Page 54 of Knot As It Seems

The table is long enough that I can walk from one end to the other and get different viewpoints of the house, and that different vantage point is what finally does it, what makes it sink in that I don’t ever have to leave this place, and no one’s asking me to hide in it.

Ignoring the curious looks and stares, I continue to survey the room like it’s my kingdom, letting my omega rise to the surface and get all bubbly that we’ve found our alphas and they’re providing. Maybe I can start to dream about what I want to do with my life outside of just surviving.

I look at the kitchen cabinets, full of kitchen things and not empty spaces for me to disappear into, then the couch where I know we’re going to hang out and watch shows together, to the staircase that leads to the bedrooms and my wonderful, beautiful nest, and the windows looking out to their massive yard and the front door and just,everything.

I grab my orange juice glass from where I was sitting and hold it up, waiting for everyone’s attention. “I’ve never done this before, but…I would like to make a toast. That’s what you say, right? I think so. I want to raise a toast to this pack, for the possibilities of what we can become, and how we’re all here, together, and there’s not a single one of you I feel like punching. Well done.”

Amused, Moon stands up, brandishing his ice water. “A toast to our omega, for being patient with us and for allowing us to prove ourselves to you, and for helping us to see that things are not always as they seem.”

Monet is next with coffee. “To Fable, for helping us to remember that there’s light in the world, and that being part of a pack means we’re never going to be in the dark.”

Clement. “To all of you, my packmates, but mostly our beautiful omega, for making this house into a home we want to be in, at long last.”

Edric. “To Fable, for reminding us it’s okay to be gentle.”

Jos clears his throat and holds his mug of tea between his hands, contemplating before meeting my eyes and making his impromptu toast. “To you, Fable, for seeing all of us, and wanting us anyway.”

I crack a smile at that, tears forming in my eyes at how overwhelmed with affection I am; but we can’t stop until everyone’s said something cheesy and embarrassing, so we all turn to Calloway and wait for him to think of something. We don’t wait long.

“To our darling girl, for proving my family wrong and making me feel like a better alpha for having been around you these past weeks.”

Finally it’s Anderson’s turn and he looks a bit nervous. He doesn’t have a drink, but he climbs up onto the table with me, directly under the enormous chandelier and the vaulted ceilings.

When he speaks, it’s quiet, but I know everyone can hear him. They’re all crowding into the table, hands ready in case I somehow trip and try to fall to my death, tuned in completely to whatever Anderson is about to tell them.

“When I met you, Fable, I was confused and panicking because even through that window you were behind, something inside my chest knew you were meant for me. I’ve been looking for missing pieces of a life I wanted for a long time now, because life in Trash Haven has never been what I thought life should be. It’s hard to think about how different things might have been if any number of variables changed, but we’re living in the reality of variables that led us here, to this moment, where we’re standing on a table and making weird announcements.”

We all laugh at this, the sense of pack encompassing everyone and binding us more tightly together.

“When I was little, I never thought much about vampires, certainly didn’t dream about becoming one, but if I could go back in time to see my younger self, I’d make him dream about just that, because I’d tell him that becoming this, as awful as the transition was, and as sick as it made me, was all worth it, because I get you.”

He turns his head to the side, addressing his packmates. “Not only do I get you, Fable, but I get these guys, who are strong enough to keep me in place, yet empathetic enough to sense when I need room for growth. This is our family, our pack, and whatever comes next, it’s going tobe a hell of a ride. To our pack. Let’s keep doing weird shit and supporting each other, and may we never forget how to laugh.”

We all toast to that and then Anderson pulls me into his arms, the rest of the guys escorting me off the table, and breakfast resumes with very little fanfare. We joke and steal food off plates that aren’t ours, then argue about who’s going to do the dishes, and the day settles around us.

We’re lazy and allow ourselves recovery time, and by the end of the day we’re exactly where I thought we’d be, by the tv in a massive pile, watching trashy shows and throwing popcorn at the screen when the dumb characters do dumb things. It’s…everything, and so far beyond what I ever imagined possible when this whole thing started.

The only shadow we’ve really got hanging over us is that there’s a pack out there somewhere that thinks I belong to them, but I know that with this pack behind me, we’ll figure it out.

Twenty-Five

Wonderful. My omega is laughing at me, laughing so hard in fact, that her face is turning colors. “It’s not that funny,” I mumble, pulling off the highway with her and half the pack in the car.

The rest are in a different car, because we’ve finally admitted to ourselves how uncomfortable it is to jam everybody into one SUV.

“You thought I was Winslow’s ghost, haunting you? Come on, that’s the funniest shit I’ve ever heard!”

She starts giggling again, and just when I think she’s got it under control, Edric pipes in from the back seat. “We told him he was crazy. To his face. Then I went home and said a prayer of protection because ghosts are fucking terrifying.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, laugh at the alpha for being convinced that his ex was haunting him from beyond the grave.”

“Didn’t actually need the permission, but okay,” Fable chokes out before finally getting herself settled, beingway too dramatic about wiping tears from her eyes. “Oh gods, I needed that laugh. To be honest, I’d have probably thought the same thing. Winslow would be a scary ghost.” I reach over and drape a hand on her knee when she shivers.

When we finally pull into the driveway of Fable’s childhood home, I shut off the engine, and the car goes quiet because the house in front of us still feels haunted.

“If the wards are still active, we’re going to town and finding someone that can help us. It’s ridiculous that my sister was so absolutely crazy that she paid in advance to keep them up for the sole purpose of keeping me in, even if something happened to her. How did you guys get in before?”

“I don’t know if it was a coincidence or not, but I got my blood on the door accidentally, and they let me in,” Anderson says before slipping out of the car.