Page 120 of Knot Only His

Jagger settles beside Carver, the boy’s small fingers fumbling over the guitar strings.

“Can you teach me that song?” Jagger beams up at him, all wide-eyed wonder.

Carver’s blue eyes soften. “Sure thing, buddy.” He guides Jagger’s hand, strumming a simple tune.

“Can I call you daddy now?” Jagger asks when he finishes, glancing back and forth between us before he eyes lands on Parker. “My daddies and mommy?” His little voice is still unsure.

I wait for Parker to decide.

Parker chuckles, but there’s something deeper behind it. “I’d love that.”

Jagger blinks, surprise etched across his little face. “Really? I thought you’d be angry.”

Parker’s smile falters for just a second before he kneels down, arms open wide. “Never. You’re my family. We’re all family.”

Jagger jumps into Parker’s embrace, and the sight of my best friend holding him tight breaks something inside me. I realize how much this little boy needs to know this is his family—our family—our pack.

Harlow slips beside me, her head resting on my shoulder. The warmth of her presence steadies me as she watches Parker and Jagger with shining eyes.

“He loves you all so much,” she whispers.

Jagger must have super hearing because he chirps back. “Yeah!” A big grin widens across his face.

“We love you,” I tell her.

She turns, staring around my face. In my eyes. My nose… My lips.

My heart stutters as I take in her beauty. Her hair cascades around her shoulders like dark waves. Her turquoise eyes on mine and I can’t help but hold her close, promising myself to never let her go.

“I love you, Oliver,” she murmurs, looking up and into my eyes before turning back to Parker and Carver. “I love you all with every…” She stares at Carver, uncertainty in her gaze.

Carver places his guitar on the floor and strides over to Harlow with an intensity I’ve never seen from him before.

It’s at that moment that I see something for the very first time—the ice-man cracked—tears stream down his face as he cups her cheeks in his large hands.

“I love you more than life itself. I love you have so much love to give. Give it,” he says fiercely before pressing a kiss against her lips. “Thank you for making me complete. For making us complete. Not just me and you.” He turns to look at his pack. “All of us.”

Carver’s raw emotion sends such a rush through me I can’t comprehend it. Only now do I see they need each other in ways I can’t fully understand yet. Maybe what I’m seeing is how much he needs, not only his omega but also this pack.

But Harlow tenses beside me as a sharp gasp slips from her lips. I look at her. Her face grimaces as pain flashes across her face. She clutches her stomach. “Uh-oh,” she breathes out as slick gushes down her thighs.

The engine hums beneath us, the roads whipping by as Asher drives like a man on a mission gripping the wheel, which is funny considering how he complained about Carver’s driving.

“Mom, we’re on our way,” Parker says from the front passenger seat. “Harlow’s going into her heat.”

I catch Harlow’s eye as she sits beside me on the backseat. Her face pales, a mix of anticipation and anxiety.

“Is she okay?” his mom’s voice crackles through the speaker as worry threads her words.

“She’s with us, but we need to get to you fast. Jagger’s fine, but Harlow…she needs space. She needs to get home.”

“She needs her nest,” his mom adds.

Jagger leans forward from his booster seat. “Are we going to Grandma and Grandpa’s? I can’t wait to see them!”

“Yes, buddy,” Parker assures him, but there’s an edge in his voice that only I notice.

As we pull into the driveway, Parker’s parents rush out of the house like a whirlwind.

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