Page 5 of Knot Her Beta

I read it twice, my heart giving a heavy thump. “Pack welcome party.”

“It’s long overdue.” Blake’s hands slip into his cargo pockets, his eyes on the path ahead. “We should have done it back in December, when the paperwork cleared. But then the holidays hit, and the first of the year chaos…” He lets out a breath. “It kept getting pushed.”

“What changed?”

“Chloe informed Nathaniel that if we didn’t throw the party before she had the pup, she’d take over the planning herself.”

I read the invitation one more time. “So you decided to throw it with only five days to spare?”

“Well, our guest list is pretty short. We asked Leif if he had family he wanted to invite, but he said they wouldn’t come.” He scuffs his boot in the gravel. “It won’t be anything fancy, just a big family dinner.”

“So that explains the last-minute invitation.”

“And also my apology.” He gestures to the envelope in my hand. “Sorry for springing it on you.”

I turn the card over in my fingers, Quinn’s crayon flowers looping along the back edge, glitter transferring to my palm in a persistent shimmer. “Saturdays are already social days. It’s not a hardship.”

“Good.” He elbows me in the arm. “And you’re not hosting this time, for once. If you and Jared want to cut loose, we’ve got room at the Homestead. Spend the night.”

I think about sleeping so near Leif, with my inhibitions lowered, and tuck that temptation away. “We’ll see.”

We reach a fork in the path, where the left branch heads toward the Homestead and the residential cul-de-sac, the right curling up toward Phase Two.

I slow my steps. “One thing.”

Blake stops and turns.

“The welcome party is a pack event.” My vision blurs as I stare down at the card. “Why are Jared and I on the list?”

Blake stares at me as if he finds the question puzzling. “Because you’re family.”

“We’re not pack.”

“No, but you’ve been with us since before we even conceived of this whole resort idea. You took a chance on a pack of Alphas fresh from college, with no family backing. And you’ve stuck with us,” he says. “You’re family, Em. You and Jared both.”

He says it as if that settles the matter, because for him, it does. Blake Wright doesn’t rank the things he values. The word family in his mouth encompasses all the people who show up, who sit at the table, who put themselves between someone he loves and the things trying to hurt them.

I know that’s what he means.

“Thank you,” I say. “For including us.”

“Don’t thank me. Kyle and Grady will be there, too, so don’t think too hard on it.” He jerks his chin toward the right path, where the sound of my crew’s voices carries through the trees. “Saturday. Seven. We’ll count on you both coming.”

He turns and takes the left fork, and within a few paces, the trees fold him back into the island.

I stand at the fork alone for a moment, the February morning cold and pale and quiet around me. Far off, I can hear the water taxi’s engine cutting back toward the harbor, carrying Quinn, Leif, and Sprinkles toward the opposite shore.

Family.

I fold the card along its crease and tuck it into the inside pocket of my jacket, where it sits close to my heart, warm from being held.

Not pack. That offer had only been opened to Leif, who I had hoped to form my own pack with, before he broke my trust. I understand Leif’s choice to become a Wright, but understanding doesn’t take away the sting, even if I did reject him first.

I breathe out through my nose and start walking again, heading toward my crew.

Saturday dinner is going to be complicated.

Chapter Two