Page 58 of Knot All Is Ruined: Part 2

I have no clue why that made me blush, but everything about that made me feel so cherished.

“Dani-girl, why were you so relieved that Lucian didn’t kill the man? Does this have to do with whatever we’re winning at?” Sorin asked, redirecting us back to the topic at hand.

“I’m so glad you asked. They made me wait until everyone was back to be able to broach this topic,” I informed him and shifted so I could see the others better. “We need to go back and talk to them.”

“Ha,” Lucian laughed. “Oh, you are funny, My Heart.”

“I’m not joking. I’m being dead serious here. We need to go back so I can convince Branko to take us to the rebel city and plead our situation. He is a person they will listen to. Lucian, he isn’t one of your men. He was born and raised at Summit Stronghold and was a spy who had infiltrated the army. What exactly he was doing, I don’t know, but that was his group of men to lead. A rebellion doesn’t just hand over their men to anyone off the street. He earned that right,” I explained. “That’s why we need him on our side.”

Lucian didn’t look convinced, but at least Sorin didn’t seem as closed off by the idea.

“How well do you know this man?” Sorin inquired.

I shrugged. “As well as you ever know your jailer.” Sorin gave me a look, and I continued, “He is a kind of friend. He and his partner Jan, who’s the doctor at the outpost. Branko always looked out for me, ensuring I didn’t get into too much trouble. Did I have a clue he was a spy? Not one bit. Then again, if I did, he wouldn’t be very good at it, would he?”

“Then what makes you think he’s the person we need to convince?” Lucian challenged.

“Because he’s the only one who’s going to believe that the heir to the North and the heir to the South would give up everything for a woman,” I justified. “Granted, he has no idea who Sorin is. I didn’t feel like that was the time to share it. Which, yet again, is why I think we need to have another chat. I don’t know how we do it, but it needs to happen.”

Lucian groaned and muttered something to himself before turning to Victor. “You willing to help me do this?”

“Thought you’d never ask,” Victor said with a smile.

“What? What are you doing? He didn’t ask anything,” I yelled as the two men climbed the wall out of the grotto. “It’s rude to ignore someone when they’re talking to you, assholes.”

“Let them go, Wildflower. They have a plan in mind. I’m sure it will all make sense when they come back,” Petru assured me. “Now, have you eaten at all?”

“Trying to distract me with food?” I grumbled.

He paused and cocked his head. “Would you rather I try sex? I didn’t get the feeling you were in the mood, although I’m sure none of us would have a problem fixing that.”

My jaw dropped. I would have expected this from Toma or Victor, but to have Petru be the one to make such a dirty comment stunned me. Ignoring my reaction, the Alpha just kept looking for whatever he needed in his pack. Finally, he pulled out a wrapped bar of something and offered it to me. Looking down, I noticed it wasn’t a meal bar as I’d thought, but a candy bar.

“Where in the world did you get that?” I gasped, snatching it out of his hand.

Petru smiled at my excitement. “Happy birthday, Danella.”

Since leaving my parents’ home, I hadn’t celebrated my birthday. The Care Center always mentioned it at the morning meal, and I got a special breakfast and a cupcake at dinner, except it didn’t mean anything. With this simple gesture in the oddest of places, I never thought I’d find myself feeling loved.

“Thank you,” I whispered, trying to fight back tears as I just clutched the candy, staring at him in disbelief. “How?”

“Bethany mentioned it to Toma about two weeks back that it was almost your birthday and told him the date,” Petru showed me his watch, which also listed the date on the screen. “See, it’s the twenty-third, meaning it’s your birthday. I’m sorry we couldn’t do much more for you besides the candy, but when I saw it back at the base, I knew I had to bring it along. No one should have a birthday that’s ignored. It’s an incredibly special day because it’s the day you entered the world.”

Now there was no chance of me holding back my emotions. Throwing myself at Petru, he snatched me up and swung me around before showering my face in kisses. “You deserve so much more, my beautiful Wildflower, and we will make up for it next year.”

“This is perfect. The fact that you even knew, remembered, and found this for me is more than I could ever ask for,” I mumbled into his neck as tears seeped from my eyes.

Petru knelt and held my face in his hands, wiping away my tears with a gentle smile on his face. “Oh, my sweet Danella, how much we have to teach you about realizing how special and important you are to us. Thankfully we have plenty of time to work on that after all this is done.”

“You’re talking like there’s no doubt in your mind that we’ll end the war,” I pointed out. “We haven’t even gotten the rebels on our side.”

“Just a matter of time,” Sorin interjected. “Dani-girl, if there is one thing we learned fast about you, it is never to tell you that you can’t do something. It’s like you have a mission to prove us wrong. So I’m trusting in that stubborn streak of yours, and if you tell me that you’ve got a way through with this Branko, that’s what will happen.”

“We told you from the beginning that you would be part of this team, an equal,” Cris reminded. “If you truly think this is the best course, I’m behind you one hundred percent.”

Toma grabbed a shirt from his pack and started wiping the tears and snots off my face, making me laugh. “You better hope there’s time to wash that before you need to use it again,” I teased.

“What a little snot when the other shirt has been worn for three days?” Toma challenged. “Come on, let’s just relax for a bit. Eat your candy bar, and we’ll wait for those two to return. Who knows, they might have found something tasty for dinner.”

I highly doubted that since the river we’d been following got smaller and smaller with less water flowing. There were no fish, and even the rodents and birds were becoming scarce. This was the true nature of the North, though I was glad it held off for so long since we were definitely searching longer than we thought we would for the rebels.

When the other two finally returned, I was dozing in Cris’ arms with my legs in Toma’s lap as he massaged my feet and legs. The second Sorin noticed the shifting of rock he was on his feet, gun at the ready, only relaxing when he heard the bird whistle. When the two stepped into the firelight, I realized they weren’t alone— Branko was also with them.