Page 63 of Knot Your Basic B*tch

“Well, no,” I admitted.

Okay. So honestly, I took this job because I was sick of all the excitement and was ready for something stable and boring.

I just wasn’t expecting the quiet and boring job to be so… well,boring.

Well, I would have been fine ifboringwas the only problem. When that job wasn’t boring, it was psychologically damaging. Why did people think it was okay to take all of their aggression out on receptionists?

Their poor planning and lack of communication skills werenotmy fault.

“Ugh, I can’t believe that I gave up my scent matches to work at a dental office,” I ran both my fingers through my hair, mussing it up.

“Wait, what? Since when has my Baby got scent matches?” Daddy-Gee was looking at the door, like he was just about ready to go track down my alphas and beat them up just for existing.

Mother silenced him with a sharp, “Genesis!”

“Sorry, Honey,” Daddy-Gee muttered.

“Can you tell us what happened?” Mother soothed a palm down my forehead, smoothing down my hair.

“I thought that all I wanted was a bit of peace and quiet. This job was supposed to be that. It was going to be the start of a brand-new life. I was going to prove myself. But it wasn’t quiet, it was filled with assholes, and I hated every minute of it.”

Mother nodded encouragingly, showing me that she was listening.

“And it’s one thing that I have to give up on my career dreams. Just like last week, I practically broke up with my scent matches so that I could start working there.” I’d given up everything… any chance for a social life back at the Institute. Vast chunks of my mental health. Worst of all, I’d hurt my alphas… so that I could fetch coffee for asshole dentists.

“Chloe… just because they’re your scent matches doesn’t mean that you need to feel forced to be with them.”

Mother probably thought that I was using the work thing as an excuse not to bond them… which couldn’t be further from the truth.

I shook my head. “It’s not like that. I love them.”

“Well then, is there any reason why you can’t go be with your alphas?” Mother was tilting her head to the side as she pursed her lips. It was as if she could see the dots in this conversation and had no idea how they connected.

Ha.

So that was a great question Mother brought up. Why couldn’t I just be with my alphas?

Even though it was hard to admit it, even to myself… the answer was yes. Though I’d tried to pretend like everything was fine… Ididhave genuine concerns about being with my scent matches.

I took a deep breath, bracing myself to be vulnerable. This was a safe space. Who was better than Mother to help me sort through my deepest and darkest fears?

“You know how my scent is vanilla? They are chocolate, strawberry and banana. Together we literally smell like a neapolitan banana split.”

Mother pinched her lips together, forcing herself not to react.

Daddy-Gee didn’t have that kind of restraint.

“That sounds really serious… ” then he dropped the sarcastic tone and whatever else he was going to say as Mother glared at him.

Okay, my parents weren’t acting like the scent thing was a big deal… Maybe I was overreacting about that…

But that wasn’t even the biggest issue.

“That’s not even the worst part. Their last name is Fanny. If I accepted them… we would all be known as the Fanny Pack.” Tears started to well up, stinging my eyes again… even after I thought I’d cried them all out. “I’m going to be known as the omega from the Fanny Pack.”

Mother winced each time I said their pack name. So, I knew that things weren’t looking good. But I really knew that I was right to be concerned about the last name when Daddy-Gee didn’t even crack a dumb joke about it.

“You know, it’s alright for the pack to choose the name of one of the other alphas, if they all agreed on it. It doesn’t need to be based on the Pack lead.” Daddy-Gee’s voice was grim, any hint of laughter completely gone.