Page 71 of Knot All Is Ruined: Part 2

Shooting him a thumbs up, I gulped down the last of my coffee, washing down the final bite of eggs. “No worries, I’m finished. Let me wash these things up, and we can head to whatever’s next. Wait, do we need to do anything with the house? I know we’ve been on top of keeping everything tidy, although if all goes to plan, we won’t be coming back here for a long, long time.”

“It’s fine, Dani,” Lucian assured me. “I talked to Nadeja, and she already was planning on having someone come in and clean up after us. It would seem this house is one they use for guests like us that are only here for a time or between missions and things like that.”

“Huh…well, that comes in handy,” I commented as I pumped the handle for the water.

Once my dishes were clean and put away, we grabbed our packs with everything we owned and then headed out. It was kind of surreal to have planned and hoped for this day, and in the blink of an eye, we were off to end a war. First, we needed to start another war to make it happen, yet in the end it would be worth it.

Life was peaceful within the stronghold. People lived average lives gardening, tending to the animals, woodworking, and many other things most people took for granted. Even in the North, they had factories that put things together and spit them out to be sent off to war. Given those same factories also stole all the power from everyone else, but hey guns and bullets were still being made. There had been much speculation on why there was no power to the rest of the country and that was one of the main things Toma was going to work on when this was all over.

It was rather exciting now that we’d planned for the future and made our dreams a reality. The Summit council had brilliant ideas as well to help bridge the gap and repair things between the people and their leadership. No matter what we did, it would take time to gain any kind of trust with the people here in the North, let alone figure out what to do with the South. Sorin was confident that when he brought his father the ceasefire request to broker an end to the war, it would happen, no question. Everything in me wanted to believe that, yet the reality of what was ahead of us would be a long, slow road. The first time I heard that this could all take months to see the results we needed, I choked on my drink. Granted, I hadn’t assumed it would be days, but months just made it seem impossible.

Shaking my head to clear the negative thought, I broke off from the guys to my training team. We’d all agreed that it would be best for me to be in the mix of soldiers for safety. We knew everyone, all eight hundred soldiers by name and sight, so no one could try to sneak into our ranks once we got this siege underway. The rebels used that tactic more times than any of them could count, though it also meant we knew what to look out for. My pack, alongside the three military leaders of the rebels, were coordinating this whole thing and they needed one less thing to worry about.

So I broached the idea of me staying with the soldiers during the day and joining them at night. Today was a trial run to see if everyone could handle it. My money was on either Lucian or Victor cracking under the fact they couldn’t keep their eyes on me at all times. Even Petru had gotten more protective lately and didn’t enjoy it when my team asked me to have a drink with them or hang out. Overall, it would be an interesting experiment I wasn’t sure would work for long.

“Company, halt!” our section leader called. “You have thirty minutes to eat, piss, and rest before we continue on.”

There was a collective sigh of relief through my whole unit as people sat right where they stood and grabbed food out of their packs. This was when my guys swooped in and plucked me from the group.

“Sorry, guys, but she’s coming with us,” Toma said when a few of the soldiers protested, blocking them from following. “I would kindly remind you that she’s our bonded Omega, so don’t get any ideas. If you’d like to fuck around and find out, then anyone of us would be happy to show you how terrible that idea is. Any takers?”

With some grumbling, those that stood returned to their spot and grabbed their food.

“Wildflower, what trouble could you possibly have gotten into to cause that reaction?” Petru asked as he carried me off to wherever the rest of our pack was.

“Nothing,” I said adamantly. “Seriously, all we’ve done is talk and get to know one another. A few of them needed to get some stuff off their chest, not having anyone to listen to them. I suppose the fact that I can relate to them might have fostered an emotional connection, but it wasn’t intentional.”

Petru just cocked a brow at me. “Dani, haven't you realized the natural ability to bring people to your side? Trust me, if we could be born based on our personality and abilities, you would have most certainly been an Alpha. Every time I turn around, you’re off recruiting people to the cause without even realizing it. At the beginning of the week, we had half as many men and women willing to fight with us. Then you were let loose to spend time training with them, and more came flooding in to be added to the list.”

“Bullshit,” I blurted. “There is no way that’s true. If that were the case, then I would have had people all over that outpost backing me in how to treat Omegas fairly.”

“That was before you opened yourself up to others,” Toma pointed out. “When we first met you, there was a ten-foot wall of ‘fuck off’ wrapped around you. It’s totally understandable. You had to do what was best to protect yourself. Now though, that wall is gone so you’re letting people see your true self. The ‘you’ who is full of passion and hope, which everyone desperately needs.”

I chewed on that thought as Petru set me down and took my hand in his. Toma took my other hand, lacing our fingers so he could stroke the back of my hand with his thumb. These two were acting like they hadn’t seen me in days when it had been hours. Something told me the chances of me going back to my group were slim to none once lunch was over.

“What took you so long?” Victor demanded when he spotted us.

“Care to share what’s got your dick in a knot there, Vicky?” I asked, pulling my hands free to cross my arms. I’d learned that when Victor got in these moods I needed to stand my ground and not let him get into caveman mode.

“My problem is that we now only have twenty minutes for you to eat,” Victor informed me.

I frowned. “No, that’s not it.”

“Stop, don’t you do that thing you do,” he grumbled, wagging a finger at me.

Confused, I cocked my head in question, wondering if he would fill me in on what exactly it is he thinks I do.

Marching up to me, he grabbed my chin and forced me to gaze up at him. “Little Spark, there are times when I don’t want to have my emotions analyzed the way you have a habit of doing. However you’re, you so I’ll be honest. I’m feeling insecure about meeting up with the Oscadians tonight. Out of all of us, I’m not bonded to you in any way, so they could take you from me.”

“What are you talking about?” I shot back. “Why the fuck would they take me from you? I’m bonded to the rest of the men in this pack and you’re a part of it. In Oscad, many packs from older generations have members not bonded to the pack's Omega. Some people don’t fit together. It would be like saying if Cris and I never ended up lovers, does that make him any less part of the pack?”

This seemed to throw Victor off. “I thought it was a rule in Oscad that all members of the pack had to bond with the Omega?”

“That is the hope. It certainly makes family dynamics easier as well as increases the chances of having children. However, it’s not something they can dictate by law,” I explained. “Who told you that?”

“Councilman Filip mentioned I should be aware of the chance that there could be a problem,” Victor muttered, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Why would you believe him about something like that when you could have just asked me?” I challenged him. “Did you think I wouldn’t be honest with you?”