Page 45 of Torment Me Knot
“Lex.” Kev again, an edge creeping in. “Tell me you didn't sit out here all night.”
Silence.
“Jesus, Lex.”
“What was I supposed to do?” No defensiveness in his voice. “They've been through hell, Kev. If they woke up scared, if they needed something, someone had to be here.”
Lex sat outside our door and I didn’t know. I meet Aubrey's eyes. His brow furrows. He doesn't know what to do with this either.
“I've got next watch.” Kev.
“No, I do.” Sera. “They know me. Espie knows me.”
“Sera, you haven't slept since—”
“Neither have you.”
“Someone should monitor them medically.” Ezra, trying to wedge in. “I could—”
“I'm fine.” Lex. “I can keep going.”
“You've been awake for three days.” Kev's voice goes flat. “Three days, Lex.”
“I'll sleep when—”
“Enough.” Ezra, hissing now. “You're all going to wake them up with this. Keep your voices down.”
Shuffling. The argument drops to fierce whispers, too low to make out.
They're fighting over who gets to watch over us. Not fighting to get away from the burden. Fighting for the privilege of sitting outside a door. I don't understand. Aubrey squeezes my hand. He doesn't understand either. But we're confused together, and somehow that helps.
Kev's voice drops lower. “Is there any news about Wallace?”
My blood goes cold.
“He’s gone to ground. Levi and the team are still looking.” Sera. The warmth is gone from her voice, replaced by ice. “He's not slipping through this time.”
“And if he runs?”
“Then I find him.” Her voice goes flat. “I don't care what hole he crawls into. I'll drag him out by his throat.”
My lungs forget how to work for a second. A shiver runs through me. Not fear. Something I can’t name. Sera's not angry at me. She's angry for me. She wants to hurt the man who hurt me.
The voices fade. Footsteps move away. But Ezra remains. Outside. Present. His scent drifting under the door.
I lie in Aubrey's arms, my body still humming, slick cooling between my thighs and his scent all over my skin.
I want more.
I want him.
But the draw toward the alphas keeps tightening low in my belly, impossible to ignore.
Chapter Sixteen
Espie
We must have drifted off again. The light through the duvet has shifted, warmer now, deeper into the day. My limbs are heavy in that thick way that means my body finally took what it needed.
