Page 58 of Knot So Sweet

"Gotta make being stuck at your house during my heat worth it."

I stepped closer, hoping my scent would help her think more clearly, especially with Viper pushing her buttons. They were like fire and gasoline, always on the edge of igniting.

Doc cleared his throat. "Viper, let her relax here for a bit. Ghost still needs his shoulder wrapped, and I need to know what happened today during the run."

"Stay here. I'll be back in a minute." Viper stroked her cheek with his thumb. "And I'll take the request to meet the Cromwell pack to the club. But no guarantees I’ll convince everyone to agree. The vote has to be unanimous."

Candi swallowed hard, her eyes darting between us. She licked her lips and nodded.

Viper slowly dropped his hand from her face and sighed as he headed toward the door. I followed behind him, casting one last glance back at Candi before closing the door firmly behind me.

Maybe Candi was right. We needed help. As much as Viper hated the idea, he couldn’t face this war alone. We were outnumbered, outmaneuvered, and if we kept playing by the old rules, we would surely lose.

Chapter 26

Candi

Inside the Doc's office,the walls were a deep, rich mahogany—nothing like any doctor's office I’d ever seen. It was more like stepping into some kind of old-world study, thekind you’d find in a mansion, not a place meant for medical treatment.

Viper and Ghost had left me here, apparently to ‘talk to Doc alone’ while he checked on Ghost’s shoulder. But I wasn’t stupid. I could feel it in Viper’s clipped tone, the way his eyes shifted whenever I pushed about Sean Cromwell—he was hiding something.

And whatever it was, it was big.

I hadn’t backed down earlier. I couldn’t afford to. I knew what I was asking—bringing a Hound into this equation was like asking a fox to guard the henhouse.

Viper didn’t trust outsiders, especially not from a rival gang. I didn’t blame him for that. Trust was dangerous in this world. But if we were going to win this war, if we were going to take down Titus and find the mole leaking information, we needed to think outside of the club.

Linc wasn’t just another Hound to me. He was different, and I trusted him—something I wasn’t ready to explain fully to Viper yet. Though, Ghost might figure it out as soon as he meets him. But Linc saved me once three years ago. The night I perfumed for the first time.

Him and Roman both.

And in a world as cruel as ours, that counted for something.

I wasn’t asking for a blind alliance. I was asking Viper to consider the bigger picture, to contemplate that maybe we didn’t have all the pieces to win this fight on our own. Maybe we were all playing on the same side.

But Viper’s pride ran deep, maybe deeper than mine, and getting him to see reason felt like trying to move a mountain with my bare hands. The bickering between us had ignited a flame earlier, and I wasn’t going to pretend it didn’t sting when he implied I was an outsider. I knew part of that was what Travishad done to me, knew the trauma still clung to my bones like a second skin.

But I wasn’t broken, damn it.

I was still here, still standing, and I wasn’t going to let anyone—especially Viper—write me off like I was some fragile thing that needed protecting.

I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck, as my eyes drifted to the bookshelves again. My feet carried me toward them, almost on instinct, drawn to the endless rows of spines like they held some secret that might calm the storm brewing in my head.

There were so many books, old leather-bound ones mixed in with glossy, newer covers. My fingers brushed lightly against the shelves as I walked, my mind wandering in time with the titles that blurred together.

"Sit, Candice. Stay, Candice," I muttered under my breath, mocking Viper’s deep, authoritative voice. He’d left me here like a dog, and it grated on my nerves.

I wasn’t made for waiting around like this, stuck in the sidelines. And yet here I was, hungry, frustrated, and on the verge of my heat. And no closer to a solution than I had been before, of where I was going toNetflix and chill.

It had been almost twenty minutes. My stomach growled loudly, reminding me I hadn’t eaten all day, but pride kept me from asking for food. They weren’t going to see me weak or needy.

Not now, not ever.

I could feel the heat rising in my body, a warning that my next cycle was looming closer than I wanted to admit.

The thought made me shiver with unease. It wasn’t just the physical toll of heat—it was the vulnerability. The complete loss of control. If I could barely admit I was hungry, how the hell was I supposed to admit my heat?

I exhaled slowly, focusing instead on the row of romance novels that had caught my eye. Their bright covers seemed to contrast with the dark, brooding atmosphere of the office.

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