Page 84 of Knot Only For One Night

“Of course I do. My omega gave it to me.”

She smiles and sets it down with care, and my stomach churns with a realization.

We have got to be the worst Pack ever. Our omega has gotten us each gifts and we’ve yet to give her one.

Shit, we have to fix that.

Red reappears with his arms full of blankets.

“Brought supplies for a fort,” he says, setting the blankets on the armchair and shoving the couch into whatever he considers optimum blanket fort positioning.

“Sure, by all means, make yourself at home,” I say with an eyeroll and a chuckle. Not all that long ago, Red barging in and rearranging my shit without so much as a May I? would’ve boiled my blood. Now, though, Esper’s eyes light as she sorts through the blankets, a mix of sheets and heavier throws, and I could not give less of a fuck what happens to my stuff. So long as that smile stays put.

“Heard there was a party in here,” Ash says with a tray of weed and a few pillows tucked under his arms. Soren follows in after him, with even more blankets and pillows.

Did they fucking steal soft and cuddly things from every Wolf on the premises?

Esper and Red get to work. Flipping and tossing blankets like a 2000s romcom come to life. Asher tries to help, but apparently his instincts leave something to be desired. While Esper quietly fixes whatever he got wrong, Red loudly corrects him with insults, though Asher only smiles and keeps on.

Soren rolls blunt after blunt, a small pile stacking up on the counter before us. I brought him up to speed on Esper’s afternoon, including the post-interview meltdown and the run-in at the dorm.

“What’s our move, then?” Soren mutters, trying to be quiet so Esper can’t hear. Unlike Red and Ash, Soren can control his temper, even if he’s as pissed as I am about the whole thing.

“I’ll start with figuring out who was complaining. Getting her back in the building may be a lost cause at this point.”

We did technically break the rules staying over last night, and they have the evidence needed to enforce the consequence.

No, the question I couldn’t get out of my head was how did they know? There are no cameras in the dorms, not even the hallways, and we were careful on our way in and out.

Soren hums, and I go back to watching my omegas wrestle blankets.

“Well, be that as it may, buildings can and do mysteriously catch fire, and windows can and do get broken.”

“Damn right about that.”

“It’s done!” Esper waves her hand at us. Soren grabs the tray and I turn to my cabinet, grabbing snacks before meeting Esper at the entrance of the huge blanket fort in my living room.

“Asher, you go there. Reed, next to him. Soren, right there. Can I lay on you?”

“Please do, Trouble.”

“I want her to lay on me,” Red says in something suspiciously close to a whine, but Soren scoffs.

“She picked me.”

“I’ll lay on you next time,” Esper promises, directing me to sit next to Soren. Crawling in, she lays on her stomach on Soren, the rest of us getting comfortable in the confined space.

Esper’s the only one among us who grew up in a Pack. The rest of us don’t have the sense of normalcy around the multiple partner thing. Even so, I have to say, we all take to it pretty well.

CHAPTER 28

ESPER

Reed’s voice is more vulnerable than I’ve ever heard as we approach the door. “This…is my nest.”

When Reed said he wanted to show me something, I had an inkling as to what it could be. Despite all the push and pull we’ve had, Reed seems committed to me, to this, and yet I’m on edge.

Even after all this time, I can't help but constantly scan him for signs of doubt or regret, signals he’s on the verge of running again. He was adamant about not having a Pack. He hated what it meant for him, and I couldn’t blame him for it.