Page 75 of Seen Knot Heard

I wipe the trace of a tear from her cheek. “Do you want to go back inside?”

She swipes the sleeve of my jacket over her face. “I think I’d like to keep walking for a bit, if that’s okay? The fresh air feels nice.”

“Of course.” I gesture for her to lead the way. “We can walk for as long as you’d like.”

As we continue along the garden path, I study Chloe out of the corner of my eye. She seems lighter somehow, as if a weight has been lifted from her shoulders. While she still has a long way to go in her healing journey, a fierce sense of pride rises at her strength and resilience.

Because Chloe is a survivor, an Omega who refuses to be broken by the cruelty of the world. With bone-deep certainty, I know that I’ll do whatever it takes to help her find her way back to herself again.

“You’re good at comforting.” Her face lifts toward mine with curiosity. “Are you close to your family?”

A surprised laugh escapes me. “It’s complicated.” Our shoes tap on the stone path as we walk deeper into the sprawling gardens. “How much has Blake told you about our pack?”

She shakes her head. “Not much. I’ve wanted to ask, but it’s not my place to pry.”

“You should know, if we’re to court.” I shove my hands into my pockets. “It could affect whether you want to stay here.”

She lifts her chin. “I want to stay.”

“Just listen first,” I chide. “You know Dominic’s familial pack. Do you know anything about the Burton pack?”

Her eyes widen. “TheBurton pack?”

“Yep.” My gaze sweeps out over the garden. “My father is the lead of the developmental division, so I grew up with certain expectations for my future pressuring me. My dad believed in tough love and learning from the ground up, but he undermined me at every turn, passing me over for promotions in favor of less experienced employees.”

I kick a stone off the path, and it bounces into the soft dirt of the flowerbed. “I tried to tell myself he was just harder on me because I was still in school, or that he had higher expectations of me because I was his son. But then he started stealing the projects I brought in and pocketing all the income, and I realized he was holding me down because he was never going to retire and hand over the company. When I confronted him, he told me I would never be promoted into management, despite landing million-dollar contracts before I finished my sophomore year of college.”

She touches my tense arm. “I’m so sorry. That must have been hard to hear.”

I cover her hand with mine, then link our fingers together. “It was actually a relief. I didn’t like the environment my father fostered in the company, but I was holding on, thinking I’d change things once I took over. Knowing that would never happen gave me the freedom to leave the Burton pack.”

She squeezes my hand. “That was brave of you.”

“Well, not very brave. If Blake hadn’t agreed to go with me, I’d still be there.” I stroke my thumb over her knuckles. “Blake and I grew up together. His father is the head of the construction company my father employed. When he broke away from his family pack, his dad cut him off financially. My father wasn’t so harsh. He thought we’d fail right away and come crawling back.”

I stop in front of the Persian buttercup and touch one heavy bloom. “He was less amused when my mother passed, and I inherited Misty Pines instead of him. He tried to fight the will, but the property belonged to my maternal grandfather, and the land stayed with the bloodline. When that didn’t work, he tried to buy it from me. I refused. By then, Dominic had done some market research, and we were planning the resort to stabilize our pack and create a home.”

“I’m glad you refused.” Chloe bends to inhale the citrusy rose scent. “The island is so beautiful, and it’s a wonderful heritage for your pack.”

“Thank you.” I grimace. “But the banks wouldn’t finance the project without the backing of my familial pack. Our plan seemed dead in the water, and we were at risk of losing our investors when my father made an offer we couldn’t refuse.”

“Oh, no.” Dismay creases Chloe’s brow. “That’s never good in storybooks.”

“Not in real life, either.” I draw her around to face me. “This is where it affects you. The loan came with a lot of stipulations,but the biggest one is that if we don’t launch this summer, Blake and I have to return to our familial packs.”

Her lips form an O of shock.

“We’re on target for completion, even with the storm damage,” I rush to reassure her. “The launch is only the Homestead and the cabins by the docks. There’s no reason we won’t launch on time.”

“It’s still a risk, though.” She searches my face. “Does this mean you want to hold off on courting me? Is that why Blake hasn’t gone to register?”

I cup her arms. “Idowant to court you.”

The admission rips open the flood of want inside me, and I drop my hands before I do something we’ll both regret.

“But you’re worried when the future isn’t guaranteed.” She purses her lips as she takes in the garden and the back of the Homestead. “It doesn’t appear to me like Nathaniel Burton is a man afraid of risks.”

No, not usually. But this will be the first time I’ve risked my heart.

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