Knot the One They Want (Claimverse Book 1)

Backstage with the rest of my pack, I’m still reeling. Evie is gone, preparing for tonight with the other omegas in her life, and we have a moment alone to collect ourselves before we rejoin her, but I’m not sure a millennium could help me process what just happened.

Her scent lingers on my skin from the dance we last shared, an intoxicating elixir that I can’t shake. It’s all I can think about. The urge to claim her, to complete the mark, consumes me. I’ve never felt this way before, not even with Daria. I loved her deeply, and losing her shattered me, but this… this is different.

When Damien’s teeth sank into Evie’s flesh, her cry tore through me like a blade. Every fiber of my being wanted to rip him away from her, to protect her. To attack my own pack brother.

I don’t understand what’s come over me.

Cole’s hand on my shoulder startles me out of my thoughts. ‘Lake, are you alright?’ His brow furrows with concern.

‘I’m fine,’ I say, but the words feel hollow. How can I explain this to him when I don’t fully understand it myself?

Asher and Damien join us backstage, their faces sullen and otherwise unreadable. The first part of the ceremony is over, but the absence of Evie’s presence leaves an aching void. At least, it does for me.

I wonder… do they feel it, too? I want to ask. I probably should have asked Cole while we were alone, but it’s too late now.

I catch Damien’s eye, and I don’t even realize the death glare I’m giving him until I see it reflected in the confusion on his face.

His eyes narrow as he studies me, a mix of suspicion and annoyance flickering across his face. ‘What’s your problem, Lake?’

The accusation in his tone ignites something inside me, a protectiveness I can’t quite name. ‘Was it really necessary to be so rough with her?’ The words taste bitter on my tongue, laced with an anger I’ve never directed at Damien before.

He scoffs, a harsh sound that grates against my nerves. ‘She’s in for a lot more than a little love bite tonight. Or have you forgotten the plan already?’ There’s a challenge in his eyes, daring me to defy him.

I clench my jaw so hard it aches, fighting back the growl that threatens to rumble up from my chest. ‘We tried to scare her off and failed. What more do you want from her?’ Even as I say it, I know it’s a dangerous question. Damien’s not one to tolerate insubordination, especially not from his own pack.

Usually, I’m the last one to offer it.

A chill settles over the room as Damien’s gaze turns icy, sweeping over each of us in turn. He lets the silence stretch on, a cruel smile playing at the corners of his mouth. He’s enjoying this, the power he holds over us. Finally, he speaks, his voice low and deliberate. ‘We’re going to reject her. Tonight.’

Confusion ripples through the pack, but it’s quickly drowned out by the sinking feeling in my gut. Reject her? The thought alone makes me feel physically ill.

Asher is the first to find his voice, but he sounds as confused as I am. ‘Reject her? What do you mean?’

Damien’s gaze snaps to him. ‘Exactly what it sounds like. When Evie presents herself to complete the mating, we reject her. We walk away and leave her half-marked.’

Damien’s words hit me like a sledgehammer, knocking the breath from my lungs.

‘What? No!’ The protest rips from my throat before I can stop it. ‘We can’t do that. That’s fucking disgusting, even for you.’ Images of Evie, broken and abandoned, flood my mind. The thought of causing any omega that kind of pain, but especially her, is unbearable.

Damien scoffs, waving away my concerns like they’re nothing more than flies buzzing around him. ‘It’ll just make her uncomfortable enough to leave. She’ll give in eventually, and her father will arrange for another alpha to sever the bond. It happens.’

His casual dismissal sends a surge of anger through me, hot and biting. How can he be so callous? So cruel? But then, a sickening realization settles over me, over all of us.

This is exactly what Daria did to us. She severed our mating bond by taking another alpha. Even if Evie’s is incomplete, it’s still a despicable thing to do.

The memory of that time slams into me, knocking the wind from my lungs. The physical agony of the severed bond, the way it felt like my very soul was being ripped apart. I was violently ill for weeks, barely able to function. And the emotional pain… it was indescribable. A bottomless pit of despair that I thought would swallow me whole.

And now Damien wants to inflict that same torture on Evie? The thought makes me want to vomit.

Cole’s reaction is instantaneous and explosive. ‘You son of a bitch!’ he snarls, lunging at Damien with murder in his eyes. I barely manage to grab him in time, holding him back as he strains against my grip.

‘Cole, don’t!’ I plead, struggling to keep him restrained. It’s taking every ounce of my strength to hold him back, his body quaking with rage.

‘Let me go, Lake!’ he growls, trying to shake me off. ‘I’m going to rip his fucking throat out!’

I know his anger is partly on my behalf. Cole is the one who held me together during those early days, even when his world was falling apart the same as mine. He’s the one who saw the toll Daria’s betrayal took on me physically, mentally, and in every other way. Now that Damien is being so cavalier about it, I’m not surprised he snapped.

Asher steps in, placing a hand on Cole’s chest. ‘Cole, calm down,’ he says, his voice low and soothing. ‘This isn’t helping.’

For a moment, I think Cole might actually strike Asher just to get to Damien. His eyes blaze with a fury I’ve rarely seen, his fists clenched so tightly his knuckles turn white. But then, slowly, the tension begins to drain from his body. He takes a shuddering breath, and I cautiously loosen my grip.

‘This is wrong, Damien,’ I say, my voice shaking with barely suppressed emotion. ‘We can’t do this to her. It’s cruel and unnecessary.’

Damien’s eyes narrow, his jaw clenching. ‘It’s necessary,’ he says, each word sharp and biting. ‘She needs to learn her place. We can’t let her think she has any power over us. And if we complete that mark… we’re never getting Daria back. Besides, you barely survived her breaking that mark. Do you really want to risk completing another one again, with a complete stranger?’

Cole snarls low in his throat and I’m afraid he’s going to snap again. Even if Damien has a point.

Of course it terrifies me, the thought of putting my heart and soul on the line again and being betrayed all over again. But doing this… it’s unforgivable.

I shake my head, disgust and disbelief warring within me. ‘This isn’t about power, Damien. It’s about basic decency. We’re better than this. At least, I thought we were.’

‘He’s right,’ Asher mutters. ‘For fuck’s sake, we already bit her.’

Then, another realization hits me. That’s why he didn’t tell us until now. He knew we wouldn’t go through with biting her if this was what he had planned. Whatever our families would have done in retaliation for calling off the ceremony pales in comparison to this. To inflicting such cruelty on an unsuspecting omega who’s done nothing to any of us except exist.

Damien’s face hardens, his eyes turning to flint. ‘We do what needs to be done,’ he says, his voice brooking no argument. ‘If you’re not willing to do that much, maybe you never loved Daria in the first place.’

His words hit me like a physical blow, knocking the air from my lungs. I stare at him, speechless, as he turns on his heel and stalks away.

‘You fucking⁠—’

Cole lunges again, but this time, Asher is the one who holds him back, and I’m grateful. I don’t have it in me.

We’ve always been a united front, the four of us against the world. But now? I don’t know what we are. All I know is that the thought of hurting Evie, of seeing her suffer the way we did… it’s tearing me apart.

And I don’t know how to reconcile that with my loyalty to my pack.