Page 156 of Knot That Serious

Beckett had to sit down. But the home wasn’t staged, so there were no chairs, and he settled for sinking to the floor. He crossed his legs and leaned his elbows on his knees, steepling his fingers against his chin. “Tell. Me. Everything.”

“We were baking. And it got a little messy. And then a lot messy,” Jack told him, chuckling.

Beckett stared at him.

“Anyway,” Jack said, his laugh turning nervous. “We, uh… we talked. And… maybe I bit her?”

Beckett shot up from the floor, arms flailing. “You what?! You bonded her?!”

And he’d waited all fucking day to tell Beckett? “Why wasn’t that the first thing you told me?”

Jack winced at the volume of his voice and Beckett cleared his throat. He was a mature individual; no need to raise his voice like that.

“I knew you were stressed about the apartment thing, and I didn’t want it to seem like I was trying to make today about me when it’s about you, and—“

“Jack.” Beckett stepped forward, hands clasped in front of his lips for strength. He lowered them and placed one on each of Jack’s shoulders. “I promise you, getting bonded is more important than whatever bullshit apartment stuff I have going on.”

His cheeks flushed. “Okay, noted.”

“So…” Beckett drawled, stepping away and unsure of what to do with his hands. “A bond?” A sound grew and died in his throat and he backed away, averting his gaze. “Is that, uh, something—I mean, I didn’t know you were interested in that.”

Beckett was staring into the distance, and Jack slid into his view, mirroring his crossed arms. Their elbows bumped.

“Now who’s the idiot, hm?” Jack asked, and cupped his face.

Beckett couldn’t breathe.

“You wanna be part of the pack?” Jack questioned softly.

“There’s a pack now?” Beckett asked, eye twitching.

Jack smiled softly. “Yeah. There’s a pack.”

Beckett huffed, swallowing against the bundle in his throat. “I had a speech and everything prepared,” he said with a groan. “I rehearsed!”

A chuckle sounded. “Well, I mean, you can still say what you need to say. I’ll listen.”

Beckett covered his face and sighed. “No. Back to—back to the pack. You and Eli talked about this? About… me?”

His heart was thudding in his chest, and he wondered if Jack could hear it.

He’d thought he was in for another few weeks of dancing around each other. Now here Jack was, pulling the rug out from under Beckett.

Jack avoided his stare, lips pursing. “Well, yes. We were knotted together for some time. Gave us a lot of time to talk about things.”

Beckett’s mouth dropped open. “You were what?”

“It was an accident!” At Beckett’s droll stare, Jack digressed. “I mean, it’s not like she fell on my knot, but—but I just mean neither of us intended it to happen!” he rambled. “Anyway, we were kind of trapped together for a bit and it all just… came out.”

Beckett rolled his eyes. “I know how sex works,” he teased.

Jack scoffed. “Shut up, you know what I mean.”

Jack finished his story in detail, Eli interrupting him and the crying and the biting—

“I can’t believe you’ve finally worked it out,” Beckett said, shaking his head. “I mean, Raj and I were ready to play the long game—“

“Sorry, what about Raj?” Jack interjected.

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