Page 20 of Rest In Knotty Pieces

“Did she ever say who killed the person?” Rolly askscuriously. “Was it her?”

Aaron barks out a laugh. “Merle? No. There’s no way. She’s…well, you will see when she wakes up. Merle Kestrel is broken. Completely and utterly. She couldn’t have done it.”

I don’t like that word. Broken. As if there was something wrong with someone. I tsk again but don’t look away from his face because there is something there. He’s hiding a lot, and he’s misleading us, and it’s not sitting comfortably.

“She’s innocent,” Aaron says softly. “They hurt her. Badly. She is afraid all the time. She needs to be safe.”

I tilt my head to the side. Now, this he is sincere about. “Of everyone or alphas?”

“Specifically alphas. Any violence or yelling. Loud noises. Weapons,” Aaron grumbles. “She probably doesn’t remember me, but even if she did, I don’t expect her to trust me. The interrogations were horrific. She has no reason to trust the police.”

I sit back. “You’re saying our omega is completely terrified of just about everything? Her trauma is so deep that she can barely live in the world?” I need to clarify this information before she wakes up. The magnitude of this revelation is just astounding.

“Well, that’s exactly my point. She’s been officially missing for well over twelve months now. Not that she was easy to find. But she would pop up at shelters and familiar places. I’d show her photo to the staff, and they could tell me if she’d been there or eaten, how she looked. For months, I could usually find her, but she disappeared. I think she’s been living in the forest. For her to come running like that out of nowhere and look how she looked, like she’s almost dead. I checked everywhere,” he murmurs to himself, and his voice is anguish. “She was nowhere.”

I stare at him and have this wild urge to laugh or cry.Shit, just fucking shit.

There is no question in my mind. She’s staying. But then, so is he, I just wonder if he hasn’t realised it yet.

I’m going to need to address it, but first things first. The omega.

“Pix, I’d like you to help us. Stay here for a while, maybe see if we can make her feel safe. She doesn’t trust alphas.”

He turns a look of loathing on me. “You want me to help you bond with your omega?”

Omegas, with an S. Omegas. Idiot.

But he is adorable. Especially when he’s this mad, and he’s fairly vibrating off the chair.

“So, what is our game plan, then? Are we just going to pretend we aren’t serial-” King glances at Aaron, “thugs?”

Aaron’s jaw clenches. I have complete certainty that Aaron Roseland has figured out that some of us are indeed serial killers; he just has no proof, and he needs us.

“Yes, we’re going to all pretend we are nice, doting alphas with no violence in us whatsoever. We want her to feel safe,” Sage says with a smile. “Surely, you would have no problem achieving such a thing, King?”

“I am 6 '7, packed with muscle, and terrify little kids when I look at them, I think you are asking the wrong person.”

He has a point.

“Ah, but here’s the catch. Scent match,” Sage says with satisfaction. “I know we are all scent matches to her and to-”

“Say it, and I will stab you in the eye with a pencil,” Pix snarls.

I bite my lower lip to hide a smile, but he is perfect. I am enamored already.

Sage stares at him wordlessly, but I can feel the amusement through the bond we share. Rolly and King exchange a look. I have no idea what that look means, but they’ve clearly decided something. One day, they are going to have to tell us about their bond that we are all pretending they don’t have.

“So, she stays here until when? When is the end date? I’m all against kidnapping innocent omegas and locking them in basements, pretty though this place is,” Pix says in his sexy, smoky voice.

“She needs to stay, recover, and hopefully be able to divulge who did this to her,” Aaron says quickly, but the way he looks at Sage…I don’t know. I think he’s lying, even though there’s no clue in his body language at all that he might be.

“Are you going to ask her permission, or are you just deciding for her? Because we both know you are so good at that.” The bitterness surprises me. Perhaps both omegas need to be top priority.

Aaron and Pix stare at each other, and the hostility in the room ratchets up to uncomfortable levels.

“What did I ever decide for you?” Aaron says darkly.

“You decided we could never be together, remember. Over and over, without a reason. She’s the one you want, and I’m just unwanted rubbish. A criminal who should be caged, weren’t those your exact words?”