Page 106 of Knot The Only Onee

Even if it meant that I was sacrificing my future.

"Excuse me for a minute." I cleared my throat and rose from the table. I needed to get some air before I screwed everything up.

The frigid air smacked me in the face the moment I stepped outside. Autumn was turning into winter, and the temperatures were rapidly dropping to match the season. Clouds formed as I exhaled and gathered my jacket more firmly around me. I sat on the wooden bench James had built and gazed out across the property.

"Hey."

I turned to see Alena coming toward me a few minutes later. She sat down beside me but didn't say anything. We enjoyed the cool weather in silence before she finally spoke. "Tell me what you're planning?"

I shook my head, probably much too quickly, as I opened my mouth to protest. "What are you talking about? I'm not planning anything."

Her brows rose as she gazed at me. Damn it. She could see right through me. "Why don't we go take a walk?"

I rose, my legs shaking beneath me, but I hid it well.

"Shit," I whispered and ran a shaking hand through my curls. "I called my brother yesterday. Offered to give myself up if he let the other omegas go."

"Bri." She pressed her hand to her mouth. "You know he's probably gonna want more."

I nodded. "He does." How was I supposed to tell her that he wanted a way to bring down her mates' company?

"What?" Her head cocked to the side. "He wants everyone to suffer, doesn't he? How does he plan that?"

"He wants me to get something to bring down KDC."

The silence hung heavy in the air, and I stopped walking after the distance between us grew. "I wasn't going to tell him anything about you guys. Just make something up so he'd let them go."

"Why would you do that? If he's anything like my family or my ex, it would mean you'd just be punished even more." She blinked up at me, understanding dawning in her eyes. "You don't expect to come out of this, do you?"

I shook my head. "No, not really. But if it means that those omegas will be safe and he'll leave all of you guys alone, then it's something I'm willing to do."

A squeak of surprise escaped me as she threw her arms around me and wrapped me in a hug. "You know I'm not going to let you do this alone, right?"

I squeezed her back, then put her at arm's length. "No. There's no reason for both of us to sacrifice ourselves."

"Wanna tell me what you're talking about, princess?" Xavier sidestepped from behind a tree with his arms crossed over his chest.

Son of a mother fluffing biscuit.

"We aren't talking about anything, Xavy." She smiled and walked over to him to lean against his body.

Xavier wasn't buying it. Not in the least.

"Alena, it's okay." I shook my head. Damn it, how was I going to do this?

"You have two minutes to talk before I toss you both over my shoulders and carry you back inside."

Damn, he was a scary motherfucker when he wanted to be.

Alena slapped his chest and pursed her lips. "Don't talk to her like that. Or me."

"Princess, one of you really needs to start talking because I didn't like what I was hearing."

"You weren't followed, right?" I asked, peering around to see if anyone else was lingering around the area.

"I know we don't know each other real well, Bridget, but trust me when I say I wasn't followed." In addition to being scary, he was also arrogant. Lovely.

"Okay." I took a deep breath and quietly explained my plan to him. I wasn't sure how much he'd heard while spying on us, so I just said everything. Right down to my brother wanting to bring them down as well.