Page 20 of Knot So Social

A quiet pause. “Is Tracey gonna be upset that I called?”

“Yeah. We’re out for dinner with friends. What’s going on? Are you sick? You sound kinda husky.”

“Well, it’s not a big deal . . . I guess.”

Heels click on the floorboards, and I snap alert to find Tracey stalking toward me, her rigid body blooming with rage. Well, shit.

She stabs a finger at me and then the phone in a silent order.

I nod. “Gotta go man. Take care, you hear.”

My twin makes a weird choking sound, but I’m too busy hanging up.

“For fuck’s sake!” Tracey hisses. “You really plan to take that loser’s call right in the middle of dinner? Let him sort his own shit out, Joel! All he’s good for is using his dick.”

Fuck, the line hadn’t disconnected yet. I cringe. Even if people think that way, I don’t need my brother hearing it.

“Is that really necessary?” I snap. “I haven’t even been gone three minutes.”

Unfortunately, I’m still up in my alpha head, and my words come out loaded with growl.

Tracey cringes away from me.

“Joel!” Her voice cracks and when she glances over her shoulder at me, tears glisten in her eyes. “How could you?”

Fuck me! I grip my alpha dominance and shove it back where it belongs. “Tracey, I’m—”

She chokes on a sob. “You know how much that scares me. And am I really asking too much? It’s good manners not to be on your phone when we’re out with friends but you . . . you just don’t care!”

My Beautiful fiancé bursts into tears and whirls around.

“Tracey!” I chase after her down the hall, but she breaks into a run and dashes right into our friend circle.

Beau’s the first to notice her tears. “Honey! What’s wrong?

She buries her face in his shoulder. “Joel used an alpha bark on me.”

“Not exactly a bark,” I mutter.

Tracey glares up at me with red-rimmed eyes, and a sense of doom settles on me. The labels don’t matter; the problem is I scared my girl. The last thing I want is to chase away another life partner with my carelessness, not when we’ve found so much happiness together.

I crouch down beside her chair. “I’m sorry, Tracey. Really. I didn’t mean to raise my voice at you.”

“Geez, Joel.” Belinda frowns, twisting the ring on her finger. “You know Tracey’s a sensitive beta. You really need to keep it in, especially since you’re not the most easy-going alpha around.”

I’m not sure exactly what that means or why she thinks so, but her words act like a knife in my belly. Even though I’m trying so hard, turns out I’m still a jerk.

Pete eyes me over his wine glass as he sips, his gaze troubled—he probably thinks I’m an asshole as well.

I turn away from their stares and rest my hands on Tracey’s knee. “Babe? Please forgive me?”

She hiccups and nods, leaning down to hug me around the neck. “I’m going to be your wife, Joel,” she whispers, nuzzling into my neck. “Please, make me your priority.”

She’s right. When you commit to a person, you commit for good. That’s what watching my parent’s marriage taught me, as well as learning from my own fuck ups.

I hug her tight, but the rigidness in her body says everything’s not forgotten yet. She’ll want to talk about this later and will probably ask how I plan to keep my alpha under control.

After I’ve dried her tears and climbed back into my seat, holding her hand on the table where everyone can see, I paste a smile on my face and think about ways I can make this up to her.