He said something into his radio before pulling out his handcuffs and walking closer. “Is this true, gentlemen? Does this omega have a restraining order against you?”
“She’s our omega, part of our pack!”
“I don’t give afuckwho you think is part of your pack. Does she have a restraining order?” he snapped.
“Yes,” I supplied for the cowards.
That was enough for the cop to react. “Well, gentlemen, in that case, I think we’re going to have a problem.”
A few more officers swooped in, my pack assisting them as they slapped cuffs on the assholes before escorting them away. Karina never left my side, her hand running up and down my arm as she hugged me to her.
The moment my exes were in cuffs, my pack found me.
“Are you all right, Aspen?” Cole asked. His voice was still deep and growly from the confrontation.
I swallowed hard and nodded, still too stunned to even put the words together.
“Maybe we should go,” Jack suggested, all of them looking at me as if waiting for me to break down.
His words finally broke me out of it. “No. Absolutely not,” I protested. “They don’t get to take this from us. Iwantto be here. I was having an amazing night.”
“Why don’t we slip into the diner for a little break?” Hayes suggested. “We’ll buy you dinner. I think some food could go a long way toward calming some nerves. Then you can get back to enjoying the festival.”
“That sounds perfect,” I admitted, grateful for his suggestion. He didn’t seem like the caretaking type, but I would take it.
For as busy as the festival was, the diner was nearly empty.
Cole quickly pulled two tables together, ensuring that all the omegas had seats before the alphas and beta filled in around us.
Once we were settled, it was like a collective deep breath was taken, everyone eyeing the others, waiting to see who would speak first. Finally, Karina was the one to break the silence. I expected small talk, but instead she dove right into the elephant in the room.
“Our last conversation didn’t go well. That’s on us. We’ve had a lot of talks since then,” she said. All three of her men looked properly chastised, and I couldn’t help wondering what that meant for all of us.
“I’m not going to sugarcoat it, we’ve been awful,” Julian said, “I regret that. We should’ve been there for you more. Our dear omega had a long talk with us. A lot of hard conversations that have been a long time coming. We can’t go back in time and fix things, as much as we wish we could.”
Hayes cleared his throat as Julian finished talking. He blew out a breath and leveled a look at each of his sons. “I take the blame. I was so caught up inourworld that I forgot we brought you into it, yet never truly let you in. I thought by not pressuring you to participate in the family business, I was giving you a chance to create your own destinies. Yet, we failed miserably at being the fathers you deserved. I failed you, and I failed my pack.”
His voice choked with emotion, and both Jack and Cole looked startled by it, like they couldn’t figure out how to handle this version of their father.
Karina’s hand clasped her alpha’s as they shared a look, and she took over again. “We considered what you said, especially you, Aspen. You’re right. It’s up to us to fix this. And whatkind of parents are we if we simply abandon you? What if you have babies? I want to be there for that. I didn’t have support when my boys were little outside of staff, and frankly that’s not something I’m comfortable with. I want to be there for my grandkids. I want to be part of your lives.”
“We still want to travel,” Ellis said. “We’re going to go on a vacation and give you space to establish your lives here in Pine Ridge.”
“We’re taking a backseat in the company,” Hayes added in. “Handing it over to a new era of leadership. We’re still on the board, but we have amassed enough wealth that there’s no need for us to be part of it anymore. What’s the point of working our entire lives if we’re not going to enjoy those rewards? Resignation takes place February first. We’re giving the company that long to make its changes, and then we’re out.”
“Holy shit,” Jack said, his outburst making everyone laugh.
“What happens when you come back from your vacation?” Cole asked.
“The estate will still be yours,” Karina said. “I’ve seen enough of it. We never truly made it ours. We want to build ourownplace. The property lines extend through the entire forest, and there’s a parcel of land on the other side. I think that’s where we will build,” Ellis said.
“Wow,” Cole said as he ran a hand over his jaw.
As we all fell silent, Julian waved over the waitress. I hadn’t even considered that she hadn’t taken any of our orders yet. She must have realized we needed a moment.
I barely paid attention as I put in my order, my attention was fully on Jack and Cole, who were still processing. I didn’t think they realized how much they needed to hear that their dads were willing to stay and work on their relationship. I think, despite Karina convincing herself she was fine, she would thrive with them closer.
Cole cleared his throat, his hand squeezing mine as he spoke. “We’re happy to have you home.”
