Page 55 of Knot For Keeps

“I think we need to send Lavender home,” Kane admitted, ignoring the sounds of protest from every other packmate. My grin dropped.

We couldn’t send her home, Ineededher. Despite her being a feral house cat, I hadn’t felt more relaxed in years. Maybe all I needed was some omega loving, forget treatment for brain damage, Lavender was my remedy.

“Why?” Gage asked, frowning. I was sure he wouldn’t even consider it. Lavender was one of us now, in a way andI couldn’t picture her just leaving. Her absence would leave a gaping hole. To suggest sending her away seemed... abhorrent.

“We know she wouldn’t say anything against us. She knows why we’re doing what we’re doing. Her being here just puts her in danger. If Detective Rouche can get onto the property so easily then the fuckers who took Juniper could do the same. Lavender would be safer behind the walls of the Haven.”

“You really are a heartless bastard, you know that? You know full well we’ve become attached to her—you just want her out of the way,” Archer spat, furious.

“Am I wrong?!” Kane growled, turning on Archer. The pain was clear on his face, he didn’t want her to leave either. “I don’twantto send her back, but it’s the safest for her!”

I raised my brows. Did he actually want her here? Washegetting attached? The urge to prod and find out more was strong as fuck—but Kane was hard to talk to on a good day, let alone when he’s stressed and grumpy.

“Stop it, the both of you,” Gage commanded. “Kane is right, we know Lavender would be safer in a Haven—”

“You seem to forget thatwekidnapped her from a Haven!” I interjected. “so some other fucker certainly can too, she’s safer here, with us.”

“True, but that was only because Archer stumbled across her. If that had never happened she wouldn’t have ever been wrapped up in all of this. She would be mated to a good pack, and kept safe.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that we did kidnap her! We can keep her safer than any other pack,” Archer said.

“We could,” Gage agreed, “if we weren’t wanted criminals. Our search for Juniper is going to get us in more trouble and danger, and we can’t be dragging Lavender into that.”

Archer cursed, turning to look at Kane. “Kane, I love you, you are my pack but we don’t even know if Juniper is alive, we haven’t seen or heard any evidence since she vanished four years ago! I refuse to avoid living my life to chase a ghost!”

“Juniper is alive!” Kane thundered, rounding on Archer and bringing a fist to his jaw, and sent him sprawling to the floor. Gage quickly stood between them, frowning while physically restraining Kane.

“This isn’t helping,” Gage said. “You know we hope Juniper is alive, Kane. We’ve spent years searching and even became criminals trying to find her! She is our family.”

“I’m not letting Lavender go,” I said simply, crossing my arms. Everyone looked at me, varying levels of surprise in their faces at my statement. Only Gage knew how far Lavender and I had gone, and he was clearly conflicted about it, because he hadn’t told the others yet.

“Theo…” Gage started.

“No. After everything I’ve done for this pack…” I trailed off, it was a low blow, but I went with it because she was more important. “She makes me feel good, for the first time in a long time. We deserve to be happy, and I’m not letting her go.”

“If we can’t all come to an agreement, she stays.” Gage sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I refuse to let us be divided on this.” I turned to Kane, “can you look at upping security?”

“I guess I’ll have to,” he growled.

ChapterThirty

Lavender

Archer stretched lazily next to me. We hadn’t left the nest in days, other than bathroom and snack breaks, and we had binged so much true crime that I felt like I could recite the cases of several mass murderers by heart. I had stuck to staying in my room with the curtains closed and only occasionally ventured into the kitchen, just to be safe. Occasionally Archer did some sort of work on his laptop, but I didn’t pay close attention. He mentioned something about trading stocks and tried to explain the basics, but I was useless. Knowing me, I would pick something to invest in purely on its vibes and not its actual potential.

Who was I kidding? I could have done thatbeforeour binge watching sessions, it was just… reinforced now.

The whole pack had been tense, on edge. Detective Rouche’s visit had shaken them, but I could tell they were trying to hide it. They were constantly looking around, as if an enemy was going to jump out around every corner. The darkness wasn’t that bad, and they had the fancy cool light bulbs so it wasn’t that noticeable.

“Pizza?” Archer asked, scratching at his stubble. He was usually so clean shaven. The change was kind of nice. “I think we have a few frozen pizzas left.”

“Sounds good, but I think Theo may have demolished them,” I admitted.

“Human garbage disposal, that one,” Archer chuckled. “In that case I guess it’ll have to be pasta.”

“Oh no,” I giggled, “what a hardship!”

“Brat,” Archer said, launching a pillow at my face that I easily caught and cuddled. It was a really soft, squishy pillow, and I couldn’t resist.

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