Page 88 of False Catch

"Demanding little thing this morning."

"You liked me submissive last night. This is what you get today."

He grins, wolfish and satisfied. "I'll take you any way I can get you."

When he slides into me, we both groan. I'm sore from last night, tender in the best way, but my body welcomes him like coming home. We move together with none of last night's careful control. This is raw and real, sweat and friction and his teeth on my shoulder when I clench around him.

"That's it," he growls against my skin. "Take what you need."

I do, meeting him thrust for thrust, chasing the building pressure. When I come, it's with his name on my lips and his knot swelling inside me, locking us together again.

We lie tangled afterward, waiting for biology to release us. His fingers card through my hair, and I practically purr at the sensation.

"We should probably talk about this," I say eventually.

"About which part? The fact that we've knotted twice in twelve hours? The emotional breakthrough? The part where you tried to quit the team and I wouldn't let you?"

"All of it."

He's quiet for a moment. "What's there to talk about? You're ours. We're yours. Everything else is just details."

"The administration might disagree."

"Let them." His arms tighten around me. "We'll figure it out. The whole team will."

"Even Gray?"

"Especially Gray. He just needs time to pull his head out of his ass."

I laugh despite everything. "That's our captain you're talking about."

"That's our pack Alpha," he corrects. "Who's scared and lashing out because he doesn't know how to handle feeling out of control."

His knot finally softens enough to separate. We shower together, which leads to him pressing me against the tile wall and making me come on his cock again, but eventually we make it back to the kitchen.

He cooks again while I sit at the counter, watching him move with easy confidence in nothing but a pair of joggers. This is Bo in his element—taking care of people, making sure everyone's fed and safe.

"How did you know?" I ask as he slides a plate of french toast in front of me.

"Know what?"

"That I needed this. Needed to get away, to break down, to let someone else take control for once."

He shrugs, but his ears turn slightly pink. "Same way you know when to push us harder on the water or when to ease up. You just pay attention."

"The others don't see it that way."

"The others are idiots." He sits beside me with his own plate. "But they're our idiots, and we're going to fix this."

"How?"

"By showing up. By not letting Torres or the administration or anyone else tear us apart. By being what we're meant to be instead of what we're supposed to be."

I take a bite of french toast, considering. "You really think it's that simple?"

"No. But I think it's that important." He reaches over, syrup-sticky fingers lacing with mine. "We're pack, Reese. Have been since that first practice when you commanded us like you were born to it. We just need to stop fighting it."

"The administration—"