Page 38 of Knot All Is Ruined: Part 2

Victor set aside the knife before crushing me to his chest, resting his head on my shoulder, and taking deep breaths of my scent. I loved how it felt to be wrapped up in his spicy ginger and clove scent that somehow mingled perfectly with mine.

“You do not know how much that means to me, Little Spark,” he murmured. “I need you to understand that I love you more than I’ve loved anyone or anything in my entire life. You have filled a hole in my life that I didn’t know I had and seamlessly completed this family of ours. Now I need you to promise me you’ll believe that I mean it before I tell you something.”

“Vic—”

“Promise me,” he growled.

“I promise to trust and believe you love me with everything you are,’’ I answered, a trickle of fear running down my spine as I pulled back to look at him. “Vicky, you’re not leaving me, are you?”

“No, never. I’m not going anywhere,” he assured me, but I still wasn’t convinced. “Fuck, I just don’t know how to say this. It’s not like I thought I’d ever have an Omega I’d need to have this conversation with.”

“Talk to me, trust my love for you, and say what’s been bothering you. I’ve noticed that there was something off since my heat was over,” I commented.

Victor rested his forehead against mine and took a deep breath. “No matter what, I can never bond with you. My mark will never be left on your beautiful body in the traditional display between an Alpha and Omega. However, I plan to find another way to have something marking you as mine once things settle down, I promise.”

That had not been at all what I thought he was going to say, and a mixture of emotions filtered through me as I absorbed what he was saying. “Can I ask why?”

“This will stay between you and me because you deserve the right to know why I’m asking this of you. My father was an Alpha, and my mother an Omega. A bonded pair. Just after I was born, my father was drafted and sent to war, having never wanted to be a soldier. When he came back three years later, he was so fucked in the head from all that he’d seen and done it caused my mother to kill herself. She had a direct line into his thoughts, emotions, and the nightmare he was living through every time he closed his eyes.

I don’t know if my father knew how to shut off his thoughts or if they were so bad that it didn’t matter. It pushed my mother over the edge to the point she couldn’t take it anymore. She tried to leave him, or so I was told. Which is why my father locked her up, refusing to let her abandon him. My uncle told me she lasted a week before ending her life and turned my father into a crazy bastard who took his anger out on me. So when I was old enough to enter the military, I ran away and haven’t looked back since,” Victor shared in a neutral, almost distant tone.

“So you think what happened to your mother might happen to me?” I asked.

Hugging me tightly against his chest, he nodded. “You have no idea the horrors I’ve seen, experienced, and done to others. I vowed to protect you, and that’s exactly what this is. You have five others you’re bonded to who can support you that way, but I won’t risk it. Danella, you’re too important to me to ever allow the chance something like that could happen to you.”

I nuzzled into his neck and squeezed him as hard as I could, needing him to know that nothing had changed between us. “I love you, Vicky,” I whispered. “Bonded or not, mark or no mark, you are still part of my pack and one of my alphas.”

“I love you so much, Little Spark,” Victor said, his voice muffled from where it was pressed to my shoulder. “Thank you for loving me back even though I’m far from deserving it.”

“Oh shut up, self-deprecation is not a good look on you,” I grumbled, punching him in the arm. “Where is my Vicky? You know, the man people are too afraid of to look in the eye for fear he might kill them with a single thought.”

Lifting his head to look at me, he frowned. “What?”

“You haven’t heard that rumor? Oh man, it's one of my favorites,” I teased.

Muttering something under his breath about me being trouble, he lifted me off his lap to sit beside him and resumed skinning the rabbit. I leaned against him and watched the flames as he worked. A small smile on my lips I couldn’t hide as I enjoyed the warm glow of being in love and loved in return.

Sleep came much easier that night with a full belly and my pack nestled together. Sorin also had everyone taking hour-long shifts as lookouts, excluding me. I wasn’t bothered by it. I knew I didn’t have the training, and with how out in the open we were, it was best to have those who knew what they were doing be on watch. I think it was also because the guys knew this sort of travel and pace was harder on me. I didn’t have the level of conditioning and experience they did, but it would be a different story by the time this was over.

Thankfully the night passed without any issues, and we were back at it before the sun was peeking over the horizon. The day so far went as planned, so we should be stopping at the small base they frequented on most missions. Sorin had wanted us to arrive at dusk then leave first thing. Apparently, that was their regular routine, and it seemed that we’d be following it this time as well.

Back at the cabin, Lucian had found a stash of all-black Southern uniforms left in a trunk. He’d switched out his Northern uniform and burned it last to make sure there wasn’t evidence in his pack on the odd chance they’d want to search it. It was so strange to think we were going to bring the heir to the Northern territory right into a Southern Military base. If people figured it out, there was no doubt in my mind they’d shoot us no questions asked. Now I just had to pray the fates were on our side through this.

“When we get there, if anyone asks who you are, tell them you’re an engineer on loan from another unit,” Sorin instructed as we spotted the base ahead. “No one knows every soldier or unit on sight, plus some of the more specialty soldiers never leave headquarters.”

“Anything I should or shouldn’t do that will help not give me away?” Lucian asked as he tugged his cap lower trying to hide as much of his scar as possible.

“Don’t use any words tied to Asturgian. No one uses the old language around here,” Petru mentioned.

“If you don’t know something, just don’t answer and give them a good stony glare,” Victor suggested with a shrug. “They leave me alone when I do that and it keeps you from saying something you shouldn’t.”

Sorin stopped and faced Lucian, grabbing his shoulder companionably. “People here aren’t nosy, they all know we’re just stopping in to top off before heading in to fight. No one wants to be the last person to talk to someone before they die. Bases like this are remote and don’t get rotated back to the main base often. They’ll be as clueless as you about current matters and information.”

Lucian nodded his thanks but didn’t say much, apparently taking Victor’s advice about just staying silent. I couldn’t blame him for his nerves when I had them too. This would be my first time being around others as an Omega bound to a pack and under their protection. I had enough visible marks that my status should not be questioned. Feeling my trepidation, Lucian caught my hand and held it tight in his as we got closer to the base. The simple gesture helped more than I expected and I was immensely grateful for it.

“Halt,” a soldier called out from the top of a metal wall surrounding the base. “State your rank, name, and business.”

We halted and gathered behind Sorin since he would take the lead. “My name is Major Sorin Dragomire. I’m here with my unit to top up supplies before we head into the badlands.”

“Wait there,” the soldier ordered and disappeared from the wall.

“Nothing to worry about. They always check their list of approved unit leaders,” Sorin told us. “This close to the North, our power is spotty so they do everything by paper.”

Moments later, there was a blaring alarm and a flashing red light as the metal door slid open.

“Subtle,” Lucian muttered. “Let’s just hope we don’t need to sneak out in the middle of the night.”

“Oh, don’t worry, I know how to get around all of that,” Toma informed us. “I’m part of the team who helped set it up, and for various reasons I always leave myself a back door into programs if I can.”

Lucian looked at the man. “Impressive. I’m sure that’s come in handy.”

“More than you know,” Toma muttered as we entered the base.