Page 83 of Knot Her Mountain Men

“I know,” I whispered, pressing a kiss to her hair. “I’m so sorry.”

She gave one more sniff before she broke, burying her face against my chest. Her pain was an ache in my chest, muted compared to her own experience, but uncomfortable all the same. The systems of the world had so many flaws that let people fall through the cracks. How could you prove your identity if you lost your documents, and how could you get new ones if you couldn’t prove your identity? The system had trapped my omega in that vicious cycle, but we would figure out how to dig her free.

I purred as best I could, breathing past the spikes of her panic so I could help her settle at least a little.

“Where is my stuff going to go?” She hiccuped. “I don’t have anywhere to put it.”

“We can keep it,” I offered.

“No.” Distress slashed through both of us, leaving me momentarily breathless. “It can’t—it can’t go there. I can’t let you guys do everything. I’ve already invaded your space too much. God, I’m so sick of the world telling me what to do and boxing me into fucking corners.”

I pulled out my phone while she was trying to contain her tears and sent a text to Kit.

Bear:

Check if there are storage units available in town

Kit:

On it

A few minutes later she had relaxed enough to sip at her tea and Kit had responded.

Kit:

One of the places in town has a unit big enough to fit all of Morgan’s things and it’s available immediately

I turned the screen for her to read.

“Oh. That would be okay until I can figure out what’s going on with my new apartment. You have to let me pay you back, though.”

“Anything you need is yours. No payback needed,” I whispered.

She focused on her tea instead of answering, but a little bubble of affection started to push up against the chaos, and that was enough for me.

Her phone rang and she almost spilled her tea in her haste to answer it. “Hello?”

“Morgan Harris?”

“Yes, that’s me.”

I was close enough I could hear every word from both parties.

“I’m so sorry to tell you we’ve already hired someone in your place. When we didn’t hear from you we contacted our second choice and they accepted.”

Anguish filled up my omega to bursting again and I tightened my hold on her.

“But…”

“I know. I really, really do apologize. I’m so relieved to hear you’re alive, though. I saw on the news that you were missing, and I don’t think anyone expected them to find you.”

“Well, I didn’t die,” Morgan said bitterly.

“I’ll be sure to let management know. I’m sure we still have your résumé on file. We can contact you if something new comes up.”

“Sure.” Morgan’s voice sounded so flat it was almost enough to nauseate me.

“Update your number,” I whispered.

---