Page 2 of Knot a Good Idea

“She does that to me too, April. Like, all the time.”

But Skylar’s not telling the truth. Devyn stopped acting that way around her months ago. Now, Devyn’s hesitant questions and cautious tones are only reserved for me.

“It’s not just her. Everyone does it. And I’m tired of it,” I murmur.

Skylar swallows and looks away from me. “I’m sorry,” she mutters. “We don’t mean to.”

Frustration builds in me, self-doubt and shame causing tears to form in my eyes.

Skylar and I went through the same thing, yet she came out of it well adjusted. She has a pack now: three Alphas that love and adore her. They’re great men—and the ones who helped rescue me.

But I didn’t come back well-adjusted like my best friend did.

I came backwrong.

Something inside me is warped, and I’m convinced everyone knows it.

Luke pokes his head in from the front of the café. “Hey, Skye. River’s here.”

Skylar’s eyes light up and her scent sweetens. “I’ll be there in a sec,” she says excitedly.

Luke grins at me then leaves.

I wave my hand. “Go say hi to him for me,” I say to Skylar. “I’ll finish sales reports back here.”

“Are you sure? You don’t have to?—”

“Go. I promise I’m fine back here.”

She hesitates. “I’ll try to be better,” she says softly. “I mean it, April.”

I nod. “Thanks.”

Then, she leaves the stockroom, and I’m alone with my throbbing head and dark thoughts.

“You haven’t eaten much,”my mom says as we sit at the kitchen table. “Is it too salty?”

I give her a half smile. “Of course not,” I murmur, spinning the pasta on my fork. I learned to cook and bake from her—her question is absurd, and she knows it.

It’s her subtle way of trying to figure out what headspace I’m in.

I don’t know how to tell her that food doesn’t bring me as much joy as it used to. In fact, as delicious as I know my mom’s cooking is, I can’t seem to taste it.

Eating isn’t exciting anymore. It’s something I need to do to survive, and that’s it.

Nothing excites me anymore, and it terrifies me.

My mom keeps an eye on me, watching as I struggle to chew a mouthful of food. “We have ice cream for dessert,” she adds. “I made some whipped cream, too.”

I swallow. “That sounds fun.”

Nothing sounds fun.

We continue to eat in silence, but I can still feel her watching me.

She knows me too well. Before the…incidenthappened, we were close. We ranApril’s Cafétogether, managing the business.

But since Skylar’s pack found me in that abandoned truck, it’s been different.

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