Page 56 of Knot Enough

“Do you think they’ll keep bothering me?” Lydia asked with a bit of nervousness.

“If they do, they'll regret it.” Graham replied with firm confidence. Lydia hummed in thought, but didn’t say anything else regarding the topic.

“Finn, I’m sorry.” She said, changing the subject.

“What for?” He asked quizzically.

“For being scent matched with them, I guess. I wasn’t the one who bullied you when you were a child, but I was close to them once. If they come back because of me, you’ll have to relive those memories again.” Lydia explained. Her scent was dark and spicy, speaking to the guilt she felt about this fact. Finn and I got up into a sitting position, but when I opened my mouth to deny her way of thinking, Finn spoke before I could.

“You shouldn’t feel bad about that. You couldn’t control who your scent matched to, none of us could. So, don’t feel guilty about something you can’t change. If they do come back then we will deal with it. I won’t blame you for something like that. Never.” He said, firmly. I watched him lean down to, I assume, kiss Lydia.

“Now stop overthinking with that cute head of yours.” He teased her before laying back down and crushing her to his side. I huffed in satisfaction before following suit.

“Thank you for the amazing birthday party and my rings.” Lydia spoke again. She sounded sleepier than she had earlier.

“No need to thank us, it was a pleasure.” Sorren said from behind me. We were all so exhausted that we went to sleep soon after.

It must have only been a few hours that I’ve been asleep, because when I awoke it was still dark with most everyone still in the nest. Lydia was the only one missing. Getting up to go find her, I did my best to tiptoe around my sleeping pack. It took several minutes of search, but I finally managed to locate her out on the back porch looking up at the stars. I grabbed the blanket on the couch and headed outside to join her.

“Couldn’t sleep?” I asked. She looked back at me as I wrapped the blanket around her.

“Yeah something like that. A lot of thoughts were pooling around in my head and I wanted to organize them before I went back to bed.” She explained. I sat beside her and nodded in understanding. We returned to the quiet as we stared at the stars. It was Lydia who spoke first.

“You were right.” She said, still looking up at the night sky.

“About what?” I asked with a slight smile. I had a feeling I knew what she was getting at, but I wanted to hear her say it.

“I am enough. For this pack, for you, for me, for love. I’m glad I met you that day and I’m glad I chose to have faith in another pack. Without you, I don’t think I’d have the courage to do this again or confront Connor and them.” She explained looking back at me.

“I’m glad to have met you as well. I have scent matches, but you're my life. No one could ever replace you. It’s us two till the end.” I said. Lydia’s face was filled with love and warmth. That darkness that had once replaced the light in her eyes was completely gone. Without much thought Lydia and I leaned toward each other. We met each other in the end, joining in a kiss. It was slow and gentle. It held all our feelings and experiences together. This kiss was a promise, a pledge, a vow to stay together forever.

“Looks like they started without us.” Sorren voice broke our moment. I glared at him.

“We were having a moment.” I said. I could hear Lydia chuckle next to me. Graham and Finn appeared next to Sorren.

“I told you to wait.” Finn said, hitting Sorren on the head with his hand.

“Sorry, we tried to hold him back.” Graham said with a slight chuckle. For some reason, I didn’t believe him.

“Uh-huh.” I said with a narrow gaze as I slipped over to make more room. Within minutes Lydia and I were surrounded by our pack. The feelings of warmth, love and happiness bussed through the bond. I was sure that whatever came next in our lives we would handle it together.

Epilogue

Lydia

Like Graham predicted, Connor and his pack mates had decided to leave us alone. It took several months, but I finally had the confidence to have my phone again without worrying about scary text messages. Graham promised to keep all the evidence we had in case we needed it in the future, but with every day that passed, I became more confident we wouldn't.

Several weeks after my birthday, I actually got a surprising offer in my emails about participating in a book convention. I wasn't officially published yet, so I was surprised they wanted my work there since it wasn't that popular compared to other stories. I thought it was a scam until I emailed the number back and let Graham and Sorren look it over for me. Gabriel was particularly excited about the opportunity.

Speaking of Gabriel, he started selling little trinkets and jewelry on a website Graham helped him set up. He didn't get a lot of business, but it was still enough to have spending money for himself, which he frequently used on me despite my adamant protests. He also became a live-in house husband. Finn did many of the chores in his off time when he didn't have a car to work on, but they devised a schedule that worked best for both of them.

Finn's daily life has been basically the same since my birthday. Outside of sharing chores with Gabriel, he frequently spent the night in our nest or with one of us, especially when he got home late and hadn't seen us all day. He'd become clingier and always wanted to go with Gabriel or me when we head out. We could make a big fuss about it, but we were secretly happy he liked being around us so much. Gabriel and I have also started going to the mechanic shop to watch him work. Specifically, Gabriel likes to go and watch him work, he gets hot and bothered by it.

Graham's business shot up in popularity, and he became busier, but he always found the time to spend pack nights and dates with us at least once a week. After missing dinner one day, he learned that he had to start taking work or himself home, or he would be sleeping alone that night. Gabriel and I also got into the habit of walking to Graham's work and eating lunch together in his office or a nearby restaurant. Since Graham's office had soundproof walls it usually depended on how horny those two were.

Sorren, our adorable alpha, had started directing another movie. I don't think it was a coincidence that the film was based on one of Gabriel's and my favorite books. He also keeps making jokes about adapting one of my novels once he can get the script approved for a budget. I started to worry that he was actually going to convince them. Every morning, it's also become a struggle to wake Sorren up and get him to work before he becomes late. He likes to whine, groan, and cling to one of us in the nest till he wakes up enough to get up. Some days, he likes to take me to work with him under the guise of using me as an unbiased reference, but it's just an excuse to keep me or Gabriel close to him.

"Lydia, there you are!" Gabriel shouts out from somewhere behind. I sit up from my spot on the beach bench and look at him. Poppy was following closely behind him with her tongue out. Poppy is a brindle pitbull mix Finn found on the side of the road when he was headed home one night. He called us in the middle of the night, crying about the dog and how much he wanted it to survive. Gabriel and I woke the rest of the pack and joined him at the vet’s. She managed to make it through the night, and we fell in love once we could see her. We adopted her as soon as we could and brought her home. She's been a part of our family ever since.

"Sorry! I wanted to get some sun in before we left!" I called back to him. The book convention ended up being at a civic center near a beach. Graham managed to get us a hotel right on the cusp of the water. We've been gone for about a month. The book convention ended the first week of our vacation, but since my birthday was close, we all decided to stay a couple more weeks to enjoy the scenery and the ocean.

"No worries. Everyone was getting anxious that you were gone so long, but they wanted to give you some time to yourself, so I volunteered to check in on you." He explained once he reached me. He sat on the seat next to me and kissed me lightly. I hummed in happiness. Poppy followed suit, jumping on me with her three legs and kissing my face senseless. Between avoiding her tongue and feet, I'm sure I was going to get at least a few bruises on my legs, but I wouldn't change it for anything.

"Let's head back then. I wouldn't want to worry them unnecessarily. Neither Graham nor Finn needs more wrinkles." I said as I gathered up my stuff. Gabriel laughed at my words and followed after me.

"I don't know. I think it makes them even sexier." He remarked, putting his hand around my waist. I laughed as I leaned against him. No, I wouldn't change this for the world.