Page 27 of Knot Now Knot Ever

Originally, I hadn’t planned to bring this up so quickly with my new pack, but it would affect all of us since we needed to reach out to the Scent Matcher organization about Lyra. Setting my phone aside, I took a deep breath and decided now was as good a time as any.

“I’ve seen the articles you’re referring to about Bailey-Rose, and, as you said, things can get twisted or left out entirely. My sister had been seeing Randall for about six months, only to discover he’d been cheating on her. Two major details were left out of the press, one being my sister was rejected from participating in being scent-matched due to a heart condition. Since she and I share the same father, I was also excluded, but that isn’t related to this situation,” I said, brushing past that bit of information for now. I’m sure they’d have questions, but first. I needed to warn them of what was coming.

“Shortly after my sister ended things with Randall, she discovered one of her scent-matched Alphas was my brother’s best friend who’d been out of state for a few years. The rest of his pack was introduced to her, and they clicked instantly. My biggest fear had always been that whoever she ended up with wouldn’t properly take care of her, but these men jumped in with both feet, prepared to do whatever it took. Randall discovered Bailey-Rose was being courted by a pack, and he couldn’t stand it, claiming she was his and they couldn’t have her. Things continued to get worse until he tried to kidnap her but failed and landed her in the hospital.” I paused, seeing the horrified looks on their faces.

Zachary’s hands balled into fists as anger at the situation flickered through his dark brown eyes. “Please tell me your sister’s all right.”

“Thankfully, she is. In fact, what happened turned out to be a blessing since it forced her to go through a risky operation that ultimately has given her so much more freedom,” I assured him with a smile, thinking of the pictures she sent me from their travels. “Randall, however, managed to evade the cops for roughly two months. Taking matters into my own hands, I hired a PI and had them look into Randall. Eventually, information came to light about another pack he’d been matched with but was kicked out of and banned for abusing his Omega. Put her in the hospital too.”

“What?” Tanner snapped. “They didn’t arrest him?”

“That was my thinking as well… how could this man get away with something so heinous? Turns out his mother is a Scent Matcher. She covered up all his mistakes, changed his last name, and even let him pick out an Omega of his choosing off the list of rejected Omegas. The one he chose was my sister,” I bit out, feeling my anger over the situation bubbling up just thinking about it.

“I hope I’m right in assuming you plan to do something about his mother’s interference,” Pascal commented.

“Yes, papers are being filed tomorrow to sue and charge her with criminal endangerment of an Omega,” I shared. “My lawyer believes she’ll be served by the end of the week.”

This seemed to surprise them, creating an awkward silence I let continue, feeling it was best to let them process that information. These allegations were serious, and no one had ever gone after a Scent Matcher in this manner, but there always needed to be a first time.

“Holy shit, you don’t mess around, do you,” Zachary finally said, breaking the spell on the others.

I leaned forward and pinned the man with my gaze. “No one endangers my family and gets away with it, not while I can do something so it never happens again. To be clear, that now applies to each of you as well as Fawn and Lyra.”

“Understood,” Zachary acknowledged, deferring to dominance on the matter.

At his acceptance of my terms, the tension I didn’t know I’d been holding onto eased. Growing up, I didn’t have many friends—they claimed I was bossy and wouldn’t let them play how they wanted. My need for order and structure was something that had been a foundation of my being and only got more intense after my designation was revealed. No one was shocked in the slightest that I was an Alpha, but I don’t think anyone was prepared for just how strongly my designation would influence every part of my life.

I feared that when it came to a pack, they would view me just as those children had. Yet Zachary was proving that maybe I hadn’t met the right people. It wasn’t my goal to be a dictator or set rules for everyone to follow, but in certain situations, there were things I would not bend or negotiate about. Protecting my family and the people I cared about was at the top of that list, and these men respected that.

“Thank you,” I said, hoping my gratefulness came through at his acceptance. “I hadn’t planned to bring this up so soon, but with Lyra, I felt it was best you knew.”

“It seems it might be wise to stop by the Scent Matcher’s headquarters while we’re on this side of town and took the day off,” Pascal pointed out. “If we talk to them before anything about this lawsuit comes to light, they won’t have a reason to give us a hard time.”

“Sounds good to me. The sooner we find out what their answer is, the easier it will be to rearrange my schedule,” Zachary agreed.

“What is it you do for work?” I asked, feeling bad for not trying to get to know these men.

Zachary grinned and pulled a business card out of his breast pocket. “I’m a barber at a shop off Windgate in the Hightower Building.”

Taking the card, I looked it over and recognized the shop’s name. The Slick Finish was a barber shop that catered to a clientele who could easily pay over a hundred dollars every two weeks for a cut and shave. I’m sure some went weekly for the shave if the experience was as luxurious as people claim.

“Don’t downplay things,” Tanner scolded, affectionately gripping Zachary’s neck to shake the man. “He’s a master barber with a waiting list of people who’d kill to be one of his clients. Zac has worked his ass off to get that certification, taking extra classes and building a solid following.”

“Tee,” Zachary grumbled as I saw his face turn red from embarrassment. “Stop, you know I don’t like to brag. It’s not as attractive as you think it is.”

Tanner’s face told me this was a disagreement they often had, so I cut in before it turned into an argument. “I understand not wanting to flaunt your success in the face of others, but there is a difference between bragging and sharing your skill level. The shop’s reputation alone tells me you’re not the average barber, plus I asked for the information.”

“See, he gets it,” Tanner said as he grasped Zachary’s chin and turned his face to kiss the man. “You know I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable, but I’m really fucking proud of you, Zac.”

Zachary’s whole body relaxed at hearing his partner’s words, and he kissed Tanner back. “I love you, too, but let’s not overdo it on the PDA in front of Eli. Let the man get to know us a little first.”

“Right. Sorry, it’s just so comfortable to have you here that I forgot we’d only just met,” Tanner apologized, his attention back on me. “For a while, I had to live life like everyone was watching, and it made me more reserved in my relationships. I was once a pro skateboarder but had a bad accident which made it so I couldn’t compete anymore. Zachary and I met three years ago when he’d first been hired by Slick Finish and came into my coffee shop, Primo Grind.”

I blinked in surprise at the drastic change in his career. “What made you choose to open a coffee shop? I would think there are still other opportunities in the skateboard world you could have ventured into.”

“There were, but I needed to get out of that lifestyle. It was too painful to watch others do what I thought I was born to do but now couldn’t. Coffee has always been something I enjoyed and liked to experiment with. Once I dove into learning how to roast my own shit, I was hooked,” Tanner shared with a shrug and an easy smile. “Plus, I like being my own boss. It gives me the freedom to set the schedule that works for my life.”

That might work for a small business, but I’d never found it easy to build work around my life. Of course, now that I would be courting not one but two Omegas and growing a connection with these men, changes had to be made. No doubt my mother was already plotting behind the scenes to ensure I could take a step back, at least for a little while.