Page 77 of Knot Her Beta

“Are you going to say it’s not true?” His grin widens. “After last night, on the couch⁠—”

When I swat at his knee, he catches my wrist mid-air, his fingers warm and callused as he gives a tug.

I stumble forward, caught between his spread thighs, and he leans down. His mouth finds mine, tasting of tomato sauce and stolen pepperoni, and his free hand slides around my waist to pull me closer. My palm lands on his chest, feeling the steady thump of his heart through his thin T-shirt, and I let him draw me in, the argument dissolving as his lips move with mine.

The oven timer dings.

Jared groans into my mouth. “That thing has the worst timing.”

“Just like its owner.” I slip out of his grip and grab the oven mitts. The pizza comes out golden and bubbling, and I transfer it to the cooling rack beside the others. Steam rises in a garlic-scented cloud. “Hand me that empty pan.”

He slides the baking sheet across the counter without getting down. “We should buy a pizza oven. The kind that gets up to nine hundred degrees. Crispy crust. Blistered edges. The works.”

I gesture at the surrounding kitchen, with its narrow counters, the sink that doesn’t fit a baking sheet, and the refrigerator tucked into its alcove with an inch to spare for the door. “And where would we put it? Between the toaster and the fruit bowl?”

“Good point.” His legs stop swinging. “The cottage is getting too small, Em.”

The words catch me off guard, and I drop the empty pan into the sink before I turn on the water, letting it run hot over my flour-dusted fingers.

“Have you thought about it?” he asks. “What happens when we join the Wrights? When you bond with Leif? If Grady comes into the family?”

His next question is quieter. “Are we all going to live in separate houses?”

“Everyone is just getting settled,” I murmur, thinking of all the new cabins I helped build. “It would be silly to ask them to move again. And Grady hasn’t even said he’s staying, yet.”

Jared hops down from the counter and steps up behind me, his hands flattening over my stomach. “What about after we have a pup? Or two? Have you given it no thought? Us all being together?”

My fingers curl under the scalding stream of water, but I don’t pull away.

“Yeah.” The word comes out quiet. “I’ve been thinking about it.”

“Talk to me.”

I turn off the water and dry my hands on the dish towel hanging from the oven handle. “I’ve always imagined my entire pack living together. Under one roof.”

I turn to lean on the counter. “But Leif only moved into his cabin a few months ago, and if Grady decides he’s staying, he’ll also be living on the island. The thought of always traveling back and forth across the water...”

I shake my head. “It feels miserable. I want our children surrounded by their entire pack. And when Leif eventually gets pregnant—” My throat tightens. “Male Omegas have a harder time. I want to be there. Through the pregnancy, after the birth. I don’t want miles of water between us if he needs me.”

Jared’s features soften, and he moves to stand beside me, shoulder to shoulder, our arms brushing.

“The cottage has two mortgages, after buying out Auren’s share.” I continue. “If we sell, we won’t get much more for it than what we owe. And adding a second story...” I motion toward the ceiling. “It might solve the problem in the long run, but living through construction with a newborn isn’t ideal.”

“We’ll talk to them.” His hand finds the small of my back, warm through my flannel. “Find out what Leif and Grady want. Then we’ll talk to the Wrights. They already want us in the pack. Maybe we can use it to negotiate.”

I turn my head. “What did you have in mind?”

“A home on Misty Pines.” His jaw sets with determination. “With enough space for all of us.”

My stomach swoops. Give up the cottage? I rebuilt this place after Auren left, planted the garden with my own hands, sanded and sealed the floors over long nights of living here alone.

I fought so hard to keep it.

But it was built for a pack of two. And I want more than that now.

“The Wrights would do it. I’ve been talking to Kyle about it, to get his opinion. He thinks they’d go for it, and it’s not as if they lack the land. That way, we wouldn’t have to live in a place under construction,” Jared says. “Dominic could design one for us, and you could build it with room for us to grow into, with all the counter space in the kitchen that you could ever want.”

“With a pizza oven?” I ask.