Page 92 of Knot Baked Out For This
Our protection. Our territory.
Are they... are they claiming me? All three of them?
The standoff lasts another heartbeat before Alexis tugs on Korrin's arm, hissing something about embarrassment and scenes. His pack retreats, but not before Korrin throws one last look over his shoulder—poisonous, promising this isn't over.
The moment they're gone, my knees buckle.
Luca catches me, steady and sure. "I'm taking you to the car."
"My booth?—"
"We've got it," Levi says, already starting to pack things with efficient movements. "Go."
Luca guides me through the market, his hand on my lower back, his presence a shield against the stares and whispers that follow our wake. The sun is setting properly now, October light painting everything in shades of ending.
His truck is parked at the edge of the square, and he helps me into the passenger seat like I'm made of spun glass. Then, instead of closing the door, he crowds in, blocking out the world.
"Hazel—"
The sob breaks free before I can stop it, ugly and raw. He doesn't say anything, just pulls me against his chest, and I break apart in the circle of his arms.
He smells like safety and gingerbread and something essentiallyLuca, and he doesn't judge the tears soaking his shirt or the way I'm shaking or the pathetic sounds I'm making. He just holds me, one hand in my hair, the other rubbing slow circles on my back.
"I'm sorry," I gasp between sobs. "I'm so sorry, I don't know why I'm?—"
"Shh." His voice rumbles through his chest. "Don't apologize. Never apologize for feeling things."
"He made me feel so small," I whisper into his shirt. "Still makes me feel small. Like I'm nothing. Like I was always nothing."
His arms tighten. "You're not nothing. You're everything."
"You don't have to?—"
"Hazel." He pulls back enough to look at me, thumbs brushing tears from my cheeks. "You're everything. To us. To this town. To everyone whose day gets better because of what you create. He's nothing. He's the small one."
"You kissed me," I say, because my brain is apparently broken.
His mouth quirks. "I did."
"In front of everyone."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because he needed to know you're ours now. Protected. Claimed, if you'll have us." He pauses. "And because I've wanted to kiss you since you fell against my back, covered in flour, and made terrible jokes about coffee."
"That was last week."
"Longest week of my life."
A laugh bubbles out through the tears, watery but real. "You're ridiculous."
"We all are. Haven't you noticed?"
Rowan and Levi appear at the truck, my booth apparently packed in record time. They pile in—Rowan driving, Levi in the back with my boxes, me still pressed against Luca like he's the only thing keeping me tethered to earth.
"Your place or ours?" Rowan asks quietly.
