Page 85 of Knot Baked Out For This
"Adorable."
"I was going to say mortifying."
"That too."
She laughs, the sound filling the kitchen better than any music. "Maybe something sweet and coffee would work?"
"Your sweet things are dangerous."
"Flatterer."
"Realist."
She plates two fruit tarts—glazed strawberries arranged like art, custard that probably has more calories than my entire workout—and pours coffee that smells like heaven had a baby with caffeine.
We sit at her small kitchen table, the one she probably uses for recipe planning, and the intimacy of it makes my chest tight. This feels like something. Like more than just coffee and tarts at dawn. Like possibility.
"About the video," she starts, then stops, face flushing again. "Did you?—"
"See it? Yeah." I take a sip of coffee to hide my expression. "Levi's a good Alpha."
She blinks at the non sequitur. "I... okay?"
"No, I mean it. He's one of the best men I know. Him and Luca both." I set down my mug, needing to do something with my hands. "You asked about our pack, how we work. We're not traditional."
"I gathered that from the lack of Alpha posturing."
"We don't posture. Much. Okay, we definitely posture, but not at each other." I lean back, remembering. "I met them five years ago. I was still in the city, working downtown. There was a ranch accident—one of their horses got loose, ended up on the highway. Multi-car pileup."
"I remember that. Three people died."
"Could have been more. Levi and Luca were first on scene, before us, before medical. They just... acted. Levi kept pressure on an arterial bleed for twenty minutes, singing to keep the kid conscious. Luca organized the walking wounded, turned chaos into order with just his presence."
"They saved people."
"They saved people who weren't theirs to save. No obligation, no training, just... instinct to help." I smile at the memory. "When I got there, covered in gear and authority, they just looked at me and said 'Tell us what you need.' No ego, no Alpha measuring. Just 'how can we help?'"
"That's when you became friends?"
"That's when I knew they were different. The friendship came later, after I moved back. After—" I stop, not wanting to bring Korrin into this morning.
"After I left," she finishes quietly.
"Yeah."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because you should know who they are. Really are, not just the surface stuff. Levi's sunshine, but he's also the guy who'll sit in a basement singing off-key to stop someone's panic attack. Luca's all sharp edges and silence, but he fixes broken things without being asked because he can't stand seeing anything hurt."
She's looking at me strangely, tart forgotten. "Are you... giving me permission to be with all three of you?"
"I'm saying you deserve Alphas who see your worth. All of it."
"The idea of me being your omega doesn't make you cringe?"
Cringe? The idea makes me want to howl at the moon like a fucking wolf, claim her in front of god and everyone, build her a nest made of Egyptian cotton and promise her the world.
"Hazel." I lean forward, need her to understand this. "Whoever has you as an omega should be privileged. Should be proud to walk beside someone so determined, who works this hard, who makes people happy just by existing. You deserve Alphas who'll cherish you on a throne and worship you in every way possible."
