Page 30 of Ready or Knot

There’s laughter behind me. “First time you’ve seen them in a month, and you’re on your period? Tough break.”

I glance over my shoulder, catching Rylan’s gaze as he approaches alongside Violet and Jasper.

“Whatever, man. Periods don’t bother me,” Jasper says, laughing, shoving his pack mate in the shoulder.

Groaning, I drop my head into my hands.

“Rylan,” Violet chastises, but there’s no venom in her voice. She even has the audacity to snicker when I cock an eyebrow, incredulous. “It’s not like it’ll be a problem for long. You’re only getting them because you’re suppressed.”

My dad intervenes before I start punching Violet, too.

“You bring that project you started? The inspiration picture you sent the other week looked really impressive.” He takes a drink of his coffee and turns to me, the movement subtle but intentional as he blocks my view of my mother.

Violet sits across from me while I grab my bag and dig out the small group of hexagons.

My mom leans around Dad, taking a drink, and says, “This is for that flower wreath quilt you texted me a couple weeks ago?”

When I nod, she takes a couple of the hexagons I’ve started assembling into what will be the flowers. She hums as she turns it over and looks at the stitching along the seams, a small smile curving the corners of her lips.

“Interesting choice of colors,” Jasper says, taking one of the menus and smacking Rylan’s hand where it rests on Violet’s thigh.

“Fuck off,” he grumbles. But he moves his hand, lacing his fingers with Violet’s on the table instead.

I clear my throat and arrange some of the hexagons to form another flower.

“I’m doing the flowers out of their favorite colors,” I explain. “But I thought the small patterns would be pretty when seen as a whole. And I’m not following the pattern exactly since I didn’t want to keep track of hundreds of white hexagons. So I’m just going to quilt these onto a large white background and then quilt it all together.”

“It’s going to look great, Faedra,” my mom says, her voice gaining that lilt she gets when she’s trying to not be overly emotional. I glance up at her, my cheeks warm, and she smiles around my dad’s arm, setting the half-done flower down in front of me.

Bless the waiter because he appears at that moment, keeping the moment from becoming a cry fest at a public restaurant. The reprieve doesn’t last long, though.

Once we’ve put in our order, Violet asks, “Did you look up where they live yet? I can’t believe you’ve managed to not look.”

I shrug. “I don’t know Denver.”

The reality is that I’m trying to temper my expectations. I don’t want to build up some fantasy in my head just to have it crushed by whatever the guys actually have.

She arches an eyebrow, and I sigh, pulling out my phone before she can even ask.

“Aiden, switch,” she says, standing up and moving around the table. My brother doesn’t hesitate, switching spots with her and striking up a conversation with Jasper while Violet settles in next to me. I type in the address Jude gave me before they left and pull up the first search result, loading a real estate website while Mom and Dad discuss something quietly between them.

My jaw drops at the same moment Violet laughs, the lilt growing more unhinged the longer she does.

“Holy shit, Fae,” she says, gasping, grabbing my arm in a tight grip.

My dad leans over, and I tilt the phone screen so that he can see. He murmurs his own surprise, and then Violet is passing my phone around the table, each person expressing their own level of excitement before she eventually takes it back and flips through more photos. She offers them to me, but I close the program instead, slipping my phone back into my bag.

“Eight million dollars?” Rylan says, a note of disbelief threading through his voice. “Damn, Faedra. Does one of them have a black Amex, too?”

I blush and duck my head.

“No fucking way,” Jasper says, nearly giddy when I pull the card from my wallet, the black and gold blazing in the mid-morning light. Violet gasps, and Aiden grunts. Jasper laughs, tossing his head back. “Damn, I need to find me an Alpha with that kind of connection.”

Rylan shoots him a glare, pushing his shoulder. “You did,” he grunts. “He just has a stick the size of Texas shoved up his ass right now.”

“He still doesn’t have a Centurion, Rylan.” Jasper laughs, grabbing Rylan’s hand and kissing his palm. “And to be fair, Sienna has that effect on most people.”

Violet clears her throat, shooting a pointed look at both men.

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