Page 39 of Knot All Is Ruined: Part 2

Chapter nineteen

It had been only three weeks since we were last at this base, but I felt like a lifetime of changes had happened in that period. As always, nothing here changed. It was the same small station with two buildings for barracks, a training area, a mess hall, and an ample supply depot. There were only about two hundred or so soldiers stationed here. The primary purpose of this base was to be an emergency backup if there was trouble on the border and a response was needed immediately.

“Major Sorin,” Captain Furlan greeted us as the gate closed behind us. “Sending you back to the front lines so soon?”

“What can I say, an elite unit's job is never done,” Sorin answered, shaking the man’s hand. “Until the war is over, I have a feeling this is where we’ll always be.”

“Curse of being too damn good at your job, I suppose,” Captain Furlan grunted. “Looks like you've added to your team, and I see congratulations are in order. It’s been a long time since an Omega has decided to take a military unit as their pack.”

Sorin smiled as he turned to look at Dani. “The fates have blessed us indeed. We will just stay the night and need to take advantage of your supplies. Our unit ran into some Northerners who’d managed to get farther into our territory than we’d like.”

“Of course, I’ll have Sargent Kolar take you over there now. Take what you need. Just make sure Kolar marks it all down so headquarters will restock us,” Captain Furlan instructed.

Both men saluted each other before Furlan headed off, barking out an order for someone to find Kolar. Sliding an arm around Dani’s waist, I leaned down to kiss the top of her head. “Come on, let’s find a room to put our packs in since it will be dinner time soon.”

“Don’t we need to help get supplies?” she questioned.

“Sorin and Victor will handle that. There’s no need for all of us to go. Cris might if he feels there're medical supplies needed, but normally we just let those two deal with Kolar,” I explained, trying to give her a reasonable explanation without telling her the real reason.

She nodded and allowed me to guide her away toward the barracks with the others, leaving Sorin to handle the bastard. If Kolar dared to speak to Dani the way he did to most women, Victor would snap and we couldn’t afford that to happen.

Toma led the way to the second building and climbed the stairs to the third level that was left open for traveling units like ours. There were four rooms for smaller units like ourselves then the rest of the floor was rows of bunks for the larger platoons. It would seem we’d arrived at the base at the same time reinforcements for the front lines had. The sound of soldiers talking, laughing, and kidding around made me worry. Thankfully the unit rooms were before that section, so we didn’t need to deal with them. Nevertheless, the more people around, the larger the chance someone might recognize us.

“Why are you so nervous?” Cris whispered. “This helps us. They won’t pay attention to what we’re doing with all of them around. All those soldiers will want to drink, talk, and gamble, enjoying life before they are in the thick of it. No one will even remember we’re here.”

He made a good point, it would help to keep us from being the new people who arrived. I know Sorin said they wouldn’t press for information, except that wasn’t always the case. They might speak to him about it, but many times at meals, others would sit with us and beg for some news of the outside world. Maybe there’s a possibility that we have our meal up here instead of in the mess hall?

“Who wants top?” Toma asked, a smirk on his face telling me he knew exactly how everyone would take that question.

“Tell me…what’s that like?” Dani asked, tapping her chin as humor danced in her eyes.

“Don’t ask him. He wouldn’t know either,” I interjected. Everyone turned to look at me with stunned faces. “What?”

“You just said a dirty joke,” Dani said with a giggle. “I know the three of you all take turns, although I would never have guessed Toma being the pillow prince.”

“I am not,” Toma blurted, crossing his arms. “In fact, Petru’s favorite thing is to be in the middle.”

“Yeah, with you at the bottom,” Cris added, trying not to laugh. “Let’s be honest, the only one of us who doesn’t bite the pillow on a regular basis is Tru.”

Lucian cleared his throat as he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “So…”

“You heard right,” Cris snapped. “Got a problem with Alphas who like to be topped? Or is it the fact that two Alphas like to fuck each other?”

Lucian reared back at the venom in Cris’ words. I couldn’t blame him, for they were harsh and uncalled for. The anger I felt coming off Cris was so out of character for my sweet, gentle Beta. I’d known he was struggling with this change, but I never imagined he would use such a tactic.

“Enough, Cris!” I barked. “I realize you’re trying to stand up for Toma and me, though Lucian gave you no reason to act like that. Everyone realizes that it’s going to take work for this pack to mend centuries worth of conditioning that made us view each other in a certain light. Will we butt heads and say things that can be hurtful to one another? Yes, but you outright attacked him with no provocation using me and Toma as an excuse. I strongly take offense to that.”

The room fell into a tense silence as Cris and I squared off at one another. For a large portion of my life, I’ve had to not only stand up for myself in the wake of my father's execution but for being an Alpha who loved another Alpha. It wasn’t forbidden but deemed unusual and not widely accepted. None of that mattered to me, I loved who I loved, and Toma had been by my side through hell and back many times. Cris was young and had grown up in a house where his wonderful mother raised him, but I believe she might have sheltered him from the reality of the world just a little too much. He’d come a long way, learning that things were not as black and white as we’d like them to be.

“You take offense to me protecting our relationship? For standing up for myself and my lovers?” Cris asked, his voice full of hurt and betrayal.

“Yes I do, especially when it really isn’t about Toma or me,” I answered. “What you just did, that wasn’t out of love. It was an excuse so you could justify it to yourself by picking a fight with Lucian.”

Cris stepped up, closing the space between us with a scowl on his face. “You’re defending him?”

“The man said nothing, Cris, nothing,” I said with a frustrated sigh. “What exactly do you believe he’s done against any of us? I’ve not heard him say one single thing that would lead me to believe he has any issues with who fucks who in this pack.”

“It’s the way he looks at us, the judgment in his eyes. Northerners don’t do packs, they don’t take lovers of the same sex, and they certainly don’t know how to actually love anyone. They make all the promises in the world to get what they want. Then use it against you, forcing you into a life you never wanted,” Cris raged. “We think we can change them, give them a second chance, but it’s a lie.”