Page 25 of Knot That Delicate

I cocked my head to the side. "I make a mean boxed cake mix, but nothing more than that, really," I admitted.

"In that case, do you want to help me bake some fresh bread?" Asher asked, pointing at the ball of dough in his hands. "I’m just about to start making the sandwich loaves for the week."

My head popped up at that.Thatwas something I could do with my hands. It was something to break the boring monotony of the time I’d spent here so far. Sure, the guys were entertaining in their own weird way, but I missed having something todo. After years and years of isolation, I’d become used to it, but ever since my little jaunt of freedom, I was desperate for enrichment in my life.

Asher jerked his head. "Come here, let’s get started. I’ll show you what to do, and we can start measuring out the ingredients."

I nodded, scrambling out of my chair and rounding the counter until I was standing next to him. "Wait," I said. "Do you happen to have a hair tie? I probably shouldn’t be baking if I have my hair down. It’s going to get everywhere."

Asher nodded thoughtfully, pursing his lips. "There may be some in one of the bathrooms, but there is a lack of need for hair ties in this house," he said, gesturing to his own short hair. He thought for a second before his face lit up with realisation. "Actually, I think there’s one of those claw clips in the bathroom that one of my sisters left. Would that do?"

I nodded. "That’d be perfect."

"Okay," he said. "You wash your hands, and I’ll go get it." He smiled before bounding out of the room with a smile.

I took my time washing my hands in the large farmhouse-style sink. It was placed in front of a window, and the sunlight was streaming in. Feeling the sun on my skin after living underground for so long was incredible.

By the time I was drying my hands on a dish towel, Asher wandered back in with a clip in hand, handing it over to me with a smile. I quickly twisted my hair into an easy updo, getting it all out of my face so I could work.

"Do you bake bread often?" I asked as Asher knelt in front of the cupboard, pulling out several large bags of what appeared to be flour and other dry ingredients.

"I do," he said. "Living here, we need to be able to make our own fresh bread. It makes things so much easier. Usually, we can still make it to the city and the village to get some fresh produce, but we occasionally get stranded, as you know," he said, gesturing to the general area of the cabin. "So, it’s helpful to know how to make these things from scratch. It’s really not that difficult. I looked up a recipe online, and after a little trial and error, I was golden." He smiled. "Give me a day or two, and I’ll have you a professional bread baker."

He handed me a large mixing bowl. "Can you measure four cups of flour into that?" he asked, gesturing to one of the tubs of dry ingredients.

I nodded and quickly got to work measuring out the flour.

"How are the cuts on your feet doing? And your ankle? You’ve hardly been limping." he said as he grabbed another bowl and quickly started filling it with flour.

"They're almost healed," I said.

Asher turned to me with a disbelieving expression. "I think I’m gonna have to call bullshit on that," he said.

I shrugged. "Okay, so they’re notallbetter, but they’re feeling a lot better, and they’re healing really well. You don’t need to worry about me," I said with a smile.

Asher scoffed playfully. "Juniper, I come from a family full of omegas. If there’s one thing I know how to do in life, it’s how to worry over an omega. You said you had brothers. What were they like?"

I laughed. "If my brothers were here, they would not let me stand up if I had a single cut on my feet. They were smothering. I swear, there were times when I wanted to choke my brother Kane for being so overprotective and overbearing. I know he means well and everything, but gosh, a girl needs tobreatheat times. You come from a big family?”

Asher nodded. “Six sisters. Four betas and two omegas. Our mother is an omega, and we have five dads.”

“That sounds chaotic!” I giggled.

“It certainly was!” Asher nodded. “I wouldn't change it for the world, though.”

“Do you miss them when you come up here?”

“I’m usually happy for the peace! I jest, of course. Most of them have their own lives, their own packs.” Asher chuckled. "Alphas tend to get overprotective over omegas, especially when they’re nearing heats." He handed me a bottle of oil and a tablespoon measure. "Just pop two of those in to start with."

I nodded, quickly getting to work. "I wouldn’t know about that. You know about how alphas act around heats. I’ve neveractually had one," I said. "I’m kind of curious but also glad I haven’t had one yet," I admitted.

Asher made a sound of disbelief. "How old are you again?"

"Twenty-three."

"How in the world haven’t you had a heat yet?" he asked, cocking his head to the side, putting his bowl down for a moment as he took me in.

I shrugged as I started mixing the ingredients lightly with my hands. "I was too young when I was taken to have had my first heat, and I’m assuming while I was being traumatised in that place, my body wasn’t comfortable enough to go into heat."

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