Page 100 of My Knotty Mountain Men

“Fifty thousand?” she calls out from behind me. She fucking follows me to my Jeep. “And, if your baby is a girl, I’ll give you another fifty if you sign over your rights to me and the guys.”

I let out a disbelieving laugh. This girl is seriously mentally ill. She needs to be locked up.

“Don’t do this the hard way, Violet. I have money, and a lot of it. I’ll use it all to fight you in court. That baby will be mine—ours—my pack’s one way or another. And Pack Wheeler is mine. Those bite marks on your neck mean nothing. They’re justmarks. Anyone can bite another person. What matters is what‘s in the heart, and I’m in theirs. They’re just mad at me. But as soon as they see reason, they will leave you and come running back to me.”

Didn’t she tell me they would leave me for someone younger and better? Girl can’t even keep her delusions straight.

And she’s wrong. So fucking wrong. She has no idea how powerful scent bonds are. It’s not something you can just forget about and move on from. My pack and I have felt the pain of being away from your mate, and it’s something we would never wish on another person. Okay, maybe on Miss De-lu-lu over here, but not anyone else.

But I know better than to argue with a crazy person, so instead of telling her all of that, I walk over to the passenger side door.

She continues to follow me, blabbing on and on about how my men are hers and the same old thing. She’s just talking in circles at this point.

“Two hundred thousand, that's my final offer. Don’t be stupid, Violet. Take the money and go. They’re not worth it. Think of all the things you could do with that kind of money.”

Pulling the door open, I reach into the glove compartment and do something I’ve never had to do but have been trained to.

The cool metal feels foreign against my palm as I pull it out and spin around. I aim the gun at Sylvia. It’s loaded, but the safety is still on. I don’t plan on using it, not unless she puts her hands on me. And that’s only because I won’t risk her hurting my baby.

But maybe this bitch needs a good scare to see the error of her ways.

“Back the fuck up,” I say, oddly calm. My heart is pounding so damn fast right now, but I’m fueled by adrenaline and anger,so much so that my hand isn’t even shaking. I‘m surprised because inside, I’m freaking the fuck out.

She backs up, eyes wide. “You're insane!” she shouts.

I laugh, like really laugh. “You're one to talk. You're here trying to buy my fucking baby. Are you stupid? No amount of money in the world would make me give up my child or my pack. So take your fucking checkbook and shove it up your ass. Come near me, my baby, or my pack again, and I will shoot you in self-defense. Do you understand me?”

She backs up more, and I make my way around the Jeep, making sure to keep the gun on her until I open the door.

Quickly, I get in and place the gun on the passenger seat. “You will be hearing from my lawyer!” she shouts.

I roll down my window.“Good!” I shout back as I slowly drive by her. “I can tell them how much of a fucking nutcase their client is!”

It’s not until I’m down the road, pulling into The Hearty Bean, that I finally lose it.

Nothing could ever make me leave the guys, but this, this can’t keep going on. Something needs to be done about her. I will not live in fear, and the idea that she’s willing to even mention buying my baby has me fearing for Baby Bean’s life, too.

Parking the car, my body shakes as deep, heavy sobs leave my body. I need my pack right now. I feel like I can’t breathe.

“Violet?” Nolan’s voice sounds, and I look up, seeing him rushing to the car.

Then I lose it all over again.

Chapter 25

Aiden

Pulling my hard hat off, I wipe at my forehead. I’m sweating like a damn pig, but as I stand back, observing all our hard work, I’d say we did a pretty damn good job.

For bigger jobs, I contract a crew of men and take on a supervisor role, like with the extension on the ski resort. But for smaller projects like building a new home, a place for a family to live and make memories—those are my favorites—the ones I like to be hands-on with. Typically, it’s just me and a few of my local employees.

We were hired to do a custom build for a couple with two little ones. My favorite part will be handing over their keys and seeing the joy on their faces. By the looks of it, that should be in about a week or two.

The house is almost done. The only thing we have left to do is install the wiring and make sure the plumbing is good, and once the shipment for the kitchen cabinets comes in, we just need to get them into place.

Grabbing a bottle of water, I take a drink just as my phone begins to ring. Pulling it out of my pocket, I see Nolan’s name.

“Hey, babe, what’s up?”

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