Page 66 of Knot Her Cowboys
“Anything. Everything.”
“Okay, well, I grew up on the Rez just north of here. I have four brothers and two sisters, most of whom still live there.”
“What do they do there?”
“Two of my brothers went into carpentry, like our dads. One went into teaching, and the youngest is in law school right now. My oldest sister is a doctor. She runs the Rez clinic, took over it last year. And my youngest sister, I guess you could call her the community caretaker. She makes sure all the elders have what they need to survive, runs errands, takes them to appointments, that kind of thing.”
“That’s so cool. How did you end up off Rez when everyone else stuck around?”
“Levi and I met at Montana State doing our bachelor’s degrees, and then we both went to Washington State, where hedid his veterinary program and I did my master’s in psychology. By the time I finished, I was already comfortable not being home anymore. We met Cooper and Cash after taking jobs on the ranch, formed a pack, and the rest is history.”
“You guys have been pack for a while?”
“Almost five years.”
I couldn’t quite decide if I was glad they’d been able to forge all those connections without me being around, or sad that I had missed the years of their pack building. Sometimes it was easier for alphas to come together when no omega was on the scene, and sometimes it was the omega who brought everyone together.
“I always figured Cooper and Cash would be pack.”
“They arequitethe pair,” Dakota agreed with a laugh.
“Levi told me you guys were never planning to have an omega because Cooper was hung up on me.”
Dakota nodded.
“You were okay with that?”
He shrugged. “I’m content with myself, and I have my pack for companionship.”
I admired the confidence of not needing an omega, but at the same time it felt weird to not be needed. Doubly so when I wasn’t sure how my brain would react to it if they did.
“But do youwantan omega?”
The look he gave me had my pussy clenching.
“If you’re asking if I wantyou, the answer is yes. I would have you in a heartbeat if you gave me the word.”
My tongue felt like lead in my mouth. God, I wanted to give him the word, but was that even fair? I chewed my lip. If I was going to entertain staying, I needed to be sure I was compatible with all the members of the pack. Cooper would come around in time—hopefully—but I owed it to Cash to examine this from all angles, didn’t I? Was his “have fun” comment about this?
If I had a pen I’d be a smartass, write “the word” on my hand, and hold it out to Dakota. I had to find other ways to be a smartass instead.
“Pull over.”
He blinked at me. “What for?”
“I’d like to end your omegaless existence.”
His whole body tightened at my words, his breathing coming short as he surveyed the road for a safe spot to turn off.
The truck slid to a stop on the gravel and Dakota shifted into park before spinning in his seat to face me properly. “Sorry, that’s not a conversation I can have while we’re in motion. Say that again.”
“You said to give you the word. I’m giving it.”
“And you want to…right now?”
I glanced around us, seeing only the empty fields. “No one here but us.”
“You want your first time with me to be in a truck?”
