Knot The One They Want

Erin Pov

"Okay..." I start cautiously, desperate to understand what could possibly have torn him down to this state. "What is going on? Last time I saw you, you were in my house turning it into your own personal canvas."

Torin just grumbles, rolling his face away from me and sinking back into quiet misery. I let out a heavy sigh at the pathetic sight. What could possibly be the problem?

"Is it your packmates that are bothering you?" I ask gently.

Nothing. Not even a twitch.

"Is it your parents? The situation with your mother?"

Still nothing. He remains as still as stone.

I roll my eyes, gritting my teeth as I force out a word I absolute despise. "Is the problem... your Sugar Plum? Is it her?" The second the ridiculous nickname leaves my lips, a sharp flicker of agony flashes across Torin’s eyes. I instantly know I’ve hit the jackpot.

I piece the frantic puzzle together in my head and take a wild, calculated guess. "Let me guess. Those DNA results came in, didn’t they? And she was the one who got your mother into the condition she’s in now. Her blood was found at the scene of the crime, wasn’t it?"

Torin’s head snaps toward me instantly, his eyes bloodshot and terrifyingly sharp. "How on Earth do you know that? Are you involved?" A cold prickle of suspicion sits heavy in his voice, and I feel instantly, deeply insulted. Without thinking, I reach out and flick him hard on the forehead with my finger.

"Ow!" he winces, clutching his head.

"You idiot!" I snap, sitting back on my heels. "I just used my brain like any normal person! For the longest time, I had suspicions that your little Sugar Plum was involved. It makes zero sense that a person you guys claim you treated horribly would just turn around and be kind and forgiving. It doesn’t matter that she’s an Omega, she is still a person at the end of the day with emotions and feelings! Of course she would want to see your mother dead!"

My own words trail off as a sudden thought hits me. I narrowed my eyes on him. "Now that I think about it... you never actually told me what you did. Or what your mother did. You just said that you treated her badly. Badly as in what? What did you do?"

Torin’s eyes search mine, dark and utterly broken. Slowly, he pushes himself up from the cold floor, sitting up straight and pulling his knees toward his chest.

"I can’t tell you," Torin whispers, his voice trembling violently. "At this point, I have lost everything in life. And I know if I tell you... I will lose you, too."

A heavy knot forms in my stomach. If Torin is saying something like that, it has to be catastrophic. I’ve been with this guy through thick and thin, putting up with every ounce of his chaotic, arrogant nonsense for years. For him to sit here and say that I would abandon him means whatever they did is horrifying.

I weigh my options silently. I don’t admit it out loud very often, but Torin is the only real family I have left in this world. Am I capable of cutting him off and never speaking to him again if he tells me? Yes. But after that, I’ll be completely alone. It’s selfish, I know but I don’t want to be alone. All I have is him.

"Okay," I say softly, letting out a long breath. "Don’t tell me. It’s fine. I don’t want to know."

I run a hand through my hair and sigh loudly, shifting my weight. "Anyway, I didn’t just come here because your packmate asked me to babysit you. I came to tell you that you are going to die."

Torin looks up at me with a utterly blank expression, as if I’m suddenly speaking in highly complex hieroglyphics. "What?"

"The Whale Project," I remind him.

Torin instantly groans, dragging both hands down his face with a agonizing strain. "No. No, I don’t want to talk about work right now. I don’t care about work! I’m done, Erin! Don’t you see? I am done! I don’t care about any stupid Whale Project!"

I lean forward and flick him in the forehead a second time, harder this time.

"Ow! Stop that!"

"You don’t have a choice here!" I yell at him. "You promised the Whale Project would be a massive success! You made promises to the Masintoshes! You need to get your useless ass up right now and get back to work!"

Panic gnaws at the edges of my mind. This is partially my fault. I should have never introduced him to those people in the first place. This idiot is going to get his entire pack killed because he doesn’t understand who he is dealing with. I know he is going through hell right now, but it is going to get infinitely worse if he runs those monsters a loss and doesn’t pull through on this project.

Torin’s posture suddenly turns sharp and venomous. "The Macintoshes are evil little pricks," he spits, his eyes burning with sudden rage. "They can go straight to hell!"

I drag my palm down my face, feeling a massive headache forming behind my eyes. "Oh no. I don’t think you understand, Torin. You are going to die. These people will literally kill you to usurp your business! If you die with no heir—which you don’t have—the contract states the entire enterprise defaults straight to them!"

Torin sneers, slumping his shoulders carelessly. "They can take it. I don’t care."

"They are going to have to kill your entire pack and your Sugar Plum to get it!" I shout, slapping my hands against my knees. "Do you know that?! They will do it! Maybe not the sweet, smiling one, but the other brother will do it without blinking an eye!"

At the mention of Sugar Plum, Torin freezes. The careless anger vanishes, replaced by a sharp, desperate focus. I finally have his attention.

It’s time for the winning strike.

"You need to get back on your feet!" I order, getting right in his face. "Your little active depression session is over! You are going to get everyone you care about killed over a deal you signed! You need to get back on your feet, get back into Spade Industries, and run that company like a tight ship before it is ripped out of your hands!"

I stand up, looking down at him as he sits trembling on the floor.

"If not for yourself, do it for your family’s legacy!" I command, pointing a thumb at his chest. "Do it for your Sugar Plum, who hates your absolute guts! And honestly... why are you out here crying on the floor like a corpse when you should be going out there and winning her heart back?"

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