Her Knotty List (MVP: Most Valuable Pack Book 4)

This is starting to feel like some sort of bad dream.

One of those nightmares where nothing obviously horrifying happens. At first. But as you go along through a fuzzy, indistinct reality… stuff gets weird.

Then things get wrong.

Pretty sure this is where someone stabs me and buries me under the porch.

There’s a lot of room under there, I bet.

Even with dozens of pro-athlete friends and their extra-giant houses, this compound is easily the largest I’ve ever stepped foot on.

Well. Trespassed on, technically.

I leave my Jeep behind the snow-crusted Ram parked crookedly at the base of the enormous stone slab propping up the front of the—cabin?

No, it’s way too fucking big to be called a cabin. But also way too rustic to be a mansion. This home is one huge A-frame, made entirely of stained timber and natural stone.

It’s December, and this place is surrounded by pine trees, but I don’t see any wreaths or decorations. Not a great sign, right? I mean, I’m a hopeless bachelor without a bathmat and even I have a wreath.

As I trudge up the front porch steps, I note a few other quirks. Like the fact that there’s only one rocking chair out here, despite the multiple sets of footprints I found back at the abandoned car.

What the hell kind of pack only has one chair on their porch?

It makes no sense.

Out here, in the freezing cold, it’s hard to get any scents—though, I’m pretty sure there’s a woody alpha aroma in the mix. Maybe something spiced, too?

The closer I get to the front door, the more I pick up. Including the mind-bending perfection of fresh, warm cinnamon⁠—

My feet plant on the wood planks beneath me. I blink at the closed doors, gasping again.

Holy shit.

Mate. My Alpha shoves me so hard that I feel my teeth rattle. This is our mate.

Not Lucy, then? But her sister?! The one I’ve never met who was about to get married?

Unless…

Is it possible the girl I met at Theo’s wasn’t Lucy? Was it Emma? And was she the perfect dessert I couldn’t stand to walk away from at the venue earlier?

…

Fuck. Me.

Emma was the one in that car tonight, not Lucy. Emma is the one they found and brought here.

The girl I met last year… wasn’t Lucy. It was Emma.

My mind reels, calling up my hazy, drunken memories. I called her Lucy a couple of times… but did she ever confirm that was her name?

Of course not.

Because this is Emma.

…the one I called Theo’s “other sister.”

Oh God. I’m an idiot.

I have to be sure. So, closing my eyes, I take a deep, purposeful breath.

And everything inside of me snaps.

Holy FUCK.

My brain blurs white as I stuff her scent into my lungs, feeding a deep, tingling pull as my body sucks the sweet oxygen into my blood. Veins humming, my cock hardens against my inseam, knot growing as my teeth gnash into a snarl.

My canines ache almost as much as my dick, pulsing with the need to sink deep into that scent and bite. Saliva wells. Protective, possessive instincts swarm my body. I go right for the door, peering in through the glass embedded in the oak slab.

My omega.

I spot her right away—the woman from last year’s party, looking just as damp and lovely as she did in the pool. Her blonde curls are dark, her lashes fanned over round cheeks as she⁠—

Rides another alpha?

While a second one licks her pussy, and a third stands, charging right toward her bared body and wide-eyed face and⁠—

Hell no.

With a roar that could shatter the windows, I throw my weight at the door and bust it open. The toe of my shoe catches on the doorframe, and I stagger into the house, wind and snow blustering at my back.

Everyone goes entirely still except for their dog, who barks until he’s close enough for me to touch him, then decides he’s cool with me after all. While he weaves between my calves, my eyes bulge out of my head and my hands curl into claws at my sides.

I’m too late.

That one thought sails through my blank mind—now just as barren and chaotic as the weather raging outside.

In here, though, I have my proof; I waited too long to go after the sweet, beautiful omega. She almost got married this weekend. And now another pack has claimed her.

Thoroughly, by the looks of it.

Part of me is surprised. The shy girl from Theo’s lanai didn’t seem like she had a ton of experience. I’ve spent the last twelve months smiling to myself every time I recalled how her green eyes bugged out when she scented my throat… and the way they somehow got even bigger when she started perfuming.

I never would have expected that timid little thing to make the list now burning through my shirt pocket like a hot coal, either.

But this woman? Spread over one alpha’s fat cock, her fingers twisted in the glossy hair of the one on his knees who, I swear to God, I’ve seen on TikTok?

Right now, she doesn’t seem shy or awkward at all. She looks like a naughty little goddess. One of those nymphs from Greek mythology—innocent, but bursting with light, glowing sensuality.

Joy.

That’s what she looks like.

And, fuck me. I want it.

Actually, I think I might need it. The dark, hollow space under my ribs suddenly aches, as if it’s finally remembered I used to have a soul there. The same place that’s been numb since the day I lost my mom—and then, in a different sense, my dad, too.

Now that I can feel it again, I don’t know how I’ll go back to cold, empty dark.

My body reacts to the desperation emanating from my Alpha—and my own damn self. Before I can think, my feet move, carrying me halfway into the huge living room, arrowing right for the omega who has me in a chokehold⁠—

“No.”

The older alpha’s bark is vicious. Just one word, but that single syllable proves more than enough to clobber me where I stand, pinning my feet to the light-wood planks underneath my snow-crusted dress shoes. Instantly, everyone else in the room goes utterly still.

With a flash of his menacing blue eyes, the only other guy with clothes on stalks across the room and grabs my arms. I only struggle for a moment before he barks again, forcing me to stop and demanding to know who I am and why I’m there.

“I came from the wedding,” I manage, trying to break free. “Everyone is out looking for Emma!”

When I say her name—the correct one, this time—she squeaks a small, scared sound that snaps the two naked dudes out of their stupors. The one she’s impaled on instantly snaps her body into his chest and covers her with his bulging arms. The guy on his knees lunges for a throw blanket and bundles the omega between them, murmuring low reassurances while he tucks the fabric around her.

My Alpha practically harrumphs when I see the way she gazes at the man’s model-like face. I have to begrudgingly admit there’s something there between them… and the dude behind her, who cups her jaw gently and turns her head toward him.

He looks dazed, but fully entranced by her. When he scent-marks her cheek and starts to purr, my jaw grinds shut.

Too late, I think again, dread curdling my gut. I’m too late.

She doesn’t need me, clearly. And if the way she suddenly scrambles to get closer to the man purring for her is any indication, my scent isn’t affecting her the way hers rips at me.

“Shh, sweet girl,” the dude husks, cutting me a threatening glare while he folds her into his chest. “I’ve got you. We’ll handle this.”

The more handsome one seems to recover from whatever he was doing between Emma’s thighs and return from the new dimension it sent him to. Leaping to his feet in a languid roll of muscle, he pads over without a stitch of clothing or a single care for his nudity.

I’ve been an athlete long enough to know he isn’t nearly as strong as he looks. Those muscles are a facade—whatever workouts he does are geared toward looking cut, not actual strength.

If it were just him, I might give in to the buzzing urge to fight. I know I could beat him, and possibly even the guy pinning my arms behind my back.

His dominance would be a problem, but once I cut off his ability to bark, he’d have to use brawn. Being that I’m probably twenty years younger and three inches taller…

That would leave the last of them, though. And the dude cuddling Emma into his purr is easily as strong as me. If not more.

Against all three? I don’t stand a chance.

Which is an insane thought, because what the fuck is even happening right now? Am I seriously about to try to fight off three other grown men just to get to Theo’s little sister?

No.

I’m about to try to fight off three other grown men to get to my mate.

Because that word—mate—is the only one to describe the way my vision has tunneled, focused solely on the quivering blonde bundled into this stranger’s buff brown chest. The way the whole world has narrowed to the pink button of her nose and the tears welled at the corners of her verdant eyes.

She’s scared.

Of me?

Just in case, I let the older alpha wrestle me to my knees without complaint. As my shins hit the hardwood floor, the pretty guy’s junk suddenly looms a foot away from my face.

I spend a fair bit of time in locker rooms, so I normally wouldn’t notice or care—except this particular package is so hard it’s curving upward and turning a concerning shade of purple.

Then again, if the painful pound in my pants is any indication, my own dick is probably a few minutes away from falling off, too.

“You were at the wedding?” the naked alpha asks, his black brows slanting over dark eyes. “So that would make you one of her…?”

He’s asking if I’m part of the dumbass pack who barely waited two hours before ending their engagement. The thought alone is enough to tear a growl up my throat. Pissed, I struggle against the rough hands binding my wrists.

“Fuck them,” I spit. “They didn’t even go out looking for her. I’m—” My teeth gnash as the alpha behind me presses his knee on my shoulder, forcing me to stay put.

“That’s Gunnar.”

We all freeze again, even the guy behind me. Four pairs of eyes fly to the sad, determined look on Emma’s face. The man holding her squeezes his arms to hug her.

All the fight drains out of me the second her gaze latches on to mine, shining with obvious pain. “His name is Gunnar Sinclair,” she repeats. “He’s my older brother’s friend, not my alpha.”

Those words gore into me, ruthlessly ripping the air from my lungs. Her chin trembles as she says them and dips her head, hiding her face from us all.

And, hell, I think I might be starting to develop some respect for the guy under her. Because he responds exactly the way she deserves, cuddling her closer and whispering in her ear.

Seeing the hurt in her eyes is like taking a stab to the chest. I choke on a breath, wheezing while I try to fight my way free and go to her side. The oldest alpha lets me get to my feet but keeps his iron grip on my arms when I lunge forward.

“Emma,” I grit, flashing a murderous look at the middle-aged guy’s equally furious face. He doesn’t let me go, though, so I turn back to the omega.

“We need to talk,” I rasp, desperate. “We need to call your family. They’re all so worried about you.”

The fingers bruising my forearms finally relent, dropping me with a shove. I stagger away, shuffling right to Emma. The alpha holding her doesn’t flinch when I kneel at the side of the couch and reach over.

I’m not sure what makes me think I can touch her, but my instincts demand it. Cupping her jaw in my numb hand, I turn her face to examine it. There’s a bruise over her nose, and I scowl at it.

She sniffles, wide eyes bouncing between mine. “I ran into a door.”

For the first time in ages, I feel like I might laugh. My lips curl up. “I just did, too,” I reply, nodding over my shoulder to where the clothed alpha kicks snow back out his front door and locks it.

I narrow my eyes at him, then the naked dude lounging indolently against the nearest wall… and the other naked dude under her. When I look back at her face, her embarrassed expression turns my stomach.

Poor baby. I’d never be mad at her for this—it’s my own damn fault for not going after her last year. And I don’t give a fuck how many alphas she sleeps with—as long as she gives me a shot to prove I should be one of them.

So I try to smile at her, even though I’m rusty. “You’ve been busy, huh, squirt?”