Page 58 of Knot Their Safe Haven

"Alexis Rosenberg. Though professionally, I'm known as Alexander." A pause, then with evident amusement, "The gentlemen flanking me are Dante and Damon Corleone. Say hello, boys."

"Hey," two masculine voices said in perfect unison, and something about their synchronization made my skin prickle.

"And we," Alexis continued, her heels clicking on the linoleum as she moved further into the room, "are the Noctuary Pack. The fearsome leader you've been snarling at is the one sitting beside our new Omega, ensuring she recovers from what your cowardice nearly cost her."

The silence that followed was electric. I could feel them processing — the Noctuary wasn't just wealthy, they were powerful in ways that transcended money. The kind of powerful that made governments nervous and corporations genuflect.

And they'd claimed me.

This stranger's pack had claimed me while the men I'd loved for decades stood by and watched me die.

The fury that rose in me was absolute, but I channeled it into a soft murmur, a gentle shift like someone beginning to surface.

Time to wake up.

And begin the performance of my life…

I let my eyelids flutter, a soft sound escaping my throat—confused, vulnerable, exactly what someone waking from medical trauma should sound like.

"Velvet?"

Alessandro's response was immediate, his hand finding mine with gentle concern.

"Are you okay?"

I opened my eyes slowly, blinking against the brightness. The room swam into focus in pieces—machines, white walls, too many bodies for a standard hospital room. I let my gaze find Alessandro first, meeting those emerald eyes with calculated confusion, one eyebrow lifting in question.

Something flickered in his expression —understanding or even approval—before he smoothed it away.

"I know you don't know who I am," he said carefully, playing along with perfect precision, "but we can get into introductions once we don't have company. Let me help you sit up so you can drink some water."

The mention of water made me realize how thirsty I actually was.

Water would be divine honestly. A distraction before the chaos.

I gave the barest nod, letting him adjust the bed and support me as I shifted upright.

The movement brought three others rushing forward—not Knox, Malcolm, or Adyani, but three strangers who moved with the coordinated concern of pack.

The woman—Alexis, it had to be—was stunning in an unconventional way.

Tall for a female, probably five-ten, with white-blonde hair cut in a sharp bob that somehow looked both feminine and dangerous. Her eyes were ice blue, the kind that saw everything and revealed nothing. She wore a suit that probably cost more than most people's cars, tailored to perfection to hint at her female form while maintaining an androgynous edge.

The twins were... intense.

Identical in that uncanny way that made you look twice, both easily six-three with the kind of build that suggested they could either run a marathon or break someone in half with equal ease. Dark purple hair, darker hazelnut eyes with twinkle hintsof gold, and matching expressions of protective concern that would have been touching if I wasn't currently orchestrating the performance of my life.

All older than Alessandro. Interesting…

Alessandro returned with water, helping me with the straw. The simple act of drinking felt monumental, my throat still raw from whatever tubes had been down it. But it gave me time to prepare, to settle into the character I was about to play.

When I'd had enough, I pulled back, letting my gaze drift around the room with growing "confusion." Knox stood near the door, his face a study in barely controlled emotion. Malcolm hovered by the machines, doctor instincts warring with personal involvement. Adyani had positioned herself between them, ever the mediator, though her eyes held storms.

They seemed so far, as if they didn’t want to be up close and emphasizing their worry for my wellbeing. Instead, these “strangers” were pressed around my bed like I’d slip out of their grasp any minute from now.

They didn’t make me feel like a forgotten alien who didn’t deserve the time of day.

I let my gaze linger on Knox, squinting slightly as if trying to place him.