Page 113 of Knot Only For One Night

“Esper, do you even know what you signed up for?” His voice is sharp. Slicing through my happiness like a butcher's knife in raw meat. I scoff.

“I do,” I say, but he shakes his head.

“Don’t. You don’t. We can’t give you what you need!” We’re arguing now, taking a step closer with each of our statements as if that will make the other hear us better. Reed’s brown eyes are filled with confusion, anger, and I just don't understand why.

“What does that mean, Reed?” I ask.

“We can’t give you a huge house and white picket fence⁠—”

“When did I say I wanted those things?”

“We can’t even protect you, we’re going into war with the Outlaws who only have their sights on you because of us. You’re in danger and you can’t even see that.”

Chills run down my back as the memory of Soren’s brothers beating on him makes me sick. I scoff. If anything, now I truly understand what I signed on for.

And I’m not fucking scared.

“I can see perfectly fucking clear. I can make choices. This is my life, Reed. I get to choose.”

“But you haven’t thought them through, Esper.” Reed runs his hands through his hair, pulling his blond strands as if I’m being the unreasonable one.

“Who are you to say that?” I spit.

“By the fact you bonded Soren. No discussion, no proper courting, no⁠—”

“Just because you’ve been sitting on your ass twiddling your thumbs doesn’t mean I have,” Soren says. He’s like my shadow, his hand sliding across my back and wrapping around my hip. His body against my back, supporting me as Reed lashes out at me.

“What even happened today? You look like shit. Outlaws sneak up on you? He make you feel bad and⁠—”

“Stop right fucking there.” Neven’s bark has us all freezing. “If you can’t respect Esper and Soren’s choice, Reed, well, too fucking bad.”

“As if you're the perfect role model. Did you even tell Esper about that damn job offer you got? About how you were gonna leave?” Reed turns to me, his face twisted in all sorts of hurt and pain, and for a moment my anger escapes me. “You don’t even know half of what's going on. How could you bond into a dangerous situation without even thinking about it?”

“What are you talking about?” Neven got a job offer? When? My mind races as my breath gets stuck in my throat.

I shake my head, trying to calm down. I know about the Outlaws, Soren’s brothers, but that doesn't make me love them any less.

So Neven got a job offer. So what? We’ll make it work. Packs always make it work.

Don’t panic, Esper.

Something like this can’t scare me. Not when time and time again they’ve proven what lengths they'll go to to protect me.

What lengths I’ll go to to protect them.

The taser in my purse feels heavy. The gift from Soren was a bit odd, but I knew it was his way of showing his care for me. I truly never thought I’d actually need to use it.

But I did. I could. Because in that moment, I had to.

My hand finds Soren’s, squeezing him to remind myself he's here and okay.

“Neven was leaving the MC,” Reed spits, and I raise my eyebrows, challenging him.

“That's his choice.”

“To work for a tech company in Florida.”

My eyes dart to Neven. He had his hair rebraided recently. His glasses high on his face. He doesn’t contradict Reed’s angry words. My heart cracks at the thought of him leaving, and more importantly him not telling me.