Page 37 of Wolf It Down, Knot Me Up

“And if we’re too late? Parole doesn’t send a letter. They just turn up to collect us.” His voice stays light despite the topic. “Tonight’s the only night we’re sure we’ve got.”

And for a moment, God help me, I go there. The three of us and her, bags on our backs, cutting over the ridge in the dark before anyone knows. Living rough and free, just us and our Omega. Something in that scene tugs at me hard.

I remember Eve saying once that her granddaughter left this mountain years back after losing an Alpha. And I think Lucy’s carrying more than any of us has seen. She hides it under her quick mouth, but it’s there in her when she thinks nobody’s watching.

Grayson shoves my arm, and I come back. “Saw you dive on her fast,” he says, grinning.

“Guilty as charged.”

“She’s easy to fall for. Even from over here, without her scent in my lungs, she’s got a hook in me.” He finishes off his beer. “Fuck, it’s been a long damn time since I had an Omega under me, or any girl for that matter. But this is more than that.”

“Fuck yeah, it is.” And I mean it down to my bones.

Grayson clears his throat and lifts his chin toward the fire. “You two planning to eat? Bring your plates. The burgers are up.”

We all move, plating the food, and I appreciate that Lucy doesn’t hang back. She dives in with the rest of us, snags her burger, bumps Grayson off with a hip.

We settle on the logs, Lucy on mine, Roman on the next one over on her side, Grayson across from me. Two burgers on my plate. I watch her over the first one, the way she takes a bite, her tongue flicking to lap up the sauce at the corner of her mouth. She swallows and drags her thumb across her lip, and I want to be that sauce so badly.

“So how much danger have you all actually faced out here?” she asks. “Logging’s one of those deadly jobs. Any close calls?”

Odd question, and very specific. I meet Grayson’s gaze, as he’s most likely thinking the same thing.

Roman clears his throat. “Honestly, we’ve been lucky. One time after a storm, though, a tree was uprooted in the huge winds and then finally fell maybe six feet from where I stood. No warning.” He shakes his head. “Shook us.”

“Taught us to do extra checks after a storm,” Grayson says. “You learn fast out here.”

She glances my way, waiting. “Well, I lost a toolbox once. Crushed flat under a pine.” I shake my head.

She laughs. “So did it make you want to quit after the danger? That would’ve run me right off this mountain.”

“No.” Because it’s true.

“Just made us more careful,” Roman adds.

She nods slowly. I recognize that expression on her face, the slight downturn of her mouth, the world spinning behind her eyes. Those questions had purpose beyond making conversation.

“That’s not the answer you’re after, is it?” I ask abruptly because I can’t hold back any longer.

Roman’s head snaps up, a warning in his frown, but I shrug him off.

“You want to hear we hated it, hey? That we’ve been miserable out here, counting the days, and a trip back to prison would be a mercy. Something to hang your decision on so it feels less like sending three men to a cage and more like doing them a kindness.”

“Fuck, man.” Roman throws his napkin down. “Can you ever, one time, shut your mouth?”

But Grayson’s smirking on his log. “Personally, I want to see where this goes. And, little bird, none of that’s on you, understand.” His gaze lands on a startled Lucy. “It’s just that we’re all thinking about it with our necks on the block, and you’re holding the blade. For the record, I don’t want to go back. And it’s not only the box, the monsters, one hour of sky a day.” He tips his head. “It’s you. You’re the reason now.”

She blinks, then cuts a sharp look my way before setting her plate on the log, and the first jab of guilt sinks into me, because I’ve never once learned to hold my words.

“Very smart,” she murmurs, and there’s a wobble in her words. “You’ve got me all worked out. Happy now?” She gets to her feet, and I let her stand over the three of us because she’s earned it.

“You want to know why I asked?” There’s a rawness beneath her words. “Five years ago, I lived on this mountain, and I fell for a man doing exactly what you three are. Working these woods, finishing his time on my grandmother’s program.” She wraps her arms around herself. “We bonded, and after six months together, a pine came down on him on a clear morning with no wind and killed him. Then I spent five years so sick from the bond breaking me. So excuse me.” Her breath catches, her face reddening. “Excuse the hell out of me for wanting to know what it feels like to be out here. For asking a real question. I wasn’t hunting for permission. I was trying to get to know you.”

The fire pops into the silence, and nobody moves.

I don’t regret saying it, and even now she won’t admit it, but that’s okay. I’d rather cut to what’s real even when it burns than be fake. I’ve had my damn share of fakeness growing up in a family who betrayed me. But right, I aimed a hard truth at a place already broken, and that’s a different sin than honesty. And for that, I feel like shit.

“I’m really sorry, Lucy,” I mutter in a gravelly voice.