Page 82 of Trick Knot Treat

Chapter 20

Khione

Harvest disappeared sometime during the night. I’m not worried. He does that. I spend the day working, keeping the music up loud, and ignoring my phone. I need to get these rocks painted. At the end of the day, I have thirty done and twenty halfway done. I pack up and stretch, feeling my back pop.

I check the time, just enough to go visit the Sandy Heart and get something for dinner. I open my front door and find a box on my welcome mat. It’s about the size one might put in a pair of earrings or a ring. I scoop it up and open it, my mouth dropping open in pure awe when I find a tiny, delicate necklace with an amber gemstone in a silver frame.

I pull it out of the box and just manage to catch the note as it falls. I unfold it and find a handwritten note in delicate cursive that simply says.

“You take my breath away.”

Aww.

I hurry to put it on. Again, that pervasive, awful thought that Dad would kill me if he knew I was wearing gifts that my gentleman stalker has left me returns, and I hesitate.

“Dad’s not here,” I remind myself.

I hum in happiness when it’s on and then pull my front door closed and hurry to the café.

There’s a crowd on Main Street, and I pause, watching them intently. Strange. Why are there food stalls and balloons everywhere? The street seems a bit more decorated than it was the last time I was here. And why is everyone heading down to the beach?

“What is going on?” I ask a random person who looks like they’ve driven in from a city. They bounce around and barely glance at me as they follow the river of people.

“It’s the next Trick Knot Treat date. We’re going to watch.”

I gape at her. No, surely, not…I check my phone, and yes, the date is right according to this stranger, but I’ve lost a whole day somewhere.

Crap!

I’m not exactly sure what I’m supposed to be doing or if they even want me there. I asked for a day and ghosted them for almost four.

I follow the crowd down to the beach and catch sight of Spectre in the distance. My pack is standing together, looking like they would happily be anywhere else. I wander towards them, hesitating, until Zaire sees me. His scowl deepens.

He murmurs something to the dog, and suddenly, I have a Great Pyrenees barreling his way towards me. I let out a squeak and try to go backwards, but the crowd is packed in tight, and they send me straight towards the dog.

“Wait!” Zaire snaps out.

Spectre leans back, halting his speed, but jumps up onto his back legs, landing those heavy paddles on my shoulders and almost sending me crashing to the ground.

He barks. Over and over. Until my ears are ringing, and everyone around us has moved a safe distance away.

“Ah, it’s our little disappearing mouse,” Clint murmurs. “Here we were thinking you found someone else and left us-”

An arm lands over my shoulders. “Hey, baby.”

Oh, my god, kill me now.

“Who the fuck are you?” Clint snarls.

I should have known better. If I could kill someone with thoughts alone, Harvest would be incinerated. His timing is terrible.

Zaire steps up, his chest pressed to Harvest’s. The sheer alpha rage turns the air electric. I am an absolute sucker for a possessive alpha.

“Get your hands off.”

Oh. Swoon.

Harvest laughs and slowly removes his arm.