Page 169 of Knot So Social

I look back at the topic I’m reading about. “Hey, Willow?”

Her lashes flutter upward as she lifts her head. “Hmm?”

“What does success mean to you?”

She smiles, gaze softening. “For me, it’s been about achieving independence. A big part of that is financial, but also the skills to be able to manage a team, grow a business from zero, and live alone.” She sweeps one hand around to indicate the house. “But having you guys here is making me think I might have missed a tiny element.”

She holds her thumb and forefinger and inch apart.

“Oh?” Jeremy asks from the kitchen. “What might that be.”

Willow smiles. “I’m not sure I can put it into words yet. Just something I was missing.”

Alessandro looks up from his screen. “Sounds like you need to do this course again.”

She giggles and nudges her shoulder into him, her Jasmine scent sweetening the room.

I go back to my screen, a smile tugging at my lips and a warmth growing in my alpha soul. Sounds like our omega is happy to have found her alphas.

“Wait.” Jeremy taps his knife on a cutting board. “Why are you asking about success, Joel?”

I shrug. “It’s in the module. Success and setting goals.”

His eyes widen. “What? My module was about financial freedom.”

Alessandro throws up his hands with what sounds like a curse in Italian. “Then why am I reading about how to attract new clients?”

Willow covers her mouth with her hands, but it doesn’t hide her laughter.

I raise my brows.

“I told you, the initial questionnaire directs you to what you show the most interest in.” She rises from her chair and heads for the door, throwing a cheeky grin over her shoulder. “You’ll have to all get on the same page if you want that date with me.”

As I suspected, she’s managing us. I like it. Her motives are so pure, and she’s enjoying herself so much, it only makes me more excited to see where this pack goes. Instead of forcing me to change, this omega is giving me ways to find what matters most for myself.

I chuckle under my breath as I turn back to my screen.

Chapter fifty-two

Alessandro

My life changes overnight. Instead of coming home to an empty shack, my day now revolves around a pack that’s bursting with life. The three of us alphas get to know each other, but our primary concern is always Willow. In fact, there’s a touch of rivalry around trying to discover something she likes before the others.

I learn her favorite flowers, gladiolus, while Joel guesses her favorite chocolate, mint. Jeremy discovers that a shoulder massage relaxes her enough to fall asleep on the spot.

With three alphas and two dogs in the house, something’s always happening as I come and go from work

About half of my clients cancel, but the others don’t even mention the Warkows. Either they didn’t get the lies-memo, or they don't care, and I’m not about to raise the topic first. Mr Monstead ignored all communication about his outstanding invoice, and in the end, I wrote off the cost simply to ease my state of mind. Driving along their street makes my heart ache, so I take other routes whenever possible.

I plan to run advertisements soon, but for the time being I enjoy my extra time with the Boss pack as we find our rhythm. And learn some new skills. One of the most impactful things in Willow’s program has been the idea that money can work harder than I can. I’ve witnessed this truth in action among the wealthy clients whose gardens I take care of but never thought it was something applicable to me.

It took meeting a housebound omega to open my eyes to the bigger, interconnected world.

“Come on, Jock,” I call, tugging the leash lightly to encourage him away from a streetlamp post and back onto our run path. We’re only half a mile from home now, having worked up our distance over the past few days as the dog gets fitter.

Mr Shares is too lazy to run with us, but he waits at the fence, tongue lolling as we jog up to the gate.

I greet him with lots of praise and petting and then unleash Jock so the two can frolic in the yard. They play for a minute before Jock runs across the garden with his nose to the ground, pissing his way around the perimeter. Mr Shares trots after him, covering over the same spots.