Page 19 of Knot Convenient

“I'll get you some tea. That'll help soothe your nerves.”

“You are a saint, you know that?” I asked.

She beamed at me, chuckling gently. “Oh, I know. Also, I'll get Chester to send some lavender bath salts up to your room so you can take a bath later today. All this excitement with a potential pack. You need to relax.”

An hour later, I was standing outside of town hall, trying to gather the bravery to go in. When I finally had enough to put one foot in front of the other, I practically burst inside, not wanting to do all this damn waiting anymore.

Emma was standing in the lobby, waiting for me. “Summer! I hope you had a good night?” Her eyes raked over me.

She was probably thinking that I could have put a little more effort into my appearance, but with a teething baby, I was happy that I was able to get clean and throw my hair into a messy braid.

The sundress I was wearing was pretty, albeit a little tattered. I didn't exactly have spare funds to get new clothing in the hopes of impressing Pack Winters. Plus, I needed them to see me as I was. Otherwise, bonding could have been a disaster of failed expectations.

“Well, if you’ll come through here, we can discuss the paperwork.”

This was it—they had rejected me. I was being sent home with my tail between my legs. It made sense, and even though it stung, I understood it. No alpha wanted to take on so much baggage.

Holding back tears, I followed Emma back into the room. It was the same room as before, and the little coffee table was covered in papers.

“So, I need you to look over these papers and see if you're happy. Personally, I think they are extremely generous.”

I picked up the papers, ignoring my shaking hand as my heart thumped against my ribs.

It was Pack Winters’s official offer.

“They want me?” I asked in a tiny, shocked voice.

Emma's eyes widened. “Oh gosh, I guess I really buried the lead there! Pack Winters contacted me as soon as they dropped you off at your B&B. It seems you made quite the impression on them. They're eager to move things along.”

“I thought they were going to walk away…” I trailed off.

“Hardly. In fact, when they called later, with their updated offer, they made it clear they wanted to increase your personal funds.”

My eyes went wide, and I shook my head, holding up a hand. “They'll be paying for housing and food. That’s plenty.”

Emma shook her head right back. “You are an omega. You’re going to want to buy things for yourself occasionally. Their initial offer was decent, but they almost doubled it.”

I tried to find the words, but my throat felt tight. I was at a complete loss as Milo playfully pulled on my hair.

“That's… insane. Why would they do that?”

“They want to ensure that you feel secure going forward. In fact, it's my understanding that they filed this paperwork this morning.” She handed me another file, and I took it on instinct, my mind still spinning.

“You're going to have to explain this to me,” I said, glancing over the paperwork that had trust written on it.

Emma smiled kindly. “It's adoption paperwork and an education fund they've set up in Milo's name.”

I stared at the paper, gobsmacked. They…they wanted to adopt him…to make it official. How in the hell had I gotten this lucky? Wait, was there something going on that I didn’t understand? This had to be a mistake. I mean, they’d just met me. How could they all be so ready to take on the responsibility of parenthood for a baby who wasn’t even theirs?

“This is…I can’t accept all this. There has to be a mistake. Please, can I speak with them? I need to understand what’s going on. Taking Milo, doubling the money…it’s all so⁠—”

I shook my head, struggling to put my thoughts into words. “Please, I need to speak with them.”

Spiraling was certainly a nice way to put it, but I didn’t have it in me to just accept this and move on. There had to be something I wasn’t seeing, and the only people who could explain were the alphas of Pack Winters.

Chapter 9

Summer