Page 6 of Knot All Is Ruined: Part 2

“Two more seconds. It looks like they just disabled some of the security protocol,” Toma called from the computer station he was working at. “Vic, I need you to flip that switch labeled auxiliary unit.”

Victor turned to the control panel that was littered with buttons and switches. It took him a minute, but he found it. “You want me to flip it now?”

“Nooot, yeett,” Toma said, drawing out the words as his fingers flew over the keyboard. “Okay, now.”

Once the switch was flipped, everything inside the plant paused for a second then resumed like nothing had happened. Twirling in the station chair, Toma looked at the rest of us with a pleased smile clapping his hands. “Hey, now we’re not gonna blow up.”

“Good, now we have a bigger problem to deal with,” I shared, causing the smile to drop from Toma’s face as he stood. “Danella was taken.”

Vic charged up to me, grabbed my jacket, and snarled in my face. “What did you just say?”

“Vic, I will give you two seconds to unhand me before I deal with the matter,” I warned.

He let out an angry snarl and backed off. “My apologies, Major, but I thought you said our Omega was taken.”

“That’s correct,” I said, tugging my jacket straight. “It would seem this whole situation was a ruse to get us off base and out here where she could be stolen right out from under our noses.”

“How the fuck are you so calm?” Toma yelled as he chucked a flashlight across the space. “Why are you just standing there so calmly when we should be charging out of here after them? The plant’s fine. We can go right this second, they couldn’t have gotten far.”

I glared at my unit, gritting my teeth, trying to keep from doing what I’d just admonished Petru for. “Do not mistake my calm exterior. I am livid that not only was Danella taken from us, but it was by none other than the fucking Commander Lucian.”

With that information, I had all three of them harassing me with questions, demanding action, and accusing me of letting this happen. Turning on my heel, I walked calmly away, down the stairs and back out to the open land with my unit hot on my trail.

“What the hell, Sorin, you’re just going to drop that on us and walk away?” Cris demanded.

Letting out a roar of my built-up frustration and anger, I turned to face them. “Enough.”

This had them all falling into silence.

“Since when has this been a democracy? Tell me. Have I suddenly been demoted, and I’m no longer the leader of this unit? Have you all lost your goddamn minds acting like this? No wonder we haven’t won the war when losing an Omega seems to cripple one of the top elite units of the Southern Military,” I raged. “If all of you will give me a fucking chance to explain things, then you might have answers to some of your questions.”

The five men before me seemed properly cowed at my outburst and I felt guilty as shit. This wasn’t how I wanted to handle this, but they’d left me no choice except to put them in their place.

“The only way we’re going to get Danella back, and we fucking will, is if we do this with a level head,” I explained. “We’re not dealing with an average Northern soldier here. No, this is the Commander himself who led the attack on the power plant. If we don’t think this through and plan our attack, he will slip through our fingers.”

Victor nodded and crossed his arms. “Okay, you made your fucking point. Now, will you tell us what the hell happened, Major?”

Coming from Vic, that was about as much respect as anyone hoped to get, so I took it as the win that it was. “I believe Petru is the better one to inform us of what happened since he was there.”

Now the angry, judgmental eyes were turned on him, and he seemed to enjoy that about as much as I had.

“As we were searching our section, I sent Dani off toward the river knowing the chance of anyone hiding out there was slim. They wouldn’t want to be trapped with the building in front and the river to the side. She was to radio me if there was any trouble,” Petru shared in a tone as detached from the events as I’d ever heard him.

“I was on my way back from clearing my section when she signaled for help, and I hightailed it over. I wasn’t fast enough, and I heard gunshots. When I came upon them, Lucian had Danella in his grasp using her as a shield and trying to get her to come with him. She wasn’t in favor of that idea and tried to convince him to let her go and run. We exchanged words to no avail, and when he finally determined that Danella would not leave with him, he bit her, bonding them. I was so shocked I didn’t know how to respond. He used that moment to set off a flashbang, disorienting me enough for him to jump into the river with Danella. It’s my fault this happened. If there’s anyone you should be mad at, it’s me, not Sorin,” Petru said, his whole body tense and ready to take whatever they threw at him.

“I’m sorry. Did you say he bonded her?” Toma questioned. “As in marked her for real as only an Alpha can with an Omega, that kind of bond?”

“Yes,” Petru whispered.

No one spoke for a moment, digesting what that meant, until Victor broke the silence. “You said she tried to get him to leave…”

“Not like that,” Petru cut in. “She wasn’t turning on us, although she was unwilling to let me kill him. Kept saying that Lucian wanted to go back North and kill his father so he could take over the North and end the war.”

“She believed him?” Victor spat. “No one should believe a word that lying sack of shit says.”

Clearing my throat loudly, they all turned their attention to me. “You’re missing something in all this. Danella spent three years living with this man, and in all our conversations with her, I’ve never heard her say he was cruel or mean to her. Yes, she was forced to sleep with him, but she told me they had rules. I wouldn’t count it out of the realm of possibilities that she feels protective of him. You’ve seen the way she is with her two Omega friends. Danella is loyal to those she feels have earned it.”

“So we don’t kill him?” Cris asked, scratching his head. “Can we do that?”