Page 100 of Knotted By my Pack

I nod, feeling a sliver of calm at the offer. “Yes. Please.”

The door clicks shut behind her. I cross the room slowly, heart settling into a quieter rhythm. When I finally check my phone, there’s a message from Elias.

How’s your morning?

I call him. He picks up immediately.

“I was coming to see you,” he says.

“Don’t,” I murmur, voice low. “Can I come to the cabin instead?”

A beat. “Yes.”

I exhale and hang up, already heading for the door. I need to relax, and I think I know exactly what to do.

29

ELIAS

The eggs are done when I reach for the oven mitt and pull out the tray of hash browns. Crispy. Golden. Perfect. I toss one to Rusty, who catches it mid-air like the spoiled bastard he is.

“Stop judging me,” I tell him as I turn back to the skillet, flipping a sausage link and grinning like an idiot.

She said she was coming and now I’m standing here practically giddy, my body keyed up like a goddamn teenager.

Rusty lets out a low bark and pads toward the door.

Then I hear it. Tires against gravel. A car door shutting. I wipe my hands on the dishtowel and walk to the front door. When I pull it open, the air shifts.

She’s standing there in a loose sweater, jeans hugging her hips in a way that makes my pulse stumble. Her hair’s tucked under a baseball cap and her smile is casual, but there’s something behind it. Something electric.

“Hey,” I say, voice low.

Even from here, I catch Noah’s scent. And Julian’s. Her body is still wearing them. And yet, instead of jealousy, something darker curls low in my gut. Desire. Maybe it should piss me off,but it doesn’t. She looks like a goddamn dream, and I want to peel that outfit off with my teeth.

“Hey,” she says back, already walking up. She presses her mouth to mine like we haven’t been apart at all. It’s soft at first, just enough to tease, and then Rusty wiggles between us, tail thumping.

She laughs, pulling away to crouch and pet him. “Hi, handsome boy.”

I fold my arms, watching her hands in his fur. “Why are you dressed like that?”

She glances up. “You said we could go hiking.”

“Yeah. I did. You’re serious? You want to go hiking right now?”

She stands and lifts her chin. “Unless that offer’s expired?”

“Not even close.” I take a step forward. “But I have one condition.”

“Let me guess. You carry me?”

“Over my shoulder,” I confirm. “Right now.”

She laughs again, glancing past me into the cabin. “Place smells amazing.”

“It does,” I say. But I’m not talking about the food. I’m talking about her. All warm skin and sweat and sex. She smells like everything I’ve been starving for.

I back her toward the wall just inside the door. Her lips part slightly, like she knows exactly what’s coming.