Page 93 of Knot Baked Out For This
"Mine," I whisper. "Please."
The drive is quiet except for Levi's hand reaching forward to squeeze my shoulder, Rowan's occasional glances in the mirror, and Luca's steady breathing against my hair.
Three Alphas. My alphas, maybe. Protecting me from the past, offering me a future.
"Thank you," I manage as we pull up to my apartment above the bakery. "All of you."
"Always," they say in unison, and for the first time in three years, I actually believe it.
The night settles around us, October darkness soft and complete, but I'm not afraid.
Not anymore.
Couldthis be what it’s like to be saved? Not a dramatic rescue, but a quiet presence. Not grand gestures, but showing up when the monsters from your past try to drag you back.
"Stay?" I ask, not sure which one I'm asking, maybe all of them.
"Always," they answer again, and we go inside together, leaving the ghosts of the market behind.
Tomorrow, there will be gossip, questions, and probably a Dottie James newsletter special edition. But tonight, I'm safe. I'm protected. I'm theirs, courting with intention…and maybe a time will come when I no longer need to fear the past.
That’s a challenge to tackle…tomorrow.
CHAPTER 16
Emergency Pack Meeting
~LEVI~
The gravel crunches under my boots as I climb out of my truck at Rowan's ranch, the familiar sound doing nothing to settle the storm brewing in my chest.
The late afternoon sun paints everything golden—the weathered barn, the sprawling fields, even the dust motes dancing in the air—but all I can think about is Hazel's face at the market. The way she went pale when those Alphas cornered her. The tremor in her voice when she tried to brush it off afterward.
Fuck. I slam the truck door harder than necessary.
"Easy on the Chevy," Luca calls from where he leans against the porch railing, looking every inch the composed doctor even in worn jeans and a henley that's seen better days. But I know him well enough to spot the tension in his shoulders, the way his fingers drum against the wood in that pattern he's had since med school—index, middle, ring, pinky, repeat. The bastard is as wound up as I feel.
"Where's Rowan?" I ask, taking the porch steps two at a time. The old wood creaks in protest, same as it did when we were kids sneaking beer from Rowan's dad's stash.
"Inside. Making coffee strong enough to strip paint." Luca pushes off the railing, and I catch his scent—pine and antiseptic,but underneath, the bitter edge of worry. "He's been banging around in there for twenty minutes."
"Of course he has." I follow Luca through the screen door that squeals on its hinges—Rowan's been meaning to oil that damn thing for five years now.
The familiar scent of the ranch house wraps around me: old leather, wood smoke, and that underlying sweetness of hay that never quite leaves, no matter how much Rowan cleans. It should be comforting. It isn't.
The kitchen looks like a coffee bomb went off. Grounds scattered across the butcher block counter, three different mugs abandoned at various stages of preparation, and Rowan standing in the middle of it all, glaring at the ancient percolator like it personally offended him.
"Jesus, Row, did you declare war on the Folgers?" I grab a dish towel and start wiping up the mess, needing something to do with my hands before I punch a wall.
"Fuck off, it's been a day." Rowan's voice comes out rougher than usual, his mountain-mint scent sharp with agitation.
He wears his work clothes still—flannel with the sleeves rolled up, exposing forearms marked with tiny scars from years of ranch work, jeans that have more patches than original fabric.
His dark hair sticks up at odd angles like he's been running his hands through it. Knowing Rowan, he probably has been.
"Been a day?" Luca snorts, commandeering the coffee preparation with the efficiency of someone used to operating on three hours of sleep. "Try been a decade."
The words hang heavy in the sudden silence. I watch Rowan's jaw clench, the muscle jumping beneath stubbled skin. We all know what Luca means. We've all watched, in our own ways, as Hazel got tangled up with that piece of shit ex-husband. Watched and done nothing.
