Page 88 of Knot That Difficult

But I don’t trust the man in front of me enough to think that there wasn’t some coercion in the parking lot.

And he hits me right back, and suddenly there’s a full-out brawl in my kitchen. The spice rack collapses, the oven door shatters, and Devyn’s bags of espresso fall to the floor, coffee grounds spilling all over the tile.

It would be almost comical if I weren’t in a physical altercation with my packmate.

It’s only after Connor pulls me off Ace that I come to my senses.

“I don’t know what the fuck is going on with you two,” he snarls, and shoots a deadly look at Ace, who is sporting a swollen, bloody lip. “But it stops right fucking now.Right. Now.”

Ace has the nerve to look chastised, but I just glare at Connor. “Get your boyfriend in check,” I growl. “She’sthe priority now. Devyn needs to be taken care of and doesn’t need him acting like apsycho.”

Ace lets out a twisted, humorless laugh. “Like I said, baby, you’re stuck with thispsychonow.”

I grimace at his words, but Connor just nods at me.

“She’s our mate now. We put all this aside and do what’s best for her. We give her what she needs.”

It takes a moment for his words to register, but then it clicks.

There’s a connection to Ace now, as much as I hate to admit it. Just like I can sense Devyn, I have a heightened awareness of Ace and Connor.

The scents in the apartment meld together, and that’s when I realize Connor has bitten her, too.

Oh, no.

Devyn’s mated to all three of us now, and I’m positive this is not how she wanted it to go.

16

DEVYN

1 WEEK LATER

“Honey, you have to get up,”Tammy’s gentle voice says.

I keep my face buried in the pillow. “No, I don’t,” I mumble.

It’s my day off. I’m allowed to sleep in.

“It’s one in the afternoon,” Tammy adds. “It’s unhealthy to sleep this long, Dev.”

But I don’t care.

I’ve been staying at Tammy’s house for the last week and sleeping in April’s old bedroom.

I haven’t seen Ben, Connor, or Ace since the end of my Heat. They haven’t shown up to the café since I demanded they give me space, but I’m experiencing all the effects of a new mating bond.

It’s everything April and Skylar said it would be.

There’s longing, and the intense urge to be near Ben and the Alphas.

But once my Heat ended and I had come to my senses, I left my and Ben’s apartment.

I can’t even think about what happened that day.

I can’t think at all, since despair and anguish occupy every corner of my mind.

Tammy yanks the blanket off me. “Come on, kiddo. You’re going to help me prepare dinner, and you’re going to eat something.”

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