Page 111 of Trick Knot Treat

I look at the shell, flip it over, and then set it down. When I move, I move quickly, and before he knows it, I have him in my arms, against his closed bedroom door, and I’m kissing like it’s breathing.

“You don’t need to steal. I will give you gifts. I will stay with you, Felix. If…” I almost can’t say the words, “if she goes. We’ll figure it out because I’m not just here for her. Not anymore.”

He stares at me with such vulnerability. I cup his face and lean in and kiss him again, softer, tender.

“Your scent is growing warmer in me, familiar. I like your smells, I like you. I…I haven’t felt this safe since the fire. Since…”

I close my eyes.

“I’m grumpy and a bit damaged. Asher is right, you deserve someone better, happy like Clint or Jace or her. I…”

Felix is silent, not saying a word, just letting me get it all out.

“But I want you.”

He closes his eyes for a moment, and when he opens them, he slowly licks his bottom lip.

“I want you, too, Alpha. You are just right for me. I don’t need what Asher thinks I need, maybe I’m a little broken, too. Maybe I’m a little scared and lonely and feeling like I don’t fit in.”

“You fit with me,” I murmur and lean in. He tilts his head back, and I kiss him, pressed up against his childhood bedroom door, feeling like this might be a start, a new start, something for both of us.

When we make our way downstairs, everyone is gone, but Franco waves us into the kitchen, where Milton hands out secret recipe cocoa. I have no idea what that is, but Felix has smiled so wide, I immediately make a mental note to find out the recipe so I can make it for him.

“So, you’re a pack?” Milton asks with a grin.

“Yep.”

He looks at Clint. “You are really loving this, aren’t you?”

“Absolutely. I think everyone knows she put me with Asher because she was sure we wouldn’t fit. This is karma.”

Milton frowns. “Be nice, she’s going to be your future bonded’s mother.”

Clint’s smirk vanishes. “Ah, okay, I better think about this.”

“A wise decision.”

Spectre lets out a boof, and then he and Danger race through the kitchen, disappearing into the back of the house. We all watch the doorway.

“Huh,” Milton says happily.

“What?”

“It’s just so adorable. So, where are you guys planning on living?”

Khione looks up, and her smile fades. “Uh, actually, I’m not staying.”

And just like that, this home becomes just a house.

Chapter 26

Khione

The mood has sunk. No one really asked me to explain, but when we get out onto the street and start making our way back to the car, I find that Jace is walking slower than the rest of us.

“Jace?”

He looks up and stops walking. The wind is messing up his hair, his eyes are intense, he looks strong and like the kind of alpha who can take on an army and still come out golden.