Page 106 of Wanted
Knox snorted. “Only with Liv.”
“Not anymore,” Jag said, gesturing at the meat. “Where I’m from, sometimes we had plenty of food, but my father would only give out so many rations. To build character and make us more determined to hunt and forage. If you didn’t pull your weight, you didn’t eat.”
“Do you think it’s a good thing?” Knox asked, a little freaked out.
Jag shook his head right away. “I would never let my mate and pups go hungry or cold. He just enjoyed it. Knowing he had power over everyone.”
Knox started putting the meat on the grill, but he did glance back to Dane, Jag’s mate. He was an unusual-looking guy with half his head blond, half brown, one eye blue, one dark. Round, and happily munching on pretzels, he was definitely not in any way oppressed by his lover. Though he too wore a fur coat Jag surely had given him to ensure that he wasn’t freezing in useless modern jackets.
“So you don’t miss your family?”
Jag shrugged, and the fire reflected in his eyes, making them appear wilder. “Some of them. Many turned on me when they found out I don’t want to mate with women. It was a community in the woods, and it had its own... rules. We lived according to laws of nature. But wanting to have a male mateismy nature. They just wouldn’t accept that.”
“I’m sorry, must have been a rough time for you.” Knox said, ashamed that he’d felt so sorry for himself when Jag had to change his entire life in many more ways.
Jag shook his head. “It’s been a few winters now, I’ve adjusted.” He glanced to the table with a smile. “This is my pack now.”
Knox followed his gaze to Ros sitting in Shane’s lap with his long flowing hair braided and adorned with bits of ribbon, toFrank arguing with Dex over how to attach a lamp to a tent pole, and even to Hammer sitting silently with a beer and writing something down in a notebook.
He understood what Jag meant. These men were here to celebrate together, everyone chipped in, and no one came just on a promise of free booze and burgers. That was already more than Knox had back in California.
Dane had loving parents and siblings he and Jag would visit later, but for everyone else, this small circle of friends were the closest family they had. Knox didn’t need to be here for a long time to realize that those bonds were real, and if he and Liv stayed, the same friendship would be extended to them. It was already happening, as evidenced by all the things everyone gathered had done for them, often not expecting anything in return.
The two strays who ended up in their backyard needed care. So they provided it.
Frank had spent several afternoons with Knox, teaching him about guns and how to aim better. It had been reminiscent of the kind of father-son activities often shown in movies, but unlike Knox’s actual dad, Frank didn’t get into fits of rage when Knox made mistakes. Ezra had taught him how to ferment vegetables, and which herbs went with the rabbit. Ros had painted blue and green flames on their car, and Dane, who was an IT whizz, showed them how to import all their emails and photos from various accounts without getting that traced back to them.
Knox felt more at home here than he ever did at his actual home. Here, not only no one batted an eye at him being in a relationship with another man but even supported it. After years of hiding, he could let go and be the person he’d always been inside. He could only hope that Liv would grow to feel the same way.
The beep of a text brought Knox back to reality. “He’s coming, guys!” Knox said and quickly placed bits of meat on the grate before pushing back his hair to look his best. Loud music erupted up close, and Knox froze, watching Dex step onto the bench Hammer sat on with a portable speaker in hand. He wore a bright orange jacket, as if this was a rave, and whistled, pointing at the bright glow appearing far off, between two mounds of old tires.
Knox handed Jag the tongs. “Keep an eye on the meat, okay?”
For a moment Jag looked perplexed but then nodded with a serious expression. “It will be perfect.”
Knox walked out from under the tent and stood in front of the bonfire with a big smile and his hands in his pockets. He couldn’t wait to see Liv’s face.
Chapter 35
Liv
Liv was exhausted.
He hadn’t had a single day off in a month, he’d only gotten four hours of sleep last night, because he’d needed Knox too much to not make out with him until late, and to top that off, he’d accidentally cut the tip of his index finger, spraying blood everywhere. It had been weirdly gruesome for an injury so small, but Cy claimed it would mend itself as long as Liv made sure the dressing pressed the loose flesh to the rest of his finger. Which wasyuck, and bulky, and uncomfortable, but he’d survive.
Knox was to spend Thanksgiving dinner at Frank’s but they would share a meal before Liv had to drive off for his second shift of the day. He tried to not get upset over being on his own on a holiday. Such was life, but knowing that all his friends would be out there, spending quality time together, while he walked the perimeter of the motorcycle club property in the cold did get to him, no matter how hard he tried to pretend that it didn’t.
His birth family hadn’t given him a good example of how one should spend time on a day like this one. Mom was absent half the time. Dad couldn’t even get Liv a cage for the hamster he gave him for Christmas many years ago. It ended with the poor thing being accidentally squashed by a guest a couple of days later as it freely ran around the floor. Still, there would always be at least a special pizza on the table, or ice cream. Sometimes, if both of Liv’s parents were in decent shape, they would even all watch a movie.
And once Liv’s dad got together with Knox’s mom, they’d always met up on Christmas or Thanksgiving.
It would be lonely without Knox tonight.
Liv was deep in his thoughts when a cloud of billowing smoke made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.
That was where their trailer was. WhereKnoxwas.
He pushed on the pedal to accelerate beyond reason and made the turn toward their home, sending gravel in all directions. But as he dashed past the bend and hit the brakes, ready to leap out and run into the flames, several hands rose, waving at him from around a bonfire with flames as tall as a grown man.
