"Hey." Wyatt's voice is gentle, drawing my attention back to him. He's leaning against the counter, watching me with understanding in his blue eyes. "Talk to me. What's going on in that head of yours?"
"I don't know what I'm doing," I admit, my hands twisting together in front of me. "I don't understand how this works. You and Silas, you're together, aren't you? And I'm just... what am I? Some temporary thing you're both interested in? Am I coming between you?"
Wyatt laughs, but it's not mocking. It's fond and a little bit exasperated. "Sunshine, we all want you. I thought we'd made that pretty clear."
"But you and Silas..." I gesture helplessly, not sure how to articulate what I'm trying to say.
He pushes off the counter and comes closer, his hands settling on my shoulders. "You haven't done anything to come between us. We are still very much in love. We're just not as vocal about it right now. Silas is still healing, still figuring out how to exist in a world without Evie, and I'm respecting that. Giving him space to grieve and process."
I frown, trying to understand. Wyatt cups my face in his hands, making me look at him.
"Many of the times we were together, Evie was there," he says quietly, his voice rough with emotion. "The three of us. That's how it worked, how we functioned as a pack. Silas and I love each other, but Evie was our center, our Omega, the one who bound us together. Without her, we've been a little lost. Not sure how to be with each other without her there to connect us."
The explanation makes something click into place. Of course. Of course they've been struggling. They lost their center, their anchor, and they've been trying to figure out how to be a pack without the person who made them a pack in the first place.
"He stays in the office because he can pretend Evie is out here," Wyatt continues, his thumbs stroking across my cheekbones. "Laughing and hanging out with the kids, making them happy like they used to be. It hasn't been just the two of us for a really, really long time. We're both trying to figure out how to do that again. But he's coming around. That laughter is back in the house, just the way Evie would have wanted it."
His expression softens, becoming almost reverent. "It's almost like she sent you to us. Like she knew we needed someone to help us find our way back to each other, back to being a family. And you're doing that, Amelia. You're putting us back together without even realizing it."
Tears prick at my eyes, emotion welling up too fast to contain. I lean forward, pressing my forehead against his chest, and he wraps his arms around me immediately. We stand like that for along moment, just holding each other in the quiet kitchen while the morning light grows stronger around us.
"I don't know if I can be what you need," I whisper against his shirt. "I don't know if I'm strong enough or whole enough or good enough to be an Omega for a pack."
"You already are," he murmurs into my hair. "The kids love you. Hunter is eating regularly for the first time in a year. Silas is cooking again, humming Evie's songs in the kitchen. You've brought life back into this house. That's not something you're trying to do or working toward. It's just who you are."
I pull back to look at him, studying his face for any sign that he's just saying what he thinks I want to hear. But all I see is honesty and warmth and that easy affection that makes my chest feel too tight.
"I'm falling for all of you," I admit, the words terrifying but necessary. "Not just you. All three of you. And I don't know if that makes me greedy or wrong or if it's even allowed."
Wyatt's smile is brilliant, transforming his whole face. "Sunshine, that's exactly how this is supposed to work. You're not greedy. You're perfect."
He kisses me again, soft and sweet this time, a promise instead of a demand. When he pulls back, he's still smiling. "Now, didn't you say something about needing to finish that streusel?"
I laugh, the sound watery but genuine, and turn back to the counter where my abandoned mixing bowl sits. "I do. And I need to call Dylan. I didn't tell him I was staying last night and he's probably worried."
"Probably furious is more like it," Wyatt says with a chuckle. "Your brother is very protective. I'm surprised he hasn't shown up here demanding to know my intentions."
"He will if I don't call him soon." I reach for my phone, then pause. "What can you do to help with breakfast?"
Wyatt grins and moves toward the coffee maker. "I can make coffee. That's about the extent of my skills."
"Actually," I say, pointing at one of the kitchen chairs. "You can sit. Because anything else you touch will be a disaster and I'd like this to actually be edible."
His laugh is loud and unrestrained, filling the kitchen with warmth. "That's fair. I'm terrible in the kitchen. Evie used to say I could burn water if left unsupervised."
He settles into a chair, content to just watch me work, and I pull out my phone to call Dylan. He answers on the second ring, his voice tight with worry.
"Where the hell are you? You didn't come home last night and you weren't answering your phone."
"I'm at the Kane house," I say quickly, trying to head off his panic. "I'm fine. I just... I stayed over. Fell asleep after putting the kids down and it was late and I didn't want to bother one of you to come get me." Dylan knows how much I hate the dark and driving in it isn’t all that much better.
There's a pause, and I can practically hear Dylan processing this information, deciding whether or not to call me on the obvious lie. "You stayed over."
"Yes."
"In the guest room?"
My face flames hot, and I'm suddenly very glad this is a phone call and not a video chat. "Dylan."
