Page 85 of Knot All That Glitters: Part 2

The door slams shut and Haven jumps a little in Hale’s arms, pupils blown wide as her instincts take over. “And here I thought the best thing to happen today was being able to feel Creed again,” Hale mumbles, running his nose along the length of her neck.

“It’s not?” She asks, threading her fingers into the back of his hair, holding him against her.

“Fuck no,” Jude says, looking at me with a rueful little grin. “I love you, man, but this is so much fucking better.”

“What is?” Our girl asks in a whisper.

“Scent match,” Hale groans, burying his nose in the curve of her neck. “Fuck, Haven. You’re our scent match.”

“No, I’m not,” she says, even as her head tilts to give him more access, and her legs tighten around his hips. “You already had a scent match. And everyone knows you don’t just get another fated mate. It doesn’t work that way.”

There’s no hiding the pain in her voice. She wants this. She wants us, but she doesn’t believe it can happen. Doesn’t believe she’s ours.

“We’re a new pack,” I say quietly.

“What?” Haven turns her head toward me, eyes wide.

“When you were in the hospital, Creed broke our pack bonds,” Atticus explains, eyes focused on our girl, a feral gleamin them. “Tore them up, nearly killed us to lose him and have you in a coma suffering through your heat because of us.”

Haven leans away from Hale, but his hand on her spine keeps her from going too far. “But you’re a pack now. You never… You never left each other.”

“Creed fucking left us,” Jude says, sounding gutted, and I feel his hurt in my chest. “We spent weeks apart. Weeks where we tried to get to you, tried to make sure you were safe.”

“It wasn’t until Jude finally broke through your father’s security and we saw you just sitting staring blankly at a wall that we convinced Creed to come back, to work with us.”

“The new pack bond just clicked into place,” I tell her. “Literal minutes ago.”

“And as soon as it did,” Jude says, stalking closer to where Hale still has Haven wrapped around him. “Our new scent match clicked into place, too.”

Our girl blinks at him, her pretty gray eyes wide. “Me?” It’s a breathless whisper, full of hope that damn near breaks my heart. How did we ever even consider using this girl? How did we ever think we could keep our hearts out of every interaction with her? How did we let her spend a single moment doubting how much we want her, need her, love her?

“You, mouse,” Hale answers for us.

Tears pool along her bottom lids and her chin quivers. “Me,” she repeats, stronger this time. “I’m your scent match.”

Jude, Tic and I move closer to them, until she’s in the center of us. Always the center, always our focus. From now until forever, Haven will be our heart.

“Yeah, baby girl,” I say softly, cupping her cheek and loving when she leans into the touch. No longer trying to keep her distance from us, no longer putting up walls.

“Not letting you go now, button.”

Hale snorts against the swell of her breast, where he’s been rubbing his mouth back and forth. “Weren’t going to let you go before this, either.”

Her brow wrinkles and her arms drop from around Hale’s shoulders, her legs from around his waist, and the only reason she’s still suspended is because of his grip on her. “Little mouse, what are you doing?”

“Put me down, Hale,” she demands, and even though I know it kills him, he does. We decided a long time ago to give her whatever she needed within reason. We won’t let her stroll out of this house and put herself in danger, but if she needs time and space to process this recent change, we can give that to her. Not much time and space, but some.

Haven backs up, putting a little distance between us, hands folded together and held against her chest. “What does this mean?”

I tilt my head, not understanding the question. “It means you’re ours.”

Our girl gets this faraway look in her eyes. “But… I don’t-” She cuts off, sinking her teeth into her bottom lip as she shakes her head.

“You don’t what, angel?”

She sighs. “I don’t want to be with you just because you’re my scent match now. I’m not sure I can do that. Not after what you did.”

It shouldn’t surprise me. It really fucking shouldn’t, but those three sentences fucking rock me, send me staggering back as my lungs seize in my chest. I’m not the only one who feels that way either. All of my pack mates stumble the same way I did.

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