Page 58 of Rot In Knotty Pieces

I inhale sharply when Sage pauses beside me, his hand resting lightly on my shoulder. The gesture is so casual and so comfortable that it makes me weak.

I look up at him, watching as he laughs at something that King rumbles quietly under his breath. He squeezes my shoulder and then moves off and away.

Pix wanders through the alphas, watching me intently, his head cocked to the side. It’s only when I wince and my shoulders tighten that he realises who I am and his expression clears.

“Kestrel, hi.”

I offer him the best smile I can do, which is more of a grimace than a grin, but he doesn’t seem to mind.

Blaze and Roseland have turned and realised. They are watching me now, I can feel the weight of their gazes, and within seconds, King and Rolly join in.

“Kest?”

I look up into Sage’s eyes. He pulls me into his arms and hugs me tight before setting me back down on the log. “We were worried about you.”

“I’m okay.”

But I’m not. The pain of the whipping is still there, like he just did it. My back burns, my mind aches. I feel numb. Then there is Robin.

I forgot. That guilt doesn’t just easily go away. I survived worse. No, I thought I had, but Robin is worse.

Pix kneels in front of me, graceful in his dangerous elegance.

“You’re not okay, but there’s no one here that would expect you to be.”

He reaches out and places his hand on my knee. I look down, letting my hair fall around my face, hiding myself from him as I struggle and fight the tears.

He moves closer and takes hold of my fisted hands, covering them and just kneeling in front of me. The alphas move around, packing up the camp in silence.

Pix just sits with me while I fall apart, and it’s one of the most meaningful gestures that anyone’s ever done for me.

He pulls me up and brushes my hair back. “You will survive this, and we will make him pay.”

I like the sound of that.

“Shall we go back to where there are toilets?” he teases.

I groan and nod. “You know what? Toilets would be amazing.”

Pix heaves a sigh of relief and wipes my cheeks. “So, that was a fun heat, yeah? We’re going to do that again, right?”

Liquid warmth flows through me and settles low in my abdomen, leaving me breathless.

“Yes. If we survive the sociopath serial killer, then we should do that again.”

Pix gestures to the forest where the alphas are waiting. I whistle low and long.

There’s no response, so I nod and follow them back to the river. All signs of Pix’s nest have been removed. All the pretty strings and streamers of material have been collected and hidden in packs.

We leave no sign, not even a fire pit. It’s as if it never happened.

I wonder if one day I will wake up and this memory of these alphas and this omega will be stolen from my mind. What else have I lost? I don’t want to lose them or this memory.

The questions are dark and unhealthy, but there’s so much I don’t know, and I can feel the tension running through all of us. An unease, an unsettled concern, and a rising trepidation.

Blaze takes my hand and helps me up into the raft. I can’t help the grin as I step into the middle of it, I feel a bit like a queen. He clings to my hand and kisses the inside of my palm.

“Pix, are you sure this is a good idea?”