Chapter Fourteen
He’d really fuckedthings up.
Dax watched the line of cars coming up the mountain drive. There were already a few hundred bear shifters on the property, setting up tents and campers and sleeping places under the sky. The party had been going on since early morning when shifters started showing up. It was mostly a free-for-all; mingle and connect and relax until the Pairing started tonight.
Tonight.
Tonight, he’d have a mate, one way or another.
His gut clenched. He should have been upfront with Allie from the start. But he’d fallen for this connection between them so hard and fast that he hadn’t thought it through. He was living in the moment and peeking into the future, something he’d never done with a woman before. He had no idea how to develop a real relationship, to cultivate it. Damn it, he was going to figure it out... if it wasn’t too late.
He pulled his phone from his back pocket to see if Allie had responded to his text. Nothing. He’d tried contacting her all day yesterday to no avail. He wanted to go to her, to get her to listen, but things at home kept him here.
“Dad still can’t get out bed.” Jett came to stand beside him.
“I know.”
When Jett had called, saying their father was too weak to be upright, Dax had left Allie after amazing truck-sex and raced home. They’d taken turns watching over Rowan while the other helped direct people into the woods and clearings for the Pairing. Other members of the Estes Park pack were on site to help, and Dax was grateful. This event was too big for he and Jett to handle on their own, especially with Rowen ill.
Dax ran a hand through his hair and turned to his brother.
“You told her, didn’t you?”
“Yep.”
“Damn it, Jett.”
Jett shrugged. “Honesty is never a mistake. I figured you hadn’t come clean with her.”
Dax couldn’t be mad with his outspoken brother. Jett had always been cut and dried. What you saw is what you got, and hell if the man minced words. He’d been looking out for Dax’s best interest—at least that’s what Dax told himself—with his need to take a mate. For their father’s sake.
“What did she say when you asked her to be your mate?”
“I... never actually asked her.”
Jett grabbed the sleeve of Dax’s tee shirt and yanked him, so they were face-to-face. “Whatdid you just say?”
Dax broke free. “I’m an idiot. I didn’t do any of this right.”
