Page 11 of Ready or Knot

“Did you get yours, too?” she asks, grabbing an identical letter, similarly unopened, from the corner of it.

“Yeah,” I say, holding up mine.

She stares at it, the flush in her cheeks growing darker, and she groans under her breath, her shoulders slumping.

“Finally. I’ve been staring at mine all morning, but I didn’t want to open it alone.”

She settles onto her bed, and I sit next to her, crossing my legs. Balancing the envelope on my knee, I make quick work of pulling my hair into a haphazard braid.

“What is it? I don’t remember reading about this step.”

“They’ve settled on a list of packs for us and want us to rank them,” she says, ripping her letter down the side and pulling out two folded sheets of paper. With a frown, I do the same, smoothing the first sheet on the bed in front of me.

Five small lines of text: Omaha, Denver, New Orleans, Louisville, Ceour d’Alene.

“These are cities,” I say, the confusion and accusation clear in my tone. Violet laughs, setting her list next to mine.

None of them match.

“The Council tries to keep outside influences from interfering with the matches,” she explains. “By giving cities, it decreases the chance of someone outside of the packs manipulating potential final pairings.”

“Outside influences like your mom?” I ask after a pause, and Violet purses her lips before nodding once.

I look her over as she takes back her list. Her shoulders are rolled forward, and her fingers tap on her knees.

Clearing my throat, I ask, “What’s wrong, Vi? You’ve been a nervous mess since we left the party. Did something happen that you didn’t mention?”

She’d texted me while I was in between dance partners, trying to decide if I wanted to try and find Logan again and see if he was interested in more than just a kiss. When I found her, her makeup had been worn off, her eyes puffy, but she hadn’t offered an explanation other than her desire to leave—and I hadn’t pushed.

She gives a half-hearted sigh of a laugh. “Yeah. I met an Alpha, just like you.”

I shove her. “Why didn’t you tell me? Did he make you cry? Because I will find him and make him regret it.”

She shrugs, and I snarl. She shoots me a glare, her hands running across her list of cities, pressing it into the mattress.

“He didn’t make me cry,” she says after a minute. “Jasper did.”

My chest tightens. I grab her hand and squeeze tightly. “I’m sorry.”

We’re quiet for a bit.

“Did you like his pack?” I ask.

“He didn’t introduce them,” she admits in a whisper. She seems so unsure, and it takes me by surprise. I lace our fingers together and press my lips to her temple until I feel the tension in her body slowly melt away. “I really liked him, but I’m worried about why he didn’t want me to meet the others. But he told me where he lives. And it’s on here.”

I’m quiet for a moment. “Do you want advice, or do you want support?”

She gives a smile and leans against me. “Just support. Did your guys mention where they live?”

I shake my head and glance at my list again. “I suppose it’ll be fate alone that pairs us together. I’m going to take the day to think about it and then rank them on where I’d like to live.”

“Good plan, Fae,” she says, and I hold her hand just a bit tighter.

Five

CARTER

“Come on, man, hurry the hell up,” Logan groans, leaning against the doorframe of my room.

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