Knot The One They Want

Oracle Pov

My brother’s words still ring in my ears as I enter the penthouse. I don’t know what I can do to help him, and I never expected Torin to actually file those papers. It’s official, Oril is no longer the second of this pack. Everything has fallen apart completely.

How did Torin even have time to get those papers processed when his mother is lying in the hospital? By the date stamped on them, he signed and printed them today. How did the high court approve it so quickly, and what evidence did he provide? The whole thing is confusing, even for a lawyer like myself. But no matter how I try to make sense of it, the papers are real, signed and sealed. Torin has made his decision, and now my brother will suffer for something he never did.

I can’t even ask Yurena to clear his name, she’s in no state to be speaking.

I need to do something. I need to clear Oril’s name. If I don’t, I know something terrible will happen. This entire situation is a ticking time bomb, and I can feel the seconds slipping away. But how do I do that? How?

"Oh, you’re back," Kei says, coming down the stairs, at least dressed in sweats this time instead of being naked like he was this morning.

"Augi called earlier and said Aunty was in an accident, that the situation is really bad. Is it true? Is she really going to be unable to walk?" Kei presses, his face horrified, the same look Augi and I wore when we first heard the news.

I nod, and Kei gasps. "I’m going up to my room. I need rest," I sigh. Truthfully, I’m more stressed than tired.

"No problem, go up," Kei nods, and I give him a tight smile before heading upstairs, my steps heavy, each one weighed down by the storm in my mind.

How on earth am I going to clear Oril’s name? The question floats through my thoughts again and again, circling endlessly until I find myself standing at Torin’s bedroom door.

Of course. How could I not have thought of it sooner? What better way to clear Oril’s name than to have Lorali herself clear it? Everything started with her. I don’t believe she lied, maybe she was confused, maybe she misunderstood the situation, or overheard something without context that made her think my brother was guilty. If I can help her see the truth, if I can guide her to clear her misunderstanding, then this will all be over.

Though the thought of speaking to her makes my stomach twist. I don’t want to talk to her, I don’t want to be alone in a room with her, not after how it ended last time. But I have no choice. I have to do this, for my brother.

I knock on the door three times before I hear footsteps approaching from the other side. I step back slightly as the door opens just a crack, enough for Lorali’s eyes to appear through the narrow slit. She doesn’t open it any further.

"Oh, Oracle, what do you need?" Her voice sounds sweet, but there’s something else beneath it, something sharp I can’t quite place.

"Oh," I clear my throat, the awkwardness pressing down on me. "I was wondering if I could talk to you about the Oril situation." The words stumble out of me. "Now is not the time. Perhaps later," she replies, already beginning to close the door.

I quickly stop it with my foot. "You don’t understand. We need to talk about it now. The allegations you made against Oril, I think you misunderstood the situation." Irritation flickers in her eyes at my persistence. "I misunderstood nothing. The scars on my back did not just appear out of thin air, Oracle." She pushes against the door, but I don’t move.

"I know that," I say, desperate, "but I promise you my brother had nothing to do with it. Let’s sit down and discuss this so we can find the true culprit. You can clear my brother’s name. Please, help me, or his life is ruined." She looks at me with dead eyes, her sweetness stripped away. "The same way you ruined my life," she says, her voice filled with hate. The sound of it makes everything inside me go quiet.

"You ruined my life, and I will ruin your brother’s. Doesn’t that feel like a fair trade?"

She opens the door fully now, her expression unreadable. "Come in, if you still want to help your brother."

She’s wearing pajama shorts and a white tank top, bandages wrapped beneath it, around her waist. A hideous scar marks her shoulder, exactly where I bit her. My throat tightens, and I gulp before stepping inside. She shuts the door behind me immediately, and alarms go off in my head.

"You know, the last time the two of us were in a room together, you bonded with me without even asking, and then rejected me without even completing it." She laughs, but the sound is hollow, bitter and nothing like joy. She walks with difficulty, one hand clenching her stomach, heading toward Torin’s bathroom.

Something isn’t right. The Lorali in front of me doesn’t seem like the Lorali I thought I knew. It’s as if she’s a completely different person now, one who hates me with every fiber of her being. And maybe she has every reason to. I messed up her life by bonding with her, but I thought she had moved past it, especially with how openly affectionate she is with Torin.

"You know, because of what you did, I live every day in suffering," she says, lifting her phone from the bathroom counter and checking something. Sweat beads on her forehead, her face pale, her body trembling as if she’s about to faint.

I want to say something—anything—but I just stand there like a fool, frozen.

Her eyes travel back to me as she sets the phone down, and the weight of her gaze makes my chest tighten.

"The pain your brother feels is not even a fraction of the pain you have caused me. The fucking bond you placed on me was venomous," she says, motioning toward the hideous scar on her shoulder. Her hand drops, and then she lifts her tank top just beneath her boobs, unwrapping the bandage to reveal what looks like a stab wound across her stomach. The wound is deep, bleeding heavily, and she groans in pain before continuing.

"We had to cut away the skin your filthy mouth touched and burn it just so I could survive being away from you. Because if I wasn’t near you, it would kill me. Before I left, I stayed close to you, not because I liked you, but because it was the only way I could live. If not, I would be on a yacht traveling the world." Her voice drops to a whisper, trembling as she grips a knife wrapped in cloth. I have no idea when she picked it up, no idea what’s happening, no clue what she means by a venomous bond.

"Lorali, I’m sorry. What happened haunts me every day. I wish things could have played out differently, and I will repent for it all my life. I will live to finally make it up to you. Just... help my brother," I finally manage to say, my voice breaking under the weight of everything.

She grabs my hand suddenly, shoving the knife into it. "Why would I ever help your brother, when I set the whole thing up? Everything has gone according to plan," she says, her breath ragged, her body shaking with pain. Her words shatter my world, leaving me stunned, forgetting she’s still holding my hand.

"Well, everything but this has gone according to plan," she mumbles, her tone fading. "Anyway, he’ll be here soon, and you and I won’t meet again for a very long time. By the time you’re out of jail, I will have ruined your pack, just as they ruined me, if not killed them. I’ll let you live, though. You’ll be alone, and you’ll know the pain I’ve suffered when the rest of them are dead. It’s too late for apologies or remorse now."

In an instant, she pushes my hand, driving the knife deeper into the wound she already had. I release my hand off the knife immediately, shaking as she collapses to the floor, bleeding profusely. The pool of blood spreads quickly, seeping across the floor, staining everything in sight.

"I’m sure you don’t even know what a venomous bond is," she whispers, her voice so low I would have missed it if I weren’t so close. "Don’t worry. I’ll send you a book so you can read about it in jail."

My heart pounds against my chest as I stare at the sight of Lorali bleeding out. My mind spirals, unable to process what just happened. I came here to talk about my brother, not this.

The door snaps open, and Torin stands there, his eyes instantly locking onto Lorali. The moment he sees her, his entire body stiffens, and I know I’m fucked.