Page 49 of Knot All Is Ruined: Part 2

From what Lucian told us, no one ventured past the mountains. It was believed to be wild and ruthless since the rebels claimed it. Now I am starting to think that was a lie someone generations ago told people to keep them from venturing out and building their own kingdom, leaving the North with yet another person to fight over land with. What was odd to me is there was no way of knowing what lay beyond that. Oscad was at the end of this mountain range, although what was further west?

“It would be cool one day to explore this part of the North,” I commented as we took a break to eat and drink something. “There’s all that land out there, but no one knows anything about it. What if we are just a small section of this world we live in?”

“Wouldn’t it be crazy if there were other cities and countries that knew about us, even though we don’t have a clue about them?” Cris voiced. “I mean, we know there's another civilization further south past that mountain range, so why can’t there be more?”

Victor gave the Beta a friendly shove. “You’re making my brain hurt just talking about it. Don’t we have enough to deal with here? I say we leave the explorer talk for when there's even a chance we can do something like that.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Cris said amicably. “I suppose we should deal with one life-altering event at a time.”

Packing up, we traveled until it was dusk and set up camp. We didn’t find a place where we could set up a shelter so we slept under the stars. Sorin and Lucian thought it was best we didn’t make a fire, so it was rations for dinner and water from the canteen. We’d been lucky enough getting fish and other small animals to help with the variety of food since we needed to make sure the rations lasted as long as we needed them to. Not having a destination or timeline made things rather tricky in that department.

The guys stayed up late chatting and talking strategies. I ended up falling asleep in Sorin’s lap since I wanted to be part of the conversation but had little to add. The cold bite of metal on my throat had my eyes snapping open, and I came face to face with a man I didn’t know. He lifted a hand to his lips, telling me to keep quiet as he pulled me out of Sorin’s arms. Everything in me wanted to scream, but I kept my mouth shut when I saw how many we were up against. So far, they had done nothing but wake me. Before I could even ask a question, the man pinched me, making me gasp, only to have him shove something in my mouth and pull a hood over my head.

It was pitch black with this thing on, making me incredibly disorientated, and I stumbled when I was jerked forward. My hands were tied, then my feet, and moments later, a shoulder shoved into my stomach as I was tossed over it and carried off. Thumping the man with my wrists, I thrashed, trying to knock the man off his feet, anything to give me the chance to warn the others.

There was supposed to be a watch. Someone at night was always awake, monitoring things. How the fuck had this happened? Then I realized the weight of Sorin’s arm over me was truly dead weight. Normally, he held me close to his arm curved all the way around my stomach. Did they kill everyone? Why save me? That was a stupid question. I was an Omega. I’ll always be desired and fought over in this country.

I don’t know how long we walked. It could be minutes, an hour, or more since I had nothing to gauge with. At one point I tried to count how many steps the person was taking but I lost count around six hundred when I was handed over to someone else. With the whole exchange, I lost count of my exact number as this person walked with a much longer stride. I kept fighting, trying to find a way to get this fucking hood off, but it was no use. Then I was dumped on the ground forcing a yelp from me as my shoulder landed at a funny angle.

“Are you trying to fucking break her?” a man demanded. Up until now, not one had spoken.

“What does it matter, she’s a fucking bed warmer for the soldiers. They didn’t even have to tie her up because she’s been so brainwashed. We aren’t going to get anything out of her, so what does it matter if she’s a little battered and bruised?” a nasally voice responded.

The sound of a fist hitting flesh was one I’d become familiar with during all the training. The guys took one hour out of the day before we got walking to spar or do various exercises to help keep up their endurance. One of them took a day off and worked with me on my sparing. Fat lot of good that’s doing me now. What’s the point of all this training when I’m unable to even use it?

“She’s a fucking human being, you asswipe. I told them it was a mistake to bring you in on this development. You’re not the only one the North fucked over, so take the stick out of your ass and use your brain for once,” the first man snarled back.

There was no answer, only the sound of retreating footsteps. Seems I was going to live through the day after all.

When hands grabbed me, I lashed out, my tied hands balled together packing a wallop as I hit the person. He grunted then secured my hands before removing the hood. I looked into a familiar pair of eyes and could have wept for joy when I realized it was Branko, the Beta guard I’d become friends with at the breeder house.

A small smile was on his face as he realized I had recognized him. “Hey, Dani, long time no see.”

“How?” I blurted, my brain feeling like it was short-circuiting.

“That’s a bit of a long story, but let’s just say I’m back where I belong,” Branko answered cryptically. “Enough about me. Let’s talk about how you ended up here in the Forbidden Mountains?”

“We were looking for the rebels,” I answered, not willing to give too much information until I knew what was happening. “Why did you take just me?”

“One of our scouts warned us there was military in the foothills so we’ve been observing you for about a day now. What we couldn’t figure out is why you were with them and how the hell Lucian is here with a group of Southern soldiers. Since I knew you and we’d been friends of a sort, I figured it would be best to have a chat. Besides, if you were with them against your will, then getting you out of their clutches was the best thing to do,” Branko explained. “So, I’ll ask again, what are you doing here?”

I heaved a sigh and tried to brush some hair out of my face except my hands were still tied together. “Is this truly needed?”

“You forget I know how much of a fighter you are,” he chuckled. “Damn near gave me a bloody nose trying to get the hood off you. Not to mention you left some serious bruises on my man who was carrying you here. For now, I think we’ll keep them on until we get things sorted.”

Branko reached out to help me get the hair out of my face, but I flinched back. The simple thought of someone other than my pack touching me had my skin crawling. I knew Branko wasn’t a bad man—or so I thought. Right now, I just had no way of knowing if the Branko I had known for the past three years was the real version or simply the part he needed to play.

“Dani, I’m not like those men,” he said fiercely, his lip curling in disgust. “I would never force myself on you or anyone who didn’t welcome my touch. The way you and all other Omegas have been treated is downright disgusting. You have no idea how hard it was to stand in that house day after day seeing the vile filth who came and went.”

“If you found it so disgusting, why did you let it happen? You could have done something, gotten us out of there, or hell, even kept the violent bastards from hitting them. Don’t fucking tell me how hard it was for you,” I snarled, then spat at the ground next to him, furious he would even dare to say something like that.

Shoulders sagging, he hung his head and nodded. “You’re right, there was so much I could have done, but I wasn’t willing to risk the major mission. I just couldn’t stand the thought of you thinking I was anything like those bastards. When the attack happened, I knew the mission was a bust and it was time to get out of there. I brought all the girls I could along with me, but when I tried to find you, Tori, and Violet, there were no signs of you.”

“Damn right, I grabbed my girls and we got the fuck out of there,” I shared, leaning back against the rock wall of the giant cave we were in.

The space could easily fit twenty or thirty people seeing as it felt so roomy even with fifteen people inside. Two fires burned, each with a group of men sitting around eating as if they didn’t have a care in the world. Only one man was watching my interaction with Branko with undivided attention. Everything about him told me he was dangerous, but what sold it was the dead, emotionless eyes that tracked my every move.

Was he the one who carried me the second half of the walk back here? He seems the type to think I’m good for nothing other than a hole to be fucked.I’d seen his type time and time again coming to the breeder house. If he was so in alignment with the Northern thinking on that subject, why be part of the rebels?

“Dani,” Branko said as he nudged my leg.

Looking away from the biggest threat in this space wasn’t my favorite idea, however I needed to find out what they planned to do with me. Letting my gaze meet Branko's, I waited to see what he had to say. One thing I’d learned in the month or so I’d had with my guys is silence makes people uncomfortable. It would get them to speak first, keeping you from saying too much.

“I would advise against giving him an excuse to come over here,” he warned. “Cyril isn’t someone I can trust to follow an order when given. The chip on his shoulder when it comes to the North is larger than most, but he’s one hell of a tracker. It’s one of the only things keeping him alive on my team for the time being.”

“This is your team?” I questioned.

“Nah-ah, we aren’t going to play this game,” Branko warned with a chuckle. “You’ve always been a sly little thing, haven’t you? Which is why I find it so hard to believe you would be traveling with such an odd bunch of Alphas.”

“They are an odd bunch, aren’t they,” I agreed.

“Be honest with me, are you with them voluntarily, or do they have some sort of hold on you to keep you from running away? I can offer you sanctuary here in the mountains. As you’ve already seen, it’s able to sustain us far better than anywhere else in the North,” Branko offered, his tone almost beseeching.

Using my bound hands, I pulled my hair away from my neck and tilted it so the firelight would show. “They aren’t just a bunch of Alphas, they're my pack. A pack I love and who loves me back. A group of men who set aside their differences, so I didn’t have to choose between them. Tell me, is that an act of selfless love?”

Branko’s face looked horrified at the sight of my marks, though I didn’t expect him to understand. How could he? No one in the North was ever taught what love or a family should look like. They’d only been taught one thing—how to be the perfect soldier.