Page 20 of Knot All Is Ruined: Part 2

Chapter nine

Savo.

They’d said Savo was their contact in Oscad. The man who abandoned his country and left me to take his spot. Clearly, he’d done well for himself if he had the ability to be of use to us in this fight on behalf of Oscad.

“How do you know Savo?” I demanded of Sorin.

“My mother and I were held prisoner in the North when I was a child for two years before they managed to free us,” he said, shocking the hell out of me. “It was a secondary home of the General outside of the Stalhold City where, as you know, he kept his many breeders. One day, Savo was playing hide and seek with some other children and stumbled upon our cell in the basement. Since that time he came to visit and play with me until we escaped. Both of us kept in touch the best we could, but soon it became impossible once he was in the city. After his sister died and he left the country, I didn’t hear from him again until about a week and a half ago, looking for three Oscad Omegas that we managed to acquire from your outpost.”

Mind reeling with the fact that Sorin had been held captive in my childhood home had my headache growing increasingly worse. “I don’t understand,” I whispered. “That is the house I lived in as well. Savo is only three years older than me, so I suppose I wouldn’t remember any of this since I was never out of the caretaker's sight. Savo always defied our father, so I think he always planned on having me as a backup heir, even though Savo was his first choice.”

“It’s strange how the fates connect people together without us even realizing it,” Petru mused. “Who would have ever thought we’d have a Southern heir who’s friends with both Northern heirs?”

“Savo and I used to talk about changing the world when we were in charge, ending this war, and helping our people as friends,” Sorin shared. “It would seem that dream might be fulfilled with your help. If you haven’t decided that your anger toward your brother is greater than the goal at hand.”

I let out a harsh laugh. “The anger I have is a mere candle flicker compared to how I feel about our father. Besides, there is more at stake now that is personally affecting us both. If you say that Savo can help us, then so be it. I won’t stand in your way.”

The promise that I made to Dani trumped everything else. No matter what it took, I was going to make this world a safe one for her to thrive in, even if it meant getting help from a traitor. A small gentle hand grasped mine and gave a squeeze. She didn’t say anything, but I knew she could feel how chaotic my emotions were. I never thought I would have any contact with Savo once he left the country. Now here I was standing in a cabin on Southern territory, planning to overthrow my father with President Dragomire’s son. Life certainly had a funny way of showing us how little control we had over anything. What’s that saying—we make plans, and the universe just laughs.

“All right then, I’ll reach out to him and see what he might have to offer. His people have had spies in the North tracking down all the Omegas that got sent over there against their will,” Sorin said, his attention falling on one such Omega behind me.

“No matter what happens, you’re still going to make sure Violet and Tori get back to Oscad, right?” Dani questioned.

Sorin nodded. “It might work out to make it all happen at once. If Savo feels that he can help us and already has his men coming out here to collect them, it's possible he could send more.”

Through our bond, I could feel her relief. I knew how protective she was over those two, especially when the only times we would have heated arguments was when they revolved around them. When I told her there was nothing I could do for Tori when they came to take her baby, I thought I was going to need to sleep with one eye open. The rage written all over her face at my answer had me incredibly worried she would do something rash, so much so that I chained her to the fucking wall in my room. No matter how mad she got at me, I couldn’t risk her attacking the guards or causing a scene that would force me to punish her publicly. Whipping a woman I was in love with wasn’t something I had on my to-do list.

Thankfully when it came to Violet, she was still furious, but I didn’t need to take any extra measures. She wanted to be by her side the moment they’d left, and last time I kept her in my room for a full day. The whispered fights we had over the past few years were far more intense than any screaming match I’d witnessed. Never in my life did I think such words could come out of a woman with such venom. Even to this day, I was thankful she was given to me so that I could protect her from the dangers of my world. The North didn’t appreciate any sort of idealism, and she had it in spades.

“Do you plan on contacting him now?” I asked.

Sorin let out a heavy sigh. “I think we all need a day to sleep, eat a good meal, and regroup after everything that’s happened the past two days. Once we’ve had our time, I’d like to go over some maps with you to see the locations you believe these rebels might be. Then we can give Savo more direction in what we’re looking for.”

The man was an intelligent leader, I had to give him that. Dani and I hadn’t gotten much sleep. In fact, while she was resting, I was always keeping watch. The wave of fatigue creeping over me told me I wouldn’t be much use to anyone soon. Since the day I left the outpost, I’ve been surviving off a few hours of sleep here and there. Even during our time in the cave, I had laid awake holding her and listening for any danger. I’d managed to get my Omega back, and I wasn’t planning on letting anyone steal her again. Granted, now that I was bonded to her, I could track her down. Then again, there would be no need for that if she was safe in my arms, now was there?

Victor and Cris headed back to the kitchen to finish whatever they’d been making. Turning to face Dani, I noticed she’d curled up in the armchair and promptly fell asleep. Her brow was creased and her nose was crinkled, clearly upset about something. When I reached out through our bond, I realized the issue. Walking over to my pack, I pulled out a blanket and draped it over her tucking it tightly around her. It smelled like me and would hold her like she wanted but wasn’t willing to admit to us. With a sigh, her expression eased, and she relaxed into the chair. The way her head was turned I could clearly see my brand on her neck and the shiny skin around it where I’d bitten her. I never understood why we needed to do that to create a bond, but the satisfaction of seeing that mark on her was bone-deep.

Sorin stood and caught my eye, gesturing with his head for me to follow him as he exited the cabin. Taking a moment, I put my hair back up in the nub of a ponytail and removed my gun and knife, setting them on the simple table before the couch. No matter what happened out there, I wasn’t going to be the one to start the fight. They might not understand why I was adapting to all this so quickly, but they didn’t have a direct line to Danella’s mind and emotions. There was no way to describe to them just how much they meant to her. I still couldn’t wrap my head around it, nor did I feel like I deserved it. One thing I knew with absolute certainty though, is if I dared to harm or, god forbid, kill any of these five Southern soldiers, I would lose Dani forever. That was one thing she’d never forgive any of us for.

Rolling my shoulders, I readied myself for the conversation I was about to have with Sorin. One or both of us would end up with some bruised, broken nose or a fat lip, but I understood why this needed to happen. We were both Alphas and leaders of our people, men who didn’t take orders but gave them. If we couldn’t figure out some system to work alongside each other, this would be hell. A hell we’d gladly suffer through for her, but fuck, it would be rough.

I could feel the other men watching me as I headed for the door. Pausing, I turned to look at Petru. “She doesn’t step foot outside this cabin no matter what happens between the two of us. Understood?”

Toma stood from the table, his expression dark, clearly upset by my unspoken threat. Petru rose and walked over to his lover, resting a hand on his shoulder, holding him back. “While I do not take orders from you, Lucian, I will ensure that Dani is looked after.”

Good enough for me. I spun on my heel and marched outside to see if there was hope for the North and South to come to an agreement. This is where it needed to start, if we were going to change the world, then the next generation of leaders needed to make peace. It wouldn’t matter if I took out my father and called a cease-fire pulling back every single soldier. If the South didn’t believe it was sincere, they’d just storm the border and take over, leaving us no choice but to defend ourselves. Putting us right back to square one.

The moment I stepped out of the cabin, Sorin grabbed me by the throat and slammed me into a tree. All the emotions he’d been holding under the surface were now in the forefront making his eyes blaze with fury.

“You fucking bastard, how can you say you love that woman when you did the one goddamn thing to her she wanted a choice in?” He snarled. “Do you know how hard it was to get her to let us in? To give us a chance to prove that not all Alphas are selfish pricks like you.”

Well, this was starting off well…