Page 184 of Tangled in Knots

Walking closer to them, I tap my foot against Duncan’s socked foot. We are taking Sunday easy, and we’re all in pajamas.

“Done?” he asks as he glances up, pulling off his earphone.

He doesn’t ask if I’m okay, despite the tear tracks down my face, a fact that I’m grateful for. I’m not sure how to explain why I feel invigorated and excited about the podcast. Even if they go nowhere, I may continue to do them simply because they help me.

“Yeah,” I tell him, smiling. I feel lighter, a piece of my soul finding a way to rearrange itself into something new. “I really want to upload it, but I don’t know where to put it, and need a little moral support before I launch it out.”

“Well you got it,” Callum says, putting his things to the side to stand with his brother.

“Okay,” I say with a nod. I’m not going to second guess this, just going to do it.

Walking back into the room, it feels much smaller with two large alphas inside here with me.

“The site ROWS posted their podcast, Omega Link, seems to get a lot of traffic, let’s post this one here, and then we can go from there,” Callum muses as he types on the keyboard. “I’ll make a new account for you, we want to keep you anonymous, but the website needs a username. What would you like it to be?”

Something comes to mind as I think about it, and my lips twitch with mirth.

“How about The Little Rabbit?” I ask. “Only Kane calls me that. He’d get a kick out of it.”

“Caring what Crazy Kane would like, that’s a change,” Callum murmurs. “I know he gets your gears running, but do you like him too?”

“The alpha made her come like a waterfall,” Duncan grunts playfully.

“Lalala, no thank you,” I complain. “We will not be talking about that. As for whether or not I like Kane, yeah I do. There’s no filter to his thoughts, he tells you things the way they are. I’m going to let the guys?—”

“Court you,” Callum finishes. “Thank fuck. They’re serious about you, I just want them to crawl on glass and through fire for you. I’m a sadistic bastard like that.”

“Courting?” I ask. “Isn’t that old fashioned?”

“It’s normal,” he says. “Dating, wooing, buying you a house to make yourself a place of your own. That’s what this is. I love that you feel comfortable in our home, but you can’t stay at the shelter anymore. It doesn’t feel safe to me with the way ROWS infiltrated it.”

“Even with the money I have saved, I don’t have enough to buy anything,” I remind him.

Another few keystrokes, and my podcast is out in the wild.

“Done,” Callum grunts, satisfied. “It’s a good thing we have fifteen million dollars in an account in your name then, huh? Shall we go look at houses on the market or do you just want to build it?”

“Jed mentioned this, but I didn’t believe it,” I mutter. “You can’t just give me fifteen million dollars!”

The room fills with the scent of burnt cookies, and Duncan chuckles as Callum carefully maneuvers me into the hallway. My arm feels better after the salve Duncan used on it. I'm still using my sling to keep it from moving too much, but for the first time in a week, I’m pain free.

“Yes, we can,” Duncan says. “The money was used to buy you from a goddamned auction, Short Stuff. If anyone deserves it for pain and suffering, it’s you. It’s financial freedom, though to be honest, it’s a drop in the bucket compared to what your father signed over to his sister.”

“She must have threatened him with something,” I mutter. “They were going to take everything from him anyway, why go through the effort? It makes sense that Cassia and Rock were working together though. He wasn’t worried about any of the money in banks, since it was signed over to Cassia.”

“She won’t have it for long,” Duncan growls. “When you go after Rock, I want to take all that money back from her. Force her to attack, so you can get rid of her too.”

“I have really bloodthirsty friends,” I say, pretending to swoon.

Snorting, Duncan shrugs. “This is clearly my sign to feed you, Adira,” he murmurs. Callum bends down to grab his computer as we walk toward the living room and my favorite spot.

“Plan your dream house and let’s make it happen. I know you liked staying at the shelter, but you were almost kidnapped. It was too close for comfort.”

“I know,” I sigh. “Aisling was shot at too. I’m glad she chose me to be obsessed with. It was random. Emilia didn’t target me, guys. Not yet anyway.”

“You’re stirring the pot, kiddo,” Callum says. “I’m all for chaos reigning, but I want you to be with one of us or the Dresmond pack when you go out.”

I never would have thought they would be considered one of my protectors, but they’re quickly earning that spot.

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