Page 143 of Rest In Knotty Pieces

“I think you are underestimating them.”

“Rose, you promised me,” I growl. “I don’t need them panicking while I do this, and I can do this.”

“I did, and I meant it. I will protect them. All of them. No matter what or from who. I will find them and come for all of you if anything happens. No matter what. Eight hours, that’s all you get, and then I’m coming in, guns blazing.”

I grab hold of his hand and squeeze. “He’s going to be hunting us now; it’s been too long, and we should have gone back. He will want what I’ve stolen, and now he’ll have figured out that it’s me that took it. It’s only a matter of time now. Is the second location secured?”

“Yes. No one knows about it. If something happens, I will make sure I get whoever is in your body to that place.”

I exhale roughly. “And the trackers?”

“I’ve slipped them into everyone, just like you showed me.”

“And Pix?” I whisper.

“When the time is right, if it all goes to hell, I will get Pix and tell him your message.”

I let go and pace in front of him, gripping my hair. “I feel like I’ve forgotten something.”

“That’s because we have been at this for five years.”

I turn into his arms and bury my face in his chest. “Five years is too long. I want us to be free.”

“And we will be.”

“Don’t let them come with you. Don’t let them see what he’s going to do. If he gets us, you make sure those alphas don’t look at me.”

“Raven, please, baby.”

He begs; I’ve heard it a million times before.

“It’s time for me to go.”

“No, not yet. Please stay with me. Don’t do this.”

“We tried, Rose. We tried everything for five years. This is the only way. It’s all we have left. It’s not just my life on the line. Try to understand, it’s all of us. We can’t go back to that. I’m going to get us free. To give us a chance to live.”

Rose grabs me, pulling me against his chest hard. He holds me tight, and I can hear our hearts. For a moment, they are in sync, and then suddenly, they no longer are. We always only have moments.

It’s never going to be Rose and Raven.

That’s not the happy ending that we get.

I look up at him and kiss him hard, saying all the things I can’t say. All the things I wish we could do and have. The bright future that isn’t ours.

No, mine is a blood red hue over bleached bones and darkness.

I turn away from him, pulling free like I always do. He follows me back to the cabin, a dark shadow at my back. I refuse to look at him, afraid I will weaken. At the last possible moment, I glance back, seeing his stricken face and feeling more pain that should be possible. When I turn back to the cabin, I’m not Raven anymore, and I don’t know there’s an alpha in the woods, staring after me with his heart in his eyes.

I don’t know that he’s been my lover for five years. I don’t know I trust him above all others, and I don’t know that he’s the reason we’re all alive.

Pix

Merle eats breakfast, watching me like she knows something I don’t. I try not to glare at her, it upsets the alphas, and then I have to go round with them first thing in the morning, and I just can’t deal with them today.

She clicks her fingers at me.

I eat with more stubbornness, refusing to make eye contact.