Page 41 of Knot All Is Ruined: Part 2

“You heard him, let’s go,” Cris said before heading out.

I glanced at Toma, but he just shrugged his shoulders and followed. Double checking we didn’t leave anything in the room that might tip anyone off about our unusual situation. I closed the door behind me as I left, then jogged down the steps to catch up with the others. Lucian, Dani, and Victor were waiting, but both Sorin and Cris marched right past them to the mess hall. I could feel Dani’s unease and she looked at me with a questioning gaze, only I just shook my head. Sorin was right, this was not the time or the place to deal with this particular problem.

Dinner was a silent affair since no one really knew what to say to one another. That and Sorin forced Cris and Lucian to sit next to each other as if to prove a point, to whom I wasn’t sure. Once dinner was done, Cris vanished, but I suspected he headed back to the room while the rest of us hung out in the rec room. There was a bar set up, and many of the men started to play cards or other various ways to gamble. I’d never felt the urge to gamble, but I liked to watch. It was fascinating to see how people acted. To my surprise, Lucian joined a game and was damn good at it too.

“There’s no way you can keep winning,” one soldier accused. “Maybe we should check your sleeves to see if you have anything hidden up there?”

“Shut up, Nado. You’re just too fucking easy to read,” one of the other men said, shoving Nado with his elbow. “That man right here, has the best poker face I’ve ever seen, not even a flicker of emotion or a twitch as a tell.”

“Yeah, well, there should be a limit to how much money he can take from us,” Nado grumbled.

Lucian leaned forward and tapped the table. “You could stop putting money in the pot. Then you’re guaranteed not to lose it.”

The whole table erupted with laughter as the guys hassled their teammates, and Lucian gave them all an easy smile. This was the world he knew and felt comfortable with. It was the most relaxed I’d seen him other than when he was with Dani. Who happened to be approaching him right now.

“Luke,” Dani called, grabbing his attention. “Sorin’s looking for you.”

“Well, boys, it seems you get to blame someone else for the money you’re losing the rest of the night,” Lucian taunted as he rose from the table, wrapping an arm around Dani’s shoulders.

“Your leader ain’t lookin’ for ya. I bet you twenty marks she’s just looking to get some Alpha cock in her.” One of the more intoxicated soldiers slurred.

Lucian froze and half turned around, his face like a thundercloud looming overhead. “What did you just say?”

“I said, your bitch wants to get boned,” the idiot shouted.

Before Lucian could even take a step in the man’s direction, Victor was slamming his fist into the drunken man’s face. Instantly he flew out of his chair and fell to the floor in a heap, groaning.

“Fucking bastard, you’ll pay for that,” yelled another soldier coming to his friend's defense.

Victor made quick work of him too, as well as the five others that rushed him. It wasn’t until one of them smashed through a table that things had gone too far. Now everyone was on their feet looking to get in on the action.

“What the fuck is going on here?” a booming voice demanded.

When the soldiers parted for the man, I realized it was none other than Cris’ father, Lieutenant Colonel Lino Nems. What the fuck was he doing here? Then the realization hit that he was the one leading this battalion of soldiers. He can’t see Lucian or Dani with her brand since I’m betting he would recognize what it means even if he didn’t know it was for Lucian specifically.

Quickly, I stepped in front of them both and whispered harshly. “Get the fuck out of here now. Tell Sorin we need to leave immediately. It's not safe to stay here even a moment longer.”

Thankfully, Lucian took me at my word, snatched up Dani, and hurried out of the mess hall. I just had to pray to the fates that the bastard didn’t see them, but Lino Nems wasn’t one to be underestimated.

“Petru?” Lino questioned. “What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be hunting down those Northerners who were trying to destroy the power plant?”

Gritting my teeth, I ensured my face was calm and neutral before I faced the commanding officer. “Lieutenant Colonel, I wasn’t expecting to see you here, either.”

“Yes, well, it seems the North has gotten bold with this recent attack, so my men and I are going to pay them a little visit,” he answered. “You didn’t answer my question, however. Why are you here?”

Victor stepped up next to me and fielded the question for me. “We caught up with a small group of Northern soldiers, but they never work in teams that small, so we’ve been tracking the rest of them. Since we didn’t plan to be away this long, we needed to stop for supplies.”

Lino narrowed his gaze on Victor, as if he looked hard enough he could tell if the man was lying or not. “I see… and what happened here?”

“Nothing but soldiers blowing off steam, sir,” Victor answered with a shrug. “Seems some can’t handle their spirits as well as others, but since we’re to head out well before dawn, we were just walking back to get some shut-eye.”

Crossing my fingers, I hoped he would believe our story and let us leave. The last thing we needed right now was Lino Nems butting into our situation.

“That’s not what happened,” blurted the drunken man, who stumbled forward. “He and that other guy with the fucked up face didn’t like what I said about their little bitch of an Omega.”

Before I could even process my actions, my hand shot out to grab Victor’s arm, keeping him from doing anything stupid. To his credit, he hadn’t so much as tried to take a step toward the man but clenched his hands into fists.

“You have an Omega?” Lino demanded, his brows snapping together in anger. “I don’t remember any teams getting approval to establish a pack.”

“This has happened all rather suddenly. She was assigned to our unit about two weeks ago,” I offered. “She also happens to be a refugee, so there wouldn’t be the same type of paperwork had she been a Southern citizen.”

“Are you saying the son of the Southern president is bonded to a Northern Omega?” Lino spat.

His disgust was almost laughable for a man who was born and raised as a Northerner and is bonded to an Omega who was rescued from the North.

“I thought President Dragomire already had a female selected for your pack, Mora Korda?” Lino questioned. “She’s the daughter of Prvos Korda, an advisor to the president.”

“There was no such arrangement shared with me,” Sorin interjected as he joined the discussion. “You two may go. I’ll handle any questions the Lieutenant Colonel still has.”

After years of working with the man, I knew an order to get everyone else the hell out of here while he distracted the bastard when I heard it. I gave a sharp nod and a salute before turning on my heel and marching out with Victor right behind me.

How the fuck had this night gone so wrong.