Her descenters and suppressants aren’t able to hide the nuances of her scent anymore. They can’t completely block scent matches from each other anyway, but especially now that we’ve smelled her unfettered arousal, it’s easy to pick up those subtle notes.
“You can’t assume how someone feels based on their scent,” Orion says.
“You don’t know what she’s thinking,” Magnus says.
I growl.
If they think that, they’re not paying attention. Hestia’s eyes dilate when she looks at us, always following usaround to be near us. Cuddling on the couch, letting us feed her and buy her things. She wouldn’t accept so much attention and affection from alphas she wasn’t interested in.
“She wants us just as much as we want her. Why are you lying to yourselves,” I say.
There are fewer objections this time. Finally, we’re getting somewhere.
“Even if Hestiaisinterested in us—” Orion says.
“She is,” I interject.
“Nothing can happen. She’s still our subordinate,” he finishes.
“I have a Plan. If you do what I say, we’ll be together by Yule,withcompany approval,” I say.
“And how exactly is that going to happen?” Charm asks skeptically.
“Just follow these simple steps, and I promise we’ll be mated by New Year’s,” I say.
They interrupt before I can explain what to do. Maybe I should have held off on telling them about the bonding part.
“Even if your plan works, our pack is legally closed. We’re not supposed to be courting anyone,” Charm says.
“So, we open it up,” I say, and forge ahead before they can make up another argument.
I only lay out the first few parts of my Plan. After how long it took them to agree to it (or shut up long enough to listen), I want to leave a little mystery so they can’t pick it apart.
They try to make me tell them the final few steps and how I’ll get HR to agree to this, but I don’t give in. We need to stay focused on the present to ensure the first part of the Plan goes well. Otherwise, we won’t make it tothe end anyway.
After more unnecessary back and forth, they concede to trying my ideas. They claim it’s only because it involves things we’d do anyway, but I know they’re just afraid to admit they want to follow my Plan.
And just in time. I hear Hestia shuffling down the hall, coming to raid the kitchen.
I slip out the doors ahead of my packmates to join her midnight snack party.
Chapter 41
Hestia
Itie a knot and pull it tight, checking that the rope is snug against the wood.
I sigh wistfully, picturing other knots.
“Is your end ready?”
I’malwaysready these days. I get so slick around my bosses, their knots could slip in whenever they wanted.
Charm cages me in with his arms, trapping me against the log.
“You’ve got it tied securely,” he says, pulling on the rope. “Is something wrong?”
“Oh! No, sorry. It’s ready,” I say, ducking my head.
