Page 53 of Shaken Knot Stirred

“Good enough.” Pay nodded me toward the third boat.

I jumped in as Win undid my rope and his. I coiled the rope neatly in the stern and did my best to get my long legs situated. Skiffs were only about 16 feet long, barely enough room for two people. I curled my fingers into the neck of the life jacket to get it to sit more comfortably. There wasn’t enough space in the cockpit to sit with your back against the stern and maneuver the rudder. The boom clearance was low and it was easier to duck from inside the boat.

“To Buoy One and back,” Pay said, raising his voice over the wind. He switched from one side to the other, using his body weight to aid the breeze as he pushed off from the dock.

Thank fuck it would be a quick race. There were a series of nine buoys that marked the channel. If he’d picked Buoy Nine, we’d be here till dusk.

I leaned aft to launch from the dock and get myself pointed toward the entrance of the Marina. The wood moaned as I grazed Beg’s boat.

“Have a juice box, little brother,” Beg said, chuckling as he tossed the juice in my lap.

I rolled my eyes and ignored him, pushing off the stern of his boat to create some distance. With the wind coming from starboard, we’d need space to maneuver.

I plucked the juice box out of my lap and tossed it into the bow of the boat.

“Paramour tonight,” Win shouted at me. “Aria has some introductions for you. I’ll buy you dinner.”

I gritted my teeth and eased the rope in to trim the sail. The second to last thing I wanted to do on this earth was hunt for packmates I didn’t want with a gaggle of supercharged omegas. The last thing was being in this damn boat.

Chapter 29

Nico

“Why are we evenhere?” Moxie said, irritation obvious in her voice.

Lana shrugged and leaned her forearms on the pier rail.

“It’s an annual race between Beg and his brothers. The unofficial start of the season.”

“Yes, Nico, I understand what the races are, but why exactly arewehere?” she made a circle to include the three of us.

“Beg wanted a cheering section?” Lana said dryly.

“As if,” Moxie said, like she was a teenager in some 90s movie.

I snorted. Lana cracked a grin and then we were all laughing so hard it made our sides hurt.

“So, how did it happen?” Moxie asked softly. Her question almost got lost in the lapping waves and the rest of the spectators. I hung my head. Putting it all into words was too much.

Moxie leaned into me just slightly. Lana was silent. We had never talked about it, just the two of us. We always seemed to crash into the next trauma, too fucked in the head about what was coming next to take a break and process.

“I had crossed a line with Beg.” I kept my eyes on the boats and completely ignored the announcer. The boats were just specks, moving away from us, getting absorbed by the horizon.

“It was my fault,” Lana said softly.

“What?” I leaned forward so I could see around Moxie.

“He told me that the only way to be safe was to join his pack.”

Lana’s hair was streaming out around her in the wind, catching all the sunlight. She should be in a sundress on a beach somewhere, not in a dank club, using her body to get what her alpha wanted.

“I had tried to run away from Grayhouse. Beg caught me and stuck me in a room for days by myself, it felt like.” She watched the boats too, but I wasn’t sure she was seeing anything. “He finally told me this man named Nico wanted me. Grayhouse gave me to him. And it would be worse this time.”

I squeezed my eyes shut. She had been so young. Barely 18 and had been with Grayhouse for fuck knew how long.

“He came into that little room and told me this ‘Nico’ was here. I could hear someone pounding on the walls so hard the room shook. Beg said he was in rut and that it was now or never. Accept his bite or face an alpha in rut.” She shrugged again, like it didn’t matter, like it wasn’t a big deal.

“That’s not what happened.” No wonder she hated me. “He told me he found Moxie. He would let her go if I joined his pack. If I said no, he’d put her in the fights that night to punish me.” I looked out at the water like it held a future I could never have. “He bit me. Then he showed me a girl sitting in one of his interrogation rooms, making me think it was Moxie. Made me watch. I was pounding on the walls to get him to stop.”

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