Page 100 of Knot Their Soldier: Part Three

They’re beautiful and permanent, and I’ll cherish them for the rest of my life. They strengthened what already existed between us, deepened the connection, and gave the world something visible to see when it looks at me.

But they didn’t create our Pack.

We became a Pack the long way by learning how to love each other with our flaws showing and choosing to stay anyway.

Stone was wrong.

We were already a Pack all along.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Knox

I'd like to say that I've had a dream like this once. A fantasy of the perfect life, with all of my favorite people together, happy and alive.

But, truthfully, how could I ever have dreamed that in this little run-down stone shack, on top of a blisteringly cold mountain, I'd find such profound peace?

The stone cabin is still cold in the corners, even with the little fireplace doing its best and the oven firing hot. The kitchen smells like bacon fat and salt, and it is almost obscene in its normalcy.

Breakfast.

With actual fresh bacon and eggs, not freeze-dried rations, and it's at a proper dining table with a solid roof over our heads instead of a collapsible table shoved in a tent.

This is far more domestic than my Pack of trained killers has any right to be.

I lean my shoulder against the bathroom doorway and just… watch.

Viper stands over the cast-iron pan with his tongue held between his teeth. He holds the spatula the same way he holds his combat knife, years of training hard to shake even in such mundane tasks. His sleeves are pushed up, his forearms flexing as he flips an egg, trying to keep the yolk from breaking. He knows I like my yolk jammy but intact.

How did I get to an existence where someone knows me so intimately? All the way down to how I like my eggs? It seems absurd.

Shade moves behind him, quiet as a ghost, collecting plates and wiping down the counter with steady, efficient motions. He does it without being asked.

Blaze is in the chair next to Halley, sitting sideways as his knee bounces, his eyes never leaving her. He doesn’t even blink when Viper drops a plate filled with scrambled eggs — Blaze’s preferred style, because of course the most chaotic man alive prefers his breakfast beaten into submission — and bacon in front of him with a clipped, "Eat."

Blaze ignores his food in favor of leaning closer to Halley, a forkful of bacon hovering in front of her face. He's crooning at her in a low, coaxing voice: "Come on, Sparkles. Open wide, you can’t run on only knots and stubbornness."

Halley sits at the breakfast table, wrapped in a blanket with only her head poking out. The strict side of me wants to insist she sit up straight while eating a meal, but the Alpha in me swoons a little at how cute she is. Her hair is a mess, her cheeks still a little flushed from sleep, and the soft scent of happy Omega curls through the cabin.

"I can feed myself," she says while reaching to grab the fork from his hand.

Blaze immediately leans back and pulls it out of her reach. "Absolutely not."

Halley pauses, hand hovering mid-reach. "What do you mean, absolutely not?"

"I mean," Blaze says, dead serious, "I am feeding you and you're going to let me."

Halley blinks once. Then again. "I have hands and I'm not in heat anymore."

Blaze lifts the fork and presses it against her pursed lips, face pulled in dissatisfaction and mild annoyance. "I liked doing it when you were all dopey while in heat. Made me feel like I had a purpose."

Viper doesn’t look over as he carries the pan to the sink, but his voice cuts in, dry. "I think you'll find your purpose is to eat your own damn breakfast before it gets cold."

Blaze doesn’t even glance away from Halley. "Multitasking. I'll get to it later, I'm busy right now."

Shade sets down a mug of coffee with a soft clink, then reaches for the butter, calm as ever. "You're making it take longer than it needs to. Just let her eat, Blaze."

"It’s going to take exactly as long as it should," Blaze corrects, and then points the fork at Halley's pursed lips again. "Open."