Page 60 of Rot In Knotty Pieces

King turns that calm and confident gaze on me and holds out a chocolate bar. It’s my favourite, but he can’t know that, can he? I’m all kinds of freaked out, and I’ve got goosebumps.

“I don’t even know who I am! How can you know me?” I snarl and stand up. I wobble, but a hand on my back steadies me.

“It doesn’t matter who you were, it matters who you are.”

“I’M SIX PEOPLE!”

“You’re one person with six distinct identities, but they are all still you, and I love every one of them.”

“You’re insane.”

He points a finger at me. “Offensive and rude.”

And to my surprise, he stands up and just steps off the raft, disappearing into the water. I lunge to the edge, watching to see if he’s going to come up.

“King!”

“He’s just cooling off. He doesn’t like arguing unless he can use his fists,” Rolly pauses and gets a glazed look on his face.

“No!” Pix snarls and hits him across the back of the head. “Bad alpha!”

“Ouch!”

King swims for the bank and climbs out, water pouring off him. He doesn’t look back.

“This is insane. Go and get him!” I demand of the alphas.

“Nah, it will do him good to walk it off,” Blaze says. “Tantrums are not rewarded.”

I blink at his absolute lack of interest. I twist, and King is far off in the distance. In a few seconds, we won’t be able to see him anymore.

“Sage!”

Sage and Blaze exchange a look.

“Sorry, sweetheart, Daddy Blaze has spoken. King gets a timeout for upsetting you and then throwing a tantrum. He can walk. It won’t kill him.”

My anxiety ramps up, and I twist my fingers hard. Should I jump out?

Roseland grabs the back of my T-shirt and hauls me onto his lap.

“No, you are not going after him. He will be fine.”

“You don’t know that.”

Rose exhales, and my whole body goes still. That sound brings back a whole heap of heated memories, and my body reacts before my mind even floods my head with images.

“We shouldn’t be separated,” I pant. “And where are my suppressant patches? I need them back on. Meg was so smart to put them in the care package. I bet she wouldn’t jump off a raft.”

I’m on the back foot with these alphas, and I don’t like it at all. Not even a little bit.

“Oh, look, a fishy.”

Rolly just rolls into the damn river.

I let out a screech and lunge, but Roseland holds me tight and sighs again, this time the sound is pure exasperation.

“Bells and shock collars,” Sage says.