Page 94 of Knot Their Safe Haven

"That was coercion during medical?—"

"That was necessary because you couldn't make a decision," I interrupt, deciding we weren’t going to continue this repetitive argument.Like c’mon. I just want to move on."Twenty years, Knox. You had twenty plus years and couldn't write your name on a piece of paper."

"You don't understand?—"

Excuses. Excuses. Excuses.

"I understand perfectly." My voice drops to something dangerous. "You thought you had forever. Thought she'd wait indefinitely while you figured out if she was worth the risk to your reputation."

"It wasn't about reputation?—"

"Then what?" Velvet's voice cuts through our posturing. "What was it about, Knox? What possible reason could you have for letting me nearly die rather than claim me?"

The silence stretches, painful and absolute. Knox opens his mouth, closes it, tries again.

"It's complicated."

Velvet laughs, but there's no humor in it. "Still? Even now, it's still complicated?"

"The gym, the Haven, our arrangement?—"

"Our arrangement?" She steps forward, though still within our protective circle. "We didn't have an arrangement. We had twenty years of you being too scared to commit and me being too desperate to walk away."

"That's not?—"

"That's exactly what it was." Her voice rises. "And you showing up here, at a private residence, after I've made my choice? What's the plan, Knox? Convince me to come back to more of the same? More hiding, more waiting, more 'it's complicated'?"

"You don't know them," he gestures at Alexis and me. "This pack, they're dangerous?—"

"Good." The word cracks like a whip. "Maybe I need dangerous. Maybe safe got me twenty years of almosts and not-quite-enoughs."

Knox's face cycles through emotions—hurt, anger, desperation—before settling on something that might be acceptance.

"You're making a mistake."

"Maybe. But it's my mistake to make." She steps back, closer to me, and I resist the urge to pull her against my chest. "Go home, Knox. Go back to your gym and your careful distance and your complications. I'm done waiting for you to be ready."

"Velvet—"

"We're done here," I announce, starting to close the door.

Knox's hand shoots out, stopping it. "This isn't over."

"Yes," Velvet says quietly, finally. "It is."

His hand drops, and I close the door with quiet finality. The three of us stand in the foyer, listening to footsteps retreat, the car engine starting, tires on gravel growing distant.

"Well," Alexis says after a moment. "That was fun."

Velvet laughs, but it's watery, tears she's fighting not to shed. I pull her against me without thought, and she buries her face in my chest.

"Twenty years," she mumbles against my shirt. "Twenty fucking years and he still can't just say what he wants."

"His loss," Alexis says, hand rubbing Velvet's back. "Our gain."

We stand there, new pack comforting our omega while her past drives away, and I think: this is what choosing looks like.

Messy. Complicated.