Page 12 of Seen Knot Heard

The logs crackle in the fireplace, pockets of sap bursting to fill the silence that settles over the room.

Blake shifts, his muscular frame uncoiling as he leans forward. “Grady would want us to help Chloe. Were he conscious, he’d give us the green light.”

“We don’t even know if sheneedshelp.” When the two men glare, pressing their shoulders together to close rank on me, Ifeel our pack bond pull taut and sigh in defeat. “What did you find?”

“I haven’t started looking yet.” Holden opens the laptop, his skilled fingers flying over the keys.

I walk over to stand behind them, and Blake’s hand finds the back of my thigh, his body shifting to include me.

The touch helps anchor our bonds and settle the anger still lingering from the talk with my father. I lean against his side, needing comfort, even if I can’t bring myself to ask for it.

Despite our recent conflict over Chloe, Blake and I grew up together. Our shared past built a bond between us that predated our second genders. As Alphas, we realized we could be each other’s pack and escape our domineering families.

Then we accepted a loan from my father that brought all that pressure back down on our heads.

I grip Blake’s shoulder, squeezing the tight muscles in silent thanks.

“Here!” Holden straightens with excitement. “The same day Grady arrived here, he filed for a restraining order… against Vivian Sinclair.”

Stunned disbelief courses through me. “Hermother?”

Holden nods. “It makes sense. We talked about how Chloe wanted to cut her off, but doing so would leave her at the mercy of her debtors.”

Blake stares at him. “What?”

Holden huffs, annoyance flushing his cheeks. “Dom’s right. You didn’t talk to her at all before falling into bed with her.”

I lean down to wrap my arm around his shoulders, nuzzling his face, his vanilla cake scent holding a burnt edge to it. “We’ve already had this fight, remember? If Chloe wants to chastise Blake for that, she can once we find her. She’s the only one who gets to be upset, ornot, about what happened between her and Blake.”

Based on the way Blake spoke to her the last time they were together, though, I’d guess theirs will be a rocky reunion.

Holden remains stiff for a moment before he leans into my touch. “You’re right.”

“What did Chloe tell you?” Blake demands.

“When she and Vivian were kicked out of the Sinclair pack, her mother refused to change her spending habits or get a job. With social events and the private school she kept Chloe in, she racked up a significant debt. They were in bad shape when she landed her current benefactor.”

My hand tightens on Blake’s shoulder as he spits, “Louie Santaro.”

“So it would seem.” Holden runs a hand through his golden-brown curls. “Her first book advance went toward the loan, and she’s been paying ever since. Right before the accident… Well, it sounded like she had decided to stop. She planned to sign on for another three books in her series and wipe the debt clean.”

I’ve only met Vivian Sinclair once, but she left an impression. She had been cold and calculating, a trait I’m used to from my father. The thought of the adorable Omega who made two of my bondmates so happy being abused by that woman makes my blood boil. My Alpha instincts roar to life with the primal need to protect what’s mine.

No, not mine. I rein in those thoughts.Not my Omega.

“It doesn’t appear Grady responded to the publisher before his…accident.” Holden twists to look up at me, then Blake. “That’s weird, isn’t it? Why would he jump on filing for the restraining order, but then drag his feet on responding to the publisher, unless…”

His fingers fly over the keyboard, and search windows pop open and close too fast for me to follow.

“No, he wasn’t drafting a counteroffer that I can find.” Holden pops back over to the emails, scrolling and clickingon one. “But he had the forwarded email from Chloe to the publisher. These things are time-sensitive.”

As I skim the offer from her publisher, my brows shoot up, and I let out a whistle. “That’s nothing to sneeze at.”

“Chloe said it would be enough to pay off what her mother owed.” Holden nibbles on his bottom lip. “Sheneedsthis contract to free herself from the Santaro Pack. Grady wouldn’t sit on it.”

“Unless he didn’t know how much she needed it.” In her situation, being sold to pay off a debt… I would have kept that information to myself. “They may be friends, but there’s shame in being blackmailed by family. She could have hidden just how bad things were from him.”

Holden’s expression turns grim. “She seemed reluctant to even talk about her money troubles.”

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