Page 28 of Knot All Is Ruined: Part 1

“What would you say if a member of Oscad’s new government reached out to me because he knew about the three of you?” Sorin asked, leaving that morsel to dangle before me.

Fucking asshole knew I wouldn’t be able to leave that question alone. God, I fucking hate Alphas. They always seemed to have this ability to manipulate people.

“Why the fuck would they give a shit when they’re the ones who sold our asses to Asturg in the first place?” I shot back bitterly.

He scratched his chin for a moment as if contemplating my question. Fucker was trying real hard to make me believe he was actually making an effort. “Of course, I’m not the right person to give you this answer, but I’ll tell you what I do know. Oscad has changed immensely in the past few years you’ve been gone. All the old leaders save one have been removed, killed, or retired from their title of Council of Four. Now they have a different type of leader who is trying to turn things around from what the old council fucked up. Their biggest priority is returning Omegas, who’d been sent to other countries, back to their families. They have been sending smugglers into Shearia and Asturg looking for all the women they sold,” Sorin informed me. “The only reason I got a phone call is because you crossed into Southern territory, and it’s far more difficult to sneak around our lands with the drones patrolling all the time.”

That had me blinking in surprise. He’d just let that nugget of information fall like I wasn’t going to notice. Not only had he told me there were drones, he’d also crushed any hope of trying to run once I was able to. This bastard was clever. I'd give him that, but this show of not hiding information from me made me wonder what else might be lurking in the shadows.

“What reason would you have to give up Omegas when you need them as badly as any other country?” I challenged, trying to get him to lead with the catch.

“It’s true that, like all countries, we lack Omegas. Although, unlike the North, we don’t put as high of a price on them. Of course, we do all we can to support Omegas through their heat, ensuring there is the best chance for a child to be produced. The difference is that we don’t want it to be at the sacrifice of the woman’s health, mentally or physically. When an Omega is happy, healthy, and feels safe, that’s when the best chance of a full-term pregnancy happens,” Sorin explained almost as if he was an infomercial for reasons why you should live in South Asturg.

“Why bother telling me all that when you just said Oscad wants us back?” I countered.

“Because I want to make a deal with you,” Sorin stated as he folded his hands and met my gaze.

About fucking time he admitted it.

Leaning back in my chair, I crossed my arms giving Sorin a once over and trying to gauge what the hell he could possibly want from me. I wasn’t getting the feeling he wanted anything physical. It was clear from how people were watching him, even as he sat here with me, that he’d have no trouble in that department. That meant something else had him sitting here across from me acting all chummy. Whatever that something was, it clearly wasn’t something he felt he could get another way.

“You have my attention,” I offered with a raised brow. “Just know I’m not feeling much in the way of generosity.”

A smile tugged at his lips, but he refused to let it play across his face. Something told me if he ever let himself smile it would transform his whole demeanor. “Noted, and thanks for the warning, Danella. I’ll make sure to keep that in mind.”

He got up and that had me sitting up in surprise. “Aren’t you going to ask me?”

Sorin paused and looked over his shoulder at me. “You pretty much just told me you weren’t in the mood to be helpful so I figured it would be smarter for me to come back another time. Unless you’d care to join me for a walk about the base?”

My brows knit together. “You want to go on a walk with me?”

“You’ve been cooped up here in the Med Center, so I thought it might be a nice change for you to get a little fresh air. I’ve already talked to Beth, and she said it would be fine. In fact, she encouraged the idea.” Sorin reasoned.

Everything screamed at me that this was a trap, only on the other hand, getting out of this fucking place sounded like a dream. While I hadn’t wanted to leave my room and be forced to interact with strangers, if Sorin was with me I had a feeling most people would leave us alone. It was clear people wanted his attention but weren’t going to butt in and demand it. He had far more pins and shit on his uniform and a fancy design on his shoulder that I would guess marked him as a specific rank. No matter what country you were from, all military came with ranks; it was just the easiest way to keep order in the world.

“Do we have to talk?” I asked.

“No, we can walk in silence if you wish. However, if you ask a question and I can answer it, then I get to do the same in return,” Sorin countered.

Fuck, this man was a sneaky bastard.

“Hope you enjoy quiet walks,” I muttered as I got to my feet.

Sorin let out something that sounded like a chuckle and reached to place a hand on my elbow but I jerked away. “I’d rather you didn’t touch me.” I bit out through clenched teeth.

He froze for a second, took a step back, and nodded. “My apologies. Toma mentioned you didn’t care for being touched and it slipped my mind. Most Omegas find comfort in such actions, yet I can understand why you might not feel the same.”

The image of Bethany’s little brother flashed before my eyes at the mention of his name. His bright orange and earthy basil scent came to mind, along with those dark eyes filled with sadness. He hadn’t been back since the day his sister threw him out, which surprised me a little. The man didn’t seem the type to take being scolded well by me or his sister. I’d thought for sure he’d be back to threaten me or tell me I was going to get in trouble for sassing him the way I had. I opened my mouth to ask Sorin about it but snapped it shut knowing the rules he’d put into play.

“If you’ll follow me, I’ll show you the way out of the Med Center,” Sorin instructed. “Right now, you’re at the largest military base, the Mraz Command Outpost, where we train our soldiers. It’s not too far from the capital city of Couver, where the President resides. You’ll notice that we are technologically more advanced in many ways than the North, and we like to keep it that way. It’s our one advantage over them while they have the numbers we lack.”

Why the hell was he telling me all this? How stupid could he be to share all this information when Oscad was looking for me? Granted, as far as I knew, Oscad had no beef with Asturg North or South, so it might not be that big of a deal. Who would believe the word of an Omega, right?

When we exited the Med Center, I was hit with the sun’s bright rays making me hiss and throw an arm over my eyes. As much as I’ve recovered this was one area I still struggled with a lot and right now it was revealing itself right in front of a man I really shouldn’t be taking my eyes off of.

“Here, these should help,” Sorin offered as he gently pulled my arm away from my eyes to slide something on my face. He also plopped what I would guess was a hat on my head before I trusted to even crack one eye open to see what he’d done.

It was a black cap with the bill blocking most of the sun’s rays along with the sunglasses he’s settled on my face, kept anything else from being an issue. Looking up, I could see a reflection of myself in his own glasses and I looked like any other soldier wandering around this place.