Page 58 of The Twelve Knots of Christmas
Of course he liked it. All the Alphas liked it when my inner thoughts slipped and I called them mine. But they weren’t. Not really. This was only a temporary situation. It’s what we all agreed to.
Yet I’ve played with the idea of what if it wasn’t temporary over the last few days. Sure, my heat was making me more emotional than I usually was, but life with the pack was near perfect. I couldn’t even imagine not sharing a bed with at least one of them now. Every day, it hurt more and more to think of this coming to an end. But if I was going to California, it wasn’t as if the pack could come with me. Their lives were on the farm, and that wasn’t mobile.
While I went back and forth about staying to take care of Miss Eloise, my reason for wanting to stay was becoming something else entirely. I tried telling myself that my heat was making me dream stereotypical Omega dreams, but even my reasonable self was starting to doubt it was my hormones alone.
The big question became if I did stay, would I be happy in the long run? I would lose the perfect job and then what would I do? I could help out on the farm, but that didn’t sound challenging or rewarding. I needed my work to be meaningful and to make a difference in the world.
I had to think of what I wanted to be doing five, ten, and twenty years from now.
“Are you falling asleep?” Jasper murmured near my ear. I wiggled against him to let him know I was still awake. His knot had gone down enough that he slipped out of me, and he groaned softly.
I rolled to face him and gave him a lingering kiss. Fuck, I would miss moments like this. “Let’s get showered and dressed. I want to try to make it to town.”
Jasper helped me up, and we washed each other in the shower. Slow and tender, familiar and comforting. There was no way I’d ever find someone like him, never mind an entire pack, ever again.
We dried and dressed, and he brushed out my hair. I found these little things helped my heat pangs at times too. Grooming, soothing, or feeding me. Funny how much of an effect the little things could have.
“I texted Bal to have the truck warmed up and ready. We’re all going into town. We need to do a bunch of errands. Hopefully a Piggly Wiggly or something is open.” Jasper followed me into the hall to the stairs.
“Something will be open. If the roads are finally cleared, everyone is going to be out getting groceries and doing last minute shopping.” Which I needed to do too. I was way behind on my to-do list. If I was going to be able to finish packing in time, I needed to be back at Primrose House today. My whole body tightened at the thought of leaving the farmhouse and threatened to stop my legs from working so I didn’t go another step.
I forced myself down the rest of the stairs, battling with my mess of emotions, barely seeing the next step in front of me.
“Surprise!”
The sudden shout had me miss a stair, and I would have fallen if Jasper wasn’t so quick. He caught me around the waistand held me as I steadied myself. Then I almost fell again when I saw who was standing in the foyer.
My parents and my sister.
What the hell?
My heart pounded. I couldn’t breathe.
What were they doing here? How did they even know I was at the farm? Why were they here?
“Hello, Mariska.” My mom smiled a small and flat smile.
My dad’s grin was wider, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Hi, honey. Early Christmas surprise!”
My sister Charlotte was texting on her phone and didn’t even look up. “Hey.”
I stood frozen for another ten or fifteen seconds. My stomach roiled and I felt like I was in the middle of a bad dream. Behind my family, Lucian watched me closely, his expression neutral, and his hand on Artemis’ collar who hesitantly wagged her tail. Balthazar grinned like a madman.
“Hi. This is a big surprise.” I moved down the remaining two steps and clenched my hands at my side. I was wearing one of Lucian’s thermal shirts and Balthazar’s red flannel. They hung mid-thigh and made me look as short as a kid. The feeling of being a forgotten kid had suddenly pounced on me. “What are you doing here?”
None of them moved to give me a hug or even shake my hand. The tension in the air was alive and vicious. It lashed at me with painful memories. I wasn’t that kid anymore, but I could still be angry for what that girl had to endure.
“We were invited to your new home.” Dad explained and smiled at Balthazar. “Balthazar invited us to spend Christmas here.”
Oh fuck no. I grounded my teeth.
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell us you had found mates, and there’s three of them.” Mom said it all like she was a littleafraid and couldn’t believe it. “We thought you were moving to California.”
Jasper came forward, smooth and casual, but I didn’t miss how rigid his shoulders were. “Hi. It’s nice to meet Mariska’s family. I’m Jasper Norwood.”
“Good to meet you.” My father shook his hand. He was wearing a deep blue sweater which made me notice how pale he was and how gray he’d gotten over the past year. My father had always seemed stern, but now he just looked old. “Theo. My wife, Evelyn, and our youngest daughter, Charlotte.”
Charlotte glanced up from her phone and gave Jasper a very obvious once-over. She smiled, batting her fake lashes. She was eighteen, but looked like a tween girl done up with too much makeup. “Hi. Love your Brunello sweater.”
