Page 13 of Rot In Knotty Pieces

The room stills, and they all turn to look at me.

“What?” Rolly asks softly.

“I was bad,” I explain and grab the hem of my T-shirt, twisting it. “I stole something.” Tears well in my eyes. “Except, I can’t remember what I stole. But bad girls get punished.”

Rose sweeps me into his arms, and I wrap my legs around him, burying my face in his neck, crying.

“You did nothing wrong,” he growls.

“I stole!” I wail.

“It’s not stealing if he’s a monster,” Blaze says matter-of-factly.

I lift my head. “It’s not?”

“Absolutely not. It’s rescue.”

“Oh.”

I haven’t heard that before, but it makes sense, kind of. Blaze looks like a prince. He wouldn’t lie to me.

“I made fruit,” King says. “Rolly, wipe your face, then wipe Dove’s face and let’s go sit in the sun and eat.”

“Then we can play?” I ask hopefully.

“Then we’ll all play,” Sage says, looking around and making sure no one argues.

Okay, as long as Rolly smiles at me again and stops being sad.

As soon as I’m free, I creep over and hug him.

He hugs me back, almost too tight.

“I’m sorry for making you sad.”

“You didn’t,” Rolly says. “You made me so, so happy.”

A car door bangs, and I flinch, jerking away and hiding under the table.

The alphas are displeased.

“Hey, Dove?” Blaze asks as he crouches down and looks at me. “Let’s play, then have ice cream for dinner. Come out here and join me.”

He holds out his hand. My body is shaking, and I’m scared, so scared, but Blaze looks like he’s not going to hurt me.

Kest said he was safe.

I take his big hand and let him pull me out of the dark.

King

Istand against the sink, staring out the window, my hands in the soapy suds of the water. I’ve completely forgotten what I’m supposed to be doing. All I can do is watch Rolly and Dove run around the backyard. There’s a coffee cup in my hands that I’m holding onto for dear life because if I let go, I might just explode, shatter, break into a million pieces. I don’t want to do that.

I’m happy I’m here. I am.

It’s just…her back, what that monster did.

The photo that Rolly snapped of her back flashes in my mind, and the cup shatters, disappearing into the water like sharp little gifts I have to fish out. Roseland hisses and takes my hand, probing at the small cut I can’t even feel.