pack your bags. We’re in the wind.” He whirls back and glares at me. “How do you know Father?”

“He taught me everything I know,” I say softly.

Roseland

Pix shoves her up against the wall, but I grab his wrist and squeeze.

“Let her go.”

“Are you serious?” The bitter betrayal on his face hurts, but he doesn’t understand. He has no idea.

“You’re going to side with her? Choose her again?”

I grit my teeth, wishing I could tell him more than I can, but it’s not safe. I don’t know who I can trust and who I can’t anymore. What I do know is that the collection of alters known as Merle Kestrel needs someone helping her.

“If Raven says Father knows about you all, then you need to run.”

“Me too?” Pix asks softly, and his expression is one of absolute heartbreak and so much anger. “You want me to disappear as well?”

No!“Yes. You need to go with your family. With Pack Prince. Vanish.”

She’s staring at me, but I refuse to look at her. My skin can feel her gaze like she’s touching me. Like it’s a physical stroke of the most gentle compassion. She knows. Of course, she would. She’s too damn intuitive.

“You don’t want to see me again, Roseland?” Pix snaps out.

This hurts more than I would have thought possible. But if I can’t keep them safe, maybe I can save one.

“No, I never want to see you again.”I want you to live. I want you safe.

What happened to me? What happened to not caring? He’s worked himself into me, like a splinter, driven straight into my heart where I can feel him with each and every single beat, with the rush of blood, with the air in my lungs.

I swallow hard.

“You want me gone?” Pix snarls. “You got it.”

I refuse to look at him as he storms out of the room. I refuse to look at the alphas who stare at me in bitter betrayal but don’t argue. Instead, I stare at the spot on the wall, just over her shoulder. It hurts.

“That was remarkably noble of you, Aaron,” she murmurs.

I jerk my head, staring hard at the beta in front of me. Tears burn in my eyes.

“Raven.” Her name is a whisper of relief, pain, and longing, all mixed up in an agony of knowing the ones I love will never be mine.

She dips her chin, her eyes so deep and dark. The amber glow is almost gone. But Raven carries the secrets and the knowledge that will undo them all.

“Was this all part of the plan?”

She shrugs slightly. “Not the entire plan, but one learns to improvise. I like these people. He would have come after them sooner or later. Removing them from his reach means he’ll focus all his considerable power on me and what I took from him.”

They don’t know. The other parts of her don’t know what Raven has done. Even I don’t fully understand it.

“Raven, we need to talk. You need to tell me-” I cut off, frustrated, but her face goes slack, and when she blinks, it’s not her anymore.

Her eyes leave me instantly, stricken as she searches and finds Pix. Her eyes return to me, pleading. Fuck, this is cruel. Merle, it’s Merle looking up at me, begging. I shake my head, warning her to be quiet, not to say anything. She bites her lip and squeezes her eyes closed as he stalks past us.

“Merle?”

She looks up, her eyes brimming with tears that fall over like jewels. Pix storms out of the house, and her lip wobbles. She trembles. Collapsing on the wall, falling apart.