Page 54 of Rest In Knotty Pieces

He closes his eyes again and resumes his nap.

I watch the forest fly past, taking note of signs and anything that might give me an idea of where I am.

We pull into a car park with a log cabin that actually looks like it’s a log cabin. Aaron unfolds his massive body and slides out of the car, putting miles of space between us and erecting that wall of professionalism that I’m growing to hate.

“Welcome to my boot camp!”

I whip my head towards the female and see Pix leaning on her shoulder again. It hurts. In places I don’t want to even acknowledge.

“Let’s do a quick round of introductions before we get started. My name is Bonnie; I am Pack Prince’s omega. This is my pack, Rory, Vale, Kota, and Cyn.”

I glance at them briefly.

“For the record, they are all relatives of Sage, Blaze, King, and Rolly, though they all like to pretend they aren’t, which makes us family.”

I stare at her, realising the line she’s drawing, even if the alphas don’t. She’s saying that she’s untouchable.

“And Pix is my best friend. He’s like a brother; my family adopted him, pretty much,” she says quickly and moves on. “And last but not least, Meg is the omega to her alpha Desi, and they’ve opted to join us, and they are part of my family, too.”

So, no one can touch them without upsetting Pix. Got it. That doesn’t make me happy at all.

What are we doing out here?

“Oh, goodie,” Rolly says with a distinct lack of enthusiasm. “I’m going to stab your balls into slime when you fall asleep, Blaze.”

Me, too.

“You will live.”

“You won’t. If I have to sweat and mess up my hair, you’re going to cry. Equal amounts.”

I edge away from the others and step closer to King. He takes my hand and pulls me into his side, while I watch everyone move around. They all seem very comfortable with this and each other.

“Have you been camping before?” Bonnie suddenly asks from far too close.

I glance up at King. He’s glaring at Bonnie like he’s going to growl at her. My stomach tightens. I squeeze his hand harder, wishing I wasn’t sweating so much.

“No. She hasn’t. But go away. We don’t want to talk to you.”

Bonnie ignores King’s rudeness as if she’s used to it.

“Oh, well, this is going to be fun. I hope. Camping is either you love it or hate it. I want to make it good for you because it can be such a good way to get away from the stress of the world.”

I jerk my head up and down absently, but I’m not paying attention. Pix is being pinned to the wall by the redhead, Vale. I monitor them closely, but they are both laughing.

I feel like I’ve run twenty laps; how does everyone have this much energy?

“Right, packs on, best foot forward. Let’s get moving before we lose the day.” Bonnie shouts out, making me wince.

I turn to grab a pack, but there are none left.

“Don’t worry, we’ve got everything you’ll need,” Blaze says. “You need to work on building your muscles and stamina.”

He strokes his hand over my head and turns and walks off, leaving me warm, fluffy, and feeling like going and rubbing into him like a cat.

I stare after him, my feet locked to the spot.Should I? Should I not? Do I even have a choice?

Aaron grumbles and stomps past me. He’s the only one who is openly on the outs here. Bonnie seemed downright cold to him, and the other pack was glaring at him, so I hurry to stay close to him.