Page 27 of Rot In Knotty Pieces

“You’ll like it, I promise,” I purr before I can stop myself. I pull up short. “What the hell was that? Ew. I don’t say things like that!” I say, aghast.

Rolly and Sage smile at each other, then me.

“No!” I say, pointing at them. “This is not right. I am not happy. I am…disgruntled, furious, murdery.”

Sage covers his mouth and nods, but he looks anything but convinced.

I turn away, throwing my hands up in disgust.

“Wait, where are you going?”

“To kill something and get rid of this bubbly, horrible feeling of happy that has poisoned my brain.”

The two of them laugh, I leave them to it. Really, I run as fast as I can, or I would if I thought that wouldn’t make them laugh harder. How humiliating.

My mind springs back into familiar patterns, and then I see him. He’s got his back to me, and I can tell from the line of how he’s standing that he’s unhappy.

Leave it alone.

Walk away.

I can’t.

My silence isn’t silent enough, he hears me when I get within ten steps and turns, his eyes cold and hard. Dangerous. I see the flicker of light reflecting off a sharp blade before it disappears.

Daega.

No, this is Pix. The hard, deadly version of himself. The one that has infatuated every one of us. We should be avoiding him. Two omegas in one pack? Impossible.

Yet, when I look at him, I feel possessive. I want to remove the fingers of anyone who thinks they can touch him. Anyone who thinks that he belongs to anyone else but me.

“Why are you hiding out here?”

He turns back to his view, and I approach, finding a break in the trees that perfectly frames a visage of the mountains in the distance. The world looks wild. There’s enough space out there for us to disappear and be safe from him. I’m sure of it. I could walk into that picture and never return.

Except…I can’t do that.

The pain of that steals the air from my lungs.

“I’m not hiding. This is home. These mountains are my playground, these forests are my house, the wild is my family.”

I smirk. “You sound like a wolf.”

“Yes, maybe I am. This wasn’t supposed to work. Two of us in one pack, and yet, no matter how hard I try to pull away, I’m reeled back in. Connections forming with everyone. Strong enough that I can’t just leave. That I’m frozen here, unable to walk.”

His words mimic my own thoughts so clearly.

“Would you leave me or them?”

“No,” he says before I can properly get the question out. “I couldn’t. I am compelled to see this out now. To bleed the one who hurt you dry. To see what happens with this pack, with my Rose…with you.”

He turns and steps towards me. His eyes are frigid honey-coloured stones that burn, and I am afraid. Not that he will hurt me, but that he will consume me. I am losing myself and falling apart.

His hands snap out and grip my shoulders, yanking me back so we’re almost touching.

“You are in my brain. My broken bird. So many surprises, so many devious and contradictory intentions. You lie to us. I can feel it. There’s something you are holding back. Tell me what it is.”

He shakes me, and my jaw snaps shut, narrowly missing my tongue. I’m scared, not of him but of what he means.