Page 10 of Knot Her Cowboys (Big Sky Omegas #2)

I t had been a long damn time since I’d had the fear of god put in me.

Riley’s plunge into the river had been a straight shot of adrenaline, and I’d hit the ground running before I could think twice.

It’d only occurred to me I could drown just as easily once I’d already thrown myself in after her.

We had safety protocols to prevent that, but they hadn’t even entered my head once she’d hit the water.

She was okay.

I was okay.

I abandoned my duties at the first possible moment, the staff letting me know Riley had been taken up to the big house.

“Riley?” I called as I stepped through the door.

“We’re up here,” Cash yelled back.

I took the stairs two at a time and skidded to a stop outside the guest bathroom. Riley had a towel wrapped around herself like a dress, submerged up to her chin in the bathtub.

“Shit, you’re soaked too,” Cash said when he noticed me. “Go shower and change.”

“In a minute.” I dropped to my knees next to the tub. “Hey.”

Riley’s eyes welled with tears. “You saved my life.”

“Of course I did.” I tucked a strand of her sodden hair behind her ear and she shivered. “I’m not letting the river take you.”

She launched forward, wrapping her arms around me, her skin blessedly warm. Her squeak as she made contact with my ice-cold shirt had me pulling away, but she didn’t let go.

“I’m sorry Bruce hit you.”

“I’ll survive.”

I wasn’t sure if it was the river or the bath that had stripped away her neutralizers, but a sweet, fruity, and floral fragrance wafted from her skin, hooking deep in my chest. I glanced at Cash and he replied with a subtle nod.

Shit.

Riley was our scent match.

“What’s happening with my alphas?”

Oh, right. Those assholes. I couldn’t imagine forming a pack with them. “They’re packing their things right now.”

“I don’t want to go.”

“You’re more than welcome to stay,” I promised. “Bruce could’ve killed you with his bullshit behavior, and we can’t let any guest remain who breaks the rules so egregiously. He’s the only one who has to go.”

“Bryan won’t stay here without him.”

“Will you stay here without them?” I asked.

“I—”

“Stay,” Cash whispered. “Let’s celebrate your birthday in style tomorrow. You completed another trip around the sun and survived a Montana river. If anything calls for drinks and cake, I’d say that’s it.”

Riley finally detached, sinking back into the warm bath. “I’m going to have to talk to them, and I don’t have the energy for it.”

“Maybe a bit of space wouldn’t be a bad idea,” Dakota said as he swept in, offering her a mug of what smelled like hot chocolate.

“I guess that’s true.” Riley sipped at her drink.

Dakota passed me a second cup and I chugged it gratefully, pleased it wasn’t hot enough to stop me from doing so.

“I’ve got to shower,” I told Riley. “I’ll be back in a bit.”

I didn’t want to leave her, but it couldn’t be helped.

“Wait,” she said as I stood up. “Can’t you just shower here? I can’t see you while you’re in the stall. I’ll close my eyes for you to get in and out.”

I exchanged a look with my packmates before focusing back onto Riley. “You’re sure?”

She covered both eyes with her hands. “I need all hands on deck for figuring out how to deal with my alphas, but I don’t want you to get hypothermia.”

I slipped out of my clothes and into the shower, the hot spray chasing away the chill.

“What the fuck do I do?” she lamented. “They’re going to be so mad they got kicked out, and somehow it’ll be my fault for making them come here to begin with.”

“Hey,” said Cash, “just a wild out-of-left-field question, but why are you with these guys to begin with?”

Riley fell silent.

I flipped off the water, eager to be part of the conversation, so I yanked a towel around my waist and stepped out to find her staring down at the water and offering only a small shrug in answer.

Cash looked like he was caught between shaking her like a snow globe and climbing into the tub to cuddle her. “Riles, that’s a fucked-up response for being in a relationship. Do you even like them? Do they like you ? ’Cause it sure as shit doesn’t seem like it.”

“I—” She pressed her lips tightly together to stop the barely perceptible tremble. “Bruce has never been that mad before, and Bryan?—”

“Barely defended you at all,” Cash snapped.

Riley’s lip wobbled. “It used to be better.”

“Okay, let’s all take a breath.” I slid down to the floor next to the tub, accepting a second towel from Dakota to wrap over my shoulders. “The most important question is if Riley feels safe with her alphas.”

“Do you?” Dakota asked.

“Yes?” Riley tapped the surface of the water with her fingertips. “Mostly. When they’re in their element, they’re very steady and things are fine.”

“Conditional safety isn’t exactly ideal,” I pointed out. “Bruce was one of the most hostile guests we’ve had in a long time, and Bryan didn’t help the situation.”

“If it makes you feel any better, he’s never hit anyone before that I’m aware of, and that’s the first time his temper has been directed at me.”

“It doesn’t make me feel better, actually, and I’ll tell you why.

” My heart squeezed when she lifted her dark brown eyes to meet mine.

“A first time usually leads to a second. You get treated like that once and don’t bring down the hammer, and it leaves you open to be treated like that again.

I’m not going to say there were probably signs before it got to this point, but I would like you to sit back and consider.

Look at your memories through this new lens and see if you can recognize a buildup. ”

“Do I have to do that right this second?”

“No, your recovery is more important, but you’re planning on moving to another country with these men, so the sooner you do it the better.”

Riley shifted, crossing her arms over the edge of the tub so she could lean her cheek on them and look at me. “Do you want to tell me why you’re bringing all this up to a stranger?”

“My sister went through something very similar. Her pack started off sweet and charming, little pushes here and there to test her boundaries, picking apart her dreams, isolating her from the community, until it was too late for anyone to help her. She passed away about three years ago, in a car accident in South Dakota. We only found out she was trying to run from them when my dad realized he missed a voice message from her.”

Riley’s arms were around me in the next moment. “I’m sorry.”

I curled my fingers over her wrist, letting the sweetness of her lupine scent steady me.

“I didn’t recognize the signs fast enough to help her, but I’m trying to say something to people when I see it happening now, no matter how awkward.

I don’t know if it helps, but I know for damn sure being quiet fixes nothing. ”

“You threw yourself into a whole river to save me when my own fiancés didn’t even get off their horses to help.

I don’t necessarily like thinking about the fact that things could get worse, but I promise I won’t bury my head in the sand about it.

” She relaxed against me, far more comfortable than I’d expected her to be.

“I haven’t said thank you for that yet, have I? ”

“Might’ve gotten skipped over.”

She hugged me tighter and planted a loud kiss on my cheek. “Thank you for saving me.”

“You’re more than welcome.”

I wanted so badly to ask her if she recognized the match. Maybe the mental wall of her engagement was keeping her silent about it, but her body knew. She was in nothing but a towel surrounded by three alphas, none of whom she was engaged to, and I detected no distress in her scent.

“Would it be asking too much for you guys to come with me when I talk to them?”

“Not at all,” I assured her. “We can have the whole damn staff roster circling the cabin if you want.”

“I really wish there was more time for me to have some space. Our flight to Berlin is on Tuesday. Our entire apartment in New York is already packed up, and we fly back there tomorrow night. Nothing but time in tight quarters after this.”

“Don’t go,” Cash blurted out.

She released me from the hug and settled back in the bath, arms crossed over her chest. “Cashy, it’s not that easy.”

“Sure it is. Kick them to the curb and stay here until you figure out what you want to do.”

“ Cash ,” I warned. “Let Riley make her own choices.”

“You are welcome to stay,” Dakota added. “We have a few guest rooms in the big house.”

“That’s all very sweet. I probably shouldn’t derail my entire life over a hissy fit.”

Tension made my chest ache. I turned onto my knees to face her directly.

“I need you to understand something. Bruce’s initial behavior toward you may have been just that, but his reaction afterward spoke volumes.

You saw that. I know you know it. Him being pissed about getting his shoes wet was a hissy fit.

Him telling you to suck it up after you almost drowned is so far beyond that, we’re not even in the same universe anymore.

That’s not even taking into account that he took a swing at me. ”

Riley grimaced. “Okay, but what do I do? I’ve been out of the workforce for three years and?—”

“ What ?” We all turned to Cash.

Riley wilted.

“You fought tooth and nail for that scholarship. I know you worked your ass off. What happened?”

“It just…got too complicated for me to keep working. It interfered with events. I didn’t get to see them as much. There was just a lot going on. And anyway, it’s not that bad. They set up an omega trust for me, so I’m not totally without money, but?—”

“I’m gonna step out of the room for a hot second and cool down.” Cash bolted, leaving Dakota and me with Riley.

“Where’s he going?”

“Hopefully not to get into a fistfight. I’ll go check it out.” Dakota departed, and then it was just Riley and me.

“Sweetheart…Riley,” I corrected myself. “Do you think this might be one of those things you should examine?”

“What do you mean?”

“So, as an example, when my sister got accepted into a master’s program in California, her pack proposed, and she stayed with them instead of going. Did anything line up like that for you?”

Her cheeks paled. “Bruce and Bryan proposed when I got accepted into a three-month culinary program in Tuscany.”

I could see the wheels turning in her head as she flipped through her memories.

“I’d been talking about going back to work when they told me about Germany.

Had an interview lined up and everything, just for a breakfast place so it wouldn’t clash with their evening events.

” She lapsed into silence again, and I let her work through it on her own.

“There were so many double-booked events. Things I was supposed to cater, and either had to cancel on going to something I didn’t know they had booked, or letting someone else take my slot so I could attend something of theirs.

Oh my god. Why didn’t I notice that before? ”

“It’s easy to fall into patterns,” I said softly. “How did events get double-booked?”

“Bruce always told me I forgot about them, cared more about my job than them, but I swear I would always check the dates before accepting something. I felt like I was losing it when it kept happening and Bruce told me their thing had been scheduled the whole time. It just seemed like every year there were more and more commitments and events I couldn’t miss.

It got to the point where finding time to pursue my own career became impossible.

We eventually agreed that I would stop working so I could support their rise in the business world.

Bruce pitched it as an investment in our pack’s future.

Do you…” She swallowed hard. “Do you think they did that on purpose? Made sure there was something on the dates I was booked? I knew they didn’t love me working, but they were fine with it when we got together. ”

“I hesitate to say yes because I don’t truly know them, but it’s a definite possibility.”

Riley growled, knuckles white where they gripped the edge of the tub. “Motherfuckers.”