Page 44 of Knotting the Cowboys

Something shifts in the room at that admission.

Luna chooses that moment to throw her spoon with impressive accuracy, hitting Mavi square in the chest. Oatmeal splatter included.

"Your kid's got an arm," he tells Austin, deadpan.

"Our kid," comes the automatic chorus from the other three, and I file away another piece of their puzzle.

Not just Luna's fathers but somehow all equally invested.

River starts cleaning up breakfast dishes while Cole outlines the day's schedule—fence repairs in the north pasture, hay delivery to stack, evening feeding for the stock. Normal ranchoperations that feel anything but normal with the undercurrent of arson and Alpha dynamics.

"I can help," I offer. "I might not know much about cattle, but I can learn."

"Today you rest," Cole says firmly. "Get familiar with the house, the immediate grounds. Tomorrow we can talk about what you want to learn."

I should bristle at being ordered, but there's sense in it.

I'm exhausted, overwhelmed, and probably not safe around large animals until I know what I'm doing.

"Besides," Austin adds, standing with Luna, "this one's decided you're her new favorite person. Barely let me dress her this morning without fussing for you."

As if to prove his point, Luna reaches for me with grabby hands, making demanding noises until I take her. She settles immediately, patting my face with sticky fingers that smell like banana and baby powder.

"See?" River laughs. "You've got the most important job—Luna wrangler."

I can’t stop myself from smiling.

They disperse to their various tasks, but not before each checks in somehow. Cole reminds me about the alarm codes. River points out where they'll be working. Mavi shows me the emergency numbers posted by every phone. Austin runs through Luna's schedule one more time.

Then they're gone, leaving me with a baby who thinks I hung the moon and a house that smells like four Alphas who might be the best men I've ever met.

"Well, little one," I murmur to Luna, who's contentedly gnawing on my collar. "Looks like we're both starting over. Think we can figure it out together?"

She babbles something that sounds like agreement, and I choose to take it as a yes.

Outside, I can hear the men calling to each other across the ranch, their voices carrying on the clear morning air.

Not alone anymore,I realize.

For the first time in years, I'm not alone.

The thought terrifies me almost as much as it comforts.

The Pulsing Tension Of Jealousy

~WILLA~

The inside of Cole's truck smells like him—pine and leather and something indefinably male that makes my skin prickle with awareness.

I press myself against the passenger door, trying to maintain some distance in the confined space, but there's no escaping his presence. Every gear shift brings his hand dangerously close to my thigh, and I find myself holding my breath each time, waiting for contact that doesn't come.

Clearly I’m just a horny Omega lately…

I am every single stereotype rolled into one—some cliché, slick-palmed Omega who can't even share a two-hour car ride without getting her wires crossed by the scent of sweat and aftershave.It's mortifying, but also a little exhilarating, the way my body reacts before my brain has time to catch up or scold.

If I think about it too much, I risk spiraling into a shame loop, so instead I stare out the windshield, counting fence posts as they whip by, praying for rain or a small tornado or honestlyany weather event that would forcibly extract me from this stew of pheromones and awkward longing.

Cole glances over, his eyes sharp but his expression gentle, like he knows exactly how every nerve ending in my body is misfiring and he's perfectly content to let me squirm.

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