Page 1 of Knot Her Cowboys (Big Sky Omegas #2)

T he miles disappeared beneath our plane, the landscape shifting from green forest to open plains and back again as we got closer to the Rockies.

I didn’t bother putting on a movie, opting to stare out the window.

Bruce and Bryan, my alphas, had insisted on first class for all of us so they could have the privacy pods and work the entire flight.

I liked the luxury, but they didn’t need to work on this trip.

Too bad trying to get them to have a real break was like pulling teeth.

That was part of my motivation for choosing the specific ranch I had.

They offered a luxury off-grid experience.

You didn’t have to go without the modern amenities of hot water and flush toilets, but they only provided Internet and cell service in the communal building because they had installed a booster.

While you were out and about or in your rooms, you’d be forced to actually live in the present moment.

My alphas didn’t know that part yet, but I had double- and triple-checked with their assistants to make sure they had nothing on their plates that couldn’t wait until the weekend was over.

Besides, it wouldn’t really be celebrating my thirtieth birthday if they worked the whole time.

Even though that had happened for my twenty-ninth and my twenty-eighth, and all the way back to when I’d met them in my last year in college.

It wasn’t that they ignored my birthday entirely.

Bruce was the more business-focused of the two, and Bryan usually followed his lead, but he tried.

Bryan always sent flowers and paid for me to go out to dinner anywhere I wanted with whomever I felt like inviting.

More often than not, they’d both show up before bed, expensive gift in hand, ready to spoil me with a great fuck and midnight cake.

All in all, it was never a terrible day, but I wanted this one to be different.

Thirty wasn’t a huge deal to me, but we were all moving to Berlin soon for business, and the closer that move got, the more I felt like I needed to go back, even if just for a short while.

I rejected the in-flight meal, too nervous to eat. I hadn’t been home in over a decade. Mom had been gone for three years now and I couldn’t even bring myself to go back for the funeral to make sure she was really gone and it wasn’t just some elaborate ruse to lure me back.

Darlene Fletcher was a woman the world wouldn’t miss.

It felt terrible admitting that, even to myself, but I had barely survived growing up in her house. I’d never met a woman so mean, and I was relieved she was gone.

I twisted my napkin in my hands until I caught Bruce staring disapprovingly at me and hastily set it aside. He hated fidgeting. I didn’t always follow the rules of being a high-society omega, but I tried really fucking hard to make sure he never looked at me like that.

I mumbled a quick “sorry” and focused back out the window, lacing my fingers together.

“We’ll begin our descent into Great Falls shortly.” The pilot’s voice crackled over the intercom. “Thank you so much for flying with Alpha Air today and we hope you have a pleasant trip, or for those of you that live here, welcome home.”

Welcome home .

Home wasn’t a sweet place I cherished from the past, and I carried too many scars from my childhood.

What was the word for when you longed for a place that didn’t exist?

Hiraeth. That was what they called it.

The things I longed for were intangible: experiences gifted to me by the redheaded boy who’d met me in kindergarten and made sure we both survived. Flower crowns, hoofbeats on soil, cupcakes and laughter by the light of a campfire.

Montana held so many bittersweet memories for me.

I missed the sun and the sky, the scent of wildflowers and horses, and a few people I wished I’d never said goodbye to.

Unfortunately, Montana housed a great many more people I was glad to keep in the past. No matter how long I was gone, part of me had always remained in Big Sky Country, and even with plans to move to Europe, those mountains and plains continued to call my name.

I took a slow breath, trying to keep my nerves under control. Maybe coming back was a mistake.

I went through my therapeutic breathing exercises, trying to keep them unnoticed.

My alphas were pretty chill when I had to use those techniques at home, but Bruce cared so much about what others thought and got twitchy when I needed them in public.

Bryan didn’t care what I did, but he did care far too much about what Bruce thought, and try as I might, I craved their approval.

By the time we hit the runway, I felt more together. My alphas followed me off the plane, eyes glued to their phones. They worked while I collected our rental car, Bruce getting in the front seat and Bryan settling in the back, barely looking up once.

Their loss.

Neither of them were used to driving, preferring a car service back in New York so they could work on their commute. I happily took over the role of driver, rarely having the opportunity back on the East Coast.

“Do you mind if I open the windows?” I asked as we pulled onto the freeway.

“Go ahead,” Bruce said absently.

I hit all four buttons on my door, the front and rear windows gliding down.

“Oh my god.” Bruce cringed. “What the fuck is that smell?”

“Cows,” I replied.

“Roll the windows back up, please.” Bryan paled. “That’s vile.”

“You’re gonna have to get used to it. Montana has more cows than people.”

I could see how it would be unpleasant, but even that particularly potent smell was nostalgic for me.

My high school sweetheart had grown up on a ranch and I’d probably spent more time there than at home.

His family wasn’t much better than mine, unless I counted his little sister, Morgan, who was pretty awesome.

His older brothers and dads were assholes, but not in the same way my mom was to me.

Maybe it was just because I was a guest, but the Harris ranch had been a sanctuary for me.

I wasn’t going anywhere near it this trip.

I planned to avoid anywhere Cooper might be, no matter how much Young Riley was screaming inside me to see how he’d turned out.

That was one trip down memory lane I couldn’t take, not after I had sworn I would come back one day.

Twelve years later was pushing it, even for someone who had held my entire heart.

“Why aren’t we staying in the city? Where are we going?” Bryan asked.

“I sent both of you the itinerary,” I reminded them. “We’re going to a ranch for the weekend and they don’t have those in the city.”

“I didn’t pack for a ranch,” Bruce lamented.

“We could stop and pick you up a pair of jeans,” I offered.

He looked as if I had just suggested he pick up a handful of freshly dropped cow shit bare-handed.

“Or not,” I added with a laugh. “Did you really not look at the itinerary at all? Please don’t tell me you only packed suits and dress shoes.”

“You have to make a good impression on people, Anne.”

“Anne, what exactly are we doing?” Bryan asked.

“Horseback riding, campfire singalongs, sightseeing. You know, ranch stuff.”

My friends in Montana didn’t know me as Anne.

I’d been going by my middle name since moving away for college, one more roadblock to stop my mom from easily finding me.

I’d also stolen Cooper’s last name, a ridiculous indulgence, but a connection to him and home I wasn’t ready to let go of.

So Riley Fletcher had turned into Anne Harris, reborn out of the bullshit into a New York socialite on the arms of Bruce Rochford and Bryan Reed.

I didn’t make a peep about how difficult it was going to be to do activities in their suits.

It wasn’t too much to ask that they try to embrace where I was from for a couple of days when I had fully immersed myself in their home.

I had learned all the protocols for them.

I’d memorized a million names, how they were linked together and who to approach in what way so I didn’t embarrass my alphas.

They were better than Darlene; I reminded myself of that regularly, but then it was hard to be worse than my mother. They took care of me, and I had gotten really good at not doing anything to upset the people around them, which in turn meant they were rarely upset either.

I fought the urge to turn down the road that would lead to the Harris ranch, just so I could drive by. My alphas would probably lose it if they thought we were going that far into the wilds.

The drive out to Rowdy Rock Ranch was beyond beautiful. Descending from the Great Plains into the Rockies was like slipping into another world. The national forest decorated the hillsides and we moved down the roads like a serpent, getting closer to our destination.

“What the fuck?” Bruce muttered. “Where did the service go?”

“The mountains stole it,” I replied. “They do that.”

“How are we supposed to work? It’s going to come back, right? There’s Internet where we’re going?”

“You’re not supposed to work. This is a vacation.”

“Anne,” Bruce growled.

“I swear I checked with Kathy and Jan to make sure nothing was urgent before I booked us here. There’s Internet in one of the buildings, but I really want you guys to relax. You can’t appreciate Montana if you’re glued to your phones the whole time.”

“That’s not a choice you get to make for us,” Bruce grumbled.

“It was in the itinerary. I even highlighted that the place was mostly off grid.”

“In what universe do you think we have time to be reading itineraries?” Bruce snapped.

“In this one because you’re going on a trip with your fiancée for her birthday.”

“Shit,” Bryan whispered. The two of them exchanged a look. “Is it the end of August already?”

I white-knuckled the steering wheel. “Yes. Isn’t the date staring you in your face when you’re on the phone?”

“I’m sorry, babe. We’ve had a big project,” Bryan defended.

Bruce frowned. “We can’t be expected to know exactly what day it is. That’s what we have assistants for. This is their fault for not reminding us before we left.”

Their fault…

Anyone’s fault except theirs that they didn’t even realize this was for my birthday.

“You can buy me a pony to make up for it,” I joked.

“If we were going to buy you a horse, it would be a Derby thoroughbred,” Bruce told me.

“I wasn’t serious.”

They both instantly relaxed.

“Good, good,” Bryan mumbled. “Take us back into town. We’ll get you something.”

“It’s fine,” I insisted. “We’re only ten minutes out from the ranch. I don’t need a present. Just try to have a good time on this trip and that will be more than enough.”

I stuffed down my disappointment. I should’ve known better than to think this year would be different.

The only ones who ever cared about my birthday growing up were Cooper, Cash, and Morgan.

In my adult years I spent birthdays getting drunk with classmates, then attending fancy dinners with the wives and girlfriends of my alphas’ business partners.

Never wish.

Never expect anything from anyone.

That had always been my rule.

It was easier to avoid disappointment if I expected nothing, and then I could be pleasantly surprised instead of devastated.

The only reason I cared about birthdays at all was because of Cooper.

He’d always made them a big deal even if he couldn’t afford presents back then.

I could still smell the sweet scent of wildflowers Cooper would weave into a birthday crown for me to wear, and the sound of him and Morgan scream-singing happy birthday in the empty fields, waving flags with my name on them while we ate grocery-store cupcakes.

Once Cash had moved to town in his first year of high school, we’d transitioned to actual cakes, but the same level of ridiculousness remained.

It really wasn’t much, and I knew Bruce and Bryan wouldn’t look on it with the same sweetness I did, but I thought about it every year, wishing anyone cared enough about me to make an absolute fool of themselves just to make me laugh.

We drove through the ranch gateway, the name carved into wood with horseshoes nailed onto it. Pine trees lined the drive. I risked rolling down the windows, getting a huge whiff of hot pine sap and horse.

“Anne, for God’s sake,” Bruce complained, but I didn’t care. As soon as they got out of the car, it would be this smell or suffocate, so they might as well get used to it.

I pulled into the visitor lot, following the charming wooden signs.

“Well, this is…rustic,” Bryan said as he stepped out of the vehicle, surveying everything around him. “The view is lovely, at least.”

Bruce wrinkled his nose. “Surely we could’ve stayed in some five-star accommodations instead.”

“I didn’t want to stay in something fancy.” I snatched my weekend bag out of the back seat and slung it over my shoulder, waiting for my alphas to collect their bags from the trunk. “It’ll be fun if you just give it a chance.”

“I think it’s already made enough of an impression,” Bruce deadpanned.

Bryan looked down at his dress shoes, forlorn that they were immediately dusty. “Why did I wear the Italian leather?”

“Beats the hell out of me.”

Bryan laughed, but the sound cut off with a sharp look from Bruce.

I shrugged. They could’ve read the fucking itinerary. I spun on my heel and marched toward the nearest building that had a sign for check-in above the door.

“She’s already sounding yeehaw,” Bruce grumbled.

I ignored them and shoved open the door, the rich scent of cedar and sage crashing over me and stealing my breath. I froze, staring at a man behind the desk who looked oddly familiar. His gaze locked with mine, recognition flashing hot and bright in his blue eyes.

He fake-swooned, pressing the back of his hand to his forehead and announcing in a dramatic Southern-belle accent, “Well, Riley Fletcher, as I live and breathe.”