Page 87 of Knot Her Mountain Men

“Up to you, sweetheart,” Maverick said, rubbing a soothing hand over my arm.

“I guess if it’s going to be on the news anyway, I might as well make myself available to answer questions.”

Sheriff Marks nodded. “You’ll probably hear from her shortly. I’m glad you’re all right, Ms. Harris. I don’t relish searching through the forest for bodies, and even less so for omegas. Stay safe.”

The others were waiting when we stepped outside, pulling me into a group hug that cocooned me in warmth and all the scents that smelled like home.

“How are you feeling, little fox?” Kit asked.

“I don’t even know how to put it into words. I’m already so exhausted and it’s only been a few hours.”

“Brother hug,” Cooper demanded, my alphas parting to let him in so he could squeeze me tight.

“They were already investigating Brandon for my murder,” I told them.

“Motherfucker,” Cooper growled. “They’re gonna have to investigatemeforhismurder soon.”

I let out a sound that was half sob, half laugh against Cooper’s chest. “No going to prison.”

“No promises if I see that fucker on the street.”

“Do you want to go through any of the things from your apartment?” Ryder asked. “We kept aside anything that seemed like a bag of fabric and they’re in the truck bed now. The boxes were only labeled by room, but we tried to arrange them in the unit, keeping things that you might need closer to the front.”

“I probably should.” I sighed, letting my head rest back against Bear. “I don’t think I have the energy to lift a box.”

“You won’t have to,” Kit insisted. “We can tell you what’s in one and you tell us if you want it to come back to the lodge.”

The news lady phoned me on our way over, and I answered her questions while we drove, depleting my energy that much more. We went through my things for about an hour while I sat on Bear’s lap in the truck bed, the others yelling out the general contents of a box and me yelling back whether it could come or not. By the time I was too wiped out to continue, we had about half my things, minus the furniture, loaded onto the flatbed, my pack working to get everything secured for the trip back to the lodge.

I drifted in and out against Bear, leaning on his shoulder, one hand laced with his and the other with Ryder’s.

Pumpkin howled away in one of the windows when we arrived home, and Maverick opened the door so she could race out to greet us. She stood tall, paws on my shoulders to give me welcome kisses, and I spent a few minutes scratching her ears and stroking down her back as she tried to kiss everyone around me too.

I sucked back tears, able to better hide them with how fast Pumpkin licked them away.

The alphas began a steady stream of carting all of my belongings into the garage, Bear keeping a hold on me so I didn’t fall apart.

Brandon had tried to kill me, and what was worse…he was still out there.

Our omega hadn’t gotten out of her nest since we arrived home. Bear stayed with her since, as her first bond, he was in the best position to offer her comfort on an instinctual level. Pumpkin made herself at home in the nest too, stretching out happily so Morgan could cuddle against her back.

Cooper eyed us. “So, what’s the plan? I need to know she’s safe before we head home.”

“She’s always safe with us,” I replied.

“You know what I mean.”

“The plan is whatever she wants it to be. We’ll get her comfortably set up, maybe remove as much as we can from the study and turn that into her room. Her nest can stay down here until our next batch of clients.”

Cooper pursed his lips. “I don’t love that other people are going to be in and out of here while she’s trying to get settled.”

“It won’t be for another couple of weeks and the upstairs is fully off-limits to guests. There’s doors we can lock if necessary, and the guests will only be in the lodge itself for their first and last days of the visit. I agree it’s not ideal, but itishow we make money so we’ll have to navigate as best we can.”

“I’m protective of her,” Cooper sighed.

“I get it. We are too. Ry and Kit should be done installing our new satellite soon and we’ll be back to having phone and Internet so Morgan can keep in regular contact with you.”

“She’s going to be okay, Coop,” said Cash.

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