Knot the One They Want (Claimverse Book 1)

My paintbrush hovers over the canvas, unmoving. I stare at the half-finished portrait I’ve been paid a small fortune to paint, the politician’s omega wife gazing back at me with lifeless eyes. No matter how I try, I can’t seem to breathe soul into her image. Not when a different pair of eyes keeps flashing through my mind—light blue eyes that sparkle with hidden mischief.

Evie’s eyes.

I set the brush down with a sigh, my fingers twitching with the urge to paint. Really paint, not just churn out another commission from one of the many wealthy patrons who populate my extensive waiting list. The piece in front of me has been on the list for three years, but it’s not what’s finally rekindled the insatiable thirst to paint. To create. It’s a feeling I haven’t had in so long, not since…

The door creaks open and I tense, relaxing only slightly when I catch Cole’s familiar scent. My twin. The other half of my soul. He enters the room cautiously, as if approaching a wild animal.

I bristle at his hesitation.

‘Hey,’ he says softly. ‘How’s the painting coming?’

I shrug, not meeting his gaze. ‘It’s coming.’

Cole studies me, his brow furrowed with concern. I can practically feel the waves of worry radiating off him and I feel guilty knowing how much I’ve given him reason to worry.

‘I just wanted to check in, see how you’re feeling after⁠—’

‘Don’t,’ I cut him off, my voice sharp as a knife’s edge. ‘I can’t handle you walking on eggshells around me too. Not you, Cole.’

He flinches and guilt twists in my gut. I scrub a hand over my face, suddenly exhausted.

‘I’m sorry,’ Cole murmurs. ‘I didn’t mean to… I just wanted to let you know that Mr. Blackwood called a meeting. With the Beaumont family’s coalition.’

My head snaps up, a tangle of emotions rising in my throat. Dread claws at my chest, mingling with a traitorous spark of anticipation. Evie’s pack. A chance to see those haunting eyes again. Eyes that bring warmth and light to dark shadows I thought nothing could ever touch. But also the looming threat of being pushed to choose another mate.

The thought makes me recoil and I feel the familiar claws of pain digging into my throat, gripping and clenching tight. So tight I can’t breathe.

‘When?’ I ask, my voice sounding distant to my own ears.

‘Next week.’

‘Next week,’ I repeat on autopilot, the handle of my brush nearly slipping from my grasp.

Cole steps closer, searching my face. ‘Are you alright?’

I force a nod, my jaw clenched tight. ‘I’m fine.’ The words taste like ash on my tongue.

Cole’s eyes narrow, seeing straight through my flimsy façade. He knows me better than anyone, can read me like an open book. Sometimes it’s a comfort, having someone who understands me so completely. Other times, like now, it’s suffocating.

I turn away, my shoulders hunching. ‘I just… I don’t think I’m ready to mark another omega.’ The admission scrapes my throat raw. ‘Not after Daria.’

Cole’s hand settles on my shoulder, a warm, steadying weight. ‘It’s okay, Lake. Damien is right. We’re going to find a way out of this.’

Guilt churns in my stomach, acid burning my veins. I know I’m at least part of the reason the others are so against the idea of taking an omega. It left scars on all of us, but I’m not… strong like them. I’ve never been like other alphas, who take their anger out at the gym or in a fist fight. For me, it’s always turned inward.

And unless I can get those feelings out on canvas, they eat me alive.

When Daria left, it was like she took my muse with her. All the colors, they lost their intensity. All the shapes their meaning. In their wake was left only darkness, and I very nearly spiraled into it.

But against it or not, it’s clear we can’t put things off forever. The Blackwood Pack needs to secure its alliances, shore up its weaknesses.

And an omega is the key to that.

‘I’m worried,’ I murmur, the words barely audible.

‘Nothing will happen before you’re ready,’ he assures me. ‘We’re in this together, always.’

I shake my head, frustration simmering under my skin. ‘No, that’s not… I’m worried for Evie.’ Her name feels forbidden on my lips. Sacred. ‘I saw the way Damien looked at her.’ Cold. Calculating. Like a predator sizing up its prey. ‘I’m worried he’s going to take his hurt and anger out on someone innocent.’

Cole doesn’t answer, but I can feel his unease, his own worries mirroring mine. Damien is a ticking time bomb, his control fraying more each day. Losing Daria fractured something vital in him, an integral part of his being. I fear that fracture is only going to spread, splintering him into someone unrecognizable.

Someone dangerous.

To Evie, to all of us, to Damien himself.

The memory of Evie’s smile flashes through my mind, bright and warm as the summer sun. I barely know her, but the thought of Damien sinking his claws into her makes my heart seize, my protective instincts surging to the surface.

I pull away from Cole, pacing the room like a caged beast. Anger coils in my muscles, the bitter sting of betrayal an all too familiar taste on my tongue. I want to lose myself in my work. To forget the ghosts that haunt me. But I know there’s nowhere far enough to escape the shadows in my mind.

Cole watches me, his expression pained. ‘What do you want to do?’ he asks quietly.

I stop, staring out the window. What do I want? I want to rewind time, to go back to before Daria shattered us. I want to trust again, to believe in the possibility of a future. I want…

I meet Cole’s gaze, shaking my head. ‘I don’t know.’

Maybe I haven’t in a long time.