Page 185 of Knot So Social

Alessandro slides a notepad and pen across the dining table. I don’t know when he got it, but it’s the one I scribbled ideas on yesterday, right before breaking down.

Cover things up by denial. Tell a half-truth or . . . my pen flicks across an empty section of the mind map. Tell the truth.

“I know you think you aren’t perfect enough for your viewers,” my gentleman alpha says. “But we disagree. You didn’t become the life coach you are today because you were perfect, but because you figured out ways to succeed regardless of what happened in your past.”

His words, softened by his accent, sink deep into my soul. Oh. I wanted to help omegas because I’d been abandoned. It was sleeping in my car at night that forced me to think about financial security.

My hand drifts to my leg. I trace the scars under the fabric. The lightning? It taught me about private healthcare and planning for emergencies. How to access at-home services. Oh, and enough resilience to learn to walk again.

“I have a question,” Joel says, crossing his arms over his chest.

I nod. Nothing in the bond suggests anger or blame. How nice to have a conversation without fearing what the other person’s thinking or suffering because of what they feel.

“In the Boss College modules, you asked us to discover and prioritize one goal.”

I smile. “Yeah, you all discussed that one a lot.”

Joel leans forward. “So, what’s your goal, Willow?”

I scratch the pen idly over one corner of my page. “My goal was always to help omegas.”

Jeremy takes my free hand, picking up his brother’s line of thought. “So how can you help omegas, even with all this shit going on?”

I chew on my lip. Well, the modus operandi hasn’t really changed. Yeah, I’ve lost a shit ton of credibility, and nothing I do is gonna erase that.

As the silence drags, Alessandro leans over to tap a finger on my notepad. “What would Boss Omega tell her omegalings in this boat to do?”

That makes me smile. “Never give up. Pivot but keep going.”

“Always darkest before the dawn?” Jeremy asks.

I snort. “Something like that.”

“Well, we’re right here for you cara mia.” Alessandro sinks back into his chair with a smile. “We’ll change all the light globes in the house for you, so it's no longer dark.”

“That’s right.” Jeremy beams. “We’ve even got an electrician on demand.”

He slaps his twin’s back.

Joel karate chops Jeremy’s hands away, making me chuckle. Those two are as lively as our pack’s fur babies.

“Okay. I’m going to tell the truth,” I say, nodding firmly. “I’m going to tell omegas it’s okay to be broken.”

Alessandro pushes his chair back and comes to my side, kneeling on the ground. He bunches up my slacks until he uncovers his bond wound and sucks gentle at it, sending a burning thrill running through my veins.

When he looks up at me through his luscious black eyelashes, he says, “And your scars, cara mia. These are just as beautiful.”

I thread my fingers through his hair, exploring the contours around his lovely face. The contrast of his dark facial hair and white tank top sparks an idea. It will require some preparation, but it just might make my statement more meaningful. At least to me.

“All right. Let’s get this over with.”

The next twenty-four hours are some of the hardest of my life. I cry every time I try to log into my socials. I shake so badly while writing my script that I repeatedly drop my pen. The worst straw is when my personal assistant Kylie resigns. The pressure’s too much for her, the online critique harshly attacking anyone involved with me.

Can’t blame her. As passionate as she is, this was still a job for her. For me, it’s my life.

But no longer my entire life.

With my office trashed, I use my tablet on the dining room to work. My pack keeps a revolving door of tissues, warm face towels, hydration, and snacks coming past the table. Not to mention mental fortitude and so much love streaming through the bond. Their belief keeps me going.