Page 146 of Rest In Knotty Pieces

My phone rings, and I answer it, ignoring Roseland’s narrow-eyed stare.

“Babe.”

Sariah.

“Hey, darling.”

The hand that grabs my balls comes from the omega in the room. I turn my head really slowly and stare at her.

“It’s been forever since we last spoke. Where have you been? In fact, where are you? Can you talk?” She sounds exhausted.

“Yeah, I know. But I love you anyway.”

“Oh, am I killing them?” Sariah says in a dark tone that has me trying to sit up. She recognises our code straight away and jumps to the worst case scenario.

Raptor’s eyes blaze with fury as she glares at me. “Who is that?”

There’s a pause on the line.

“No,” I say at last. “I’ve decided to keep this one. Just needs litter training.”

Raptor growls and snatches the phone out of my hand.

“My darling can’t talk right now, he’s about to bury his head between my legs and show me how sorry he is.”

She hangs up the phone.

Rose is doubled over laughing silently, still straddling my chest. He looks so beautiful when he’s happy.

I sigh heavily and send Mark a message telling him to check in with Sari because there is something definitely not right with her.

“You’re starting to like it with us,” Raptor whispers. She rolls onto her stomach, knees bent, kicking her feet in the air. “I think you like us, you want to bond us,” she sings and then bursts into laughter.

Clearly. She’s fucking nuts. But adorable, too. I can see her getting along really well with Meg and Bonnie.

“Yes, I like you. I just miss the outside.”

She moves closer, silent and soft. Her hand reaches out and cautiously lays on my chest, comforting me. She snuggles her head onto my shoulder and starts moving her hand in slow circles.

Roseland stands up after a while and disappears. When he comes back, the whole pack is with him. One by one, they lay down around us.

“I had no idea you had all this in here,” Sage says to Blaze.

“What?”

“The carvings of the dragons and tigers. When did you get them?”

“A while ago. They look good, don’t they?”

“I love them.”

King has fallen asleep and lets out a soft snore on every inhale. It’s kind of cute. Rolly is lying with his head on Rose’s stomach, staring at the ceiling.

“There are twelve dragons, eighteen tigers, and one phoenix,” he says.

“Why those three?” I ask.

“Dragons represent power, wisdom, and transformation. Tigers represent protection, fearlessness, and they ward off evil, and the Phoenix represents renewal, harmony, and balance. And they look good up there on my ceiling.”