Page 19 of Rest In Knotty Pieces

“Aaron, sit down. We need to talk about the situation.”

He sits down heavily, his jaw clenching and unclenching. He’s scruffy and cute. I think even his hostility is a draw card for me, but not nearly the way the omegas pull at me.

“Let’s eat, and then we can talk business,” Blaze says with a serene smile.

He’s the only one who looks even remotely happy.

The rest of us look ready to kill.

Blaze

Dinner is a tense but quiet affair and is annoyingly exasperating. I like dinner. It’s supposed to be peaceful and a time to catch up and enjoy everyone and their conversations. To just bond with each other. This is not bonding. This is a hostile and silent battle between six different parties.

I set my knife and fork down through the middle of my empty plate, side by side, and wait while Sage takes it from me. He disappears with everyone’s plates before he returns and retakes his seat at the table.

“Shall we talk?” He doesn’t look at anyone else but me.

I incline my head, giving him my support but not my permission, he never needs that. Though, to be perfectly honest, I’m more preoccupied being grateful that I removed my favourite candles before we set the table. I have a feeling this won’t go peacefully.

“Aaron, you need to tell us about Merle.” Sage drops the bomb, and the rest of them tense, the atmosphere charging and turning potent.

The detective scowls down at the table, his hands clench into fists, and he doesn’t answer.

“Are you capable of speech?” Rolly teases. “Do you want me to teach you? I’ll make it so good for you. I’ll evenmake you sing.”

Pix licks his lips and glances around. For one moment, his mask comes down, and I see a startlingly intelligent omega who is assessing this den of murderous alphas before he slams the curtain closed and just looks belligerent.

Interesting.

“If you aren’t going to speak, then I will just go see her,” Rolly says and gets up.

Aaron launches up and across the table, grabbing Rolly by the throat.

I tsk and catch the salt shaker while Sage wrestles his hot-headed stepbrother back into his chair.

“Use your words, not your fists,” I singsong.

Rolly mutters something that sounds like, ‘but he likes to be fisted.’ We all ignore him.

“You have to tell us about her. If she and you are going to stay here, hidden and safe, then we need to know,” Sage explains calmly.

Roseland looks as if he’s in pain.

“Fine. Just fine. No one else has been able to keep her safe.” Aaron slumps like he’s exhausted.

I do not let the unpleasant reaction I had to that sentence or his resignation show.

“Five years ago, I was doing a job-”

“What kind of job?” Rolly asks, interrupting.

King punches him hard in the shoulder.

“There were some bad people, and they were doing bad people things.” Aaron glowers around the room like an accusation. “I was new to the force. There was a call out about a body. We went out and, I mean, there was a body, but there was this girl, this omega locked in a room, starving, hurt. Almost out of her mind. We searched for weeks, but we couldn’t find any information about her, and she didn’t trust us. After a while, my bosses just let her go.”

“You’re leaving out a lot of information, Aaron,” Sage growls, drumming his fingers on the table.

“I know, but the less everyone knows, the better.” He scrapes his fingers through his hair and looks up at the ceiling.