Page 38 of Knotting the Cowboys

"Now?" Austin protests. "We're in the middle of?—"

"They wouldn't call if it wasn't urgent," Cole interrupts. He looks at me, and something in his expression makes my breath catch. "We need to go. But this conversation isn't over."

I simply nod, knowing there’s more urgent matters to tend to then this conversation revolving around my “Heats”.

The next twenty minutes pass in controlled chaos. Four men moving through the house with military efficiency, gathering essentials while trying not to crowd me in the hallways.

I press against walls, hyperaware of every near-miss, every moment when their bodies almost brush mine.

River's carrying an armload of clothes from the upstairs bedroom when he has to squeeze past me in the narrow hall. We do an awkward dance, him trying to give me space, me trying to disappear into the wallpaper. His scent—rain and earth and growing things—floods my senses.

"Sorry," we both say simultaneously, and his quiet laugh makes something flutter in my chest.

Luna, meanwhile, has decided that any moment I'm not holding her is a personal betrayal. She shrieks every time Austin tries to pack her things, reaching for me with desperate hands.

"I've never seen her like this," Austin mutters, finally giving up and passing her to me.

She settles instantly, burying her face in my neck with a contented sigh.

"It's like she thinks you're?—"

He cuts himself off, but I hear the unfinished thought.

Like she thinks you're her mother.

"Here." He demonstrates preparing a bottle one-handed while I hold Luna. "Six ounces, formula's in the cabinet, always test the temperature on your wrist. She usually takes one around two, another at six, and then cereal at dinner."

"How did you all end up here?" I ask, needing to fill the strange intimacy of him teaching me to care for his daughter. "From firefighting to ranching seems like a big jump."

His grin turns mischievous.

"Well, after Cole saved River from a burning building and they got all intense about it, then Mavi showed up with his whole brooding mysterious thing, and then I wandered in like a lost puppy and somehow we all just... stuck."

"Austin," Cole warns from the doorway. "We need to go."

"Right, right." Austin's expression sobers. "The town only has volunteer fire response right now. We're usually the fastest option when things go wrong."

They pile essential gear by the door—medical kits, basic firefighting equipment, they apparently keep on hand.

The easy way they prep for emergency response speaks of long practice.

"You'll be okay?" River asks, concern clear in those green eyes. "We shouldn't be more than a few hours."

"I'll be fine." The words taste like lies, but I force a smile. "Go save the day. That's what you do, right?"

Something passes between them, some shared memory of the last time they saved someone.

Me.

From fire and smoke and the Alphas who wanted me dead.

"Lock up behind us," Mavi instructs. "Alarm code is your grandfather's birthday. Don't open for anyone you don't know."

"And call if you need anything," Austin adds, scribbling numbers on a sticky note. "That's my cell. Ranch phone autodials the bunkhouse if you hit star-nine."

They head for the door in a unit, and I follow with Luna still clinging to me.

The afternoon sun slants across the porch, painting everything golden.

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