Page 26 of Knot All is Forgiven

"Sounds like you're going to have your work cut out for you with your own," he chuckles. He grabs his jacket and slips into it, raising his chin at me in acknowledgment. "Alright, Slime. Let me know if you need anything. Sorry, it's not cleaner, but eh. Not that sorry."

"Thanks, brother. I owe you one."

"Nah, you don't. I'll never be able to repay you for getting us that safe house." The club put Joey and his pack up in a safe house when Chase abducted their Omega on live television. They were in the right morally, but it took the law a bit to catch up to it. So we hid them out for a couple of days.

We clasped our hands on each other's forearms. "We're family, Mouse. Even if you left us behind."

"Shut up, asshole." He shoves me on the shoulder, and I stumble back. The fucker is strong. "Alright. I'm gonna go get ready for the two of them to get home."

"Give Nora and Levi my best. And the others, I guess."

Joey leaves, and I take a steady breath before turning to look at my packmates. Both of them have curious expressions on their faces. I raise my eyebrow. "What?"

"You're actually in a gang, then?" Cyrus snaps at me.

I bristle. "We're a family. A club."

"A gang. That can't continue when we have our Omega. It sounds like your buddy there left when he got his."

Rolling my eyes as I pass him, I stomp to the kitchen. "Joey left the family after he got back from active duty, asshole—nothing to do with his Omega. And I'm not leaving the family. I've got a good gig. They take care of me. They listen to me." I can't help but throw in that last dig.

Under the sink, I find dust-covered cleaning supplies, but it's enough to start making the place passable. Rafe joins me in wiping shit down, but Cyrus just crosses his arms and glares. He even huffs intermittently at us. Eventually, I can't handle it anymore.

"Say what you need to say, C."

"Do you really think Jordan is the type of girl that will want to be with a biker?"

I laugh, throwing the rag I'm holding down and crossing my arms. "We don't know what type of girl Jordan is because you kicked her out of our lives."

"We all agreed!" he snarls.

I toss the rag angrily on the counter. "You gave me no choice. I would've been fine never having an Omega. I've gotten by just fine with only Betas." I say that like there has been a lot. There really hasn't. Barring those heated nights with Rafe, any time I tried to sleep with anyone else, I would feel sick afterward. My heart has always only belonged to Jordan. "I don't even know why we're here if this is how it's gonna be. We're never going to be able to work this shit out between us. She ain't going to want nothing to do with us. She's been alone this whole time, thinking we loved someone who wasn't her."

I scrub my hands down my face, groaning heavily. "We don't even know if she's unbonded." Both of them growl, taking an aggressive step toward me. I raise my hands. "Assholes, youneed to accept it as a possibility. Not everyone holds out for their scent matches."

"Well, then they'll have to join our pack. She's ours, and I'm not giving her up." Rafe crosses his arms stubbornly. "You two didn't see her. Just as gorgeous as always, but pure Omega now. She smelled so good." He leans against the counter, closing his eyes and tipping his head back. "I'm not letting her go again."

"It's not up to us!" I remind them. She's going to make whatever decision she wants. "And besides," I go back to cleaning up the kitchen, noting how there is literally nothing in the cabinets—not even dishes. "We have to find her first."

Chapter eleven

"He istasty," Lanie hisses at me as she watches Vick's retreating form. "Like, shit, Jay. And he's a doctor? Only you would pass out in a milk fridge and wake up with the city's most eligible Alpha."

I withhold a snort as I take a sip of my bellini, eyes darting to the empty mug of Earl Grey tea my Alpha had before he left. "It was a comedy of errors, that's for sure."

"And now you're living together?"

"Staying together on a trial basis. But like," I lean back in my chair, my striped shirt creeping up and showing off a hint of my soft stomach, "we're biological soul mates. Throwing the word trial on it feels like a formality."

Vick left after a drink, wanting to give Lanie and I girl time to catch up. He said he was going to run a few errands and would meet me back at my place. The cafe, Eggciting, is a block away from my condo, and Lanie and I meet up at least twice a month for brunch here. You'd think we'd get enough of each other in the office, but we don't.

Lanie is my PA. Which means personal assistant, but it makes me feel weird to call her my assistant, so we keep it to the acronym. It feels braggy to say, but I'm the senior executive of our print division. Every bit of it rolls up to me. So, I needed someone I could trust to help coordinate my schedule, field calls, and, in general, keep me sane. Lanie does a great job, and I'm lucky to call her my friend as well.

The server drops off our plates—eggs Benedict for Lanie and bananas foster french toast for me—and we order another round of drinks.

After a few bites, Lanie casually says, "That looks really sweet, Jay."

My eyes fall to my plate. A while ago, I learned that if you ignore a craving and try to placate it with something else, you won't be satisfied and will try to plug that hole. My therapist told me that I need to listen to my body when it comes to food and not be afraid to indulge.

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