Page 33 of Torment Me Knot
“We should give them space.” Ezra's voice is destroyed.
“I know.” I don't move.
“Kev.” Lex's hand lands on my shoulder. “Come on.”
“He's back. They’re here.” Ezra's voice cracks on the last word. “That's what matters. We’ll check on them in thirty minutes.”
“Yeah.” I don't know if I believe it yet. “Yeah, okay.”
I make myself turn. Make myself walk away. Hardest thing I've ever done, and I've done some hard things. At the threshold, I stop and look back.
Aubrey strokes Espie's hair. Slow. Gentle. Like she matters. She shifts closer to him, making a small sound that's half whimper and half purr, and he hardens his arm around her.
The sound hits me low in the gut and stays there.
They fit.
They just fit.
And I'm standing on the wrong side of the door.
Chapter Thirteen
Ezra
I'm the last one into the kitchen. Kev is already at the sink, hands braced on the counter. Lex paces the length of the kitchen island, his long fingers tapping an absent rhythm against his thigh.
“The falcon cannot hear the falconer,” he mutters. “Things fall apart. The center cannot hold.”
“Lex.” Kev's voice is flat. “Not now.”
“Yeats feels appropriate.” Lex doesn't stop pacing. “Given that our center just collapsed into a corner and won't let us near it.”
Sera stands apart from us, back against the wall near the doorway, arms crossed tight over her chest. Every line of her body coiled with restraint. Watching us the way I'm watching her.
I've never been this close to a female alpha before. Not that I’ve had the chance as they’re so rare. I've heard of them. Statistical anomalies, one in ten thousand, viewed with suspicion by male alphas who don't know where to slot them. Her scent cuts through the gardenia still fogging my head. Crushed basil. Blood orange. Sun-warmed cedar.Alpha.No question about it. The dominance rolls off her in waves she's barely holding back.
She's tall. Five-eleven, at least. Close-cropped curls, tight coils on the sides with the top left longer. Athletic build, runner's lean strength. A faint scar cuts through her right eyebrow, and her amber eyes miss nothing.
It’s impossible not to notice her.
I can't just stand here. I need to do something and everyone needs to eat. The pantry door creaks when I open it. Chicken stock. Vegetables. Rice. Our omegas are malnourished. They need food. Gentle food. Broth-based, easy to digest, nothing that will overwhelm compromised systems.
Soup. I can make soup.
Lex's pacing falters. “What are you doing?”
“Cooking.” I grab a knife from the block, and the weight of it steadies me. Carrots first. The familiar motion loosens the knot in my chest. Cut, slide, cut again. “They need to eat. So do we.”
Nobody argues. Maybe they're grateful I'm doing something instead of standing here drowning in mate-scent and rejection.
Espie.
Gods. I can't stop seeing her in my mind. Violet eyes huge in that thin face. Wrists so fragile I could circle them twice with my thumb and forefinger. The way she pressed herself against Aubrey like he was the only solid thing in the world.
The way she looked at me like I might shatter her.
My mate.I made a good life with Kev and Lex. Made peace knowing we’d never find our omega. Then we found Aubrey. And now Espie. Small and fierce and broken andmine.
