Page 56 of Knot All Is Lost: Part 1

“Thank you for keeping me safe and chasing that man off,” I said, letting my hand dangle in the air waiting for him to take it.

Savo slowly reached out and, with gentle care, grasped my hand. “Did your father do this to you?”

Meeting his gaze I refused to be embarrassed about what I’d survived. I wasn’t that girl anymore, I was free with a pack of my very own to start a new life with. “Yes, he’s beaten me my whole life but it got worse when he found out I was an Omega. That’s when he locked me away until I could be sold.” I gave him a bright smile and clasped my other hand over his as I watched his eyes glitter with anger. “That’s all in the past now, I have a new family with Marius, Nixon, Spencer, and the others back home, so don’t look so upset, Savo.”

Now that I was this close to him I could pick up on his scent, marking him as a Beta. Smooth black coffee with the musky scent of leather twined around me, making me want to take a deep breath of the scent. His hand tightened on mine slightly as if he could sense my enjoyment of his personal signature.

“Snickerdoodles… Those are my favorite cookies,” Savo shared, giving me a half smile.

“Well,” Spencer cut in as he lightly placed his hands on my shoulders.

It still made me flinch but I recovered and leaned back into him so he didn’t think I was upset. Savo noticed, his eyes narrowed, and I could have sworn I heard the faint rumble of a growl.

“Sorry Dove, I should have spoken first so you knew I was behind you before touching you,” Spencer apologized. “Shall we continue on our date?”

Tipping my head back so I could see him, I grinned. “Is there any way I can talk you out of buying me all the things you listed?”

“Not a chance,” he answered, dropping a kiss on my forehead. “Now off we go.”

We made it through three more stores picking up various things here and there that were deemed a necessity by the others. Savo, for as a giant of a man as he was, seemed to blend into the background. He was always within sight but somehow he never attracted attention, it was almost as if your eyes just glanced right over him. When we had too many bags to carry Savo contacted the mall and they had a staff member set them aside for us to pick up later instead of any of them having to leave. It was quite a handy experience, one of the perks of Marius being who he is apparently.

“Let’s see, where to now?” Spencer mused, looking over his list tapping the pen on his chin.

“If I might interject,” Savo said, drawing our attention. “You might want to consider getting Keksík some food.”

“Who?” Marius asked just as my stomach let out an unhappy grumble. The four men looked at me, a little surprised, then Marius chuckled. “It would seem that Bodhi was right. You didn’t tell us you were hungry, Princess.”

My cheeks heated. “I wasn’t but the moment Savo said something about food my stomach decided to weigh in on the vote.”

“How much more do we need here?” Nixon asked Spencer.

“Truthfully, we could be done and go somewhere nicer for a late lunch than the food court. Most of the stuff left I can order and have shipped to the house. I figured if we could find it here then we would, but I started with the important things first so if she got tired we’d settle for what we got,” Spencer informed us.

Marius took a critical look at me, then nodded his head. “I say be done shopping for the day. We’ll do lunch, then head back to the house and we can work on that list of movies you made with the others.”

Hearing him say that made me breathe a sigh of relief. It had been a long time since I’d walked this much and I was getting tired. The thought of having to come back and do more after lunch made me want to cringe but we were all having such a good time I didn’t want it to end. Then an idea popped into my head.

“Savo, you said you had the day off, right?” I asked and he nodded in response. “Would you like to join us for lunch and a movie? I’m learning how to be a better friend to people, and I feel like you’ve been so amazing at looking after me when you didn’t have to on your day off. So it’s only right, I should offer something fun in exchange for making you work,” I reasoned.

Then I realized this was a date and I’d just invited someone else to our time together. “I mean…” I glanced at the others as I started to wring my hands. “If that’s okay with everyone? This was supposed to be our time together on a date. Now here I am making my own plans, adding someone when Spencer worked hard to make today special.”

“Sweetheart,” Nixon cooed, grasping my hands in his. “Look at me for a sec,” he requested, so I did. “Take a deep breath in, then let it out after the count of three.”

Together Nixon and I did the breathing exercise helping me think a little more clearly and not be so worked up. Without being prompted I did it a few more times until I heard my heart rate starting to slow.

“There you go, good girl,” Nixon praised, making me smile and blush. It was odd how much I wanted them to praise me, tell me I was doing good at something. For most of my life I’d never received much of it and now I craved it. Cupping my cheek, Nixon lifted my head once more, letting his thumb stroke my skin. “If you would like for Savo to join us we would be happy to have him. He is a friend of Spence’s as well so I’m sure we will all get along just fine. There will be many more dates between us that I’m not worried about sharing. Now that we have that settled, do you have a taste for something to eat? Anything you want, just say the word.”

“Anything I want?” I asked.

“Just ask,” Nixon assured me.

“Can we go home so Bodhi can make me a grilled cheese?” I requested. “I’d really love to have another one, it tasted so amazing.”

The group of men around me chuckled and Nixon pulled me into a hug. “If that is what you really want, then we will go home and you can have your grilled cheese.”

Now that we had everything planned we collected the bags we’d placed with the staff and headed back home. I had a bag in my lap that I was quite excited about and kept peeking in it and smiling. When we’d passed by the bookstore an idea struck me and I was thrilled to find they had what I was looking for. The fatigue of the afternoon caught up with me, and I snuggled against Marius who’d decided to sit in the back with me. I glanced in the rearview mirror and spotted Savo in his big black truck following us. It made me smile to think I’d made a new friend. After the whole situation with that man, I wasn’t sure I would like many people outside my pack. Seems I might have jumped the gun on that assumption.

“Close your eyes, Princess. I can see how hard you’re fighting to stay awake. I promise nothing will happen between now and home that you’ll miss,” Marius murmured, lifting a hand to stroke my hair as he pressed a kiss to my head. “I’ll protect you while you sleep so nothing bad will ever have the chance of happening to you.”

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