Page 118 of Knot So Lucky
But I'm not alone.
That realization settles over me with profound relief.
Cale continues murmuring reassurances, his voice a steady anchor. Elias says something to someone else, words too quiet and quick for me to catch. The two other scents that surely belong to those in Elias’ pack also filter through, and I realize, this could be it.
My pack.
The thought surfaces through the fog with startling clarity.
This is what a pack feels like. This safety and protection, and the certainty that you're not facing a crisis alone. That multiple people are invested in your wellbeing, that they'll work together to keep you safe regardless of personal cost.
I've never had this before.
Have always been isolated in my secret, relying on Cale and Roran individually but never experiencing this cohesive unit that moves with unified purpose by men who barely know me but seek to protect me.
It's overwhelming in the best possible way.
My consciousness is fading, pulled under by heat and exhaustion and the overwhelming biological imperative tosurrender to the care of Alphas my body has deemed trustworthy.
I try to fight it one more time, try to hold onto awareness because there are things I need to know, questions I need answered, plans that need to be made.
But my body has other ideas.
The heat demands rest. Demands I stop fighting and trust that the Alphas surrounding me will handle whatever needs handling while my biology does what it needs to do.
Cale's scent wraps around me like a blanket. Elias's presence registers as safety.
I whimper one last time—a sound of surrender and relief and exhausted gratitude—and let the darkness take me.
My last coherent thought is wondering how we got here.
How I went from being a pit tech hiding in plain sight to being cradled by an Alpha who loves me while my scent match promises safety.
How everything fell apart and came together simultaneously.
Then even those thoughts fragment and dissolve, leaving only sensation.
Warmth. Safety. The scents of my pack.
And finally—finally—the ability to stop fighting.
I'm not able to fight the exhaustion any longer, my consciousness fading before I can even attempt to hold on.
The world goes dark.
CHAPTER 21
Burst Of Heat Part I
~AURORA~
Iwake as if I’ve burst free of a race car’s pit stop: everything viciously loud, blindingly bright, blisteringly hot. Pillows lie scattered like casualties around us.
The air hangs thick and heavy with scent—my vanilla smoke a molten haze curling through the room, crashing headlong into Cale’s burnt-cedar warmth and the bitter sting of espresso. It tastes of adrenaline and late-night confessions.
His arm clamps around me, a leather strap drawn tight across my ribs, his palm planted firmly at the base of my skull—anchoring, not guiding.
The blackout curtains swallow daylight, turning the suite into a clandestine bunker, the king-sized bed our private arena. The sheets are twisted into reckless spirals, sopping with our fever, ragged and scandalous. My skin glistens from scalp to arch, a slick sheen that turns every graze into a live wire.
