Page 87 of Rot In Knotty Pieces

It’s amazing how quickly you can fall into routines that seem so perfect that you forget the reason you were avoiding them in the first place. We decided to stay in the town, rent out the stinky house for longer, and just hide in a place no one would willingly come to visit. Not because it’s bad, but simply because nothing about it stands out, nothing draws attention.

The first thing wrong was so innocuous that I didn’t notice, nor did I even think anything of it. There was a brief flicker of something that just felt wrong, and then it was forgotten. But one thing multiplied quickly.

A feeling of being followed. A car that seemed out of place. There was a neighbour who came out bruised and beaten. She’d packed her car and left town without a word to anyone.

Spray-paint on the sidewalks and fences.

Pix couldn’t get through to his friends or family.

He would try every night, ringing first his best friend Mark, then Bonnie, then Sariah. The omega would try Meg and Desi, Mitchel, and other people I didn’t know. He kept all the numbers in his head; he never had them programmed into the phone, but no matter how hard he tried or how frustrated he got…he couldn’t get through.

For a week, every night, he would get ‘this number can’t be connected’, call after call.

Pix seemed to go into himself, and I realised just how important family can be. The worry ate at us, hitting the pack and turning them watchful, dangerous and quiet.

My alters, too, sat uneasily. Were they okay? Were they alive? How did we check?

On the eighth night, sitting on the couch watching the flat-screen TV Rolly had installed, I came to a decision. It wasn’t easy, but it’s necessary. I turn to Blaze, finding the words stuck in my throat, unwilling to come out easily. I reach out and take his hand, waiting until I have his complete attention.

I hate this.

I inhale and exhale the words, putting them out into the world where I can’t take them back.

“Take Pix and go see his family.”

Blaze’s eyes sharpen despite the roar of protest in the room. Pix is silent, staring at me with gratitude and relief.

Unlike the others, Blaze doesn’t immediately dismiss me or shoot me down. He mulls it over.

“Please. He needs it.” My quiet request silences our alphas and turns Blaze’s silver grey eyes molten. He covers my hand with his and squeezes.

Blaze finally, finally dips his chin. “Okay. Tonight.” He turns and looks around the group. “King and Rolly, come with us?”

King nods and unfurls his body, while Rolly just bounces up and rushes off. They mobilize quickly, and within five minutes, I’m watching three quarters of the pack walk out the door.

“I’m not kissing you because I’m kissing you when I get back, and I’m not going to stop until I’m knot deep,” Rolly says sharply with a heavy look.

King touches my cheek and presses his lips to my forehead, then he’s gone. Blaze does kiss me. Long and hard. While Pix’s kiss is light and teasing.

“Back soon, Omega,” he murmurs.

“You better be, Omega,” I say, my heart hurting.

He cups my cheek and then spins and walks out, pulling the door closed behind him. I stare at the space where they were, resisting the urge to go out there and scream for them to come back. My heart is racing, and this feels wrong.

All wrong.

I whine, and before I can finish the sound, Rose is wrapped around me, pulling me tight against his chest.

“It’s okay, Kest. They will come back. I promise.”

I turn into him and bury my face in his shirt, drowning myself in his scent, trying to keep the panic at bay. It helps a bit, but not enough. The more time passes, the more frantic I get.

Rose picks me up and carries me into the bedroom where he strips me out of my clothes and then pulls off his.

“I don’t want to!” I sob.

“No sex. Just skin to skin. It will feel better.”