Page 149 of Knotted By my Pack
By the time we get back to the bakery, it’s pitch-black outside. Cora flicks on the lights like she’s done a thousand times, sets out mugs, plates, little things that anchor us.
Noah drops into a chair with the posture of a man who’s been through war and has to pretend it didn’t gut him. Julian leans against the counter, gaze distant.
I wash my hands twice before I sit, watching soot spiral down the drain.
Later, when she wedges herself between us at the table, Cora’s eyes sweep across all of us.
“I had a thought,” she says lightly, biting into a piece of toast like she isn’t about to upend the whole room. “We could get a house. All of us. Together.”
Julian chokes on his coffee. Noah lifts a brow. I stare at her.
She shrugs. “Instead of finding separate places, or Elias rebuilding alone. I know the cabin meant a lot, but this doesn’t have to be a replacement. It could be something new. Something built with all of us in it.”
My mouth opens, then shuts again. The cabin wasn’t just walls and wood. It was mine. Years of sweat to build it, and myfiltration systems. All gone in one night, together with all my stuff and my notes…
But she’s not wrong. I glance at her. At the warmth she brings just by being in the room. The way Noah watches her. The quiet way Julian eases when she leans on his arm.
“I’ll do it,” I say eventually. “We’ll build it again. Just... with all of us this time.”
She smiles, and it does something sharp to my gut.
“But,” I add, setting my mug down, “there’s something I’ve been thinking about.”
Both of them straighten. She leans in.
“I’ve been turning this over for weeks. But now that the bakery’s a target, and Noah’s about to take office, we’re not just dealing with small-town politics anymore. The three of us, claiming you like we have, it’s one thing. But I think we need to make this real.”
Julian blinks. “What do you mean,real?”
I glance at Cora, then at Noah. “I mean, we form a pack. Officially. Not just some casual claiming arrangement. Not something flexible or temporary. A true pack. Anchored around her.”
Her breath catches. Noah sits up straighter. Julian lowers his mug.
“You’re serious,” she says.
“As serious as I’ve ever been. This isn’t just about sex anymore. Or territory. Or politics. It’s about keeping you safe. Keeping all of us connected. Bound. We’re already bonded, the three of us, but it’s incomplete. It needs to be finished. Recognized.”
Julian drags a hand through his hair. “And you’re okay with that? Sharing a bond like that?”
I snort. “We’re already in each other’s heads more than I’d like. It wouldn’t change much. Except maybe make it easier to know when someone’s hurt. Or in trouble.”
Noah rubs the back of his neck, expression tight. “You think Julian’s father will retaliate again?”
“I think he already has. And I think he won’t stop until one of us is dead or he’s behind bars.”
Cora stiffens beside me. I glance down, rest my hand on her thigh under the table. She doesn’t flinch. She leans into it.
“Then yeah,” Noah says slowly. “I’m in.”
Julian looks at her. Then at us. “Same.”
Her lashes lower. “What would that mean for me?”
“Depends on how we do it,” I say. “Could be something ritualistic. Could be something primal. Could be a night you never forget.”
Julian chuckles under his breath. “You just want an excuse to make it filthy.”
“I mean, Iamgrieving. Comfort sex has a long tradition.”
