Page 22 of Knot Her Cowboys (Big Sky Omegas #2)

N erves butted up against relief. If Cooper was holding my hand, he probably didn’t hate me. I wouldn’t blame him if he did, even if I didn’t want to think about that being true. We had so much to talk about.

“Tell me everything about New York,” Morgan insisted.

So I did. About school, the shitty apartments I had barely been able to afford, my favorite places to visit.

Morgan was so bright. Anyone with eyeballs could see she was so fucking happy. Two dogs sat at her feet, a Rottweiler watching her adoringly, and a Chesapeake Bay retriever on a leash, presumably because she kept staring lovingly at the horses and that affection was unlikely to be returned.

Morgan had only been an exhausted, angry teen when I left.

Now she was flourishing, with a pack who obviously loved her, living her dream in a cabin in the woods, running a photography and nature tour company with her alphas.

Hating alphas had been a pastime for her as a kid.

Each of her brothers who presented only seemed to confirm that alphas were assholes from birth.

I wish I could’ve been around to see how she’d reacted when Cooper and Cash had presented, throwing that whole assumption out the window. And now she had a whole pack of alphas.

Wonders never ceased.

“Do you think you’ll stick around for a while?” Morgan asked.

“I’ve got nowhere else to be,” I replied casually. Cooper’s fingers twitched in mine. “Plus, Cash is a pretty big ball and chain to drag away if I wanted to leave.”

I hip-checked him playfully, leaning into his chest. I had no plans for anything and I was trying not to worry about that too hard. As nervous as I was about being back in Montana for any length of time, I could at least use these days to start repairing the relationships I’d abandoned.

Blessedly, Morgan seemed as happy to see me as she always had been, and Cash had made everything ten times more comfortable in his uniquely Cash way. I wasn’t thinking too much about forming a proper pack, but I couldn’t deny the temptation was there.

Adulthood had done incredible work on Cooper and Cash, filling out their bodies, giving them some rough-and-tumble energy that hadn’t manifested yet in our teen years.

Cooper and I had learned every inch of each other back then, fumbling and inexperienced, but absolutely desperate to get as close as we could.

It was impossible to not think about how things might be different now.

Dakota and Levi were also an enticing consideration.

It wasn’t every day a man threw himself in a river to rescue you.

I already knew Levi could give my omega side what it needed.

And Dakota was so sweet, seemingly possessing the keys to the locked boxes where I kept my inner turmoil stashed away.

Those men wanted me safe and healed, and even though it was still early, it felt really nice to let them work at both.

“Don’t you dare leave town without letting me say goodbye,” Morgan ordered.

“Wouldn’t dream of it. I have to come see your little empire in the woods first. I had been planning on doing that today anyway before everything imploded. Got a little sidetracked.”

“I believe it,” Morgan said with a laugh. “Could I steal you for a walk?”

“You can steal me for anything you want, string bean. The boys can keep each other company.”

I extracted myself from Cash and Cooper, Morgan linking our arms as she led us away, Muffin trotting at her side, keeping a steady eye on her mama. Once we were out of earshot, she turned to me. “How hard are you freaking out about the bond?”

“Not as much as I expected. It was definitely a surprise, but I can’t complain about it being Cash. Friends to lovers to bondmates in one evening was a roller coaster speedrun, but—” I shrugged.

“I bonded Bear by accident,” she told me. “An extra heat flare after the main heat was over. My body was wonky as hell going off suppressants cold turkey after being on them for years.”

“I bet. I had the opposite, where I was trying to suppress a single heat so it didn’t get in the way of a move, forgot one dose, and now I’m bonded to Cash forever.”

“Do you miss your ex-fiancés?”

“I thought I would. The whole river situation brought a lot of clarity to the state of our relationship. I miss who they used to be, but I don’t miss the men who left here. Maybe it would all be harder without the bond, but Cash is so fucking jazzed.”

Morgan laughed. “I noticed that. I was pretty sure he liked you back in the day and just shut up so he didn’t make things weird pushing for a pack too early.”

“Oh, he did. Confessed that little gem to me. I feel a bit bad I never noticed back then.”

“Cooper was excellent at monopolizing your attention.”

“One of his greatest talents,” I agreed.

We paused in front of one of the paddocks and Morgan said very quietly, “Be gentle with him, okay?”

“He’s a hard man to be gentle with, but I don’t want to hurt him.”

“Cash told me you’re all scent matches. Does that make a difference in you deciding to stay or not? I don’t want to pressure you or anything, but I would really like you to stay.”

“I’m still fresh off a broken engagement. I’m trying not to make concrete plans.”

Morgan sighed dramatically. “Okay, fiiine. I guess that’s fair. You’ll keep me posted, though? We were basically sisters once.”

“I think we legally are now, but in any case, I have no intentions of repeating what happened before. We need a code word.”

“For what?”

I told her all about the email fuckery that had scared me off talking to any of them, and her eyes widened.

“Goddammit, Darlene. She’s so fucking good at ruining things.

” Morgan leaned hard on the fence, resting her chin on her crossed arms. “I don’t have to like it, but I get it.

That would’ve spooked me too. Fuck. We didn’t even have a safe number for you to call to check and tell us. Okay, code word is Muffin.”

Upon hearing her name, Muffin stood up on her back legs, resting her paws on Morgan’s shoulder, licking her cheeks.

I laughed. “Your dog?”

“It’s easy to remember, but not something any of the people you’re worried about would know. I’ll make sure the boys know just in case. I mean, I might throw myself at your ankles and hold on if you try to run again, but if you did have to leave, you could use it.”

I hugged her from behind, squeezing until she squeaked. Her omega scent of maple syrup and black tea suited her well and smelled lovely in the summer heat. “I missed you.”

“I missed you, too.” Morgan sniffled. “Promise me you’ll at least think about staying. I know Cooper can be a dumbass, but he’s been through a lot since you left, and he didn’t have the luxury of moving on, not really. I think he was always waiting for you to come back.”

“I promise.”

Giving things a real shot, laying down roots in the same place I had ripped them out, was a unique sort of terror.

It was both the easiest thing I could do and the most difficult.

I hadn’t so much healed my demons as I had run from them, and I couldn’t help but worry they would come to call sooner or later.

Even standing back on this ground felt like I was summoning them somehow.

Maybe the darkness inside them had sensed the moment my plane landed.

I wouldn’t even be surprised at this point.

“What do you think of Dakota and Levi?”

“They seem like great people.”

Morgan eyeballed me when I rotated to lean against the fence next to her. “But?”

“No but. I’m a pretty big fan of both. Dakota is basically an angel helping me untangle the bullshit in my brain, and Levi saved my life, so I have no complaints.”

“Is the scent-matched part weird? I think it made the biggest difference for me, even if it was just to let my internal panic chill out enough to see the possibilities.”

“I know the possibilities.” I was well aware of every delicious one, but it didn’t change the past. It had to work out with all four of the alphas in the pack, and I had to be willing to stay.

I couldn’t be certain I’d feel safe enough doing that.

Once upon a time Cooper would’ve stood between me and the world, but I couldn’t delude myself that he would still do that, couldn’t make assumptions that any of them would.

They all deserved more than an omega prone to panic bolting.

Standing and fighting had never been my style unless I had no other choice. When my mom had acted up, I ran. If the Deckers got up in my business, I ran.

If I was lucky, Cash would come with me, save us both bonding sickness, but he was happy here and I didn’t want to take that from him.

“Well, I don’t want to use myself as an example, but I’m going to anyway,” Morgan said with a laugh.

“We both know a pack wasn’t part of the plan for me, and now I can’t imagine life without them.

The bonds keep me steady, and I’ve been through a fucking lot.

When someone loves you the way my pack loves me, the way I know Cooper loves you, they don’t stop trying to make you feel safe.

And it’s weird as all fucking hell at the start, and it takes time, but it’s worth it. ”

“I believe you.” Mostly. Everyone kept telling me Cooper loved me, and maybe he did, but I was pretty sure I had hurt him too much for that to win out.

There was no pack without Cooper. If it came down to that, he would probably try to do something self-sacrificing like leave the pack so the others could have me.

I’d never forgive myself for that. “Give me some time to get my head on straight. I’ve had a lot of change really fast.”

“Time granted.” Morgan beamed at me.

“I’m really glad you came to visit. I swear I was going to come see you.”

“I know. I couldn’t stay away. As soon as they told me you were here, my pack was prepping to drive out. We have clients coming tomorrow so we can’t stay for too long, but any time is better than none.”

Muffin pawed her leg, both of us looking down to the dog when she let out a whine.

“Sweet girl, I’m okay.” Morgan dropped to her knees, wrapping her arms around Muffin. She glanced up at me. “She’s my therapy dog. Started off as a guard thing, but she’s super intuitive and lets me know when she thinks I’m getting agitated so I can step back and calm down.”

“I knew she was a good girl, but I didn’t know she was the best girl.” I patted Muffin on the head. “Am I stressing you out?”

“No, no, just big feelings.” Morgan kissed Muffin’s forehead and the dog slipped out of her arms, trying to herd her back the way we had come. “I guess it’s time to go back. Okay, okay, we’re going.”

I laughed as Muffin nudged Morgan along the trail, not satisfied until we’d returned to the alphas and Morgan was safely tucked among the members of her pack. They instantly doted on her, probably realizing why Muffin had brought her back.

“That was a short walk,” Cash said, slipping his arm over my shoulders. It was frankly a little ridiculous how that simple movement made my stomach flutter.

“We got bullied by the four-pawed cutie.”

“She does like to do that.” Ryder laughed, reaching down to pat Muffin’s head.

“Should we get you a dog with a taste for Decker?” Cash asked.

“I wouldn’t say no, but I do have my guard-mule, Grizzy, for that.”

“Very true, though she’s hard to take into town.”

“If you’re interested,” said Ryder, “my buddy back in DC runs the place we got Muffin. I could reach out for you.”

“Let’s not give me a pet quite yet. I don’t even know where I’m going to live.”

“You’ll live in the big house,” Cooper said, as if it was a done deal.

“You’re deciding that for me, are you?” I narrowed my eyes.

“So you’re not going to be sleeping in Cash’s room?”

I assumed the question was genuine since he knew about the bond, but the edge in his tone made it crystal clear he was still struggling with the concept.

“Maybe while I get settled.”

“We have a guest room,” Dakota reminded me. “Or you can stay in one of the cabins. Busy season will be winding down in a couple of weeks, so we probably won’t have to move you around too much.”

“We’ll start with the big house,” I conceded. “I definitely need some semblance of my own space, and I’m flexible on if that’s a bedroom or a separate cabin.”

“Bold of you to assume I’m not going to be a space invader.” Cash spun me so my back was to his chest, his arms linked in front of me. He was so fucking pleased with himself in the bond. Every time he touched me, it lit up like a little campfire in my chest.

He was dangerous.

I’d never experienced anyone being so happy to see me on a soul level before, and feeling so wanted, so treasured, could definitely turn out to be addictive.

“Bold of you to assume I wouldn’t let you.”