Page 40 of Knotting Hill
There is only one clear thing in mind that I have to do now.
Bending down to snatch my phone out of my bag, I call my mum.
“Everything okay?” she asks as usual.
“No!” I wail. “I need help.”
“What with?” She remains calm in the face of my anguish.
“I need you to help me find a pack to mate with.”
Silence.
“Mum? Are you still there?”
“Yes. I’m just a bit gobsmacked. When did you decide this?”
“Just now, but really, it’s been brewing for a while. I think it’s why I haven’t really tried to find anyone to be serious with. I’ve been avoiding what I really want, telling myself that I wasn’t ready. But I am.”
“And you want my help to find you a pack?” Her hesitant tone tells me she doesn’t quite believe her ears.
“Yes. Will you help me?”
“YES!” she bellows in my ear. “Yes, I will help you. In fact, I know just the pack! When do you want to meet them?”
“What?” I ask, not quite keeping up. “You know of a pack waiting to mate?” Something is really suss about that, like she was secretly looking and hoping I’d come around.
“I do. Let me make some plans, and I’ll get back to you!”
She is so excited, I shrug and go with it. “Awesome,” I mutter. “Can’t wait.”
Twenty-Five
Russell
JP comes burstinginto my bedroom like an angry pitbull. “You need to talk to Emma right the fuck now!”
I look up from scrolling through my phone. “I don’t want to. Why?”
“Tim Jackson just rang. His omega, Cheryl, works with Storm and just saw Emma march over to her and start speaking to her about something. If this is even remotely in the samehemisphereas what she did with Cassidy, you need to shut her the fuck up!”
I sit up. He is absolutely incensed. I’ve never seen him so angry before. Not that I can blame him. If Emma is meddling again, then she definitely needs to be shut up. I just don’t want to be the one to do it. I swore to myself that I would never speak to her again after what she did to me, and despite being in several local messenger chats seeing as our friend circles overlap, I’ve been true to that promise.
“Can’t you do it?” I ask hopefully.
“No,” he growls. “Your mess, you clean it up.” He bangs my door closed again, storming off up the stairs to his room.
“Fuck,” I mutter and glance at my phone. With a sigh, I open the messenger app and find Emma in the list of participants. With a grimace, I stand up and dial, taking the stairs down to the kitchen quickly. I think I’m going to need a drink after this.
“Hi, Russ,” she says a few rings later. “What’s up?”
“You know exactly why I’m ringing. What did you say to Storm?”
“Storm?”
“Storm Rivers, a few minutes ago.”
“Oh, that,” she giggles. “Just a chat between girls.”
