Page 164 of Rot In Knotty Pieces

“We are Merle Kestrel, and we killed him,” I whisper to the shadows of our inner self.

“Tallie is who we were,” I say to the chamber. “We survived. We earned that name.”

I look over my shoulder, and in the dark, I see a girl walking. She’s wearing a party hat and smiling widely as she disappears and then fades completely from view.

Merle Kestrel is who we became to survive.

Flames flicker out of the corner of my eye.

And with Pix and our alphas beside us, we will become Pack Phoenix. We’re born again, with another chance to live another life. After all, so many sacrificed for us, fought for us, stood up for and with us. I think of Callea. Died for us. I look at Jay, Dove, and Phoenix. Stepped back so we could live.

We have to live a good life. We have to live it well.

“Go have fun,” Raven says and shoves me gently away from the group.

I laugh and blink my eyes open. Sage is sitting beside me, and he smiles lazily when I open my eyes.

“Come play with me, Alpha.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I think I see sparks in the air, but I just smile and walk into the night.

He stands up, following me into the forest, not even questioning where I’m leading him.

And like the dark threats they are, my pack bleeds out of the shadows, following where I go, as if I am the light in their dark.

Kestrel

Iam not a joiner.

I shouldn’t have to do this.

“Come on, it can’t be worse than-”

“Shut your face, it's so much worse,” I snarl and pick at the white and pink maxi dress that Blaze bought me.

It’s pretty, but I feel naked. This isn’t blending in at all.

“FUCK YOU!”

I whip my head to the front door and watch as it opens, and Mark storms out. He’s got no shirt on, just a pair of jeans, and five dogs trot after him like he’s their god.

“Hey, babes,” Pix purrs.

Mark sees him and detours to us. “Thank god you are here. Come and talk sense into this crazy woman.”

“Meg?”

“Why do you always assume I’m the crazy one?” Meg whines from behind us.

I keep the hysterical words locked behind my teeth. Home. I want to go home.

“Because you freaking are,” Mark mutters. “But in this case, I’m talking about Mum. She’s lost it. She wants to set me up on dates.”

“Oh, dear lord, no!” Pix says dryly.

“Pix, I can still give you purple nurples.”

“What’s a purple nurple?” I ask before I can stop myself.