Knot Interested

Chapter 1

Katiya

I was closing in on the 2,000th mile and once again, I looked in my rearview mirror. My fingers were still shaking as I watched everything around me. Every car. Every face. I was pretty sure that if someone had followed me, they’d have already caught up. I’d already be in the backseat of an alpha’s minion’s car as they hauled me home. Or tied up in their trunk, depending on how they were feeling.

“Not home,” I reminded myself. That could never be home. In a city full of ruthless alpha packs who made a hobby out of creating menagerie packs and ‘gifting them’ to their friends for whatever advantage they could buy, that could never be home.

And yet, leaving the city of Chaingate was unheard of. Not because anyone who was less than an alpha wanted to stay, but because the alphas made it impossible. As the name of the city suggests, there are gates that surround the city.

“I’m out,” I reminded myself. My voice was the only sound in the car. I was alone. So why was I talking in just barely over a whisper, afraid of being overheard?

Lifelong habits die hard.

I was a lucky one. I have to think that they let me leave. After all, I was in my mid-twenties and had gone unnoticed through all their inspections. I was unwanted. Therefore, I was lucky enough to have been allowed to leave.

Yes, I was going with that.

Was it difficult leaving everyone I knew behind? A little. But in a city like Chaingate, every beta knows that you have to look out for yourself. Alphas rule the city. In a world with very few omegas, in that place, alphas have learned how to create packs that make them feel good.

If it was bad for a beta, it was worse for an omega. They were taken in infancy and given to one of the alpha packs to raise and eventually mate.

Sure, there hasn’t been a record of an omega abduction in Chaingate. But that’s because they had already been stolen and sold.

Okay, okay. Focus on the road. My horror story was over. I was driving into a new life. A life of choice and freedom.

And one free of alphas.

The town of Howling Cove is a hot tourist destination on the East Coast. With the temperature always pleasant and warm with relatively little humidity, it’s an exotic, happy destination. I’ve done my research. There are a couple of alpha packs in the town, but not many. And from everything I’ve read, they leave the city alone. They leave the betas alone.

But the real telling information is the kind of crime that takes place. Aside from the minute teenage misdemeanors and a few traffic violations, there wasn’t much reported. No violence to speak of. No true divide between the designations that are there, seemingly living happily side by side. No omega abductions. No alpha taxes.

With a population of 11,000, most of which are betas that live in Howling Cove year-round, I should be able to blend in as if I was just another face that has lived there my entire life. Right? Based on my research, this was one of the most promising places. Small without being tiny. And with the hundreds of thousands of tourists who come to see the cove every year, I would go completely unnoticed.

The house I pulled up to looked like a large, old colonial-style house. There were wings and floors that were clearly added on at a later time, made to look old. It was two stories with gable dormers, three on each side. There were two big stone chimneys and in the middle was a tall widow’s peak.

The house was white with black shutters. There were two columns on each side of the small front porch that led to the tall, black front door.

I pulled up next to a blue SUV and a man standing against it on his phone. As soon as I pulled up next to him, he smiled and pocketed it as if he wasn’t really talking to anyone. Maybe they were on speaker in his pocket.

The paranoid part of me said that he was talking to one of the alpha packs. An informant who was here to let the alphas be here without having to be here.

But I shook that thought away. These weren’t the same alphas. Not all alphas were that way. At least that’s what I read. And I chose to believe it.

“Hello. Miss Chapel?”

I nodded, accepting his outstretched hand, thankful when it was the muted scent of thyme that met my nose. Beta. “Yes. Mr. Olison?”

“Hugo, please. How was your drive?”

“Long but uneventful. I found plenty of beta hotels along the way, just as you suggested.”

Hugo smiled. “Good to hear. I’m so pleased you made it without hassle. Would you like help with your luggage?”

I shook my head. There were two suitcases and three boxes. A backpack, duffle bag, and some bedding. Otherwise, I walked away from everything with a purse filled with all the cash my parents could come up with. “I’m anxious to see this beautiful house. I can take my stuff in later.”

“Great,” Hugo said. “I love this house. It’s been in my family for generations.”

“Really?” I asked. “Why are you moving out?”

He chuckled. “My wife decided that she wanted something new. I can’t bring myself to sell it so I hope that our kids will want it one day. I’d really love to keep it in the family. That’s why I’ve been so particular in vetting all the applicants.”

“I’m very thankful that you chose me.”

Hugo smiled. “Based on our conversations, I knew you’d be just right for this house.” He looked up at it with a fond smile. “I grew up here. My parents adored it and treated it like a child in and of itself.”

I smiled at his memory. After a minute in which he seemed to be lost in thought, he turned back to me and waved me forward. “Come on, then.”

“Where are your parents now?” I asked as he led me up the front steps.

“Retired in the south.” He chuckled. “Too many tourists here for them. Having lived their entire lives catering to vacationers, they wanted to get out and away.”

He opened the door and I was let into a large, spacious foyer. To the left was an open room library, complete with walls filled with shelves of books. Some behind glass. There was a chair in there. The big, cushy kind that you could just get lost in. Next to the door was an amazing staircase that headed to the second floor, the wood in the railing remarkably detailed with carvings.

On the opposite side was a dining room. In the center was a thick oval table, and surrounded by eight chairs. On the far wall was a china cabinet, complete with fantastic old china.

“I’m relieved that you were okay with the house being fully furnished,” Hugo said. “I can’t even imagine where I’d store all this.”

I ran my fingers over the smooth surface of a banquette in the foyer. “It’s stunning. And I have no furniture, so this is actually really convenient.”

“Okay, so, this is the library and the formal dining room.” He gestured to each side before moving forward. “Closet on the left and half bath through this door.” Hugo pushed it open and I was smiling at how even the bathroom was remarkable.

We walked into what was clearly the family room and then to the right was an enormous kitchen. At the back of the house was a breakfast area. There was a mudroom that led into a small hall with two closets, a door to the back and one to the garage, and then another set of stairs to the second floor.

“Obviously these two spaces on the side were additions. They were added in the early 1900s and the master bedroom suite was brought to the main floor,” Hugo explained. “Each addition shifted the floor plan, but they still kept the original features and details as much as they could.”

“The preservation of character is remarkable,” I said. It was everywhere. There was not so much as a corner that was forgotten.

Hugo led me through the master suite before we circled back through the library and into the foyer to reach the front stairs to the second floor. There were three more bedrooms, a large rec room over the garage, and a storage space over the master suite.

“And perhaps one of the most breathtaking features—the widow’s walk.” Hugo led me to the little door that opened to a spiral staircase. We climbed it and I soon found myself in a very small room high above the ground with a 360 degree view of Howling Cove.

“This is—” I truly had no words. Breathtaking didn’t even cover it. And yet, I wasn’t sure I was breathing as I took in the water beyond. And behind me was the town with its four small highrises and quaint shops.

“I’ll take you to the backyard,” Hugo said after a few minutes, and turned to head down the stairs. I had to wonder why he’d chosen me when I would never make as much money to pay in rent what the view alone was worth.

I followed him down and through the back doors in the family room that led to a porch. Beyond, he led me to the edge of the cliff where I found stairs carved into the stone, a railing at the edge the only thing to hang on to.

“This is one of only three properties that has private access to the cove,” Hugo explained. “One being the old stone meetinghouse that’s almost in ruins at the other side of the cove, which you’ll probably enjoy checking out. Another is still inhabited by a family. Not an ancestral home anymore, sadly.”

I peered down the stairs, excited to check it out. But Hugo turned to me. “I’m not putting the stairs off limits, but please be mindful. They’re incredibly slippery when wet because they’re stone. It’s a big liability allowing them to be used, but I didn’t want to put tape on them. It’s too tacky.”

“I’ll be careful,” I assured him.

Hugo smiled. “Good. And lastly, this way.”

Once more I followed him and he took me to the side of the yard, through the gate. “If you follow this trail, it’ll dump you straight into the parking lot of the souvenir shop you said you were working at.” He looked at me. “That’s still your plan?”

“Yes. I start in two days.”

He smiled. “It’s a great shop. Does a lot of business because of the location. The alphas who own it are really great to their employees too.”

It took a lot to keep my smile. I didn’t want anything to do with alphas.

“It’s only a mile walk this way, but if you choose to drive, it’s about three minutes.”

“I imagine I’ll be walking most often. With the view, I can’t imagine missing it just to get there sooner.”

Honestly, I couldn’t fathom why his wife didn’t want to live here. Where could his house possibly be that has views anywhere near as impressive as this? I bet both sunset and sunrise were stunning.

“I agree.” He turned to me, clasping his hands. “Is there anything else? Anything you need to know or would like help with?”

I shook my head. “No, I think you covered it all.”

Hugo nodded and handed me the keys. “I have another set, but will call you with plenty of advance notice if I need to get into the house for any reason. Are you sure you don’t want any help with your luggage?”

“I’ve got it, but thank you.”

He nodded again, and we walked back toward the house. “Then I’ll leave you to it. Let me know if you need anything.”

I watched him back out of the drive before he drove down the road.

This was it. I was really alone. I’d done it. I’d left that place behind.

Shivering, I turned to look at the house. Narrowing my eyes, I swear there was someone somewhere watching me. But on the outskirts of Howling Cove, there wasn’t a house nearby that I could see from the ground. There were enough trees that they concealed my neighbors on three sides.

There was no one there. It was my nerves. I’d managed to move! I had my own place. And I was about to begin my new life.

No, I had already begun that life.

Taking a deep breath, I went to the car and opened the trunk. I pulled out both suitcases and set them on the ground before swinging the duffle bag over my shoulder. I began the arduous task of bringing my things inside and to my new bedroom.

I could definitely understand why he might not want to sleep in his parents’ room. They weren’t even my parents, and I was glad I brought my own bedding. It made the idea of sleeping in hotel rooms very disturbing.

Nope. Not going to think about that.

I didn’t unpack, instead heading back to the widow’s walk. It was late enough in the evening that I thought the sun would begin setting soon. It was already on its way down and I wanted to see it set over the water. I wanted to study the cove and all it had to offer. 

The windows opened sideways, and I pushed out one of the sashes. The air coming off the ocean was warm and salty, fluttering through the small space as if it were seeking out all the little nooks and crannies. Making itself at home. Bringing with it a new life.

My new life.

I smiled, remaining there for hours as I watched the sun go down and the stars shine.